Tom Black (speedway rider)
{{Short description|New Zealand speedway rider}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox Speedway rider
| name = Tom Black
| image =
| caption =
| nationality = New Zealander
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|11 July 1941}}
| birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand
| death_date =
| death_place =
| years1 = 1973, 1974
| career1 = Teesside Tigers
| years2 = 1974
| career2 = Leicester Lions
}}
Thomas John Black (born 11 July 1941) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from New Zealand. He earned one cap for the New Zealand national speedway team.{{cite web |url=https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/Ultimate_Index_1929-2022.pdf |title=Ultimate rider index, 1929-2022 |website=British Speedway |access-date=27 August 2024}}
Career
Black began racing in the mid-1960s, and he won the South Island Championship in 1969 and 1970.Holmes, Tracy "[http://www.speedwayplus.com/TomBlack.shtml Riders to Remember...Tom Black]", Speedway Plus, retrieved 2012-03-15 He rode in the third Test of 1969/70 against England at Christchurch and also rode for New Zealand against Sweden in 1972.
In 1973 he travelled to England where he rode for Teesside Tigers,{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000726/19730402/273/0020 |title=Teesside start with great win |website=Newcastle Evening Chronicle |date=2 April 1973 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}} but only rode in seven meetings before his season was ended by a broken collarbone and arm. After regaining his fitness in the 1973/74 New Zealand season, he returned to the United Kingdom in 1974 to ride for Leicester Lions.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000760/19740321/056/0056 |title=Kiwi back at No.7 for Lions |website=Leicester Daily Mercury |date=21 March 1974 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}}Jones, Alan (2010) Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar, Automedia, p. 159 Disappointing results for Leicester saw him return to Teesside, but in his first match back for the team he suffered a broken ankle, ending his British league career. He continued to ride in New Zealand for several years before retiring.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Tom}}
Category:New Zealand speedway riders
Category:Middlesbrough Bears riders
Category:New Zealand expatriate speedway riders in England
Category:Leicester Lions riders
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