Howdy Byford
Born28 August 1919
Rainham, London
Died10 June 1996(1996-06-10) (aged 76)
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1947-1955West Ham Hammers
1956-1961Oxford Cheetahs
1961-1964Exeter Falcons
1965Hackney Hawks
1966-1967King's Lynn Stars
Team honours
1962Provincial Knockout Cup.

Francis Howard Byford (28 August 1919 – 10 June 1996) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned six international caps for the England national speedway team.[1]

Biography

Byford was born in 1919 in Rainham, London. During World War II he was a Japanese prisoner of war for three and a half years and was fairly near the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima.[2]

He took a job at West Ham Stadium as a plumber before taking an interest in speedway.[3] In 1947, he joined the West Ham Hammers for the 1947 Speedway National League season.[4] He rode for West Ham for nine years and although the team failed to win any honours his story endeared people to him and he became a crowd favourite. He was made deputy captain in 1948 and suffered from malaria in 1949 and 1950, as a consequence of his earlier internment.[5] Early in the 1955 season, his career with West Ham came to an end after he was transferred to Ipswich Witches but his season was ended early through injury.[6]

In 1956, he joined the Oxford Cheetahs for the 1956 Speedway National League Division Two season.[7] He once again became a crowd favourite at the Cowley Stadium, became the club captain and rode for Oxford for five years.[8] In November 1956, he was travelling in a car (with fellow Oxford teammates in South Africa) that crashed and killed rider Terry Courtnell.[9]

His next club was Exeter Falcons, with whom he had been doubling up with in 1961 and during his second season with them he finally won an honour, helping Exeter win the 1962 Provincial Knockout Cup.[10] In 1965, he returned to London to join the Hackney Hawks for the new British League season[1] before finishing his career with King's Lynn Stars from 1966 to 1967.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Ate Grasshoppers". Daily Mirror. 18 June 1947. Retrieved 30 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ↑ "Youth's Challenge". The People. 18 April 1948. Retrieved 30 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "1947 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  5. ↑ "Howdy made sure". Daily Mirror. 15 June 1949. Retrieved 30 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  7. ↑ Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 128–135. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  8. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Oxford Speedway rider killed in road accident". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 19 November 1956. Retrieved 30 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  11. ↑ "1967 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
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