Ken Middleditch
Born(1925-10-05)5 October 1925
Camberley, England
Died9 January 2021(2021-01-09) (aged 95)
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1948–1949Hastings Saxons
1950–1956, 1958,
1960–1962		Poole Pirates
1957Swindon Robins
Individual honours
1951Division Three Riders Champion
1954Division Two Riders Champion
Team honours
1951National League Div 3 Champion
1952, 1955National League Div 2 Champion
1952, 1955National Trophy (Div 2)
1957National League Champion
1961Provincial League Champion

Kenneth Arthur Middleditch (5 October 1925 – 9 January 2021[1]) was a motorcycle speedway rider from England.[2] He earned five international caps for the England national speedway team.[3]

Career

Middleditch served in the RAF in World War II as a rear gunner, and became interested in speedway while stationed in Egypt.[4]

Middleditch signed for Third Division team Hastings in 1948 after progressing through Eastbourne's speedway training school. By 1949 he had become Hastings top points scorer but at the end of that year Hastings were forced to close down and he signed for Poole.

Middleditch had a successful career at Poole, forming an effective pairing with Poole rider Tony Lewis. He won the National League Division Three Rider's Championship, held at Penarth Road Stadium in Cardiff on 23 October 1951.[5][6] He eventually became the team captain and won four league titles with the club. In 1954, he won the National League Division Two Rider's Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.[7][8]

Middleditch left Poole for the 1957 season when the club closed for a year and signed for Swindon. He returned to Poole for a further two stints before retiring in 1962.

Family

Middleditch's son, Neil, also had a successful career as a speedway rider and has been team manager of the Poole Pirates since 1998.

After retiring from the sport Middleditch set up a business, Middleditch Salvage, in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset. He died in January 2021 at the age of 95.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Pirates announce the death of club legend Ken Middleditch
  2. ↑ Bamford, Robert; Glynn Shailes (2004). 50 Poole Pirates Greats. Tempus Publishing. pp. 83–85. ISBN 0-7524-3257-5.
  3. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Morgan, Tom (1949) Who's Who in Speedway, Sport-in-Print, p. 53
  5. ↑ "Runner-Up in Speedway title event". Western Evening Herald. 24 October 1951. Retrieved 13 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "1951 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Last Night's Speedway". The People. 17 October 1954. Retrieved 13 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "CLUB HISTORY: 1950S". Swindon Speedway. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Pirates announce the death of club legend Ken Middleditch
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