Tom Leadbitter

Thomas William Leadbitter, known as Tom, was a British rider who competed in scrambles, motorcycle speedway and grasstrack racing. Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on 8 September 1945, he was a successful grasstrack racer before taking up speedway in 1966 at the training school at Long Eaton. His speedway career ran from 1966 to 1977 with Glasgow Tigers, Long Eaton Archers, Leicester Lions, Middlesbrough Teessiders, Wolverhampton Wolves, Teesside Tigers and Bristol Bulldogs, and he was part of the Wolves team that won the Midland Cup in 1973. He earned two international caps for England, playing against the Soviet Union in 1974, and represented Young England against Scotland in 1975. Away from the speedway track he was a top scrambles rider who won the British Scrambles Championship in 1970 and 1972 and also rode grasstrack events in France and Germany. He died in May 1995 at the age of 50.