Malcolm Craven

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title: "Malcolm Craven" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1915-births", "1984-deaths", "british-speedway-riders", "english-motorcycle-racers", "wembley-lions-riders", "west-ham-hammers-riders", "norwich-stars-riders", "birmingham-brummies-riders", "20th-century-english-sportsmen"] description: "British motorcycle speedway rider" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Craven" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British motorcycle speedway rider ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Speedway rider"]

Field	Value
nationality	British (English)
birth_date
birth_place	Ilford, England
death_date
death_place	Canada
years1	1937
career1	Norwich Stars
years2	1937
career2	Birmingham Bulldogs
years3	1938–1939
career3	Wembley Lions
years4	1946–1954
career4	West Ham Hammers
::

| image = | nationality = British (English) | birth_date = | birth_place = Ilford, England | death_date = | death_place = Canada

| years1 = 1937 | career1 = Norwich Stars | years2 = 1937 | career2 = Birmingham Bulldogs | years3 = 1938–1939 | career3 = Wembley Lions | years4 = 1946–1954 | career4 = West Ham Hammers

Malcolm Stewart Craven (25 September 1915 – 2 September 1984) was a motorcycle speedway rider from England, who rode before and after World War II.

Career

Craven was born in Ilford, Essex on 25 September 1915. He had a trial for Norwich Stars in 1937 but was rejected by Max Grosskreutz. After practising at the Dagenham track he was spotted by his childhood hero, the former Wembley Lions rider Colin Watson, who took him to Wembley for a trial, after which he was signed by Alec Jackson. He was loaned to the Birmingham Bulldogs for whom he finished the season as top scorer, returning to Wembley in 1938 where he initially rode at reserve, establishing himself in the top five by the following year. The war interrupted his speedway career and he joined the Merchant Navy. When league racing resumed in 1946 he signed for West Ham Hammers, staying with the club into the 1950s.

In 1947 he rode in Australia with the England Test team. He was part of the England teams that toured Australia in the 1951-1952 Test series. In 1952 he captained the England team against Scotland.

Personal life

Craven was a qualified pilot, flying to speedway matches on occasion.

Two of Craven's brothers were also speedway riders; Gil Craven rode for Cradley Heath, and his oldest brother Reg Craven was killed in a speedway crash in 1948.

References

References

1. "1939 England and Wales Register".
2. "Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910-1950".
3. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022".
4. Morgan, Tom (1947) ''The People Speedway Guide'', Odhams Press, p. 76
5. Storey, Basil (1947) "The Boy Who Carried His Hero's Leathers" in ''Speedway Favourites'', Sport-in-Print, p. 12
6. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LQwRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4589,295912&dq=malcolm-craven+speedway&hl=en Two New Stars for Speedway]", ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 3 December 1947, p. 11, retrieved 2012-02-04
7. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7B0QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5029,1164411&dq=malcolm-craven+speedway&hl=en Showground Riders]", ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 10 November 1947, p. 8, retrieved 2012-02-04
8. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t_kQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KJMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6362,5594961&dq=malcolm-craven+speedway&hl=en UK Men for Speedway]", ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 11 December 1951, p. 10, retrieved 2012-02-04
9. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xKITAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SK8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3831,197537&dq=malcolm-craven+speedway&hl=en U.K. Rider to Rest]", ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 3 January 1952, p. 7, retrieved 2012-02-04
10. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3vVAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-acMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6769,1952092&dq=malcolm-craven+speedway&hl=en Malcolm Craven - Taught Himself to Fly Plane]", ''[[Evening Times]]'', 28 May 1952, p. 8, retrieved 2012-02-04
11. (4 May 1948). "Died from crash on speedway". Gloucestershire Echo.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::