LIAM DEVLIN SPEEDWAY SUPERSTARS

LIAM DEVLIN SPEEDWAY SUPERSTARS Grateful thanks to John Somerville and Neil Reynolds for providing the oh so rare scans.

ALAN HUNT was born in Aston in England in 1925 and rode for Cradley Heath Heathens from 1947 to 1950 before switching to Birmingham for the seasons 1951 to 1956. He averaged 10 points per meeting whilst with the Heathens, and in his first season with Birmingham he qualified for the World Final. In that final he disappointed by scoring just 2 points and securing 16^th place. Further finals followed in 1953 when he managed 14^th place and 1956 when he was elevated to 11^th place gaining 6 points. He was also a reserve for the 1954 final. It was in early 1957, while he was riding in South Africa , that he suffered an injury to his head and died on 2^nd February at just 31.	DICK CAMPBELL was a Kiwi who was born in Christchurch on 5^th June 1923. He joined Belle Vue in 1947 and in 1950 the New Zealander gained 15 points in the World Championship earning him 36^th place. In 1952 Campbell qualified again for the World Championships but only scored 13 points and gained 41^st place. He was also a member of the Sheffield team and Edinburgh from 1948 to 1954. He died in 1990.	ARTHUR FORREST hailed from Bradford where he was born on 5^th January 1932. He began his career at Halifax Dukes in 1949 and remained with them for 2 years before moving to Bradford Dukes in 1952. By 1958 he had changed teams again, for the final time, moving to Coventry Bees. He managed to qualify for 5 World Championships and his best place was third in 1956 with 11 points. He died aged 68 in 2000	GEOFF MARDON was born in 1930 in Christchurch , New Zealand and started riding at his local track called Aranui. He moved to England when he was 21, riding for Aldershot . He was selected as a reserve for the 1951 World Championships, but in 1953 he secured his best ever finish of 3^rd when gaining 12 points. Two more World Final appearances in 1954 and again in 1959, but he could only manage 11^th and 10^th in these events. He rode for the Wimbledon Dons for 2 years before spending 1959 with the Southampton Saints.

BILLY HOLE was born in England. In 1949 Hole beat Ken LeBreton to win the Division 2 Silver Helmet and he also finished the leading points scorer in the league earning 576 points for Bristol. When Bristol closed in 1955 Hole joined Exeter Falcons. By then he had ridden in the 1952 World Championships gaining 10 points and a disappointing 55^th place.	BRUCE ABERNETHY was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He raced in England for Wembley and loved the big crowds attending the Wembley track. In the 1951 World Championships he was placed 25^th with 19 points. He died in 1999.	BOB LEVERENZ was born in Findon , Australia on 6^th February 1925 . He joined the Norwich Stars in 1949 and remained with the team for the next 3 years, winning the Division Two Championship in both 1950 and again in 1951. Also in 1951 he qualified for the World Finals and managed to achieve 7 points which earned him 8th place.	DENNIS GRAY was born in England and qualified for the World Championships in 1951 where he scored 17 points and was placed 29^th. Two years before that he won the 1948 running of the Holiday Cup at Wimbledon.

NORMAN PARKER was born in Birmingham, England on 14^th January 1908 and was a member of the Coventry Bees team in 1929 where he remained for a further 2 years. He then joined Clapton Saints, before moving on to the Harringay Racers. He qualified for the World Finals in 1936 when finishing 18^th, the 1949 World Finals when securing 10 points which gained him 4^th place, and finally in 1951 when he was a disappointing 14^th place. He rode for England in 1934 and joined Wimbledon Dons in 1946 where he remained until retiring in 1953. He lived to the ripe old age of 91, and died in 1999.	GEOFF PYMAR was born in the Suffolk town of Eye on 14^th February 1912 . He joined Wimbledon Dons at the age of 22 and rode for them for the next 5 years until the outbreak of the War in 1939. After the War he joined New Cross Rangers in 1946 where he remained for 3 years. Further teams he rode for included Harringay, Bristol and Norwich . He qualified for the World Championship in 1938 when gaining 7 points to earn 15^th place. He died at the ripe old age of 90.	TREVOR REDMOND was born in Christchurch , New Zealand on 16^th June 1927 and began riding at his local track at Aranui. He moved to England in 1950 where he joined Aldershot Shots and rode for them for 2 seasons. He joined the Wembley Lions in 1952 and remained there until 1956. During this time he qualified for the World Finals twice, although in 1952 he was reserve. In 1954 he gained 13^th place with 5 points. Further teams he rode for included Swindon , Bristol , Wolves, Neath, Glasgow and St Austell. He died aged 70 in 1997 at Glastonbury.	CYRIL ROGER came from Ashford in Kent and was born on 27^th December 1921. He started racing for Exeter Falcons when he was 26 and was with them when they won the Third Division Championship. In 1948 he joined the New Cross Rangers where he was to remain until 1953. He than began the first of two bouts with Norwich Stars. He qualified for no less than 5 World Championships from 1949 to 1959, with his highest recorded placing being tenth in 1949 with 7 points. He finished his career in 1963 having spent his final 2 years racing for Southampton Saints.



			BRUCE SEMMENS was born at Sancreed in Cornwall on 27^th December 1914. He joined Sheffield and from there went on to Belle Vue. He was in the 1951 World Championships where he gained 16 points and was placed 32^nd, but could only manage 5 points the next year. He died on 4^th September 1988.




If you have further rare Liam Devlin cards or information about the stars then email johnwslusar@gmail.com or jocksomerville@gmail.com