November Obituaries - Jim Wells, Guy Allott, Bob Duckworth
Jim Wells
Kiwi Jim, a pal of Jack Millen, came to the UK in 1972 and joined Sunderland where he was a virtual ever present for the East Boldon side for three seasons in their various guises as “Stars” and “Gladiators”. He finished his first season with an average of 3.81, a figure he doubled the following year when he became the team’s third heat leader behind Jack Millen and Dave Gatenby. This dramatic improvement was recognised by the Speedway Star’s Eric Linden who gave him the 1973 Mister Progress award. He was the Gladiators number one in 1974 and, with their season finishing early, somewhat controversially joined Berwick for a handful of meetings in the days before a transfer deadline. With Sunderland closing he joined Stoke in 1975 and subsequently turned out for Oxford in 1976 before returning home.
He rode for Australasia in Division Two tests against England, scoring 15 in their 64-44 win at Hull in 1973 and rode in all three tests at Barrow, Middlesbrough and Boston the following year. He also had three “caps” in the five match series in 1975 riding at Birmingham, Workington and Eastbourne.
Guy Allott
Speedways “grand old man” Guy Allott passed away having celebrated his 101st birthday in September. Took up the sport in his late 20s and joined brother Tommy in the Sheffield side in 1949, making rapid progress over the next two seasons. When Sheffield closed at the start of the 1951 season he was one of the top prospects in the Second Division and moved to Cradley Heath but never really reproduced his Owlerton form. He subsequently rode for Motherwell and Wolverhampton before joining Bradford in 1954 and eventually became a regular member of the side at Odsal, riding in their colours for four years before signing for Leicester. However he never settled at Blackbird Road and was given the opportunity of returning to Sheffield in the Provincial League midway through the 1961 season. He was one of the top men in the Provincial League but suffered serious hand injuries, which ended his career, when falling from a tractor on a parade at Owlerton in May 1963. He later became a renowned engine tuner after his retirement, assisting many riders including Ivan Mauger.
Bob Duckworth
Bob came to England in 1951 to join Belle Vue and spent the best part of two seasons at Hyde Road, making just four appearances. He joined St. Austell in the Southern League but at the end of that season the Cornish side folded and Bob was re-signed by Johnnie Hoskins for Belle Vue apparently for £2 10s, earning him the nickname of ‘Fifty Bob’ which stuck with him for the rest of his career. In 1955 he was amongst the best in the league and became a mainstay of the ‘Aces’ line-up for a number of years until he suffered horrendous foot injuries in a crash in a World Championship Semi-Final at Southampton in August 1961 which looked to have put his career under threat but, after almost a year out of the
saddle, he returned to take his place in the ‘Aces’ line-up but clearly struggled. He had one more year in British speedway, with Newcastle in the Provincial League in 1963, before returning to New Zealand.
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