Alan Grahame

Alan Grahame

Born	(1954-02-05)5 February 1954 Kingstanding, England
Died	3 October 2021(2021-10-03) (aged 67) Worcester, England
Nationality	English
Career history
1973–1977	Birmingham Brummies
1975, 1986	Swindon Robins
1975	Poole Pirates
1975	Wolverhampton Wolves
1975, 1995–1998	Hull Vikings
1978–1985, 1987–1991, 1993	Cradley Heathens
1992	Stoke Potters
1994	Oxford Cheetahs
1994	Peterborough Panthers
Individual honours
1984	Golden Hammer winner
Team honours
1974	British League Division Two Champion
1974	British League Division Two KO Cup Winner
1975	New National League Champion
1981, 1983	British League Champion
1979, 1980, 1982, 1983 1987, 1988, 1989	British League KO Cup Winner
1982, 1984	British League Cup
1980, 1983, 1984	Midland Cup
1994	Fours Championship winner

Alan William Grahame (5 February 1954 – 3 October 2021) was a British motorcycle speedway rider, who rode for the England national speedway team.[1]

Career

Grahame was born at Kingstanding, Birmingham, in February 1954[2] and made his British leagues debut riding for Birmingham Brummies during the 1973 British League Division Two season. He contributed towards the team when they won the league and cup double in 1974.[3]

He finished runner-up to his brother Andy Grahame in the 1982 British Speedway Championship, and qualified for the Speedway World Championship Final in 1984 as reserve and scored five points from two rides.

His most successful period was riding for Cradley Heath, where he won two league championships and seven Knockout Cups from 1978 to 1993.[4][5]

In 1993, he was signed by Oxford Cheetahs[6] and during the final season of his career in 1994, he helped the Cheetahs win the Fours Championship during the 1994 British League Division Two season.[7][8]

At retirement he had earned 42 international caps for the England national speedway team.[1]

He died at the age of 67 on 3 October 2021, from injuries sustained in a motocross racing crash at Bromyard Moto Parc the previous month.[9][10][11]

World Final Appearances

• 1984 – Gothenburg, Ullevi – Reserve – 5pts

References

1. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
2. Cradley Speedway: Alan Grahame profile
3. "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
4. "Alan Grahame". WWOS backup. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
5. "Grahame can go". Daily Mirror. 2 February 1982. Retrieved 1 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
7. "Speedway". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 8 August 1994. Retrieved 11 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "1994 complete season records" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
9. Cradley Speedway Home Page
10. Wigham, Catherine (4 October 2021). "Hull Vikings speedway fans and team-mate pay special tribute to Alan Grahame after sad passing". Hull Daily Mail.
11. "Remembering Big Al". Speedway Star. 3 September 2022. p. 31.