John Louis
Born (1941-06-14) 14 June 1941
Ipswich, England
NicknameTiger
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1970–1980Ipswich Witches
1970Newport Wasps
1970West Ham Hammers
1971Oxford Cheetahs
1971Wembley Lions
1981–1982Halifax Dukes
1983–1984King's Lynn Stars
Individual honours
1971British League Div II Riders' Champion
1975British Champion
1976Southern Riders' Champion
1979British League Riders' Champion
1971, 1978, 1979Second City Trophy
1972, 1979Star of Anglia
1974Superama
1975Pride of the East
1975, 1978Golden Sovereign
1975Golden Gauntlets
Team honours
1970, 1971British League Div II KO Cup winner
1972, 1974, 1975World Team Cup Winner
1975, 1976British League Champion
1976, 1978British League KO Cup winner
1976World Pairs Champion
1976, 1977British League Pairs Champion
1976Spring Gold Cup

John Charles Louis (born 14 June 1941)[1] is a former England international motorcycle speedway rider[2] He is the father of Great Britain International Chris Louis.[3] He earned 54 international caps for the England national speedway team and four caps for the Great Britain team.[4] He later managed the England national team from 1994 to 1998.

Career history

Ipswich born Louis started his motorcycling career in scrambling and was tempted to have a go at speedway when Ipswich re-opened in 1969. He made his debut in 1970 and by the following year topped the national Second Division averages. He won the British League Division Two Riders Championship, held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 2 October 1971.[5]

In 1972, Ipswich gained admission to the top flight by purchasing West Ham's licence and Louis spearheaded the Witches team, making his World Final debut at London's Wembley Stadium in 1972, finishing in 5th place.

Louis finished fourth at the 1974 World Final at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden and improved to third in the 1975 World Final at Wembley - becoming the first British rider to stand on the World Championship podium since Peter Craven in 1962. Louis was part of the Great Britain Speedway World Team Cup winning team of 1972 and England's 1974 and 1975 winning teams.

Louis was also the British Champion in 1975 (Chris Louis would win the British Championship in 1998 and 2000 making them the first father-son to do so).

The following year, he was the World Pairs Champion in 1976 with Malcolm Simmons and finished sixth in his last World Final appearance in Poland. He also captained Ipswich to the British League title in 1975 and 1976 and the British League Pairs Championship with Billy Sanders during 1976 and 1977.[6]

He won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 20 October 1979.[7] In 1981, Louis joined Halifax, spending two seasons at The Shay before signing for a season at King's Lynn in 1983.

Management

He retired from riding in 1984 and became the promoter of the Ipswich Witches. He retired as the promoter of Ipswich in 2019.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

World Pairs Championship

World Team Cup

* 1972 for Great Britain. All others for England.

References

  1. ↑ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
  2. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN 978-0-244-72538-9
  3. ↑ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 524. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  4. ↑ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Reg Wilson finishes eighth in speedway riders' finals". Hull Daily Mail. 4 October 1971. Retrieved 16 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 20 October 1976. Retrieved 16 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Speedway". The People. 21 October 1979. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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