Johnnie Hoskins

Johnnie S. Hoskins MBE (1892 Waitara, New Zealand – 1987 Kent, England) is considered to have invented motorcycle speedway. Failing that, he certainly played the largest role in promoting speedway and in the United Kingdom.

Born at Waitara, Hoskins grew up in New Zealand, where he left school at thirteen and worked on a farm, before becoming a postman. He next decided to try his luck in Australia, working as a telegraph operator at Wagga Wagga, then moving on to Sydney.

After running low on funds in Sydney, Hoskins got on a train with enough money to get him as far as West Maitland. When he arrived there, he met some friends who helped him to set up a charity sports programme, including boxing and street stalls, which he ran with some success. He was elected Charity Carnival organiser for the Local Hunter River Agricultural Horticultural Society, when the secretary resigned, so Hoskins took on his position, too.

At that time regular fund raising Carnivals were staged on the Maitland Showground by various bodies. As a keen motorcycling enthusiast, Hoskins tried to convince the Agricultural Horticultural Society committee to allow motorcycle races around the showground's trotting track.

On 1 December 1923, the following notice appeared in the local newspaper, the Maitland Daily Mercury:

"Motor cycle races will be a novel feature of the sports carnival to be held on December 15 on the Show Ground. The track is in splendid order, and it is expected that over 40 entries will be received for the different motor cycling events. This will be the first time that motor cycling races have been held on the Show Ground, and the events should therefore prove of great interest."

In his capacity as Secretary to the Local Hunter River Agricultural Horticultural Society, Hoskins organized a sports charity carnival called the Electric Light Carnival, staged on the Maitland Showground on 15 December 1923, to benefit the local orphanages as well as the Local Hunter River Agricultural Horticultural Society. The programme of events staged that night consisted of horse races, including trotting, cycling events, athletics, and motorcycle racing. This was the first time motorcycle racing had been staged at the venue, and this date is widely recognised as the day on which motorcycle speedway in its current form was born. Hoskins ran speedway at Maitland for two years and then moved on to Newcastle in New South Wales.

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Wikipedia