{{Short description|Australian speedway rider (1911–1940)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2011}} {{Infobox Speedway rider | image = Bluey wilkinson.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1911|8|27}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1940|7|27|1911|8|27|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Millthorpe, New South Wales|Millthorpe]], [[New South Wales]], Australia | death_place = [[Bondi, New South Wales|Bondi]], New South Wales, Australia | years1 = 1929-1938 | career1 = [[West Ham Hammers]] | indivyear1 = [[1938 Individual Speedway World Championship|1938]] | indivhonour1 = [[Speedway World Championship|World Champion]] | indivyear2 = 1935, 1938, 1938 (3 & 4 Lap) | indivhonour2 = [[Australian Individual Speedway Championship|Australian Champion]] | indivyear3 = 1935, 1938, 1939 | indivhonour3 = [[New South Wales Individual Speedway Championship|NSW State Champion]] | indivyear4 = 1932 | indivhonour4 = [[Speedway World Championship#Unofficial World Championships|Dirt Track Championnat du Monde]] | indivyear5 = 1938 | indivhonour5 = [[Scottish Open (speedway)|Scottish Champion]] | indivyear6 = 1938 | indivhonour6 = [[Tom Farndon|Tom Farndon Memorial]] winner | teamyear1 = 1937 | teamhonour1 = [[National League (1932–1964)|National League Champion]] | teamyear2 = 1937 | teamhonour2 = Coronation Gold Cup Best Pairs | teamyear3 = 1938 | teamhonour3 = ACU Cup }}
'''Arthur George''' "'''Bluey'''" '''Wilkinson''' (27 August 1911 – 27 July 1940)<ref>Belton, Brian (2004). ''Bluey Wilkinson''. {{ISBN|0-7524-2872-1}}</ref> was an Australian [[motorcycle speedway|speedway]] rider. Wilkinson was [[Speedway World Championship|Speedway World Champion]] in [[1938 Individual Speedway World Championship|1938]] after narrowly missing out on winning the inaugural Championship in [[1936 Individual Speedway World Championship|1936]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Montague|first=Trevor|title=The A-Z of Sport|year=2004|page=532|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=0-316-72645-1}}</ref>
==Early life== Born in [[Millthorpe, New South Wales]], Wilkinson was nicknamed "Bluey" because of his red hair (an Australian custom). At the age of four, Bluey's family moved to [[Bathurst, New South Wales]], which he really considered to be his home town. He was working as a butcher boy when speedway first started at the Bathurst Sports Ground in 1928. It was love at first sight for Wilkinson and he promptly gave up a promising [[rugby league]] career and invested his savings in a battered old belt driven [[Rudge-Whitworth|Rudge]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.speedway.net.au/release.asp?NewsId=28243|title=Speedway Net Australia's Number 1 Speedway Web Site - Powered by Eagle Chassis}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/Ultimate_Index_1929-2022.pdf |title=ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022 |website=British Speedway |access-date=28 July 2023}}</ref>
==Career== On the Rudge, Bluey Wilkinson wasn't a world-beater, but when Sydney and international star rider [[Lionel Van Praag]] came to Bathurst he loaned Wilkinson one of his spare bikes. In a battle of future World Champions, Wilkinson defeated Van Praag in a match race and his talent was recognised. He upgraded his machinery and the results came with it.
In 1929, he headed for England in an effort to get noticed by rich Speedway clubs. He rode in the lower divisions for three seasons before he was offered a contract by the [[West Ham Hammers]] and stayed with the London-based club until 1939.<ref>Belton, Brian (2003). ''Hammerin' Round''. {{ISBN|0-7524-2438-6}}</ref>
Wilkinson won the [[Speedway World Championship#Unofficial World Championships|Dirt Track Championnat du Monde]] (an early version of the [[Speedway World Championship]] and rival of the [[Star Riders' Championship]]) at [[Stade Buffalo]] in Paris during 1932. The following year he went on to finish third in the [[Star Riders' Championship]] in 1933.
Wilkinson continued to return home to Australia to race in the Australian season, usually October through April. 1935 saw Bluey win the [[Australian Individual Speedway Championship|Australian Championship]] at the [[Sydney Showground Speedway|Sydney Showground]]. He would win the title again in 1938 at the 509m long Showground, winning both the three lap and four lap titles and on both occasions defeating [[Wilbur Lamoreaux]] of the [[United States]].
At the inaugural Speedway World Championship Final at London's [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Empire (Wembley) Stadium]] in [[1936 Individual Speedway World Championship|1936]], Wilkinson was undefeated to score a 15-point maximum. However, as the championship also counted bonus points from the Semi-finals, Bluey finished with a total of 25 points, one behind fellow Aussie Lionel Van Praag and Englishman [[Eric Langton]]. Van Praag won a runoff from Langton with Wilkinson credited as finishing the Final in third place.
In 1937 Wilkinson won the [[National League (1932–1964)|National League]] with the Hammers and in 1938 he won the ACU Cup with the Hammers. However the pinnacle of his career was becoming [[Speedway World Championship|World Champion]] in 1938 at Wembley Stadium after finishing third in the inaugural Championship in 1936. He was unlucky not to win the crown in 1936 as he was unbeaten in five races in the final held at Wembley, but was relegated to third place behind winner Lionel Van Praag and England's [[Eric Langton]] under a 'bonus points' system which operated during qualifying rounds.<ref>Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7524-2402-5}}</ref>
Wilkinson's 1938 championship win was considered a gutsy effort after he had actually broken his left collarbone in a meeting for West Ham the night before the World Final. Determined not to miss the final, Bluey had the [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] club doctor put his arm and shoulder in plaster. He ignored the pain he was in to win his first four rides before finishing a safe second in his fifth and last to clinch the World Championship before a crowd of 95,000.
Bluey Wilkinson retired from riding in 1939 to become the promoter at the [[Owlerton Stadium|Sheffield Speedway]].
During his career, Wilkinson also rode for [[Australia national speedway team|Australia]] in test matches against [[England national speedway team|England]] and the [[United States national speedway team|United States]]. He scored a maximum 18 points in each of the five Tests against England staged in Australia in the 1937/38 season, a feat he failed to duplicate the following season by only a single point.
Wilkinson was inducted into the [[Australian Speedway Hall of Fame]] in 2008.
==World Final Appearances== [[File:Bluey_Wilkinson_motorcycle_speedway_rider_cigarette_card.png|thumb|right|150px|1937 cigarette card]] * [[1936 Individual Speedway World Championship|1936]] - London, [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] - '''3rd''' - 25pts * [[1938 Individual Speedway World Championship|1938]] - London, Wembley Stadium - '''Winner''' - 22pts
==Death== After being involved in dozens of spectacular crashes during his speedway career and walking away from them all, Bluey was killed in a road accident in the Sydney suburb of [[Bondi, New South Wales|Bondi]] on 27 July 1940. Riding a motorcycle with his wife Muriel as [[pillion]] he was struck by a lorry which had swerved to avoid a car. He was killed almost instantly with a fractured skull.<ref name="2008-09-30">{{cite book|last=Prior|first=James|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|chapter=Wilkinson, Arthur George (1911–1940)|publisher=Melbourne University Press|year=1990|volume=12|pages=490|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilkinson-arthur-george-9100}}</ref> Muriel survived the accident physically with only little more than a few cuts and bruises.
==Players cigarette cards== Wilkinson is listed as number 48 of 50 in the 1930s Player's [[cigarette card]] collection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.speedwaymuseumonline.co.uk/playerscigerettecards10.html|title=Speedway Riders|website=Speedway Museum Online|access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref>
==External links== *[http://vintagespeedway.homestead.com/Bluey.html Bluey Wilkinson] *[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilkinson-arthur-george-9100 Wilkinson, Arthur George (1911–1940)]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Speedway World Champions}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Bluey}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1940 deaths]] [[Category:Australian speedway riders]] [[Category:Individual Speedway World Champions]] [[Category:Sportsmen from New South Wales]] [[Category:West Ham Hammers riders]] [[Category:Australian expatriate speedway riders in England]] [[Category:Motorcycle road incident deaths]] [[Category:Road incident deaths in New South Wales]] [[Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]