Chum Taylor

{{Short description|Australian speedway rider (1927–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox Speedway rider | name = Chum Taylor | image =  | caption =  | nationality = Australian | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|04|04|df=y}} | birth_place = Perth, Western Australia, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|4|19|1927|4|4|df=y}} | death_place = | Country = | nickname = Chum Taylor | years1 = 1951-1952 | career1 = Ashfield Giants | years2 = 1951-1953 | career2 = Cardiff Dragons | years3 = 1953-1954 | career3 = Bristol Bulldogs | years4 = 1953 | career4 = Swindon Robins | years5 = 1958-1961 | career5 = Southampton Saints | years6 = 1963 | career6 = Oxford Cheetahs | years7 = 1964 | career7 = Poole Pirates | years8 = 1966 | career8 = Cradley Heathens | indivyear1 = 1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1970 | indivhonour1 = Western Australia Champion | indivyear2 = 1966 | indivhonour2 = Australian Champion | teamyear1 = 1954 | teamhonour1 = National League Div 2 Champion | teamyear2 = 1954 | teamhonour2 = Southern Shield Winner | teamyear3 = 1961 | teamhonour3 = National League KO Cup Winner | teamyear4 = 1961 | teamhonour4 = National Trophy Winner | teamyear5 = 1964 | teamhonour5 = Provincial Southern League Winner }}

'''Edwin Vernon Thomas''' "'''Chum'''" '''Taylor''' (4 April 1927 – 19 April 2025) was an Australian motorcycle speedway rider who won the Australian Individual Speedway Championship in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/champ-chum-burnt-up-the-old-speedway-track-ng-b88469066z |title=Champ Chum burnt up the old speedway track |website=The West Australia |access-date=21 January 2023}}</ref> He earned 28 international caps for the Australia national speedway team and one cap for the Great Britain national speedway team.<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=30 December 2023}}</ref>

==Biography== Born in Perth, Western Australia, Taylor received the nickname 'Chum' after his grandmother's comment of "oh, my little chum!" on first seeing him when he was a day old.<ref name="HOF">"[http://www.motorcyclingwa.org.au/index.php?id=37&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=10696&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=33&cHash=21bb1b3a3e MWA Hall of Fame 2013–Inductee-Chum Taylor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726061641/http://www.motorcyclingwa.org.au/index.php?id=37&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=10696&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=33&cHash=21bb1b3a3e |date=26 July 2014 }}", Motorcycling Western Australia, 22 November 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014</ref> He competed as an amateur jockey and worked as a cooper at the Swan brewery near his home, which allowed him to buy his first motorcycle.<ref name="HOF" /> After trying road racing and scrambling, Taylor began his speedway career at the Claremont Speedway in 1948.<ref name="HOF" /> Early success led to an offer to ride for the Ashfield Giants in the United Kingdom, going on to ride for Cardiff Dragons for two seasons.<ref name="HOF" /> He raced in Britain for several teams from 1951 to 1966 including Ashfield Giants (1951), Cardiff Dragons (1951–52), Bristol Bulldogs (1953),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000764/19530404/008/0008 |title=Australian rider is to join Bulldogs |website=Bristol Evening Post |date=4 April 1953 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref> Southampton Saints (1958-1961),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000769/19630326/518/0037 |title=Team changes |website=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=26 March 1963 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref> Oxford Cheetahs (1963), Poole Pirates (1964) and Cradley Heath Heathens in 1966.<ref name="Oakes">Oakes, Peter (1999) ''British Speedway Who's Who 1999'', Sportsdata, p. 107</ref>

He represented Australia in the World Final in 1960, finishing in 11th place. He won the Western Australia Championship on a record five occasions (1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, and 1970), all at Claremont, and won the Australian Solo Championship in January 1966 at the Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide.<ref name="HOF" /><ref name="Star660121">"Chum Wins Title", ''Speedway Star'', 21 January 1966, p. 2</ref>

Taylor represented Australia (and Australasia) several times at international level, first in 1958 in the second Test against England and again in 1959, 1960, 1967/68, 1969/70, 1970/71 (a series in which he captained the team), 1971/72, 1972/3, and for a final time in 1973, a series in which his son Glyn also rode.<ref name="Foster">Foster, Peter (2005) ''A History of the Speedway Ashes'', Tempus, {{ISBN|0-7524-3468-3}}, p. 165–230</ref><ref name="SMH">"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2s1QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VuUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7138,7340697&dq=chum-taylor+speedway&hl=en Strong team in speed Test]", ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 22 December 1970, p. 11, retrieved 7 August 2012</ref> Glyn Taylor would go on to emulate his father by winning the WA State title in 1982 and 1983.

He retired from racing in 1973 at the age of 46 after a crash in a second half race at Crewe in which he broke his shoulder blade.<ref name="Oakes" /> The Chum Taylor Cup is contested annually in his honour at the Pinjar Park Speedway north of Perth.<ref>"[http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-6771-0-0-0&sID=150512&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=12970766 Pinjar Park Season Opener 2010]", sportingpulse.com, retrieved 7 August 2012</ref>

Chum Taylor's autobiography, ''A Dangerous Life'', was published in 1986.

In November 2013 he was inducted into the Motorcycling Western Australia Hall of Fame.<ref name="HOF" />

Taylor died on 19 April 2025, at the age of 98.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|access-date=20 April 2025 |author=Dennis Newlyn |date=20 April 2025 |language=en |title=Australian Speedway: Passing of Chum Taylor, 98. |url=https://www.speedwayillustratednews.com.au/2025/04/20/australian-speedway-passing-of-chum-taylor-98/ |website=Speedway Illustrated News}}</ref>

==World Final Appearances== ===Individual World Championship=== * 1960 - {{flagicon|ENG}} London, Wembley Stadium - 11th - 5pts

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Taylor, Chum (1986) ''A Dangerous Life''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Chum}} Category:1927 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Australian speedway riders Category:Bristol Bulldogs riders Category:Southampton Saints riders Category:Oxford Cheetahs riders Category:Poole Pirates riders Category:Cradley Heathens riders Category:Australian expatriate speedway riders in England Category:Swindon Robins riders