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Adrian McKinlay, would like to thank Maurice Jones for all his help and Information in writing this, his father's Biography.
Ken 'hurri-ken' McKinlay 1928-2003
As a young rider serving in Germany in the signals corps just after the Second World War,
Ken McKinlay saw his first taste of speedway, after an amount of string pulling the young Scot eventually
managed to get in on the scene with a few races on the British army tracks in occupied Germany.
On returning to civilian life in his native Scotland Ken McKinlay was really bitten by the speedway bug and went along to the White City in Glasgow for a trial, successfully negotiating this hurdle Ken was
asked to compete in the second half of the programme, in those far off days the Glasgow Tigers were a strong side with a blend of British and Australian riders, one of these was a man who was later to play a significant part in the speedway future of our young aspirant, that man was Joe Crowther who became a very close friend to Ken McKinlay and his family.
Ken McKinlay made his league debut for the Tigers in the 1949 season, this in itself was a major achievement, breaking into a team with such stalwart riders as Junior Bainbridge, Gordon McGregor, Will Lowther, Norman Lindsay and of course Joe Crowther, during this first season his total league points were 26 from 18 matches, his highest score being a 7 point return from the home match against Fleetwood, in the same season Ken also rode a home and away tie against Norwich in the National Trophy and recorded
a solitary point! The following season saw an improvement in his scoring with 77 points from 23 matches but probably his progress was overshadowed by another young Scot, Tommy Miller burst onto the scene and in fact headed the Tigers scores in his first season, these two young men were destined to become close friends and Scotands best ever riders.
The next three seasons were also spent at White City with the Tigers and a steady improvement in McKinlays style and ability were noticable, eleven full maximums and twenty eight double figure scores in league matches was evidence indeed that Ken McKinlay had arrived, also a trip to Australia during the winter of 1951-2 held him in good stead, he did in fact finish second to the evergreen Jack Parker in the England test scorers with 20 points from three matches, this was to be a regular trip each winter for the next 20 years riding and captaining for England, Great Britain and the European test sides and also being contracted to ride as a solo rider at all of the big Australian circuits. Ken won the Australian Solo Championship in 1964, when overseas riders were still allowed to compete, with seconds and thirds during other years. Ken met and married his Australian
wife, Rena, during 1960-1.
1954 saw Ken McKinlay as the number one rider for the Glasgow Tigers, Tommy Miller having moved to Motherwell, however the lack of support saw Glasgow White City close down after only six North Sheilds
matches, the McKinlay contribution from six matches being 77 points including three maximums away from home, it came as no surprise to many when Leicester Hunters signed Ken McKinlay after the closure
in Glasgow, no doubt Joe Crowther had a bearing in this move, Joe was the Hunters team manager
and remained in that capacity for many years. While riding at Glasgow Ken picked up the nickname
'hurri-ken' shortened to 'Ken', bestowed to him by the great speedway icon Johnnie Hoskins, this moniker was to remain with him throughout his speedway career, his real name infact being 'John Robert Vickers McKinlay'.
During the five complete seasons with Glasgow Ken put together 1,484 points from 223 matches this
total includes all League Cup and other team matches but does not include any bonus points or individual, open or international meetings.
On joining the Leicester Hunters during the early part of 1954 the young good looking Scot was an instant success and carried on where he had left off at Glasgow, apart from being popular with the supporters
he was also very well received by his team mates, due to the number of tracks closing down the league was reduced and a lesser number of matches were raced, this pattern was to continue for the next few seasons until eventually in 1957 there was an amalgamation of Division One and Division Two of the old National League, although Ken had regularly raced against the big names in open meetings etc now came the big test to see if he could match them in the hustle and bustle of league racing, Ken proved more than equal to the task, in fact in 1957 only Peter Craven, Barry Briggs, Peter Moore and Bob Roger scored more points than his 243 from 20 matches, Ken McKinlay was now well and truly in the big time, even though he had already qualified for two World Finals and represented England, Great Britain and Europe
against Australia both at home and in the antipodes, however prior to the already mentioned link between the two divisions, Ken McKinlay was top scorer in division two in 1954
and 1956, but in 1955 he was second highest to Exeters Jack Geran with 414 points from 31 matches, in fact the record shows that in all matches for Leicester in 1955 Ken McKinlay scores no less than 604 points from 44 matches not including bonus points , he also qualified for the World Final at Wembley as reserve.
1958 again saw the Leicester based Scot in fine form, he scored 236 points from 17 matches and recorded double figures in every home match, add to this another 146 points from just eleven
other matches and his best ever placing at a World Final and some indication of his prowess is evident, his run off for 3rd place against his close friends Aub Lawson and the great Peter Craven in the 1958 World Final was one of his most cherished memories. Also in the same season he scored 57 points in test matches against Australia, in the winter of 1958-9 he captained the touring English test side to Australia and put together 55 points out of a possible 60 including three twelve point maximums at Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
The following season followed much the same pattern as before, double figures in every league match
except at Wimbledon where he managed only 9, leading scorer in the test series in Australia this time with four maximums from a possible five, 194 points in other matches and of course top scorer in the league with 220 points from 16 matches, Peter Craven was the only other rider to exceed 200 points in 1959. Although Ken failed to reach the World Final he won the Midland Riders Championship becoming
the first rider to win the prestigious title three times having previously won it in 1956 and 1957.
The next two seasons at Leicester probably saw 'hurri-ken' at his very best although he was a late starter
in 1961 missing six league matches, he was late returning from his annual trip to Australia, however he still scored very much as before, in 1960 he was only outscored by Peter Moore of Ipswich and Bjorn Knutsson of Southampton, during this period in speedway history the Provincial League was formed and many of Ken McKinlays ex team mates were making a come back, as it transpired Leicester switched to the new league in 1962, this of course meant the departure of Ken McKinlay, it was almost inevitable
that he should move to nearby Coventry Bees who were governed by the same management as the earlier
Leicester Hunters.
Three seasons at Coventry and Ken was still among the leading riders in the country, during this
time he formed a very close friendship with a young Nigel Boocock and groomed him into one of speedways all time greats, these two riders along with Ron Mountford and Jim Lightfoot provided the backbone of a very good home and away side, these three years saw McKinlay put together 912 points from 106 league, cup and challenge matches, he was still a regular internationalist and world finalist
in 1962 and 1964.
Probably the most significant era of speedway came about in 1965, the amalgamation of the national league with the fast developing Provincial League saw wholesale movement and reshuffles
with in the sport, Ken McKinlay was not left out of these, although still having ties with management
he has served so well he was allocated to West Ham, the London club with a splendid stadium
and a huge reputation, accepting the challenge Ken responded in the best possible way, the new West Ham skipper steered his side to a unique treble League Championship, K.O.Cup and London Cup winners,
his own contribution was 564 points from 53 league, cup and challenge matches, in the league only Barry Briggs, Nigel Boocock and Charlie Monk scored more than McKinlays 360. The following season
saw a slight drop in performance by the Scottish scoring machine, however this can be attributed to a couple of injuries, during his career he managed to avoid injuries both serious and minor, the next three seasons at the Custom House track saw the development of younger riders, much of this came about as a result of Ken Mckinlays coaching and dedication to his younger team mates, he was a great captain
and team rider probably the best ever, who gave advice help and often a well intentional reprimand to point out mistakes.
At the end of the 1969 season after five years at West Ham McKinlay returned to Coventry, not a great season by his previous standards but it should be remembered that he was now past 40 years of age and was still riding a JAP engine, this is spite of the more popular JAWA being used by most of the other top riders at the time, his 275 points from 36 league matches was a major contribution in the Bees runner up spot in the final league table, he also scored another 96 points from 12 Cup and challenge matches during the season, this time his association with Coventry was short lived, in 1971 he moved to Oxford Cheetahs and stayed for just two seasons, never happy on the compact Cowley circuit his scoring did not do justice to his efforts, only five times recording double figures in two seasons, his 279 points from 60 matches in league racing told him it was time to quit while still a name to be remembered as one of speedways all time greats.
Happy to retain his interest in speedway by service and rebuilding engines Ken concentrated on building up his motor car service and repair business, however his retirement was short lived, Brian Osborn saw the benefit of including Ken McKinlay in his building program at Scunthorpe, Ken agreed to join the Saints as rider-coach on the understanding that when the youngsters had developed sufficiently to warrant a team place he would stand down from his riding activities, Ken McKinlay always had the interest of young riders at heart and was anxious to see the results of his coaching bear fruit, as it happens his decision to retire from racing was hastened by a nasty fall in the 1974 Div 2 Riders Championship Final at Wimbledon, although he did in fact start the 1974 season with the Saints he was forced to quit after 24 league matches because of a troublesome shoulder injury received the previous year, during his three valuable years at Scunthorpe his personal contribution in all matches was 673
points from 98 matches, this is only a fraction of his total contribution to the Saints, many points scored by other Saints riders could be credited to the canny Scot in one way or another.
Ken KcKinlay retired from speedway racing in 1975 at the age of 47. During his 27 year career
he rode with and against all of the big name riders from the golden years of speedway,
beating them and in turn being beaten by them. He rode in 12 Individual World Finals,
1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1964,1965,1966 and 1969.
He captained Scotand, England, Great Britain and Europe. He won 34 caps for Great Britain
plus 11 for GB/England in the World Team Cup, 26 for Scotland, 29 for England and 44
for the British Lions in Australia. Ken McKinlay replaced Jack Parker as captain /manager
of the British Lions
and had a distinguished Australian career as mentioned earlier.
Ken McKinlay held both the British and Scottish Match Race Championships
and won countless individual titles too numerous to mention.
Ken was recognised as being immaculate and stylish, always gleaming on the track
he was also an ace tuner and maintained all of his own machinery as well as many other riders
of his era.
A prolific scorer at team level, he was also a great captain and team rider.
After his retirement Ken conducted some training schools and also had a brief spell
as manager at Scunthorpe and Long Eaton.
Ken passed away on February 9th 2003 in Leicester, the city
which had launched Ken into becoming one of speedways all time greats.
