ALLAN KIDD POOLE PIRATE 1950 – 1962

As the club’s 70th anniversary year draws to a close, fans will be saddened to learn of the death of former Poole captain Allan Kidd. He was 89.

Allan was a loyal team member, riding only for the Poole club throughout a 12 year career that started at Wimborne Road in 1950. Like many before him, Allan started to learn his craft in the second half scratch races before making his first team debut at the end of May in the Poole side that won 45 – 38 at Tamworth.

 But it was 1951 before he became a regular member of the side, riding mostly at reserve in a strong Poole team that won the Festival of Britain Shield before walking off with the Third Division championship, and with it, promotion to the Second Division of the National League.

 Retained for the 1952 campaign he continued to improve and was a more than reliable member of the Poole side that steam-rollered its way to the Second Division title at the first attempt.

 An ever present member throughout the next three seasons Allan made an amazing sequence of 157 consecutive league appearances for the club, while helping the Pirates to clinch another Second Division championship and promotion to the First Division.  He was also a member of the Poole side that made historic tours of Sweden and Denmark in 1953 and 1955.

 While finding life a little harder in the top tier, Allan retained his place throughout the 1956 campaign but when Poole withdrew from league racing in 1957 he decided to emigrate with his wife to Canada where they spent the next three years.

 1960 saw him tempted back to Poole by promoter Charles Knott, and as captain led the Pirates through an exciting season that saw them just miss out on another league title.   It was at this time that he appeared as the star of a popular television advert for Players cigarettes, which not only showed his on-track exploits but his home life as well.

 He was a mainstay of the Pirates side that won the league championship in 1961 and was gearing himself up for another championship bid in 1962 until sustaining a bad back injury which put an end to his racing career.

 Allan returned to Canada, where he spent the rest of his life with his wife and family, making several return visits to Poole to see his friends and visit the Wimborne Road stadium where he used to thrill the crowds with his on-track heroics.

 (obituary written by Gordon Day, picture courtesy of the John Somerville collection)

The Management and Riders of Poole Speedway extend their sincere condolences to his wife Valerie and their family at this sad time.