William 'Bill' Pitcher was an international motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

 rider who rode in the first ever World Championship

Speedway World Championship

The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each...

 final in 1936

1936 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. It was the first of a record 26 times that London's Wembley Stadium would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.*1936 Podium# Lionel Van Praag # ...

.

Career summary

Pitcher rode for the Coventry Bees

Coventry Bees

The Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team based at Brandon near Coventry, England. A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the Southern League and then the National League in the pre-war era at Brandon stadium. There were also meetings at a stadium in Lythalls Lane...

, Birmingham Brummies

Birmingham Brummies

Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team, who were reformed in 2006 and then accepted into the Premier League in 2007. The club race at Perry Barr Stadium ....

 and the Harringay Racers

Harringay Racers (speedway)

The Harringay Racers were a motorcycle speedway team who raced at the Harringay Stadium from 1947 until 1954 in the National League Division One....

 before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and was a member of the team that won the London Cup in 1935. In 1936 he rode in the first ever Speedway World Championship. After the end of the war he joined the Belle Vue Aces

Belle Vue Aces

The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway team from Manchester in the north west of England.-Brief history:Racing first took place in 1928 at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane before moving the following year to a specially built stadium nearby on Hyde Road. The club raced there...

. Pitcher was also a member of the England team

Great Britain national speedway team

The Great Britain national speedway team are one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by Poole Pirates manager Neil Middleditch and the captain is Chris Harris of the Belle Vue Aces....

 that toured Australia in 1946-47. He made his England international debut in 1939. His final season was in 1949 with the Wimbledon Dons.

World Final appearances

• 1936
  1936 Individual Speedway World Championship
  The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. It was the first of a record 26 times that London's Wembley Stadium would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.*1936 Podium# Lionel Van Praag # ...
  
   -  United Kingdom London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  , Wembley Stadium - 17th - 8pts