NEWS: Sutton scoops prestigious BC award

Poole chairman, Graham Sutton, was invited to attend the British Cycling National Gala Dinner on 11th February at the NEC in Birmingham to be presented with the Brian Cossavella Memorial Trophy for services to cycle event promotion.

The recipient of this award is voted for by the British Cycling Board from nominations received from within cycle sport. He is the first person from Cycle Speedway to receive this most prestigious accolade for the 2016 European Championships finals, the award was presented to him by by John Quarterman of HSBC, the new sponsors of British Cycling.

The awards evening was hosted by Sky Sports presenter Anthony McCrossan, who was joined on stage through the evening by a number of figures in British cycle sport, including Olympic gold medallist and British Cycling policy adviser, Chris Boardman, BMX world junior time trial silver medallist, Beth Shriever, and mountain bike downhill world champion, Danny Hart.

A former rider for both the Bournemouth and Poole clubs, Sutton was one of the founder members of the current Poole club in 1974, since then he has concentrated on overseeing the club’s success both on and off of the racetrack.

Poole during the 2015 World Championships. Photo by Myke Grimes.

During this time Poole has risen to become one of the most respected and successful clubs at all levels of British and European competitions, with the senior team winning the British League championship title on no less than 12 separate occasions.

His promotional skills came to the fore in 1981, when he organised the first tour of Australia by a British team, and again in 1993 when he arranged Poole’s visit to Poland, the first by a British club side.

These two events formed the basis for the World and European Championships which have been staged bi-annually ever since. Currently a member of the British Cycling Commission for Cycle Speedway, Graham was also one of the founder members of the International Cycle Speedway Federation in 1981.

Situated in the town’s Harbourside Park, the Poole club raceway has staged many of the sport’s top events, hosting the ICSF World Championship Finals on five occasions, the last coming in 2015, and the ICSF European Championship Finals in 1998 and 2016.

2017 will provide another test for Graham’s skills, with the club staging the British Womens and British Womens Under 16 championships. The finals of both events will be held at the Harbourside Park raceway on 28 May.

Congratulations to Graham and his team of volunteers from 33/18 News. Your work and dedication to Cycle Speedway is second to none, and well done for bagging Cycle Speedway such a distinguished award.

With thanks to Gordon Day for contributing to the article.