Mark Courtney

Mark Vincent Courtney (born 25 March 1961) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England, who rode in the British League for several teams between 1978 and 2003. He earned five international caps for the England national speedway team.

Biography Courtney was born in Braintree, Essex in 1961 and moved with his family to Workington when he was twelve, He joined the Barrow team in the National League the following year, moving to Middlesbrough Tigers in 1979. Also in 1980, he won the National League Pairs, partnering Steve Wilcock for Middlesbrough, during the 1980 National League season.

In 1982, he moved to Leicester full-time after a 15,000 transfer, and in the same year finished as runner-up in the European Under-21 final, defeating Peter Ravn in a run-off for silver.

In 1983, he was the Lions' highest-average rider, and represented England four times.

A successful three-year spell at Berwick between 1988 and 1990 was followed by seasons at Glasgow, Rye House and then Middlesbrough. He was sacked by Middlesbrough at the end of the 1993 season after an incident involving a fire extinguisher at a hotel in Swindon.

After seven years away from racing, Courtney, released from prison on licence, returned in 2000 with Glasgow, moving on to Trelwany midway through 2001. He moved on to his final club, Rye House, in 2002, finally retiring at the end of the 2003 season, after which he became a mechanic, most notably for Chris Harris.

Family Courtney's sons Scott Courtney and Jamie Courtney followed him into speedway, both of whom went on to manage speedway teams. Mark Courtney's brother Sean Courtney also rode from 1982 to 2000.