Ernest Payne

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Ernest Payne

Personal information
Full name	Ernest Payne
Nickname	Ernie
Date of birth	December 23, 1884(1884-12-23)
Date of death	September 10, 1961 (aged 76)
Country	United Kingdom
Team information
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Major wins
Olympic Team Pursuit (1908)
Infobox last updated on:
August 3, 2007

Medal record
Competitor for  Great Britain
Track cycling
Olympic Games
Gold	1908 London	Team Pursuit

Ernest ("Ernie") Payne (born 23 December 1884 in Worcester, England – died 10 September 1961) was a British track cycling racer. He won a gold medal in the team pursuit at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He went on to play football, including two games as an amateur for Manchester United F.C.

Contents 1 Background 2 Cycling career 3 1908 London Olympics 3.1 Team pursuit 3.2 Other events 4 After cycling 5 Memorial 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Background

Ernest Payne was born on in a cottage at 221 London Road, Worcester

Ernest Payne was an amateur cyclist. By trade he was a carpenter. As his cycling prowess grew his employer had to be persuaded to give him time off to compete. After his success Payne gave his employer a gold watch as a thank you.

[edit] Cycling career

Ernest Payne's cycling talent was first spotted at Boughton Park in Worcester. T W Badgery of the Worcester St Johns Cycling Club (speaking at a golden jubilee dinner in 1938) said that he borrowed his brother's bicycle "and it was seen at once that he was going to be a champion"^[1]. Payne joined the St Johns club in 1903.

Payne was stockily built: five feet six and a half inches tall and weighing ten stone and seven pounds. He was trained by his brother Walter, himself a successful racing cyclist. Walter's assistant was Arthur Hale, brother of Worcester racing cyclist, Frederick Hale.

Payne's first race was in 1902, on 14 July at Stourbridge. He crashed and damaged his bicycle in his first race, but went on to win the half-mile handicap (handicap 75 yards) on a borrowed bike. During his first season he won 13 of his 14 track races (coming second in the other one). He specialised in half and one mile races. Payne soon made a name for himself: by the end of June 1903 he was referred to as "the Worcester Wonder" in The Cyclist magazine. The majority of his racing would have been on grass tracks, but he proved to be at home on permanent velodromes.

One of his major trophies was the Challenge Cup. The cup contained 450oz of silver and stood four feet high. He won the cup outright at the 1904 Whitsun meeting in Bath, Somerset. His cycling career produced more than 150 wins including regional, national, British Empire and Olympic championships.

In his first season Payne used a locally-made machine, but in 1903 he rode an Imperial Rover, having also changed his tyres from Dunlop Road Racing to Dunlop Sprint tyres.

[edit] 1908 London Olympics

[edit] Team pursuit

The Team pursuit took place over three laps of the 660-yard track at the White City Stadium in London's Shepherd's Bush. Payne, 23, rode with Benjamin Jones, Clarence Kingsbury and Leonard Meredith in the British team.

The team had a walkover in the first round when the Belgian team did not start. In the semi-final they beat Canada (eventual bronze medal winners) with 2:19.6 to the Canada's 2:29.2.

In the final Payne led the team to victory with pace-making over the last two laps of the 1980 yards (1810 m) event. They recorded f 2:18.6, beating the silver medal-winning German team by 10 seconds.

[edit] Other events

Payne competed in the 660 yards event, winning his heat but getting knocked out in the semi-final.

In the 5000 metres Payne did not finish his semi-final.

In the Sprint he won his heat but was defeated in the semi-final.

[edit] After cycling

Ernest Payne's cycle racing career seems to have finished in 1910. He seems to have been playing football since at least 1908. In 1910 he played for Worcester Early Closers, and was then signed for Worcester City F.C., being in the team that won the Birmingham League back in 1912.

However, he also made two appearances as an amateur for Manchester United F.C.'s first team in 1908-1909, when he is recorded as having signed from Worcester City^[2]. He made his debut against Nottingham Forest F.C. in a League Division One match on February 27 1909. He left Manchester United in June 1909. He is recorded as having scored one goal for the club.^[3]

During World War I he was a motorcycle dispatch rider with the Guards' Division. His gold medal was lost while he was in France during the war but a replica is held by Worcester City Museum.

Ernest Payne died in 1961.

[edit] Memorial

After his death his widow presented Worcester St Johns Cycling Club with money to buy an Ernest Payne shield. It is awarded annually to the club's juvenile champion.

[edit] External links

• The Ernest Payne story at BBC Hereford and Worcester
• A brief history at Worcester St Johns CC's Web site
• A replica of Payne's Olympic gold medal at Worcester City Museum
• Payne's career at Manchester United F.C.
• A photograph of the 1908 Team Pursuit team (including Payne) at the BOA site

[edit] References