Born in
Adelaide,
South Australia, he is the son of former Australian rider Darrell Branford. Following in his father's footsteps, Robert took up speedway at the age of ten at the
Sidewinders Speedway in Adelaide, and twice finished third in the South Australian Under-16 Championship. In 2010, he began his British speedway career with
Buxton Hitmen in the
National League, riding as part of the team that won the National Trophy, the National League Knock-Out Cup, and
National League Championship that season. He
averaged 2.82 for the Bears in 2011, and the following season only made a handful of Premier League level appearances for Redcar and
Berwick Bandits, suffering a knee injury late in the season. In 2013, he signed for National League
Coventry Storm after an injury to
Oliver Greenwood, and was a surprise winner of the
British Under-21 Championship in April, qualifying for the competition as he holds a British passport, which he qualified for via his Barnsley-born mother. He was subsequently signed by
Leicester Lions to ride in the Premier League, initially sharing the number seven position with
Lewis Blackbird, but taking the position full-time after Blackbird was allowed to join
Scunthorpe Scorpions. He lost his place in July to Storm teammate
James Sarjeant. On 26 January 2014, Branford won the
Jack Young Solo Cup at his home track, the
Gillman Speedway in Adelaide. Branford also finished second in the Gillman Solo Championship in 2010 (behind
Sam Martin), and again in 2013 when he finished second in the final to
Shane Parker. Branford also won the
Chum Taylor Cup at the
Pinjar Park Speedway in Perth and later won the Victorian Under-21 Championship held in
Albury–Wodonga. In 2016, he was part of the
Rye House Raiders team that won the
National League Fours, held on 14 August 2016 at
Brandon Stadium. ==References==