Mawdsley, born in Salford, Greater Manchester, was a despatch rider during
World War II. He began his British leagues career riding for
Rayleigh Rockets during the
1949 Speedway National League Division Three season. It was the inaugural league season of speedway at Rayleigh organised by Messrs. Greavey and Rundle. The following season in 1950,
Plymouth Devils signed Mawdsley on a free transfer from
Norwich Stars, who held his contract. Mawdsley finished racing after the 1951 season but would later decide to concentrate on promoting. His first major venture was with
Exeter Falcons at the
County Ground Stadium in 1960, where he promoted the team with
Pete Lansdale. Mawdsley and Lansdale took over at
Newport Wasps in 1969, following Mike Parker relinquishing his interest at the Welsh club. The pair introduced the
Romford Bombers to British speedway in 1969 and then Mawdsley helped revive the
Bristol Bulldogs in 1977. Ventures followed at
Hull (with
Ian Thomas),
Mildenhall,
West Ham,
Plymouth,
Weymouth,
Swindon and
Cantebury. He served as chairman of the BSPA and was the manager of the England team 1983 to 1984. == References ==