Arthur Eglington

Alfonso (Arthur) Richard Eglington was born on 4th December 1889 in Horsham St. Faith, a small village just north of Norwich in Norfolk. He was from a long line of Eglington’s born in that area who tended the mills and provided local fruit and vegetables to the local neighbourhood.

In his early years he was known amongst his friends and family as Alf, but as he grew older, he dispensed with Alfonso and became more commonly known as Arthur Eglington. This is how many in the skating world would come to know and recognise him.

Eglington was just five years old when the first roller speed skating British Championship was held and would almost certainly have known nothing about it. However, Norwich had a booming relationship with roller skating and he would frequent the local Agricultural Hall or the Rinkeries, Norwich’s other rink, spending much of his spare time on skates. He was well known and popular amongst other roller skaters in Norwich. By the time he was into his late teens he was a frequent winner of local competitions such as a locally reported four lap event for novices on 9th March 1909 or the one mile event on 22nd May where he would lap the field. He was also quite adept at other forms of roller skating, playing roller hockey and enjoying local gymkhana events where he would take part in three-legged races or obstacle races. However, a ‘sliding doors’ moment would soon set him on a path that would change his life forever.

For a few years now roller skating had started to see an increase in popularity across the country. It was enjoying a huge boom where rinks were being built in almost every town and city. By 1909 the craze was in full swing and a number of skaters took up the sport professionally. There was decent money to be made from roller speed skating and ‘challenges’ amongst the elite for prize money was becoming commonplace. These professionals plied their trade in roller rinks throughout the length and breadth of the country and these races included not only those born on British shores, but also the well known speed skaters from across the Atlantic.

In May 1909 the star American speed skaters, Harley Davidson and Allie Moore, visited Norwich and put on a series of challenge races for the watching public who numbered in their thousands. Davidson had won the widely publicised (unofficial) One Mile World Championship at Olympia in London a few months earlier and was a real star attraction for many. To support these challenge events a series of one mile open races were also scheduled which included British professional stars of the sport such as Alf Bear and Bill Curtis Junior. Inspired by this troupe of skaters, nineteen year old Eglington decided to give racing a go. On 24th May he entered one of these events and to the surprise of many (maybe not so much the locals) he made the final. His euphoria quickly turned to disappointment when near the end of the race and well placed, he fell and Alf Bear romped home the victor ahead of other well established skaters Foulger and Curtis Junior.

Three days later Eglington again put his name forward for another one mile open event and this time managed to secure third place behind professionals Bear and Curtis.

A few weeks later, on 16th June, Eglington was on the top step in another local one mile open event. Granted, the travelling elite skaters had now moved on to pastures new but despite this, his interest was now well and truly piqued. Over the next twelve months Eglington continued to race locally whist carrying out his day job with the family but was always pondering his next move.

Twelve months later he was living in nearby Ipswich and working as a motor mechanic. Ipswich also had a roller skating club affiliated to the National Skating Association. Joining both, on November 9th, 1910, he entered his first NSA race. The event was a well-publicised one mile handicap race at the Central Hall, Wandsworth in London where there were a huge seventy-one entries for the event. Quite what it was about this event that attracted such a number is unclear but it was reported to be ‘the largest entry for a single event anywhere in the world’. Of course, claims like that in the early 1900’s could be taken with a pinch of salt, but it can’t be overlooked that this was indeed a significant number. Eglington was given the handicap of 50 yards but his performance would largely go unnoticed, not even progressing through his heat. Regardless, he returned to Norfolk and prepared for his next race.

The 1911 Southern Counties Championship was held on the Holland Park rink in London on 11th January. Eglington found himself in the third heat with one of the championship favourite’s, Leon Meredith (Goys United). Meredith was not only an accomplished roller speed skater who had won the first Five Mile Championship a year earlier, but he was also an ex-world champion cyclist and Olympic silver medallist in 1908. Eglington hit the front from the gun and led for the first three laps from Meredith and Nash (Brixton). Nash then took the lead and Meredith continued to hold his second place. Two laps from home Eglington fell and failed to complete the distance leaving Nash, Meredith, Lawrence (Holland Park) and Bertie Darran (Aldwych) to contest the finish. Marshall (Lava) had pulled up earlier with a broken skate. Meredith took the lead but Nash put in a sprint down the long finish straight and crossed the line ahead of Meredith by mere inches. Nash’s victory over Meredith and progression into the final was huge news and the newspaper reports stated that the race was considered a classic. Eglington was simply a footnote. Since he had given Alf Bear and Bill Curtis Junior a run for their money back in Norwich, his latter day performances away from his home rinks were nothing to write home about.

Unperturbed Eglington decided to join the ranks of the Lava team. Back then a skater could be affiliated to two clubs and as well as Ipswich Eglington felt that by rubbing shoulders with elite amateurs such as Frank Barker and Noble Shield winner, ‘Mike’ Swain he could improve his skating. Based at the Lava rink in Denmark Hill, London, the Lava club was widely recognised as the most successful team of the time and if anybody could help him, the Lava skaters could.

Almost immediately Eglington was thrust into the limelight with an inter club event when the other giant London club, Aldwych, hosted Lava at the Aldwych rink in the next round of the London Racing League. The league was established in November 1910 as an inter-club competition between the numerous London based clubs such as Ilford, Catford, Wandsworth, Beaumont, to name but a few and of course Aldwych and Lava. Points would be amassed from the outcome of the various races and a club league table established with an overall winner declared at the end of the season. On 16th January, just five days after his Southern Counties appearance, Eglington stepped onto a rink in Lava colours for the first time. Each team was made up of four skaters who would each compete in two races each over one mile. Each race comprised of four skaters, two from one club and two from the other. In his first race Eglington would finish third and in his second race he would finish fourth and plum last. Doubts must have surely been creeping into Eglington’s mind by now about his ability, but his next performance would help his confidence.

The 1911 One Mile Championship was run on 9th February at Olympia, Kensington with Eglington skating for Ipswich drawn in the fourth heat against another red hot favourite, Syd Casey (Brixton and Holland Park). With over fifty entries from across the country – as far north as Edinburgh and Hull and as far south as Ramsgate and Eastbourne – it was a lively and much anticipated affair. Unlike his Southern Counties Championship effort, Eglington decided to sit in and let the race unfold in front of him. In fact, he did not see the front until the last lap when with a burst of speed, he went around the others and crossed the line a full eight yards ahead of his nearest rival. His tactic worked and he qualified for his first championship final.

Olympia was one of the largest rinks in the world at the time with a massive six laps to the mile (around 280 metres per lap). In the final were nine skaters, with some reports suggesting that this was too many for a championship final, but the race went ahead as planned. For the first three laps Otto Lerwill (Devonshire Park - Eastbourne) set the early pace with Eglington sitting comfortably in second. On the fourth lap Colley (Ealing) took the lead whilst Eglington still bided his time. On the fifth lap Frank Barker (now Brixton & Holland Park) tried to take his third place and in so doing fell causing not only Eglington but Dunn (Empress – Leicester), Lock (Catford) and Johnson (Boulevard – Leicester) to also fall. This left Duncan ‘Mike’ Swain (Lava) a clear run to the finish and would win in a record time of 2 minutes and 57.5 seconds. Behind him came Lerwill, Hubert Delahaye (Aldwych & Holland Park) and Colley as the only other finishers. Another fall and another chance of a medal had gone begging for Eglington, but now he knew he could hold his own with the elite.

Two weeks later and it was a return to Olympia for the Five Mile Championship. Leon Meredith, now skating for Brixton & Holland Park, was out to defend his title. He had been absent from the One Mile Championship due to a family bereavement but was hoping to make amends. Olympia was fast and records were expected to tumble. The large crowd present were not disappointed. Eglington found himself in the second heat with the title holder Meredith as well as Swain, Colley and the current Northern Counties Champion, Charles Lofthouse (Hull) and qualified comfortably for the final. In so doing he remarkably created new world records for the two, three and four mile distances having led at those particular stages.

The final started at a more sedate pace. In fact, racing did not start in earnest until there was just one mile (six laps) to go. Barker put in a sprint but could not shake Meredith. At four laps to go Swain fell heavily but was luckily avoided by the others. At two to go Meredith hit the front and at the bell he and Eglington were well clear of the others. Meredith crossed the line first to retain the title only two yards ahead of Eglington, the others some twenty yards or more behind. Eglington had his first championship medal. Granted, not the colour he would have wanted, but for all intents and purposes he was now well and truly recognised as a force to be reckoned with.

Just four days later and Eglington was again racing at Olympia. All the major players from the Five Mile Championship were present for a one mile handicap event whereby Eglington was given a handicap of ten yards, winning his heat comfortably from Nash (Brixton & Holland Park). In the fourth heat Barker, starting off scratch, set a new amateur mile record and suddenly the shackles were off. In the next heat Meredith and Casey both surrendered their handicaps to skate from the scratch mark and succeeded in lowering the record further. Meredith’s time of 2 minutes 49.6 seconds was actually faster than the professional record set by the American World Champion, Harley Davidson a year earlier. In the final Eglington, Meredith and Swain all gave up their handicaps to skate off the scratch mark with Barker. From the gun the pace was hot and the scratch men set off after those ahead. The early laps were led by Casey but with a lap to go the scratch men were upon them. Meredith fell just as Barker hit the front but with half a lap to go he was passed by Eglington and Swain. Eglington went clear and crossed the line a full twenty yards ahead of his Lava team-mate with Barker crossing the line third. Not only had Eglington won but in so doing had set a new world record of 2 minutes 48.4 seconds, beating Meredith’s record set just half hour earlier. Eglington now held all amateur records from one mile to four miles and was now heading up the next generation of British roller speed skaters.

3rd March 1911 and another mile event at Olympia and another win for Eglington. He was understandably starting to really enjoy his skating and was even competing for Ipswich in hockey tournaments. However, just a week later he would be at the centre of a controversy that would get widely reported and end up in a race boycott for some.

On 10th and 11th March the famous Noble Shield was raced for at the Boulevard rink in Leicester.

Eglington's Lava club mate Swain had won the trophy on the past two occasions and should he win it a third time would have been awarded it outright, but that was not to be. This is how the event was reported:

RACE FOR THE NOBLE SHIELD A FIASCO

Two thousand spectators lined the barriers of the Boulevard rink on March 11th, to witness the final of the Noble Shield, the preliminary heats having been competed for the previous evening. With Swain having only to win this occasion for the trophy to become his own, one was prepared to see the other Lava man (Eglington) hold a watching brief on his club-mate’s behalf. The latter in no way belied the expectation, for after the 12th lap he apparently impeded the remaining competitors in such a way that all three protested against his running, and the judges upholding the protest declared the race void. The officials were: Judges, Messrs. F. Snow, N.S.A., F. Peach and Dr. Moss-Blundell; timekeeper, P. Robinson; starter, W. Jesson; lap scorer, T. P. Blakesley. FINAL – The draw for positions were as follows; E. W. Bussey (Brixton), H. N. Stroud (Boulevard), A. R. Eglington (Lava), C. E. Johnson (Boulevard) and D. M. Swain (Lava). Stroud went off at a good pace, followed by Swain, Bussey, Johnson and Eglington. Five laps were traversed before a change turned up, then Johnson gave place to Eglington. Stroud continued to make the running, which proved decidedly hot, and it was a moot point who was likely to win. At the ninth bend Bussey went third, but in the next Eglington sprinted past Swain, Johnson and Bussey going into second place, with Stroud leading. In the eleventh Swain again came into the picture and commanded the lead, Stroud going third. The remaining distance was evenly fought out, and it was hereabouts that the alleged impeding by Eglington happened, for all skated in a bunch, Johnson and Bussey vainly trying to get through. At the last bend for home Johnson, by a splendid sprint, ran into second place. The positions as the competition passed the post were: Swain 1st, Johnson 2nd, Eglington 3rd, with the other men well up. A yard divided the first, whilst a foot separated the second and third. Time, 3 min. 23 sec. As mentioned above, the race was declared void, and left in the hands of the N.S.A. to decide. 

[‘The Rinking World’ magazine – March 18, 1911]

For several weeks the decision was pending and much speculation was had around what was going to happen. The result of the race was totally in the hands of the National Skating Association, under whose rules the race had been run. Undoubtedly there would be much speculation as to whether there was a conspiracy to prevent Swain becoming the owner, but the truth was that the NSA had acted upon the observations of judges and protests of others and in the immediate aftermath declared the race void, for now at least.

Two weeks after the event a report from the Lava Skating Club Annual Dinner noted the following:

“Noble” Shield” – D. M. Swain was successful at Leicester, on 9th April, 1910, and again on 22nd November, 1910, in winning this much coveted trophy, against the pick of the London and Provincial amateurs. He was again the winner on 11th March, 1911, but the action taken by the judges on that occasion, when through a cause for which Swain was in no way considered responsible, the race was declared “no decision”, is under consideration by the NSA Executive. Should the NSA decide that the competitors be placed as they finished, the Shield will become the absolute property of D. M. Swain”.

The result was that the NSA did not reverse their decision and in protest the Lava club boycotted the re-run and sadly any subsequent running of the Noble Shield event.

Unperturbed, Eglington continued to race other events with some success. He was now seen as somewhat of a local celebrity in his home county of Norfolk, putting on exhibition displays of speed for the watching public.

As the 1912 season got underway Eglington entered for the Southern Counties Championship at the Empress Hall, Earl’s Court. The race got underway as planned on 1st February, however, he failed to make an appearance and the title went to Sid Cole (Alexandra Palace). Two weeks later and it was back to Earl’s Court for the One Mile Championship. This time it was defending champion, Swain, who was not present which paved the way for a new champion. Of course, Eglington was the red hot favourite but as the race played out it was Sid Cole who would add the British title to his Southern Counties Championship title. In fact, Eglington could only manage third behind Lunn (Wandsworth). It was a bit of a wake up call for the Ipswich man.

A little over a week later the Five Mile Championship was held, again at the Empress Hall. This time there was to be no upset. Eglington qualified easily from his heat and romped home the winner in the final to take his first and only amateur British Championship. Title holder Meredith did not compete due to a strained back and so Eglington found himself odds on, however, nobody would have predicted the margin he would win by. The Empress Hall rink at Earl’s Court was twelve laps to the mile, half the size of Eglington’s favoured Olympia, but despite this he would finish a full lap clear of the second placed skater Hubert Delahaye (Aldwych).

On 6th March Eglington entered an open one mile handicap race at Brixton. Amongst the entrants was the unbeaten American from Baltimore, Steve Shipley. Eglington got the better of Shipley and beat him by five yards, setting a new rink record in the process. Three weeks later Shipley would exact his revenge and beat Eglington by mere inches in a one mile event again at Brixton. Over the course of the next few months Shipley and Eglington would meet each other in numerous races around the country and invariably it was one or the other who would come away victorious. Despite being rivals, Eglington and Shipley struck up a close friendship and undoubtedly there would have been conversations about the possibility of Eglington racing in America. It was common for Americans to come to Britain and compete at that time, but not so common (if at all) that British skaters would go the other way.

As the 1912 season came to a close it was evident that the roller skating boom period in Britain was starting to wane. Just as fast as rinks had been erected so they were now being converted to accommodate a new craze, the electric picture theatre, or as it would later become known, the cinema. By the end of February 1913 Shipley had returned to the States and Eglington had made his mind up to follow him. On 2nd March and with £30 in his wallet he arrived in New York. As he disembarked the “Celtic” he set foot on American soil for the first time.

On arrival he spent some time with Shipley and almost immediately they started racing together. Records of those early races are scarce but America was to make a huge impression on Eglington. By March 1914 Eglington had convinced another British skater, Burt Randell, to join him in America. The pair teamed up with Steve Shipley and again Eglington set about racing. On 12th March a week long series of races were held for amateurs in Detroit, Michigan. The following week another series of races ensued but this time for professionals. Eglington, as did a few others, competed as an amateur in the first week and then turned professional to race the following week. It was to be another turning point in Eglington’s already colourful skating career.

By December 1914 war had begun to rage across Europe but Eglington remained in the States, now earning money from his chosen profession. He would take part in individual races, team races and endurance races, predominantly on a purpose built banked track in Madison Square Garden, New York. The 24 hour team race which concluded on 18th December resulted in a third place finish for Eglington and Shipley, sharing a prize pot of some $5,000. In March 1915 Eglington paired with another American skater, Roland Cioni, for another 24 hour endurance event at the Garden. Cioni was an Italian ex-pat who had declared himself the Champion of Italy and the pair not only came away with a victory but set a new world record of more than 305 miles. There was no let up for Eglington and although he kept a watchful eye on events unfolding back home, he continued to reside in America and continued on with his skating career. In 1916 he moved to Chicago and started work as an instructor at the famous Dreamland rink. On January 8th of that year Eglington set a new world record for fifteen miles, some 48 seconds faster than the previous record set five years earlier.

As America entered the war so Eglington found himself registered for draft, however, he didn’t get called up and so didn’t enter the field of conflict. He continued his skating career uninterrupted. (Incidentally, newspaper reports in May 1916 of Arthur Eglington, champion roller speed skater, being awarded the DCM for gallantry are somewhat misleading. The Lance-Corporal Arthur Eglington that they refer to was in fact Alfonso’s cousin and the roller skating connection was a misunderstanding at best).

Despite Eglington’s American draft card, it would have been unusual for him to have joined the US Army as a ‘non-poaching’ agreement was in place at that time between allies. His father passed away in 1917 but Eglington remained across the Atlantic. With American soldiers now fighting in Europe the skating scene was starting to slow down, which of course affected his income as a professional. The same was true of the sport back in Britain and by October 1919 Eglington decided that he would return home. On 20th October 1919 he made his way off the Cunard liner “Orduna” that had docked at Liverpool and set foot back in old Blighty for the first time in six years. Just a few months later he would announce to the British speed skating fraternity that he was back.

On 2nd February 1921 he entered the Professional One Mile Championship at Holland Park. It would be the first time he had raced in Britain as a professional and went on to win his first British professional title. With professional skaters and competitions now being few and far between Eglington was once again taken to doing exhibition events, such as the old “racing a motorcyclist” or “racing a cyclist” routine. Invariably he won and usually in front of a throng of people numbering almost a thousand. He did retain his One Mile professional title in December 1921 but with only five starters it was a far cry from the heady days of competition at Madison Square Garden. It would be his last title but certainly not the last time he would impact British roller speed skating.

In October 1922 the National Skating Association accepted an invite from the French federation to take part in a formal international event to be held in Paris in November. The invite was accepted and Great Britain put a team of amateurs together to take part, as did Belgium, Romania and. of course, France. Vic Thomson, a former skater and member of the current NSA speed committee, was elected to take charge as team manager. The race was a 25km relay event on the Velodrome d’Hiver but not until the race had reached 21km did anything of note take place. With just 4km to go the Belgian team tangled with the French team and both fell, in turn unsettling the British team. The result was that the Romanian team went clear and eventually won by 60 yards to become the first winners of a major international event. Britain would be awarded second place, but only after France had been disqualified. The Belgians, who had crossed the line fourth, were also disqualified.

The NSA quickly set about offering a return match, a 15 miles relay, and asked Eglington if he would coach and train the national team. Eglington agreed and on 5th January 1923 the first major amateur international on British soil was held at Holland Park. Great Britain, under the stewardship of Eglington, came away victorious. Unfortunately for Romania, passport problems prevented them from attending and defending their title.

Eglington once again focused on his own goals and objectives. He was now 33 years old and had his sights firmly set on breaking the world hour record. The record was presently held by British skater Otto Lerwill, now skating for Aldwych, at 19 miles 367 yards. On 14th February Eglington took to the track at Holland Park and attempted a new record beating it by 183 yards. Throughout the hour he skated well within himself and at one point even passed his own pacemakers. On his way to the record, he also set new professional distance world records for three, four, five, six, seven, ten and fifteen miles. His performance was likened to the first time 20 miles had been achieved on a bicycle in an hour back in the 1880’s. Notably, he also still held the one, two, three and four amateur world records set back in 1911.

On 1st March he attacked the half mile record and put up a time of 1 minute and 26 seconds. It was said at the time that it was the “best sprint performance outside the American banked tracks”.

A week later and he would attack the one mile record and again he would secure it. Eglington now held every world professional record from half mile to fifteen miles. It was a clean sweep and he had cemented his name into the annals of speed skating folklore. He would go on and further break his own half mile and one mile records over the next few years but when imperial distances switched to metric distances in the early 1970’s, Eglington’s professional records still stood, as they do to this day.

What is more remarkable is that his amateur world record for three miles set in 1911 at Olympia was only broken when Luciano Cavallini (Italy) set a new time on the banked track at L’Aquila, Italy, in 1958. Despite the banked track and latest skate equipment, Cavallini was just four seconds faster, as was Ray Wortley when he eventually beat Eglington’s one mile record in 1960 at Brixton.

In January 1924 it was again the turn of the French to hold the twice-yearly international event. Eglington was again called upon to coach and manage the British team, which he did with great success. The team travelled to Paris and returned with the spoils. They would become the first British team to win a major international on foreign soil. The return international match was again held at Holland Park a month later and in front of an estimated five thousand people Britain were again victorious. The team included the latest British skating sensation, Benny Lee, who by now had won all three amateur British titles. He would also be the lone British skater in Antwerp in 1926 where he would come home as the (unofficial) European Champion. Lee would feature heavily in the next chapter of Eglington’s skating career.

By the start of the 1925 season there were no professional challengers for Eglington. In fact, a professional British Championship had not been held since he last won the One Mile back in 1922. Eglington was continuing his exhibition events against cyclists and motorcyclists and setting of new world records, but the thrill of proper competition now eluded him. Another team international at Holland Park on February 13th, 1925, resulted in another win for Great Britain and Eglington, but this was the last time the event was held and Britain would not send another team to a major international for another 13 years.

In April Eglington was eventually challenged to a race by another professional, Charles Bright. Eglington was over the moon at being able to race once more but there were significant question marks about his race form. The event was actually a series of three races to be held at the Alexandra Palace rink on 2nd April. Any doubts about Eglington were quickly dispelled. He won the first race by six yards, the second by twelve yards and the third by a half lap. In so doing he also broke the track record. Despite his victories Eglington was once again beginning to get restless. With skating having resumed in earnest back in America, Eglington decided he would embark on a six month tour of the country and try his hand across the Atlantic once more. His aim was to race in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati amongst other places, and so on November 14th at the invitation of his rival and now friend, Roland Cioni, Eglington boarded the “Mauritania” and headed off to New York.

Back home, on 9th March 1926 Benny Lee skated his last race as an amateur, believing that he could start and make a living from turning professional. His first victory and purse of £25 was won just a few weeks later when he beat Laurie Bright at Alexandra Palace. However, Lee knew that this victory was scant consolation as opposed to what it would mean if he could beat the famous Eglington in a head to head. In fact, Eglington was so well known that he even had his own cigarette card detailing his racing exploits. Lee waited patiently for Eglington to return. In the meantime, the first professional One Mile British Championship would be held for the first time in four years. Eglington was of course still the holder, but being in America meant that he could not defend his title. That victory went to Lee but he still had his sights set on Eglington to the point of almost obsession. Lee personally put up a prize of £100 to meet Eglington and to entice him back to England. He even offered to go to America and race him if that was what he wanted. More than anything, Lee wanted a world title.

Eglington responded, but he would not entertain racing Lee until November when he had planned to return from the States. Eglington had been having some considerable success in America and had been once again enjoying racing against the elite. In fact, he had taken on and beaten Cioni over a half mile and one mile at the Hagerstown rink in Maryland, a rink Eglington was now well associated with, to be declared a World Champion, albeit unofficially. Eventually, Eglington returned and dates were set for a series of three races between himself and Lee at the Alexandra Palace, 30th November, 1st December and 2nd December 1926. The winner of the best of three races would be declared World Professional Champion. However, a day before the first event was to take place Lee withdrew due to illness. It was a blow for both skaters, not least of all Eglington who was just days from his 37th birthday and recognising that time was not on his side. Benny Lee was 16 years his junior.

Eventually new dates were agreed. The conditions had altered slightly with the first event now to be held on 1st February 1927 at Holland Park, which would be a series of three races over a half mile. The winner of the best of three would be declared the Half Mile Professional World Champion and take home a purse of £50. The second event would be on 10th February and again the best of three, but this time over a distance of one mile and the winner declared the One Mile Professional World Champion, again with a purse of £50. Of course, declarations of world titles were still unofficial and a world governing body was still very much in its infancy. Despite this, the importance of these events was not lost around the skating world. Eglington was unbeaten as a professional on British soil and Lee had defeated all British and European amateur challengers before turning professional. Despite Lee having been coached by Eglington during his amateur international days, the pair had never met on a rink and so the scene was set for a showdown between master and apprentice.

The first race between the pair at Holland Park resulted in Lee claiming victory over Eglington, the first time he had ever been beaten as a professional whilst racing in Great Britain. The margin was tiny with Lee declared the winner by just two inches. But if that was small margins then the next race the margin would be even smaller. In fact, it was difficult to split the pair and so a dead heat was declared. It was all to play for in the third and final race. Remarkably, that too was declared a dead heat, the result being that Benny Lee was declared the new Half Mile Professional World Champion. The enthusiastic crowd of some two thousand spectators hoisted both skaters aloft and carried them shoulder high around the rink. Eglington, however, was already mentally preparing himself for the next event, his favoured mile on a rink where he held the track record, Alexandra Palace.

On the evening of 10th February, the pair once again took to the rink in a best of three. In the first race it was Eglington who took the win. He had led for most of the way and came home a full yard ahead of Lee. In the second race Lee decided that he would make the running and went from the gun. Whether it was a planned tactic or whether it was a knee jerk reaction to having just been beaten we shall never know, but the result was that Eglington would pass the youngster and also win the second race. In so doing he was declared the One Mile Professional World Champion and had also set a new track record in the process. At 37 Eglington had shown the world he was still the man to beat.

Shortly afterwards the pair agreed on another best of three half mile events. Both felt that having raced two dead heats there was an underlying feeling of uncertainty about being declared a ‘true’ champion. The date of 2nd March was set for a rematch at Holland Park. This time there was to be no doubt as to the winner. Lee won the first two races outright and could now lay claim proper to being called World Professional Half Mile Champion. Lee would continue to do great things in both roller and ice speed skating in Great Britain whereas Eglington would cross the Atlantic once more back to his beloved America, this time for good.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Eglington’s skating story finishes there, but you would be wrong. He set up home in New York and continued to skate competitively and successfully. In October 1928 he married a New York native, Evelyn Gonseth. It is widely suggested that he met Evelyn at the Hillside Rollerdrome just two blocks from where she would regularly visit her aunt in Queens. In June 1929 Eglington took part in the 6-day race at Madison Square Garden with a prize pot of $25,000. It was an event where sixteen teams of three skaters started but ended with only five teams finishing. Eglington had switched teams mid-way through the event when his initial two team mates withdrew and so he took the place of a skater who had also withdrawn from the Brooklyn team. Eglington and his ‘new’ team crossed the line first having completed 1,246 miles over the six days. It was the last roll of the dice for Eglington. In September that year his wife gave birth to their son and only child, Arthur. On 12th December 1929 Eglington was officially accepted as a US citizen. Unfortunately the marriage ended after just a half dozen years and Eglington became estranged from both his wife and his son. Despite this, he still continued to make a living in America from roller skating, either through running a rink or instructing others how to skate. It was his dream job.

Alfonso “Arthur” Eglington passed away after a short illness at the Union Hospital on 29th February 1976. By that time he had moved to Elkton, Cecil County in Maryland, USA, and had become an instructor at the Merryland rink. Skating was his life and passion, he knew nothing else. These days few people in the British speed skating fraternity will know or have heard of Alfonso ‘Arthur’ Richard Eglington, and it is time to put that right. Not only did he give the likes of superstars Alf Bear and Bill Curtis Junior a run for their money at the turn of the 20th century when speed skating was at its absolute peak, but he would also be a pioneer by taking British speed skating across the Atlantic. Setting numerous British and World records, many of which still stand to this day, winning both amateur and professional British titles, being declared a professional World Champion and pioneering the way for British team management, the achievements of Eglington cannot be understated. One could argue that he isn’t just a British skating legend, but he is the British skating legend.