Phil Read

Phillip William Read M.B.E. (born 1 January 1939) is an English former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer nicknamed "The Prince of Speed", also the name of Read's 1970 autobiography, and Speady Read. Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Mike Hailwood, he became the first man to win world championships in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc classes.

The Early years

Born in the large Bedfordshire town of Luton, Read was a keen road-rider and worked as an apprentice fitter at Brown and Green, a Luton manufacturer of industrial machinery. His first road machine was a Velocette KSS which he started on at the UK legal-minimum riding age of sixteen in 1955, followed by a BSA Gold Star DBD32. He started amateur short-circuit racing in 1958 on a Duke BSA Gold Star. In 1960 he won the Junior Manx Grand Prix on a Manx Norton at record speed followed by the Junior (350cc) TT race in 1961. He placed second in the 350cc and 500cc races at the 1961 North West 200 in Northern Ireland on Manx Nortons

Phillip Read

Phil Read (born 20 October 1979) is an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club reserves in the Victorian Football League, formerly played for the AFL's West Coast Eagles and Melbourne Football Club.

Read was educated at Wesley College, Perth.

West Coast Eagles

Drafted by the Eagles Read kicked 12 goals from 21 games in his rookie season. His most infamous moment as an Eagle was during the "Demolition Derby" in Round 21, 2000 when Read was struck numerous times during an attempted fight with Fremantle's Dale Kickett. This started a melee involving a number of players which led to Kickett being suspended for a total of 9 weeks and Read for two with a hefty fine for multiple wrestling offences.

Persistent injury problems forced him to miss the entire 2001 and 2002 seasons before returning in 2003 to play 11 games before being delisted at the end of the season.

Melbourne career

Selected by the Demons in the 2004 Pre-Season draft Read played 21 games in his first season for his new club but hamstring injuries struck again over the next two years and he was restricted to 8 games in 2005.