E I Addio

Be positive Steve . When Lakeside dropped down to NL in 2016 the racing was dire. No other word for it, In 2017 in the CL we had 3 heatleaders the crowd could really get behind , in Nick Morris, Adam Ellis and Richard Lawson, and I enjoyed that season as much as I had enjoyed Speedway for years. It’s just a tragedy the club was stuffed by the malevolent Rob Godfrey in his bizarre determination to reduce the number of teams. If you have a team at any level you can really get behind that’s 60% of the enjoyment of the sport.Sadly I no longer have a club to support so my enthusiasm is evaporating quicker than a snowball in the Sahara , but as you say it really is in the blood so give it your support and am I sure you will enjoy it. Make the most of it . The best days of the sport are behind us and I doubt whether it will be with us much longer, especially with the present idiots in charge.

Yes, me relying on faulty memory instead of checking before I posted. He did beat Jack Parker 2-0 in a match race meeting in Edinburgh but it was a non title event in 1950, presumably an “extra” to keep the crown entertained. In his first season with West Ham, 1952 he scored something like 19 maximums in 38 matches.

World Champ in 1951 and 52, first and only second division rider to win the World Title ( which shows how competitive the second division was in those days). I am pretty sure he beat Jack Parker in the British Match Race Championship when still in the second division with Edinburgh. He still has a street named after him on the site of the old West Ham Stadium.

Didn’t Jack Young beat the four of them, Fundin, Moore , Briggs and Craven in the Tom Farndon Trophy Meeting In 1961 before he returned to Oz for good ?

I remember both Les and Sandy seeming to be too tall for a speedway rider. Sandys style was completely ungainly, arms and legs all over the place and he was never really more than a reserve. Les had a most perculiar style, difficult to describe but kind of laying backwardson the bends, almost like sitting i a bath I thought. Quite a boring rider and never seemed to do much passing. I believe Len Silver persuaded him to come out of retirement to ride for the Hawks after he had suffered serious internal injuries riding for Wimbledon ( I think it was ) a few years earlier. Can anyone throw any light on this. What happened to the McGilvrays when they left Hackney ? Did they retire?

I never saw their whole careers but my memory tells me that in their Hackney days Pratt’s was easily best, almost un beatable round Waterden Road. Not surprising because he always got there early to make sure Len Silver prepared the track the way he wanted it round his favourite inside line. I never saw him smile though , even after scoring a maximum.

Gluestix is nothing more than a complete and utter attention seeking brainless jerk. He feeds on getting a bite to the nonsense he posts. The more people reply, the more drivel he will post. Just ignore him.

Old Bob is a compulsive moaner. Always was, always will be. Just ignore him.

One of speedways real hard men but the sort that brought the crowds in. A sad loss

The plaudits of the previous posters say it all. Not many riders go through a whole career with barely a bad word said about them but everyone liked AJ. AJ - A massive talent, and thoroughly nice bloke. Leigh Lanham said his favourite times in the sport were riding No 2 at Lakeside with AJ at No1. Fantastic team rider . It was always amusing to see AJ coming off bend 2 and pointing to where he wanted Leigh to go, left or right, Leigh would go there and AJ would bring him home. One thing many people didn’t see was that he was meticulously organised and always treated his mechanics extremely well. All good things come to an end. Sorry to see AJ go but as has been said, he has taken a lot of knocks and I am glad to see him leave in one piece, and while he is still relatively near the top. He still rides at No1 in my dream team though.

What exactly do people mean by monkey masks ? I have always taken them to mean the one- piece goggles and face mask combined but it seems some take it to mean any kind of face mask other than a scarf. Could we clarify that ?

Stevebrum is exactly right. The paramount rule is that no Marshals , First Aiders or any other personnel are allowed on the track until all the bikes are off. The start and finish of the track marshals authority while bikes are on the track is to hold out the red flag when the referee puts the red lights on.Nothing more. Whatever else happens is not within the marshals authority to deal with. However, I don’t think the SCB has the authority or power to punish the marshal personally although possibly they could fine promotion.

That’s the point I was making. All this fuss about Schein riding in a British Final but it used to be commonplace for Commonwealth riders to not only ride in it but win, not to mention ride for Great Britain in Test Matches. If Rory has a British licence there’s no reason why he shouldn’t ride in the British Final. Plenty of foreign born sportsmen have represented GB in a variety of sports , notably cricket over the years.

Barry Briggs won Six British Finals.

I was agreeing with that post until I got to the last word. Neanderthal would be more accurate.