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HertsRacer

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Everything posted by HertsRacer

  1. HertsRacer

    Mitcham Stadium, Surrey

    Don't know much about the history of cycle speedway but I did find these teams that seem to be connected to Mitcham. Mitcham Broadsiders, Mitcham Broadsiders Cubs, Mitcham Kiwis, Mitcham Racers, Mitcham Tigers and St Hellier Saints.
  2. Seeing Joe's list brought to mind another country with a long history of staging speedway, namely Austria. Did they ever stage league racing?
  3. HertsRacer

    Jack Dalton, New Cross And Bristol

    Jack Dalton appeared in a couple of National League meetings for New Cross Lambs in 1934. In 1935 he was a regular member of the non-league Luton team before returning to New Cross the following season. Although he failed to make the Rangers side, he made 5 appearances for Provincial League side Cardiff followed by a further dozen meetings for Bristol. In 1937 he made 9 appearances for New Cross in what appears to have been his final year.
  4. HertsRacer

    Speedway Bid At Arsenal 1929

    Just been looking through some old newspapers and found that there was a preliminary application for speedway at Charlton in 1948 along with Cheltenham, Worksop, Romford, Braintree, Brighton, Stainforth, Nottingham, Stepps (Lanarkshire) and Kings Lynn. I know that Romford was turned down by the local council and Stepps was refused a licence. Anybody know why the other applications came to nothing at the time.
  5. HertsRacer

    Speedway Bid At Arsenal 1929

    Not aware of any earlier attempts for speedway at Charlton. There was an application for the sport to be held at that time at Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace F.C.
  6. HertsRacer

    'oldest' Starter To Make Grade

    Though I can't think of any "oldie" who went on to have a successful career, I came across a story a while ago of a rider called Harry Denton who made his debut at non-league track Brafield in the 1966 Midland Junior Riders Championship when he was in his 50's. He even won a race. I can't find any further reference to him after this meeting so I guess his career was short but sweet.
  7. HertsRacer

    Speedway Bid At Arsenal 1929

    Though Midget Car racing was held at the Valley just after the war, the attempt to bring speedway to Charlton was at the greyhound stadium just up the road in 1966 (I think). Even got to the stage of signing riders before the stadium owner changed his mind and sold the place for redevelopment.
  8. Thanks for that gustix, a wonderful read. It all comes flooding back to me now. They even feature 2 of the programmes I have. Must dig them out.
  9. Not sure about this one, but in the 70's speedway was held in what was then Rhodesia. I have some programmes somewhere. Think there was team racing but not sure if there was a league.
  10. Didn't Finland have a league once, or have they still got one?
  11. HertsRacer

    Staines Speedway

    There's a lot of old tracks not included on the site, simply because nobody has sent John any information about them. I'm sure if anybody has any photo's or articles on Staines he would love to include them.
  12. HertsRacer

    Future Of British Speedway?

    The same 70's where most people left after Heat 13, and campaigned for matches to be longer and second halves abolished. Believe me they were a waste of time, Nobody (riders or spectators) was interested in them.
  13. HertsRacer

    Which Rider Used To Travel The Furthest For Home Meetings?

    Didn't Chris Julian used to fly to and from Glasgow?
  14. HertsRacer

    Wimbledon Reunion

    Speedwayplus website now has a report and some photos of the event.
  15. HertsRacer

    Tommy Jansson

    I supported Wimbledon in the Tommy Jansson years. Never known a rider with such charisma. Total darling of the supporters, Remember as if it was yesterday going to Plough Lane for the meeting following his death, Many supporters just couldn't face going again, and for those of us who did the atmosphere was like a morgue. Always believed that the day Tommy died was the day Wimbledon Speedway died, it was never the same .
  16. HertsRacer

    Kevin Holden

    As a Romford Bombers supporter, I remember him making his debut as a wobbly reserve in 1970. By the next season he had developed into our No 1 and become one of the best riders in the league. Super rider to watch and a firm fans favourite. So sad he was never able to reach his full potential.
  17. HertsRacer

    Bspa Warning About Live Streaming

    Steve, BT were never a threat to Sky winning the main football contract, they were only interested in gaining more of the smaller packages of games on offer. Sky were spooked by rumours that Fox or one of the major Middle East companies wanted the main contract, so bid way over the odds. In the end neither of the others bid, so Sky were lumbered. The only way they could pay for it was to jncrease prices to the customer and drastically cut back on costs by dropping a lot of other sports.
  18. HertsRacer

    Bbc Tv Local Coverage

    Agreed. LookEast have always given speedway good coverage over the years.
  19. Adrian's book was published in 2004. If you can't find it in a shop you could try the publishing company: Tempus Publishing Ltd. The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucs GL5 2QG. It's a great read if you're interested in the history of speedway in places such as Workington, Blackpool, Preston, Burnley etc.
  20. John I have now dug out Adrian Pavey's book, and this is an abridged version of his description of the meeting. "It seemed the people of Carlisle were just not interested in speedway with the crowd being less than 700. It was an individual meeting featuring competitors from the Workington track and several members of the Belle Vue "Merseysiders" team. The two main events were a scratch race and a handicap trophy, supported by a series of match races and novice events. The first event was the scratch races. Heat 1 was won by Eric Butler ahead of West Ham novice Ken Tidbury, Heat 2 was won by Alan Butler ahead of another West Ham novice Denny "Crusty" Pye. Former Preston rider Tommy Price won heat 3 from Norman Hargreaves, with Dennis Dennie third. The 1st Semi-Final was won by Eric Butler, followed by Alan Butler and Ken Tidbury. The 2nd Semi-Final was won by Tommy Price with Norman Hargraves second and "Crusty" Pye third. The Final was won by Price with Hargreaves second and Eric Butler third. The second event was the handicap competition. Heat 1 Hargreaves from Tidbury with Price third. Heat 2 Sam Marsland from Alan Butler Heat 3 Maurice Stobbart from Eric Butler and Dennis Dennie 1st Semi-Final Marsland from Hargreaves and Tidbury 2nd Semi-Final won by Alan Butler Final Won by Alan Butler after Stobbart, Hargreaves and Marsland all suffered engine failures. In 2 lap rolling start match races Stobbart beat Alan Butler, Price beat Marsland and Hargreaves beat Charlie Oates. Following the meeting all the riders travelled to Lonsdale Park, Workington to take part in a challenge match between Workington "Reds" and Belle Vue "Merseysiders". The Carlisle project was a financial disaster with organiser Maurice Stobbart admitting that his efforts at promoting were not exactly prosperous."
  21. John 1937 was not the first attempt to introduce speedway to Carlisle. If you can find s copy of "Speedway in the North-West" by Adrian Pavey, there is a chapter, along with some pictures, on the history of the sport in Carlisle, which might be of interest.
  22. His first name was Gunter, which sounds as if he could have been German or Austrian. Had little success in New Cross second halves and disappeared at the end of May.
  23. HertsRacer

    Tracks That Seemingly Never Were

    I've been looking at some old newspaper items and have come across some names of proposed tracks which never seemed to have materialised. Does anybody know anything about them, eg where they were situated and why they never happened? 1, One of the original named members of the new 3rd Division in 1947 was Feltham. 2. A year later amongst the applications for preliminary licenses were Charlton, Cheltenham, Worksop, Romford, Braintree, Brighton, Stainforth, Nottingham, Stepps (Lanarkshire) and Kings Lynn. I think Stepps was used as a training track, and Charlton would have been at the old greyhound stadium, but I'm not aware of this or any of the others ever staging speedway.
  24. HertsRacer

    Tracks That Seemingly Never Were

    Going to Charlton for football at the time, I don't remember any stories of speedway being planned to be staged there. As the pitch was right up against the terraces, it would have been impossible to build a track there. Even by taking up/relaying the grass it would have been far too small. I remember the greyhound stadium just down the road still standing in the 70's, and I think it was unused at the time. I do seem to remember a story of speedway being planned there before the owner suddenly decided to sell to developers.
  25. HertsRacer

    Tracks That Seemingly Never Were

    Thanks Alan, I would have loved to have seen the midget car meeting at The Valley. Have been there hundreds of times supporting Charlton Athletic and can't imagine how they would have possibly built a track there. Would have been a wonderful place to view speedway though when they had the huge terracing, and would have been second only to Wembley capacity wise.
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