BOBBATH

Newport- Welsh championship

First race I ever saw was in 1964- Newport v. Long Eaton. The four riders were Alby Golden, Jon Erskine, Ken Adams and John Mills. Wasps 5-1 and Alby broke the track record. Only one is still with us sad to say. Jon Erskine -who I guess is in his early eighties!! Any other forumlanders recall their first race.

I recall Norman Nevitt, also Bill Powell and Jim Yacoby- about the same vintage and level. Are any of these guys still with us-I hope they all are. If memory serves I think Bill Powell was the most successful of the three , but I could be wrong (not for the first time!!!!!)

The oldest 16 surviving World Finalist list was last updated in 2011 and sadly we have lost a couple since then e.g. Fred Williams. can anybody e.g. Tiger Owl update the list(plus 2 "reserves") . Incidentally Cyril Roger was top of the last list in 2011 and Cyril would now be 101(born 27.12.1921) assuming he's still with us. Hope so.

That's depressing chunks- so many teams gone. BTW Roy Trigg alive and well- unfortunately his wife passed recently. I think Roy now lives in NZ. Tommy Sweetman also still with us and also in NZ

Sorry chunky- I had totally forgotten my previous post- I have indeed become gustix!! Glad you enjoyed it anyway Salty .

Have just heard from Reg Fearman, who heard from Bert Harkins that Eric has passed away- 94 years old. R.I.P. Eric-that means that all four riders in the first heat of the first ever meeting of the British League have now left us. I remember Eric well.

Martin Yeates?

Sorry for the confusion guys re the wrong thread- I'm turning into gustix (RIP)!!

Who was the next Speedway Dane after Morian Hansen- I'm thinking Ole Olsen- but there must have been others before him. Help!!

I agree, I greatly enjoyed this article. Thanks Beirao.

What do you reckon the increase in speed at Wimbledon in 83 was due to-?

Yup, I reckon so- Norwich had closed so NL were down to 6 tracks. PL was on the up so I think all 3 PL tracks would have opened up anyway. Interesting thread though and I'd be interested in other folks' thoughts.

In his response Trackman used the word "Cobber" -do our Aussie mates still use that word or has it been retired (like me)!!

I've been thinking of this for a while. which of those two tracks, both champions in the respective years, were the better. Firstly league results W.Ham in 1965 . Results M.34 W 23 D1 L 10. Halifax in 1966 M 36 W 27 D 0 L 9. Better record for Halifax Head to Head : 1965 Halifax 39-38 at Halifax. West Ham 45-33 at West Ham. 1966 Halifax beat West Ham both times by same score 41-37 each time . Better record for Halifax Riders CMA 1965 West Ham : McKinlay 10.72, Harrfeldt 10.36, Hunter 9.56, Simmons 6.16, Trott 4.6, Leonard 3.68, Ede 2.84 . These were the seven most frequent riders Total of CMA's 48.12 Riders CMA 1966 Halifax : Boocock 10.41, Boothroyd 9.35, Younghusband 9.02, Roper 7.42, Kingston 5.64, Jameson 5.27, Gavros 4.71. These were the seven most frequent riders. Total of CMA's 51.82 Clearly in 1965 the Hammers had the best Heat leaders by far, whereas in 1966 Halifax were by far the better balanced e.g in 66 Gavros' 4.71 lowest of the 7 would be ahead of the 3 lowest Hammers in 65 (Trott, Leonard, Ede) My conclusion, as a nerd , and who went to many meetings both years is that Halifax were more dominant in 66 , than West Ham were in 65, so I reckon that Halifax were a better team in the 66 BL than West Ham were in the 65 BL. Only reason I did all this was because West Ham ,justly , are often more praised for their championship winning season in 65, whereas Halifax's achievement doesn't seem to get the same recognition, which is a shame. Hope folks find this interesting- even the many hammers fans on the forum. Both tremendous teams though

I'd forgotten that fact about about Halifax. BTW, Tony Clarke rode in 9 BL meetings for WH in 65.

This is a most interesting thread- a subject I knew nothing about. Thanks everybody for doing the research particularly our Polish friend Puma from Poland which is now the real heart of speedway-at least that's how it seems to me.

I'm trying to organise a speedway trip to the " Twisted Too " bar and grill in Roseville. Anybody interested, I bet the Mayor would organise a special welcome. If interested send money to my mate in Nigeria (he's a prince!!!)

Sorry to hear about your son's experience I had a great time and made friends for life. I was there 1968-70, and at that time there weren't many Brits around. It was the time of The Beatles etc. and anyone with a British accent had it made (so to speak). No speedway though!!

Thanks Chunks- I wonder if Roseville has a McDonalds!!!

Great and most fascinating post Chunks-thanx for posting. I'll look up where Roseville, Illinois is having spent 2 years in Champaigm-Urbana!!

Coventry v CH, Boocock , Brown, Hockaday Cottrell. I think only Eric H. is still with us. Actually I reckon this set the tone for the season- the ex NL Tracks had the top heat leaders but the ex PL tracks had the more solid second strings. I reckon ,with some obvious exceptions,the exPL sides were more evenly balanced throughout the order- e.g. Sheffield comes to mind in that category. What say you forumlanders??

And then, when I was at such a low ebb, I heard the dreadfu result!!!

Thanks for reminding me BL65. As I recall it was October 8th (my birthday-don't bother to send me a card!!) when Wolves beat the Wasps 64-14. I was 19 in my first week at Nottingham U.- I got german measles and was in isolation. To add insult to injury it meant I couldn't go to any of the social functions like the Pre-Sess hop for freshers. This meant I probably missed out on a good chance to meet a potential girlfriend. This is the story of my life........................

Good point Beirao