Custom House Kid 45 Posted October 8, 2004 Nice to see my boyhood Hero's Photo in the star! Anyone any memory's or information about Sverre! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 24 Posted October 8, 2004 Sverre was a wonderful rider. He seemed to have it all - enormous talent, good looks and all the rest of it. He was also a very fast and spectacular rider. Here's a memory for you, CHK. It comes from right at the end of his career, when he'd just spent his last season with Wembley. He'd come back from horrendous injuries, and although he was probably never going to hit the top again, he certainly could hold down a heat leader berth in the top league. Anyway, what I remember is the plaque which was presented to him at his last-ever meeting by his Wembley team mates. It read : "The record shows He took the blows And did it his way". I reckon that just about summed Sverre up. In terms of speedway in the 1960s, he was the first of the great Norwegians. He was followed by the likes of the late Reidar Eide (what a character he was - I'd pay a huge sum of money just to see him race one more time), Dag Lovaas and the rest. But Sverre Harrfeldt was without doubt head and shoulders above them all at the height of his career. Incidentally, does anyone know what he's doing now? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puma23 27 Posted October 9, 2004 Norwegian champion 1962, 1964-65,66. World final 1963 - Wmebley - 6th 1966 - Goeteborg - 2nd Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,101 Posted October 9, 2004 (edited) He took a bit of getting used to when he came to West Ham as he had, of course, ridden for our hated rivals, Wimbledon. But with his all action style and his dashes round the fence, the "'eart throb" quickly won over the Custom House crowd. He could be relied on week in and week out to beat the best the opposition threw at us and that included the likes of Fundin, Briggs, Mauger and anyone else you care to mention. His crash in the 1968 European Final when he broke his leg and pelvis was an absolute tragedy. He was never quite the same again, although as Ian says, he did manage to fight his way back to become a heat leader with Wembley. Without a doubt he was the greatest of all the Norwegians and he came so close to winning the World title in 1966. In the all-important heat 9 he led Briggo for over a lap, but Barry managed to get past and go on to win. Briggs finished on 15 points that night and Sverre, 14. I have seen many riders since I first started going to speedway in 1960, but I don't think I have ever seen anyone as spectacularly good as Sverre. Christer Lofqvist was, of course, another real round-the-boards thrill merchant but he was not as consistently good as Sverre. A great rider who always brings back many happy memories of Custom House. Thanks for bringing up the topic, CHK. Edited October 9, 2004 by norbold 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TonyMac 720 Posted October 9, 2004 When I met up with Dag Lovaas last week for the interview to appear in issue 5 of Backtrack, he mentioned that Sverre was his boyhood hero and that he had a picture of Harrfeldt on his bedroom wall. He wasn't nearly as complimentary about Reidar Eide, though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian H 0 Posted October 9, 2004 Reidar Eide was a superb rider with amazing balance it was said this was due to his being a very good skier. However he did know the value of a pound and caused a lot of strife as a result. I didn't see all that much of Sverre but was very impressed by what I did see. Incidentally his brother Henry rode for Edinburgh until a badly broken leg finished his career. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 24 Posted October 9, 2004 Whatever Reidar's reputation as a hard bargainer might have been, he was idolised by the crowd at Meadowbank, as you'll remember, IanH. One day in 1970 I picked Reidar up from a car crash on the M1 near Watford, and drove him to Wolverhampton and back. On the return journey I asked him why he had been messing about so much at the tapes. "Well", he said, "I knew if I fiddled aboot for long enough Olsen would break the tapes!" He had hundreds of stories to tell, all of them in a bizarre Norwegian/Scots accent, from before his speedway days when he was all over the world in the merchant navy. I found him to be a lovely bloke, and a larger-than-life character. From recollection, Reidar was about 25 when he first came over here. Remember him with the old two-piece leathers and "Russian-type" twin handlebars? I have always thought that had he arrived four or five years earlier he would have gone even further in speedway. Sorry to hijack a thread about the great Sverre Harrfeldt. Maybe we need a Reidar Eide thread too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Steve Dixon Posted October 9, 2004 When I met up with Dag Lovaas last week for the interview to appear in issue 5 of Backtrack, he mentioned that Sverre was his boyhood hero and that he had a picture of Harrfeldt on his bedroom wall. He wasn't nearly as complimentary about Reidar Eide, though... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You gonna spill the beans Tony, or saving it for the magazine? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOBBY 3 Posted October 9, 2004 A chap I know down at Arena Essex named Steve ( his younger brother was the mascot in the sixties at West Ham ) met up with Sverre at the Hamar GP recently. Steve showed me the photo of him and Sverre that someone took for him that day. Well Sverre looks a little older, obviously, but there no mistaking him, he ain't changed that much and he still has that unmistakable smile that charmed all the ladies at Custom House. Steve had a good chat with him, and Sverre told him that he is enjoying retirement to the full and just messing about on his boat most of the time. Whenever I think back to those days at Custom House, it's always Sverre that comes to mind first. I hope he enjoys a very very long and happy retirement in return for all the pleasure he gave me and many other " Happy Hammers ". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Custom House Kid 45 Posted October 15, 2004 Whenever I think back to those days at Custom House, it's always Sverre that comes to mind first. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Nobby. This may be of intrest! http://www.freewebs.com/customhousekid/ very much in it's infancy. Any help very much appreciated Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOBBY 3 Posted October 16, 2004 Whenever I think back to those days at Custom House, it's always Sverre that comes to mind first. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Nobby. This may be of intrest! http://www.freewebs.com/customhousekid/ very much in it's infancy. Any help very much appreciated <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi CHK, brilliant..it's got the making of a first class website. I'm not a whizz kid when it comes to doing websites. I leave that sort of thing up to my son, but I would be more than willing to help out, especially now that the season is almost over. I left a message with my e-mail address in the site guest book, but I don't know if it downloaded properly. If it didn't let me know and I will get it to you somehow. I have been collecting West Ham Speedway memoribilia, programmes etc for a few years now so I may have some things that could come in handy. Well done again..i'm sure it will be a huge success, just let me know what you need and I'll see what I can do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,939 Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) On 10/9/2004 at 12:10 PM, norbold said: He took a bit of getting used to when he came to West Ham as he had, of course, ridden for our hated rivals, Wimbledon. But with his all action style and his dashes round the fence, the "'eart throb" quickly won over the Custom House crowd. He could be relied on week in and week out to beat the best the opposition threw at us and that included the likes of Fundin, Briggs, Mauger and anyone else you care to mention. His crash in the 1968 European Final when he broke his leg and pelvis was an absolute tragedy. He was never quite the same again, although as Ian says, he did manage to fight his way back to become a heat leader with Wembley. Without a doubt he was the greatest of all the Norwegians and he came so close to winning the World title in 1966. In the all-important heat 9 he led Briggo for over a lap, but Barry managed to get past and go on to win. Briggs finished on 15 points that night and Sverre, 14. I have seen many riders since I first started going to speedway in 1960, but I don't think I have ever seen anyone as spectacularly good as Sverre. Christer Lofqvist was, of course, another real round-the-boards thrill merchant but he was not as consistently good as Sverre. A great rider who always brings back many happy memories of Custom House. Thanks for bringing up the topic, CHK. Report from the meeting including the crash and also a coming together of Woryna and Jancarz,which probably cost Woryna the title as he was in the lead at the time!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship https://www.filmothek.bundesarchiv.de/video/584825?q=dirt+track+speedway&xm=AND&xf[0]=_fulltext&xo[0]=CONTAINS&xv[0] Edited February 13, 2019 by iris123 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sidney the robin 4,735 Posted February 13, 2019 I only see Sverre ride the once, so i never saw him in his pomp but for me Sverre/ Toby Harrysson have a similar prophile as in without horrendous injuries they both would of been battling for world honours.Eide and Lovaas to were great riders Lovaas was very good at Hackney good in the wet remember him challenging for the Golden Helmet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted February 13, 2019 On 10/15/2004 at 9:57 PM, Custom House Kid said: Nobby. This may be of intrest! http://www.freewebs.com/customhousekid/ very much in it's infancy. Any help very much appreciated I have posted on this site several times in the past, but there seems to be very few of us. Hopefully it will become more popular. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
