Jump to content
British Speedway Forum
superdons

Wimbledon Memories

Recommended Posts

If I remember rightly Tebby wasn’t so much sacked as dropped.He was I think asked to ride in the second halves and refused and then I think shortly after got a team spot at Newport.That is life and sport

What should have happened,but wasn’t the done thing at the time,was Jim should have had a meeting held in his honour

Edited by iris123

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My abiding memories of Wimbledon are firstly White City winning a very tight encounter there in 1977 (40-38) and Oxford achieving a memorable victory during their return to the British League in 1984 when they scored, if I recall, three 5-1's in the last four heats to secure the match. Oxford achieved a similar feat at King's Lynn towards the back of the season much to the annoyance of Martin Rogers!

Great days and memories!

Edited by steve roberts

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

My most outstanding memory about a Wimbledon team was at New Cross in 1949. The feature was an immaculate 18 point maximum by their Canadian rider Jimmy Gibb in a London Cup match. Despite his performance New Cross won the match.

Edited by Guest

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, steve roberts said:

 and Oxford achieving a memorable victory during their return to the British League in 1984 when they scored, if I recall, three 5-1's in the last four heats to secure the match.

I honestly can't remember if it was three 5-1's in the last four heats, but you definitely got 5-1's in the last two! The next night, we came to Cowley and got a last-heat 5-1 to a draw!

Steve

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, chunky said:

I honestly can't remember if it was three 5-1's in the last four heats, but you definitely got 5-1's in the last two! The next night, we came to Cowley and got a last-heat 5-1 to a draw!

Steve

It was three 5 -1's for Oxford at plough lane to win 37 - 41, followed by a last heat 5 - 1 to the Dons at Cowley to win 38 - 40. I was at both meetings, it seems like yesterday!

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, chunky said:

I honestly can't remember if it was three 5-1's in the last four heats, but you definitely got 5-1's in the last two! The next night, we came to Cowley and got a last-heat 5-1 to a draw!

Steve

I think that 'The Dons' sneaked a win in the return match with one time 'Rebel' Gordon Kennett proving a match winner!

Edited by steve roberts

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, cityrebel said:

It was three 5 -1's for Oxford at plough lane to win 37 - 41, followed by a last heat 5 - 1 to the Dons at Cowley to win 38 - 40. I was at both meetings, it seems like yesterday!

Okay, thanks for the clarification! See, old age is catching up on me, but I knew it was something like that! I was at both too; thirty-five years ago - scary...

Steve

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, cityrebel said:

It was three 5 -1's for Oxford at plough lane to win 37 - 41, followed by a last heat 5 - 1 to the Dons at Cowley to win 38 - 40. I was at both meetings, it seems like yesterday!

I actually recall the last race at Plough Lane very well. Hans made the gate and Jens Rasmussen passed Gordon Kennett low down on the white line entering the third bend on the first lap thus securing the 5 -1 for 'The Cheetahs'! Superb stuff!

'The Cheetahs' started the 1984 season in scintillating form but injuries began to take their toll and eventually ran out of steam...but then, of course, 1985 & 86 followed on and the rest, as they say, is history!

Edited by steve roberts

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 2/14/2019 at 8:00 AM, iris123 said:

If I remember rightly Tebby wasn’t so much sacked as dropped.He was I think asked to ride in the second halves and refused and then I think shortly after got a team spot at Newport.That is life and sport

What should have happened,but wasn’t the done thing at the time,was Jim should have had a meeting held in his honour

Trevor Hedge was another Dons rider that was due a testimonial, but never got one. Like you say, that was the way things were in those days.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i used to love it at Wimbledon where all the lights would go off around the stadium and just leave the track lights for the race, great feel about it

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
31 minutes ago, stevehone said:

i used to love it at Wimbledon where all the lights would go off around the stadium and just leave the track lights for the race, great feel about it

Yeah, that was special - along with the sound of 'em revving under the green light!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, stevehone said:

i used to love it at Wimbledon where all the lights would go off around the stadium and just leave the track lights for the race, great feel about it

...and the fountain lit up on the centre green.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

...and the fountain lit up on the centre green.

All five London tracks I've seen league racing at were different in many ways. Wimbledon was ala carte speedway with fine dining and fountains. West Ham had History all over it. Iconic stadium and great track. Wembley famous stadium, venue of legends, but not the best race track. Hackney not the best facilities of the five, but fantastic racing. White City fabulous White elephant of a stadium where the crowd seemed lost at such a vast arena. Produced some decent racing for a 440 yard track. I enjoyed them all and feel fortunate to have visited them on numerous occasions.       

Edited by cityrebel
Mistake in post
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I visited all those tracks bar West Ham which was a massive regret (they closed down the season I first started going) and as you say all offered differing experiences...never to be repeated. I enjoyed my trips to 'The Smoke' and three years following 'The Rebels' at Wood Lane offer great  treasured memories!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I visited Wimbledon, White City and Hackney quite a lot and Crayford once.

I loved Plough Lane, facilities in those days were excellent and the quirks were positive - the staggered start and finish line, the lights over the track rather than on the fence, the track was better than some gave it credit for in my opinion and truly a team of legends over the years. Great atmosphere from what I remember.

Hackney  however many times I went i always got lost, one of my favourite race tracks, fair and fast and Len Silver always put on a great show, sadly missed. Saw Zenon Plech ride there and always though Bo Petersen rode it better than anyone and of course Barry Thomas.

White City, saw both WC/Internationals and League Racing there, some of the League crowds would have been decent anywhere but as been said "lost in the vastness"; a shame it could not have been saved and re-vamped as would make a superb venue now for 30-40,000 capacity major meetings, would have allowed us to have an English and British GP. Main gripe there was Car Parking from memory.

I went to Crayford once but for a Dog meeting and could not believe how small the speedway track looked. Shame i never got there to see the Costa Mesa of UK speedway at the time, would it have been about same size as Plymouth?

 

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy