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Rebel 77

White City Rebels 1976 - 1978

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Anyone have memories of the Rebels between 1976 and 1978,i started going there in 77 and have been a lifelong supporter ever since.If anyone has any photos. ,magazine covers or match reports they could e mail me to add to my small collection it would make an old man very happy.

Rebel 77

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My memories of White City are -

 

Tremendous iconic stadium that should never of been demolished!

 

Great big speedway track!

 

Poorly supported team!

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oh yes ,remember those great days with Gordon Kennett at no 1, an emerging Kai Niemi, the stylish Steve Weatherley (what a tragedy), a track that seemed to take forever to get around and the cock up over Capital radio sponsorship being leaked and they took their ball home to be replaced by LBC Rebels.

Have all the programmes tucked away somewhere and some of the away matches in the league winning season.

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Hello

 

Like your Forum Name

 

White City Speedway?

Loved the stadium the track and a Great Team

Gordon Kennett,My all time hero could beat anyone always great in last heat deciders loved it when we did the double over the Dons on our way to the title in 77,How many coaches did we sent to Wolverhampton when we won the league,

Steve Weatherley how far would he had gone so sad..............Kai Niemi always great from the back,Marek Cieslak first year

was great also,so sad we coundnt get the crowds in the only downside,also if you heard a race from just inside the stadium

sounded fantastic really lound,one more thing John Earrey best mic man they was..............

 

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Anyone have memories of the Rebels between 1976 and 1978,i started going there in 77 and have been a lifelong supporter ever since.If anyone has any photos. ,magazine covers or match reports they could e mail me to add to my small collection it would make an old man very happy.

Rebel 77

Used to get on the Central line most Wednesday evenings and go 30-odd stops from East to West London to watch racing at White City.

I have some signed B/W photos of Geer, Gatchet, Weatherley bought at the track and my White City silk scarf was donated to the Speedway Museum.

Best meeting was the 1977 Intercontinental Final - great atmosphere! Also the 1978 Easter Good Friday home and away meetings against the Hawks sticks in the memory as a good match. Gordon Kennet was almost unbeatable there and the bike noise used to echo around the back straight empty terraces.

Edited by Brian L

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Guest FlyinPanther

I got quite a few White Ciry Rebel programmes up in the loft.. My uncle used to attend the home meetings.....

Our current track curator at the EOES is the one and only Richard Greer of White City and Peterborough Panthers Speedway notoriety!!

 

Always felt it was such a shame that they won the league in their second year and were closed just 1 year later!

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Ah, now THIS is my sort of thread..!! :approve:

Many thanx to Rebel 77 for giving an opportunity to remember the GREAT White City.

 

I have many SO memories!

The opening meeting!! It was simply breath-taking seeing inside the place for the first time. We went round to the home straight and climbed high into the stands where we came across an old press box which inside was covered in a good inch of dust..! Don't reckon it had been used (or cleaned!!) since Athletics had stopped at the place a decade or so earlier!!).

 

The races between Gordon Kennett and Tommy Jansson that evening I'll NEVER forget! Gordon beat Tommy to clinch a 40-38 win to the Rebels in heat 13. Tommy got revenge in the second half final. Incredible to think back on how competitive second halves were back then; tragic to recall that, that was the last time I saw Tommy ride: six weeks later he was gone... :cry:

 

Like Brian, I'd have the 1977 Inter-Continental Final as the greatest ever White City meeting. A huge crowd; a beautiful day; the GREATEST performance ever by the GREATEST English rider ever: Peter Collins.

 

I also recall the same year, poor Tiger Louis losing it on the final bend for Ole Olsen to the GP title.. :cry:

 

The 1976 WTC Final: swapping badges with the great USSR rider, Victor Trofimov!!!

 

And following the Rebels away from home, who could ever forget that win at Wolves to win the BL title. Giving Stevie Weatherley the bumps in the bar singing: "Weatherley, Weatherley: he rides for White City and we've won the League"...!! Another tragedy that Stevie's career was to end so soon after..

 

So happy and poignant memories...

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The opening meeting!!

So you were there as well. Fortunately we didn't know each other then or you might have offered me a lift home... :P

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So you were there as well. Fortunately we didn't know each other then or you might have offered me a lift home... :P

 

Ah, but I was only 15...!!! Though IF I'd started driving that young I may have got the hang of it by now!!! :blink::lol:

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Ah, but I was only 15...!!! Though IF I'd started driving that young I may have got the hang of it by now!!! :blink::lol:

In that case, perhaps I could have offered you a lift home and got my revenge in first! :wink:

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I remember White City's first meeting still. It was my first ever Wimbledon away meeting, and also first sight of Tommy Jansson racing in the flesh. He definitely had some excellent races with Gordon Kennet that night. Shame the 'Dons' didn't win though.

 

I remeber seeing Gordon Kennett on the Blue Peter TV programme racing ariound the track with a camera n his helemt.

 

But one thing always puzzled me, why did they give the race times in the second using 100th of a second, when they use 10th of a second in the main meeting.

 

I went there many times over the years. Speedway was cheap then, and I would often use to go two or threes times a week, to Crayford & Hackney also, but I always was a 'Dons' supporter, but I loved my speedway. I also went to many greyhound meetings there when I was older as well.

 

I still can't beleive that the stadium was knocked down for a BBC carpark :cry: .

 

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QUOTE (Robbie B @ Mar 9 2009, 04:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I still can't beleive that the stadium was knocked down for a BBC carpark

 

It's one of the greatest scandals in the history of stadiums in the UK that such a magnificent and historically-important venue was demolished in such a way... :mad:

When you consider the enormous lengths English Heritage will go to save un-loved tower and other housing blocks (believe me, I have to deal with the legacy of this on a day-to-day basis!! :rolleyes: ), their attitude to stadia defies belief...

 

After White City, of course both the magnificence of Wembley's Twin Towers (the most iconic piece of stadium architecture in the world) and the Art Deco brilliance of Highbury Stadium have been bull-dozered away too (alright a bit of facade left at Highbury but not much..). Shameful.. :cry::mad:

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It's one of the greatest scandals in the history of stadiums in the UK that such a magnificent and historically-important venue was demolished in such a way... :mad:

When you consider the enormous lengths English Heritage will go to save un-loved tower and other housing blocks (believe me, I have to deal with the legacy of this on a day-to-day basis!! :rolleyes: ), their attitude to stadia defies belief...

 

After White City, of course both the magnificence of Wembley's Twin Towers (the most iconic piece of stadium architecture in the world) and the Art Deco brilliance of Highbury Stadium have been bull-dozered away too (alright a bit of facade left at Highbury but not much..). Shameful.. :cry::mad:

I quite agree.

 

Next stop for the bulldozers, Walthamstow :mad:

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being a dons fan living in earlsfield i could'nt believe my luck having a new track opening only a bus ride away on the 220. i remember sitting on my own in the glass fronted back straight enclosure, i could only do this in the summer months because all the power was turned off!. i used to love watching the riders emerge from the changing rooms beneath the centre green, the longest running double headers ever staged and running for the last bus home. so many good memories enough to bring tears to a glass eye. RIP wood lane.

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Did White City finish in 1978? If so that must be the year I went and I think it must have been an international meeting.

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