Cradley Heathens <post 1980 All Time Team >

[whowasthatberntpersson 108]

1. Bruce Penhall

2. Billy Hamill

3. Erik Gundersen

4. Jan O Pedersen

5. Greg Hancock

6. Alan Grahame

7. Simon Cross

 

More world champions in such a short space of time than any other club in history. Arguably the greatest team in history (1983). Unbelievable KO Cup record. fantastic racing track. Brilliant following.

 

The Heathens will be back, sadly it won't be at Dudley Wood, but the memories live on.

Edited December 18, 2003 by whowasthatberntpersson

[spin king 1,922]

Fond memories of Cradley Heath, every season they put out a championship challenging side, even though they had to change there side every year because of the points limit, it used to be 50 points or under for each team.

We used to love it when came to Sheffield because if we beat them then it was feather in our caps.

[HeathenBaggie 0]

Just found the site!

 

As an Heathen going back to 1973 my top seven (what an array to chose from) are:

 

1. Bruce Penhall, 2. Erik Gundersen, 3. Billy Hamill, 4. Jan O Pedersen, 5. Greg Hancock, 6. John Boulger, 7. Simon Cross.

[whowasthatberntpersson 108]

Just found the site!

 

As an Heathen going back to 1973 my top seven (what an array to chose from) are:

 

1. Bruce Penhall, 2. Erik Gundersen, 3. Billy Hamill, 4. Jan O Pedersen, 5. Greg Hancock, 6. John Boulger, 7. Simon Cross.

If we are going to go back to 1973, this would be my team, it includes no less than 6 World Champions and a World Number 2;

 

Bruce Penhall

Erik Gundersen

Anders Michanek

Billy Hamill

Greg Hancock

Jan O Pedersen

Bernie Persson

 

Could any other club come close to that? Belle Vue maybe?

 

Hard to keep out the likes of Wiggy (Another World Champion), Alan Grahame (One of the best team men of all time), and so many others including Boulger, Crossi, etc.

[HeathenBaggie 0]

Boulger has to be in personally - my first speedway hero!

 

He held Cradley together in the mid-seventies when we really struggled.

[whowasthatberntpersson 108]

JB was one of my first speedway hero's also. I remember the one man shows at places like the Shay, where despite an eighteen point maximum Cradley United still got a thumping from the Dukes.

He's a really nice Guy too.

[847084 99]

In the spirit of Christmas, and with best wishes to all Cradley fans, can I suggest this Wolves 7 from the same cut off of 1973 would give you a pretty good match.

 

1.Olsen

2.Ermolenko

3.Sigalos

4.Correy

5.Nielsen

6.M.Karlsson

7.P.Karlsson

 

[BrizHeathen 37]

In the spirit of Christmas, and with best wishes to all Cradley fans, can I suggest this Wolves 7 from the same cut off of 1973 would give you a pretty good match.

 

1.Olsen

2.Ermolenko

3.Sigalos

4.Correy

5.Nielsen

6.M.Karlsson

7.P.Karlsson

 

That is a very good team Wolf Man, but only three world champions compared to six.

Not that you would judge riders purely on the fact that they had won a world championship though, Olsen and Ermerlenko were particularly good team men for Wolves.

Cradley v Wolves (all time top 7) would be a close call, I think the Heathens would come out on top for old times sake though.

[salty 2,201]

Don't know whether you can count Neilsen as a Wolves World champ, he had left Monmore some 6 years before he won his first title.

How long did Siggy ride for Wolves? I always thought of him as an Ipswich man.

By the same token I don't know whether we can claim Michanek, as he only rode about half a season.

[spin king 1,922]

Don't remember Sigalos or Michanek riding for Wolves, if Sigalos did it must have been when he was way past his best.

[frigbo 518]

Don't remember Sigalos or Michanek riding for Wolves, if Sigalos did it must have been when he was way past his best.

Sigalos was Wolves number 1 when they re-opened in '84.

 

Got a badly broken ankle later that year and was never the same rider again.

[Grachan 7,362]

Don't remember Sigalos or Michanek riding for Wolves, if Sigalos did it must have been when he was way past his best.

I remember when Michanek rode for Cradley, if that's what you mean. He was in the team on one of the few occasions I went to Dudley Wood. I think it was 1977, around the time when they changed from 'United' to 'The Heathens'. It was also the start of their transformation from regular also-rans to one of Speedway's glamour clubs.

 

When I think of Cradley there are two matches that always come to mind. One was when the amazing 1983 team came to Swindon and Phil Crump scored a maximum against them despite Cradley winning 29-49 (or was it 28-50?). Ah! REAL Speedway scores!

 

The other match I remember was at Oxford in 1975, when it snowed and the Cradley team quit about half way through and went home. Oxford went on to ride the match on their own and win 58-14.

[Gemini 4,894]

  The other match I remember was at Oxford in 1975, when it snowed and the Cradley team quit about half way through and went home.  Oxford went on to ride the match on their own and win 58-14.

Such great fun when that happens isn't it?

I went to a match at Long Eaton where Middlesborough were unhappy with the track so refused to ride. Long Eaton then went on to score 5-0 in all the races.

[norbold 7,106]

I only ever went to Cradley once and it was one of the happiest nights of my speedway life as it was the night West Ham completed the treble in 1965 - the first year of the British League.

 

I can't remember any of the Cradley riders I'm sorry to say, but I can remember the West Ham team. (I'll look up the programme tonight and see who was riding for Cradley - unless anyone can tell me in the meantime.)

[Grachan 7,362]

Couldn't tell you the exact team on that occasion, but the Cradley Heath History Site shows the 1965 team as: Eric Hockaday, Tom Bungay, John Hart, Ron Cooper, Leo McAuliffe, Matt Mattocks, Chris Julian and Ivor Brown.