Split 177 Posted August 1, 2022 On 6/22/2022 at 8:32 PM, BOBBATH said: According to Dave Lanning-think he made them up- "The Dockland pearl" (Malcolm Simmons) and "Anchor" Norman Hunter Apparently that nickname for Norman Hunter came about because his name was wrongly printed as N. Anchor in the speedway results in one of the daily newspapers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,087 Posted August 1, 2022 3 hours ago, Split said: Apparently that nickname for Norman Hunter came about because his name was wrongly printed as N. Anchor in the speedway results in one of the daily newspapers. I've seen a lot of crazy mispellings of names over the years! A friend's name was "McClintock", but it was printed as "McCuntock"! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 466 Posted August 1, 2022 Thanks Split for the origin of the nickname Anchor for Norman Hunter- how is Norman these days. I am trying to recall but didn't he leave West Ham in or around 1967-went to Wolves and looked like a real world beater till he had a bad accident. I always enjoyed his riding Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,242 Posted August 2, 2022 9 hours ago, BOBBATH said: Thanks Split for the origin of the nickname Anchor for Norman Hunter- how is Norman these days. I am trying to recall but didn't he leave West Ham in or around 1967-went to Wolves and looked like a real world beater till he had a bad accident. I always enjoyed his riding If I recall at Prestatyn (North Wales) in a Long Track Meeting? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norbold 7,101 Posted August 2, 2022 17 hours ago, BOBBATH said: Thanks Split for the origin of the nickname Anchor for Norman Hunter- how is Norman these days. I am trying to recall but didn't he leave West Ham in or around 1967-went to Wolves and looked like a real world beater till he had a bad accident. I always enjoyed his riding I had a chat to "Anchor" at the recent West Ham day at the Speedway Museum. He seemed very well and in good health. He told me that the reason he wanted to leave West Ham was because he was the No.3 there (behind Sverre and Hurri-Ken), whereas he could be no.1 at most other tracks. He said he put in a transfer request but didn't hear anything. Then someone said to him, "It's a shame you withdrew your transfer request because Wolverhampton were hoping to sign you." He said he hadn't withdrawn his request. Apparently, Dave Lanning had notified the SCB that Hunter had withdrawn his request because he didn't want to lose him. Hunter, of course, soon put that right! From his comments about Lanning, it seemed that 55 years later he still hadn't forgiven him and certainly isn't his number one fan! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,087 Posted August 2, 2022 1 minute ago, norbold said: I had a chat to "Anchor" at the recent West Ham day at the Speedway Museum. He seemed very well and in good health. He told me that the reason he wanted to leave West Ham was because he was the No.3 there (behind Sverre and Hurri-Ken), whereas he could be no.1 at most other tracks. He said he put in a transfer request but didn't hear anything. Then someone said to him, "It's a shame you withdrew your transfer request because Wolverhampton were hoping to sign you." He said he hadn't withdrawn his request. Apparently, Dave Lanning had notified the SCB that Hunter had withdrawn his request because he didn't want to lose him. Hunter, of course, soon put that right! From his comments about Lanning, it seemed that 55 years later he still hadn't forgiven him and certainly isn't his number one fan! I'm SURE that nobody else has ever tried to pull that one... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Split 177 Posted August 5, 2022 Norman burst onto the scene in 1962. Open to correction here but I think that as a virtual unknown he ended up as top scorer for Leicester that year. It was the start of a wonderful career in which he earned numerous honours both as an individual and as a member of the England and Great Britain teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted August 5, 2022 12 minutes ago, Split said: Norman burst onto the scene in 1962. Open to correction here but I think that as a virtual unknown he ended up as top scorer for Leicester that year. It was the start of a wonderful career in which he earned numerous honours both as an individual and as a member of the England and Great Britain teams. He was a big favourite at West Ham for sure. I may have imagined or dreamed this but I am sure I saw him score an 18 point maximum in a Test Match at Custom House. Norbold would either confirm or contradict me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 656 Posted August 5, 2022 Norman scored 18 against the USSR at West Ham in 1966. When he moved to Wolverhampton in 1969 his performances in the first three meetings were fairly ordinary, but he then showed great form and when his season was halted at the end of June he was averaging close on on 10.5 points per match. He had also been highly impressive in individual events. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
customhouseregular 1,651 Posted August 5, 2022 50 minutes ago, BL65 said: Norman scored 18 against the USSR at West Ham in 1966. When he moved to Wolverhampton in 1969 his performances in the first three meetings were fairly ordinary, but he then showed great form and when his season was halted at the end of June he was averaging close on on 10.5 points per match. He had also been highly impressive in individual events. Thanks. I was there but sometimes the memory plays tricks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
