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BOBBATH

Oldest Surviving World Finalists

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Sweden? There are far more English riders.

It was a quick glance.......at the bottom of the list :rofl:

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1. Cyril Roger - 93 - born 27.12.1921

2. Split Waterman - 91 (27.7.1923)

3. Arthur Payne - 90 (30.8.1924)

4. Dick Bradley - 90 (28.11.1924)

5. Fred Brand - 89 (3.2.1925)

6. Chum Taylor - 87 (4.4.1927)

7. Eric Boothroyd - 87 (26.4.1927)

8. Derick Close - 87 - (13.5.1927)

9. Geoff Mardon - 87 (24.11.1927)

10. Billy Bales - 85 (6.6.1929)

11. Olle Nygren - 85 (11.11.1929)

12. Rune Sormander - 85 (29.11.1929)

13. Jack Geran - 85 (10.12.1989)

14. Bryan Elliott - 84 (12.4.1930)

15. George White - 83 (24.5.1931)

16. Ian Williams - 83 (4.8.1931)

 

17. Per Tage Svensson 83 (16.10.1931)

18. Peo Soederman 82 (29.10.1932)

 

Not 100% sure the two Swedes are still with us but haven't heard any information to the contrary..

 

 

As usual tigerowl your Posts are very informative. Thank you for this.

 

 

Ta tigerowl-have to add one correction. There was a post the other day re Henry Long his birthday was listed as 26.7.1927-so that would make him # 9 -after Derrick Close and before Geoff Mardon-thanks for the info though. We now know the top 19-I haven't heard that Peo Soderman has passed away, so thanx for the info.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a superb update. I am too lazy to do this but how do the actual nationalities represented break down? At a quick glance, Sweden appears to lead the way.

 

 

Sweden? There are far more English riders.

Well spotted! I did say that I was "too lazy" to check. A small table in regard to my query - by somebody who likes doing these things - would prove very interesting IMO.

Edit: I don't see any Americans?

Edited by Guest

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Best not to use that list (above) and perpetuate the omission,
From the following we get :-

GB 10; SW 4; AU 3; 1 each NZ, SA.

1. Cyril Roger - 93 - born 27.12.1921 GB

2. Split Waterman - 91 (27.7.1923) GB
3. Arthur Payne - 90 (30.8.1924) AU
4. Dick Bradley - 90 (28.11.1924) GB
5. Fred Brand - 89 (3.2.1925) GB
6. Chum Taylor - 87 (4.4.1927) AU
7. Eric Boothroyd - 87 (26.4.1927) GB
8. Derick Close - 87 (13.5.1927) GB
9. Henry Long – 87 (26.7.1927) SA
10. Geoff Mardon - 87 (24.11.1927) NZ
11. Billy Bales - 85 (6.6.1929) GB
12. Olle Nygren - 85 (11.11.1929) SW
13. Rune Sormander - 85 (29.11.1929) SW
14. Jack Geran - 85 (10.12.1989) AU
15. Bryan Elliott - 84 (12.4.1930) GB
16. George White - 83 (24.5.1931) GB

17. Ian Williams - 83 (4.8.1931) GB
18. Per Tage Svensson - 83 (16.10.1931) SW
19. Peo Soederman - 82 (29.10.1932) SW

 

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And hopefully we won't have to remove any of these illustrious names for some time to come yet!!

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Just read the sad news re Geoff Mardon-I think its time we updated the Oldest surviving World Finalist list- what with Cyril Roger and maybe others have gone. Guess Split is the oldest now

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Can anybody update the above list - I think we have lost 3 or 4 of the above names. On a happier note-last month Split celebrated his 93rd birthday. Looks well.

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OK folks, 3  years have passed and the table may need to be updated- I reckon about six have sadly passed away-Cyril Roger, Arthur Payne, Fred Brand, Geoff Mardon, Brian Elliott, George White and maybe more- can anyone update the list of 16 (+ of course the two reserves), reckon Briggo and Ove should now have "qualified". Glad to see a lot of the finalists have made it into their nineties-including one of my heroes  Dick Bradley-a real gent and great rider!!

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Well since no-one else seems interested , thought I would give it a go based on the last list in 2015.

1. Split Waterman  d.o.b 27/7/23

2 Arthur Payne 30/8/24

3 Dick Bradley 28/11/24

4 Chum Taylor 4/4/27

5 Derrick Close 13/5/27

6 Henry Long 26/7/27

7 Billy Bales  6/6/29

8 Olle Nygren 11/11/29

9 Rune Sormander 29/11/29

10 Jack Geran 10/12/29

11 Ian Williams 4/8/31

12 Per Tage Svensson 16/10/31

13 Peo Soderman 29/10/31

        I think those are the survivors of the previous list of 2015-some others are now in the top 16 (18-with two reserves)-not sure who they would be but think Ove and Briggo would now  qualify-any thoughts . BTW -oldest 6 are now in their nineties. Sadly I got to see only 7 ride-Bradley, Taylor, Bales, Nygren, Sormander, Geran and Soderman. Did any forumlanders see all of them ride???:drink:-thought this emoticon best represented Split!!

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Thank you for compiling the list, Bob. 

Of the 15 you mention (including Briggo and Ove) I missed out on seeing three of them, Arthur Payne, Derrick Close and Henry Long.

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Actually Norbold, on double checking , I realise I've only seen 5 ,I never got to see Svensson or Sormander.

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Were there any World Finalists born in 1932 who still survive??, Ronnie Moore was born in 1933 so he might be #14???:t:

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On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 10:48 PM, norbold said:

Thank you for compiling the list, Bob. 

Of the 15 you mention (including Briggo and Ove) I missed out on seeing three of them, Arthur Payne, Derrick Close and Henry Long.

We might have had this conversation before but I've missed out on seeing the same three. As I think we both supported New Cross at more or less the same time it might be more than coincidence.

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On 6/7/2018 at 6:02 PM, BOBBATH said:

        BTW -oldest 6 are now in their nineties.

It's a shame Len Read never made it to a final. Now over 100 and still quite sprightly...

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Actually I just realised I missed out Eric Boothroyd -26/4 /1927-he's in his nineties too. He slots in at #5 between Chum Taylor and Derrick Close who moves to #6, so now there are 7 riders in their nineties who have made the list. We now have 14 of the 16 names for the oldest all time Final-would Ove and Briggo round out the last two spaces-they must be getting up there!!

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