Oldest Surviving World Finalists

[BOBBATH 466]

Since the last update  in June 2018, we've lost the #1 Split Waterman. Are there any other people who should be removed or added to the bottom of the list? Anybody want to take a shot at it since we are all presumably in self isolation these days... What do you reckon?

[tigerowl 630]

I've had a look at this today and it does get more difficult as time goes on as there are a number of Swedes who rode in World Finals who I haven't got a date of birth for and I don't know if they are alive or not but my best guess would be:

1. Arthur Payne 30.8.1924

2. Dick Bradley 28.11.1924

3. Chum Taylor, 4.4.1927

4. Eric Boothroyd, 26.4.1927

5. Derrick Close, 13.5.1927

6. Billy Bales, 6.6.1929

7. Olle Nygren, 11.11.1929

8. Rune Sormander, 29.11.1929

9. Jack Geran, 10.12.1929

10. Ian Williams, 4.8.1931

11. Per Tage Svensson, 16.10.1931

12. Peo Soederman, 29.10.1932

13. Ove Fundin, 23.5.1933

14. Jim Lightfoot, 11.11.1933

15. Dan Forsberg, 25.3.1934

16. Josef Hofmeister, 25.6.1934

 

17. Brian Crutcher, 23.8.1934

18. Mike Broadbank, 25.9.1934

 

The three Swedes who may be on the list are Olle Andersson, Ulf Ericsson and Joel Jansson but I haven't got enough detail to include them at the moment.

[chunky 6,081]

2 hours ago, tigerowl said:

The three Swedes who may be on the list are Olle Andersson, Ulf Ericsson and Joel Jansson but I haven't got enough detail to include them at the moment.

Joel Jansson passed away in 2018.

[tigerowl 630]

2 hours ago, chunky said:

Joel Jansson passed away in 2018.

Thank you. 

[BOBBATH 466]

Thank you very much for the updated list Tigerowl -looks good to me. I think I must be getting old (say it ain't so Joe!!)as I can remember seeing 3 of the top 4 ride-including the great Dick Bradley in his last ever meeting. Hope the list doesn't change too much for a while

[Midland Red 2,383]

15 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

Thank you very much for the updated list Tigerowl -looks good to me. I think I must be getting old (say it ain't so Joe!!)as I can remember seeing 3 of the top 4 ride-including the great Dick Bradley in his last ever meeting. Hope the list doesn't change too much for a while

I saw 8 out of the 16 - must mean I’m halfway to being .... very, very old indeed

[BOBBATH 466]

35 minutes ago, Midland Red said:

I saw 8 out of the 16 - must mean I’m halfway to being .... very, very old indeed

Hold it right there Midland Red- I've seen  8 also- Bradley, Taylor, Boothroyd, Bales, Nygren, Geran, Fundin, Lightfoot. I'm sure other forumlanders may have seen even more ride. One thing I'd be interested in is whether anyone in forumland got to see Arthur Payne-the elder statesmen of this  illustrious group. Also any advamce on 8-Norbold or gustix maybe?

[norbold 7,098]

1 hour ago, BOBBATH said:

Hold it right there Midland Red- I've seen  8 also- Bradley, Taylor, Boothroyd, Bales, Nygren, Geran, Fundin, Lightfoot. I'm sure other forumlanders may have seen even more ride. One thing I'd be interested in is whether anyone in forumland got to see Arthur Payne-the elder statesmen of this  illustrious group. Also any advamce on 8-Norbold or gustix maybe?

I've seen 13 of the 18. The five I haven't seen are: Brian Crutcher (who retired the week I first went to speedway), Arthur Payne, Derrick Close, Dan Forsberg and Josef Hofmeister. (At least I don't think I have.)

Edited April 8, 2020 by norbold

[Midland Red 2,383]

1 hour ago, BOBBATH said:

Hold it right there Midland Red- I've seen  8 also- Bradley, Taylor, Boothroyd, Bales, Nygren, Geran, Fundin, Lightfoot. I'm sure other forumlanders may have seen even more ride. One thing I'd be interested in is whether anyone in forumland got to see Arthur Payne-the elder statesmen of this  illustrious group. Also any advamce on 8-Norbold or gustix maybe?

Same 8 - not surprisingly 

[OveFundinFan 4,137]

Definitely 9 of the 16,  11 out of 18.

i can’t definitely say I saw Hofmeister, if I did it would 1960 world final at Wembley.

He did 4 world finals, all at Wembley :- 1957 0 points, 1958 2 points, 1059 4 points, and 1960 6 points.   See what he was doing, he was progressing by 2 points every year. Not riding regularly in Britain he was slowly getting used to Wembley. Give another 4 years and he could have been world champ with 14. 

[steve roberts 9,242]

13 hours ago, Midland Red said:

I saw 8 out of the 16 - must mean I’m halfway to being .... very, very old indeed

I've only seen three but remember Dick Bradley as Team Manager of Swindon.

[iris123 20,928]

Guess it will all get complicated when the 'iron curtain' riders come of age, as it were. If there is much info about their d.o.b and death..

[tigerowl 630]

2 hours ago, iris123 said:

Guess it will all get complicated when the 'iron curtain' riders come of age, as it were. If there is much info about their d.o.b and death..

The Poles aren't too bad as there seems to be some Polish historians who keep records but the Russians from the late 60s might be an issue. 

Chunky has posted about Joel Jansson but if anyone has any info on Olle Andersson and Ulf Ericsson it would make things easier for a while. 

[iris123 20,928]

Yes, I was thinking Russians and Czechs

[Split 177]

22 hours ago, norbold said:

I've seen 13 of the 18. The five I haven't seen are: Brian Crutcher (who retired the week I first went to speedway), Arthur Payne, Derrick Close, Dan Forsberg and Josef Hofmeister. (At least I don't think I have.)

Exactly the same 13 out of 18 for me which is no surprise as I know Norbold and I started watching speedway around the same time and at the same track  - New Cross.

I suppose the time is approaching when some of us will have seen all the riders listed which will mean that sadly, we will have lost some great names.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Split
Correction.