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Sidney the robin

Unsung Heroes.!

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My ten favourite tracks Hyde Rd,The Old Abbey (not now),The Shay, Sheffield,Exeter,Ellesmere Port,Reading Smallmead),Leicester,the new Belle Vue ( awesome).

Okay Sid, my favourite ten tracks would be:

 

Oxford (obviously - best track in the country!!!), Swindon (when prepared properly), White City (may surprise a few but I saw some great racing there - Simmo liked it also), Hackney (Len Silver days), Wimbledon (closeness of racing), Leicester (old one), Belle Vue (Hyde Road), Berwick (Berwick FC), Eastbourne (old style), King's Lynn (However I do find this a strange track - did 'ride' it at one of Olle's Training schools - seen both good and poor racing there)

 

Least favourite:

 

Wolves (too long straights for the tight bends - I'm with John Berry on this one)), Reading (rarely used to have any shale...but was good when it did!), Coventry (1970's version...too smooth (!) that there was little passing but did improve later), Newcastle ((B)rough Park), Milton Keynes (Elfield Park), Mildenhall (basically a circle), Exeter (although I admit that it did get the adrenalin going), Ipswich (too narrow and little banking), Crayford (too small), Eastbourne (new version - crazy first and second bend), Poole (1970's & 80's version - too narrow).

 

Tracks I wished I had visited:

 

West Ham, Crewe, New Cross, Glasgow (Hampden Park), High Beech, Scunthorpe (Quibell Park - watching racing inside a cycle track!), Southampton & Norwich.

Edited by steve roberts

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Okay Sid, my favourite ten tracks would be:

 

Oxford (obviously - best track in the country!!!), Swindon (when prepared properly), White City (may surprise a few but I saw some great racing there - Simmo liked it also), Hackney (Len Silver days), Wimbledon (closeness of racing), Leicester (old one), Belle Vue (Hyde Road), Berwick (Berwick FC), Eastbourne (old style), King's Lynn (However I do find this a strange track - did 'ride' it at one of Olle's Training schools - seen both good and poor racing there)

 

Least favourite:

 

Wolves (too long straights for the tight bends - I'm with John Berry on this one)), Reading (rarely used to have any shale...but was good when it did!), Coventry (1970's version...too smooth (!) that there was little passing but did improve later), Newcastle ((B)rough Park), Milton Keynes (Elfield Park), Mildenhall (basically a circle), Exeter (although I admit that it did get the adrenalin going), Ipswich (too narrow and little banking), Crayford (too small), Eastbourne (new version - crazy first and second bend), Poole (1970's & 80's version - too narrow).

 

Tracks I wished I had visited:

 

West Ham, Crewe, New Cross, Glasgow (Hampden Park), High Beech, Scunthorpe (Quibell Park - watching racing inside a cycle track!), Southampton & Norwich.

Wolves/Eastbourne,Lakeside,are my least favourite tracks Wolves i have never liked a real homer track hated them having the British Final all those years.

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Wolves/Eastbourne,Lakeside,are my least favourite tracks Wolves i have never liked a real homer track hated them having the British Final all those years.

I was forgetting Arena Essex...whoops Lakeside!

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Chris Julian was an unsung hero at the south western tracks in the early sixties, erratic but always entertaining and capable of beating the top riders in the PL. Had a bad crash the year he joined Glasgow but was still a dependable middle order rider for several years after he recovered. Rode for Cradley later and was involved in a punch up with his team mate Roy Trigg the night the Falcons beat them 61-16, probably the highlight of the match.

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Stan Stevens would be my unsung hero.

Would that be something to do with a certain race win at West Ham circa 1967 ?

Going back over old matches and results ten riders who come to mind who were brilliant riders great servants but for me often get forgotten about.The ten i thought of were Alan Hunt,Peter Smith( Mr Poole),Eric Boothroyd,(great promoter as well) Brian Crutcher,Jimmy Mcmillan, Trevor Hedge,Neil Street,George Hunter,Mike Broadbank Jimmy Gooch just a few. There are hundreds of others you could all name what are your memories of some of these legends.

Jackie Biggs. So close to being World Champion in 1951 but nerves got to him, continued riding for another 20 years before being killed in a tragic track crash due to machine failure, at an age when most riders have retired. Never saw him ride myself , but by all accounts a thoroughly nice bloke who always had time for the fans.

 

Wayne Briggs. Speedwáy gave his brother Barry fame and fortune but all it gave Wayne was injury after injury.

 

Norman Hunter. On the cusp of a great international career when that terrible hand injury reduced him to a second string but he still carried on riding,

 

Adam Shields. After he won the Div 2 Riders Chmapionship ( or whatever it was called back then ) had was being spoken of as the next Jason Crump, but like Wayne Briggs , each time he started to get into his stride another injury cut him down. Adam was another one that Speedwáy took a lot from but gave very little back.

 

Adam Skornicki, Stuart Robson, and Kauko Nieminen, never quite made it to the big time but totally loyal to the sport and thoroughly, thoroughly nice guys who always gave 100%

Edited by E I Addio

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Okay Sid, my favourite ten tracks would be:

 

Oxford (obviously - best track in the country!!!), Swindon (when prepared properly), White City (may surprise a few but I saw some great racing there - Simmo liked it also), Hackney (Len Silver days), Wimbledon (closeness of racing), Leicester (old one), Belle Vue (Hyde Road), Berwick (Berwick FC), Eastbourne (old style), King's Lynn (However I do find this a strange track - did 'ride' it at one of Olle's Training schools - seen both good and poor racing there)

 

Least favourite:

 

Wolves (too long straights for the tight bends - I'm with John Berry on this one)), Reading (rarely used to have any shale...but was good when it did!), Coventry (1970's version...too smooth (!) that there was little passing but did improve later), Newcastle ((B)rough Park), Milton Keynes (Elfield Park), Mildenhall (basically a circle), Exeter (although I admit that it did get the adrenalin going), Ipswich (too narrow and little banking), Crayford (too small), Eastbourne (new version - crazy first and second bend), Poole (1970's & 80's version - too narrow).

 

Tracks I wished I had visited:

 

West Ham, Crewe, New Cross, Glasgow (Hampden Park), High Beech, Scunthorpe (Quibell Park - watching racing inside a cycle track!), Southampton & Norwich.

Hampden Park wasn't great , too long and narrow and the couple of thousand strong speedway crowd sat in the main stand , while the rest of the stadium , at that time capable of holding more than 100,000 , was empty which naturally meant there was very little atmosphere

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Would that be something to do with a certain race win at West Ham circa 1967 ?

Stan's crowning moment, but actually no, it's not the reason. Stan rode for the two teams I supported in the 60s, New Cross and West Ham, and it was his week in week out dedication and wholehearted trying that made him ny hero. He struck up a great partnership with Ken McKinlay at West Ham and many's the time their 5-1s won us the match. Even if Stan had never managed to beat Briggo, he would still be my unsung hero.

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Onto modern day speedway , the guys that tuck in and rack up the bonus points are vital to every side . Up here the likes of Sean Courtney and Matthew Wethers were perfect examples of that .

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Onto modern day speedway , the guys that tuck in and rack up the bonus points are vital to every side . Up here the likes of Sean Courtney and Matthew Wethers were perfect examples of that .

Jan Steachmann was also a solid back up rider often filling in behind Todd Wiltshire whilst riding for Oxford.

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Not that it's that unusual on here, but again, I feel that the original subject matter has got a little lost as the thread has progressed. Again, I don't doubt the sentiments, but I find it difficult to accept riders like Norman Hunter and Mike Broadbank, and Jack Biggs as "unsung heroes". Multiple world finalists and World Team Cup gold medalists are hardly what I would consider to be "unsung heroes".

 

When I think of the term, I don't immediately think of international stars, or even established BL heat-leaders; I think of men like Stan Stevens. I think of Norman Storer, Jim Tebby, Harry Edwards, and Nigel Leaver. I think of Geoff Powell, Mike Keen, Jim Burdfield, Alby Golden, and Kevin Brice...

 

Steve

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Not that it's that unusual on here, but again, I feel that the original subject matter has got a little lost as the thread has progressed.

You mean the "full faced helmet" discussion on the Bjorn Knutson thread for instance?What the hell Knutson has to do with full faced helmets is beyond me :rofl::P

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Not that it's that unusual on here, but again, I feel that the original subject matter has got a little lost as the thread has progressed. Again, I don't doubt the sentiments, but I find it difficult to accept riders like Norman Hunter and Mike Broadbank, and Jack Biggs as "unsung heroes". Multiple world finalists and World Team Cup gold medalists are hardly what I would consider to be "unsung heroes".

 

When I think of the term, I don't immediately think of international stars, or even established BL heat-leaders; I think of men like Stan Stevens. I think of Norman Storer, Jim Tebby, Harry Edwards, and Nigel Leaver. I think of Geoff Powell, Mike Keen, Jim Burdfield, Alby Golden, and Kevin Brice...

 

Steve

I was only a boy at the time , but Russ Dent would surely fill the category . The stadium would erupt when Russ pulled off an unexpected win in Glasgow colours

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You mean the "full faced helmet" discussion on the Bjorn Knutson thread for instance?What the hell Knutson has to do with full faced helmets is beyond me :rofl::P

...that's the nature of public forums!

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Not that it's that unusual on here, but again, I feel that the original subject matter has got a little lost as the thread has progressed. Again, I don't doubt the sentiments, but I find it difficult to accept riders like Norman Hunter and Mike Broadbank, and Jack Biggs as "unsung heroes". Multiple world finalists and World Team Cup gold medalists are hardly what I would consider to be "unsung heroes".

 

When I think of the term, I don't immediately think of international stars, or even established BL heat-leaders; I think of men like Stan Stevens. I think of Norman Storer, Jim Tebby, Harry Edwards, and Nigel Leaver. I think of Geoff Powell, Mike Keen, Jim Burdfield, Alby Golden, and Kevin Brice...

 

Steve

Refer to the O.P. Men like Alan Hunt, Mike Broadbanks, Brian Crutcher, and Treveor Hedge were mentioned as examples. That sets the pattern for the thread.

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You mean the "full faced helmet" discussion on the Bjorn Knutson thread for instance?What the hell Knutson has to do with full faced helmets is beyond me :rofl::P

Get a life Iris does it matter that much ✌️️does it affect you? at times on this forum you F. ing annoy me bigtime.😡 Edited by Sidney the robin

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