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Sidney the robin

Tony Briggs How Good Could He Have Been.?

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On 7/29/2018 at 1:44 PM, 25yearfan said:

Tony Briggs had ability and I think could of made a decent League rider but I feel he was a bit over rated and given opportunities others at the same level wouldn't have done cause of his father!

I remember reading an article in Peter Collins' Testimonial programme (August 1980) where Richard Bott said that Faberge hadn't wanted to know about sponsoring PC when he was World Champion, yet they agreed to sponsor Tony in that first season, maybe Barry was more persuasive lol. 

 

On 7/27/2018 at 12:33 PM, Terry said:

I remember he won the newcomer of the year award, pipping Hawks' Roman Jankowski (something else those pesky Racers beat us to that year!)

I think he was injured too early in his career to know if he would've made it. I personally feel that he would have, with Briggo's (and probably Mauger's backing.)

I don't remember the first part of your post - I would have thought Roman would have easily been the best newcomer that year! Especially with the reputation unknown Poles had in those days. 

As I said earlier in this post, he did seem a bit over hyped, but then again I don't suppose that was down to him. 

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1 hour ago, Tigerblade said:

 

 

I don't remember the first part of your post - I would have thought Roman would have easily been the best newcomer that year! Especially with the reputation unknown Poles had in those days. 

 

Scanning through an old speedway yearbook it was strange that Tony won the award considering Roman had a higher average and four double figure scores-including a max at Swindon on his first visit.

Unfortunately he didn't really push-on to be another Zenon Plech, although he rode in a couple of world finals in later years.

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I remember his horrendous crash on the back straight at Wimbledon in 1980. That incident alone must have held him back a bit.

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On ‎7‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 6:48 PM, Sidney the robin said:

I think the opposite because his dad was so good a legend the pressure on him was immense straight from the start.

I don't doubt for 1 second that Tony had immense pressure on him because of his fathers success and never said otherwise in my post!

 

Still say he was given more chances than others would have been given!

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52 minutes ago, 25yearfan said:

I don't doubt for 1 second that Tony had immense pressure on him because of his fathers success and never said otherwise in my post!

 

Still say he was given more chances than others would have been given!

How did a novice rider manage to get a deal alongside people who were legends in their sport like Keegan and Cooper otherwise?

Edited by iris123

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1 hour ago, iris123 said:

How did a novice rider manage to get a deal alongside people who were legends in their sport like Keegan and Cooper otherwise?

His team behind him did a great marketing job to get him that sponsorship.

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12 hours ago, iris123 said:

How did a novice rider manage to get a deal alongside people who were legends in their sport like Keegan and Cooper otherwise?

HE wasn't a novice. Tony had been riding for years as a kid and by the time he made his Brutish debut for Reading was quite accomplished. Before the crash at Coventry that ended his career he also had a fine record on the continent at grass track events, etc. Would he have been as good as his dad... unlikely, but that bar was set extremely high. But he had a lot of talent and would have gone far. 

Edited by PHILIPRISING

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12 hours ago, iris123 said:

How did a novice rider manage to get a deal alongside people who were legends in their sport like Keegan and Cooper otherwise?

BECAUSE they were sponsored by Faberge, Keegan played for Southampton (where the Briggs had their home) and Barry was a household name. It wasn't difficult.

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11 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

BECAUSE they were sponsored by Faberge, Keegan played for Southampton (where the Briggs had their home) and Barry was a household name. It wasn't difficult.

Which is exactly the point being made.Without his father he wouldn’t have got the breaks he did.A 5 point rider wouldn’t be signing deals that Keegan and Cooper were.Keegan at Scunthorpe wouldn’t be signing those deals either.....,

Only recently watched a programme about Faberge and how the company went downhill and were selling all sorts of cheap and cheerful products i.e aftershave etc and a few years ago a consortium of rich buggers brought all the rights up and are now trying to get the name back to what it was 100 years ago

Edited by iris123

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WHAT"S wrong with using your father's name? Ultimately it would have been down to Tony's talent, Barry couldn't ride the bike for him, and as someone who has known him since he was a toddler I have no doubt he would have become a top notch rider. His biggest problem was gating but that would have improved. Incidentally, he still rides motocross bikes for fun in Poland and the US. He is very much a chip off the old block.

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2 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

WHAT"S wrong with using your father's name? Ultimately it would have been down to Tony's talent, Barry couldn't ride the bike for him, and as someone who has known him since he was a toddler I have no doubt he would have become a top notch rider. His biggest problem was gating but that would have improved. Incidentally, he still rides motocross bikes for fun in Poland and the US. He is very much a chip off the old block.

Phil,try following the convo.Nobody is saying it is wrong.Some are saying that is how he got the breaks.That is all.If he was Joe Smith with no history in the sport and was on a 5 pt average,would he have got the breaks and the Faberge sponsorship?That is what is being debated.Nothing about right or wrong.There is no moral judgement being dished out,just a sporting debate.

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4 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Phil,try following the convo.Nobody is saying it is wrong.Some are saying that is how he got the breaks.That is all.If he was Joe Smith with no history in the sport and was on a 5 pt average,would he have got the breaks and the Faberge sponsorship?That is what is being debated.Nothing about right or wrong.There is no moral judgement being dished out,just a sporting debate.

HE might not have got the Faberge deal but he would certainly have got a team place at Reading. That was on his ability and potential which was already well known. In fact, several clubs were chasing him but Dave Lanning knew a good rider when he saw one.

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I was abused and used by Barry and Tony Briggs between the dates 5th March 1987 to 10th May 1987....they're a complete and utter pair of spanners!...  JP Kirkham

Edited by slateweaverjem

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....hey!  Briggo, Tony ..you can't go swapping humans for bags of diamonds...it's against the law...sport!                          JP Kirkham

Edited by slateweaverjem

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On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 8:00 PM, slateweaverjem said:

....hey!  Briggo, Tony ..you can't go swapping humans for bags of diamonds...it's against the law...sport!                          JP Kirkham

could you explain that please ?

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