Presenters And Announcers

[The White Knight 9,039]

One of the best I have heard is Barry Wallace at Newcastle.

[Tsunami 10,219]

One of the best I have heard is Barry Wallace at Newcastle.

Since the restart of speedway at Newcastle in 1961 I think there has only been 3 announcers, and Barry has been doing it since about 1963. I know Maurice Morley was one and possibly Eddie Glennon the other one.

[The White Knight 9,039]

Since the restart of speedway at Newcastle in 1961 I think there has only been 3 announcers, and Barry has been doing it since about 1963. I know Maurice Morley was one and possibly Eddie Glennon the other one.

Barry Wallace was the Announcer at Sunderland 1971 to 1974 as well as his long and meritorious career Announcing at Newcastle.

 

Thinking about it - there can't be many around today who have served the Sport/Clubs as long as Barry.

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

Barry Wallace was the Announcer at Sunderland 1971 to 1974 as well as his long and meritorious career Announcing at Newcastle.

 

Thinking about it - there can't be many around today who have served the Sport/Clubs as long as Barry.

Mr late dad had a wall and floor tiling business and one of his guys was Barry Wallace.....can't be the same chap?

[The White Knight 9,039]

Mr late dad had a wall and floor tiling business and one of his guys was Barry Wallace.....can't be the same chap?

I wouldn't have thought so Ray. Where was your Dad's business?

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

I wouldn't have thought so Ray. Where was your Dad's business?

Rayleigh, Essex! No...got to be the wrong Barry TWK!

[Tsunami 10,219]

I wouldn't have thought so Ray. Where was your Dad's business?

Barry always worked at the Ministry in Benton.

[Guest]

Barry Wallace was the Announcer at Sunderland 1971 to 1974 as well as his long and meritorious career Announcing at Newcastle.

 

Thinking about it - there can't be many around today who have served the Sport/Clubs as long as Barry.

 

It was a long time ago - the late 1970s - but I am sure that I used to contact Barry Wallace by phone on a regular basis when I was working weekend shifts at the old 'Speedway Mail.' He was a great guy to 'work with' as I recall.

[micman 77]

 

 

I do, however, wish you every success with your book and if I have done a bit to promote it perhaps you'd like me to be critical elsewhere

 

I'm sure we can come to some arrangement Chris, I'll let you know when I need the advance book release publicity! :-)

Just getting back to the original question, I can only speak from my own experience and the changes in the sport from 1986 when

I was fortunate to join one of the best clubs in British Speedway - The Wimbledon Dons.

Back then you could 'get away with' so much more. We didn't live in this ridiculous era of political correctness and speedway meetings

were, for many people, the highlight of the week.

 

Before I even picked up the mic on opening night against Hackney, Cyril Maidment said "Introduce the HL1 Kestrels (as they were known on those days) as

the 2nd best speedway team in London and make sure you mention how old Malcolm Simmons is a few times" so I did and the crowd responded.

 

There was one occasion where Rob Grant had taken down Roger Johns and I commented that it was a hard move by the Wooly Bully.

From nowhere, Grantie comes running out of the pits and chased me across the centre green threatening to "knock my block off" much to the sheer delight of the fans.

Nowadays he would be fined a ridiculous amount and I'd be putting in a claim for mental trauma but back then, it was fun and we played up all of the characters in the sport. These guys were box office, had a reputation and put bums on seats.

 

When Simon Wigg ran over my foot with his front wheel at the same track, there was never any urge to call an insurance claim line and sue for compensation. We just laughed it off in he pits later on that night. No issue with the referee filing a 5 page report, it was all part of the evenings entertainment.

 

By the mid 1990s the fun police had moved in, we were given instructions of what could and couldn't be said and presentation become bland and predictable. That's one of the reasons why I took a 7 year sabbatical and didn't come back until 2005 when a chance radio interview with Keith Chapman (whatever happened to him??) resulted in me going back to Kings Lynn for another 7 seasons.

By then presenters and announcers were licensed and it was very difficult to stray too far from the basics for the risk of being fined and having your license removed.

I'd like to think I managed to push the boundaries enough to inject some enthusiasm and fun into the meetings but, even before we knew we were leaving the UK to settle in Australia, I had decided to walk away from speedway presentation.

 

There's a huge difference between being an announcer and a presenter. I started as a box announcer but by my 2nd season I knew I was happier on the centre green, grabbing interviews in the pits (wherever the mic worked. . .but that's another story!) and generally keeping things moving along.

 

I had the good fortune to work with some great box announcers who were often the voice of reason when I was in full wind up mode. Barry Wallace at Newcastle, Doug Adams at Sheffield, Ted Sear at Hackney and, for me, simply the best box announcer in speedway Edwin Overland.

Edwin is clear, articulate, accurate and the perfect partner for any presenter. He was an absolute joy to work with at Kings Lynn and Peterborough and any up and coming announcer could learn from his style.

 

Unlike me, I've never known Edwin to upset or offend anyone! :-)

 

Mike Bennett

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

I had the pleasure of working with Edwin at KM Video and Screen Sport, and not just in speedway in the case of the former. I agree he was a perfect gentleman to deal with, unruffled and polite, but also quite authoritative. He was, and may still be a teacher which might have helped in that.

 

As I said before, finding trustworthy talent and trusting them has been replaced by licencing and fear so inevitably people now play safe. There is always a danger in overstepping the line but a quiet word from officialdom or the promoter should be enough, not the intimidating system we have now.

 

Unlike Mike I was always far happier in the box than in front of the public. Looking back I had to conquer two things when I started out clinging to the roofs of stadia (sometimes literally*) to commentate on videos and later present. It was hard to tell which was the harder fight, chronic fear of heights or chronic shyness. Somehow a different persona takes over which you 'wear' like a costume until the end of the meeting.

 

As Mike said, it is a performance. The key is not to get too fond of your voice.

 

(*commentating at the classic Belle Vue involved the cameraman and me sharing the crumbling spotlight platform on the roof with me lying prone and peering over the edge of the roof, relying on a monitor for the bit of track I dare not stretch out to see properly!)

Edited June 14, 2017 by Rob McCaffery

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

 

I'm sure we can come to some arrangement Chris, I'll let you know when I need the advance book release publicity! :-)

Just getting back to the original question, I can only speak from my own experience and the changes in the sport from 1986 when

I was fortunate to join one of the best clubs in British Speedway - The Wimbledon Dons.

Back then you could 'get away with' so much more. We didn't live in this ridiculous era of political correctness and speedway meetings

were, for many people, the highlight of the week.

 

Before I even picked up the mic on opening night against Hackney, Cyril Maidment said "Introduce the HL1 Kestrels (as they were known on those days) as

the 2nd best speedway team in London and make sure you mention how old Malcolm Simmons is a few times" so I did and the crowd responded.

 

There was one occasion where Rob Grant had taken down Roger Johns and I commented that it was a hard move by the Wooly Bully.

From nowhere, Grantie comes running out of the pits and chased me across the centre green threatening to "knock my block off" much to the sheer delight of the fans.

Nowadays he would be fined a ridiculous amount and I'd be putting in a claim for mental trauma but back then, it was fun and we played up all of the characters in the sport. These guys were box office, had a reputation and put bums on seats.

 

When Simon Wigg ran over my foot with his front wheel at the same track, there was never any urge to call an insurance claim line and sue for compensation. We just laughed it off in he pits later on that night. No issue with the referee filing a 5 page report, it was all part of the evenings entertainment.

 

By the mid 1990s the fun police had moved in, we were given instructions of what could and couldn't be said and presentation become bland and predictable. That's one of the reasons why I took a 7 year sabbatical and didn't come back until 2005 when a chance radio interview with Keith Chapman (whatever happened to him??) resulted in me going back to Kings Lynn for another 7 seasons.

By then presenters and announcers were licensed and it was very difficult to stray too far from the basics for the risk of being fined and having your license removed.

I'd like to think I managed to push the boundaries enough to inject some enthusiasm and fun into the meetings but, even before we knew we were leaving the UK to settle in Australia, I had decided to walk away from speedway presentation.

 

There's a huge difference between being an announcer and a presenter. I started as a box announcer but by my 2nd season I knew I was happier on the centre green, grabbing interviews in the pits (wherever the mic worked. . .but that's another story!) and generally keeping things moving along.

 

I had the good fortune to work with some great box announcers who were often the voice of reason when I was in full wind up mode. Barry Wallace at Newcastle, Doug Adams at Sheffield, Ted Sear at Hackney and, for me, simply the best box announcer in speedway Edwin Overland.

Edwin is clear, articulate, accurate and the perfect partner for any presenter. He was an absolute joy to work with at Kings Lynn and Peterborough and any up and coming announcer could learn from his style.

 

Unlike me, I've never known Edwin to upset or offend anyone! :-)

 

Mike Bennett

 

Anyone who has heard Rob Godfrey at Scunthorpe will tell you that baiting of referee's is not quite dead. He's shamelessly biased, with comments like 'Should have gone to Specsavers', 'You're having a giraffe' and 'That's a controversial one' being typical when a decision goes against the Scorpions. 'Are we having the two minutes on, ref ?' is another when he thinks the delay is too long.

 

Its quite ironic that this man is also the VC of the BSPA

 

You're right that being an announcer is different to be a presenter. In my book, the latter is far harder. The master to me is Kevin Long, a true speedway fan, a very capable interviewer and effortlessly funny without ever being too much. Dave Hoggart (Workington), Michael Max(Glasgow), the aforementioned Mr Godfrey and Clive Fisher(Swindon) are all up there. I also was a big fan of the late, great Bryn Williams and saddened when Tim Allen handed in his cards after an altercation with a referee recently.

 

Edwin Overland is definitely one of the best boxmen along with Graham Hambly (Plymouth), Barry Wallace (Newcastle), Andy Young (Lakeside) and the very impressive new kid on the block, Neil Drummond (Belle Vue).

 

To be fair, what you think of the presenter will always be a personal thing of individual choice. I dare say some of the names above aren't appreciated by everyone.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Halifaxtiger

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

One name that I don't think has been mentioned yet was the late Doug Adams who brightened up many an evening for me at Ellesmere Port, although his major role was over the Pennines at Halifax, and I seem to recall Sheffield. I also used to thoroughly enjoy Laurence Rogers' work at Cradley Heath.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Rob McCaffery

[martinmauger 584]

Barry Wallace was the Announcer at Sunderland 1971 to 1974 as well as his long and meritorious career Announcing at Newcastle.

 

Thinking about it - there can't be many around today who have served the Sport/Clubs as long as Barry.

He was announcer at Hull from, Boulevard from about 1979 (not checked) travelling down and back by train each Wednesday nite. Dougie Adams was announcer at Hull, Craven Park from 1995 to 2000ish (still not checked) then Nigel Pearson took over til about 2003 (not checked that either). Rob Godfrey does his best to try create interest at Scunny and at least interviews are conducted away from the pits, thus giving punters a chance to hear what is being said....

Edited June 14, 2017 by Martin Mauger

[The White Knight 9,039]

He was announcer at Hull from, Boulevard from about 1979 (not checked) travelling down and back by train each Wednesday nite. Dougie Adams was announcer at Hull, Craven Park from 1995 to 2000ish (still not checked) then Nigel Pearson took over til about 2003 (not checked that either). Rob Godfrey does his best to try create interest at Scunny and at least interviews are conducted away from the pits, thus giving punters a chance to hear what is being said....

I did not know that Martin.

[Tsunami 10,219]

I did not know that Martin.

I could well believe that, Ian Thomas would have been difficult to say NO to.