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Simmo how is he remembered?

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18 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

For another to take on Malcolm Simmons-read Reg Fearman's great book "Both Sides of the Fence"

Is it a whodunnit? Does it reveal the whereabouts of Middlo's testimonial money?

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1 hour ago, Sotonian said:

Is it a whodunnit? Does it reveal the whereabouts of Middlo's testimonial money?

...apparently the money was "swallowed up in the liquidation" when Poole Stadium Ltd went into receivership and the bank foreclosed wanting it's money back.

Page 174 in Reg Fearman's book.

 

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Malcolm Simmons was a smooth and classy rider. Winner of the British Final in 1976 during a period qualifying for the meeting itself was hard enough, there was always a whiff of controversy about him. I suppose the race fixing allegations in 1984 topped the lot, then there was his sacking by Poole in 1980 when he apparently threw a race, his honesty in saying he purposely dropped points one season so his average allowed him to race in the second tier the next year. An interesting rider.

If anything though, the number of vehicle breakdowns on the way to meetings he subsequently missed tell how lax he was on his breakdown cover.

 

Edited by moxey63
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Personally I don't get het up over points bought, dropped or sold as it's been going on for years...probably since the start of the sport. 

Mitch Shirra, when interviewed in 'Backtrack' some years ago, told how the Coventry riders were ordered to drop points so as the overall team average would prove advantageous when formulating the team for the following season.

My uncle saw two very famous riders buying off a rider during a World Championship meeting in Britain (an incident that John Berry also quoted in his book "Confessions" to which I collaborated in the way of a response to him personally via email)

I heard whispers and/or suspicions whereby guest riders were paid off by the opposing team and one very well known rider had fingers pointed during one meeting at Cowley but which was never proven.

The speedway scribe John Chaplin was once quoted in one of his books that if you don't wish to have your illusions spoilt then stay very firmly on your side of the fence.

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1 hour ago, moxey63 said:

Malcolm Simmons was a smooth and classy rider. Winner of the British Final in 1976 during a period qualifying for the meeting itself was hard enough, there was always a whiff of controversy about him. I suppose the race fixing allegations in 1984 topped the lot, then there was his sacking by Poole in 1980 when he apparently threw a race, his honesty in saying he purposely dropped points one season so his average allowed him to race in the second tier the next year. An interesting rider.

If anything though, the number of vehicle breakdowns on the way to meetings he subsequently missed tell how lax he was on his breakdown cover.

 

...If I recall when I read his book "Simmo -The Whole Truth" four riders (Simmo, Neil Middleditch, John Davis and Malcolm Holloway) decided that they would finish in a certain order during the so called 'thrown race" to which the promoter (Terry Chandler) agreed to at the time when it was put to him but with reservations.According to Simmo Chandler then renegaded when the crowd starting booing and sacked Simmo for his part in the proceedings!

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11 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Malcolm Simmons was a smooth and classy rider. Winner of the British Final in 1976 during a period qualifying for the meeting itself was hard enough, there was always a whiff of controversy about him. I suppose the race fixing allegations in 1984 topped the lot, then there was his sacking by Poole in 1980 when he apparently threw a race, his honesty in saying he purposely dropped points one season so his average allowed him to race in the second tier the next year. An interesting rider.

If anything though, the number of vehicle breakdowns on the way to meetings he subsequently missed tell how lax he was on his breakdown cover.

 

I noticed he never rode that much at Exeter over the years.

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10 hours ago, steve roberts said:

Personally I don't get het up over points bought, dropped or sold as it's been going on for years...probably since the start of the sport. 

Mitch Shirra, when interviewed in 'Backtrack' some years ago, told how the Coventry riders were ordered to drop points so as the overall team average would prove advantageous when formulating the team for the following season.

My uncle saw two very famous riders buying off a rider during a World Championship meeting in Britain (an incident that John Berry also quoted in his book "Confessions" to which I collaborated in the way of a response to him personally via email)

I heard whispers and/or suspicions whereby guest riders were paid off by the opposing team and one very well known rider had fingers pointed during one meeting at Cowley but which was never proven.

The speedway scribe John Chaplin was once quoted in one of his books that if you don't wish to have your illusions spoilt then stay very firmly on your side of the fence.

Personally I don’t accept things just because they have been going on for years!!!I know some people think being racist is ok because it has been going on for years.Anti -Semitin has been going on for years,chucking oil down the drains has been going on for years,dumping rubbish in country lanes or throwing stuff in the sea has been going on for years and sportspeople taking illegal drugs has been going on for years

I understand and fully support people who are against such things

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35 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Personally I don’t accept things just because they have been going on for years!!!I know some people think being racist is ok because it has been going on for years.Anti -Semitin has been going on for years,chucking oil down the drains has been going on for years,dumping rubbish in country lanes or throwing stuff in the sea has been going on for years and sportspeople taking illegal drugs has been going on for years

I understand and fully support people who are against such things

...obviously the points that you make are valid and very relevant today and thankfully public opinion has been stung into accepting some of the wrongs of the past and present.

My point was that in speedway terms the sport has always been prevalent to both open and closed abuse and probably always will be as with other sports which have been laid open to scrutiny in recent years. Doesn't make it right and is obviously open to discussion and conjecture but personally I'm not going to get hung up on what many of us knew or had suspicions of what was going on behind the scenes in the past or indeed the present (?) within the sport. Perhaps we were more naive in those days and without the benefit of close scrutiny and media attention we just accepted such things rightly or wrongly.

Of course one is able to be more observant and objective when the true facts are made known and therefore make a more informed judgement and analysis of past and/or present set of circumstances whatever the scenario whether it be in sport or the world in general.

Edited by steve roberts
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I don't blame Simmo for dropping the points so he could race in the NL the following season, he must have lost money, I do blame the fact that rules drawn up by the sport's governors meant he had to do so. Speedway fans will put up with it, to a point. The problem comes when you try to attract new support and there are still aspects of points dropping to allow a team to reshuffle during the same year.

Even if Malcom Simmons would have gone through the 1985 British League season with a 12-point average, he couldn't have bettered that figure when he drooped down. So why encourage cheating. Surely it would have been better to assess him on a 12-point (the highest you can have) figure instead of making the sport look silly and encouraging him to throw races.

Edited by moxey63
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8 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

I don't blame Simmo for dropping the point so he could race in the NL the following season, I do blame the fact that rules drawn up by the sport's governors meant he had to do so. Speedway fans will put up with it, to a point. The problem comes when you try to attract new support and there are still aspects of points dropping to allow a team to reshuffle during the same year.

There was nothing wrong with that rule. It meant we had a proper first and second division. Sure, people like Simmons may have dropped points to drop down, but at least it kept the leagues at a standard they are supposed to be.

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13 minutes ago, Grachan said:

There was nothing wrong with that rule. It meant we had a proper first and second division. Sure, people like Simmons may have dropped points to drop down, but at least it kept the leagues at a standard they are supposed to be.

The rule odviously was not bullet proof and there was a flaw in it. The NL / old Second division  has always  held a place for the likes of Mckinlay, Broadbanks ,(ect) over the years riders who were on the way down. but still had something to offer could still enjoy there speedway and could still entertain the fans.

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26 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

The rule odviously was not bullet proof and there was a flaw in it. The NL / old Second division  has always  held a place for the likes of Mckinlay, Broadbanks ,(ect) over the years riders who were on the way down. but still had something to offer could still enjoy there speedway and could still entertain the fans.

I remember Dave Jessup and Gordon Kennett also dropping down, amongst others.

It started to get a bit silly when Bo Petersen and Brian Karger both signed for Arena-Essex.

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Just now, Grachan said:

I remember Dave Jessup and Gordon Kennett also dropping down, amongst others.

It started to get a bit silly when Bo Petersen and Brian Karger both signed for Arena-Essex.

Did the Rasmussen /Schroek affair also have a massive affect Grachan ? what do you think.

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4 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Did the Rasmussen /Schroek affair also have a massive affect Grachan ? what do you think.

Definitely. That initially opened the floodgates, although more in terms of overseas riders rather than the actual standard.

Didn't Swindon once sign Gordon Kennett as their number 8 after he dropped down?

Edited by Grachan

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46 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

The rule odviously was not bullet proof and there was a flaw in it. The NL / old Second division  has always  held a place for the likes of Mckinlay, Broadbanks ,(ect) over the years riders who were on the way down. but still had something to offer could still enjoy there speedway and could still entertain the fans.

John Dews couldn't adapt to White City when 'The Rebels' moved to Wood Lane and would have been a very able number one for 'The Cheetahs' in 1976 but his average was deemed too high and he subsequently retired.

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