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Bavarian

England speedway team managers

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On 6/7/2020 at 6:30 AM, Bavarian said:

Does anyone have a chronological list of all the official England (and GB) speedway team managers we ever had through the years since 1930?  

Who was the longest serving, who was the most successful, who was the worst ?

 

I have listed the England/GB team managers I am aware of for the official internationals staged at top division level (or including riders from the top division where staged on lower league tracks) in the UK from 1947 to 1969.  Can anyone help by filling in some of the blanks (or advise of any errors/amendments required) please?  In the late 1940s one programme referred to the team being selected jointly by Alec Jackson of Wembley and Fred Mockford of New Cross.  Jackson was named in the programme as manager for the 1952 test at Belle Vue, but a subsequent team photograph included Mockford as manager.  It is likely that the team managers for 1959 (Swindon) and 1961 (Belle Vue and Southampton) would have been from the staging tracks, in keeping with the other internationals between 1959 and 1961.

05/07/47 England Australia Bradford  Not stated in programme
29/07/47 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford
14/08/47 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson
24/05/48 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford
19/06/48 England Australia Belle Vue  
30/06/48 England Australia New Cross  
18/08/48 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
19/08/48 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford
07/09/48 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford
26/05/49 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson (or Fred Mockford)
18/06/49 England Australia Birmingham Alec Jackson
13/07/49 England Australia New Cross Not stated - probably Fred Mockford
05/08/49 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford
24/08/49 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
03/09/49 England Australia Bradford   
06/06/50 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford
24/06/50 England Australia Belle Vue  
12/07/50 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford
31/07/50 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford
31/08/50 England Australia Wembley Fred Mockford
11/09/50 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
01/06/51 England Australia Harringay Not stated in programme
13/06/51 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
30/06/51 England Australia Bradford   
03/07/51 Scotland England Ashfield  
19/07/51 England Australia Wembley Ronnie Greene
04/08/51 England Australia Birmingham Les Marshall
10/08/51 England Scotland Cradley Heath Not stated in programme
27/08/51 England Scotland Halifax  
28/08/51 England Australia West Ham  
15/09/51 Scotland England Edinburgh Don Cuppleditch
22/09/51 England Overseas Belle Vue  
28/05/52 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
09/06/52 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford
16/06/52 England Scotland Coventry Charles Ochiltree
26/06/52 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson
19/07/52 England Australia Belle Vue A Jackson (programme), F Mockford (photo)
02/08/52 Scotland England Ashfield  
11/08/52 England Scotland Liverpool Gordon Parkins
20/08/52 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford
05/09/52 Scotland England Motherwell  
12/09/52 England Australia Harringay  
27/05/53 Scotland England Glasgow White City Les Gregory
20/06/53 England Australia Norwich Fred Evans
03/07/53 England Scotland Leicester Charles Ochiltree
14/07/53 England Scotland Wolverhampton Len Matchan
13/08/53 England Australia Wembley Charles Ochiltree
14/08/53 Scotland England Motherwell  
29/08/53 England Australia Birmingham Fred Evans
14/09/53 England New Zealand Wimbledon Fred Evans
22/09/53 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Lack
25/09/53 England New Zealand Bristol Len Matcham
29/09/53 England New Zealand West Ham Charles Ochiltree
10/08/54 England Australasia West Ham Ronnie Greene
04/09/54 England Australasia Belle Vue Alec Jackson
25/09/54 England Australasia Bradford   
13/06/55 England Australasia Wimbledon Ronnie Greene
23/06/55 England Australasia Wembley Not stated in programme
05/07/55 England Australasia West Ham Charles Ochiltree
20/07/55 England Australasia Bradford  Bruce Booth
27/07/55 England Australasia Birmingham Les Marshall
05/08/55 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins
28/06/56 England Sweden Wembley Possibly Ronnie Greene
02/07/56 England Sweden Wimbledon Ronnie Greene
04/07/56 England Sweden Norwich Ronnie Greene
11/07/56 England Australasia Bradford   
10/08/56 England Australasia Birmingham Alec Jackson
28/08/56 England Australasia Poole  
03/06/58 England Poland Southampton  
05/06/58 England Poland Ipswich Ronnie Greene
06/06/58 England Poland Leicester Ronnie Greene
11/06/58 England Australasia Swindon  
18/06/58 England Australasia Oxford Gordon Parkins
23/07/58 England Australasia Coventry  
20/08/58 England Australasia Belle Vue  
09/09/58 England Australasia Southampton Gordon Parkins
08/09/59 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher
12/09/59 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins
26/09/59 England Australasia Swindon  
01/06/60 England Australasia Coventry Charles Ochiltree
15/06/60 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins
30/06/60 England Australasia Ipswich Vic Gooden
19/08/60 England Australasia Leicester Squib Burton
07/09/60 England Australasia New Cross Johnnie Hoskins
26/09/60 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher
12/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Norwich Gordon Parkins
13/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Oxford Ted Flanaghan
14/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue  
17/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Cyril Brine
18/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Southampton  
04/07/64 Great Britain USSR Wembley Tommy Price
08/07/64 Great Britain USSR Coventry Tommy Price
11/07/64 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Tommy Price
15/05/65 Scotland England Edinburgh Mike Parker
31/05/65 England Scotland Newcastle Tom Graham
02/06/65 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham
05/07/65 Great Britain USSR Wimbledon Trevor Redmond
07/07/65 Great Britain USSR Coventry Charles Foot
08/07/65 Great Britain USSR Sheffield Charles Ochiltree
14/07/65 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Mike Parker
16/07/65 Great Britain USSR Newport Ronnie Greene
07/05/66 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Glennon
17/06/66 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham
22/06/66 England Scotland Halifax Frank Varey
23/06/66 England Scotland Middlesbrough Eric Boothroyd
04/07/66 England USSR Newcastle Bill Bridgett
06/07/66 England USSR Halifax Frank Varey
08/07/66 England USSR Wolverhampton Mike Parker
11/07/66 England USSR Exeter Charles Foot
12/07/66 England USSR West Ham Charles Ochiltree
29/07/66 Great Britain Poland Hackney Vic Gooden
01/08/66 Great Britain Poland Coventry Vic Gooden
04/08/66 Great Britain Poland Sheffield Vic Gooden
10/10/66 England Scotland Newcastle  
06/05/67 Scotland England Edinburgh Tom Graham
15/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Charles Ochiltree
17/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Coventry Ronnie Greene
19/06/67 England Sweden Exeter Charles Foot
21/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Newport Wally Mawdsley
23/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Glasgow White City Ian Hoskins
26/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue Mike Parker
18/07/66 Great Britain Poland West Ham Wally Mawdsley
19/07/67 Great Britain Poland Poole Ronnie Greene
21/07/67 Great Britain Poland Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree
22/07/67 Great Britain Poland Halifax Ron Wilson
24/07/67 Great Britain Poland Newcastle Ian Hoskins
13/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Wally Mawdsley
15/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey
21/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree
22/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Coatbridge Ian Hoskins
29/06/68 Great Britain USSR West Ham Ronnie Greene
01/07/68 Great Britain USSR Exeter Charles Foot
03/07/68 England USSR Coventry Wally Mawdsley
05/07/68 England USSR Newport Wally Mawdsley
06/07/68 England USSR Belle Vue Ronnie Greene
12/07/68 Great Britain Poland Hackney Wally Mawdsley
13/07/68 Great Britain Poland Coventry Wally Mawdsley
15/07/68 England Poland Newcastle Mike Parker
17/07/68 England Poland Poole Ronnie Greene
18/07/68 England Poland Sheffield Charles Ochiltree
20/07/68 Great Britain Sweden Swindon Charles Foot
31/08/68 Scotland England Coatbridge Tom Graham
28/05/69 England Australia Poole Charles Foot
05/06/69 England Australia Sheffield Mike Parker
12/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Reg Fearman
13/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Newport Reg Fearman
17/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Leicester Ronnie Greene
21/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey
23/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Cradley Heath Charles Ochiltree
04/07/69 England Australia Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree
06/08/69 England New Zealand Swindon Reg Fearman
15/08/69 Scotland England Glasgow Hampden Park Tom Graham
18/08/69 England New Zealand Newcastle Mike Parker
29/08/69 England New Zealand Hackney Ronnie Greene

 

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More excellent research, thanks BL65 for taking the trouble to compose this detailed list. Greatly appreciated.

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20 hours ago, BL65 said:

I have listed the England/GB team managers I am aware of for the official internationals staged at top division level (or including riders from the top division where staged on lower league tracks) in the UK from 1947 to 1969.  Can anyone help by filling in some of the blanks (or advise of any errors/amendments required) please?  In the late 1940s one programme referred to the team being selected jointly by Alec Jackson of Wembley and Fred Mockford of New Cross.  Jackson was named in the programme as manager for the 1952 test at Belle Vue, but a subsequent team photograph included Mockford as manager.  It is likely that the team managers for 1959 (Swindon) and 1961 (Belle Vue and Southampton) would have been from the staging tracks, in keeping with the other internationals between 1959 and 1961.

05/07/47 England Australia Bradford  Not stated in programme
29/07/47 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford
14/08/47 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson
24/05/48 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford
19/06/48 England Australia Belle Vue  
30/06/48 England Australia New Cross  
18/08/48 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
19/08/48 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford
07/09/48 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford
26/05/49 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson (or Fred Mockford)
18/06/49 England Australia Birmingham Alec Jackson
13/07/49 England Australia New Cross Not stated - probably Fred Mockford
05/08/49 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford
24/08/49 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
03/09/49 England Australia Bradford   
06/06/50 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford
24/06/50 England Australia Belle Vue  
12/07/50 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford
31/07/50 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford
31/08/50 England Australia Wembley Fred Mockford
11/09/50 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
01/06/51 England Australia Harringay Not stated in programme
13/06/51 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
30/06/51 England Australia Bradford   
03/07/51 Scotland England Ashfield  
19/07/51 England Australia Wembley Ronnie Greene
04/08/51 England Australia Birmingham Les Marshall
10/08/51 England Scotland Cradley Heath Not stated in programme
27/08/51 England Scotland Halifax  
28/08/51 England Australia West Ham  
15/09/51 Scotland England Edinburgh Don Cuppleditch
22/09/51 England Overseas Belle Vue  
28/05/52 Scotland England Glasgow White City  
09/06/52 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford
16/06/52 England Scotland Coventry Charles Ochiltree
26/06/52 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson
19/07/52 England Australia Belle Vue A Jackson (programme), F Mockford (photo)
02/08/52 Scotland England Ashfield  
11/08/52 England Scotland Liverpool Gordon Parkins
20/08/52 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford
05/09/52 Scotland England Motherwell  
12/09/52 England Australia Harringay  
27/05/53 Scotland England Glasgow White City Les Gregory
20/06/53 England Australia Norwich Fred Evans
03/07/53 England Scotland Leicester Charles Ochiltree
14/07/53 England Scotland Wolverhampton Len Matchan
13/08/53 England Australia Wembley Charles Ochiltree
14/08/53 Scotland England Motherwell  
29/08/53 England Australia Birmingham Fred Evans
14/09/53 England New Zealand Wimbledon Fred Evans
22/09/53 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Lack
25/09/53 England New Zealand Bristol Len Matcham
29/09/53 England New Zealand West Ham Charles Ochiltree
10/08/54 England Australasia West Ham Ronnie Greene
04/09/54 England Australasia Belle Vue Alec Jackson
25/09/54 England Australasia Bradford   
13/06/55 England Australasia Wimbledon Ronnie Greene
23/06/55 England Australasia Wembley Not stated in programme
05/07/55 England Australasia West Ham Charles Ochiltree
20/07/55 England Australasia Bradford  Bruce Booth
27/07/55 England Australasia Birmingham Les Marshall
05/08/55 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins
28/06/56 England Sweden Wembley Possibly Ronnie Greene
02/07/56 England Sweden Wimbledon Ronnie Greene
04/07/56 England Sweden Norwich Ronnie Greene
11/07/56 England Australasia Bradford   
10/08/56 England Australasia Birmingham Alec Jackson
28/08/56 England Australasia Poole  
03/06/58 England Poland Southampton  
05/06/58 England Poland Ipswich Ronnie Greene
06/06/58 England Poland Leicester Ronnie Greene
11/06/58 England Australasia Swindon  
18/06/58 England Australasia Oxford Gordon Parkins
23/07/58 England Australasia Coventry  
20/08/58 England Australasia Belle Vue  
09/09/58 England Australasia Southampton Gordon Parkins
08/09/59 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher
12/09/59 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins
26/09/59 England Australasia Swindon  
01/06/60 England Australasia Coventry Charles Ochiltree
15/06/60 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins
30/06/60 England Australasia Ipswich Vic Gooden
19/08/60 England Australasia Leicester Squib Burton
07/09/60 England Australasia New Cross Johnnie Hoskins
26/09/60 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher
12/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Norwich Gordon Parkins
13/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Oxford Ted Flanaghan
14/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue  
17/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Cyril Brine
18/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Southampton  
04/07/64 Great Britain USSR Wembley Tommy Price
08/07/64 Great Britain USSR Coventry Tommy Price
11/07/64 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Tommy Price
15/05/65 Scotland England Edinburgh Mike Parker
31/05/65 England Scotland Newcastle Tom Graham
02/06/65 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham
05/07/65 Great Britain USSR Wimbledon Trevor Redmond
07/07/65 Great Britain USSR Coventry Charles Foot
08/07/65 Great Britain USSR Sheffield Charles Ochiltree
14/07/65 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Mike Parker
16/07/65 Great Britain USSR Newport Ronnie Greene
07/05/66 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Glennon
17/06/66 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham
22/06/66 England Scotland Halifax Frank Varey
23/06/66 England Scotland Middlesbrough Eric Boothroyd
04/07/66 England USSR Newcastle Bill Bridgett
06/07/66 England USSR Halifax Frank Varey
08/07/66 England USSR Wolverhampton Mike Parker
11/07/66 England USSR Exeter Charles Foot
12/07/66 England USSR West Ham Charles Ochiltree
29/07/66 Great Britain Poland Hackney Vic Gooden
01/08/66 Great Britain Poland Coventry Vic Gooden
04/08/66 Great Britain Poland Sheffield Vic Gooden
10/10/66 England Scotland Newcastle  
06/05/67 Scotland England Edinburgh Tom Graham
15/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Charles Ochiltree
17/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Coventry Ronnie Greene
19/06/67 England Sweden Exeter Charles Foot
21/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Newport Wally Mawdsley
23/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Glasgow White City Ian Hoskins
26/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue Mike Parker
18/07/66 Great Britain Poland West Ham Wally Mawdsley
19/07/67 Great Britain Poland Poole Ronnie Greene
21/07/67 Great Britain Poland Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree
22/07/67 Great Britain Poland Halifax Ron Wilson
24/07/67 Great Britain Poland Newcastle Ian Hoskins
13/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Wally Mawdsley
15/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey
21/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree
22/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Coatbridge Ian Hoskins
29/06/68 Great Britain USSR West Ham Ronnie Greene
01/07/68 Great Britain USSR Exeter Charles Foot
03/07/68 England USSR Coventry Wally Mawdsley
05/07/68 England USSR Newport Wally Mawdsley
06/07/68 England USSR Belle Vue Ronnie Greene
12/07/68 Great Britain Poland Hackney Wally Mawdsley
13/07/68 Great Britain Poland Coventry Wally Mawdsley
15/07/68 England Poland Newcastle Mike Parker
17/07/68 England Poland Poole Ronnie Greene
18/07/68 England Poland Sheffield Charles Ochiltree
20/07/68 Great Britain Sweden Swindon Charles Foot
31/08/68 Scotland England Coatbridge Tom Graham
28/05/69 England Australia Poole Charles Foot
05/06/69 England Australia Sheffield Mike Parker
12/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Reg Fearman
13/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Newport Reg Fearman
17/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Leicester Ronnie Greene
21/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey
23/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Cradley Heath Charles Ochiltree
04/07/69 England Australia Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree
06/08/69 England New Zealand Swindon Reg Fearman
15/08/69 Scotland England Glasgow Hampden Park Tom Graham
18/08/69 England New Zealand Newcastle Mike Parker
29/08/69 England New Zealand Hackney Ronnie Greene

 

11/7/66 at Exeter v ussr team manager was Trevor redmond,

28/5/69 at Poole v Australia team manager was Ron hart.

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40 minutes ago, Tracy Bird said:

11/7/66 at Exeter v ussr team manager was Trevor redmond,

28/5/69 at Poole v Australia team manager was Ron hart.

Thanks.  I don't recall the team manager being named in the Exeter programme and I don't have a copy of the Poole programme; the information I had was taken from 'The Complete History of the British League'.

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Managed to track down the H. Tovey who I mentioned was manager of the team in Australia in 1950-51. Also was the manager on the next tour according to the photo here. But who was he ?

http://justsolos.homestead.com/molly5.html

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I can add Alice Hart as the team manager for the tests against Scotland at White City in 1951 and 1952.

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1 hour ago, iris123 said:

Managed to track down the H. Tovey who I mentioned was manager of the team in Australia in 1950-51. Also was the manager on the next tour according to the photo here. But who was he ?

http://justsolos.homestead.com/molly5.html

H. for Harry.

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Is more known about him ? Was he involved in UK speedway or maybe lived in Australia ?

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4 hours ago, iris123 said:

Managed to track down the H. Tovey who I mentioned was manager of the team in Australia in 1950-51. Also was the manager on the next tour according to the photo here. But who was he ?

http://justsolos.homestead.com/molly5.html

Harry Tovey was also manager on the 1949-50 tour.  It would be out of character for the UK authorities to pay for a team manager to travel to Australia in those days, so perhaps Harry was resident there.

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Here is a clue.  Ron Clarke, Odsal captain and member of the 1949-50 touring team, sent 'news' to Speedway Echo, published on 25th February 1950.  His comment was:

"We are all attending a Farewell Ball this week, when our main part will be presenting Harry Tovey with a little something for his services to us.  Believe me, and this is the general feeling in the tourists' camp, nothing we can give Harry can repay him sufficiently for the magnificent way he has taken care of us out here.  It's really been grand to meet a guy who has taken such a great interest in our team.  We feel rather guilty at letting him down over the Test series but that's just the way things work out sometimes.  We hope that we haven't seen the last of Harry where our speedway is concerned and we'll never forget him for what he has done for us."

My feeling is that Harry Tovey was probably in charge of all administrative arrangements during the tours, but maybe the team captain was responsible for racing matters.

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