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Sidney the robin

Belle Vue 1972 or Cradley 1983.???

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I was going through some of my programmes the other night and i was thinking the Belle Vue 1972 team and the Cradley 1983 team were the best teams that i ever saw.Adams made a superb decision in signing Peter Ravn which at the time looked a uninspiring signing he just improved out of recognition in 83.I just favour the Aces side though  was Ken Eyre the weak link ?? he played his part though and came through the Dent Oliver production line.

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1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said:

I was going through some of my programmes the other night and i was thinking the Belle Vue 1972 team and the Cradley 1983 team were the best teams that i ever saw.Adams made a superb decision in signing Peter Ravn which at the time looked a uninspiring signing he just improved out of recognition in 83.I just favour the Aces side though  was Ken Eyre the weak link ?? he played his part though and came through the Dent Oliver production line.

I'd always go with the "Aces" of 1972...my first year going to speedway. Also what has to be admired was that the Belle Vue team was basically home grown except for Ivan of course. Soren Sjosten, despite being Swedish, was brought up at Hyde Road and spent many successful years there until moving on in 1976 when his career started to go downhill quite quickly due to off track issues.

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51 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

I'd always go with the "Aces" of 1972...my first year going to speedway. Also what has to be admired was that the Belle Vue team was basically home grown except for Ivan of course. Soren Sjosten, despite being Swedish, was brought up at Hyde Road and spent many successful years there until moving on in 1976 when his career started to go downhill quite quickly due to off track issues.

Mauger. Wilko, Sjosten, Collins, Pusey, Broadbelt, Eyre some line up that Steve god what a top six.

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Guest

Fair do's but the '83 Heathens didn't have a weak link at all once they'd signed Ravn.

Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg, Lance King, Alan Grahame, Phil Collins, Peter Ravn and Jan O Pedersen. 

More like five heat leaders and two second strings!

Forgot to mention, nearly bankrupted the Heathens Promoters though, as they were paying out a fortune in wages...

 

 

 

Edited by Guest

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1 hour ago, prodons said:

Fair do's but the '83 Heathens didn't have a weak link at all once they'd signed Ravn.

Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg, Lance King, Alan Grahame, Phil Collins, Peter Ravn and Jan O Pedersen. 

More like five heat leaders and two second strings!

Forgot to mention, nearly bankrupted the Heathens Promoters though, as they were paying out a fortune in wages...

 

 

 

Remember going to a double header at Cradley in 1983 the Budgies were murdered 60-18 and the Aces went down 55.- 23.

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I can't remember when fixed gate positions came in but if they were in effect in 83 then it's Cradley for me.

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Solid as Belle Vue were, nothing can top the riders in the Cradley team.

Broadbelt, Wilkinson, Eyre, Pusey - not in the same class as anyone in the Cradley team. Just look what every member of Cradley achieved in their careers.

Gundersen - 3 times World Champion

Wigg - British Champion /World Long Track Champion

King - World Number 3

Grahame - British final runner-up, 5 points from 2 rides in a World Final

Collins - Overseas Champion

Ravn - starred for Denmark in World Team Cup final

Pedersen - World Champion

Not bad for a side supposedly weakened by the loss of the previous year's number one. And Phil Crump got a maximum against them!

 

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2 minutes ago, Grachan said:

Solid as Belle Vue were, nothing can top the riders in the Cradley team.

Broadbelt, Wilkinson, Eyre, Pusey - not in the same class as anyone in the Cradley team. Just look what every member of Cradley achieved in their careers.

Gundersen - 3 times World Champion

Wigg - British Champion /World Long Track Champion

King - World Number 3

Grahame - British final runner-up, 5 points from 2 rides in a World Final

Collins - Overseas Champion

Ravn - starred for Denmark in World Team Cup final

Pedersen - World Champion

Not bad for a side supposedly weakened by the loss of the previous year's number one. And Phil Crump got a maximum against them!

 

Maybe there is a wee bit of bias there Grachan? we are talking 1983 here. Mauger, Sjosten,Collins  for me as heat leaders easily stack up against Erik, Wiggy,King.I will say the Collins / Grahame partnership were awesome but Pusey at his best was a genuine second heat leader in most teams.Yes Eyre was a weak link but he was still a valuable team member for me King/ Collins/ Wigg / Grahame were never real number one riders Mauger/Sjosten/ Collins were.

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In 1983 the season started promisingly for the then champions in going to Cradley in early 1983, and winning in the first leg of the Premiership curtain raiser thingy. We lost the second home leg but won the trophy on aggregate after a blanket finish heat, amongst others. It was not an omen of good things to come. For me personally Cradley's team were the best i ever saw purely because i do not remember the triple crown winning BV side of 70-72, as i was too young then. Cradley came to Hyde Road later in the 1983 season and hammered BV 29-49, they did not have a weak link anywhere in that super team. Every Heathen had an average of over seven, from a maximum of twelve, which is some going. My head as i have said says Cradley but my heart says BV. 

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1 minute ago, Sidney the robin said:

Maybe there is a wee bit of bias there Grachan? we are talking 1983 here. Mauger, Sjosten,Collins  for me as heat leaders easily stack up against Erik, Wiggy,King.I will say the Collins / Grahame partnership were awesome but Pusey at his best was a genuine second heat leader in most teams.Yes Eyre was a weak link but he was still a valuable team member for me King/ Collins/ Wigg / Grahame were never real number one riders Mauger/Sjosten/ Collins were.

Pusey was a good rider. I'd say he was probably of similar standard to Bob Kilby or someone like that. Great team man but not quite there in terms of international success.

All of the Cradley team achieved a high standard at World level, which is remarkable really. Ok, it wasn't all in 1983, but the pedigree is there.

 

 

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Just now, Grachan said:

Pusey was a good rider. I'd say he was probably of similar standard to Bob Kilby or someone like that. Great team man but not quite there in terms of international success.

All of the Cradley team achieved a high standard at World level, which is remarkable really. Ok, it wasn't all in 1983, but the pedigree is there.

 

 

Pusey underachieved really  some of the reasons why have been well documented in recent years.Bob for me was a terrific rider think he could of been world class he was only just below that his figures at Exeter show that he was capable of beating anybody.Yes that Cradley side was something else Ravn was the joker in the pack really stepped up.

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1 minute ago, Sidney the robin said:

Pusey underachieved really  some of the reasons why have been well documented in recent years.Bob for me was a terrific rider think he could of been world class he was only just below that his figures at Exeter show that he was capable of beating anybody.Yes that Cradley side was something else Ravn was the joker in the pack really stepped up.

Wigg, of course, only moved up from Weymouth that year, so he, too, was something of a sensation.

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Just now, Grachan said:

Wigg, of course, only moved up from Weymouth that year, so he, too, was something of a sensation.

Yes reached a British Final as a NL rider,  Jan O was the one that surprised me never thought he would be a world champion of the future.For his peak years Jan O was one exciting rider to watch terrific from the back a great racer.

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37 minutes ago, Sotonian said:

I can't remember when fixed gate positions came in but if they were in effect in 83 then it's Cradley for me.

I thnk that it was 1988?

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17 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Pusey underachieved really  some of the reasons why have been well documented in recent years.Bob for me was a terrific rider think he could of been world class he was only just below that his figures at Exeter show that he was capable of beating anybody.Yes that Cradley side was something else Ravn was the joker in the pack really stepped up.

Chris was going great guns in 1973 (ten plus avearge) but a badly broken arm he recieved in Poland (?) finished his season. He never reached those same heights again and eventually moved to Halifax. Badly effected by great mate Alan Wilkinson's injury and he later developed an alcohol problem but I think that was after he finished riding. Died far too young.

Personally I was always suspicious of Peter Ravn's antics on track on occasions. Remember one in particular during an Intercontinental Final when he failed to leave the track after a mechanical breakdown which resulted in Neil Evitts collecting him on the next lap.

Edited by steve roberts

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