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iris123

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6 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

And don't lets forget Teo Teodorowicz

Not forgotten, but Teo rode in the National League and the other references were to riders who had appeared in the lower divisions.

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20 minutes ago, BL65 said:

Not forgotten, but Teo rode in the National League and the other references were to riders who had appeared in the lower divisions.

Indeed. There's a long history of foreign riders in speedway's top division going right back to even before the National League to the Southern League.

Edited by norbold

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Sorry BL65- my mistake-misread the thread, you are quite right.

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Seen Tommy was featured in a set of cigarette cards that I didn't know about. Stars of Scottish speedway. Guess this was a historical collection, but does anyone know when it came out and all of the 25(?) riders included. See that Ken McKinlay was in as was George Hunter. And as his mentions he began riding in 1958 it was issued after Miller had retired

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8 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Seen Tommy was featured in a set of cigarette cards that I didn't know about. Stars of Scottish speedway. Guess this was a historical collection, but does anyone know when it came out and all of the 25(?) riders included. See that Ken McKinlay was in as was George Hunter. And as his mentions he began riding in 1958 it was issued after Miller had retired

They came out in 2002, issued by J F Sporting Collectibles.

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They also issued Stars of Bradford Speedway, Stars of London Speedway, Stars of Midland Speedway and Wembley Speedway Stars.

Just to add, I don't know which riders were featured on the Scottish set. The only other one I know was Jack Young.

Edited by norbold

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Thanks norbold. New to me.Didn’t know there were modern issues. I imagined they were all fairly old and one came with each packet of cigarettes-_-

Edited by iris123

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32 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Seen Tommy was featured in a set of cigarette cards that I didn't know about. Stars of Scottish speedway. Guess this was a historical collection, but does anyone know when it came out and all of the 25(?) riders included. See that Ken McKinlay was in as was George Hunter. And as his mentions he began riding in 1958 it was issued after Miller had retired

Junior Bainbridge, Bobby Beaton, Oyvind Berg, Derek Close, Les Collins, Reidar Eide, Gruff Garland, Jack Gordon, Keith Gurtner, Bert Harkins, Frank Hodgson, George Hunter, Ken Le Breton, Danny Lee, Norman Lindsay, Will Lowther, Ken McKinlay, Jim McMillan, Tommy Miller, Charlie Monk, Bruce Semmens, Doug Templeton, Willie Templeton, Willie Wilson, Jack Young.
 

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Stars of Bradford (24): Joe Abbott, Al Allisson, Dave Baugh, Jack Biggs, Nigel Boocock, Arthur Bush, Ron Clarke, Neil Evitts, Arthur Forrest, Gruff Garland, Max Grosskreutz, Oliver Hart, Gary Havelock, Alan Knapkin, Bill Longley, Bob Lovell, Bob Mason, Gary Peterson, Ernie Price, Eddie Rigg, Alec Statham, Kelvin Tatum, Fred Tuck, Arthur Wright

Stars of London (24): Jack Biggs, Cyril Brine, Howdy Byford, Eric Chitty, Malcolm Craven, Tommy Croombs, Eric French, Dick Geary, Jimmy Gibb, Billy Gilbert, Ron Howes, Ron Johnson, Frank Lawrence, Aub Lawson, Bill Longley, Jack Milne, Ray Moore, George Newton, Norman Parker, Geoff Pymar, Cyril Roger, Tiger Stevenson, Nobby Stock, Les Wotton

Stars of Midland (24): Ken Adams, Harry Bastable, Nigel Boocock, John Boulger, Ivor Brown, Arthur Browning, Phil Collins, Sam Ermolenko, Alan Grahame, Erik Gundersen, John Hart, Phil Hart, Phil Herne, Roger Hill, Alan Hunt, Peter Jarman, Hans Nielsen, Ole Olsen, Bernt Persson, Malcolm Shakespeare, Derrick Tailby, Roy Trigg, Graham Warren, Ray Wilson

Wembley - Series 1 (15): Bruce Abernethy, Brian Crutcher, Eric French, Billy, Gilbert, Bill Kitchen, Wilbur Lamoreaux, Fred Lang, Bob Oakley, Tommy Price, Trevor Redmond, Split Waterman, Bob Wells, George Wilks, Eric Williams, Freddie Williams

Wembley - Series 2 (21): Wayne Briggs, Gordon Byers, Frank Charles, Roy Craighead, Broncho Dixon, Roger Frogley, Ove Fundin, George Greenwood, Eric Gregory, Morian Hansen, Bert Harkins, Dave Jessup, Billy Lamont, Ginger Lees, Wally Little, Jim Milward, Gote Nordin, Jack Ormston, Lionel Van Praag, Colin Watson, Harry Whitfield

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Lots of interesting stuff here mates, but hang on for a minute-getting back to Atomic Tommy  what do you reckon was the reason for his precipitous decline after Glasgow. He was like a shining comet that fell to earth.

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My Tommy Miller profile with stats...

 

MILLER, Thomas Ogilvie (Tommy)

Born: February 22, 1924, High Blantyre, Scotland.

Died: 1975

 One of the greatest speedway riders Scotland has ever produced, Tommy Miller burst onto the speedway scene in 1950, having had a handful of second half rides at Glasgow at the end of the previous year. He had spent the winter in practice at the Bothwell Training Track and was given a place at reserve in the ‘Tigers’ team for the start of the new decade. After taking the early season regional cup competitions and challenge matches to settle into his new role, Tommy’s scoring suddenly took off and he recorded a string of sensational scores that made him the talk of speedway. He quickly became almost unbeatable around his home White City track and his average was only reduced by some lower scores on circuits that he had never seen before. His dominance around his home shale was demonstrated by him smashing Graham Warren’s track record in June and by recording an 18 point maximum for Scotland in a representative match against an unofficial England side which included the likes of the legendary Jack Parker and World finalist Louis Lawson.

As with all overnight sensations, the acid test would be the second season and Tommy answered all those questions with a sensational run of scores which propelled him into third position in the league averages behind Jack Young, who became World Champion that year, and Young’s fellow Australian Bob Leverenz. He dropped just eight points in 16 league and cup matches around his home track and showed that the experience he had picked up on away tracks the previous year had been put to good use, as he lifted his average to a figure of ten and a half points per match. This season also saw Tommy make his debut on the international scene and, although he was a true Scot, his appearances came for England who drew upon Scottish and Welsh riders, despite not labelling the team as Great Britain. He won his first ride in the Union Jack body colour, beating the Australian pair of Warren and Arthur Payne on their home track at Birmingham, and went on to score nine points in one of the few bright spots in a heavy 16 point defeat.

 His best season came in 1952 when he dominated the Second Division, topping the league averages with a figure just short of eleven points per match, recording 22 maximums in 49 official fixtures and adding to his international tally with two further appearances against the Aussies. After another amazing season in 1953, Tommy was on the move in 1954 and many expected him to head south to join one of the First Division sides, with Belle Vue and Wimbledon both reported to be interested in securing the services of the brilliant Scot. However, Tommy elected to join Glasgow’s local rivals Motherwell and he formed a formidable spearhead at the Milton Street track with Derick Close. Whilst he had been a hero at Glasgow, Tommy was not as popular amongst the ‘Eagles’ fans and he failed to settle at his new home, riding in only nine official matches for the club before moving and joining up with the Coventry ‘Bees’.

 His first season at Brandon was a good one, recording almost ten points per match, but it was soon clear that his best days were behind him as his average slumped year on year, and a move to Oxford mid way through 1956 failed to reverse the slide. He appeared at the press and practice day at Cowley at the start of the 1957 season but soon packed up and returned home, ending the career of one of the finest riders of the decade. Tommy did not manage to reach a World Final and never rode in the top flight of British speedway, but the fact that he was chosen for the international side at a time when the selectors rarely looked beyond London or Manchester, let alone beyond Division One, demonstrates what a remarkable rider he was at the peak of a short, yet fantastic, career.    

 

Year

Club

Division

M

R

P

BP

TP

CMA

FM

PM

1950

Glasgow

NL2

31

130

281

15

296

9.11

6

4

1951

Glasgow

NL2

32

131

339

5

344

10.50

12

2

1952

Glasgow

NL2

49

208

564

4

568

10.92

21

1

1953

Glasgow

NL2

39

171

462

3

465

10.88

23

-

1954

Motherwell

NL2

9

39

82

1

83

8.51

2

1

1954

Coventry

NL2

10

40

97

2

99

9.90

2

-

1955

Coventry

NL2

35

180

321

22

343

7.62

-

1

1956

Coventry

NL2

17

78

118

15

133

6.82

1

-

1956

Oxford

NL2

7

32

35

2

37

4.63

-

-

 

Individual Honours: Division Two Match Race Champion August 1951 to September 1951.

International Honours: England international – 5 caps, 15 points.

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On 7/31/2020 at 1:05 AM, BOBBATH said:

And don't lets forget Teo Teodorowicz

Viewed his memorial in cemetery in Swindon 2 weeks ago. Always well maintained with red and white floral tribute.

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