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BOBBATH

Former World Finalists who appeared in Prov. League.

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As many of you know , the Prov. League (60-64) was started to give chances to younger riders and guys who couldn' be top heat leaders in the old National League. It got me thinking of how many former World Finalists pre 1960 appeared in the Prov. League. I came up with three- Eric Boothroyd, Trevor Redmond and Graham Warren, to which Reg Fearman has added another two-Danny Dunton and Dick Bradley. So five altogether-am I missing anyone? I reckon that's about it.

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31 minutes ago, BOBBATH said:

As many of you know , the Prov. League (60-64) was started to give chances to younger riders and guys who couldn' be top heat leaders in the old National League. It got me thinking of how many former World Finalists pre 1960 appeared in the Prov. League. I came up with three- Eric Boothroyd, Trevor Redmond and Graham Warren, to which Reg Fearman has added another two-Danny Dunton and Dick Bradley. So five altogether-am I missing anyone? I reckon that's about it.

Geoff Pymar and Dent Oliver.  Pymar rode for Reg Fearman's Middlesbrough team in 1961.

Edited by BL65

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Bob Andrews, just the once, before Ronnie Greene got his injunction

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10 minutes ago, arnieg said:

Bob Andrews, just the once, before Ronnie Greene got his injunction

Almost, but BOBBATH specified world finalists pre-1960 and Bob didn't appear in a final until 1960.

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Ron Johnson qualified as reserve in 1937 but didn't ride and then rode for Edinburgh in 1960 if that counts.

 

Edited by norbold

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14 minutes ago, norbold said:

Ron Johnson qualified as reserve in 1937 but didn't ride and then rode for Edinburgh in 1960 if that counts.

 

I had discounted him as he didn’t actually ride in a final.

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Thanks for the replies- definitely Geoff Pymar and Dent Oliver (I should have known about Dent)- Bob Andrews doesn't qualify as noted and also Ron Johnson as -non-riding reserve (good tries though). I will pass the Dent and Pymar names on to Reg -particularly since Geoff rode for him!!. Thanks all for your responses, I certainly learned something

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8 hours ago, BL65 said:

I had discounted him as he didn’t actually ride in a final.

I did qualify my answer and question myself!

Incidentally, I think it is one of the great mysteries of the sport why Ron Johnson never qualified for a world final apart from reserve in 1937 and then for the 1939 final that never was. He did well in the preceding Star Championship and in the immediate post-War [British] Riders' Championship but somehow missed out on world finals.

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14 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

As many of you know , the Prov. League (60-64) was started to give chances to younger riders and guys who couldn' be top heat leaders in the old National League. It got me thinking of how many former World Finalists pre 1960 appeared in the Prov. League. I came up with three- Eric Boothroyd, Trevor Redmond and Graham Warren, to which Reg Fearman has added another two-Danny Dunton and Dick Bradley. So five altogether-am I missing anyone? I reckon that's about it.

I make it potentially 9 -

Bob Oakley (Wolves 1961)

Danny Dunton (Long Eaton 63)

Dent Oliver (Sheffield 63, 64)

Dick Bradley (Newport 64)

Eric Boothroyd (Middlesbrough 61-63, Long Eaton 64)

Geoff Pymar (various 60-62)

Graham Warren (Wolves 61-63)

Ron Clarke (Sheffield 60) - really not sure if this was the former World Finalist or someone with the same name ?

Trevor Redmond (various 60-64)

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For the record here is a list of riders who rode in the PL who subsequently rode in a World Final (based on the world finalist list on the Researcher website) -

Bryan Elliott

Chum Taylor

Colin Pratt

Eric Boocock

Ivan Mauger

JIm Airey

Malcolm Simmons

Ray Cresp

Ray Wil;son

Reg Luckhurst

Rick France

Terry Betts

Trevor Hedge

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5 hours ago, norbold said:

Incidentally, I think it is one of the great mysteries of the sport why Ron Johnson never qualified for a world final apart from reserve in 1937 and then for the 1939 final that never was. He did well in the preceding Star Championship and in the immediate post-War [British] Riders' Championship but somehow missed out on world finals.

In 1936 Ron Johnson scored a maximum 12 points at Wembley in the First Round to qualify for the Championship Round, where he totalled a further 22 points from 4 meetings to qualify as reserve for the World Final.  The First Round and Championship Round points were added together to determine the qualifiers.  Another 3 points would have seen him in the Final.  Unfortunately, he failed to score in the round at Harringay, falling after colliding with another rider in his first race and then having to withdraw from the meeting after a heavy fall in his second outing.  Joe Abbott was injured and unable to ride in the final, but Johnson was unable to replace him in the line-up, having fractured his collar bone in a crash at Wimbledon 3 days before the final.

In 1937 Johnson again qualified for the Championship Round, this time with the lowest qualifying score of 12 points from 2 meetings.  A low score of 3 points at Hackney, added to 22 points from 3 other rounds plus his Qualifying Round total gave him 34 points, 8 adrift of the lowest qualifier.  Withdrawals due to injury saw him move up a couple of places to become second reserve for the Final.

20 points from 2 qualifying rounds at Belle Vue and New Cross saw Johnson through to the Championship Round in 1938, where just 25 points from 4 meetings resulted in him missing out on a Final place by 2 points.  Falls in one race at Harringay and in two races at New Cross, where he totalled just 4, cost him dearly.  With two riders out though injury, Jimmy Gibb took the second reserve slot for the Final, having also scored 25 points in the Championship Round.

Ron Johnson at last qualified for the Final in 1939, but it was not staged due to the outbreak of war.  17 points from two First Round meetings saw him through as one of the lower qualifiers for the Championship Round, with an exclusion after finishing second and a fall when leading another race at West Ham not aiding his cause. 32 points from 4 meetings in the Championship Round saw Johnson qualify for the Final as 13th highest scorer.

Johnson suffered a fractured skull in a meeting at Wimbledon on 1st August 1949 and was ruled out of the qualifying rounds that month.  Although he returned to racing in 1950 he could not regain his best form and did not compete in the World Championship Qualifying Rounds.  He then had a delayed start to 1951 after serving a prison sentence, beginning in October 1950, for driving offences.  At his trial he cited the effects of his head injury in mitigation, but as he had previously been disqualified for life from driving in 1939 he was not going to get off lightly.  The court heard that he had 15 previous convictions for traffic offences and drunkenness.  In addition to the custodial sentence, he was again banned for life from driving.  After that his speedway career sadly faded.

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5 hours ago, compost said:

For the record here is a list of riders who rode in the PL who subsequently rode in a World Final (based on the world finalist list on the Researcher website) -

Bryan Elliott

Chum Taylor

Colin Pratt

Eric Boocock

Ivan Mauger

JIm Airey

Malcolm Simmons

Ray Cresp

Ray Wil;son

Reg Luckhurst

Rick France

Terry Betts

Trevor Hedge

Brian Brett (Wolverhampton 1962) and Howard Cole/Kid Bodie (Wolverhampton 1961/2, Stoke 1961/2 and Long Eaton 1963) also rode in the Provincial League and later rode in a World Final.

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On 7/30/2021 at 9:43 AM, compost said:

I make it potentially 9 -

Bob Oakley (Wolves 1961)

Danny Dunton (Long Eaton 63)

Dent Oliver (Sheffield 63, 64)

Dick Bradley (Newport 64)

Eric Boothroyd (Middlesbrough 61-63, Long Eaton 64)

Geoff Pymar (various 60-62)

Graham Warren (Wolves 61-63)

Ron Clarke (Sheffield 60) - really not sure if this was the former World Finalist or someone with the same name ?

Trevor Redmond (various 60-64)

It was the same Ron Clarke

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This is amazing-and I thought I was the only one interested in the old PL. You are right- Bob Oakley for Wolves in 1961 (I wonder if he rode at the same time with his old oppo Graham Warren.} And indeed Ron Clarke for Sheffield in 1960. In the Peter Morrish book it shows Ron scoring one point for the Tigers in 1960-anyone know the background to this.  I thought he must be too old at 49 to be riding-but now he seems young  (I'm 75 this year but then again I don't have to ride speedway!!)

 Re anoraks-which is an article of clothing  I don't think we ever had in Canada -ay least under that name- I have decided to purchase one from the UK- I will wear it when I'm looking at my old speedway programs and Speedway Stars (without anything else on)!!! Hopefully none of you are eating breakfast when you are reading this!!

Keep smilin' everybody in forumland!!

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On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2021 at 1:45 PM, compost said:

For the record here is a list of riders who rode in the PL who subsequently rode in a World Final (based on the world finalist list on the Researcher website) -

Bryan Elliott

Chum Taylor

Colin Pratt

Eric Boocock

Ivan Mauger

JIm Airey

Malcolm Simmons

Ray Cresp

Ray Wil;son

Reg Luckhurst

Rick France

Terry Betts

Trevor Hedge

It was the other way round for Chum Taylor (who rode in a world final in 1960 and subsequently for Poole in the Provincial League) and Ray Cresp (who rode in a world final in 1961 and subsequently for St Austell  in the Provincial League). I'm open to correction but I don't believe that either Bryan Elliott or Reg Luckhurst ever rode in the Provincial League.

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