liverpool chad

RIP Tommy Jansson, 34 years on, but i can still remember it as if it were yesterday. Speedway was robbed of one of its brightest stars and speedway fans were robbed of seeing memorable battles between Tommy and the likes of Collins, Olsen, lee and Penhall as Tommy matured into a world class rider. And of course Tommy IMO was robbed of a world individual title that was coming his way in the late seventy's! As i have posted before, this rider was as save as house's on the track, a joy to watch and very affable and unassuming off the track. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES TOMMY JANSSON

What i miss about speedway in the 1970's The crooked house outside Cradley, hot pork and crackling butties at Cradley. Peter Collins and his mechanic cutting the grip off the outside of his back tyres in the market squre at Kings lynn one bank holiday monday, and then going and hammering Michael Lee from the back. The smell's around certain tracks like Sheffield, Hackney and Newport-Newports almost square track and wondering how nobody ever ended up on the railway track. Fans with anoraks covered in sew on badges, Home made programme boards, Scarfs with rosettes of favorite riders pinned to them. The Daily Mirror Tournament, Lenningrad touring, Full blown test match series. Queuing down the street to get into Exeter for the first time Going to Belle Vue and visiting the zoo in the afternoon speedway in the evening and then a quick walk around the fair before going home, Watching the scenic railway and bobs inbetween races. Seeing Alan Wilkinson clatter Charlie Monk comming out of the last bend at Halifax and poor old Charlie being picked up outside the pit gate having kartwheeled the length of the home straight Seeing Alan Wilkinson slide off at Hyde Road against Swindon and never ride or walk again Watching the bank holiday fixtures up and down the country one track in the morning and the return in the evening. Trying to get to three tracks on a bank holiday monday! Watching speedway at Nelson and watching the cricket nextdoor inbetween heats. Big meetings at Wembley(empire stadium) Dag Lovas reveling in the rain Soldier Boy, the deaf and dumb man selling pens. Simmo missing lots of meetings with some unbelievable excuses! Taking two weeks off work in 1976 and traveling all over the country watching speedway and cricket, 14 days 14 meetings and from that time i have tried to get to at least 3 meetings every week up and down the country. Coventry vs Hull for the league title(what a crowd) Golden helmet Match race's- seeing Tommy Jansson winning the runoff at Cradley and then never seeing him again World of Sport covering speedway. These are just some of the memories that made the 1970's a greet time for me and speedway.

Without a shadow of a doubt. And to do it in the poles back yard made Ivan's win even more remarkable.

He had to bail out because Hans Andersen barged in front of Harris in an illegitimate move causing Harris to lose control of his bike. It's not rocket science! I can't believe it is even being debated.

Due to me injuring my back at work last week i have had to give up my ticket to this weekends GP and let my sister-in-law travel in my place on our trip with travel plus to Wroclaw/Lesznow. Also ive been advised that i could be laid up for 6-8 weeks so ive had to cancel further trips to Gothenborg and Prague . Not a happy camper so my first GP this year will now be Torun in june. Fingers crossed!!!

On Friday lunchtime i will of finished work after a fourteen hour stint carving a granite obelisk in north east yorkshire. The last thing i then want to be doing is driving all the way down to Brandon to find out that the meeting is off due to heavy rain all day! but then again we could be optimistic pray for good weather and not bother asking people from the east midlands if they know what there local forcast is for friday.

Thanks mate. As long as the meeting is on that will do for me!

good line up for this meeting. But does anyone know what the weather will be like on Friday in the Coventry area?

We in the Liverpool Chad clan are going to 6 GP's in 2010. Five of the first six! ( can't make it to Copenhagen) Then its a long wait until Bydgoszcz at the end of the season! But i'm very happy as Mrs LC as given me the green light for 6 GP's in a season! PS; It's me who wear's the trousers in this house !!!

Falcace, As promised here are just a couple of details of messr's Collins & Grahame's 5-1's over K Carter at the Shay in the 1980's 1982 league cup meeting; Sunday April 18th HEAT TEN CARTER 1 JANKE 0 COLLINS 2 GRAHAME 3 TIME 65- 1983 league cup meeting; Friday May 6th HEAT TEN CARTER 1 FINCH 0 COLLINS 3 GRAHAME 2 TIME 65.9 I have also seen the same score on a couple of other occasions at the shay between Carter, Collins and Grahame in the early 80's but these are the first box of programmes that i came across in the loft! But of course once again i could be making it all up but just check the speedway star from that time as you will find the above details to be true. Merry christmas Mark.

If this meeting is half as good as this years at Peterborough then we are in for a cracker. Not been to King's Lynn for many a year and looking on the NA website it look's like it has changed a bit since my last visit, or the photos could be deceptive. But i am looking forward to it already! PS; agree with heathen79's comments about our lack of good qulity stadiums, but speedway does have its hands tied in many respects.

Even the great PC had is off days and i seem to remember their were quite a few of them in 1979. But he certainly made up for them with the times he lit up meetings over the years with his breathtaking riders from the back!

Sorry to of gone to the trouble of searching through some of my old programmes. But if you disagree with any of the heat details given then i suggest you obtain copys of the speedway star just to confirm the dates and details are correct. And as for my opinion of K Carter not coming from the back to often or being a dirty rider, then i guess you weren't in attendance at the shay when he rode into the back of Hans Nielsen in the early eighties where he came off worst or the time in 81 when he barged Bruce Penhall out of the way in heats two and three of the golden helmet(second leg) or the time in the mid eighties at hyde road when he rode straight into Peter Collins on the popular bend. or then again i could be making it all up! And as for the comment being "an absolute gem" as you put it. Then how about thinking that the world longtrack title or the inter continental title are worth less the the british title! now that is a gem! being the best in the world at long tracking or beating the best danes, swedes, americans and the ones who qualified from the british final, or beating the best from a nation who had only produced riders that stood on top of the rostrum on world final night five times, in my lifetime!!!

Excellent footage and good qulity too. Did anyone see one of Stan Stevens old West Ham rice jackets on e-bay about five years ago? i was the highest bider with nine seconds left but lost out to four more bids It went for around £500 pounds!

My memory is not what it used to be! most meetings from yesteryear blend into one but i would hazard a guess at it being either Dennis Sigalos Or Bobby Schwartz as i'm sure he was paired against them that day. Did either of you two see PC win the northern riders final held at Halifax in either 84or85. He was pretty good that afternoon too although a certain Mr Carter was absent on that occasion.

Another outstanding display from Peter Collins in the 1980's was a test match at Sheffield against the USA. I'm not sure of the year, possibly 1984? But i remember PC turning back the clock that day. I also saw him at Poole around the same time and he turned in a vintage display that night too, untill he blew a motor! and all this after some local supporter's questioning his inclusion in the England side!

Peter Collins was truly great to watch in the 1970's and IMO was largly responsable for making speedway popular on itv in the mid seventys, with his dashing moves from the back. I was fortunate enough to see Collins from his days at Rochdale to his retirement in the mid eightys and i can honestly say whilst not a Belle Vue supporter he was the main reason for me going to see the aces more than any other side throughout those years. The night he snapped his handlebar in two and still won the race, his run off with Michanek in the KO cup final, Katowice '76, Ullevi '77, are just some of the first memories that come flooding back. For me PC was the most naturally gifted rider of that era or any since and no english rider has come anywhere near replacing him!

It will have to be next week now for those programmes if you are that interested! as i am away from home from tonight with work. But believe me it did happen as did the 5-1's for Cradley. This topic as gone a little off topic and i'm probably as responsible for this as anybody else. But don't get me wrong has i have said before i neither liked or disliked Kenny Carter when he was riding, i may of disliked the way he would on occasions, shall we say PUT HIMSELF ABOUT, but i neither liked or disliked him, and i certainly do not have an opinion about him after the tragic events of 1986, as i was not there and to be honest it's none of my business! I just wanted to get that in as, reading through my previous posts it sounds as though i either had a complete hatred of him or i'm oblivious to what he brought to the sport i love. It's my opinion that Kenny Carter was a strong heat leader for his club Halifax, had a strong determination to reach the very pinnacle of the sport and on occasions would show glimpses of just what he was capable of (2x BLRC, 2x BRITISH FINAL & GOLDEN HAMMER) iv'e included the golden hammer as IMO thats the best i ever saw of KC he truely was polished that night. But for me he just did not do it on enough occasions and thats why its my opinion that he his not one of the all time greats or best rider not to be crowned world champion. but as i've just stated it's all my own opinion. Regards Mark. So are we going to totally ignore the race's that Collins won and hope that i can't find anymore programmes, and stick to your original story of you only ever seeing collins beat him once! I was on the phone last night to an old friend of mine who followed halifax from the late 1960's and when i told him of our disagreement about Carter, he said, he felt Carter had the ability to go all the way and not only be world champion but a multi world champion! But after 1982 or by the start of 1983 he felt that he was not going to get any better than he already was and probably would not win a world title, and he saw him every week and not just once a month as i did in those days(Saturday nights split between cov, BV,halifax cradley and swin). when asked about Peter Collins riding at halifax my old friend said Peter Collins could come over that hill beat anyone he liked around Halifax. Regards Mark.

Only got a couple of Halifax programmes to hand from the time Kenny Carter rode for them. 1980 northen trophy, Mon April 7th met each other twice, heat 6 and heat 12. Peter Collins winning both races on his way to a 15 maximum. British League, Sat July 26th met each other twice, heat 6 and heat 12. Carter 1- Collins 1. Challenge match, Mon 25th August met each other twice Carter 1-Collins 1. The Autumn Classic, Sun October 19th. Met each other three times Carter 1(collins led but bike packed up on last bend) Collins 2. Also recall them meeting in 1979 but Collins only dropped 4 points in something like 3 visits scoring 9 and 14 when i was in attendance and the only person to beat him was Ian Cartwright( i think) certainly not Carter. I can recall Collins Beating him Twice in 1982 or 83 once in the league and once in either league cup or KO Cup. The Peter Collins that you saw from late 1981 after his shoulder injury and return from retirement was completely different to the PC before his injury. In 30 meetings at the shay, Collins had a near 11:00 average scoring 13 maximums some of them 15 pt maximums. Will have to dig out all my old programmes to let you know any more info. As for Phil Collins/Alan Grahame 5-1's. I saw it happen 3or4 timesin Carters time with Halifax usually occurring in heat 10 i think. Regards Mark.

Ah yes you are quite right it was 86 that he had to win his last race, i stand corrected. But i still feel he was never good enough to be world champion even in his own backyard. Going back to the LA final, then yes had the race been awarded then Les Collins would surely of been crowned champion if he could of held on to his nerve.

Or you could argue that the Carter-Penhall incident stopped Les Collins from being crowned world champion in 82 as neither rider would of caught Peter Collins in that race had one not hit the deck. And when you see the TV replays Carter had an option of shutting off and trying to cut back up the inside before being taken out too wide by Penhall, (who incidentally made no contact with Carter on that bend) and had the drive down the straight and passed Penhall there. But as i have posted elsewhere IMO Carter did not possess that kind of natural racing instinct as say Peter Collins or Ole Olsen who himself made such a move on Egon Muller in a world final and cut inside to win on the line at ullevi. And as for being nailed on champion in 85 at "Odslum" is'nt that the same venue in the same season that the very same Kenny Carter needed a last race win to qualify for the next round? As i said before Never a world champion in the making in a month of Sundays. as they say in Yorkshire!

Does anybody remember a rider from the second halfs at Belle Vue in the 1970's called Phil Whitaker? The announcer used to call him fearless Phil Whitaker and ask that anyone with a nervous disposition to look away for the next four laps

From 75 up to 79 John Louis was outstanding both individually and in the way he led Ipswich in the league and its my opinion that this made him a far more talented rider than Carter, and handled the big occasion better than Carter as did so many other British riders of that time. Don't get me wrong im no Carter hater but i just don't think he was as good as some people make out, and also think he could be extremely dangerous if things did not go his way! Yes he was a good heat leader from 1981-1984 but for me thats pretty poor as top heat leaders stay at the top for 10 or more years and good ones for 7 or 8 years. Carter was in decline from the mid 84 season up to his sad end. And got nowhere near being a world individual champion, after the british final victorys i don't think he won a round when the americans, australians and continentals joined the mix.

He also rode in the BLRC in 1980 scoring something like 9 points and stopped in one race whilst leading because he said he saw a chequerd flag being waved after the third lap and thought that the race was over . He rode again after his two very accomplished victorys in 1983 but finished down the score-chart. I must concede that he was very good around hyde road during his somewhat short career, but would still only just make my top twenty visiting riders around the famous track. On the other hand i can recall Peter Collins running rings around him at the shay in meetings in 1980 and 1982 and also remember alan grahame and phil collins getting lots of 5-1's against him at the shay when Cradley visited. So as dominant as he was around Belle Vue there are always riders who will go to certain tracks and regularly beat the home teams heat leaders.

LIKE I SAID YOU CAN COUNT THE TIMES HE PASSED ANYONE ON THE FINGERS OF ONE HAND! And on the subject of the 1984 British final, that meeting was a farce. Some quality riders went out because Carter wanted to ride when 14 of the 16 riders did'nt. And England ended up with one rider in Gothenburg for the final because so many weak riders qualified from that farce of a British final. Carter ended up winning one of the easiest British finals that we have ever seen because of his pigheaded attitude. A very hollow victory IMO.