norbold

You and me both, Dave C. But that's what comes of proudly sporting the Maltese Cross....

Well, I think we can certainly agree on that one...although there was Christer Lofqvist of course...

Ove Fundin? Now he really was the greatest ever... Walking to Sweden from the South of France? I used to walk across Hackney Marshes to get to Hackney Stadium. Is that the same thing?

I've been trying to keep out of this! As an old West Ham supporter I have a lot of sympathy with those who say our Sverre was the greatest ever. He wasn't of course, but it certainly seemed like it every week at Custom House. I don't think Sverre knew where the inside of the track was or even the middle. For some reason it seemed as though he had to ride with his handlebars touching the fence every race. It was not only spectacular but it worked as he beat all the visiting stars. But, sadly, the greatest ever, I don't think so...

On the evidence of the first Grand Prix it certainly seems as though this year's championship has already been decided. TR is in a class of his own. It seems to me that the problem is that his once greatest rivals - Crump, Sullivan, Loram, Hancock, Adams - have had their day and are not going to get back to a challenging position. This may be a bit unfair because of injuries, track condition etc., but, I did say this is on the evidence of the first Grand Prix. When you consider how long Rickardsson himself has been around it is no mean feat that he is still out on his own amongst his contemporaries. On the other hand the next generation - Pedersen, Dryml, Richardson, Nicholls - are not quite ready yet to challenge for the master's crown. Next year, the year after maybe, but not just yet. It all leaves Rickardsson far and away the world's best rider and on course to equal and then beat Mauger's record number of championship wins. There is no doubt he is an all time great and a rider to be spoken of as at least the equal of the likes of Duggan, Fundin, Mauger, Neilsen and all those other usual candidates for the 'greatest rider ever'.

Little Waltham only operated for about two years, 1969 and 70. It was built by Johnny Guilfoyle as a training track. I think both Rayleigh and West Ham used it as such. I don't think it unearthed many stars in its two years, the best probably being Johnny's brother, Laurie

I could be persuaded! I'll let you know. Thanks, Steve.

Steve, I would love to see your scrapbooks. I've just been lent a couple from 1938 and 1939. Fascinating stuff. My next meeting is Wimbledon on 28 May, if you happen to be that way... Addict, West Ham's average gate that year was about 50,000! 60,000 was nothing unusual. I'm not sure what it is you want a copy of, is it my gran?

Sorry Addict, I haven't got a copy of the programme. I got the result from Stenner's 1947 Annual. Now you've made me give my secret away...

That was Colin Watson's last full match for West Ham. He was badly injured four days later at Odsal and never rode again.

9 July 1946: West Ham 62 Wembley 46 (London Cup Match) Scorers: West Ham - Eric Chitty 17, Colin Watson 12, Malcolm Craven 10, Cyril Anderson 7, Bob Harrison 6, Benny King 6, Buck Whitby 3, Ron Howes 1 Wembley - Bill Kitchen 14, Tommy Price 10, Georgie Wilkes 9, Charlie May 4, Bob Wells 3, Alf Bottoms 3, Roy Craighead 2, Bronco Wilson 1

The Big Five became the Big Five because they were much better than all the other riders around at the time. They were in a class of their own effectively. Between them they won every World Championship between 1954 and 1967 and more often than not the second and third also came from their ranks. They also consistently topped the league averages and the 'Speedway Star' unofficial World Rankings table. It became three in 1964 because Peter Craven had been killed at the end of 1963 and Ronnie Moore had retired. Peter Craven was killed in a challenge match against Edinburgh but that was not the reason handicapping was abandoned. Briggs and Fundin in particular had had enough of it and threatened not to ride if handicapping was continued. That was why it was abandoned during the 1964 season. Incidentally, just before it was abandoned, Gote Nordin had shown such brilliant form at Wimbledon that many thought he ought to join the, by now, Big Three on the backmark (20 yards).

..............but methinks, only when they were world champion. I believe this was abandoned in '65 when the BL started. It was '65 weren't it? Handicapping for the "Big Five" was abandoned in 1964 because by then there were only three of them, Briggs, Fundin and Knutsson and they refused to continue with the handicapping.

In the very early days of the sport - and I'm talking 1928 here - they used to do things like that. There were lots of handicap events with anything up to 8 riders in them. There was one memorable occasion at High Beech when a rider, who had never ridden speedway before, started the afternoon with a sixteen second start and by the end of the day's racing was going off scratch. His name...Jack Parker.

Aub Lawson. He had a chequered neckerchief which used to stream out behind him.

Goes back a long way this one to 1961 at New Cross. The King of the South Cup included in the line up Ove Fundin, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs at a time when they were at their peak. Also in the line up were home stars Doug Davies and Eric Williams plus riders of the calibre of Ron How and Peter Moore. Also in the line up was Jack Young. Of course, Jack had been a great rider in the early 50s but had since retired and made a comeback with Coventry. He was still a reasonably good rider but no longer at the top. At the end of the meeting, Young and Ronnie Moore had top scored with 14 points. In the resulting run-off, Young beat Moore to take the title. The following week, the Tom Farndon Memorial Troiphy was held. Included in the line up were Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs again along with Peter Craven and Bjorn Knutsson. This time Youngie didn't need a run-off as he won the meeting without. They were two amazing performances and I always consider myself lucky to have seen Jack Young show, in those two meetings, what he must have been like at his peak. Later in the season, Young took part in The Supporters Trophy. He managed just three points.

I believe at one time Tom Farndon held the track record at every National League track in the country simultaneously. He was also the first rider to ride four laps of a speedway track in under 60 seconds. Ron Johnson once said that the greatest ride he ever saw was when Tom Farndon beat Max Grosskreutz in the Match Race Championship. He dived under Max on the last bend and hugged the white line but still managed to ride the bend at a faster speed than Max who was riding round the middle of the track. Johnson said he had never seen any rider ever handle a machine like Tom did in that race. Yes, I wish I'd seen him.

No, but I wish I had.

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

I'd agree that Michael Lee was certainly the most precocious rider ever. As a fifteen year old he visited Iwade with the Mildenhall Fen Tigers Junior Team and took 1.5 seconds off the track record. Then, of course, there was John Louis, who, in his first-ever season finished as Ipswich's top scorer having scored 8 maximums and also took the Silver Helmet. In his second season he averaged 11.31, topping the league averages. But the most naturally gifted rider ever? Ronnie Moore. He could do anything!

Bobby did apologise to Len Silver afterwards though...so that's alright!

Talking of best ever line-ups. How about this for a match? 21 May 1956. Wimbledon v. Wembley Wimbledon 1. Ronnie Moore 2. Ron How 3. Peter Moore 4. Alf Hagon 5. Barry Briggs 6. Cyril Maidment 7. Cyril Brine 8. Gil Goldfinch Wembley 1. Brian Crutcher 2. Tommy Price 3. Trevor Redmond 4. Freddie Williams 5. Split Waterman 6. Eric French 7. Mike Broadbanks 8. Jimmy Gooch Four World Champions plus two runners up. The score was 48-36 to Wimbledon. Briggo got a maximum.

Great idea Sean. But who'd publish a book on a minority sport like speedway? By the way, just as an afterthought on Aub Lawson. He had his best years in the World Championship from 1957 to 1959, coming 4th, 3rd and 4th. Not only was he over 40 by then but he was up against the likes of Fundin, Moore, Briggs and Craven in their prime not to mention Crutcher, MacKinlay, Nygren etc. His qualification for the World Final in 1960 was 21 years after he first qualified. It's like a rider being in the Grand Prix series this year who first qualified in 1982, when Bruce Penhall won. As you may have gathered, Aub is a bit of a hero of mine!

Thanks Kevin.

Aub Lawson? Now you're talking! His averages in Britain were as follows: Wembley: 1939: 5.70 West Ham: 1948: 8.62 1949: 8.88 1950: 8.28 1951: 10.12 Norwich: 1953: 8.60 1954: 7.80 1955: 8.27 1956: 6.91 1957: 12.40 1958: ? Haven't been able to find this one. Grateful for help! 1959: 10.13 1960: 9.97 The above are all actual averages, not CMAs. In addition his World Championship Final placings were: 1939: 16th 1949: 7th= 1950: 4th 1951: 8th= 1953: 8th = 1954: 14th 1955: Qualified but was unable to ride. 1957: 4th= 1958: 3rd (His one and only tractor ride - he was over 40 years old) 1959: 4th= 1960: 13th= In the Stenners World Rankings in the early post war years he was ranked: 1948: 4 1949: 4 1950: 2 1951: 3 1952: 5 1953: 6 What a rider!