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I think there is some merit in this idea. Give incentives to the away team to compete all the way to heat 15. An extra point or two may (big may!) reduce some of the one sided results that our sport endures. I do think the suggestion of 'track reports' is frought with danger. Our sport is controlled by the same people who are responsible for tracks and, as in most things in life, some are better and more conscientious than others. A 46-44 win has to be more entertaining than a 66-24 win, except for the most partizan fan. The bonus point does go some way to address this but why not take it further in an attempt to make league racing even keener? Of course, you could approach this from the opposite end and reward home sides for exceeding certain points totals. Even penalising away sides a league point for not scoring, say, 35?

Congratulations to Jason Crump. He has been the best this year.

He was fantastic around Monmore Green. Remember him riding for Reading, who usually gave is a sound beating. Remember wishing he rode for us! Please give Dag a big thank you, it was a long time ago but I am glad I saw him race, a real class act.

Strange memories. For most years in the 70s he was just another number 1. In 73/4 he was a level above. An insignificant memory, or more revealing perhaps, was a scratch final in the second half at Wolves. Michanek had beaten Olsen in heat 1 (in those days, almost unheard of) and Ole was up for revenge. Olsen gated (for once!) and Michanek pulled up. Guess he didn't want to be beaten, even in a second half race.

The night wolves lost the title by one point after so many injuries. But the funniest was a largely irrelevant match between Wolves and Leicester. The Lions hadn't won away for a very long time. 37-34 to Leicester after 12. Garry middleton gated and led for three laps. george hunter drove under him on the first turn of final lap. Jim Mcmillan 20 yards back. George took Garry wider and wider. The pace slowed and slowed. both throttled off. They almost stopped. Jimmy Mac chugs around the white line. george opens up, leaves Middleton almost stationary. 5-1 to Wolves. Leicester couldn't believe it. we laughed for weeks. Happy days.

Might 19 be Paul Evitts?

In the spirit of Christmas, and with best wishes to all Cradley fans, can I suggest this Wolves 7 from the same cut off of 1973 would give you a pretty good match. 1.Olsen 2.Ermolenko 3.Sigalos 4.Correy 5.Nielsen 6.M.Karlsson 7.P.Karlsson

Only if you are Jason Crump. SKY had a camera head on looking at the riders driving into the third turn. Jason had the sped and drove underneath Holta but took his leg completely. No argument, the ref had no choice when seeing from this angle.

interesting thread! I would , no, will argue with Norbold about 1972. Olsen beat Ivan at Wembley. When he passed him at Belle Vue in the BLRC, Ivan pulled up. Over the season Olsen was fantastic. In my view his best ever.In 1972 Olsen was the best rider in the world.

A lot of fans understandably get quite tribal and want trophies whatever the consequences. There is an irony in having an 8 team league for 6 months to decide the top 4. PL teams cite high costs as do those EL teams that appear to be struggling. Costs need to be reduced; having two or three GP riders at each top EL track must be expensive. What sells our sport is the excitement of competition. We have 3 leagues at present at different levels. surely there must be overlap between many PL and EL teams in terms of support and facilities. As a Wolves fan some of the best racing seen this year has been PL. The worst, in terms of close and exciting racing has been GP. We need a bigger top league with lower costs. This means EL teams losing one or two top riders for the good of british speedway. Not all PL clubs want to move up but if the financial incentive is attractive then enough will. A huge stumbling block will be the usual one: promoters wanting to put themselves at an advantage over others. This time difficult decisions must be taken. The EL is dying. The PL seems to be thriving. Why? Money is the answer and must provide the way forward. If it costs little more to run an EL team than a PL team then there will be a greater willingness to compete with the likes of Coventry, Poole, Eastbourne and Wolves. A bigger league with the same riders spread among more teams would allow SKY to visit more tracks around the country. Their coverage has revived interest in our sport and coverage of many more tracks could only do good. Having lost Wolves speedway once, and missing terribly the intense rivalry with Cradley and even birmingham, we need to look beyond our own team's next meeting and see the bigger picture.

Can't remember the name of the pub but do remember playing pool.

Probably about the time I made my one and only visit. The highlight was a pub near the track where we spent a few happy hours. Newport beat Wolve about 52-26. I remember the 4 valve controversy! Remember the Golden Helmet matchraces between Olsen and Crump. Went all the way to King's Lynn for the decider.

Nice thread, reminded me of Denmark's pairings in the early 70's. Usually reported in the results as something like Olsen 18, Bogh 0! I would have put Gundersen in their trio. For Poland how about Zenon Plech or Edward Jancarz? I think Valeri Gordeev for Russia. USA is the most difficult. I don't disagree with your selection but no Morans or Sigalos? Isn't Crump senior and junior tempting as well......

As a Wolves fan I remember this season with a mixture of perverse pleasure and embarrassment. Our combined averages as posted were slightly misleading! This was our first season after Olsen left for Coventry (never as good as he was for us) and we were allocated Hasse Holmquist, Tommy Johansson, Guiseppe Marzotto and Jimmy Mcmillan. The first two never showed, Marzotto rode for two months and Jimmy Mac became our number one. We got through the season by hiring loads of guests, my particularly ridiculous memory was our demolition of Eastbourne away in the inter league cup.

Peter Collins in my time. A mention for Martin Ashby, a classy, consistent rider who I always enjoyed watching.

Thanks, Jb. It is one of my few regrets that i started watching our sport in 1970 and missed out on seeing Ove in action. I must agree with his puzzlement at today's stars inconsistency. I was raised on Ivan, Ole and then Anders - to mention three obvious names, who went through league seasons with averages well in excess of 11. It was simply unheard of for them, as Rickardsson did last night,to score a handful of points in a match. I appreciate he was perhaps feeling sore after his fall, but can you imagine Ivan scoring 6 or 7? It was always 12 and 11 on those few occasions it wasn't. While I am on, thanks for the Ronnie Moore site, a rider I did see, albeit past his prime, but still a class act with a capital C.

He was in the right place at the right time, wasn't he? Seem to remember that Olsen went into the meeting with an injured shoulder, otherwise was a fairly red-hot favourite. I saw Jerzy ride in England a few years later, he was as bad as he was good the night he became champion.

A 15 point maximum at cradley by Tom Leadbitter was entirely out of character. I also remember a 70s visit to Exeter to see Wolves. There was a lot of build up to heat 1 --Mauger v Olsen. Not too many expected Dave Gifford to outgate both and win the heat! Mauger came second for the record.

After a bit of research, it was 1973 and Olsen beat Michanek in the run off after both scored 13. Peter collins won it outright in 74.

Too young to remember the sixties, but fondly remember going to wimbledon for this meeting in the 1970s. Wasn't this meeting also the token televised speedway in those days? On BBC on Grandstand if i remember. Olsen v Michanek 73-4.....now THAT does bring back memories.

I think it is Sverre Haarfeldt you are trying to remember.

We always looked forward to a visit to Leicester, the hot dogs were magnificent. Favourite memory: Malcolm Shakespeare v Ole Olsen in the Golden Helmet! :!: