Paulco 7,077 Posted January 11, 2018 Good Glasgow's Shawfield years and the 93 and 94 double winning sides Beating Edinburgh in the 1994 KO Cup final 1992 Inter league cup Glasgow 46 Cradley 44 , Shawfield was rocking that night . 2011 Leicester 28 Glasgow 62 , never seen a Tigers away performance so dominant Being at Cardiff in 2007 when Bomber came from last to first to win the GP , I thought the noise was going to lift the roof off . Bad 1987 having to travel to Workington for home meetings , I really thought time was up for us then Watching us getting pumped regular at Edinburgh on their little trick track Shawfield closing The total incompetence of the sport's governing body in this country Travelling miles for a rain off 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salty 2,202 Posted January 11, 2018 Good 1. That first meeting at a dark, damp Dudley Wood at the end of the 1968 season. Hooked straight away. 2. Becoming a Dudley Wood regular from the start of the 1969 season. Getting a first hero in Bernie Persson 3. Bernie getting so close to winning the World Title in 1972. 4. Cradley winning their first league title at Eastbourne in 1981. Hitched down from London, but was able to get a lift back on the supporters coach. 5. Late 80's at Wimbledon. Having moved to London 10 years before I became a Plough Lane regular but really enjoyed the Russell Lanning seasons with the "Montine" Dons. Bad 1. The riders who lost their lives or suffered life changing injuries. 2. Dudley Wood closing - and the subsequent loss of the legal battle with the loathsome Barratts. 3. Wimbledon closing - even though I'm long gone from London, watching the decline of the stadium under the stewardship of Luke Johnson and his money grabbing venture capitalists has been very sad. 4. Erik's accident at Bradford. 5. Watching the slow decline of the sport in the UK. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OGT 612 Posted January 11, 2018 Good stuff First meeting Cradley v Swindon 1970 Second Meeting Cradley v Hackney the following week. Heathens' fans stoning Garry Middleton's Mercedes when he tried to leave early First meeting at Perry Barr 1971 Arthur Browning's max in his first meeting for Brum in 1972 Mal Corradine riding in a plaster cast 1972 Mick Hines in 1973 The double in 1974, Just the team, fantastic bunch, brilliant times NNL champs in 75, sponsored walk (pub crawl) for Keith White 1978, Czech touring team at Stoke, utterly bonkers! First time I saw Zdenek Kudrna race. 1980, Zdenek joins Brum, fantastic. My ultimate sporting hero 1981 KOC final, ran Ipswich close with a rag tag and bobtail team Last World Final at Wembley, a great occasion, even though Penhall won (joking) 1982 Zdenek returns to Brummies. The sheer joy of watching Jason Lyons in action Bad times The debacle of Brum's debut year in GOBL 1976. Chris Morton fencing Alan Grahame. We knew. Losing Zdenek in 1982, a real low point both personally and for the club Finishing at the Ladbroke in 1983 The reality of the Wheels stadium, not good. Decent racing in 85, but in 86, well........ Seeing Joey Owen seriously injured 1985 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sidney the robin 4,735 Posted January 12, 2018 9 hours ago, OGT said: Good stuff First meeting Cradley v Swindon 1970 Second Meeting Cradley v Hackney the following week. Heathens' fans stoning Garry Middleton's Mercedes when he tried to leave early First meeting at Perry Barr 1971 Arthur Browning's max in his first meeting for Brum in 1972 Mal Corradine riding in a plaster cast 1972 Mick Hines in 1973 The double in 1974, Just the team, fantastic bunch, brilliant times NNL champs in 75, sponsored walk (pub crawl) for Keith White 1978, Czech touring team at Stoke, utterly bonkers! First time I saw Zdenek Kudrna race. 1980, Zdenek joins Brum, fantastic. My ultimate sporting hero 1981 KOC final, ran Ipswich close with a rag tag and bobtail team Last World Final at Wembley, a great occasion, even though Penhall won (joking) 1982 Zdenek returns to Brummies. The sheer joy of watching Jason Lyons in action Bad times The debacle of Brum's debut year in GOBL 1976. Chris Morton fencing Alan Grahame. We knew. Losing Zdenek in 1982, a real low point both personally and for the club Finishing at the Ladbroke in 1983 The reality of the Wheels stadium, not good. Decent racing in 85, but in 86, well........ Seeing Joey Owen seriously injured 1985 Zdenek did they used to call him Kermit? he was one exciting rider i can remember on a cold i think it was a November? night at the Abbey 1979 the track was dodgy but he gave it everything he was great value. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OGT 612 Posted January 12, 2018 Yes Sid, it was Kermit because of his green leathers. An exciting little rider to watch, always gave 100%. I recall him being thrown out of the 4TT finals at Monmore in 1980 due to successive first bend "incidents". At the final meeting of the Brummies' 1980 season, there was a demonstration of MX bikes in the interval. Zdenek promptly slung his leg over one and proceeded to wheelie it round the track, taking the corners speedway style, firstly the right way around and then the opposite way, still broadsiding it perfectly. A proper character and sadly missed. RIP ZK. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sidney the robin 4,735 Posted January 13, 2018 I think we have forgotten just how good a motorcyclist Zdenek was he reached the 1979 World Final and was third twice in World ice championship's. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavan 5,050 Posted January 13, 2018 Good Memories: Started going speedway in 1982 to Rye House and then loved going to Ipswich in around 1984 and seeing the 'big names' After my uncle sponsored a 14 year old at Hackney , then seeing that 14 year old progress into the 2000 World Champion and travelling with Marks family to go to big meetings. My first British Final in 1990 (Marks first one) Commenwealth Final 1994 and Semi Final at Bradford 1994 great atmospheres World Final the only 1 day one i went to in 1994 at Vojens. Bad Memories: Being at Hackney the night Paul Muchene had his accident.just a simple slide off abut into the path of the incoming Nick Floyd who had nowhere to go. Then David Steen who we were good friends with coming over to us to tell us he looked like he wouldnt make it, horrible night. Watching Mick Poole at Peterborough and Lee Richardson at Coventry fence Mark Loram. And a weird one was being at Coventry for the British Final and hearing about the death of Senna Being at a grasstrack meeting and hearing about Erik Gundersens bad accident 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted January 13, 2018 Good: Speedway opening in Sunderland in 1964. Speedway opening in Sunderland in 1970. The Racing. The excitement. The spectacle. The friendships formed between Supporters. Friendly banter. Bad: Speedway closing in Sunderland in 1964. (After only NINE Meetings). Speedway closing in Sunderland in 1974. Barry Briggs being T-Boned by Bernt Persson in 1972. I had gone there supporting 'Briggo' and am sure he would have won without Persson's antics. Having to endure Double Points, which made me quit the Sport for a while. Inconsistent Refereeing decisions. Riders not returning to the Tapes immediately following a false Start. Unfriendly banter. Fatalities and Injuries. Gardening. Rule bending by some Promoters. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sommelier 1,118 Posted January 13, 2018 On 11/01/2018 at 8:34 AM, steve roberts said: Another good thread Sid! Best memories? 1. My very first meeting at Cowley (1972 vs. Coventry) 2. White City winning at Wolves in 1977 thereby winning the league. 3. Oxford vs. Ipswich (KOC Final Second Leg). Best ever meeting at Cowley during my time in my opinion. 4. Hans Nielsen winning the World Championship in 1986 at Katowice...I was there! 5. Oxford hammering the enemy (Swindon 'Budgies') at 'The Abbey' in 1986. Worse memories? 1. Any deaths at speedway (thankfully I was never present at any meeting when a rider was killed) but they all left a profound effect on me. 2. Travelling a great distance to be met with a postponement announcement. 3. The demise of the second half...used to have some great second halves at Cowley during 'The Rebels' era. 4. The closure of White City and Oxford as speedway venues. 5. Seeing the sport decline in popularity and I can't see it being reversed. Best Memories 1 Tomasz Gollob, I feel so privileged to have watche Tomasz all over Poland, NEVER EVER seen anyone that could turn so late into a corner, yet not scrub speed off. shear genius. 2 Mauger for his shear professionalism 3 Olsen for me was like a ballerina on a bike, so exciting to watch 4 Kenny Carter for his true grit RIP 5 Coatbridge speedway, such a fast banked track Worse Memories 1 Moaning whining complaining Aussies 2 Defunct tracks 3 BSPA and Buster Chapan 4 The price of beer at Peterborough Speedway!! 5 Rained off meetings 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryce 349 Posted January 13, 2018 The Good 1. Wembley 81. What a night. 2. Cradley's 83 team. Sheer class from top to bottom. 3. Galvin, Schofield, Whittaker et al blasting around Waterden Road. 4. The Grahame brothers coming 1st and 2nd in the British Final. 5. Little Jan O becoming World Champion. The Bad 1. Lee Richardson being killed. (And indeed all other fatal or life changing injuires, but Rico's death hit me hardest.) 2. The truly stupid numbers of guests in the last few years. 3. Cradley losing out on the title after Penhall quit in 82. 4. Cradley and Hackney closing down. 5. The lack of respect for paying supporters routinely shown by the people running the sport at both national and local level. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longlivefrankie 458 Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) Good newport 1975 team and travelling around following them 1975 again thumping Swindon 1997 Newport reopening 1999 thumping Swindon in trophy semi finals Gote Nordin winning Internationale blrc at Bellevue in 60s & 70s funfair included & 72,75,78 finals @ wembley bad newport closing 1977 newport closing again! demise of stadium Getting beaten up at cradley in seventies current state of speedway Lawrence hare crash at Newport Edited January 15, 2018 by longlivefrankie 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted January 15, 2018 Good 1.) My old man taking me to Wembley and West ham for league racing on a regular basis. 2.) My four all time speedway heroes. Olle nygren, Ronnie Moore, Christer lofqvist & Tommy Jansson. 3.) Speedway every night of the week in the south east 4.) England v USA at Wimbledon in 1980. My best ever meeting. 5.) Seeing peter Collins and Chris Morton win the world pairs final at Lonigo in 1984. Bad 1.) Tommy Jansson's death in 1976. The last of my speedway heroes. 2.) The demise of speedway in London. 3.) Being present at three fatal speedway crashes. 4.) The closure of wimbledon speedway twice in 1991 & 2005. 5.) The immnent demolition of Wimbledon stadium. The flame will finally go out for my beloved Dons. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatface 2,554 Posted January 15, 2018 Good: 1983 England v USA, Test Decider, Sheffield - glorious weather, glorious racing 1989 Exeter v Berwick KO Cup two legged epic that had to be replayed 1994 Edinburgh v Glasgow, KO Cup Final - Les Collins last bend win kicked off a great night's racing 2007 British GP, Chris Harris's unforgettable win 2011 Torun GP, just a brilliant meeting and a rare reminder that at its best, no other sport can match it Bad: around 2010 onwards, any league meeting I have been to has left me pretty underwhelmed 1982 - Cradley win KO Cup at Hyde Road, when you are 8, these things really, really matter Kenny Carter death...a huge, tragic shock Closure of Hyde Road Per Jonsson career-ending injury - I thought he was a huge talent and his best years were still to come 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midland Red 2,383 Posted January 18, 2018 (edited) Good: 1964, GB v USSR at Brandon, preceded by Golden Helmet Match Race, Nigel Boocock beat Ove Fundin 1970 World Final, Wroclaw - hearing National Anthem played for Ivan Mauger's victory Consistently high standard of racing on well-prepared Blackbird Road track Whit Monday trips to FIM Internationale meetings at Plough Lane Charles Ochiltree, Nigel Boocock, Allen Walker, and all who made Saturday nights at Brandon so memorable Bad All track fatalities - Lee Richardson's hurt so much The terrible crash involving Les Owen and John Harrhy, and seeing the long-term effects on both men first hand Coventry Stadium 2017/18 The tragedies of Billy Sanders and Kenny Carter Speedway GP and its detrimental effects on British speedway Edited January 18, 2018 by Midland Red 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Downes 48 Posted January 19, 2018 Best 5 1) Being introduces to the sport in 1980 and my first Speedway Hero, Paul Woods 2) Watching Barry Thomas at Crayford - even more spectacular than at Hackney 3) Wembley 1981 - although i had no idea it would be the one and only time there 4) Hackney 1988 - all of it 5) Mark Loram winning the world title in 2000 Worst 6 1) Leif Wahlmann Kings Lynn 1984 - RIP 2) Paul Muchene Hackney 1989 - RIP 3) Hackney 1991 - watching a great club disintigrate before your very eyes 4) Melvyn Stewkesbury's grand plan for speedway 1991 - OK for Poole but destroyed the National League - it hasn't been the same since 5 All the promotors and administrators who have let our great sport die over the last 40 years through self interest, petty bickering or plain incompetence 6 That utter ******* at Poole in 1994 who did over £1,000 of damage to my motorbike and buggered off without leaving insurance details. I know it was over 30 years ago but i hope you're still out there because one of my bucket list before i die things is to find you and get even with you you ............. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites