BL65 657 Posted July 16, 2020 On 6/7/2020 at 6:30 AM, Bavarian said: Does anyone have a chronological list of all the official England (and GB) speedway team managers we ever had through the years since 1930? Who was the longest serving, who was the most successful, who was the worst ? I have listed the England/GB team managers I am aware of for the official internationals staged at top division level (or including riders from the top division where staged on lower league tracks) in the UK from 1947 to 1969. Can anyone help by filling in some of the blanks (or advise of any errors/amendments required) please? In the late 1940s one programme referred to the team being selected jointly by Alec Jackson of Wembley and Fred Mockford of New Cross. Jackson was named in the programme as manager for the 1952 test at Belle Vue, but a subsequent team photograph included Mockford as manager. It is likely that the team managers for 1959 (Swindon) and 1961 (Belle Vue and Southampton) would have been from the staging tracks, in keeping with the other internationals between 1959 and 1961. 05/07/47 England Australia Bradford Not stated in programme 29/07/47 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford 14/08/47 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson 24/05/48 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford 19/06/48 England Australia Belle Vue 30/06/48 England Australia New Cross 18/08/48 Scotland England Glasgow White City 19/08/48 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford 07/09/48 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford 26/05/49 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson (or Fred Mockford) 18/06/49 England Australia Birmingham Alec Jackson 13/07/49 England Australia New Cross Not stated - probably Fred Mockford 05/08/49 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford 24/08/49 Scotland England Glasgow White City 03/09/49 England Australia Bradford 06/06/50 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford 24/06/50 England Australia Belle Vue 12/07/50 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford 31/07/50 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford 31/08/50 England Australia Wembley Fred Mockford 11/09/50 Scotland England Glasgow White City 01/06/51 England Australia Harringay Not stated in programme 13/06/51 Scotland England Glasgow White City 30/06/51 England Australia Bradford 03/07/51 Scotland England Ashfield 19/07/51 England Australia Wembley Ronnie Greene 04/08/51 England Australia Birmingham Les Marshall 10/08/51 England Scotland Cradley Heath Not stated in programme 27/08/51 England Scotland Halifax 28/08/51 England Australia West Ham 15/09/51 Scotland England Edinburgh Don Cuppleditch 22/09/51 England Overseas Belle Vue 28/05/52 Scotland England Glasgow White City 09/06/52 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford 16/06/52 England Scotland Coventry Charles Ochiltree 26/06/52 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson 19/07/52 England Australia Belle Vue A Jackson (programme), F Mockford (photo) 02/08/52 Scotland England Ashfield 11/08/52 England Scotland Liverpool Gordon Parkins 20/08/52 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford 05/09/52 Scotland England Motherwell 12/09/52 England Australia Harringay 27/05/53 Scotland England Glasgow White City Les Gregory 20/06/53 England Australia Norwich Fred Evans 03/07/53 England Scotland Leicester Charles Ochiltree 14/07/53 England Scotland Wolverhampton Len Matchan 13/08/53 England Australia Wembley Charles Ochiltree 14/08/53 Scotland England Motherwell 29/08/53 England Australia Birmingham Fred Evans 14/09/53 England New Zealand Wimbledon Fred Evans 22/09/53 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Lack 25/09/53 England New Zealand Bristol Len Matcham 29/09/53 England New Zealand West Ham Charles Ochiltree 10/08/54 England Australasia West Ham Ronnie Greene 04/09/54 England Australasia Belle Vue Alec Jackson 25/09/54 England Australasia Bradford 13/06/55 England Australasia Wimbledon Ronnie Greene 23/06/55 England Australasia Wembley Not stated in programme 05/07/55 England Australasia West Ham Charles Ochiltree 20/07/55 England Australasia Bradford Bruce Booth 27/07/55 England Australasia Birmingham Les Marshall 05/08/55 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins 28/06/56 England Sweden Wembley Possibly Ronnie Greene 02/07/56 England Sweden Wimbledon Ronnie Greene 04/07/56 England Sweden Norwich Ronnie Greene 11/07/56 England Australasia Bradford 10/08/56 England Australasia Birmingham Alec Jackson 28/08/56 England Australasia Poole 03/06/58 England Poland Southampton 05/06/58 England Poland Ipswich Ronnie Greene 06/06/58 England Poland Leicester Ronnie Greene 11/06/58 England Australasia Swindon 18/06/58 England Australasia Oxford Gordon Parkins 23/07/58 England Australasia Coventry 20/08/58 England Australasia Belle Vue 09/09/58 England Australasia Southampton Gordon Parkins 08/09/59 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher 12/09/59 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins 26/09/59 England Australasia Swindon 01/06/60 England Australasia Coventry Charles Ochiltree 15/06/60 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins 30/06/60 England Australasia Ipswich Vic Gooden 19/08/60 England Australasia Leicester Squib Burton 07/09/60 England Australasia New Cross Johnnie Hoskins 26/09/60 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher 12/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Norwich Gordon Parkins 13/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Oxford Ted Flanaghan 14/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue 17/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Cyril Brine 18/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Southampton 04/07/64 Great Britain USSR Wembley Tommy Price 08/07/64 Great Britain USSR Coventry Tommy Price 11/07/64 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Tommy Price 15/05/65 Scotland England Edinburgh Mike Parker 31/05/65 England Scotland Newcastle Tom Graham 02/06/65 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham 05/07/65 Great Britain USSR Wimbledon Trevor Redmond 07/07/65 Great Britain USSR Coventry Charles Foot 08/07/65 Great Britain USSR Sheffield Charles Ochiltree 14/07/65 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Mike Parker 16/07/65 Great Britain USSR Newport Ronnie Greene 07/05/66 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Glennon 17/06/66 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham 22/06/66 England Scotland Halifax Frank Varey 23/06/66 England Scotland Middlesbrough Eric Boothroyd 04/07/66 England USSR Newcastle Bill Bridgett 06/07/66 England USSR Halifax Frank Varey 08/07/66 England USSR Wolverhampton Mike Parker 11/07/66 England USSR Exeter Charles Foot 12/07/66 England USSR West Ham Charles Ochiltree 29/07/66 Great Britain Poland Hackney Vic Gooden 01/08/66 Great Britain Poland Coventry Vic Gooden 04/08/66 Great Britain Poland Sheffield Vic Gooden 10/10/66 England Scotland Newcastle 06/05/67 Scotland England Edinburgh Tom Graham 15/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Charles Ochiltree 17/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Coventry Ronnie Greene 19/06/67 England Sweden Exeter Charles Foot 21/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Newport Wally Mawdsley 23/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Glasgow White City Ian Hoskins 26/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue Mike Parker 18/07/66 Great Britain Poland West Ham Wally Mawdsley 19/07/67 Great Britain Poland Poole Ronnie Greene 21/07/67 Great Britain Poland Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree 22/07/67 Great Britain Poland Halifax Ron Wilson 24/07/67 Great Britain Poland Newcastle Ian Hoskins 13/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Wally Mawdsley 15/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey 21/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree 22/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Coatbridge Ian Hoskins 29/06/68 Great Britain USSR West Ham Ronnie Greene 01/07/68 Great Britain USSR Exeter Charles Foot 03/07/68 England USSR Coventry Wally Mawdsley 05/07/68 England USSR Newport Wally Mawdsley 06/07/68 England USSR Belle Vue Ronnie Greene 12/07/68 Great Britain Poland Hackney Wally Mawdsley 13/07/68 Great Britain Poland Coventry Wally Mawdsley 15/07/68 England Poland Newcastle Mike Parker 17/07/68 England Poland Poole Ronnie Greene 18/07/68 England Poland Sheffield Charles Ochiltree 20/07/68 Great Britain Sweden Swindon Charles Foot 31/08/68 Scotland England Coatbridge Tom Graham 28/05/69 England Australia Poole Charles Foot 05/06/69 England Australia Sheffield Mike Parker 12/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Reg Fearman 13/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Newport Reg Fearman 17/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Leicester Ronnie Greene 21/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey 23/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Cradley Heath Charles Ochiltree 04/07/69 England Australia Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree 06/08/69 England New Zealand Swindon Reg Fearman 15/08/69 Scotland England Glasgow Hampden Park Tom Graham 18/08/69 England New Zealand Newcastle Mike Parker 29/08/69 England New Zealand Hackney Ronnie Greene 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 467 Posted July 16, 2020 More excellent research, thanks BL65 for taking the trouble to compose this detailed list. Greatly appreciated. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tracy Bird 66 Posted July 17, 2020 20 hours ago, BL65 said: I have listed the England/GB team managers I am aware of for the official internationals staged at top division level (or including riders from the top division where staged on lower league tracks) in the UK from 1947 to 1969. Can anyone help by filling in some of the blanks (or advise of any errors/amendments required) please? In the late 1940s one programme referred to the team being selected jointly by Alec Jackson of Wembley and Fred Mockford of New Cross. Jackson was named in the programme as manager for the 1952 test at Belle Vue, but a subsequent team photograph included Mockford as manager. It is likely that the team managers for 1959 (Swindon) and 1961 (Belle Vue and Southampton) would have been from the staging tracks, in keeping with the other internationals between 1959 and 1961. 05/07/47 England Australia Bradford Not stated in programme 29/07/47 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford 14/08/47 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson 24/05/48 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford 19/06/48 England Australia Belle Vue 30/06/48 England Australia New Cross 18/08/48 Scotland England Glasgow White City 19/08/48 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford 07/09/48 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford 26/05/49 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson (or Fred Mockford) 18/06/49 England Australia Birmingham Alec Jackson 13/07/49 England Australia New Cross Not stated - probably Fred Mockford 05/08/49 England Australia Harringay Fred Mockford 24/08/49 Scotland England Glasgow White City 03/09/49 England Australia Bradford 06/06/50 England Australia West Ham Fred Mockford 24/06/50 England Australia Belle Vue 12/07/50 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford 31/07/50 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford 31/08/50 England Australia Wembley Fred Mockford 11/09/50 Scotland England Glasgow White City 01/06/51 England Australia Harringay Not stated in programme 13/06/51 Scotland England Glasgow White City 30/06/51 England Australia Bradford 03/07/51 Scotland England Ashfield 19/07/51 England Australia Wembley Ronnie Greene 04/08/51 England Australia Birmingham Les Marshall 10/08/51 England Scotland Cradley Heath Not stated in programme 27/08/51 England Scotland Halifax 28/08/51 England Australia West Ham 15/09/51 Scotland England Edinburgh Don Cuppleditch 22/09/51 England Overseas Belle Vue 28/05/52 Scotland England Glasgow White City 09/06/52 England Australia Wimbledon Fred Mockford 16/06/52 England Scotland Coventry Charles Ochiltree 26/06/52 England Australia Wembley Alec Jackson 19/07/52 England Australia Belle Vue A Jackson (programme), F Mockford (photo) 02/08/52 Scotland England Ashfield 11/08/52 England Scotland Liverpool Gordon Parkins 20/08/52 England Australia New Cross Fred Mockford 05/09/52 Scotland England Motherwell 12/09/52 England Australia Harringay 27/05/53 Scotland England Glasgow White City Les Gregory 20/06/53 England Australia Norwich Fred Evans 03/07/53 England Scotland Leicester Charles Ochiltree 14/07/53 England Scotland Wolverhampton Len Matchan 13/08/53 England Australia Wembley Charles Ochiltree 14/08/53 Scotland England Motherwell 29/08/53 England Australia Birmingham Fred Evans 14/09/53 England New Zealand Wimbledon Fred Evans 22/09/53 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Lack 25/09/53 England New Zealand Bristol Len Matcham 29/09/53 England New Zealand West Ham Charles Ochiltree 10/08/54 England Australasia West Ham Ronnie Greene 04/09/54 England Australasia Belle Vue Alec Jackson 25/09/54 England Australasia Bradford 13/06/55 England Australasia Wimbledon Ronnie Greene 23/06/55 England Australasia Wembley Not stated in programme 05/07/55 England Australasia West Ham Charles Ochiltree 20/07/55 England Australasia Bradford Bruce Booth 27/07/55 England Australasia Birmingham Les Marshall 05/08/55 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins 28/06/56 England Sweden Wembley Possibly Ronnie Greene 02/07/56 England Sweden Wimbledon Ronnie Greene 04/07/56 England Sweden Norwich Ronnie Greene 11/07/56 England Australasia Bradford 10/08/56 England Australasia Birmingham Alec Jackson 28/08/56 England Australasia Poole 03/06/58 England Poland Southampton 05/06/58 England Poland Ipswich Ronnie Greene 06/06/58 England Poland Leicester Ronnie Greene 11/06/58 England Australasia Swindon 18/06/58 England Australasia Oxford Gordon Parkins 23/07/58 England Australasia Coventry 20/08/58 England Australasia Belle Vue 09/09/58 England Australasia Southampton Gordon Parkins 08/09/59 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher 12/09/59 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins 26/09/59 England Australasia Swindon 01/06/60 England Australasia Coventry Charles Ochiltree 15/06/60 England Australasia Norwich Gordon Parkins 30/06/60 England Australasia Ipswich Vic Gooden 19/08/60 England Australasia Leicester Squib Burton 07/09/60 England Australasia New Cross Johnnie Hoskins 26/09/60 England Australasia Southampton Bert Cr--oucher 12/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Norwich Gordon Parkins 13/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Oxford Ted Flanaghan 14/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue 17/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Cyril Brine 18/07/61 Great Britain Sweden Southampton 04/07/64 Great Britain USSR Wembley Tommy Price 08/07/64 Great Britain USSR Coventry Tommy Price 11/07/64 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Tommy Price 15/05/65 Scotland England Edinburgh Mike Parker 31/05/65 England Scotland Newcastle Tom Graham 02/06/65 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham 05/07/65 Great Britain USSR Wimbledon Trevor Redmond 07/07/65 Great Britain USSR Coventry Charles Foot 08/07/65 Great Britain USSR Sheffield Charles Ochiltree 14/07/65 Great Britain USSR Belle Vue Mike Parker 16/07/65 Great Britain USSR Newport Ronnie Greene 07/05/66 Scotland England Edinburgh Eddie Glennon 17/06/66 Scotland England Glasgow White City Tom Graham 22/06/66 England Scotland Halifax Frank Varey 23/06/66 England Scotland Middlesbrough Eric Boothroyd 04/07/66 England USSR Newcastle Bill Bridgett 06/07/66 England USSR Halifax Frank Varey 08/07/66 England USSR Wolverhampton Mike Parker 11/07/66 England USSR Exeter Charles Foot 12/07/66 England USSR West Ham Charles Ochiltree 29/07/66 Great Britain Poland Hackney Vic Gooden 01/08/66 Great Britain Poland Coventry Vic Gooden 04/08/66 Great Britain Poland Sheffield Vic Gooden 10/10/66 England Scotland Newcastle 06/05/67 Scotland England Edinburgh Tom Graham 15/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Charles Ochiltree 17/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Coventry Ronnie Greene 19/06/67 England Sweden Exeter Charles Foot 21/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Newport Wally Mawdsley 23/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Glasgow White City Ian Hoskins 26/06/67 Great Britain Sweden Belle Vue Mike Parker 18/07/66 Great Britain Poland West Ham Wally Mawdsley 19/07/67 Great Britain Poland Poole Ronnie Greene 21/07/67 Great Britain Poland Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree 22/07/67 Great Britain Poland Halifax Ron Wilson 24/07/67 Great Britain Poland Newcastle Ian Hoskins 13/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Wally Mawdsley 15/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey 21/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree 22/06/68 Great Britain Sweden Coatbridge Ian Hoskins 29/06/68 Great Britain USSR West Ham Ronnie Greene 01/07/68 Great Britain USSR Exeter Charles Foot 03/07/68 England USSR Coventry Wally Mawdsley 05/07/68 England USSR Newport Wally Mawdsley 06/07/68 England USSR Belle Vue Ronnie Greene 12/07/68 Great Britain Poland Hackney Wally Mawdsley 13/07/68 Great Britain Poland Coventry Wally Mawdsley 15/07/68 England Poland Newcastle Mike Parker 17/07/68 England Poland Poole Ronnie Greene 18/07/68 England Poland Sheffield Charles Ochiltree 20/07/68 Great Britain Sweden Swindon Charles Foot 31/08/68 Scotland England Coatbridge Tom Graham 28/05/69 England Australia Poole Charles Foot 05/06/69 England Australia Sheffield Mike Parker 12/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Wimbledon Reg Fearman 13/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Newport Reg Fearman 17/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Leicester Ronnie Greene 21/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Halifax Frank Varey 23/06/69 Great Britain Sweden Cradley Heath Charles Ochiltree 04/07/69 England Australia Wolverhampton Charles Ochiltree 06/08/69 England New Zealand Swindon Reg Fearman 15/08/69 Scotland England Glasgow Hampden Park Tom Graham 18/08/69 England New Zealand Newcastle Mike Parker 29/08/69 England New Zealand Hackney Ronnie Greene 11/7/66 at Exeter v ussr team manager was Trevor redmond, 28/5/69 at Poole v Australia team manager was Ron hart. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 657 Posted July 17, 2020 40 minutes ago, Tracy Bird said: 11/7/66 at Exeter v ussr team manager was Trevor redmond, 28/5/69 at Poole v Australia team manager was Ron hart. Thanks. I don't recall the team manager being named in the Exeter programme and I don't have a copy of the Poole programme; the information I had was taken from 'The Complete History of the British League'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,993 Posted July 31, 2020 Managed to track down the H. Tovey who I mentioned was manager of the team in Australia in 1950-51. Also was the manager on the next tour according to the photo here. But who was he ? http://justsolos.homestead.com/molly5.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 657 Posted July 31, 2020 I can add Alice Hart as the team manager for the tests against Scotland at White City in 1951 and 1952. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 657 Posted July 31, 2020 1 hour ago, iris123 said: Managed to track down the H. Tovey who I mentioned was manager of the team in Australia in 1950-51. Also was the manager on the next tour according to the photo here. But who was he ? http://justsolos.homestead.com/molly5.html H. for Harry. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,993 Posted July 31, 2020 Is more known about him ? Was he involved in UK speedway or maybe lived in Australia ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 657 Posted July 31, 2020 4 hours ago, iris123 said: Managed to track down the H. Tovey who I mentioned was manager of the team in Australia in 1950-51. Also was the manager on the next tour according to the photo here. But who was he ? http://justsolos.homestead.com/molly5.html Harry Tovey was also manager on the 1949-50 tour. It would be out of character for the UK authorities to pay for a team manager to travel to Australia in those days, so perhaps Harry was resident there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 657 Posted July 31, 2020 Here is a clue. Ron Clarke, Odsal captain and member of the 1949-50 touring team, sent 'news' to Speedway Echo, published on 25th February 1950. His comment was: "We are all attending a Farewell Ball this week, when our main part will be presenting Harry Tovey with a little something for his services to us. Believe me, and this is the general feeling in the tourists' camp, nothing we can give Harry can repay him sufficiently for the magnificent way he has taken care of us out here. It's really been grand to meet a guy who has taken such a great interest in our team. We feel rather guilty at letting him down over the Test series but that's just the way things work out sometimes. We hope that we haven't seen the last of Harry where our speedway is concerned and we'll never forget him for what he has done for us." My feeling is that Harry Tovey was probably in charge of all administrative arrangements during the tours, but maybe the team captain was responsible for racing matters. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites