Pete Reading

[mikebaker 202]

A one team rider. Having ridden at Cleveland Park from 1968 till 1980. My first hero when i started following the Teesside Tigers in 1972.

Edited October 31, 2022 by mikebaker

[steve roberts 9,247]

1 hour ago, mikebaker said:

A one team rider. Having ridden at Cleveland Park from 1968 till 1980. My first hero when i started following the Teesside Tigers in 1972.

Remember Pete Reading well...I was fearing this thread was announcing his passing?

[chunky 6,144]

2 hours ago, steve roberts said:

Remember Pete Reading well...I was fearing this thread was announcing his passing?

Yeah, I thought exactly the same thing...

[ch958 2,398]

one week a world beater, next week a second string and very much a Cleveland Park specialist

[The White Knight 9,039]

On 10/31/2022 at 7:10 PM, steve roberts said:

Remember Pete Reading well...I was fearing this thread was announcing his passing?

Me too.

[steve roberts 9,247]

51 minutes ago, The White Knight said:

Me too.

I was thinking the other day about one club riders and they are very few and far between...Pete only rode for Teesside. A good servant and what club speedway is all about in my opinion. We had Rick Timmo at Oxford. Wouldn't happen nowadays!

Edited November 19, 2022 by steve roberts

[chunky 6,144]

2 hours ago, steve roberts said:

I was thinking the other day about one club riders and they are very few and far between...Pete only rode for Teesside. A good servant and what club speedway is all about in my opinion. We had Rick Timmo at Oxford. Wouldn't happen nowadays!

And Leicester, who used the same seven riders all season in 1969...

[steve roberts 9,247]

4 minutes ago, chunky said:

And Leicester, who used the same seven riders all season in 1969...

...bit different to Oxford in 2005 who used 23 riders (14 of which who rode in six or more matches).

[Beirao 207]

5 hours ago, steve roberts said:

I was thinking the other day about one club riders and they are very few and far between...Pete only rode for Teesside. A good servant and what club speedway is all about in my opinion. We had Rick Timmo at Oxford. Wouldn't happen nowadays!

And Martin McKinna who only rode for Glasgow.

[BL65 658]

2 hours ago, chunky said:

And Leicester, who used the same seven riders all season in 1969...

That's correct regarding official matches.  I saw George Major ride for the Lions at the beginning of the season.  He appeared in a couple of challenge matches before DeWayne Keeter arrived.  Dene Davies rode in place of Keeter in two challenge matches at the very end of the season.  Norman Hunter also guested in place of John Boulger in a challenge at King's Lynn.

[chunky 6,144]

2 hours ago, BL65 said:

That's correct regarding official matches.

There were several other teams that ran them close that year. King's Lynn made just ONE change that season, when Geoff Penniket replaced Pete Bradshaw for a night, and Wimbledon and Poole only used nine riders.

[salty 2,208]

I've got Coatbridge only using 9 riders as well. Wimbledon is more than 9? A number of guests alongside the main 7 of Moore, Hedge, Luckhurst, Tebby, Dugard, Maidment, Everett and main replacement Murray. Those were the days eh?

[chunky 6,144]

5 hours ago, salty said:

I've got Coatbridge only using 9 riders as well. Wimbledon is more than 9? A number of guests alongside the main 7 of Moore, Hedge, Luckhurst, Tebby, Dugard, Maidment, Everett and main replacement Murray. Those were the days eh?

I was sure there were other teams as well...

I'm talking about those "representing" Wimbledon, not guests. In those days, each team would have one or two main replacements, but of course, there were still odd teams who got through a bunch of riders. Thing is, people complain about riders doubling up these days, but the reality is that we've always had them. What we DIDN'T have was more guests than actual team members.

The fact is, unless a rider was legitimately injured - he would ride for your team (unless he was Swedish)!

[ch958 2,398]

4 minutes ago, chunky said:

I was sure there were other teams as well...

I'm talking about those "representing" Wimbledon, not guests. In those days, each team would have one or two main replacements, but of course, there were still odd teams who got through a bunch of riders. Thing is, people complain about riders doubling up these days, but the reality is that we've always had them. What we DIDN'T have was more guests than actual team members.

The fact is, unless a rider was legitimately injured - he would ride for your team (unless he was Swedish)!

yes in the days when there was clear demarcation between the divisions the top 2nd tier boys were "no 8" for 1st division teams. E.g. Steve Wilcock performed this role for Coventry among others. Nobody seemed to mind that.

[chunky 6,144]

5 minutes ago, ch958 said:

yes in the days when there was clear demarcation between the divisions the top 2nd tier boys were "no 8" for 1st division teams. E.g. Steve Wilcock performed this role for Coventry among others. Nobody seemed to mind that.

Absolutely. In the '70's, we had Colin Richardson and Richard Knight. Cradley had David Shields and John Hack. White City had Mike Sampson. Nope, nobody complained back then. We liked having regular and reliable stand-ins.