First race you ever saw-any of the 4 riders still alive??

[BOBBATH 467]

That's  depressing chunks- so many teams gone. BTW Roy Trigg alive and well- unfortunately his wife passed recently. I think Roy now lives in NZ. Tommy Sweetman also still with us and also in NZ

[chunky 6,108]

5 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

That's  depressing chunks- so many teams gone. BTW Roy Trigg alive and well- unfortunately his wife passed recently. I think Roy now lives in NZ. Tommy Sweetman also still with us and also in NZ

Thing that depresses me - and it's not just with speedway tracks - is the things that have been introduced in my lifetime, and are already obsolete! VCR's, pagers, 8-tracks, teasmades...

As far as tracks, off the top of my head, we have Weymouth, Newport, Arena Essex, Milton Keynes (Groveway), Milton Keynes (Elfield Park), Canterbury, Paisley, Reading, Somerset, Camarthen, Boston, Castleford, Doncaster, Cowdenbeath, Linlithgow, Ellesmere Port... None of those existed before I was born.

That's without tracks like Bristol Eastville, Scunthorpe Quibell Park and Ashbyville, Berwick Berrington Lough etc...

Edited April 10 by chunky

[norbold 7,117]

7 hours ago, chunky said:

Oh, and checking the riders from your match, pretty sure Tommy Sweetman is still with us.

Yes, you're quite right. Sorry. I was going from memory and had forgotten he was in our team. Sorry, Tommy!

[arnieg 3,651]

9 hours ago, chunky said:

So, Monday, 5 October, 1970, at Tilehurst for a Challenge Match.

Jessup won from Sims, Hammond fell, and Vernam packed up. Reading beat Eastbourne 45-33.

But Racers overcame that 5-nil reverse and won thanks to a Dickie May maximum - and a new hero was born.

[chunky 6,108]

12 minutes ago, arnieg said:

But Racers overcame that 5-nil reverse and won thanks to a Dickie May maximum - and a new hero was born.

That must be true; it says so on Wikipedia!!! 

[arnieg 3,651]

4 hours ago, chunky said:

That must be true; it says so on Wikipedia!!! 

Good grief - I've never seen that before!!!  

[chunky 6,108]

2 hours ago, arnieg said:

Good grief - I've never seen that before!!!  

So you didn't write that?

[arnieg 3,651]

32 minutes ago, chunky said:

So you didn't write that?

Absolutely not

[Split 179]

Like Norbold, I saw my first race at New Cross but a few months later in September 1960 when Wimbledon were the visitors. The race finished Moore, Tebby, Waterman, Luckhurst (fell) and I think that sadly, only Reg is still with us.  I wonder how many people have seen the reigning world champion win the first ever race they ever saw. Okay, Ronnie Moore did relinquish the title when he was runner up to Ove Fundin at Wembley a few days later. 

[RobbieB 26]

My first live race was at Wimbledon 18 March 1976 heat 1 result; Dave Jessup, Barry Crowson, Bernie Leigh and Edgar Stangeland.

Strangely, first Wimbledon rider I saw win a race in a home meeting was Roger Johns who won heat 8 in the Wimbledon v Reading (CH) match 18 March 1976; Roger was also the first Wimbledon rider I saw win an away race when he won heat 2 at White City the following Wednesday, 24 March 1976.

[andout 661]

August 19th 1959 New Cross first meeting. This may not have been my first meeting but the first one I can remember going to and actually filling in the programme.

Heat result: R. Moore, Craven, White, Brine.......Two World champions in my first race..All gone now, others in that NX team...P Moore, Genz, C Roger, Dunton....all gone too. Only Bjorn Knutsson is still alive. And yes I use the "ss" because that is how Bjorn had it, never changed it until recent years.

And out of the Wimbledon team only Bob Andrews is still alive.

[Chadster 221]

First one I have clear memories of was Belle Vue v Newport in 1967.Heat 1 ended Nevitt, Roper, Erskine, Golden. I think Tommy Roper and Jon Erskine are still going, but I'm not sure about Norman Nevitt. Alby Golden died some years back.

[BOBBATH 467]

I recall Norman Nevitt, also Bill Powell and Jim Yacoby- about the same vintage and level. Are any of these guys still with us-I hope they all are. If memory  serves I think Bill Powell was the most successful of the three , but I could be wrong (not for the first time!!!!!)

[chunky 6,108]

19 minutes ago, BOBBATH said:

I recall Norman Nevitt, also Bill Powell and Jim Yacoby- about the same vintage and level. Are any of these guys still with us-I hope they all are. If memory  serves I think Bill Powell was the most successful of the three , but I could be wrong (not for the first time!!!!!)

They are all still with us, but looking at the averages, Norman was actually the best of them...

[Knowle 51]

The first race I saw was on August 19th 1949 Bristol v New Cross in the  National Trophy Chris Boss and Eric Salmon v Bert Roger and Bill Longley. The most recent survivor of that meeting I think was Dick Bradley who died 2 years ago. The second meeting I saw was Bristol v Cradley Heath on September 16th 1949 and I can still picture in my mind the fall of Alan Hunt in the first heat on the first bend. I note that at second reserve for the away team was Les Tolley. Was he related to the current Birmingham promoter?  I still have both programmes.