Leaderboard

Congratulations Scunthorpe straight into the quarter finals of the KO Cup same as Leicester......funny how thats worked out....

I would like say that I personally appreciate the warm welcome most of you have extended to the Plymouth gladiators and what they are trying to achieve speedway fans have shown that they can see the bigger picture and the survival/revival of the sport is the most important, thats it for me being nice i,ve got scunthorpe fans to wind up only joking even scunthorpe fans have been good

Fully agree with yours and Bobs post. Plymouth have done everything and more to get the track and stadium up to scratch. Probably one of the most productive management teams in the business right now. Absolutely brilliant news on their elevation to CL, the signings so far. I wish them all the best and hopefully look forward to another visit this season and also may I add a very good racetrack which every track needs.

Its what its all about mate... differing opinions and I wasn't there when Swales done the track only Anthony D but earlier days and different bikes and set ups back then; however there was some cracking racing there when Steve Lawson took on the job and when Dickie Juul got Rasser fired up there was passing a plenty on 3 and 4; in fact Dickie got all the Danes fired up to be fair and he was a class act in the pits... But I have different memories and Steve's track prep had a lot to do with that 2018 season but there you go... still a miss though... I would be happy to go to a "Shot Tip" if we could have it back... Regards THJ

Both the three.

RIP Olle. NYGREN, Harald-Olof Ingemar (Olle) Born: November 11, 1929, Stockholm, Sweden. The success of Sweden as a speedway nation was one of the stories of the 1950s, as the country emerged as the main power in the sport. Riders like Fundin, Sormander, Soederman and Knutsson dominated the headlines along with a rider who was the pioneer of this transition, Olle Nygren. A fantastic all round motor cyclist who excelled at any two wheeled discipline, Olle came to the attention of the British public in 1949 when he showed impressive form in the World Championship rounds held in the U.K. and almost reached the final qualifying stages of the competition. He was a much sought after rider with the British promoters and, in 1951, became the first Swede to race in the National League when he signed a short term contract with the Harringay ‘Racers’. For fans brought up on a diet of British and Commonwealth riders, with the occasional American thrown in, the arrival of Olle was like a breath of fresh air and his appearances showed that a new force in speedway was developing across the North Sea. He ended his eleven match stint with the ‘Racers’ with a paid 18 point maximum against Norwich in the National Trophy, and an average approaching nine points per match was a brilliant effort. His next appearances in the National League came with Bristol in 1953, showing sensational form in the West Country, and his average at the end of the season was the second highest in the league, with only Ronnie Moore achieving better figures. Despite his undoubted position as the number one rider in Sweden, the honour of being the first Swedish World finalist fell to Dan Forsberg, but Olle reached his first final in 1953 and lost a run-off with Geoff Mardon for a place on the rostrum, finishing fourth with twelve points. He covered for the injured Ronnie Moore at Wimbledon in 1954, but for the next few years British fans had to be content with seeing Olle ride in World Championship and international events as he refused numerous approaches from league clubs. He was not a rider to give speedway his full attention as he competed in other forms of motorcycle sport, even missing the 1956 World Final to compete in a T.T. event in Sweden, but he was so talented that he could still live with the best in the sport and was a consistent threat in World Championship finals. His best effort came in 1954 when he finished third but, surprisingly, he did not reach another final after his appearance in the 1959 event at Wembley. A notable 1960 season saw Olle return to league racing with Southampton and he scored a maximum as the Swedes won the inaugural World Team Cup at Gothenburg. Eventually, past his peak and well into his 30s, Olle became a regular in league action in the U.K., initially with Norwich, but more memorably with Wimbledon. Joining the ‘Dons’ in 1965 for the first season of the British League, Olle was immediately a hero at Plough Lane, topping the ‘Dons’ averages and proving himself to be amongst the top ten in the league. He had four glorious years with the ‘Dons’ and, when he led the club to a knock-out cup triumph in 1968, it was the first trophy the fans had seen since the glory days of the early part of the decade. Nearing 40, Olle joined West Ham but his enthusiasm and point scoring capabilities showed little sign of decreasing for a number of years. He finally called it a day in 1975 after a spell at King’s Lynn and his long and illustrious career was at an end. The development of Sweden as the major power in speedway would have probably happened without Olle, but he was the leader of the revolution and their transition from also ran to World Champions would have taken a lot longer without his influence. Had he followed the path of Ove Fundin and had a complete dedication to speedway, combined with regular league rides in Britain at the pinnacle of his career, Olle could well have become World Champion. Year Club Division M R P BP TP CMA FM PM 1951 Harringay NL1 11 45 91 9 100 8.89 1 1 1953 Bristol NL1 11 50 128 6 134 10.72 2 2 1954 Wimbledon NL1 7 31 57 5 62 8.00 - - 1960 Southampton NL 12 60 134 7 141 9.40 - 1 1962 Swindon NL 2 8 19 1 20 10.00 - - 1962 Norwich NL 5 20 46 3 49 9.80 1 - 1963 Norwich NL 27 118 251 9 260 8.81 1 3 1964 Norwich NL 14 62 128.5 4 132.5 8.55 - - 1965 Wimbledon BL 37 157 386 15 401 10.22 8 2 1966 Wimbledon BL 41 182 463 10 473 10.40 13 2 1967 Wimbledon BL 36 158 367 9 376 9.52 7 1 1968 Wimbledon BL1 40 180 408 11 419 9.31 9 - 1969 West Ham BL1 21 94 180 6 186 7.91 2 - 1970 West Ham BL1 34 150 332 19 351 9.36 1 1 1971 West Ham BL1 36 170 333 13 346 8.14 1 1 1972 Ipswich BL1 36 144 262 18 280 7.78 2 1 1973 Ipswich BL1 35 128 171 17 188 5.88 - 1 1974 Ipswich BL1 26 97 120 30 150 6.19 - - 1974 Coventry BL1 9 33 28 13 41 4.97 - - 1975 King’s Lynn BL 9 32 27 11 38 4.75 - - Individual Honours: World finalist 1953 (4th), 1954 (3rd), 1955 (8th), 1958 (7th), 1959 (4th), Swedish Champion 1949. International Honours: World Team Cup winner 1960, World Team Cup finalist 1968, Swedish international – 90 caps, 798 points. Team Honours: National Trophy winner 1963, British League Division One Knock-Out Cup winner 1968.

Basically it's a form of entertainment (on a par with Stockcars and fairgrounds) masquerading as a sport.

They were both well into retirement and had probably forgotten more than most riders ever know when this race took place, but I hope you will enjoy its nostalgia value Ove Fundin v Olle Nygren - Bing video

WOW .... What a surprise......NOT!!!!...

What he said ^^^

Sad news,Archie helped out many riders and the Club with his mechanical expertise and tuned engines for many riders over the years with great success. Condolences to the family. Also just noted the passing of Ann Tait . Alfie and Ann’s contribution and fund raising for the Club was immense . Condolences to the family.

Pen or email?

I think JPB had a lot of problems inc the Colombian white marching powder

Certainly is! Doh......

My personal opinion is the ratings were set at the levels they are so teams in the main could keep the riders they had already signed . I do believe it's a good thing going forward though as long as the clubs stick to the spirit of it and don't start manipulating it.

I think every single track could be great if they all had a trackman like Doc Bridget, or terry who does wolves and sure he done redcar and helped at stoke towards the end they are a dying breed and if every track was like belle vue it would be the fastest riders wins in most cases different track help develope riders ,how many riders always pull a sicky or really struggle when they have to go to Armadale it’s got to be one of the hardest to ride get the setup right it’s a bit easier Spannered for jack holder when he came up a few years ago don’t think he managed 2 full races he fell off second time then pulled out the meeting said his head was sore but just wanted out the place lol not the first rider i heard saying that Eastbourne also comes into the hard to ride category never follow the line into the first bend or you will end up on the center green but it’s a great home track advantage like Armadale

Correct, my point is that the conversion factor is 1.6, not 60% as you stated. CL average multiplied by 1.6 to get PL average, PL average divided by 1.6 to get CL average (or whatever the factor is, maybe 1.5) Posted before I read down to THJ's post

Nygren and Fundin as the spearhead for Norwich in 1964 at Belle Vue was a great sight. Olle spent many years running training schools at King’s Lynn. My thoughts are with his family

Fair call. .. The fundamental reality is that without a national mainstream recognition of the sport by 'the layperson' then it will never move forwards.. At least this now seems to have been recognised with attempts finally being made to put the National Team first by bringing through UK lads to hopefully develop to top level, rather than train up the rest of the world, which has been the plan in the past.. A highly successful plan too wasn't it? It must have been because it went on for decades... Get the National Team dominating the sport, and getting the wider level of publicity that comes with it, and you may then start to get some bigger companies involved in sponsoring it... A long, long way off though, and still maybe just too late? Hide the shovel just in case...

As Leicester have announced today there has been a significant drop in the points limit which has meant that Leicester now cannot include Danyon Hume, So Kent and others will be in the same situation and having to drop a rider at the top end of the team and replace them with a 3-4 point rider the idea is so that NL can develop and have team places for youngsters & new starters to the sport.

I suppose they could use a foamfence?

LOL i genuinely couldn't give a monkeys which team wins overall as i follow the sport and not a drone to a particular team. What is daft is the cloak and dagger pretence that its all done with the best interests for all. Next up Scunthorpe and Leicester will be starting all meetings with a 10 point head start! Everyone knows the sport is corrupt but please don't insult the paying public with terrible reasoning and obvious mis-truths. An honest and more open approach even if it has a lesser upbeat tone would be a breath of fresh air from the current manure press releases.

Just seen the draw/thing, whatever is was,,, think its safe to say that whoever did it wasn't that good at geography.

......Then you get the riders who sign up for a British team, then dump them when they get a better Swedish/Polish gig. They're called shystars*. (* spellcheck may be required).

It's all down to personal choice. I had no problem attending a few speedway meetings last summer and multiple non league football matches from August till December. Being a key worker, I've had the jab, but i can understand why some people won't want to mix with crowds at sporting events. For me personally, i can't wait for it to start.

I watched racing at both West Ham, Wimbledon and New Cross in the 60s. I always preferred Wimbledon and New Cross because I felt the riders got spread out too much but I know people who preferred the bigger West Ham track. That does not make me right and them wrong, it shows that people have different opinions and variety is good. Please can posters accept other opinions are genuine and therefore valid. I have a very good friend who like me enjoys oval car racing. He prefers the Hot Rods while I prefer the Stock Cars. We both enjoy watching racing and don't treat the others view as rubbish and neither should posters on this forum.

Anyone who thinks that binning the NL is progress doesn't even earn the effort of reading the remainder of the post. There are precious few positives about British speedway but the National league is one of its jewels and scrapping it because its inconvenient would see the sport end in 5 years.

Really? In such a weak league he would score hatfulls. Moot anyway as I’m sure he’s signed up in Poland.

I give it till tomorrow before the “ the bikes are too fast nowadays/ there’s no skill involved in riding them (even though most of the critics wouldn’t even know how to start a bike), let’s go back to uprights/ black leathers and bibs/ proper cinders on the tracks/ eeeeeee I saw Tommy ( the mad wellie) Wilkinshaw in 1952 and he used to ride with a rusty Brillo pad on his helmet” brigade come and tell you that’s what’s needed.

Unfortunately you maybe disillusioned but speedway is NOT a big sport in the UK at the moment and if you think putting a race track in the middle of a field is going to get supporters in just because the track is big is far from the truth. you exspect the sport to survive on people that go just because they want to see a good race and that’s it is million miles from feesable. you now need to make it a package to come and watch speedway. You need there to be music, entertainment, things for kids to do, you need competitions, good toilet facilities, good drinking and eating facilities. Of course you need good racing too but that’s not going to bring fans in alone. Plymouth is growing as club because a magnitude of things..... 1) the mascot kids love it, if kids are happy so are parents. 2) the track is now being brought up to a good standard 3) the announcer does a great job of keeping everything up to date and the new people informed as well as the more experienced supporter. 4) they have made new stands and seating areas that are much more pleasurable to go on. 5) the food bar serves some brilliant food now especially the curry that is made from the Indian up the road ! 6) this year the team has big names people will want to come and see them 7) the team will have one or two fans favourites people will want to come and see them. 8) you can get close to the action to watch, Litterally on top of it at the back straight. The place isn’t the NSS but it’s never going to be after the amount of money spent on it. BUT my god they are trying to make it a family fun day/evening out and a respectable stadium and club and personally I think it’s working and Plymouth are very much a team on the up. unfortunately I think you have something against Plymouth speedway I don't know why nor do I care. For what it’s worth I enjoyed going to stoke the last time Plymouth went, the track was about 3 inch deep in sludge and yeah it wasn’t great sat on cracked steps with weeds coming up or the fact that you can’t walk around the track and get close to the action, but that’s what made stoke Stoke same when I’ve been wolves, Coventry etc they have something unique and special about them.

Size isn't everything your Mrs told me

Its the logical choice in all honesty. Id prefer to go for a real youngsters and nurture them BUT can't see it.

He also rode in 1972 - went through the card to get a 15 point maximum and win Open Championship went through the card to get an 18 point maximum in Eng v Australia international scored 11 from 4 rides in league match So 15 rides and only beaten once (by Frank Auffret) Top class rider

How hilarious

Anyone find it a bit strange that Ipswich have named their top 6, but not their Rising Star rider. I would have thought that the choice was pretty straightforward with it been Drew Kemp. Or perhaps there has been a change of heart and they will go with a different rider. Could Ipswich be looking to tempt Josh Bates or could they be considering offering Tom Brennan to East Anglia.

A nice pictorial look back at the career of Varg-Olle

No, its 10/16ths or 5/8ths. or 62.5%

maybe to keep a general interest going amongst supporters. but if it was me i would of kept it quiet because it just leads to the usual its wrong, id of done it different it wont work brigade whining about it

You are spot on for me and it is all about track preparation and no matter what the size of the track; the prep provides the racing... Derwent Park Workington a big rangy track and I couldn't stand the racing on it when it had dirt on the track and was watered to within an inch of its life each week... then came the team of 2018 and Steve Lawson doing the track prep and the Dane's in the team wanted the track as slick as possible and Steve duly complied and the place was transformed from a mainly "gate and go" to an absolutely fantastic "fast" racetrack with the room to allow for passing (at speed) and Steve's effort wasn't really appreciated in that H18tory making season but he became the 8th man and to be fair it went against his own better judgement and ingrained belief that a slick track wouldn't be best suited for good quality racing at Derwent Park; but even he said he was converted by the end of the season... shame its no more... The next track to watch for me is Berwick (another big track) because the "Guy's" up there have put in a great deal of work and effort in improving the track and at the practice session I attended towards the end of last season (when we thought we might get some racing in at the back end of the season) it looked really good and I think the racing will improve no end with the changes made... here's a prediction that Shielfield Park will be getting plenty of compliments for the racing there this season from all and sundry... On my one and only visit to Plymouth a few year back now (their last foray into the 2nd League) the racing was fast and furious and although the track was a bit dusty the racing and passing was spot on and good to watch... hopefully its the same trackman as it looked like he was doing a good job... However with the two big hitters in the team I am no doubt sure they will have a say in how the track is prepared... and why not? You can nearly smell that methanol... not long now hopefully... fingers crossed (and everything else for that matter)… Regards THJ

Indeed they could but they're more costly. Meanwhile this 'Foamfence' who lives quite near the track, probably won't be going, even after seeing every meeting there since the mid 1950s (had enough).

Brilliant analysis on one of the best riders never to have won the Individual World Championship.

Compton at least was extremely dirty, seen him on a few occasions stuff riders up into the fence . I did always enjoy watching him race, mind you. But seen some extremely crazy moves from him. Ask Dave Mullett and Simon Stead. class rider none the less. What amazed me more was how he put it all on the line in each race despite being an extremely wealthy business man off track. Wilson was another who i would consider dirty but box office to watch. Same as Schott.

Scored 2 in the U19 final and 0 in the U21 although he did come 2nd in the Caledonian which was won by William Lawson.

Sad to hear of the passing of Archie Meldrum RIP Archie.

went there in September. Impressive progress since time before. They have a new seated Grandstand that holds 500 on the Home Straight. Stands on First Bend and Back-straight and banking on both bends. Would guess about 2000 capacity. Depends what Council allow I suppose. Whole structure of Club improved beyond recognition last few years since Mark Phillips took over and bought new people in. Think as a decent sized City could average 1000

You’re on a wind up, right?

The main thing is bjarne signing has been well received by the Plymouth public and is already creating a buzz around the city with alot of supporters rekindling an interest in speedway a returning to support it

FIM press release: "Bydgoszcz to host the FIM Team Speedway U21 World Championship on 27 August 2021 For the 5th time in Poland but the first time in its history, Bydgoszcz will stage the FIM Team Speedway U21 World Championship and welcome the world’s best U21 national speedway teams on 27 August 2021. Thanks to the recent dynamic growing development of speedway sport in Bydgoszcz, the local speedway club has been given another opportunity to organize an international championship event. "Another big, international speedway event is taking place in Bydgoszcz. Our city appears in the FIM Speedway calendar again. The track in Bydgoszcz has proved repeatedly, that it is a place, where you can experience spectacular races. I strongly believe that this time it also won’t disappoint the fans”, said Jerzy Kanclerz. After the situation faced in 2020 (some teams could not travel because of the COVID-19 restrictions), the FIM Track Tacing Commission has decided to change the format of 2021 version with 7 Teams composed by 2 programmed and 1 substitute Riders. From the very beginning, the FIM Team Speedway U21 World Championship was dominated by Polish Team, who won 13 out of 16 gold medals so far, with 7 victories in a row. But the last years were more challenging with the Danish and British young guns making troubles in the Polish’s road to gold. The team world championship is a perfect chance for young riders to challenge and present their skills in front of a broad audience. It is also an important test for future members of the respective senior national speedway teams. For many years the FIM consistently develops projects, which support the growth and competition of Youth riders."

If British Speedway is struggling for riders they should allow everyone to double up, would entice more riders over here perhaps?