frenchy

Hi, Can anyone please help me with heat details (plus r/r if applicable) for the following matches that were held during 1979 but are not in the yearbook as they were abandoned before reaching a conclusion ? 1. 18/8 Cradley 14 Wimbledon 10 (BL) 2. 26/9 Birmingham 14 Wimbledon 10 (BL) 3. 3/10 Poole 37 Swindon 29 (BL) 4. 6/10 Swindon 23 Exeter 19 (BL) 5. 25/10 Swindon 23 Exeter 19 (BL) 6. 6/10 Cradley 43 Halifax 23 (KO Cup) - who was (were ?) the guest(s) who scored 2 from 5 rides for Cradley ? 7. 16/6 King's Lynn v Wolverhampton (KO Cup) - name of the Lynn Guest (who recorded 5-3-1) is missing from the yearbook 8. 19/9 Poole 3 Reading 3 (BL) 9. 25/6 Missing names & Scores of Reading's Guest (who recorded 10-14-2 between them) in the challenge match with an Overseas Select on this day 10. 14/7 Missing name & scores of the guests used by Reading away to Halifax in the KO Cup) 11. 24/9 Reading 56 v Leicester 22 (BL) - the yearbook gives a total score for the Reading riders of 52 ! Any help would be much appreciated.

I don't know if the format will hold but here is a list of meeting details that I've come across (amendments welcome) - Home Challenge (Kawasaki Trophy) 17/03/1979 Bastable's English v Penhall's Overseas Postponed Home Challenge (Kawasaki Trophy) 24/03/1979 Bastable's English v Penhall's Overseas 39 39 Home Challenge 26/03/1979 Belle Vue Rain Away Challenge 27/03/1979 Leicester Rain Away Challenge 30/03/1979 Wolverhampton 44 34 Away League 31/03/1979 Halifax 31 46 Home Challenge 02/04/1979 Belle Vue 39 39 Away Challenge 03/04/1979 Leicester Rain Home League 07/04/1979 Ipswich Rain Away IL 4 Team Qualifier 13/04/1979 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton v Ellesmere Port Rain Home League 14/04/1979 Reading 40 38 Away League 15/04/1979 Eastbourne 41 36 Home Challenge 16/04/1979 Leicester 44 34 Away League 21/04/1979 Coventry 36 42 Home Challenge 23/04/1979 Wolverhampton 50 27 Away League 26/04/1979 Ipswich 45 33 Away IL 4 Team Qualifier 27/04/1979 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton v Ellesmere Port 35 10-38-4 Home IL 4 Team Qualifier 28/04/1979 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton v Ellesmere Port 34 16-39-7 Away IL 4 Team Qualifier 29/04/1979 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton v Ellesmere Port 30 17-31-18 Individual (World Championship Qualifier) 05/05/1979 Steve Bastable & Vic Harding Individual (GP Qualifier) 05/05/1979 Bruce Penhall Away League 07/05/1979 Belle Vue Rain Home League 07/05/1979 Belle Vue Rain Home Challenge 12/05/1979 Leicester 75 33 Home League 14/05/1979 Belle Vue 46 32 Away IL 4 Team Qualifier 15/05/1979 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton v Ellesmere Port 35 35-18-8 Away IL KO Cup round 1 18/05/1979 Peterborough 51 27 Home League 19/05/1979 Eastbourne 51 27 Away League 21/05/1979 Exeter 33 45 Home League 26/05/1979 Birmingham Rain Home Challenge 28/05/1979 Hull 55 23 Away KO Cup r1 leg 1 29/05/1979 Leicester 68 40 Away Challenge 30/05/1979 Poole Rain Home League 02/06/1979 Coventry 49 29 Away 4 Team Challenge (Skol Midland) 04/06/1979 Birmingham v Leicester v Wolverhampton 34 34-24-4 Away Midland Cup r1 leg 1 08/06/1979 Wolverhampton 38 39 Home Midland Cup r1 leg 2 09/06/1979 Wolverhampton 46 32 Away League 11/06/1979 Birmingham 41 37 Home KO Cup r1 leg 2 16/06/1979 Leicester 66 42 Pairs (Courage ATV Pairs) 16/06/1979 Bruce Penhall & Bobby Schwartz Away 4 Team Challenge 22/06/1979 Coventry v Sheffield v Wolverhampton 33 17-20-26 Home League 23/06/1979 Hackney 50 25 Away IL 4 Team Final 24/06/1979 Exeter v Hackney v Hull 21 30-8-36 Away IL 4 Team Semi 24/06/1979 Coventry v Hackney v Wolverhampton 32 19-24-21 Home League 30/06/1979 Wolverhampton 47 31 Home Challenge 07/07/1979 Cradley Supporters Select v American All Stars 26 52 Away League 11/07/1979 Belle Vue 36 42 Away League 12/07/1979 Sheffield 34 44 Home League 14/07/1979 Birmingham 51 27 Away League 18/07/1979 Poole 37 41 Home League 21/07/1979 Sheffield 45 33 Individual (Golden Hammer) 25/07/1979 Bobby Schwartz Home League 28/07/1979 Hull 41 37 Away League 29/07/1979 Eastbourne Rain Away Midland Cup Semi 1 01/08/1979 Coventry 32 46 Home League 04/08/1979 Poole 47 31 Away League 06/08/1979 Reading 46 32 Home Midland Cup Semi 2 08/08/1979 Coventry 44 34 Away KO Cup r2 leg 1 09/08/1979 Wimbledon 53 54 Home Challenge 11/08/1979 Wolverhampton 50 28 Away Challenge 12/08/1979 Wolverhampton 39 39 Away League 17/08/1979 King's Lynn Rain Home League 18/08/1979 Wimbledon Abandoned after 4 heats 14 10 Home Test 22/08/1979 England v Australasia 72 36 Home League 25/08/1979 King's Lynn 49 29 Home League 27/08/1979 Swindon 50 28 Away Challenge 31/08/1979 Workington 46 32 Pairs (Badge of Courage Pairs) 01/09/1979 Bruce Penhall & Bobby Schwartz Away League 04/09/1979 Leicester 37 41 Home League 08/09/1979 Ipswich 52 26 Home KO Cup r2 leg 2 10/09/1979 Wimbledon 78 29 Away League 13/09/1979 Wimbledon 42 36 Home IL KO Cup round 2 15/09/1979 Exeter 49 29 Away KO Cup r3 leg 1 21/09/1979 Wolverhampton 56 52 Home League 22/09/1979 Wimbledon 57 21 Home KO Cup r3 leg 2 24/09/1979 Wolverhampton 71 37 Away League 26/09/1979 Hull 37 41 Home League 29/09/1979 Leicester 53 24 Away 4 Team Challenge 30/09/1979 Belle Vue v Ellesmere Port v Stoke 31 37-11-17 Home IL KO Cup Semi 01/10/1979 Hull 50 27 Away League 03/10/1979 King's Lynn 31 47 Away League 05/10/1979 Hackney 41 37 Home KO Cup Semi 1 06/10/1979 Halifax Abandoned after 11 heats. STANDS 43 23 Away KO Cup Semi 2 07/10/1979 Halifax 59 49 Away Challenge 10/10/1979 Nottingham Rain Away Challenge 11/10/1979 Oxford 42 36 Home League 13/10/1979 Exeter Rain Home KO Cup Final 1 13/10/1979 Hull 62 46 Away KO Cup Final 2 17/10/1979 Hull Abandoned after 7 heats 23 19 Away League 19/10/1979 Wolverhampton Rain Home IL KO Cup Final 1 22/10/1979 King's Lynn 43 35 Away IL KO Cup Final 2 24/10/1979 King's Lynn 42 36 Away League 25/10/1979 Swindon 38 40 Away League 26/10/1979 Wolverhampton 45 33 Home League 27/10/1979 Exeter 57 21 Away 4 Team Challenge (Ernie Park Memorial Fours) 28/10/1979 Belle Vue v Ellesmere Port v Yorkshire Select 15 17-42-22 Home League 29/10/1979 Halifax 64 14 Away Challenge 30/10/1979 Nottingham Rain Away KO Cup Final 2 31/10/1979 Hull 58 50 Pairs (Nigel Wasley Memorial meeting Courage Pairs) 03/11/1979 Rain Pairs (Nigel Wasley Memorial meeting TSB Pairs) 03/11/1979 Rain Pairs (Nigel Wasley Memorial meeting Courage Pairs) 10/11/1979 Nigel Flatman & Mike Spink Pairs (Nigel Wasley Memorial meeting TSB Pairs) 10/11/1979 Alan Grahame & Ila Teromaa One difference is that I've double counted the World Championship/GP meeting (I definitely didn't double count the Wasley memorial meetings). I suspect that the other difference could be the pairs meeting on the 16th June - which was presumably held after the Leicester Cup match. Sources are the Yearbook covering 1979 & the Speedway Researcher website. Whether 99 or 101 it's still an impressive number of meetings IMHO and one we're never likely to see again. PS. When previewing this it doesn't look like it's kept the format - sorry.

Sad person that I am I have been 'computerising' the meeting details from 1979. When I came across Cradley's record I was really impressed. You see I made it that Cradley (or Dudley Wood) had been involved in 101 meetings during the season. And it was a season that finished on the 10th Nov for them too ! This list includes rain off's (which Cradley seemed to attract) but is still impressive. The breakdown, for anyone interested is - Challenge matches - 8 home, 7 away, 5 postponed League - 17 home & away, 9 postponed Cup - 8 home, 7 away, 1 postponed Individual - 2 4's meetings - 1 home, 9 away, 1 postponed Midland Cup - 2 home & away Pairs - 3 home, 1 postponed and a test match. I think the nearest to this number of meetings that one club has been involved with in a season that I can recollect was Birmingham around 1949 with 85 ish. Discounting postponed meetings the club was still involved in 84 meetings (42 at home - good VFM).

Thanks Steve.

Have you got any details of Arthur Pilgrim's pre-war career ? I thought he was post war ?

Beckford, I suspect that it's just a typo in the book (they aren't without error I'm afraid). I was just wondering if someone could confirm the actual number or not. One thing though, if he DID take 9 rides (in, as you say, a 13 heat match) then that's really impressive. The most rides I've come across previously (in 13 heats) is 8.

Hi, Can someone help me out please ? The yearbook for 1979 has Finn Thomsen taking 9 (!) rides for Hackney in their home London Cup match against Wimbledon on the 19th October 1979. I think he took but 4. Can anyone with access to a magazine for this year please check on the actual number of rides that Finn took that day ? Thanks.

No problems. Venue was Station Road so Long Eaton (aka Nottingham). Regards.

Venue : Station Road Competition : Division Three Riders Championship Date : 1/10/1994 Comments : Winner : Andy Howe No. Rider Comments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rides Pts 1 Andy Howe 3 3 3 3 2 5 14 2 Kevin Little 2 3 3 2 3 5 13 3 Colin Earl 3 FX 3 3 3 5 12 4 Anthony Barlow 2 0 2 3 3 5 10 4 Ade Hoole 3 2 2 1 2 5 10 6 Andre Compton 2 3 3 0 1 5 9 6 Michael Lowrie 3 3 1 2 FX 5 9 6 Stuart Coleman 2 1 2 2 2 5 9 9 Craig Taylor 1 2 1 1 2 5 7 10 Paul Gould FX 1 1 1 3 5 6 11 Peter Johnson 1 F 1 3 F 5 5 11 Martin Cobbin Reserve 2 0 2 1 4 5 13 Gary Sweet F 0 2 R 1 5 3 13 Dean Felton 1 2 0 0 0 5 3 15 Grant Blackie FX 1 0 0 1 5 2 16 Sean Naylor F 0 R 1 0 5 1 17 Simon Wolstenholme FX 1 0 Damn ! When I post this it loses the formatting - sorry.

Steve & Lucifer - many thanks for you help much appreciated. Frenchy

I wonder if anyone can help me with the following queries so I can fill in missing details relating to 1978 ? 1. Rider scores for the Ruda Hvezda tour of the National League ? Only need rides & bonus points for the Ruda Hvezda riders - the yearbook covers the opposition & also gives the number of points the Czech's scored but not the other info. Dates and opposition for the tour were - 15 April Canterbury 16 April Mildenhall 21 April England Under 23 (at Bristol) 22 April Stoke 23 April Newcastle 25 April Milton Keynes (Weymouth rained off) 2. Missing info relating to Iwade's season - Who won the Kent Trophy on the 14th May ? What was the score of the challenge match between Mustangs & Colts on the 4th June ? Who won the Horton Griffin Individual on the 9th July ? Score and heat details of the challenge match between King's Lynn juniors & Iwade on the 14th August ? Score and heat details of the challenge match between Mildenhall & Iwade on the 24th May ? Heat details for the challenge match between Mildenhall & Iwade on the 4th November ? Any help much appreciated. Cheers.

I wonder if anyone can help me out with the following information which I'm missing (all from the 1978 season and all involving NL tracks) ? 1. The heat details for the abandoned cup match between Ellesmere & Boston on the 23rd June ? 2. The heat details for the abandoned challenge match between Mildenhall & Canterbury on the 19th March ? 3. The score and heat details for the junior match between King's Lynn & Mildenhall on the 2nd October ? 4. Heat details for the abandoned league match between Oxford & Scunthorpe on the 13th April ? 5. Heat details for the abandoned league match between Scunthorpe & Peterborough on the 23rd July ? 6. Heat details for the abandoned league match between Milton Keynes & Eastbourne on the 19th September ? 7. Heat details for the abandoned league match between Glasgow & Crayford on the 28th April ? 8. Heat details for the NL Pairs held at Halifax on the 15th July ? Many thanks for any help.

Try the Complete History of the British League 65-90, it'll be easier to go through than 10 years of Stars ! From what I remember Mort was by far and away the most consistant British performer in the top flight over this period & don't forget that he was a World Champ just in the Pairs/Fours and not solo.

Again from the yearbook - Snushall Suffolk Open Junior Championship on 29th July. 1. Phil Vance 15, 2. Steve Bryenton 13, 3. Ian Barney 12 (say if you want the rest of the resuts)

League match 30th August 2000 Poole scorers Greg Hancock 4-5-2 Lars Gunnestad 4-8-2 Scott Nicholls 6-14 Emil Lindqvist 3-0 Mark Loram 5-12-2 Craig Watson 4-4-1 Jesper Olsen (G) 5-8-2 Eastbourne Joe Screen 5-10 Martin Dugard 5-12-1 David Norris 4-4-2 Paul hurry 4-3-1 Petri Kokko 5-6 Stefan Danno 4-8 Mark Burrows (G) 3-1

League match on the 26th July 2000 Peterborough scorers Ryan Sullivan 5-12 Nigel Sadler 2-2-1 Zdenek Tesar 5-9 David Howe 5-6-2 Stefan Anderrsson r/r Peter Karlsson 5-9-2 Brett Woodifield 7-11-2 Ipswich scorers Chris Louis 6-14-1 Antonin Svab 6-9-1 Lawrence Hare 3-0 Jason Bunyan r/r Matej Ferjan 5-0 Jeremy Doncaster 5-9 Joe Screen (G) 5-9 (+2 from a doubled rider)

Arena Essex Leigh Lanham 5-15 Matt Reid r/r Colin White 5-12-1 Gary Corbett 5-6 John Wainwright 5-5-2 Wayne Carter (G) 5-11 Paul Clews (G) 5-6-2 Exeter Mark Simmonds 7-9 Michael Coles 7-18 Peter Jeffrey r/r Graeme Gordon 6-6-2 Gary Lobb 3-0 Kevin Phillips 3-0 Chris Courage 5-2 Taken from the Star. If you want heat results let me know & I'll get 'em for you.

Doh, thanks cityrebel I completely forgot & wasn't bothered enough to check (& of course, the Happy Faces in their first stint). And thanks for reading the post - I wondered if anyone would !

I've not seen this mentioned elsewhere and I hope this is the right section for it .... Congratulations to former Barrow Flyer Dave Newsham on winning this years Renault Clio Cup. He won it in September (I think) and it is on the same bill as the British Touring Cars. It was interesting to hear the BTCC commentators saying how much of an all rounder Dave was & listed his experience as including riding for Barrow Speedway. I had a look at the year book covering 1985 and there he was listed. Does anyone know if he raced for the Flyers during 1984 (when they were purely an open track) ? At the last BTCC meeting (Brands) he did a guest drive in another formula (can't remember which) and the commentators again gave us another plug by saying that he had once ridden for the Flyers.

Do you know what the issue was so that they had to appeal ? Thanks for the help, the result information did indeed come from the Speedway Researcher website.

Hi, I've got a couple of questions regarding the Southern Area League in 1959 that I wonder if someone can help me with please ? The simple one is what was Rye House's nickname that season (Roosters or Red Devils or ?) ? The other one is did the Southern Rovers finish the season as Aldershot ? Looking at the fixture list, the Rovers did a couple of matches against Eastbourne (including a league match away) but then don't reappear after the end of May, whilst Aldershot, who appear at the end of July, don't look to have raced a league match at Eastbourne. Cheers.

How about for the number 1 Brit to be Chris Morton followed by Wigg & John Davis. After that in no order I suggest - the Grahame brothers, Tatum, Marvyn Cox, Peter Collins & from the second division Steve Lawson, Barry Thomas, Steve Wilcock & especially Joe Owen. With the exception of Owen I've suggested riders who were around for all, or most, of the decade and at a high level (well maybe one bad year each).

Apologies it should have been Wolverhampton at home to Leicester & not vice versa (18 all on the 12th May). Wow Robbie B !! Many thanks for all your help really appreciated.

Hi, Can you please help me to update my records covering the 1978 season ? 1. The yearbook gives a points total for Birmingham as 13 for the 4 Team match at Wolverhampton on the 14th July. However, it then gives Banger Jansson as 4-2, Richard Greer 4-4, Phil Herne 4-6 & Ari Koponen as 4-2 which my maths makes 14. Which is correct ? 2. I'd like the heat details for the abandoned League match between Belle Vue (20) & Birmingham (22) on the 9th September. 3. Ditto for the abandoned League match between Ipswich (18) & White City (12) on the 15th June. 4. Ditto for the abandoned Gold Cup match between Wimbledon (26) & Bristol (10) on the 13th April. 5. Can anyone give me the heat details of the 2 London Cup matches between Hackney & Wimbledon on the 6th & 12th October ? It looks like the yearbook has swapped Mick Hines scores over but I'm not sure who else rode that scored 0 in these matches. 6. Heat details needed for the abandoned League match between Swindon (10) & Belle Vue (14) on the 12th August. 7. Ditto for another abandoned League match this time between Halifax (6) & Exeter (6) on the 9th September. 8. Another set of heat details for the abandoned League match between Reading (21) & Halifax (21) on the 1st May. 9. Ditto for the abandoned League match between Leicester (18) & Wolverhampton (18) on the 12th May. Thanks.

Thanks Guernsey - sounds familiar now.