Split

This is indeed sad news. The number of riders who were active when I first started watching speedway back in 1960 is fast diminishing.

@Customhouseregular but with your name I assume that your favourite ex-World Champion must be Björn Knutson as was mine. It's such a shame he retired so early as he would surely have gone on to win the title again and again. His name was always written with a double S but this was apparently incorrect.

The fact is that Müller and Sczackiel. were not in the class of many fine riders who never won the title. Spilt Waterman, Jack Parker and Igor Plechanov come to mind but there are several others.

Yes, Customhouseregular you have forgotten somebody. Ove Fundin won the world title five times! Your apologies are accepted.

And they would never have won the title with the present Grand Prix format!

I never saw Tom Farndon ride but I'm certain that he was one of the finest speedway riders the world has ever seen. He would have turned 40 in 1950 and if he had survived and kept riding there is every chance that he would still have made Norbold’s top 20. Yes, he was that good!

Some second strings starting from scratch proved very difficult to pass. I remember Gerald Jackson at Wimbledon getting some very good scores but there must have been others.

Quote: "South Africa as far as I'm aware don't have any riders of anywhere near top standard." Sadly that is true but there might be another Henry Long or Doug Davies coming through. Both were world finalists with Henry Long coming 7th in 1952. Doug Davies rode for the team I supported back in the late 50's - early 60's - New Cross. Since moving to South Africa I've never bumped into him.

I think the name of Bjorn Knutsson should be added to that list. Back in the 60's they were known as the "Big 5" and in a class of their own.

Kings Lynn

So as a (fellow) New Cross fan, couldn't you bring yourself to visit that other South London track?

I mentioned Peter Moore before the subject of best ever Ipswich rider came up but I can't believe that nobody else has mentioned that name since.

I was there to see Charlie Monk win the Internationale at Wimbledon and no I can't remember him smiling when he accepted the trophy. Apparently he rode that morning in an Exeter v Glasgow match, which had an 11am start. He scored 14 points in a 46-32 defeat before heading to London for the meeting at Wimbledon that evening.

I feel privileged to have seen Peter Craven win his second world title.

Not exactly underrated but certainly one of the best riders never to win the world championship - Peter Moore. Possibly the best gater speedway has ever seen.

Didn't Charlie Monk win the Internationale? That must rate as an "unexpected performance."

Years ago at I think Stoke speedway, the bookmakers would place themselves on a mound overlooking the stadium and accept bets based on helmet colours. Red was the favourite, white next, then blue and yellow. This was presumably based on previous results and perfectly logical. Knowledgeable fans however realised that in the second halves some of the leading riders wore different helmet colours and they made a killing.

I recall a second half mechanics' race at Wimbledon back in the early 60’s where the heading for the time was printed in the programme as Hours & Minutes. I can’t remember who won but I think it was the only time I ever saw such a race.

I think there was a New Zealander called Alf Wells who rode for Edinburgh in the 60's.

I'm not sure where Howard Cole was born but he looked a lot like a rider name Kid Brodie

I've never seen speedway in Durban but was fortunate enough to see the Johannesburg leg of the World Champions series in November 1975. I found this report at: http://www.speedway-...Years 26-31.pdf WORLD CHAMPIONS SERIES IN SOUTH AFRICA IN 1974 former world champions Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger had formed their own touring troupe of speedway world champions, and took them to America, Australia and New Zealand. The possibility of taking a mini-troupe to South Africa came to life late in 1975. Briggs had ridden in South Africa before – back in 1953 with the touring New Zealand team on one of those special Trevor Redmond package tours. The proposal to do it in 1975 came from Buddy Fuller, who was keen and convinced that the world champions speedway series with half-a-dozen of the world’s superstars would not only draw big crowds but help establish interest in the sport again. A DREAM CAME TRUE IN November of 1975, the dream became reality and a massive crowd of 11,000 spectators saw the world champions’ troupe on their initial S.A. appearance and the return of speedway racing to the Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg. The track, recently laid on the tarmac car strip, was in superb condition and there was plenty of good racing to please one of South Africa’s biggest ever speedway crowds. John Louis, a member of the World Cup winning England team of 1973 came out on top to win this first round of the African WCSS. In the final he beat the reigning world champion of 1975, Ole Olsen of Denmark, the four-times world champion Ivan Mauger of New Zealand and the world long-track champion Egon Muller of Germany. The appearance of Briggs had led to a revival of the S.A. Golden Helmet Match Race Championship. This was last staged nearly 20 years ago when Briggs last rode in South Africa and had taken the title with him. Now he was back and was challenged by Olsen in Johannesburg, who won after Briggs had motor problems. Results: JOHANNESBURG (November 7, 1975) Qualifying heat scores: Mauger 10, Olsen 10, Louis 9, Muller 4, Briggs 3, Autrey 0. WCSS-Final: Louis, Olsen, Mauger, Muller. S.A. Match Race Championship: Olsen (challenger) bt. Briggs (holder) TWENTY-four hours later, on Saturday, the action switched to Durban

I certainly remember Johnny Fitzpatrick from his time as a New Cross rider back in the 60's.

Cyril Brine spent his entire career with one club, Wimbledon where he made over 460 league appearances and scored over 2700 points, a club record. In his seventeen season career with the Dons.

When it comes to riders who were better known under other names, Edwin Vernon (Chum) Taylor. Raymond Arthur (Billy) Bales and Squire Francis (Split) Waterman are three names that come to mind.

I seem to remember seeing a stat (can't remember where but probably in an old Speedway Star) that race for race Vic Huxley was the most successful rider of all time.