Split

Years ago I received a birthday card from the family and knowing my interest in the sport, they chose one with a speedway rider on the front. I recognised Les McGillivray straight away as there was no mistaking his distinctive riding style. I've tried to find an image of the card on the Internet without success but was surprised to find so many others with a speedway theme.

Wasn't his nickname 'The Octopus'?

Hello Norbold, I know we started watching speedway around the same time (1960?) so I would go along with the list you give but working on Bobbath's update, I would add Dan Forsberg. I was under the impression that he retired in the late 50's so where did you see him ride?

Others might go for Geoff Mudge, another stylish Pirate.

Much debate about later decades but not much discussion about what went before. I don't think there's any argument about the top 8 for the 60's although Sjosten and Harrfeldt could possibly be included at 9 and 10. I see that in the 70's and 80's lists, world champions Jerzy Szczakiel and Egon Müller are conspicuous by their absence.

You beat me to it.

Of course Ron How was the star but I think even without him the "no-hopers" would have been contenders. Genz, Goody, Geran, Pander and Gooch were all heat leader class and one of Reeves and Bishop could have stepped up. The distinction between the England and so-called Great Britain teams of the past was pointed out in an earlier post. I'm going from memory here (dangerous for a 74 year old) but I think that Scotland's Ken Mckinlay did represent England in the early days of the World Team Cup.

P.S. It's interesting that Bryan Elliot is listed as Australian and Bob Andrews as a New Zealander both having won England caps earlier in their careers.

(15) Barry Briggs 15 3 3 3 3 3 15 1 (9) Ken McKinlay 14 3 3 3 2 3 14 2 (7) Ron How 12 3 2 3 2 2 12 3 4 (6) Cyril Maidment 11 1 3 3 1 3 11 4 5 (16) Mike Broadbanks 11 2 3 2 3 1 11 5 6 (3) Bob Andrews 10 3 1 2 2 2 10 6 7 (8) Nigel Boocock 8 2 1 0 3 2 8 7 8 (5) Dick Fisher 7 F 2 1 1 3 7 8 9 (2) Jim Lightfoot 6 2 0 2 2 0 6 9 10 (12) Trevor Hedge 5 2 2 0 0 1 5 10 11 (4) Ron Mountford 5 1 0 2 0 2 5 11 12 (10) Jimmy Gooch 4 0 2 1 0 1 4 12 13 (14) Bryan Elliott 4 F 1 1 1 1 4 13 14 (11) Billy Bales 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 14 15 (1) Brian Brett 2 0 X 0 2 0 2 15 16 (13) Tadeusz Teodorowicz 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 16 R1 (R1) Ronnie Genz 0 0 R1 R2 (R2) Colin Gooddy 0 0 R2

I think that sadly, Björn simply became disenchanted with the sport. He was undoubtedly a rider of world class but nerves often seemed to get the better of him on the big occasion. I honestly believe that it was only when becoming world champion wasn't so important to him anymore (I actually remember seeing him yawning at the pre-meeting parade at that world final) that he could just concentrate on winning races and put his mental issues behind him.

You must have been there in 1963 when Colin Pratt, riding for a Provincial League Select against Southampton at New Cross (I think the home team had an away fixture) beat Björn Knutson, A Provincial League rider beating one of the "Big Five" was almost unheard of and shows just how well he was riding that year. Sad news indeed that Colin is no longer with us.

Archibald Leach (Leitch?) was the real name of the old time actor Cary Grant. Maybe the stadium designer went on to make a career for himself in Hollywood under an assumed name

Those days I was working for a shipping company called The Blue Star Line. I thought that when I went to watch speedway at West Ham I could forget about work but I had to spend the whole evening looking at a ship's funnel from ... yes you've guested it ... The Blue Star Line.

That's why I didn't pick Waterman, Luckhurst, Davies, Gooch, Eric Williams and McAuliffe. I suspect Norbold had a similar problem

I think it was in 1961 that Ivor and Harry each decided to wear a white top over their leathers to see who could keep it cleanest by the end of the evening. All very good natured but rivalry none the less.

So sad to hear that another of the riders of the past is no longer with us. In the early 60's Harry was much more than a "steady second string" for Cradley in the Provincial League (10.38 average in 1960) and his rivalry with Ivor Brown was well known.

It's well known that nerves often got the better of Björn and without the pressure of having to do it at a one-off meeting, it might have worked in his favour.

Or riders who shouldn't have been there but were.

I think the GP series is more likely to produce a worthy world champion. One-off meetings have on a couple of occasions produced a winner who most would agree was not speedway's top rider that year.

I was involved in a series of posts on here recently concerning the number of world champions each country had produced. The careers of both Tom Farndon and Peter Craven were tragically cut short and we can only speculate how many world titles they could have won representing their country.

The indoor speedway track at Milner Park Johannesburg where meetings were held in the early 80's was so small that riders were virtually into the second bend before they were out of the first. It didn't make for good racing.

Yes, believe it or not I got that in the end and only three New Zealanders have shared 12 world titles. The point you were making wasn't clear (as least not to me) from your first post but I don't want to quibble about that which is why I made my comment above. Anyway, the way things are going the Poles will eventually outstrip everybody else

Semantics

Am I missing something here? According to my calculations, Sweden and Denmark have each provided 14 World Champions, New Zealand has 12 and England has 10.

Being reminded of Jack Young finding his best form so late in his career make me looks back at the New Cross team that I supported in 1961. I often think that if they could only have all been riding at the peak of their form we would have had 6 heat leaders and maybe even have challenged our near neighbours, Wimbledon for the league title. Obviously the difference in ages and riders being at different stages of their development makes this a pipe dream but there are not too many teams that can boast of having 6 world finalists in their line up with Waterman (twice runner up) and Eric Williams (fourth place in 1955) being the most successful.