Beirao

Now online.classicspeedwaymemories.webador.co.uk/Read aboutMemories of the Paisley Lions Part 2 - the final year at Love Street Rumours of My Death - Charlie Monk hoaxFirst Night First Race Nerves - some dramatic first heats Big Birthdays - candles and cake March Obituaries - Bluey Scott and Jim LightfootAnyone Remember Number 4 - the monthly wander down Memory Lane

Ollie Nygren was one of my favourite riders and certainly my favourite Swede. His white boots and flowing green scarf got my attention on Wimbledon's first visit to Glasgow in 1965, along with him being prepared to sign autographs and talk to supporters, in stark contrast to the brusque treatment we got from Charlie Monk. And he backed it up on the track, with ten points that night in the Dons 41-37 win. He subsequently won the Glasgow Open Championship in 1966, having finished third the previous year and his booking for the last ever meeting at Edinburgh's Old Meadowbank in 1967 shows the high regard in which he was held in Scotland. Other Swedish memories were more of a mixed bag. Neither Tommy Berquist nor Bengt Brannefors, signing targets in early 1966, were allowed to join Glasgow, though Brannefors actually attended a rained off meeting. Nils Ringstrom flattered to deceive. After a promising start with a match winning second place in the last heat at Edinburgh, his form sloped off alarmingly and he eventually lost his team place. Ake Andersson was much the same, although without the good start! Bo Josefsson improved steadily in his first season in 1967 and had an unforgettable night at Poole scoring 14 points and losing out to Gote Nordin in the Silver Sash. He started off 1968 with a maximum at Kings Lynn, the first by an away rider but was the innocent party in the spectacular crash with George Hunter at The White City and was never really the same after that. Gunnar Malmquist gave the Tigers the run around about signing for them - he was to be the replacement for Charlie Monk - and promoter Les Whaley went out and signed Lars Jansson. He started well and looked like being an astute signing but lost his way as the tracks became slicker and was replaced by Ake Andersson ...and that didn't turn out well!

.Bluey Scott obituary ahead of the March issue going on line at the weekend. https://classicspeedwaymemories.webador.co.uk/march-2023/march-obituaries

Great nights when the Scottish Cup was part of the Edinburgh Festival, or so Ian Hoskins would have told you. Can remember getting a great view of the fireworks on the 44 bus to Slateford going along Princes Street.

Some great performances at Old Meadowbank and great team riding too - with George Hunter while riding for Scotland against England in 1966 and with Tigers partner Graham Coombes, holding out George Hunter for a 5-1 which was crucial in the Scottish Cup win in 1965.

He found the going tough when he moved out the reserve berth to ride at number two, something that Broc Nicol also struggled with. It'll be interesting to see if he copes better this year. From memory he didn't score particularly well at Redcar in our league meeting last season, which we won, possibly our best away performance of the year.

Do teams have much say in deciding which meetings are streamed? With the geographical nature of the BSN Trophy sections, it's inevitable that local meetings will feature. How much do clubs get for having a meeting streamed and is it paid directly to them or is it added to the shared events fund and distributed at the end of the season.

A great guy and fondly remembered in Scotland following his times at Motherwell in the 50s, Glasgow White City in the 60s and at Blantyre in the 70s where he helped with the track. Affable and always seemed to have time to chat to supporters, his autograph was a work of art. I'll include a fuller tribute in next months Classic Speedway Memories on line magazine.

When is it to be held? Hopefully a Sunday and towards the end of the season.

I was part of a Glasgow 4 when we not only rode at CarrsWood in the Manchester 21st Anniversary weekend in May 1969 but we also slept in our transit van there that night. A really wet weekend, we ended up in a laundromat on Saturday afternoon drying out our gear - not quite like the denim adverts in the 70s! The sliding door fell off on the way home on Sunday night which delayed us somewhat. Great times a life time ago!

Shawfield at its best was our best track and stadium. It had bars and a restaurant from which you could watch the racing and had enough cover for the whole crowd on a wet night. Ashfield, good though it is, has none of these. Looking back Hampden was poor though we didn't think so at the time. Too narrow and the final year with no music was pretty dire. Coatbridge was ok but don't remember it as being "amazing". It served a purpose. Blantyre 1 had a good track, not so sure about it's successor. Facilities at both were Spartan.

Yes a big win for the Bandits but pretty sure it was 1976 so Colin would have been a Lion that night.

Did you go to the Thursday night meeting against Berwick? The night before was the European Cup Final at Hampden - Bayern v St Ettienne - and the Glasgow pubs were allowed to stay open all night, a marked difference from 10.00pm closing in these unenlightened times. Couldn't get any of my mates to come along that night. Indeed none were able to come to the phone far less go to the Speedway. The night before was carnage!

Well spotted Salty! It should have read Clive Featherby. Duly amended !

Read about Memories of the Paisley Lions Part 1 Charity Begins at Home Cradley Were the Rain Gods Swap Shop Be My Valentine Anyone Remember Number 3 https://classicspeedwaymemories.webador.co.uk/

While it would be no real problem logistically to run a meeting on the 25th, it would decimate the likely attendance for the Sunday meeting. Fitting in / rearranging meetings isnt our strong point. We almost always defer till later in the hope riders are back from injury and they rarely are. Jubilee competition being the last example.

It's hardly a lot of gold! Could mean there is no meeting on the Friday before it (Aug 25), the last Friday to run any rained off meetings before the cut off.

Loved Shawfield too. Hopefully the sport won't die out but we need to sort out our cost base. Right now we have a standard we can't afford. If/when the number of tracks falls to about ten, we could have the much hoped for "big league " but at that point the costs need to be brought down to what the lesser clubs can afford. In the heyday of the 70s most riders had a day job and were semi professionals, had one bike and no mechanic. We need to get back to this approach ... but getting there is going to be difficult. However the sports long term future depends on it.

Quote from Cami Brown on the Glasgow website Every individual rider has been given a target by the club. If they reach those aims, we will be a very successful side.”

Wouldn't read too much into the 12.00 start. All the other meetings, both home and away, are shown as 18.00! Almost certainly wrong!

Glasgow have four meetings in August so an extra point in every one of them would put about 0.4 on Tom's average. It's to be hoped that more than 10 meetings will be used for team building for 2024. You can have wide variations in H/A splits which affect the final figure.

Agree that 3 is the easiest position for a heatleader to improve his average but why move Tom there in August when his GSA over the last ten meetings, which presumably will be used for 2024 team building, will get inflated. If Ben starts the season at 3, it wouldn't be hard for him to top our GSA averages and then have to go to number 1. Did Poole rotate their heat leaders through the 3 position, stopping any one of them getting too high? May be we should do this?

Hope this attitude percolate through the club. Has there been too much pressure on the team to win a trophy in the past and have they buckled under it...or were we just unlucky with injuries... or both? The BSN and Play Off three team sections are a lottery. It can be outwith your control. It only takes one team to have problems in a home fixture , giving the other team a valuable away win and the aggregate bonus point and your team is eliminated.

Would be interested to see the second half heat details for the Glasgow meeting if you get them.

April 21 will almost certainly be a Glasgow-Redcar KO Cup meeting but will it be at Glasgow or Redcar, both being Friday tracks. The second leg can't be run on April 28 as Redcar are racing Scunthorpe in the BSN competition. A Sunday meeting perhaps as the May gap looks to be for Semi finals. Will be a lot simpler if Berwick win through!