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No place for Reidar Eide, Jimmy Gooch, or Gote Nordin? Steve

Probably Jancarz, Kitchen, and Norman Hunter... Steve

And what about Vic Duggan for Wimbledon? Or Nordin and Harrfeldt? Your memory must be really fading... How about dem Bees? Hans Nielsen Ole Olsen Nigel Boocock Tom Farndon Jack Young Greg Hancock Jack Parker No room at the inn for Hamill, Tatum, Knudsen, Shirra, Mountford, Case, McKinlay, Harris, Nicholls... Steve

You mean you left out World Champions Williams, and Van Praag, and World No 2's Jansson, Kennett, Green, Lamoreaux, Plech, Wigg, Jessup, and Harrfeldt? No place for Croombs, Nordin, Biggs, Case, Lofqvist, Wiltshire, Tauser, Mardon, Lawson, Haigh, Kennett, Charles, How, Tommy,.. ? I really don't know how you came up with your list, norbold... Steve

Of course, but look at the reasons. In Norway the minimum age limit for racing is - or was - something like 18, or perhaps even older.. Back in the day, that wasn't that much of a problem, but it is now, giving everyone else a few years head start. That particularly applies to the Danish, and obviously, Olsen was singlehandedly the driving force behind Denmark's rise to glory. Even though there were only ever a small handful of world-class New Zealanders, there was an incredible conveyor belt of very capable Kiwis coming in to British speedway during the late 60's and early 70's. I know things go in cycles, as in any sport, but Norway and New Zealand are two of the most extreme cases, along with the Americans now... Steve

Strange, isn't it? Forty-something years ago, we could rattle off any number of Norwegian riders. And now? Back then, you could add in Ed Stangeland, Per Aulie, Jonny Faafeng, Henry Harrfeldt, Einar Egedius, Jon Odegaard... Steve Edit : Plus Kjell Gimre and Svein Kaasa...

Never heard such a load of complete rubbish in my life ,, practise before the world final ? . when was that because I went to quite few and never heard of any practise . You can't have been around for too long, then. Wembley always held an official practice a couple of days before the final, and the newspaper preview of the final would always include photos from the practice. Steve

Don't forget, "The Complete History of the British League" is not 100% accurate either! There are a couple of odd seasons missing (Wimbledon 1974 is one), and they have at least one wrong average (it was either Boocock or McKinlay they have as dropping (I think) only three points in the season - 65 or 66). Steve

Don't know the name "M. Harris" at all, and certainly don't recall him riding for us. What I would suspect is that he was a Hackney junior we borrowed for the night. Steve

I'd love to remove it from the list, but do you honestly see a future there? Who knows, there might be more by the start of the season... Steve

Belle Vue (Hyde Rd) Berwick (Berrington Lough) Bradford Canterbury Cradley Heath Crayford Exeter Glasgow (Shawfield) Hackney Halifax Hull (Boulevard) Leicester (Blackbird Rd) Long Eaton Mildenhall Milton Keynes (Elfield Park) Milton Keynes (Groveway) Oxford Reading (Smallmead) Wembley West Ham White City (London) Wimbledon What I will say is this; this is a bloody depressing thread... Steve

Leicester Lion is correct; it is indeed Otto Walker. Steve

It was Mick Hooker, and he also made contributions to "Speedway Scene" by Mike Patrick. Steve

Starostin was never going to be a real threat, I admit, but in his defence, he had a nightmare trip to L.A. He lost all his gear, and ended up riding Brad Oxley's machinery. Steve

Back in the late 80's, the southern teams in the National League all worked together. They shared the cost of a full page advert in speedway star, and all the tracks offered reduced admission to season ticket holders from the others. Steve

and Larry was second! That White City match; was that when Mike Patrick took that famous award-winning picture? Steve

Can't help with the results - well, not at the moment, anyway. Think it might be Ian Williams you're thinking of. Steve

Belated Happy Birthday to you then, Gemini! Steve

...to our former Number 1, Larry Ross, who is 60 today! Steve

It was always Jim's ambition to become World Champion. After riding in the Final, he said he knew he was never going to be good enough to do so, and there was no real point in continuing in the sport. Steve

You mean you don't foresee the introduction of a tactical treble or quadruple in the near future? Steve

Thanks for confirming that! Grachan, I don't recall Finn Thomsen doing that, but I trust you... Yes, there have been a number of 21-point maximum's, but Henny Kroeze was the first, and not long after scoring 20, I believe, Iris. Steve

Over the years, many riders have scored half of their team's total points in an individual match, but John Boulger (pretty sure it was him) actually scored half of his team's points - AND THEY WERE THE WINNING SIDE! 20 out of 40, I think, so if anyone can confirm, please? Steve

More info here : http://www.tivertonpeople.co.uk/news/Feet-stay-ground-despite-life-daring-exploits-sky/story-10050596-detail/story.html Steve

Great post, Vince. Taking some of your points individually, I'd like to make a few comments : 1) Indeed there are alternatives, but I think one of the main issues is that people are now inherently lazy. Going back 20 years, people didn't sit at home on their PC's and tablets, and certainly didn't have all the choices on TV. Now, people don't want to leave the house... 2) Another valid point that I'd never really considered! The fact that London no longer has a track saddens me no end. 6) This can also tie in with the fact that there is an alarming lack of continuity as far as team members. Sure, it is still four blokes racing bikes without brakes, but to a lot of supporters, becoming familiar with their riders - and actually getting to know many personally - was a major factor. 7) That is indicative of modern society, sadly. It's all about results to a lot of people. Another good point, but as has been said before, if the product isn't attractive and entertaining (which it often isn't), no matter how inexpensive it is, people won't attend. Steve