greybear

Best GP this year without any doubt imo Well done Crumpy - great ride in the final. Looks like the bikes are working again after looking slow earlier in the season - both in the Elite League & the GP.

Flight back fine mate - sounds like Manchester has moved to Sweden Let's hope u see a good meeting on Sat evening. All the best Graham

I'm pleased that Matej looks like getting another chance in Lonigo. I wondered whether there might have been a case for Armando making a comeback to increase the crowd as BSI must be worried about losing money on this one Wonder how many will travel from Slovenia? I know it's not far & Matej has many fans.

Nice to meet Queen Bee, Nikki & ZKZ Kitten of the fairies after the final on Saturday night. Some mad Pole asked Nikki to swap her pink hat for his shirt - the deal was done & the half dressed Pole disappeared into the night If that's wot Vodka does 2 you then lord help us all

I thought Rider Replacement was the alter ego of Dag Lovaas who allegedly signed for White City circa 1977, didn't ride for them at all during the season & they went on to win the league

Me & a mate are making our annual trip to Poole Looking forward 2 it despite the ticket prices. Not goin 2 Eastbourne mainly because of the cost.

Tom, The meeting at Santarem was indeed an U21 qualifier & a mate of mine actually went to the meeting. It was ridden although I cannot tell you who won. I believe Travis McGowan was one of the riders in the meeting. My mate told me that the facilities were very basic, there weren't even any turnstiles as such! The organisation was apparently very poor & there has been little news on further meetings at this track.

I am the other Halifax fan that Wings mentioned Started goin in 1974 as Boocock was riding his last season. Moved on with the Dukes to Bradford in 86. Now a regular at Stoke & BV with occasional trips to Sheff. The Shay had a fantastic track. Stadium was a bit of a dump - but no worse than a lot of other stadiums, even some of the current ones! Still live just 5 mins walk from the ground. I also was at the Halifax vs Staines FA Trophy match last Tuesday. The Shay pub has seen better days. The 3 Pigeons is still goin strong & The Shears is a nice pub which serves good food these days.

1982 I would have said KC to win. 1983 either Michael Lee or Billy Sanders. Also people seem to forget that in 1992 Gary Havelock was absolutely brilliant all season. He finished in the top 3 scorers in every WC round he rode in that year. A lot of people don't like Havvy but he deserved it that season :!: :!: :evil:

Absolutely spot on Falcace it was 1989 when the final was held in the Olympic Stadium at Munich. He rode as a guest for us once (Bradford) at Reading & it was the only away match we won in the league that season (think that 1989 as well) & he scored 14 points

My first meeting was April 1974 & it was Halifax versus Belle Vue. Can't remember whether it was a league match or Northern Trophy :?: Eric Boocock was riding at reserve I think cos he had special dispensation following a serious arm injury the previous season :?: I'm pretty sure he beat Peter Collins a couple of times. I think the score was summat like 41-36 to Halifax. The Halifax team had Boocock, Monk, Gatenby & Plant for definite possibly also Drury & Hiftle. Henny Kroeze was away on the continent. BV had PC, Morton, Pusey, Wilkinson & Tyrer plus maybe Ian Hindle & A N Other. I was just short of 6 years old at the time :!:

Indeed. It was against my team (bradford) :-(

Nice 2 see someone else with a balanced, sensible view of what happened. Your last sentence says it all. What a stupid comment :x

I'd hardly call coming 5th a bad nite :!: :!: Crumpie went out after 2 rides & his championship hopes have all but gone. Trick is still joint leader.

We were talkin about this last nite at BV cos Andersen was riding. It was almost as spectacular as Bobby Ott appearing to fall off & get back on his machine in one movement, something I saw him do not once but twice, once at BV & the other at Bradford :-o He was a great entertainer shame he didn't make more of his career than he did really :-(

That race where Per split Havvy & Screeny was also the best race I have seen in 29 years of watching speedway. It was also the only time I have ever seen the home grandstand get to their feet & applaud an away rider like they did 8) Sadly Per was badly injured shortly afterwards The BV match in 1997 was fantastic. I had been going to BV regular since 1991 (still do) & it was the first time we had beaten them in a league match, either as Bradford or Halifax since something like 1973 :!: We beat them in League Cup, Champions Cup & Gold Cup but not for 24 years in the league.

I'd forgotten about Pickers not being there & I think we must've had a guest for Havvy :?: I remember Rene Aas & Andre Compton riding at reserve & getting a 5-1 in Ht 8 to start the comeback. Can't remember who they beat in that race but it mite've bin Brian Andersen :?: Got a feeling Shane Bowes was riding for Cov then as well :!:

Agreed Kevin. 8) Can I just say I thought it was a myth about how much Irn Bru gets drunk in Scotland however, the other Sunday when I went to Glasgow there were three empty bottles of the stuff visibly on display in the car we parked next to :!: Perhaps one of the Tigers fans had brought them along to trade in for Ross Brady

Cradley fans might remember John Bostin. He wasn't really that good at speedway but one very wet night at Odsal he scored 12 points for CH & won them the match. A few months later we needed a guest at reserve against BV & we called on Mr Bostin. He dutifully obliged by failing to score a single point :evil:

The Halifax vs Hackney match was, as a Halifax fan, probably the most painful speedway experience of my childhood I didn't go to the match that night but as I lived across the road from the track I sat outside my house on the wall with a writing pad & wrote down the scores as they happened. I couldn't believe the turnaround & could've cried The most amazing turn round I have seen since was at Coventry in the early to mid nineties, I have the video somewhere. It was Bradford against Cov. Bradford were something like 14 points down after 7 heats & we came back to win by 12 points I think.

My favourite tracks are/were: Halifax - My home track. Simply awesome. Bradford - Great racing track. Cradley Heath - Good racing, great pork sandwiches & genuine enthusiasm for the sport from the home fans all combined to make it a great venue. Kings Lynn - Great race track, not been for a couple of years now but hope to visit again soon.

I remember Soldier Boy well from his days at Halifax. After PC's glory days he switched allegiances to Larry Ross - he used to wear a banner wrapped around him with "Larry Ross World Number One" written on it. He used to love taunting all the top riders. He even tried to goad Kenny Carter once by chucking a banana at him. When we moved to Odsal from the Shay he moved on to supporting Neil Evitts for some time. He disappeared from the scene & was rumoured to have moved to the south coast - somewhere near Poole I believe. Can anyone confirm :?:

He definitely rode for us at Halifax in the early 70s. It was just before I started going. He had one really good season where he was a match for anyone home & away. I believe he also rode well for Australia in test matches around that time. Something in the back of my mind says that he got an injury towards the end of that good season or possible at the start of the next year & his form was never quite the same again.