OK so there was more stigma in those days but isn't it 2007 now and aren't we above such "witch hunts". I have to agree with Captain, not that it matters, that Bob was definitely not gay. He had the huge misfortune however to have natural good looks and jealousy may therefore have caused the rumours to go round. As I read it he was greatly affected by the crash with Ivor Hughes, right until his own passing, and the fact that he continued to race after this says more about him than unnecessary rumour ever will. This was, after all, a topic about gay riders and not the great Bob Paulson.
As a schoolboy in Sheffield we had a teacher called Mr Paulson, who played hockey at a very high standard. He was known to the pupils as "Bob" though in reverence to the great Sheffield icon of the time and his own sporting prowess certainly came secondary to Bob's hero status. This calling didn't make him a top class speedway rider though. Neither does calling someone gay make them.
Maybe a topic about the Best Captains of All Time would have been a better one for Bob's career to be discussed in depth and not one where unnecessary incorrect assumptions may and have been made.
