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Here is the all colour version:

Maybe this one. For those watching in black and white, Joe Screen is in the blue helmet.

Freddie Williams

My old man used to be a container repairer down the docks and ride speedway tho he was self employed so could down tools to do the northern tour over a few days. He earned good money in both back in the day What he didnt have was a band of sponsors as with the now digital world it was harder to get in touch with sponsors back then as no internet lol easier to approach businesses now with the level of access available One bike as well all stuffed into a citroen estate. No van

Three more i would say...

Those few months he rode for the Robins however brief was a real privilege he was so quick great from the back.However brief the stint was, for me he goes alongside Briggs, Crump x 2) Ashby, Kilby, Broadbanks, Adams, Autrey, as one of the best Swindon riders that i ever saw.The Speedway world were robbed of seeing Darcy fulfill his mega potential i just hope whatever he is doing now in life he is happy.

Many thanks to Tapes Up, for providing this and many thanks to Neil Watson and Aceslider, for posting it on here. It is much appreciated, at this time.

Decent footage of World Finals prior to 1972 seems very hard to come by. Mainly just Pathe News reports or similar.

Hi folks, had this from ‘Gornal Wolf’. Thought this was worth putting up for others to have a go at. Speedway Anagrams: All of these have been Wolves heat leaders: 1: enough regret 2: alison designes 3: prevented banger 4: ended girlfriend 5: lone sloe 6: Korean moslem 7: wet mom amnesty 8: dominika racks 9: enrico ornery 10: hyde anagram And some easier ones for any Cradley fans looking in. 1: Pruce Benhall 2: Bvor Irown 3: Toy Rigg 4: Polin Cratt 5: Hilly Bamill Enjoy

Being noisy, dirt and anti-social are not necessarily bad things. Look at the massive popularity of mixed martial arts. The top fighters earn millions, as do the owners of UFC. It depends how they are promoted. I remember Lakeside promoting speedway as an extreme sport, which I always thought was a great angle for precisely the reasons you describe. However, other clubs promote it as family friendly, which I never really understood. Again, a fundamental problem with speedway is that they don't know who their target market is, so take a scatter gun approach to trying to get new fans.

get on youtube and watch Ward. imo, the most exciting rider to watch of my era watching speedway (80s onwards)

You can possibly make the argument that the GPs have stolen the Friday/Saturday night slots from British clubs. However, I think Britain's inability to pick a lane and instead choosing to run throughout the week was a large factor in that. You cannot argue that the GPs have robbed Britain of the top riders though. All the top riders still ride league speedway in Poland, Sweden and increasingly Denmark. Therefore the blame lies solely at the feet of British speedway, their inability to be flexible (running of a Friday before a GP for example), declining crowds/poor sponsorship meaning earnings are comparatively low and going even further back to the 80s and 90s their decision to not invest in the future.

My posts and observations of January 15th......

Speedway doesn’t know it’s identity and that’s half the issue. It is dirt track racing. Yet the riders expect it to be their full time job. Promoters expect fans to pay upwards of £18 at the top level for less than 15 minutes of action (terrible value for money). Fans expect facilities befitting of the price they pay and don’t get them. Landlords expect their rent and don’t care how much money the speedway makes or doesn’t make. The problems are deep rooted. What needs to happen is a proper reset, if that means going back to being a semi-professional sport then so be it. One constant that I always find is that as fans we seem to be bottom of the totem pole when it comes to priorities within the sport. Realistically it should be opposite. There will always be people willing to race Speedway for the love (granted they may not be of as high a standard as some riders in British speedway now) but there won’t always be fans if the sport continues to be run the way it is now.

Watching all the countless 5-1's Ward and Holder got at Poole, Darcy always seemed to be controlling the race and creating the space for his partner. He had a great racing brain..Such a loss for the sport when he suffered his injury.

Good post. The only thing I would add is that from everything I have read about Jack Young it seems that good as he was he wasn’t as good as he could have been. He didn’t even start till he was into his 20’s, and in a very different world in those days it seems he didnt take things too seriously. One might say he was perhaps one of the last of what we might call the paid “amateurs” . No special fitness regimes, no special engines, he seems to have relied on pure talent . I think he was world champion within about 5 years of taking the sport up on a converted road bike, and by his second season he was beating some of the top Aussies of the day. In his first season with Edinburgh in the Second Division he beat Jack Parker twice in a special match race. He was perhaps a tad lucky with his first World Final win, that Jackie Biggs nerves apparently got the better of him , but being World Champion means you have to overcome your nerves. I forget the actual statistics when he replaced the great Aub Lawson at West Ham but it was something like 19 maximums in 38 matches. But the speedway world was about to change when Fundin and Briggs came along.... I wouldn’t object to Jack Young being placed second to Crump but he certainly deserves a top two position. BTW, what happened to the under rated Aub Lawson when considering great Aussies ? Coming back to Crump J., though, he was somewhat unlucky to be around at the same time as one of speedways all time legends. If there had been no Richardson how many World Titles would Jason have won ?

I agree with that.. However for pure talent on a motorcycle, Ward is right up there with Kelly Moran and Michael Lee..

Just a pity so much has been lost or not filmed. Looked for something special from the likes of Peter Craven and it is hard. Bit of film from a world final he won(year after Ronnie Moore) and the commentator is saying what a great meeting it is, but the actual racing shown is fairly boring,sadly

Few more than 1 here but enough to keep you guys entertained for a bit

That's it, it's why we are all here, flippin' brilliant sport . When the conditions are right ........

I'm the first to admit that there is a lot of dull stuff but when one witneses a race of the calibre one has seen on this thread it emphasises that there is no sport like speedway when conditions are right...whatever the era.

Darcy Ward was the rider who could do everything, including things I’d never seen before.

I think it was Piotr Swist and Billy Hamill team riding him out until he dived between them going into 3rd bend last lap, brilliant if someone could post if

Utterly brilliant! Speedway at its best!

At least the sports channels are doing there bit havn't seen anything from the profit driven Utilities companies helping those with no or reduced incomes, there no doubt making even more profit with people being home using more Gas and Electric than usual, they should be brought to task by the government

The message coming out yesterday seemed to be normal life won't return for about 6 months and self isolation will be here for a few months.....so I can't see them opening up sports stadia to the public any time soon

My understanding is the rules at the time did not allow for awarding of a heat, so the inexplicable part was that Plech was awarded any points, not that PC was given the win?

Certainly he was our surprise packet in 2010 at reserve. Double figures at hard tracks like Sheffield helped us to get many away wins and to top the league table, only to lose it during playoffs. We had won the two cup competitions so losing the league was a bit upsetting as we were favourites to have a clean sweep. Great contribution from Dakota.

Do me a favour, Sidney, I'm not as old as Gustix! I did see him at the end of his career at New Cross in 1961when he won two Individual Trophies, the Tom Farndon Memorial Trophy and the King of the South in 1961, beating Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ronnie Moore, Peter Craven and Bjorn Knutson in the process. I felt quite privileged in seeing Youngie at his best and can only imagine what he must have been like in his prime.

Sure. But you are forgetting the assumption. You said if Crump snr had wheeled out the Street conversion at the world final he might well have won. I am just saying if any of those just out of the top wheeled out a major technical advantage they could also have won. It is a technical advantage and not the rider, who would have made the difference. Just as many assume it was Müller's fair or unfair advantages that won him the title.

Egotistical blog,IMO.

Peter Collins could quite easily have won three titles on the trot if some idiot hadn't let loose with the hose pipe in 1975 and his cruel injury picked up just prior to the 1977 Final. We would now be contemplating Peter being perhaps England's greatest rider? Funny how fate can turn a cruel hand!

where would I find a successful new speedway??

I always loved the Polish rider Szymon Kielbasa - Simon Sausage. What a name...

Great post thanks for making the effort Ben, i for one would be willing to see a lower level of competition if i had to.Speedway is four riders in a race that are of all levels you don't need four champion's in a race to entertain us i have seen that at NL level.Are people who could not stomach a real drop in quality die hard supporters?? i think not some people think speedway is an expensive night out yet people are willing to pay 20 pound for a pizza.

Dan Thompson was taken to Hospital on Thursday 26th of March with appendicitis. He had the operation to remove his appendix on Friday and is already back home and recovering well! His family wish to pass on their gratitude to the Hospital staff, who they say, "were brilliant" in looking after Dan.

The league would have to be pitched midway between the current Championship and NL level in order to be competitive.

It is, But hat about current NZ rider Chopper Bagshaw

...and a great name to boot!

WILL explore...

I think it's time british speedway in a sense looked after it's own clubs, it's own riders and it's own fans. No restrictions on when you can run your speedway night, a less is more club offering on the league front with more focus on the individual element for British Riders and Championship. There is no better time than now really to act once this is all over, it's likely a few teams will be lost but with limited riders to go around and the necessity really to run more on the days thay benefit your business in terms of crowd size etc. Then less clubs isn't a bad thing until more young british or commonwealth riders are coming through the system

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everybody involved in producing the Speedway Star, despite the current crisis. To be able to fill nearly fifty pages with things to read about our beloved sport, even if a certain amount of it is nostalgia stuff, is a credit to them all. With businesses dropping by the wayside at a fast rate of knots, I think it's important that we speedway supporters do our bit to keep the company going, and at just £3 a week, is that really asking a lot, when you consider a match day programme usually costs £4 these days. I appreciate that social media provides most of the information we require these days, but this is about trying to keep the only weekly speedway publication up and running, even if we only take up 6-month subscription for £60 until the current coronavirus crisis is hopefully behind us. Such a lot of the older generation who need the help of those who are more able bodied to be more flexible in the way they are living their lives with shopping etc., don't have access, or can't afford the luxury of the internet, and rely either being at meetings to keep up to date, and purchase their magazine from the Track Shop, or use the subscription service. So please, if you are of the younger generation, and can afford it (It's cheaper than a Smart phone package), take out a short term subscription and help the elderly and vulnerable. I don't work for the Speedway Star, and these are purely my personal thoughts and feelings. Thank you for reading this, and if you don't agree with my posting, then please don't post negative comments about it, as I'm thinking of the older generation that to a large extent keep our clubs open as most promoters will tell you, and at the same time, it keep the staff of the magazine in employment. STAY SAFE EVERYBODY

Just want to agree 100% with this post. The 'Star' is the speedway bible. And the only publication that represents OUR sport. It is inevitable that casual sales through supermarkets etc. will decline as people prioritise food purchases at this difficult time. If your finances allow please consider a subscription. PS: I'm not a 'Star' employee, just a long time subscriber.

Totally agree for me he is a breath of fresh air, he runs a good night out for everybody and the main thing is he caters for all ages.The track in itself for me is a Championship track ( minimum) decent racing and as a few days break in the summer is a decent option to say Torquay or Weymouth.Would Mr Bishop take on more responsibility??? i doubt it he knows his fresh ideas and input would be difficult to push through i hope i am wrong though.It would be great if Barry, Lee Kilby, Neil Vatcher was part of a team that could push speedway in the UK a bit further forward probably wishful thinking.

Never thought i would ever miss that noisy rabble on the back straight on a Thursday evening

My money is on Cardiff staying where it is, but becoming the first GP

Well said Barry, thank you and you and yours stay healthy and safe.. Slightly off topic British Speedway has never needed a man to oversee the Sport for the benefit of the sport as a whole any more so than it does now, however as usual the BSPA cant see the wood for the clouds or is it the Trees ? , to my way of thinking Barry Bishop is head and shoulders above anyone on the present management committee, and would not be afraid to make decisions that would benefit the WHOLE sport not just decisions that benefit the few, he should be leading the Sport in this hour of need..