Gatwick Rocket

31 July 1985 Oxford 44 Belle Vue 34 (Knockout Cup, quarter final second leg, aggregate Oxford 82 Belle Vue 74) Oxford: Andy Grahame 4-11, Simon Wigg 4-10, Hans Nielsen 4-9-1, Jens Rasmussen 4-6-2, Marvyn Cox 4-6, Troy Butler 3-2, Jon Surman 3-0 Belle Vue: Carl Blackbird 5-8-2, Chris Morton 4-8-1, Andy Smith 4-6-1, Kenny McKinna 4-5-2, Peter Collins 4-4, Eddie Ingels 4-3-1, Andy Campbell 2-0 Heat 1: Marvyn Cox, Chris Morton, Hans Nielsen, Andy Campbell, 60.6 (4-2) Heat 2: Carl Blackbird, Kenny McKinna, Troy Butler, Jon Surman (f,rem), 61.0 (5-7) Heat 3: Andy Grahame, Andy Smith, Carl Blackbird, Jens Rasmussen, Eddie Ingels (exc, tapes), 60.2 (8-10) Heat 4: Simon Wigg, Peter Collins, Troy Butler, Kenny McKinna (ef), 60.1 (12-12) Heat 5: (re-run) Chris Morton, Andy Grahame, Jens Rasmussen, Andy Campbell (f,exc), 60.6 (15-15) Heat 6: Hans Nielsen, Peter Collins, Carl Blackbird, Marvyn Cox, 60.5 (18-18) Heat 7: (re-run) Simon Wigg, Andy Smith, Eddie Ingels, Troy Butler (f,exc), 60.2 (21-21) Heat 8: Marvyn Cox, Carl Blackbird, Kenny McKinna, Jon Surman, 60.8 (24-24) Heat 9: Andy Grahame, Jens Rasmussen, Carl Blackbird, Peter Collins, 60.4 (29-25) Heat 10: Hans Nielsen, Eddie Ingels, Andy Smith, Marvyn Cox (ef), no time (32-28) Heat 11: Simon Wigg, Kenny McKinna, Chris Morton, Jon Surman, 61.2 (35-31) Heat 12: Andy Grahame, Hans Nielsen, Andy Smith, Peter Collins, 61.0 (40-32) Heat 13: Jens Rasmussen, Chris Morton, Simon Wigg, Eddie Ingels, 61.4 (44-34) 4 April 1986 Oxford 36 Belle Vue 42 (League Cup) Oxford: Hans Nielsen 4-11, Marvyn Cox 4-6-1, Jon Surman 3-5-1, Andy Grahame 4-4-2, Kevin Smart 3-4-1, Nigel De'Ath 4-4, Simon Wigg 4-2 Belle Vue: Chris Morton 4-11, Carl Blackbird 4-11, Andy Smith 4-8-1, Peter Collins 4-6-2, Kenny McKinna 4-4, Barry Ayres 3-1, Declan Eccles 3-1 Heat 1: Hans Nielsen, Chris Morton, Nigel De'Ath, Kenny McKinna, 60.7. (4-2) Heat 2: Kevin Smart, Jon Surman, Barry Ayres (f,rem), Declan Eccles (f,exc), 66.0. (9-3) Heat 3: Peter Collins, Andy Smith, Marvyn Cox, Andy Grahame, 64.2. (10-8) Heat 4: Carl Blackbird, Jon Surman, Declan Eccles, Simon Wigg (ef), 66.8. (12-12) Heat 5: Chris Morton, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox, Kenny McKinna, 63.6. (15-15) Heat 6: Hans Nielsen, Carl Blackbird, Nigel De'Ath, Barry Ayres (f), 62.6. (19-17) Heat 7: Andy Smith, Peter Collins, Jon Surman, Simon Wigg (ef), 66.0. (20-22) Heat 8: Kenny McKinna, Nigel De'Ath, Kevin Smart, Declan Eccles (f), 64.8. (23-25) Heat 9: Carl Blackbird, Marvyn Cox, Andy Grahame, Barry Ayres, 62.8. (26-28) Heat 10: Hans Nielsen, Andy Smith, Peter Collins, Nigel De'Ath, 62.8. (29-31) Heat 11: Chris Morton, Simon Wigg, Kenny McKinna, Kevin Smart, 62.6. (31-35) Heat 12: Carl Blackbird, Hans Nielsen, Andy Grahame, Peter Collins (f), 62.4. (34-38) Heat 13: Chris Morton, Marvyn Cox, Andy Smith, Simon Wigg, 62.2. (36-42) Golden Helmet: Carl Blackbird beat Hans Nielsen, 61.2. Golden Sash: Carl Blackbird, Hans Nielsen, Marvyn Cox, Chris Morton (exc, tapes), 62.6. 18 July 1986 Oxford 53 Belle Vue 25 (British League) Oxford: Marvyn Cox 4-12, Simon Wigg 4-11-1, Hans Nielsen 4-10-2, Per Sorensen 4-8-1, Andy Grahame 4-5-1, Nigel De'Ath 3-4, Jon Surman 3-3-1 Belle Vue: Chris Morton 5-7, Kenny McKinna 4-6, Carl Blackbird 4-5-1, Mark Courtney 4-3-3, Declan Eccles 3-2, Peter Collins 3-1-1, Barry Ayres 3-1 Heat 1: Hans Nielsen, Kenny McKinna, Mark Courtney, Per Sorensen, 58.0. (3-3) Heat 2: Nigel De'Ath, Jon Surman, Barry Ayres, Declan Eccles, 61.2. (8-4) Heat 3: Marvyn Cox, Andy Grahame, Chris Morton, Peter Collins, 60.6. (13-5) Heat 4: Simon Wigg, Carl Blackbird, Nigel De'Ath, Declan Eccles, 60.4. (17-7) Heat 5: Marvyn Cox, Kenny McKinna, Mark Courtney, Andy Grahame, 60.6. (20-10) Heat 6: Per Sorensen, Hans Nielsen, Carl Blackbird, Barry Ayres (ef), 61.6. (25-11) Heat 7: Simon Wigg, Chris Morton, Peter Collins, Nigel De'Ath, 61.0. (28-14) Heat 8: Per Sorensen, Declan Eccles, Jon Surman, Mark Courtney (ef), 62.2. (32-16) Heat 9: Marvyn Cox, Chris Morton, Carl Blackbird, Andy Grahame, 60.8. (35-19) Heat 10: Hans Nielsen, Per Sorensen, Chris Morton, Peter Collins, 62.0. (40-20) Heat 11: Simon Wigg, Kenny McKinna, Mark Courtney, Jon Surman, 61.4. (43-23) Heat 12: Andy Grahame, Hans Nielsen, Carl Blackbird, Barry Ayres, 62.2. (48-24) Heat 13: Marvyn Cox, Simon Wigg, Chris Morton, Kenny McKinna, 60.8. (53-25) Golden Helmet: Marvyn Cox beat Kenny McKinna, 62.0. Golden Sash: Hans Nielsen, Simon Wigg, Kenny McKinna, Chris Morton, 61.4. All information courtesy of Speedway Star magazine so use with caution.

Well put E I Addio I thank Len for two huge achievements: my childhood heroes of the Sunday afternoon 70s (Hubbard, Mullarkey, Fiala, Garrad, etc) and the resurrection of Rye from 2000 onwards. But it does feel like it's time for Rye House and Len to each move on. I'm nervous about what the future holds at Rye but the new promotion deserve a chance and our support. Len Silver is the closest thing modern day speedway has to Johnnie Hoskins and I hope his achievements and his commitment to the sport are recognised one day.

I agree. It's a great atmosphere whatever the racing. The only year I've been disappointed with Cardiff is 2007...because I didn't go. Now what was it I missed that year again?!

I for one would like to see the Raiders back next year. They have been entertaining and enjoyable to watch the development of novices. The way Danyon Hume and George Hunter rode on Saturday night you would never have guessed they were complete newcomers at the start of the year.

I haven't moaned either. I love my speedway even when Rye get beat convincingly and it takes 3 hours to run a meeting. I do agree with stevec though that they should get riders back to the tapes quicker after unsatisfactory starts. From a fan's point of view that is just dead time wasted. By the way, mine is a 70 mile round trip to Arlington and a 140 mile round trip to Rye House.

As someone who doesn't collect pre-war the most I ever paid for a programme was the 1961 World Final. I don't have a copy but I bet the 1982 Ballymena programme fetches a tidy price too.

Yes, I thought the track work was to good effect and the roving announcer did a good job under the circumstances. I also really liked the parade of riders on the back of bigger motorbikes around the outside of the speedway track so they could get up close and personal with the fans. All of this helps to make the riders approachable to the crowd, which is important where kids are concerned - and there was a good number of those at Eastbourne. More so than Rye where I seem to be in the minority aged under 50. I have no idea what the Eastbourne experience was like when they were in the EL but it had a nice family friendly atmosphere both times I've been there this year.

Thanks all. I think that pieces it together. I saw the WTF gesture from Georgie Wood towards George Hunter after the race had finished but then got busy with my programme so couldn't work out how that led to Rob Branford getting involved and punches thrown. I can well imagine Alfie Bowtell was fuming after he gave away the point on the last bend after doing all the hard work. I suppose Rob Branford may also have been wound up from getting it wrong in heat 5 when Rye were in with a chance of getting something out of the meeting. I only hope I haven't started a spat between Rye and Eastbourne fans by trying to clarify this. As a Rye fan I've enjoyed the Eastbourne contingent coming to Hoddesdon and making some noise and am looking forward to more of the same in a couple of weeks. Rye fans are not a particularly noisy lot but would be good to see more of them at Eastbourne on 4 October. Our boys tried really hard yesterday and deserved more than 31 points, and I'm sure they would appreciate the support. As for the long drawn out affair, I was mostly fine with it because of the number of restarts but thought the ref was too slow in calling for the restarts. Track grading between restarts and after the ref had called the end of the interval was a new one on me though. I take the point about water bowser, the promotion can do something about that.

Can someone confirm what the fracas after heat 8 was all about? I was by the start finish line and too busy filling in my programme to see what kicked it off. In any event it sure as hell got the home fans going and the noise levels went up whenever Rob Branford took to the track after that. Cue comments about Jack Millen, Tony Childs, Kelvin Mullarkey, etc. and how a bit of argy bargy was viewed as good for the sport back in the day.

Astonishing is an understatement. As a Rye fan I was watching the two Lukes buzzing around BWD's back wheel thinking we could get a heat advantage here. No way expecting the race to finish as a 5-1 to Eastbourne.

Bradley's crash was very reminiscent of when Luke Bowen clipped Paul Thorp's bike and was catapulted over the same stretch of fence many years ago. Luke didn't walk back to the pits on that occasion.

Just back from this meeting. Another great advert for National League speedway. These two teams put on a great show with several classy passing manoeuvres. Looking forward to the second leg tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to this meeting. The last Rye vs Eastbourne meeting was great entertainment in front of a decent crowd. Hope a good number of Eagles fans get along. What has the weather been like at Hoddesdon ?

I'm not disputing the decision to stop paying bonus points has had a big impact on the dearth of team riding, but what about the fact that bikes are now faster and seemingly more volatile, while the tracks haven't grown in size to accommodate the more powerful bikes. Are these aspects causing the lack of team riding too?

Seems like the comments being posted on the Oxford Mail page are mostly anti-dogs or pro-housing. Some more pro-speedway comments would be good.

Really enjoyable meeting tonight. Several close races and the track looked in terrific condition. Eastbourne fans were great too. Looking forward to the next Rye House v Eastbourne encounter.

Is the track at Lochgelly tarmac or shale?

Ian Hoskins did put speedway in at Cowdenbeath in 1965, in the hope of joining the new British League. Reckoned he could get a decent crowd from the nearby towns as well as the local population. Reading this thread yesterday led me to the same thought though, why doesn't somebody try it again now. From a quick look it would seem the stock cars operate all the time and there is no space for speedway track and stock car track to co-exist. So probably no chance unless the stock cars go away.

Yes, well almost, it was 1976 and it was Leicester. I don't have the details to hand but the missing Lions would have included Ray Wilson (think he had broken his leg), Reidar Eide, Tony Lomas (think he had fallen out with the promoter), Ila Teromaa and Pepe Teromaa (think they had international commitments) and with the last absentee possibly being Grzegorz Szczepaniak or Alan Emerson. I can remember stuff like this from 40 years ago but I couldn't tell you anything about who did what last year!

The bumping between Zagar and Pedersen was reminiscent of Carter vs Penhall back in the day.

Agree with all previous comments. Rusty Harrison has done something special there to have that as part of his testimonial.

The 'place was a tip but I liked my visits there' comments resonate with me too. For a few years I lived in High Wycombe and used to visit Reading from time to time always wanting the away team to win. I used to visit Oxford too and there I just hoped for good racing regardless of who won. Can't rightly remember what made me want Reading to lose when I was essentially a neutral (my team being Rye House). Anyway, it's a crying shame they let the place go in expectation of a move to something better that never materialised. What about the proposed introduction of speedway at Aldermarston as an out of town site for Reading?

What happened to the commitment Reading council made to find an alternative site for the speedway? Also, what is stopping the resumption of speedway at the old Smallmead site if it is barren land seven years on?

Yes, my apologies.

13 October 1984 Cradley Heath 39 Ipswich 39 Cradley Heath : Erik Gundersen 4-9, Lance King 4-8, Phil Collins 4-8, Simon Cross 4-7, Alan Grahame 4-4-1, Finn Jensen 4-2, Stephen Collins 3-1 Ipswich : John Cook 4-10, Kai Niemi 4-9, Billy Sanders 4-7-1, Nigel Flatman 3-5-1, Carl Blackbird 4-4-1, Jeremy Doncaster 4-3-2, Richard Knight 3-1-1 1: Cross, Sanders, King, Knight, 65.0. 2: Blackbird, Flatman, S.Collins, Jensen (ef), 65.5. 3: Cook, P.Collins, Grahame, Doncaster, 63.7. 4: Niemi, Jensen, Flatman, S.Collins, Gundersen (exc, tapes), 64.9. 5: P.Collins, Sanders, Grahame, Knight, 63.4. 6: King, Niemi, Cross, Blackbird, 64.4. 7: Gundersen, Cook, Doncaster, S.Collins, 64.3. 8: Cross, Flatman, Blackbird, Jensen (ef), 65.5. 9: P.Collins, Niemi, Grahame, Blackbird, 65.0. 10: Cook, Doncaster, King, Cross, 64.9. 11: Gundersen, Sanders, Knight, Jensen, 63.6. 12: King, Niemi, Grahame, Doncaster, 64.7. 13: Gundersen, Cook, Sanders, P.Collins, 64.0. Edited to correct number of Finn Jensen rides. Thanks lucifer sam