norbold

No mention of table tennis anywhere. As a participation sport it must be right up there, though as a spectator sport, probably less than speedway.

Don't forget I run a theatre. We can do wonders with make-up.

Me.

Great idea. I'd be happy to sell the rights to Tom Farndon for a couple of million. Not a lot when you consider how much of a blockbuster it will be.

There you go. Sorry, quality's not too great. In fact, it seems to be non-existent. Let's try again!

Yes. Would you like the New Cross 1963 list?

West Ham 1972. The last fixture that was actually raced was 23rd May v. Hull.

85 years ago today.

Certainly not Jack NICKLAUS but apparently not Gary Player either: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/14/luck/

He was my first favourite rider. On the night I first went to speedway, New Cross were racing against Norwich in the Britannia Shield. They had had a poor start to the season. On that night Ove Fundin and Aub Lawson were almost unbeatable. Ove scored an 18 point maximum, while Aub scored 16 paid 17. The only New Cross rider to beat him was Jimmy Gooch. He instantly became my favourite. Especially as he top scored for New Cross and the Rangers won their first match for several weeks. At that time, the final heat was a nominated riders' heat and New Cross nominated Split Waterman and Eric Williams to loud boos from the New Cross supporters who thought the hero of the night, Jimmy Gooch, should be nominated in place of Split. As the race started, Split reared at the start and a re-run was ordered. Split was unable to take part, so, in true poetic justice fashion, Jimmy Gooch replaced him. Although Ove and Aub scored a 5-1, Jimmy came third, beating Eric Williams. He remained my favourite until New Cross closed at the end of 1961....though Reg Luckhurst did run him close when he became a regular Ranger.

Tom Farndon!

Did you hear me in the crowd being irate?

He would certainly have made a good Pacemaker.

It's a good theory, chunky, but I feel I must make an admission here and that is that I was never that keen on Peter Craven!

I remember that I really disliked Charlie Monk....but, for the life of me, I can't remember why now!

Between 1956 and 1963, Ove Fundin was ranked at no. 1 in the world in the Speedway Star rankings every year except 1958, when he was second to Barry Briggs. Peter Craven made second place only once, in 1962, and third three times. Ronnie Moore was second on three occasions. Briggo was second just once but then came into his own 1964-1966 as Fundin began to decline. It is, of course a field for endless speculation and you can never know what special factors might influence any particular Grand Prix season, e.g. which tracks would have been used during the season, but simply going by historical records and, from 1960 onwards, my own personal observation of the leading contenders, I would say Fundin could well have won the Grand Prix every year from 1956-1963, with Briggo winning 1964-1966. Two caveats - Briggo might have won in 1958 and Bjorn Knutson in 1965. Personally, I really couldn't see Peter Craven winning a Grand Prix Season, but wouldn't rule out Ronnie Moore, especially in the 1950s. But then things rarely work out as you expect them to!

Thanks, spiegal. I wasn't having a go at you. Inadvertent errors are easily made on Internet Forums, but I just felt that if we are discussing Arthur, it is only right to spell his name correctly.

Incidentally, I know this thread had been going some time but could either the originator or an admin please change the title to Arthur Forrest out of respect to the man please?

He died in 2000 at the age of 68.

They also issued Stars of Bradford Speedway, Stars of London Speedway, Stars of Midland Speedway and Wembley Speedway Stars. Just to add, I don't know which riders were featured on the Scottish set. The only other one I know was Jack Young.

They came out in 2002, issued by J F Sporting Collectibles.

Indeed. There's a long history of foreign riders in speedway's top division going right back to even before the National League to the Southern League.

Thanks as always for your comprehensive and well researched reply, BL. Just to say I didn't mean they would be heat leader status, I did mean I thought they would be good enough for second string positions.