norbold

Not as good as Ove Fundin though, eh, Sidney?

That may have been Keith Farman, who, as I said above, compiled complete statistics on every race Fundin rode in this country and found that Craven was his greatest rival. If not Keith, it might have been Brian Tungate. I agree with all of that. I think Briggo had a longer career at the very top of speedway than any of the others. By the late 60s and early 70s he was the only one left really still able to mix it with the likes of Mauger and Olsen. I also agree that during the early-mid 50s, Ronnie Moore was the man to beat. But from the Mid 50s to the Mid 60s, Fundin was the master.

Now you're talking, chr! Stan Stevens, my hero. I was there that night as well.

As always, it is a matter of opinion, but, as I have said, quite apart from the records which show Fundin as a more consistently good rider than Briggo, my own observation as both a New Cross supporter and West Ham supporter, the short and the long of it as you might say, definitely biases me towards Fundin. It's not something I can back up with statistics as such, though I suppose I could if I went through all my programmes from that period, but to me, Fundin was simply the greatest and, even in the period of the Big Five, was the dominant rider. I remember him beating Briggo for example fairly easily in the Golden Helmet at New Cross, setting up the track record in the process. And that was Briggo's home track at the time. I mentioned Keith Farman's records above which show that Fundin beat the others of the Big Five more times than they beat him and that it was Peter Craven who had the best record against him, rather than Briggo. Though yes it is true that in the period 1968-1970, Briggo was better than Fundin, but both were probably past their best by then. I think the fact that Fundin actually won the World Title in 1967, when most people thought he was past it and had no chance, also speaks volumes for him. All I can say really is that I was there and I know what I saw and what I thought at the time. The fact that my own memories are backed up by the record books only confirms my view that Fundin was no doubt a better and more consistent rider than Briggo. As far as Briggo's record at West Ham goes, it's not a particular memory of mine that he was unbeatable round there, though I may be wrong. The rider I remember as being unbeatable at Custom House was Bjorn Knutson and then Sverre Harrfeldt.

In the period 1956 - 1964, Ove Fundin came top of the end of year Speedway Star & News rankings 7 times out of 9.The other two years he finished 2nd. Bary Briggs came 1st on two occasions, 2nd once, 3rd twice, 4th twice, 5th once and 6th once. During that same period, Ove Fundin won the world Championship four times, was 2nd three times and 3rd twice. Barry Briggs won three times, was 2nd once, 3rd twice, 4th once, 5th once, 6th once I can't help feeling the raw statistics and records show that Ove Fundin was a better and more consistent rider during that period than Brggo, an observation I would certainly back up with my own first hand knowledge of seeing them both ride from 1960 onwards.

Incidentally, the late great speedway historian, Keith Farman, whose hero was Ove Fundin, did a statistical survey which covered every race that Ove Fundin had ridden in in GB - Test, League, Individual, Match Race, etc. He discovered that Fundin had a better record against every other rider, i.e. he beat every rider more times than any of them beat him. He also found that the rider who beat Fundin most times was Peter Craven.

Well, not only going by their records, but also from personal observation from 1960 onwards, I think Ove Fundin would definitely have beaten Briggo in the four year period 1960-63 and I couldn't really see anyone matching him over 12 rounds. At a time when the Big 5 dominated, I think it is fair to say that, at least in the early 60s, Fundin dominated them. (And I say that as a New Cross supporter, but even though Briggo rode for New Cross, Fundin was clearly the better rider at the Frying Pan and I think beat Briggo every time they met, in matches, individual events and match races.)

A Grand Prix series mid 50s - mid 60s would have been something else! Fundin, Briggs, Moore, Craven and latterly Knutson and Plechanov.....Mind you I can't help thinking Ove Fundin would have won every year!

Impressive in its own right, but don't forget this was at a time when Fundin, Briggs and Moore were at their peak as well plus Craven in the first two years. It is Knutson. His name was spelled Knutsson wrongly when he first came over and wasn't corrected - a bit like Mike Broadbank(s). Sounds good to me.

On a more serious note regarding an all-time non World Champion Ipswich team, we shouldn't forget Peter Moore, Olle Nygren and Split Waterman all rode for Ipswich.

How come all these Ipswich teams have left out Savalas Clouting?

Yes, it is my all-time favourite speedway photo......which is why I use it.

The rider that actually shows up is Billy Lamont. If you click on it to enlarge it, it shows Lamont roaring round the outside of Vic Huxley at Wimbledon.

1. Bluey Wilkinson 2. Bjorn Knutson 3. Peter Collins

That would not surprise me, Split. There is no doubt that Vic Huxley was one of the all-time greats, but sadly mostly forgotten now as his peak period was late 20s to mid 30s.

Just think of all those "Greatest rider never to win a World title" threads in 20 or 30 years time!

Thank you for remembering and posting this, Jim.

I remember seeing him at New Cross.

Eric Chitty was one of those who missed his best chance at the World Title because of the War. He was probably at his peak in the early 40s. He won the War Time British Championship at Belle Vue three years running, 1940 - 42.

All very good riders of course. Sprouts Elder had quite a short career but was certainly one of the leading riders in the very early days of the late 20s. He didn't really continue on for long, so a bit difficult to make too many comparisons. Ron Johnson is, of course, one of my heroes. Started in this country at Crystal Palace in 1928 and remained with the Crystal Palace/New Cross set up until New Cross closed in 1963, though his last year of actually riding was 1960. Althoigh he had been one of the top riders throughout the 1930s, perhaps his best period was just Post War. For longevity he is right up there. An early Greg Hancock! Frank Varey was another great in a team of great riders at pre-War Belle Vue. He was maybe a bit overshadowed by being Eric Langton's partner, but together, they were arguably the best team pairing ever. Dent Oliver was good too, but I personally would not put him in the same class as the other three mentioned.

If we're now talking about Brits who have actually won the World title, my top 5 would be: 1. Craven 2. Collins 3. Lee 4. Williams 5. Price Nearly men: 1. Parker 2. Waterman 3. Langton 4. Simmons 5. Jessup Those who never had a chance (or past their best or at War at their best) 1. Farndon 2. Roger Frogley 3. Atkinson 4. Kempster 5. Lees

Thank you, chr. Your comments are very much appreciated. Tom Farndon had been a hero of mine ever since I read an article about him in the 1961 Speedway Star & News Digest. He seemed such an incredible man and and incredible rider. When I eventually got round to writing the biography, something I had wanted to do for many years in order to bring the exploits of this extraordinary man to an audience that had never seen him ride and many, I suspect, had never even heard of, I really enjoyed doing the research and meeting Betty Farndon, his daughter-in-law, and talking to her about the great man. The more I researched, the more I came to realise he was an even greater character than I had originally thought. Of course it is impossible to say who is "The Greatest Of Them All", Rob. In fact that subtitle was added by the publisher to help sell the book. It was not my idea - especially as by the time I wrote it I had become good friends with Ove Fundin! But I would certainly always include him in my top five, though, funnily enough, as a consequence of researching Tom and the riders he rode against in his period, I have to say that I also realised what a truly great rider Bluey Wilkinson was as well, and a real challenger to the Greatest title from more or less his own period.

Talking of Brit "nearly men", what about Ken McKinlay and Arthur Forrest? Or Ron How?

There fixed for you.

Yes.