steve roberts

Bob Kilby was a strange one...Long winded saga but Garry Middleton (who Oxford paid a fee for) was swapped for Tony Lomas (Coventry) who was swapped for Bob Kilby (Exeter) so technically Bob was an Oxford asset. However when he re-signed for 'The Budgies' prior to the 1975 season Swindon claimed that he was one of their's having been allocated to Exeter in 1971 and therefore Oxford lost out and never received a penny for him! John Davis wanted away and Dag making it well known that he wanted to ride at Cowley a swap was struck...not sure if any money changed hands.

Remember it well...and John Boulger was christened 'Snowflake' by some of the Cowley faithful! Oxford were allocated first Eric Boocock (who retired) and then Ole Olsen (who refused to ride for Oxford...thank goodness) and eventually Dag Lovaas came to Oxford and John Davis went the other way...but, as usual, Oxford rode at Coventry early in the season before the move was made hence the anomaly.

I think Laurel and Hardy and Fred Karno together would do a better job running speedway!

Just received my copy...looks great. Saving it for my holiday reading!

Fabulous! A reminder of the days of 'World of Sport'...speedway followed by wrestling and then the results service when most football matches were played at the same time! Laurel & Hardy in the morning too!

I think it was a Dave Lanning publicity stunt...but, yes, there was talk of him joining 'The Rebels' in 1972.

Strange that Steve Gresham and Scott Autrey were pals...such complete opposites.

'Assets' have always been open to conjecture within speedway whereby promotions 'declare' some riders (foreign 'assets' in particular) as 'assets' despite rarely, if at all, putting in a appearance for said promotion.

I think the same applied to Oxford when the grass tracking community were looking for an alternative venue to their usual site (Sandford-on-Thames) prior to the Second World War.

One track I would have liked to have gone to but unfortunately closed the same year I commenced attending speedway.

...think you may right although it could be Len Silver who also rode with whitish boots?

He once got a mention on Terry Wogan's Radio Two morning programme!

Cowley Stadium attracted a reported 10,000 for the Australia vs. Poland International in 1973...but personally I think that was an over estimation although it was packed solid I remember!

Phil Morris came over as a very articulate person and developed into a good club man after the raw edges were smoothed out.

My favourite "Racers' were the late Geoff Curtis (rumoured to be joining Oxford before his untimely death) and , of course, Dag Lovaas!

...sounds a bit like me!

I think he's also featured on the Bristol Speedway DVD which I have but it's a while since I've viewed it.

I recall a story whereby Anders Michanek was boiling his chains in oil and it caught fire and he turned the fire extinguisher on it and proceeded to cover Reg Fearman's Rolls Royce in foam in doing so!

Apparently Bo Petersen, whilst riding for Swindon in 1985, rode a bike that was driven by a belt driven clutch doing away with the conventional primary drive chain...not sure if it caught on however!

I recall that it was featured on 'World of Sport' and, I think, Bob was interviewed?

Didn't know that...thanks for the information.

Remember Danny Bird riding for the IOW...what was the sad ending?

I meet people all the time who used to go but no longer at my place of work.

My brother rode with Chris at one of Olle Nygren's Training Schools at King's Lynn...I think that they shared a bike which was the usual custom with Olle.

I obviously can't comment on present day speedway and it's regulations and/or make up except to say that 'Doubling Up' (of sorts) was a feature going way back to the days of the introduction in 1968 of the Second Division. Riders were 'encouraged' to ride in the First Division (especially in the days when a Promotion had a foot in both camps) and it worked successfully back then producing many future British international rated riders and my team, Oxford, operated such a system to great effect. However when the old Second Division re-branded itself the flow of talent began to diminish to a degree. ...fast forward to the present and the scenario you comment upon does seem very bizarre however. Is this a reflection on the lack of genuine World Class British riders at present? However, like most things within speedway, it appears from what I read, to have got very much out of hand and there appears to be a 'Horses for Courses' policy in place...hence the dilemma the sport now faces together with other issues that have been well documented elsewhere.