steve roberts

Strewth! That's pretty bad...although some were a volatile lot! Recall getting into some slanging matches with some of them at Cradley and Cowley. I guess the Nielsen/Gundersen rivalry brought a lot of it on although I do remember Malcolm Ballard having his car severely damaged when trying to exit Dudley Wood back in 1972.

Blimey! You've had some bad nights at the speedway...used to happen regularly!

Great sense of humour (?)...or at least I think so? Have I missed something?

Best Oxford winning the KO Cup in 1985 against 'The Witches' Oxford winning at Swindon in 1986 with Per Sorensen registering a maximum. White City winning at Wolves in 1977 to secure the championship. Worse Feeling ripped off after a meeting had been cancelled after the running of heat six. Oxford not being able to 'finish the job' and beating Cradley Heath in two cup competitions in 1986 due to the weather. The demise of the Second Halves.

Difficult to compare any great teams (I would include the 1986 Oxford team in any list) as points limits and/or restrictions dictated team strengths and limitations on same. Personally, however, I would plump for the Belle Vue team of 1972.

1. Oxford 2. York 3. Liverpool 4. Any location in London 5. Norwich

Have to base my selection on riders I saw race. In no particular order. 1. Peter Collins 2. Malcolm Simmons 3. John Louis 4. Michael Lee 5. Martin Ashby 6. Dave Jessup 7. Chris Morton 8. Kenny Carter 9. Terry Betts 10. Ray Wilson Res. Gordon Kennett

I've attended a couple of grass tracks within the last couple of years and the attendance was poor on both occasions.

Frank Ebden must have been on the button!

Yes I thought that he did...however never personally experienced it. How the sport could do with a 'Dave Lanning' now!

Agree totally!

Used to hear of riders getting to know the quirks of certain referees and were able to anticipate the starts (even making a note of each referee's system for future reference) Some riders would count One, Two, Three and drop the clutch. Some would drop the clutch as soon as the Green light came on etc...apparently some referees were very predictable!

Dave used to walk around the terraces on match day and would often be seen at away circuits as a supporter of 'The Cheetahs'. He would acknowledge the fans with a "Hello" and a nod and I often acknowledged him...a very nice man with no pretentiousness. He began announcing at Cowley back in 1974 and was a regular certainly up until I stopped going (2004).

The starting procedure has always been an issue in the history of speedway. I recall the late Johnnie Hoskins experimenting with boards alongside each rider as they lined up at the start so as to try and stop distractions and produce fairer starts.

Was the announcer at Oxford for many years! Total professional. Used to manage a couple of family owned music stores in Oxford.

Been thru' Wombwell a couple of times recently. I guess that there is no longer any sign of the track...probably had a supermarket built upon it!

If it's JSD then that must mean the commentator being Colin Martin (?) who drives me to distraction with his continual 'babbling' and commentates without drawing breath. Unfortunately he covered many of Oxford's Home matches during the early nineties. I should be grateful, however, that they were filmed...just wished that they had had someone else commentating!

I agree. I have many, many DVDs and the standard of commentary varies considerably depending on the source. I don't require anyone telling me what I can already see jabbering away continuously (Colin Martin take a bow!)

Never experienced it personally but I seem to recall that Dave Lanning used to do a running commentary at Wimbledon when son Russell was in charge?

I was watching a DVD last night (Wolves vs. Oxford 1990) and Ali Stevens rode a blinder of a meeting scoring 12 points. Another rider who was struck down with a serious injury during his early career and could have gone on and achieved more in my view. Remember first watching him as a 15 year old during the interval at Cowley.

I recall a story that one rider (Eastbourne) was 'out to get him' after an incident when they had earlier met?

I recall that the Speedway Star used to publish attendance figures from both the Swedish and Polish Leagues.

In my opinion definitely yes. He had a tremendous 1973 season and was possibly favourite to lift the World Title that year. Certainly in the early seventies he was a major player and a rider difficult to beat but as Anders has always stated "There are other things in life than speedway" and didn't fully commit his life to 'going round in circles' as others of that period appeared to do.

How about the time that Tom Owen (Newcastle) smashed the teapot down at Arlington after a disagreement?

The late Bernard Crapper admitted to me same at Oxford...he was just passing the time of day with the referee but used plenty of arm waving to get the crowd going to spice up a dull meeting!