chunky

Please tell me he can read...

Please tell me why you are confused, John...

You REALLY have no idea who ANY of them are?

Ray Moore is on the New Cross thread...

And I always thought you were a nice guy, norbold!

He is probably one of the least remembered Americans, Steve, along with one of my personal favourites, Buddy Robinson.

You mean the man pictured with Bert Harkins?

So you don't actually remember who it was?

Not sure where you got that idea from, but I will give you some stats. 91,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. 640,000 Americans die from cancer - every year. 647,000 Americans die from heart disease - every year. The vast majority (over 90%) of deaths from Covid-19 have been over 65 and/or suffering from underlying health conditions. These are not indicators of a disease that is likely to threaten civilisation.

We had this very discussion a few years ago. I'll see if I can dig out the list we came up with...

Who was that? Would it have been Rob Pfetzing?

Seems like they were some of the LAST riders you actually "saw" too...

The main reason for me saying what I did was that speedway is "dirt-track" racing, and the sport suffered when we started to lose the dirt. You do make a great point, though. I have often said on here that one thing I miss (in Britain, at least), is the variety of tracks. We used to have tracks of vastly different size, shape, and surface. Now tracks seem to be built to a "standard". What I am trying to work out is that John rattles on about his lifelong "involvement" in speedway, yet basically, it seems that he enjoyed it for about 10 years, and (when it "changed" in the 50's), HASN'T been interested for some 60 years! I don't like to harp on about it (actually, I do), but I am still trying to work out how someone "in" the sport doesn't recognise Plechanov, Moore, or Mauger... You don't have to physically attend speedway and watch racing to be able to identify legends like that. I've never been to an F1 race, but I recognise Jackie Stewart...

Final one of the night... Basil Harris leading team-mate Cyril Brine, from 1946 (I believe).

Here is the New Zealand team (including several Dons) that beat Belle Vue at Hyde Road on June 2nd, 1953 (Coronation Day). The Kiwis won 55-53 thanks to a last heat 4-2 from Geoff Mardon and Ron Johnston against Ken Sharples and Louis Lawson. Mardon (13), and Johnston (12+2) were top scorers for the winning team, while the Aces were led by Sharples (14) and Lawson (11). Back row: Maury Dunn, Geoff Mardon (Wim), Ron Johnston, Barry Briggs (Wim). Front row: Merv Neil, Trevor Redmond, Ronnie Moore (Wim), Peter Clark.

You are of course correct, and I have changed the caption. Thank you.

There are plenty more where they came from! The great thing is that a lot of them aren't that well-known, so it's always nice to see pics for the first time. Unfortunately, the quality isn't always great (being taken from newspapers rather than glossy photos), but at least I have them.

From 11th June 1948, here is a pic as described in the caption. Of course, the two London "Stars" both rode for the Dons. The Kangaroos won 49-35, and Norman Parker top-scored for London with 9+1.

Compared to others on here, you ain't lost nothing, Steve!

Here is Les Wotton inside Lloyd Goffe.

Here a a pair of Dons from 1935 and 36, Eric Collins and Wal Phillips

I realise that I am probably not qualified to make posts on here, but in an effort to show that I do sometimes know what I am talking about, over the next few days, I will be posting a few Wimbledon pics from years gone by. These are not taken from any website, but from some of my old scrapbooks, so they would have originally been published in old magazines. Here is German Alfred Rumrich, who appeared for the Dons in 1937, with a best score of 11 points in a challenge against Bristol. I know my fellow unqualified poster iris123 is very familiar with him.

I figured, but we were talking about most entertaining, that's all...

Just thinking... All of us spending that time as kids recreating speedway at home, it is clear how and why we all lost our marbles...

Kelvin and Jamie were probably my next two in line...