chunky

Hmmm... You beat me to it! Just waiting to see Sidney's response to that. I have a cunning plan, so watch this space, folks... Steve

Yeah, that was special - along with the sound of 'em revving under the green light!

Funny, isn't it? There are probably posters on the BSF who didn't even know he rode in the BL! Seriously, while he wasn't "great", he wasnt anywhere near as dire as most of the names mentioned on here... Steve

That is exactly why I didn't mention him; he has hardly been "forgotten! Steve

All of those have already been mentioned too! Steve

Remember, Doug, I did mention about the AMA Hall of Fame and museum just outside Columbus, Ohio. I still haven't been there yet, but it is only a couple of hours for me. I definitely need to get there this year! They have speedway and board-racing bikes and sections, and I don't know what else. I will let you all know when I have been... Steve

When I made that post about Wolves riders earlier, I was also thinking about Helminen and Frandsen...

Okay, thanks for the clarification! See, old age is catching up on me, but I knew it was something like that! I was at both too; thirty-five years ago - scary... Steve

At Wolverhampton, they tried Jerzy Kowalski (who tragically died after a crash later in 1978), Hans Christensen, and Knud Ellegard. Someone given a little more time at Monmore without really showing anything was Leif Berlin. Steve

Don't forget, Ernst Bogh also appeared for Leicester in 1976, along with Grzegorz Szczepanik and the almost-as-ineffective Pepe Teromaa. Again, I think Teromaa could have been okay given more time. Steve

Yeah, the Tigers have had their share of mediocrity over the years! Iris, you say you don't remember them? You may have blinked; they both had a British career that lasted a whopping two races! Jan Zabik was a little better; he averaged over 4, and managed a maximum. Steve

I honestly can't remember if it was three 5-1's in the last four heats, but you definitely got 5-1's in the last two! The next night, we came to Cowley and got a last-heat 5-1 to a draw! Steve

It is not a crusade against gustix; it is a crusade against stupidity and self-importance. It is difficult to get over it when he responds to a reaction with even more inanity... As I said, I have had my issues with iris. The thing with gustix is that he complains if others deviate all, but it's okay for him to hijack almost every thread and redirect to what he wants when it is invariably non-speedway related. I get it, I get under your skin. GET OVER IT... Steve

Again, how many times are you going to tell us that you haven't been to speedway since 2005? Your first sentence, however, does not qualify for inclusion on this thread; it references the FUTURE of British speedway - if indeed there is one... Steve

Just thought of another one - and it's another Eastbourne one : Rene Christiansen. A 1.93 average from ten meetings in 1983... Steve

1) I went to White City once - for speedway - and there was a bloke jumping from a tower into a small bath of water. He was a "participating guest", so should I start another forum on here called "Stuntmen and Escapologists"? 2) Please note that this is the "BSF"; it is not the "BFTF" or the "ANZSF". "British Speedway" is four blokes on 500cc bikes running on methanol... Steve

I used to look forward to them too! Funny thing is, so many of the names you mention, I was close to including! Skretting, Bengtsson, Steman, Langli, Davidsson, Blondy, and Gudmunsson were all on my short-list. I'd totally forgotten about Deser and Klinge. Steve

I thought the same, but that appears to be his correct (or full) name. If you recall, last week, we were talking about Leonard Raba, and I said that the only legitimate point Raba scored was when he beat Franz Kreimoser in a challenge against Reading. That was Kreimoser's only meeting. I did think about Adi, but he was better. Steve

I'm not a financial expert by any means, but I followed everything from the initial post. That was the thing, you have access to "records", but without a detailed breakdown, it is very difficult to gauge each individual situation. Even without doing anything fraudulent - or even devious - it is usually possible to make the books read they way you want, based on a particular time-frame. With regard to Ray Stadia's comment about football, I am sure that many of the clubs (even smaller clubs) deal in much larger amounts than speedway when it comes to cash flow. They may be in the red right now, but they have 200 grand due in next week! Look at my own team, AFC Wimbledon. I was reading how, if we can just beat Millwall in the FA Cup at the weekend, that will earn us close to a million! Of course, that involves a number of factors, but for a small and poor League One team like us, one win against a team like Millwall can make us that sort of money? We know that speedway clubs can't be dealing in anywhere near those amounts... Steve

Now I'm really confused??? You claim your speedway memories are "reserved strictly" for Speedwayplus? Then why are you on a speedway (or BFTF) forum where we "share our memories"? More to the point, why do you think a SPEEDWAY forum is the place to share your memories of motorsports OTHER than speedway? Genuine questions... Steve

Really? You gotta be kidding me! What have I said that is offensive ? Just remind me how it is perfectly okay for you to say "f... You" on a public forum, yet I have made a speedway-related joke about suffering from wind (with no foul or inappropriate language) and you are beside yourself? Steve (or whoever you think I am...)

You know what, when I saw the name "gustix", it brought back memories of wind "gusts". That made me think of all the times I suffered from wind! Then - and this is the cool thing - wind led me to kites! There was a speedway rider called Alan Kite! Steve

... or almost forgettable, anyway! I know we have had similar threads posted before, but I think it's time to dig up some names for the newer BSF members. In the 70's and 80's, we had a number of poor-quality Europeans engaged in BL action for short periods of time. Some, like Claes Jensen and Gerhard Uhlenbrock often resurface, as do the mediocre Poles of 76 (Olkiewicz, Szczepanik etc) but others don't seem to. Just today, I dug up Bernd Odermatt. I was at Plough Lane when Austrian Walter Grubmuller came to visit, and honestly, he didn't look too bad. Jan Puk is still mentioned, but his Eastbourne team--mate Josef Kafel often isn't. Then again, a CMA of less than a point is a good reason for that. Jens-Krause Kjaer actually scored one point for Coventry in 1974. Another Pole at Arlington, Marek Kepa. He at least averaged a point a meeting. Four meetings, eight rides, and "nil points" (in a French accent) for Halifax for Norway's Jorn Haugvalstad (1980) One meeting, two rides, and nil points for Haliifax for Sweden's Stefan Johansson (1975). One of my faves, Norwegian Sigvart Pedersen (Wimbledon, Eastborne and Reading), but he too looked promising without doing anything to show it. An accomplished long-tracker, but Rauli Makinen didn't impress at Owlerton in 1978. Czech Jiri Hnidak checked out of King's Lynn after scoring just 12 points from 38 rides in 1982. Steve

Ain't that the truth...

He rode for Leicester and Hackney in 1980, although he didn't ride in any official fixtures for the 'Awks... Steve