Robbie B

I forgot about the White City event, even though I was there. Yes November 1 Wimbledon won the London Cup at Hackney. It ended a very tragic season for the Dons, with a bit of silverware. I also seem to remember that Wimbledon had a home meeting on the 4th November in the wearly-to-mid eighties (Halifax I think) after the original fixture was postponded two or three times.

Sorry Slickmick, the 'Dons' did not feature any double headers home or away in '76, except for the London Cup match at Hackney. When Hackney raced against Wimbledon and White City at home in November. The 'Dons' won the cup by beating Hackney 49 - 29 in the first fixture, of the London Cup.

That's OK Steve19620 I din't want to step on anyones toes as they say. Just happy to help.

That's OK Steve19620 I din't want to step on anyones toes as they say. Just happy to help.

I don't then iris123 must be Ken Tozer announcing lol too long ago to remember. I dig-out my speedway star for the meeting tomorrow to see what they reported.

I was at this meeting and I've dug out programme for it. Team riding order below and some corrections. Wimbledon 1 Edwar Jancarz 2 Edgar Stangeland (R/R) 3 Mick Hines © 4 Roger Johns 5 Larry Ross 6 Colin Richardson 7 Stefan salmonosson 8 Rob Jones Birmingham 1 Ray Wilson © 2 Alqn Grahame 3 Malcolm Shakespeare 4 Richrad Greer (R/R) 5 Jan Gravningen 6 Carl Askew 7 Lou Sansom 8 Ian Williams (wimbledon junior) for Arthur Browning Wimbledon 28 - Mick Hines 7, Larry Ross 7, Roger Johns 4, Colin Richardson 4, Stefan Salmonsson 3, Edward Jancarz 3 Edgar Stangeland R/R Birmingham 14 - Lou Sansom 7 (not 6pts), Jan Gravningen 3, Carl Askew 2 (not 3pts), Alan Grahame 2, Malcolm Shakespeare 0, Ray Wilson 0 (only 6 riders - R/R in operation ?) 1: rerun Jancarz, Hines (r/r ride), Grahame, Wilson (f/x) 60.2 2: Salmonsson, Richardson, Sansom, Askew (not Askew, Sansom) 62.1 3: Ross, Johns, Gravningen, Askew (r/r ride) (f) 61.5 (not 61.6) 4: Sansom, Hines, Richardson, Shakespeare ® 60.4 (not 60.5) 5: Ross, Johns, Grahame, Gravningen (f, rem) 61.4 6: Sansom, Askew, Ross (r/r ride), Jancarz (f) 60.4 7: Hines, Gravningen, Richardson, Grahame (r//r ride) 62.7 Meeting abandoned - rain I hope steve19620 does not object to my corrections.

As they say "good things come to those who wait"

Can't wait for my copy to through the post, Tony. Nice to see a article on Roger Johns, a true Wimbledon legend Will there be a second installment of the 1970s magazine soon ?

2005 Dons Grant MacDonald Mark Burrows Scott James Matthew Wright Andrew Bargh Peter Collyer Danny Betson James Clement Lee Studwick Rob Smith Karl White

Totally agree with Iris123, Emil will win next season at a romp. He can only get better after his season in the GPs. I personally will be putting a very nice bet on him. Wouldn't surprise me if the bookies havedown him down as favourite, in 2010.

My brother phoned me when I was writing this, no-wonder it dosen't make sense. Too much multi-tasking going on there. Can't remember what I was going to say now, sorry. I think that Leigh Adams will be asked if he whats a wild card. Along with Zagar or even Lindback. Can't see more then one British rider in the GP next year.

Whether people like the fact that Magnus Zetterstrom will be a GP rider or not next season. It must be pointed out he is there by right, after qualifying from a very tough meeting and other qualifying rounds. Some of the riders that you Budgie didn't even make it to the GP challenge final, so why should they be put in front of Magnus Zetterstrom who won the GP challenge event, it doesn’t make sense. He may be older then the riders you mention, but he qualified and they didn't. I wish they bring back the GP challenge as they used to have it, with the bottom seven riders from the GP series meeting the top nine from the GP challenge event. These riders then can fight it out for eight places. And rid of the stupid wild card, which most of the time is a complete waste. Or even better still go back in time and make all riders qualify, like the old qualifying rounds in the past.

Emil Sayfutdinov for me please

Greg Hancock again for me please

I personally think that there will only one British in the GPs next year I would go for Lee Richardson, because of his record this year in Britain, Sweden and Poland.

I personally think that there will only one British in the GPs next year I would go for Lee Richardson, because of his record this year In Britain, Sweden and Poland.

There is a very nice tribute to him in the new Clasic Speedway magazine (Autumn 2009).

I didn't know that was a rumour about Argentina entering the SWC, but more teams the merry I say Very nice pictures Iris123

Iris123, I do agree with you that Morten Hansen and Arne Pander were world class riders in their day. Qualifying for World Finals years ago was very much harder then today, where if you finish in the top eight places or if your face fits the right GP criteria you are in. Even Ole himself and other World Champions in the past never qualified for the following seasons final. Speedway would still exist in Denmark even if Ole never rode a bike, but I don’t think this nation would be as strong as they are now, without his influence. As for Argentina, I know that speedway has been running their but not in massive (ie having teams in World Cups or other major International competitions) for many years, and long may it continue I say. It would also be good for speedway if other nations that has have much success like New Zealand and the USA having a strong complimentary of riders challenging for titles. And it also is nice to see them back in the World Cup challenging for the title again. I remember the day at White City in 1979 when New Zealand won. They surely would have won many more titles if their riders didn’t have to ride for Great Britain.

I' am no doubting that Denmark had some good riders now and again before, Ole Olsen. But it was during the end and after of Ole's racing career that the Danes came to the forefront of international speedway. Arne Pander despite being a very fine rider never made a World Final. The first official test between England & Denmark didn’t take place until 1981, at Hackney. I was there watching the Danes getting beaten 62 – 46 quite easily by the English team, I wish we could say that would happen today. Ole’s, three World Championship must have inspired many of the forthcoming Danish riders that followed him. From the late seventies into the early eighties onwards there has been a glut of very talented riders from Denmark. Ole’s master stroke I reckon was building Vojens stadium. Then he brought the worlds’ best riders into Denmark to inspire the locals. Danish speedway really took off after this. This left a legacy that continues till this day. He may now have his critics with regards to the speedway GP series, but you can’t dispute his overall influence to Danish speedway for the last forty-odd years.

Sorry Iris123 I have to disagree with you, without Ole's influence speedway in Denmark would not be what it is today. You say thar there was a number of top class Danish riders before him, I wish you could would name them. In 1973 the Danish & Norweign team had to conbine to make a creditable team, for that years International tournament, because there was not a enough riders from either nation, to make a full team. Where were the Danish top class riders then?

That’s a terrific tribute to Ole, who was a brilliant rider in his day. He made an enormous contribution to speedway, especially in home land. Without him Danish speedway might not exist. Ole would never have ridden for Hull in 1976, as he said at the time. If he was not riding for Coventry that year, he would not ride in the British League.

I personally would not waste spending loads of money going to GP’s, until you can guarantee that there is some dirt on the track to let the world’s best riders race, and show off their skills. How long will it be before Sky TV and other companies get bored, with showing GP speedway due to the lack of action. Can’t the organisers see that they are shooting themselves in the foot by producing race circuits like last night’s Slovenian GP. With no TV coverage, the sponsors could soon follow.

I think it's just me Iris123, I have never liked graveyards, and do intend going into one, for as long as I can.

Iris123 I said eerie not scarey. I wasn't that old at first, sometimes I could swear I heard people moving around the graveyard (my imagination I guess)