Your 1st Meeting

[Brian L]

1976 Malborough Southern Riders Championship at Hackney 21st May 1976.

I was 14 and went with my friends from school. I remember walking up to the stadium and peering into the window of the Lesney factory and one of the workers gave me a matchbox car through the grille. Also remember the bikes reving up as we approached the turnstiles. Stood on 1st bend and loved every minute of it. Dave Jessup won the meeting with a 15 point max followed by Gordon Kennett on 14 and Keith White 12. Tommy Jansson was programmed to ride, but this was the week when he sadly lost his life. Went to the pits after racing had finished and came away with my programme covered in riders' autographs - Dave Morton, Gordon Kennett, John Titman and Laurie Etheridge - makes me feel old thinking about it now!!!

Edited September 23, 2005 by Brian L

[pudding]

I was on a 'holiday' with my family, staying at some friends of theirs in Dorchester. These are the scores from my first ever programme. I haven't checked to see if they are correct.

Tuesday July 30 1974.

Weymouth Wizards 41 Crewe Kings 37

Weymouth

Team Manager: Trevor Young

1. Russell Foot:         1,2,0,0,3  =  6

2. Clark Facey R/R

3. Kelvin Mullarkey:  2,3,2,3,1  = 11

4. Geoff Swindells:   1,2,2,0      = 5

5. Nigel Couzens:     2,3,3,1,2  = 11

6. Brian Paddington: 0,1,1        =  2

7. Steve Lomas:       1,1,3,1     = 6

8. Mark Sawyers:     DNR

Crewe

Team Manager: Dave Parry

1. Dave Morton:      3,0,2,2,3   = 10

2. Ian Cartwright:   0,1,2,0        = 3

3. John Jackson:     0,3,1,1       =  5

4. Cliff Anderson:   0,0,0          = 0

5. Keith White:       3,3,3,2       = 11

6. ?? Wells:            2,0,0           = 2

7. Wayne Forrest:   3,2,1           = 6

Great to see Weymouth on their way back, by the way, even if it is with the wrong nickname. I see the old track was 380 yards. The new one will only be about 250 or something according to Speedway Star, so will be quite a different Weymouth. Why are tracks nearly always so short these days?

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steve lomas can still be seen doing his stuff @ mablethorpe sandracing , even tho he is no spring chicken , he shows them the way home in his class 500cc road @ 50+ years young

Edited April 20, 2005 by pudding

[The Wizard Of SHADWELL]

Sunday 8th September 1985. National League

Rye House Rockets v Poole Wildcats

Rye House Rockets v Edinburgh Monarchs (Double header)

 

Rye House 38

 

1. Andrew Silver 9+1 from 5

2. Bob Garrad 5+1 from 4

3. Kelvin Mullarkey 5 from 4

4. Rob Woofinden 2 from 3

5. Alistair Stevens 12 from5

6. Kevin Brice 4 from 3

7. Gary Rolls 1+1 from 3

 

Poole 40 (I think they finished 2nd to Ellesmere Port that year)

 

1. Martin Yeates 10 from 5

2. Ray Dole 6+1 from 5

3. Stan Bear r/r

4. Kevin Smith 11+ 1 from 5

5. David Biles 8+1 from 5

6. Gordon Humphries 3+1 from 3

7. Marcus Bisson 2+1 from 3

 

My then girlfriend dragged me along one sunny late summer afternoon to Rye House, where she had been as a young girl in the late 70's. My only recolection of speedway had been Dave Lannings commentary on World of Sport, which I suppose must have been a world final, dunno, didn't take much notice. Sat in the home straight grandstand as the riders bikes were wheeled out by the track staff for the parade, then....WOW!!! as the bikes were pushed off for practice, laps. The sight, the sound and the smell of 14 bikes being ridden around the track. Been hooked ever since!

 

I hadn't a clue how to fill out a racecard, hence the lack of any race details.The second half of the double header was:

 

Rye House Rockets 57

 

1. Andrew Silver 13+2 from 5

2. Bob Garrad 12+3 from 5

3. Kelvin Mullarkey 13+2 from 5

4. r/r (Rob Woofenden broke his collarbone in the Poole match , I recall)

5. Alistair Stevens 14+1 from 5

6. Kevin Brice 4 from 3

7. Gary Rolls 1 from 3

 

Edinburgh Monarchs 21

 

1. Steve Finch 5 from 4

2. Billy Burton 3+1 from 4

3. Bobby Beaton 4 from 4

4. Buzz Burrows 1 from 4

5. Brett Saunders 3 from 3

6. Scott Lamb 3 from 4

7. Gordon Whittaker 2+2 from 3

 

It was a l-o-n-g winter waiting for the season to start again

Edited April 20, 2005 by The Wizard Of SHADWELL

[AndyM]

The first meetings I remember attending were at Belle Vue in 1972, but my dad took me to both Coventry and Belle Vue in 1971 - great years to be an Aces fan!

 

The earliest programme I collected is for Coventry v Hackney match in 71, but sadly it's not completed. Does anybody have the scorers for this match?

[frigbo]

The first meetings I remember attending were at Belle Vue in 1972, but my dad took me to both Coventry and Belle Vue in 1971 - great years to be an Aces fan!

 

The earliest programme I collected is for Coventry v Hackney match in 71, but sadly it's not completed.  Does anybody have the scorers for this match?

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Cov 47-31 Hack

 

N.Boocock 11

Lomas 10

Mountford 7

Owen 6

Simensen 6

Harrhy 4

Hill 3

 

 

Jansson 12

Middleton 9

Thomas 5

Etheridge 2

Reeves 1

Knapkin 1

Taffy Owen 1

[jackofdiamonds]

Newcastle's first meeting of 1962.

 

23 April 1962

 

Newcastle v Bradford

 

Newcastle

 

Gil Goldfinch 9

George Glen 9

Brian Craven 12

Geoff Penniket 1

Don Wilkinson 10

Russ Dent 3

Bill Andrews 3

 

Bradford

 

Tommy Roper 4

Dennis Jenkins 6

 

Newcastle won 47 - 31. Brian Craven became my instant hero.

Nice to see Ray Day and Russ Dent at the Diamond Geezers reunion meeting

earlier this year.

Stuart Hickman 8

Malcolm Bruce 1

Geoff Pymar 7

Ray Day 2

Dave Gerrard 6

[Topcat]

May 1964, Monarchs v Sunderland.

Washed out after one heat. 3-3 Wayne Briggs and Alf Wells.

[Parkstone Pirate]

Wolves versus Plymouth July 1961. Jack Scott scored a maximum and Chris Blewitt had a bad crash. Wolves, who had been struggling to get together a settled team were thrashed 53-25. I was hooked, not only with the racing and the atmosphere but also the hot dogs! Wolves improved later that season with the inclusion of Terry Betts and the 1960 PL Champ Trevor Redmond. The team that finished the season was: Redmond, Betts, Ridgeon,Sweetman,Warren, Oakley, and anyone from Kid Bodie, Erol Brook, Cyril Francis or Terry Stone at reserve, and was a pretty decent line up. Incidently, after reading an article by him, this was also Eric Broadbelts first meeting as a spectator and he obviously got hooked too!

[NorthamptonKnights]

My first speedway meeting was also at Plough Lane - 2 friends from college (one a Hull fan, t'other from Exeter) persuaded me to go along with them to the "Southern Riders Championship Final" in (I think) 1976, or thereabouts.

 

I was hooked from Race 1! I'm pretty sure that I still have the programme somewhere (probably at my parents' home), but if anyone wants to remind me of the details .....

 

While living in London I frequently visited Wimbledon, Hackney, Rye House, Canterbury, Crayford, Eastbourne and (especially) Milton Keynes; when I moved up to Northampton in '82, my haunts changed to MK, Peterborough, Coventry and Oxford.

 

I rose to the dizzy heights of chairman of the MK Speedway Supporters Association for 12 months, as well as running a fan club for Steve Payne, and often helping out as pusher/flag-waver/pit crew at Elfield Park when it was Bob Humphreys' training track.

 

Nowadays? I'm sorry to say that I don't visit speedway as often as I should ... Why? The increased cost of watching ... being out of touch with the names of modern riders ... being unimpressed by the attempts of modern 'promoters' to push this wonderful sport forwards (it says something when you hear a steward say "I pity anyone who paid to watch this crap"!). But I still prefer the 'lower' racing leagues (much as NL was always better than BL) for a better standard of RACING.

[BertHoven]

My first meeting was at Belle Vue in 1946/7. I can't remember any details except that it was a league match. I went with my mate whose name was Bob Hunter (I think he later became Financial Secretary to the Treasury!)

 

Forgive my vagueness but it was a very long time ago I was a wee nipper of 14 at the time. Now I'm an old codger and my 73rd birthday is looming on the horizon like a dark cloud with a very large silver lining!

 

It's me bedtime now so I look forward to reading all your reminicences tomorrow, my friends.

 

BTW, contrary to rumours emanating from Broxbourne, AndyM is not thirty.

 

God bless you, my children!

 

Bert.

[Bandits4eva]

One of the first meetings i can actually remember going too was Berwick vs Wolverhampton in the 1991 season.... i also remember why that one sticks in memory too ...

 

there used to be a chant of "Oo Ronnie Correy"

 

me being the sporting 4 year old i was , i decided to shout "Boo ronnie correy"

 

oh how nothing has changed

[NorthamptonKnights]

In that case you may well have known, or at least, seen my dad, Ray Wood, he rode for the Knights a few times in1981, he was probably rubbish, he lives out in Aussie now, and works for the CSIRO in the Textiles area of research. great fun.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Sean, you little tyke, your dad was an ok rider - not one of the tops, but always willing to "give it a go".

 

He rode 4 NL matches for MK, for an average of 4.00 points - including one race where he pushed home for best part of a lap to earn a point!

 

Most memorable thing about him - everything was red - his bike, his leathers, his boots, his helmet (until he got a new-fangled Bell Moto Star) ... especially his hair!

 

I've got great memories of spending the day at Saddlebow Road with him and his mate Robbie Trezise ... I was fuelling and oiling the bikes, they were taking part in a training school meeting with 12 other (mainly British) junior riders of that time.

 

Oh, and his favourite saying was a quote supposedly from Ron Wilson, the MK promoter at the time ... "Stay down, it's good for the crowd"!

 

Good old Ron - who else out there can remember the evening they carried his "wallet" on to the centre green at Groveway on a stretcher?

[lionheart]

Well I cannot remember much about my first view of Speedway. It was definitely Blackbird Road, Leicester in about 1949. I was just too excited to remember much about it, but THEN of course there were still the leg trailers riding. FANTASTIC I seem to remember that one of the visitors at one of my early matches was Phil Bishop. Could it have been v. Southampton ? My personal favourite amongst the Hunters was Lionel Benson. My first AWAY match was against the FLEETWOOD FLYERS, and the Hunters were thrashed ! Probably because they were used to riding on one of the fairest racing strips in the country, and the Flyers track was a bit like a bombsite with the brick ends left in !

A sad ,sad day, when Blackbird Road was consigned to history

[RobMcCaffery]

Rayleigh 45 Romford 30 British League Division 2, June 1971.

 

Having been nagged to death by a schoolfriend about these 'Rockets' I suppose I knew the likes of Hugh Saunders, Geoff Maloney, Dingle Brown, Nigel Rackett, Bob Young, Allen Emmett and Tiger Beech and some guy called "Allan Jackson r/r" long before I ever saw them actually ride, or not in the case of the last-mentioned.

 

I quickly discovered that local rivalry existed in this strange sport which began with a certain L.Silver verbally attacking the Romford management over the p.a. over the late inclusion of a rider...Bob Coles I think.

 

And just when I'd really got to love the Weir - it shut - for good.....

 

Rob.

[Addy]

Hyde Road - was only ickle - so Daddy took me high up so I wouldn't be hit by shale.

[Sulli]

My first meeting was at Peterborough in 1971 i think, Panthers V Boston and Andy Ross broke his leg.  I watched the meeting from the centre green as i was with St John Ambulance.

i have been hooked ever since  

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Andy Ross broke his leg in the Peterborough Open Championship (individual meeting). If I remember right, it was against Geoff Bouchard (Long Eaton) & Arthur Price (Boston) all three unbeaten into their last ride. Andy Ross didn't ride for Panthers again.

[Guest speedyguy]

Andy Ross broke his leg in the Peterborough Open Championship (individual meeting). If I remember right, it was against Geoff Bouchard (Long Eaton) & Arthur Price (Boston) all three unbeaten into their last ride. Andy Ross didn't ride for Panthers again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

April 1946. Challenge match : New Cross v The Rest. Riders included Ron Johnson, Eric French, Les Wotton and in the second-half Mick Mitchell. I think New Cross won this challenge match. There had been a few meetings in 1945 but my mum wouldn't let me go see 'that noisy and dangerous sport'!

[norbold]

Ah Yes, 17 April 1946: New Cross 46 The Rest 37

For New Cross: Ron Johnson 12, Eric French 9 Geoff Pymar 9

The Rest: Ron Clarke 8 Tommy Price 8, Wally Lloyd 6

[Guest speedyguy]

Ah Yes, 17 April 1946: New Cross 46 The Rest 37

For New Cross: Ron Johnson 12, Eric French 9 Geoff Pymar 9

The Rest: Ron Clarke 8 Tommy Price 8, Wally Lloyd 6

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I had an idea that Wally Lloyd rode but was not certain. I still remember the VERY long turnstile queue and the packed terraces and the dulcet tones of New Cross announcer Cecil (or Cyril) Smith who was promoter Fred Mockford's business partner. Fred was also something to do with the music hall the New Cross Empire at Deptford Broadway. Dear me, I'm getting bostalgic now.

All in my last 18 months at school (left July 1947).

[Guest Jim Blanchard]

Coincidently Norman, my first was at New Cross. Was in a pram so cannot remember the details but very early 50's. With my parents.

 

First one I can really remember was when they started up again in 1959. Using mostly guest riders, got my first look at PC. I know you think he did not master the Frying Pan as well as Ove; though he was still flippin exciting, culminating in him winning the Tom Farndon memorial meeting that year.

 

I also remember seeing Max (you need hands..) Bygraves at the New Cross Empire at Deptford Broadway, being a Deptford lad. Colin Goody lived on Wotton Road and Jack Young had workshops at the back of the stadium on Hunsdon Road. Great times