BOBBATH Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Anybody have any views on this-JS went for many years, but also Gordon McGregor was riding in 1950 I think or thereabouts for Motherwell, and I saw him in 1970 riding for Doncaster Dragons. Both these guys had very long careers-are you aware of anyone who can match then in this regard-I just also thought of Ronnie Moore-he started in 50 or 51 and was riding in the early seventies but he had a five year break in there 64-68 I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star ghost Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 (edited) Possibly Billy Bales who rode for Yarmouth Bloaters 1948 to 1951 (inclusive of his National Service years) = 4 Billy joined Norwich Stars for the 1952 season and continued until closure of the Firs after the 1964 season = 13 Allocated to Sheffield Tigers for 1965 he continued until his retirement at the end of the 1969 season = 5 This totals 22 seasons when Billy rode here in England True Billy missed most of 1951 in the U K. due to serving in the forces but he rode Speedway in those days in Egypt. Having said this I think Jimmy Squibb would be the rider with the longest career in Post War Speedway. Another who might be considered is "Hurri Ken" McKinley who was riding for many seasons. Edited February 16, 2008 by star ghost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shippy22 Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 (edited) Paul Fry made his league debut in 1984, so this coming season will be his 25th season in speedway. If you count Conference League, then Rob Hollingworth started in 1973 ( I think), and was still riding for Boston in 2006, although he did retire for several years in between. I also imagine Malcolm Simmons must be close to the record. Edited February 16, 2008 by shippy22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 If you're talking consecutive years, Andrzej Huszcza must be up there. According to his (Polish) wikipedia entry, he rode for Zielona Gora from 1975 to 2005 and PSZ Poznan in 2006 and 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Heres a link to some info on Squibby......and those menacing eys of his.... http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedwayyears/squibb.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Templeton Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Without going through the record books, Geoff Pymar and Wal Morton spring to mind as having very long careers. I'm sure someone will put me right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Without going through the record books, Geoff Pymar and Wal Morton spring to mind as having very long careers. I'm sure someone will put me right. They rode pre-war. The subject says post-war so I don't think they count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Templeton Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 They rode pre-war. The subject says post-war so I don't think they count.Thanks for the info. I do remember Geoff Pymar riding for Yarmouth, and Wal Morton for Liverpool at Knowle Stadium in Bristol in 1960, so I think their careers may have covered a long period, although the war intervened, of course. Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miro Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Conny Samuelsson rode for the Vetlanda club in Sweden every season between a first appearance in 1964 up to a final two outings in 1999 His only other club was Oxford in 1969. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I think its gotta be Jim Squibb-but have learned some interesting thing from these posts tho' .Fascinating altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Conny Samuelsson rode for the Vetlanda club in Sweden every season between a first appearance in 1964 up to a final two outings in 1999 His only other club was Oxford in 1969. While not quite in the Huszcza or Samuelsson league yet,Matten Kröger will this year be doing his 23rd season with Brokstedt.Not bad considering brokstedt are celebrating their 25 year jubilee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I'm a bit surprised that no-one so far has mentioned either Les Collins (1975-2003) or Neil Collins (1978-2006) both of whom had league careers of over 25 consecutive seasons. I'm also sure that Nigel Boocock used to appear in the Guinness Book of Records for the longevity of his career (1955-1980). Graham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Billy Bales retired at the end of 1967 not 1969 as my fellow ex Norwich Stars fans Star Ghost suggests! Though hes right in saying that Billy begun his career at Great Yarmouth in the late 1940's, so he enjoyed a long career! Geof Pymar first rode at Norwich in about 1930 and I believe rode his last season at Middlesbrough or Bradford in about 1962 though I'm sure Star ghost will correct me! Les Collins first rode league speedway for Crewe in 1975 and was still going in 2003 with Glasgow! Neil Collins first rode in about 77/78 and finshed in 2006 with newport. Ivan Mauger first rode speedway in 1955 in New Zealand and finished riding competitively in 1986! Olle Nygren also rode for many years from possibly the late 40's till the mid 70's. If you don't count league careers and just total years spent racing then some riders have had massively long careers. For instance I remember seeing Chris Louis/gary Havelock/Mark loram riding on junior grasstracks in the late 70's/early 80's and others like Phil Morris, Scott Nicholls and Leigh Lanham riding in the mid 80's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miro Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I saw Billy Bales ride for Sheffield in 1969 for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Billy Bales DID ride for Sheffield in 1969. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I'm convinced Billy Bales retired in 1967 but I maybe wrong! The period from 1964 to when Norwich closed up until when Ipswich reopened in 1969 was when I didn't see too much speedway as I have in other eras although I did go to King's Lynn probably 30 - 40 times in between! Another long career I can think of - Rob Hollingworth - 1972 - 1986, 1999-2007, though like some of the other ones I thought of a few of them years wern't in league racing, things like 2nd halfs and amatuer racing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miro Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 25 yearfan you got me wondering, but I've had a look in the books and Bales rode 34 times for Sheffield in 1969 and retired after 21 years as a rider, and a great rider he was too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Billy was a great rider, but career longevity wise both Squibb and McGregor beat him out I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Olle Nygren also rode for many years from possibly the late 40's till the mid 70's. Olle started in 1947.Not sure when he finally hung up his leathers,but for most of his career he was with Vargarna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatwick Rocket Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Olle started in 1947.Not sure when he finally hung up his leathers,but for most of his career he was with Vargarna. Olle last rode in the UK for King's Lynn in 1975. He finished racing in the UK when he was not allowed to race for Boston in 1976 as the National League prohibited riders from outside of the Commonwealth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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