speedyguy Posted September 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 (edited) DON Scarff said...: "When the closure was announced at the end of 1986...", P1928 - please explain this? Edited September 22, 2008 by speedyguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyguy Posted September 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 WIMBLEDON DONS The story of Wimbledon Speedway Edited by Howard Jones 106 pages, more than 200 photos £15.99 (post free) from (cheques/postal orders only) Speed-Away Promotions, 19, Arundel Road, Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire FY8 1AF. Aside from all the debate on a minor point - and that is how things should be - this book is an excellent publication. I strongly recommend it to ALL speedway followers - not just Wimbledon fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsloes 1928 nearly Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 DON Scarff said in his programme notes for Belle Vue's visit on May 29: "When the closure was announced at the end of 1986, I was one of a group of people who got together to keep things going..." P1928 - please explain this? Good grief!! Mr. Scarff is clearly looking back over the three and a bit years he was in charge and reflecting that he and colleagues put in a rescue package in 1986 when, one assumes if this hadn't happened, closure was a real possibility. I didn't go to Wimbledon at all in this period (I was largely lost to the sport for a decade after Crayford closed three years earlier than the time you are referring to...), so have no idea, frankly, if '86/'87 was the kind of watershed period you say it was... What I do know is that the book in no way states that 1986 was the year when it all started to go bad for Wimbledon Speedway, coz as far as I can detect no-one other than you seem to think it was!!! What puzzles me is how a journalist of your repute can so wilfully fail to understand that the reference to Mr.Scarff's comment is exactly that:: a direct quote from his programme notes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyguy Posted September 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 (edited) Good grief!! Mr. Scarff is clearly looking back over the three and a bit years he was in charge and reflecting that he and colleagues put in a rescue package in 1986 when, one assumes if this hadn't happened, closure was a real possibility. I didn't go to Wimbledon at all in this period (I was largely lost to the sport for a decade after Crayford closed three years earlier than the time you are referring to...), so have no idea, frankly, if '86/'87 was the kind of watershed period you say it was... What I do know is that the book in no way states that 1986 was the year when it all started to go bad for Wimbledon Speedway, coz as far as I can detect no-one other than you seem to think it was!!! What puzzles me is how a journalist of your repute can so wilfully fail to understand that the reference to Mr.Scarff's comment is exactly that:: a direct quote from his programme notes!! All I did was refer to a quote from the book by Don Scarff where the phrase closure in 1986 is mentioned. Even if he did make the comment years on, the words about a closure in 1986 by Don Scarff do appear in the book. Howard Jones' excellent book does not say things started to go wrong in 1986 - I said that based on Don Scarff's quote and what I saw happen in the seasons following on from 1986. Are we getting through now..? Edited September 22, 2008 by speedyguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsloes 1928 nearly Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Howard Jones' excellent book does not say things started to go wrong in 1986 - I said that based on Don Scarff's quote and what I saw happen in the seasons following on from 1986. Are we getting through now..? Good! As you say, all cleared up!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted September 23, 2008 Report Share Posted September 23, 2008 Howard Jones' excellent book does not say things started to go wrong in 1986 - I said that based on Don Scarff's quote and what I saw happen in the seasons following on from 1986. Are we getting through now..? As a spectator throughout the 80's I certainly think there was a marked improvement following the consortium takeover in the winter of 1986. Be interested to hear your reasons for thinking things had gone wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyguy Posted September 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2008 As a spectator throughout the 80's I certainly think there was a marked improvement following the consortium takeover in the winter of 1986. Be interested to hear your reasons for thinking things had gone wrong? It did not happen overnight, but as the subsequent seasons from 1986 progressed, for my part I felt that interest locally for speedway was declining. The fact that the season ended dramatically in early season 1991 I feel compounds that opinion. But then, as I want to make clear, that is just how I saw things happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted September 23, 2008 Report Share Posted September 23, 2008 It did not happen overnight, but as the subsequent seasons from 1986 progressed, for my part I felt that interest locally for speedway was declining. The fact that the season ended dramatically in early season 1991 I feel compounds that opinion. But then, as I want to make clear, that is just how I saw things happening. Surprised you would see it like that, I thought there was a definite upsurge in crowds in the late 80's when Russell Lanning was in charge. Getting to the Cup Final and giving Poole a run for the league title the following year gave a positive buzz around the place, the presentation was slick and entertaining and the publicity was on the up. On the contrary, before the take over and in particular the last couple of years in the British League I thought it was clear things were on the slide. Having said that I think the pressure from the GRA became more intense and the closure enforced on the Speedway for the duration of the Greyhound Derby was a good example of that attitude. Surely the trigger for the 1991 closure was the ill timed move up to the top flight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilK Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 (edited) From the South London Press, Friday September 19, 2008: RECAPTURING PAST GLORIES By JOHN HYAM WIMBLEDON DONS The story of Wimbledon Speedway Edited by Howard Jones 106 pages, more than 200 photos £15.99 (post free) from (cheques/postal orders only) Speed-Away Promotions, 19, Arundel Road, Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire FY8 1AF. The first match I saw at Wimbledon on Thursday April 29 1948 actually featured Wembley beating Belle Vue 52-31 in a National League match. This was because Wembley were based at Plough Lane for six weeks while the Empire Stadium was in use for that year’s Olympic Games. But I had seen the Dons in action many times before that when they were visitors to my first speedway love, the now gone but not forgotten New Cross team. In the late 1940s, New Cross were often compared with the Dons - and for most of the time until their closure in early 1953, New Cross held sway over their south London rivals, as they had also done in the pre-war seasons between 1929-39. The book concentrates on a period from the 1950s through until the demise of top-class racing at Plough Lane on June 5 1991. Then, the sport went out on a damp note at the closedown meeting with the match abandoned at heat eight because of rain. But the closedown was no real surprise. Wimbledon had been in decline for years before that. As far back as 1986 there was speculation that it would fold. The book has a bright modern feel. There are many excellent team photos - going back as far as 1931 which feature great riders such as Vic Huxley and Ray Tauser. There are also photos of two riders who I regard as being the most spectacular in post-war years to have worn the club’s race-jacket. They are that great legtrail-style rider Oliver Hart and the hustle-bustle thrillmaker Lloyd ‘Cowboy’ Goffe. In the days when tracks were deep cinder surfaces rather than the shale of modern times, their spectacle has never been repeated. The ‘Wimbledon Dons’ book gives an insight from the days when speedway was a mainstream sport to the lesser dimensions of the ill-fated venture into Conference League racing between 2002-05. It is well worth a library place. Certainly didn't buy this book on the back of that 'review', seems more about the reviewer that the actual book However as a non Wimbledon follower I can recommend it as a very good read, although as Salty has alluded to rather expensive at £20.99 (hardback) for 106 pages. A problem with most books/magazines Speed-away promotions produce, I recently also purchased the Pocket Defunct.........of Leicester booklet, 24 A5 pages for £6!!!!! Maybe the small print runs have something to do with the prices being asked Getting back to the Wimbledon book, the long history of the famous club is well covered with important seasons reviewed, interviews with some of the famous names associated with Wimbledon and many excellent photos, and as I say expensive but a necessary purchase for any collector of speedway books. I will be certainly looking to purchase the Cradley Heath version and hope that future book style issues on famous defunct clubs follow from the Speed-away stable! PS - The History of Stoke Potters is also a decent read, similiar format and size Edited October 7, 2008 by PhilK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 Yes the tragic death of Tommy Jansson led to a decline but many others say that when big Wimbldon heros like Trevor Hedge and Ronnie Moore left the club many fans also stopped going. Also the fact the club was highly successful in the 50s and 60s meant that the struggles in the British League years up until the drop down in to the NL in 1985 was hard to swallow for many fans who drifted away! I'd agree that the consortium NL years of 1987- 1990 saw a big upsurge about the place and it was a pleasure to go Plough Lane in those days. I think if the amalgamation hadn't taken place in 1991 then Wimbledon speedway would of carried on the same but the changes in League set up in 91 which led to the Dons competing in the top flight with a very weak team added to the recession at the time which meant their was no main team sponsor all contrbuted to the tracks death. The GRA had long before lost interest in speedway at Plough Lane by this time so didn't lose any sleep when speedway stopped. Whilst the 4 season spell in the CL was hard work getting going, eventually it started to become a success until the GRA stopped things. This CL spell proved that speedway at Wimbledon could still be a success if it was done properly and was well financed! Hopefully one day we'll see the Dons back at Plough Lane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyguy Posted October 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 (edited) Certainly didn't buy this book on the back of that 'review', seems more about the reviewer that the actual book That's rather a harsh comment. The reviewer actually covered Wimbledon speedway for various publications from late 1953 until the departure from Plough Lane in 2005. Perhaps he felt an afinity to the club. Edited October 9, 2008 by speedyguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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