Oldest Surviving World Finalists

[customhouseregularisback]

Me too 

[midlandred]

2 hours ago, chunky said:

What scares me is that I vividly remember watching six of the twelve OLDEST World Finalists race!

Seven for me, Chunks!

[norbold]

45 minutes ago, midlandred said:

Seven for me, Chunks!

Eight for me…

[arnieg]

I feel so youthful, just 4

[salty]

Six for me.

[andout]

Oh dear....10 for me!

Edited April 10 by andout

[OveFundinFan]

On 4/6/2024 at 11:31 PM, norbold said:

Eight for me…

Nine for me.

Not seen Arthur Payne, Dan Forsberg, and though Ian Williams rode for Swindon up to 1963 and I was a regular at BVue with mum and dad for at least 5 years prior to that I just can’t remember seeing him…so not included. I can remember seeing Eric Williams though, who was a few years older than Ian.   Strange.

[Jonas H]

Arthur Payne 101 years today!

[BOBBATH]

On 4/7/2024 at 3:44 AM, arnieg said:

I feel so youthful, just 4

You are youthful...

[Split]

On 4/7/2024 at 12:31 AM, norbold said:

Eight for me…

Eight for me too which is no surprise as I know we started watching speedway at about the same time. I would have nine if I had attended the 1960 world final as I could add Hofmeister to the list.

Edited September 12 by Split

[andout]

Troy Butler??????? #113

Edited October 5 by andout

[BOBBATH]

On 12/6/2023 at 10:54 PM, chunky said:

So, here is the current list, and hopegully there won't be any other changes this year. Must admit, it's nice to see four Dons at positions 9-12!

Looking at World Champions, I found this very interesting! Looking at how many surviving World Champions (World Fnals) were born in each decade, we find:

1930's - 3 (10 titles)
1940's - 3 (5 titles)
1950's - 5 (11 titles)
1960's - 4 (4 titles)
1970's - 1 (1 title)

01 - Arthur Payne - 28/08/23
02 - Chum Taylor - 04/04/27
03 - Ian Williams - 04/08/31
04 - Ove Fundin - 23/05/33
05 - Dan Forsberg - 25/03/34
06 - Josef Hofmeister - 17/06/34
07 - Brian Crutcher - 23/08/34
08 - Mike Broadbank - 25/09/34
09 - Barry Briggs - 30/12/34
10 - Bob Andrews - 27/10/1935
11 - Reg Luckhurst - 11/11/1935
12 - Sverre Harrfeldt - 23/11/1937
13 - Leif Larsson - 16/02/1938
14 - Bjorn Knutson - 27/04/38
15 - Rick France - 12/07/1938
16 - Gunnar Malmqvist - 25/12/1940

17 - Andrzej Wyglenda 04/05/1941
18 - John Louis - 14/06/1941

19 - Jim Airey - 19/08/1941
20 - Bengt Jansson - 09/01/1943
21 - Anders Michanek - 30/05/1943
22 - Trevor Hedge - 30/08/1943
23 - Terry Betts - 15/09/1943
24 - Howard Cole 29/12/1943
25 - Martin Ashby - 05/02/1944
26 - Jan Simensen - 26/07/1944
27 - Zygfryd Friedek - 19/10/1944
28 - Jerzy Trzeszkowski - 10/01/1945
29 - Eric Boocock - 02/02/1945
30 - John Boulger - 18/06/1945
31 - Hasse Holmqvist - 18/06/1945
32 - Jim McMillan - 03/12/1945
33 - Soren Karlsson - 23/10/1946
34 - Ole Olsen - 16/11/1946
35 - Ray Wilson - 12/03/1947
36 - Doug Wyer - 16/08/1947
37 - Grigori Khlinovsky - 11/11/47
38 - Egon Muller - 26/11/1948
39 - Christoph Betzl - 13/02/1949
40- Jiri Stancl - 18/11/1949
41 - Viktor Kuznetsov - 27/11/1949

42 - Georg Hack - 20/02/1950
43 - Marek Cieslak - 28/06/1950
44 - Alois Wiesbock - 31/07/1950
45 - Tommy Johansson - 21/10/1950
46 - Vladimir Gordeev - 30/11/1950
47 - John Titman - 26/01/1951
48 - Dag Lovaas - 25/02/1951
49 - Jan Verner - 03/03/1951
50 - Petr Ondrasik - 08/10/1951
51 - Phil Crump - 09/02/1952
52 - Henny Kroeze - 11/03/1952
53 - Valery Gordeev - 28/08/1952
54 - Dave Jessup - 07/03/1953
55 - Ales Dryml - 10/06/1953
56 - Scott Autrey - 09/07/1953
57 - Gordon Kennett - 02/09/1953
58 - Robert Slabon - 15/09/1953
59 - Peter Collins - 24/03/1954
60 - Larry Ross - 15/06/1954
61 - John Davis - 10/11/1954
62 - Finn Thomsen - 16/02/1955
63 - Mikhail Starostin - 24/02/1955
64 - Tommy Nilsson - 10/03/1955
65 - Jan Andersson - 07/05/1955
66 - Kai Niemi - 15/09/1955
67 - Jerzy Rembas - 18/04/1956
68 - Chris Morton - 22/07/1956
69 - Steve Bastable - 16/09/1956
70 - Bruce Penhall - 10/05/1957
71 - Karl Maier - 24/08/1957
72 - Roman Jankowski - 05/10/1957
73 - Bo Petersen - 21/02/1958
74 - Les Collins - 24/05/1958
75 - Mitch Shirra - 27/09/1958
76 - Michael Lee - 11/12/1958
77 - John Cook - 18/12/1958
78 - Richard Knight - 26/05/1959
79 - Dennis Sigalos - 16/08/1959
80 - Erik Gundersen - 08/10/1959
81 - Hans Nielsen - 26/12/1959

82 - Olli Tyrvainen - 11/01/1960
83 - Phil Collins - 02/06/1960
84 - Sam Ermolenko - 23/11/1960
85 - Rick Miller - 12/01/1961
86 - Jeremy Doncaster - 16/06/1961
87 - Tommy Knudsen - 09/11/1961
88 - Zoltan Adorjan - 15/11/1961
89 - Shawn Moran - 19/11/1961
90 - Peter Ravn - 16/03/1962
91 - Zenon Kasprzak - 10/05/1962
92 - John Jorgensen - 18/07/1962
93 - Antal Kocso - 22/12/1962
94 - Sandor Tihanyi - 28/04/1963
95 - Lance King - 13/08/1963
96 - Armando Castagna - 22/09/1963
97 - Kelvin Tatum - 08/02/1964
98 - Marvyn Cox - 11/07/1964
99 - Zdenek Tesar - 30/07/1964
100 - Mikael Blixt - 08/08/1964
101 - Paul Thorp - 09/09/1964
102 - Tony Olsson - 13/03/1965
103 - Gerd Riss - 17/03/1965
104 - Conny Ivarsson - 15/04/1965
105 - Simon Cross - 31/05/1965
106 - Bohumil Brhel - 10/06/1965
107 - Slawomir Drabik - 06/02/1966
108 - Per Jonsson - 21/03/1966
109 - Andy Smith - 25/05/1966
110 - Jan Staechmann - 05/06/1966
111 - Ronnie Correy - 08/11/1966
112 - Jimmy Nilsen - 16/11/1966
113 - Brian Karger - 09/02/1967
114 - Jan O. Pedersen - 27/07/1967
115 - Craig Boyce - 02/08/1967
116 - Troy Butler - 22/09/1967
117 - Piotr Swist - 20/06/1968
118 - Todd Wiltshire - 26/09/1968
119 - Gary Havelock - 04/11/1968
120 - Stefan Danno - 10/02/1969
121 - Martin Dugard - 18/05/1969
122 - Gert Handberg - 30/05/1969
123 - Chris Louis - 09/07/1969

124- Billy Hamill - 23/05/1970
125 - Greg Hancock - 03/06/1970
126 - Henrik Gustafsson - 14/08/1970
127 - Tony Rickardsson - 17/08/1970
128 - Mark Loram - 12/01/1971
129 - Tomasz Gollob - 11/04/1971
130 - Leigh Adams - 28/04/1971
131 - Josh Larsen - 12/05/1972
132 - Joe Screen - 27/11/1972
133 - Jason Crump - 06/08/1975

So now Ian Williams # 3 has passed (RIP). Hard to believe Ove is now third- I think John Louis and Wyglenda have passed- so that makes JIm Airey in the sixteen, Banger Jansson also

[chunky]

32 minutes ago, BOBBATH said:

So now Ian Williams # 3 has passed (RIP). Hard to believe Ove is now third- I think John Louis and Wyglenda have passed- so that makes JIm Airey in the sixteen, Banger Jansson also

As far as I know, Andrzej is still with us...

[BOBBATH]

On 3/11/2023 at 4:12 PM, chunky said:

01 - Arthur Payne - 28/08/23
02 - Chum Taylor - 04/04/27
03 - Billy Bales - 06/06/29
04 - Ian Williams - 04/08/31
05 - Per Tage Svensson - 16/10/31
06 - Peo Soderman - 29/10/32
07 - Ove Fundin - 23/05/33
08 - Dan Forsberg - 25/03/34
09 - Josef Hofmeister - 17/06/34
10 - Brian Crutcher - 23/08/34
11 - Mike Broadbank - 25/09/34
12 - Barry Briggs - 30/12/34
13 - Aage Hansen - 13/04/35
14 - Gote Nordin - 02/07/35
15 - Bob Andrews - 27/10/1935
16 - Reg Luckhurst - 11/11/1935

17 - Doug Davies - 06/08/1936
18 - Sverre Harrfeldt - 23/11/1937

19 - Leif Larsson - 16/02/1938
20 - Rick France - 12/07/1938
21 - Leif Enecrona - 05/03/1940
22 - Andrzej Wyglenda 04/05/1941
23 - John Louis - 14/06/1941
24 - Jim Airey - 19/08/1941
25 - Bengt Jansson - 09/01/1943
26 - Anders Michanek - 30/05/1943
27 - Trevor Hedge - 30/08/1943
28 - Terry Betts - 15/09/1943
29 - Howard Cole 29/12/1943
30 - Martin Ashby - 05/02/1944
31 - Jan Simensen - 26/07/1944
32 - Zygfryd Friedek - 19/10/1944
33 - Jerzy Trzeszkowski - 10/01/1945
34 - Eric Boocock - 02/02/1945
35 - John Boulger - 18/06/1945
36 - Hasse Holmqvist - 18/06/1945
37 - Jim McMillan - 03/12/1945
38 - Soren Karlsson - 23/10/1946
39 - Ole Olsen - 16/11/1946
40 - Ray Wilson - 12/03/1947
41 - Doug Wyer - 16/08/1947
42 - Grigori Khlinovsky - 11/11/47
43 - Egon Muller - 26/11/1948
44 - Christoph Betzl - 13/02/1949
45 - Jiri Stancl - 18/11/1949
46 - Viktor Kuznetsov - 27/11/1949
47 - Georg Hack - 20/02/1950
48 - Marek Cieslak - 28/06/1950
49 - Alois Wiesbock - 31/07/1950
50 - Tommy Johansson - 21/10/1950

51 - Vladimir Gordeev - 30/11/1950
52 - John Titman - 26/01/1951
53 - Dag Lovaas - 25/02/1951
54 - Jan Verner - 03/03/1951
55 - Petr Ondrasik - 08/10/1951
56 - Phil Crump - 09/02/1952
57 - Henny Kroeze - 11/03/1952
58 - Valery Gordeev - 28/08/1952
59 - Dave Jessup - 07/03/1953
60 - Ales Dryml - 10/06/1953
61 - Scott Autrey - 09/07/1953
62 - Gordon Kennett - 02/09/1953
63 - Robert Slabon - 15/09/1953
64 - Peter Collins - 24/03/1954
65 - Larry Ross - 15/06/1954
66 - John Davis - 10/11/1954
67 - Finn Thomsen - 16/02/1955
68 - Mikhail Starostin - 24/02/1955
69 - Tommy Nilsson - 10/03/1955
70 - Jan Andersson - 07/05/1955
71 - Kai Niemi - 15/09/1955
72 - Jerzy Rembas - 18/04/1956
73 - Chris Morton - 22/07/1956
74 - Steve Bastable - 16/09/1956
75 - Bruce Penhall - 10/05/1957
76 - Karl Maier - 24/08/1957
77 - Roman Jankowski - 05/10/1957
78 - Bo Petersen - 21/02/1958
79 - Les Collins - 24/05/1958
80 - Mitch Shirra - 27/09/1958
81 - Michael Lee - 11/12/1958
82 - John Cook - 18/12/1958
83 - Dennis Sigalos - 16/08/1959
84 - Erik Gundersen - 08/10/1959
85 - Hans Nielsen - 26/12/1959

Hi everybody, particularly Chunky, Can you update the list as of October 2024- last one I saw had Ian Williams crossing over to the great track in the sky