Tom Farndon...the Greatest Speedway Rider Of Them All

[customhouseregular]

I know I am beginning to sound like a one man Norman Jacobs Appreciation Society, but this book is simply wonderful.

 

I have to confess that I had not paid much attention to Tom Farndon, nor indeed pre-1936 speedway. My mistake. What a man and what a rider he was. One can only surmise where his riding would have taken him had his early death and the war years not intervened.

 

Had he been allowed to live and compete for the World Title over the succeeding 15 years, he may well have emulated Fundin, Mauger and Rickardsson, but beaten them all to it.

 

Without doubt the best speedway book I have ever read.

[lucifer sam]

Excellent book… but I’m still not convinced, though, that Tom Farndon is the Greatest Of Them All (sorry Norbold!).

 

Two big “ifs”: if Tom Farndon had not died and had the second world war not taken place and the World Championship continued unabated. Farndon would have been a World Champion at some point, no doubt. But for me, the big multi-World Champion of this period would have been Vic Duggan. TF’s averages were around 10.00. VD averaged 11.54 in 1947.

 

For me, Duggan was the best rider of the sport’s opening three decades.

 

All the best

Rob

Edited August 26, 2015 by lucifer sam

[stratton]

What a great era with some real top names,i have always been fascinated with the careers of Farndon,Huxley,Bluey,Stephenson,Duggan (ect) in my humble opinion i always thought Duggan was tops what a terrific riding style the Aussie had.

[norbold]

Thank you, chr. Your comments are very much appreciated.

 

Tom Farndon had been a hero of mine ever since I read an article about him in the 1961 Speedway Star & News Digest. He seemed such an incredible man and and incredible rider. When I eventually got round to writing the biography, something I had wanted to do for many years in order to bring the exploits of this extraordinary man to an audience that had never seen him ride and many, I suspect, had never even heard of, I really enjoyed doing the research and meeting Betty Farndon, his daughter-in-law, and talking to her about the great man. The more I researched, the more I came to realise he was an even greater character than I had originally thought.

 

Of course it is impossible to say who is "The Greatest Of Them All", Rob. In fact that subtitle was added by the publisher to help sell the book. It was not my idea - especially as by the time I wrote it I had become good friends with Ove Fundin! But I would certainly always include him in my top five, though, funnily enough, as a consequence of researching Tom and the riders he rode against in his period, I have to say that I also realised what a truly great rider Bluey Wilkinson was as well, and a real challenger to the Greatest title from more or less his own period.

[Split]

I'm open to correction but I think that I once read that statistically, Vic Huxley would the "best" ever if we take races ridden/races won as the criterion.

[norbold]

That would not surprise me, Split. There is no doubt that Vic Huxley was one of the all-time greats, but sadly mostly forgotten now as his peak period was late 20s to mid 30s.

[The White Knight]

That would not surprise me, Split. There is no doubt that Vic Huxley was one of the all-time greats, but sadly mostly forgotten now as his peak period was late 20s to mid 30s.

Out of interest norbold - who is the Rider pictured in your Avatar please?

[norbold]

The rider that actually shows up is Billy Lamont. If you click on it to enlarge it, it shows Lamont roaring round the outside of Vic Huxley at Wimbledon.

[The White Knight]

The rider that actually shows up is Billy Lamont. If you click on it to enlarge it, it shows Lamont roaring round the outside of Vic Huxley at Wimbledon.

Thank you for that norbold. It is a terrific photograph.

[norbold]

Yes, it is my all-time favourite speedway photo......which is why I use it.

[Guest]

By JOHN HYAM

In its second season at New Cross, the rider who many claim is the greatest ever England rider, Tommy Farndon, died after a crash on Wednesday, August 28, 1935. It happened in the final of the second-half's New Cross scratch race. Farndon and his New Cross team-mates Johnson and Stan Greatrex were the starters along with West Ham's Bluey Wilkinson.

On the third lap, Johnson hit the safety fence on the back straight. Farndon, who was close behind, hit his team-mate and was thrown over his bike's handlebars, landing heavily on his head. Both were rushed to the Miller Hospital at Greenwich. Johnson was discharged later, but Farndon was found to be in a critical condition.

The hospital was besieged by hundreds of people waiting for news. Regular bulletins about his condition were posted on the hospital gates and bus and tram drivers stopped their vehicles so that passengers could read about Farndon. The rider died two days later without regaining consciousness. Many fans outside the hospital collapsed with grief and were given medical attention. At the time of his funeral, thousands lined the route.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Guest

[foamfence]

I think you can only judge a rider in his own time, for me the Moore, Briggs and Mauger trio where the greatest, but history and statistics and the different competitions available in recent decades, will all tell a different story. There is also quite a list of great names whose potential was unfulfilled due to to accident, early retirement or just misfortune.

[steve roberts]

I think you can only judge a rider in his own time, for me the Moore, Briggs and Mauger trio where the greatest, but history and statistics and the different competitions available in recent decades, will all tell a different story. There is also quite a list of great names whose potential was unfulfilled due to to accident, early retirement or just misfortune.

I would agree. Different eras had their greats and it's difficult, if nigh impossible to compare like with like. However personally I wouldn't go beyond Ivan Mauger...not just based on his world championship achievements but on his team ethic and his willingness to get the best out of his team mates and having a say in the make-up of all the teams that he rode for (which must have put many people's noses out). One reason I put him head and shoulders above Tony Rickardsson who I always thought was much more of an individualist. In fact I would put Tony quite a bit down on my all-time greats. Greatness of riders should not just be based on the number of world championships won but their overall impact at all levels of the game.

[iris123]

Just have to look at England football team and the number of caps won to see stats don't tell the full story

 

Is Peter Shilton really the best player ever for England?

 

Certainly after him i would say Rooney,Beckham ,Gerrard and Ashley Cole are not in the same category as Moore and Charlton

[steve roberts]

Just have to look at England football team and the number of caps won to see stats don't tell the full story

 

Is Peter Shilton really the best player ever for England?

 

Certainly after him i would say Rooney,Beckham ,Gerrard and Ashley Cole are not in the same category as Moore and Charlton

Football was a sport I followed ardently (many moons ago) but am seriously out of touch with the modern game (thank goodness) and England's under achievers in successive World and European Championships. I still recall Bobby Moore's total domination of the team (especially that great performance against Brazil in Mexico in 1970). Cool under pressure and the complete master. He will always remain my greatest English player during my life time and it's tragic that his knowledge was never really put to good use after he retired from the game.

Edited December 10, 2016 by steve roberts

[Guest]

In 2010, respected speedway historian John Chaplin was involved in a tribute ceremony to honour Tom Farndon.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Guest

[norbold]

I think you can only judge a rider in his own time, for me the Moore, Briggs and Mauger trio where the greatest,

 

 

I'm not really sure how you can say that and miss out Ove Fundin!

[Sidney the robin]

I think you can only judge a rider in his own time, for me the Moore, Briggs and Mauger trio where the greatest, but history and statistics and the different competitions available in recent decades, will all tell a different story. There is also quite a list of great names whose potential was unfulfilled due to to accident, early retirement or just misfortune.

Big shout "foamfence" now you will have "Norbold on your tail 😀and "Norbold" would have a point Fundin would have to be in that group.Out of interest how many people do you think might have Mirac in front of the other two kiwi superstars.?😜 Edited December 10, 2016 by Sidney the robin

[iris123]

Out of interest how many people do you think might have Mirac in front of the other two kiwi superstars.?

Always possible in these type of thread.If Fardon can be thought of as one of the best ever because of a few years when he was one of the best and the thought of "what might have happened",it is also possible to come to a conclusion that Ronnie was the best ever,it was just his lack of ambition and his leaving the sport that prevented it.That is why it could be concluded that someone like Michael Lee might have been or was the best ever or Tommy Jansson could have won multiple world titles or could we draw a comparison between Farndon and Darcy Ward?Ward was a great talent who also had crowds of fans outside the hospital after his crash.....all opinions,and hard to say any are wrong

[foamfence]

Big shout "foamfence" now you will have "Norbold on your tail and "Norbold" would have a point Fundin would have to be in that group.Out of interest how many people do you think might have Mirac in front of the other two kiwi superstars.?

Well Ronnie stayed in NZ for about six seasons (partly due to injury) and would have had a much bigger pile of silver wear if he hadn't, it always struck me how he seemed to find loads of room to overtake, Briggo didn't 'find' room, he pushed and harried until a gap appeared, he always seemed to me to be capable or riding closer to others than anyone at the time. Ivan brought professionalism to a new level and that has carried on into the current level of GP rider. I missed out Ove because I didn't want to start a list and because I actually prefered to watch the other three. Just my opinion of course.