BL65 Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 the only point the Wasps took off Wolves that night was when Alby Golden in Heat 2 finished behind Cyril Francis and ahead of Jim Airey. It could have been worse of course. Jim Airey actually fell in Heat 2 and remounted to take third place. He may very well have beaten Alby Golden if he had not fallen, which would have resulted in a complete whitewash. Wolves showed their strength in depth as they were without Jim Airey for their remaining home meetings as he returned to Australia. The following week they thrashed Glasgow 56-21 without him, having brought in junior Paul Sharples at reserve, with Brian Maxted moving into the main body of the team. In the final home league meeting they easily defeated Hackney, but they were without Roy Trigg, who I believe had also left for Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 It could have been worse of course. Jim Airey actually fell in Heat 2 and remounted to take third place. He may very well have beaten Alby Golden if he had not fallen, which would have resulted in a complete whitewash. Wolves showed their strength in depth as they were without Jim Airey for their remaining home meetings as he returned to Australia. The following week they thrashed Glasgow 56-21 without him, having brought in junior Paul Sharples at reserve, with Brian Maxted moving into the main body of the team. In the final home league meeting they easily defeated Hackney, but they were without Roy Trigg, who I believe had also left for Australia. Yet another former Sunderland Rider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 It could have been worse of course. Jim Airey actually fell in Heat 2 and remounted to take third place. He may very well have beaten Alby Golden if he had not fallen, which would have resulted in a complete whitewash. Wolves showed their strength in depth as they were without Jim Airey for their remaining home meetings as he returned to Australia. The following week they thrashed Glasgow 56-21 without him, having brought in junior Paul Sharples at reserve, with Brian Maxted moving into the main body of the team. In the final home league meeting they easily defeated Hackney, but they were without Roy Trigg, who I believe had also left for Australia. If I may retort as -Samuel L. Jackson said in "Pulp Fiction" before murdering about 3 guys-indeed Airey fell in Heat 2, but remounted and got a third place only after Geoff Penniket's e.f.. Thus I would say that but for that engine failure Newport would have lost by only 63-15!! Isn't it amazing to think that we are able by the wonder of the internet to be able to discuss a heat result over 51 years later. What an interesting world we live in today!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 If I may retort as -Samuel L. Jackson said in "Pulp Fiction" before murdering about 3 guys-indeed Airey fell in Heat 2, but remounted and got a third place only after Geoff Penniket's e.f.. Thus I would say that but for that engine failure Newport would have lost by only 63-15!! Isn't it amazing to think that we are able by the wonder of the internet to be able to discuss a heat result over 51 years later. What an interesting world we live in today!!!! Nothing to do with 1965, but an oddment regarding Newport. Having seen Wasps lose 64-14 at Wolverhampton in 1965, I almost witnessed a repetition of that scoreline when they visited Cradley Heath on 24th June 1972. Eleven 5-1 heat wins by the home team, together with a 4-2 when Graham Plant took second place ahead of Mick Handley in heat 5 added up to 59-13. Just how unpredictable speedway used to be was shown by the result of the other race, heat 8, when the Wasps pairing of Neil Street and Terry Shearer shot away from the start to record a 5-1, thus accounting for the final score of 60-18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 This thread prompted me to look up my programme for Newport v. Wolves in 1965. It was the second completed meeting at Somerton Park -on Easter Monday 19th April. Great meeting, very close Wasps won 41-37. A thing I recall is that the Wolves all showed up with orange jerseys over their and leathers-extremely smart. The second thing is that I got to see my second NL rider-good old Bob Andrews. Bob won his first race as part of a 1-5 with Cyril Francis against Alby Golden and Jon Erskine, but ended the night with 6 points -2 wins and 2 lasts. However here is one for you Whiteknight-the two top scorers for Wolves were Jim Airey with 10 and Gordon Guasco with 8. Great days, warm evening as I recall and close racing. Wolves were indeed a strong team but no question the ex Sunderland riders made a major contribution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 This thread prompted me to look up my programme for Newport v. Wolves in 1965. It was the second completed meeting at Somerton Park -on Easter Monday 19th April. Great meeting, very close Wasps won 41-37. A thing I recall is that the Wolves all showed up with orange jerseys over their and leathers-extremely smart. The second thing is that I got to see my second NL rider-good old Bob Andrews. Bob won his first race as part of a 1-5 with Cyril Francis against Alby Golden and Jon Erskine, but ended the night with 6 points -2 wins and 2 lasts. However here is one for you Whiteknight-the two top scorers for Wolves were Jim Airey with 10 and Gordon Guasco with 8. Great days, warm evening as I recall and close racing. Wolves were indeed a strong team but no question the ex Sunderland riders made a major contribution. As I said BOBBATH - that is why we were closed down. I'll never forgive Parker and Bridgett for that. They said we closed because of bad weather and low crowds - absolute rubbish. We had a couple of wet Meetings (crucially we never had a Rain Off) and the Meeting before we closed attracted a 6,000 crowd. No - we were closed to strengthen Wolverhampton (another Bridgett Track) and Newcastle got Ken Sharples who was brilliant for them and they won the League in 1964. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I agree whiteknight- as a matter of interest when Sunderland reopened (under Len Silver?) and had people like George Barclay and Jack Millen riding-did they get good support then-by that time I had left UK though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 I have recently been researching the 1965 season and noticed a few interesting things from the events of that year that indicate speedway wasn't perfect in the good old days, and some of what disenfranchises supporters now has been going on for the last 50 years! 1. The almost complete absence of guest riders meant injuries massively impacted team performance. It is not surprising therefore that the use of guests or rider replacement was introduced to allow team's greater compensation for the loss of top riders. 2. Very few meetings were postponed or abandoned because of the weather. This probably meant there was some nights of very poor entertainment value for the fans to endure before promoters realised it was preferable to not start in the first place. 3. Not all the season's official fixtures were completed. Cradley Heath v Halifax was never staged after being postponed on 25 September due to rain, even though Cradley Heath ran through to 30 October including an end of season challenge and a blank Saturday in those five remaining weeks. 4. Promoters squabbled over the rules and results were changed after the event. The British League match between Swindon and Wimbledon on 3 July finished 41-37 on the night but was changed to 36-37 after Swindon's use of Clive Hitch was deemed ineligible. Then on 17 August Long Eaton lost at home to Oxford 38-39 but complained about Oxford's use of Danny Dunton, whose scores were initially expunged making it a home win before the original result and scores were reinstated on appeal. 5. Things didn't always go according to plan. On 8 July the Knockout Cup tie between Oxford and Wimbledon was run over the wrong heat format (!) although Wimbledon's 43-35 away win was allowed to stand. 6. Some promoters filled the calendar with challenge fixtures. Sheffield rode 15 challenge meetings (9 at home, 6 away) of which 5 were against Belle Vue. 7. Some promoters looked overseas for new talent rather than promote from the junior ranks. Edinburgh signed Bernt Persson late in September despite there being a number of Scottish juniors on the fringes of the team there or in Glasgow. It was also remarkable to note how many teams lined up at the start of 1966 with sides that were virtually (if not completely) unchanged from the riders of the previous year. Belle Vue, Coventry, Hackney, West Ham and Wimbledon made no changes during the winter (Hackney and West Ham each promoted a junior into the team), others only had one new signing and even the most changed team of all (Long Eaton) tracked three of its side of 1965 plus a junior). Such loyalty is neither sought nor permitted in the modern era. Re point 1 and my comment on this- if you go to the thread on great memories of meetings-its interesting to read Norbold's comment on Wimbledon v. West Ham -cup replay in August 1965 where the Hammers without Hunter or Harrfeldt brought off an amazing upset because Simmons stepped up his riding. I didn't see the meeting but read the report in the Star and still remember what a big deal it was. I recognise the lack of start riders without guests was tough-but sometimes things like this did happen and were very memorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMac Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 One of the best threads ever seen on the BSF and deserves to be 'bumped' up the page. If the participants don't mind, I'd like to reproduce much of it as part of our 'look back at 1965' feature in Classic Speedway magazine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 One of the best threads ever seen on the BSF and deserves to be 'bumped' up the page. If the participants don't mind, I'd like to reproduce much of it as part of our 'look back at 1965' feature in Classic Speedway magazine? As 1965 was one of my favourite speedway seasons I welcome any 'look back' at the events of that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatwick Rocket Posted January 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) I'm fine with this Tony so long as you credit me as originator. Also, check this out http://www.myspeedwaysite.co.uk. Apologies for the naff formatting, it's my first go at creating a website, but hopefully the 1965 pages will stimulate a few more memories. Edited January 9, 2016 by Gatwick Rocket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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