steve roberts Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) I followed speedway exclusively during the 70s, 80s & 90s. My top twenty (I'm only including those that I actually saw compete and in no particular order) during each decade are: 1970s Ivan Mauger Ole Olsen Barry Briggs Ronnie Moore Anders Michanek Peter Collins Michael Lee Malcolm Simmons Dave Jessup Gordon Kennett Dag Lovaas Ray Wilson John Louis Martin Ashby Tommy Jansson Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Phil Crump Hans Nielsen Terry Betts 1980s Hans Nielsen Erik Gundersen Bruce Penhall Ole Olsen Sam Ermolenko Bo Petersen Tommy Knudsen Kelvin Tatum Simon Wigg Gordon Kennett John Davis Jan Andersson Phil Crump Shawn Moran Dennis Sigalos Billy Sanders Kenny Carter Chris Morton Jeremy Doncaster Kelly Moran Bobby Schwartz 1990s Hans Nielsen Sam Ermolenko Per Jonsson Greg Hancock Billy Hamill Gary Havelock Kelvin Tatum Martin Dugard Jason Crump Tony Rickardsson Jimmy Nilsen Todd Wiltshire Shawn Moran Chris Louis Joe Screen Tomasz Gollob Leigh Adams Jeremy Doncaster Simon Wigg It's purely a personal and subjective list. Ask me to complete a list tomorrow and I'd probably come up with a different version! Riders I would have liked to have included would have been Bernie Persson, Christer Lofqvist, John Boulger, Bengt Jansson amongst many others...! Edited December 19, 2015 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 80s glaring omissions are Jan o, Lee and Jessup and probably Peter Collins. Kennett Davis Peterson no way should be on that list. Personally would have muller as well and not Schwartz and Crump No Jan o in the 90s either?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted December 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) 80s glaring omissions are Jan o, Lee and Jessup and probably Peter Collins. Kennett Davis Peterson no way should be on that list. Personally would have muller as well and not Schwartz and Crump No Jan o in the 90s either?!? Crumbs! I'd forgotten about Jan O! As I said it's a personal list and listed are riders that left an impression on me during those years. Bo Petersen was a class act at Hackney but if I was asked to compile a list tomorrow I'm sure that it would be different! Edited December 19, 2015 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 Shaun moran also surely should be on the 80s list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted December 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 (edited) Shaun moran also surely should be on the 80s list He's there together with his brother! My list is drawn up from following Oxford (1972-75 & 1984-2003) remembering that they rode in the National/Premier League (1976-83, 93-94 & 97), White City (1976-78) & Eastbourne (1979-82) hence my high ranking of Gordon Kennett who was superlative around Arlington during that period and was an England regular during the 70s and early 80s. As I've stated it's not an exhaustive list but riders that I grew up with and admired and who left a lasting impression. I didn't, for example, see much of Penhall (certainly not riding for Cradley but generally in Test Matches and his Wembley success) or Carter (Oxford having competed in the National League during their 'reign') and there are many who I have emitted (Dougie Wyer comes to mind who was a Wood Lane specialist as was your own particular favourite Larry Ross!)...the list is endless and I re-iterate it's not aimed to provoke debate on who was the 'greatest' within a particular decade but who, for me, left their mark for a variety of reasons. No one was bigger than Peter Collins during the seventies, for example, as he had become a household name thru' his exploits covered by the sadly missed 'World of Sport.' Edited December 19, 2015 by steve roberts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) I followed speedway exclusively during the 70s, 80s & 90s. My top twenty (I'm only including those that I actually saw compete and in no particular order) during each decade are: 1970s Ivan Mauger Ole Olsen Barry Briggs Ronnie Moore Anders Michanek Peter Collins Michael Lee Malcolm Simmons Dave Jessup Gordon Kennett Dag Lovaas Ray Wilson John Louis Martin Ashby Tommy Jansson Bruce Penhall Scott Autrey Phil Crump Hans Nielsen Terry Betts 1980s Hans Nielsen Erik Gundersen Bruce Penhall Ole Olsen Sam Ermolenko Bo Petersen Tommy Knudsen Kelvin Tatum Simon Wigg Gordon Kennett John Davis Jan Andersson Phil Crump Shawn Moran Dennis Sigalos Billy Sanders Kenny Carter Chris Morton Jeremy Doncaster Kelly Moran Bobby Schwartz 1990s Hans Nielsen Sam Ermolenko Per Jonsson Greg Hancock Billy Hamill Gary Havelock Kelvin Tatum Martin Dugard Jason Crump Tony Rickardsson Jimmy Nilsen Todd Wiltshire Shawn Moran Chris Louis Joe Screen Tomasz Gollob Leigh Adams Jeremy Doncaster Simon Wigg It's purely a personal and subjective list. Ask me to complete a list tomorrow and I'd probably come up with a different version! Riders I would have liked to have included would have been Bernie Persson, Christer Lofqvist, John Boulger, Bengt Jansson amongst many others...! I think Steve your list is pretty good,alot of them i would imagine is of your exsperience on seeing them ride live.Petersen,Andersson,Doncaster,Davis,Kennett are the ones i find hard to judge all of them i have seen ride brilliantly at times but ever get in a top twenty i dunno really. Edited December 22, 2015 by sidney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted December 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 Hi Sidney, yes it's all very subjective and based on my own experiences. For example I would liked to have included Bob Kilby as he was a rider I admired greatly although frustrating at times! Having seen many National League 'stars' during that time I could also expand the theme...but I'll leave that to others!? Christmas greetings by the way! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 Hi Sidney, yes it's all very subjective and based on my own experiences. For example I would liked to have included Bob Kilby as he was a rider I admired greatly although frustrating at times! Having seen many National League 'stars' during that time I could also expand the theme...but I'll leave that to others!? Christmas greetings by the way! Same to you Steve, Kilb was a rider i admired knew him to say hello to through Malc Holloway later on in his career what a nice bloke he was terrific a great laugh.See him from the early seventies what a gater he was ,i studied his career at Exeter beat Mauger(ect in heat one that was the norm had great seasons at the county ground and was he once the fastest man ever at the County Ground.? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Can't believe that I left out the Boocock brothers! Just goes to prove how putting together a list featuring either the greatest/most entertaining/impressionable is always going to be a difficult, if not impossible task! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Both Booey brothers were superb team men loyal to the hilt,Nigel i suppose achieved the most on the individual front but Eric was still a British champion in a mega tough era.Nigel you could even say would of been mentioned in the fifties and certainly the sixties as well,how exciting was he a born racer and Eric was a real stylist and his record at the Shay was awesome.The three Halifax riders at the shay (awesome track unique) maybe over the years (no order) Forrest,Carter,Eric.?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) Both Booey brothers were superb team men loyal to the hilt,Nigel i suppose achieved the most on the individual front but Eric was still a British champion in a mega tough era.Nigel you could even say would of been mentioned in the fifties and certainly the sixties as well,how exciting was he a born racer and Eric was a real stylist and his record at the Shay was awesome.The three Halifax riders at the shay (awesome track unique) maybe over the years (no order) Forrest,Carter,Eric.?? Wish I had seen speedway at the Shay. I popped in a few years ago when I visited Halifax and there was no evidence of speedway ever taking place at the venue. Another rider I enjoyed watching was the late Chris Pusey who rode for Halifax after serving Belle Vue with distinction for a number of years. Apparently he never really got over the terrible injury suffered by Alan Wilkinson...another great character! Edited December 23, 2015 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Wish I had scene speedway at the Shay. I popped in a few years ago when i visited Halifax and there was no evidence of speedway ever taking place at the venue. Another rider I enjoyed watching was the late Chris Pusey who rode for Halifax after serving Belle Vue with distinction for a number of years. Apparently he never really got over the terrible injury suffered by Alan Wilkinson...another great character! Pusey was a very good rider indeed,classy on his day tough as old boots remember Chris scoring a fifteen point max at the Abbey one year.The Shay for me was one of the events of the season, along with Hyde Rd and Owlerton a brilliant day out.I loved the Shay so fast like the County Ground Exeter riders flew by you like a flash.I remember Crumpy doing Kenny a few times round there and i can also remember them having a real nice clubhouse with an excellent pint of Bitter great times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Visited Hyde Road on a number of occasions. Remember watching Hans Nielsen trying to keep both Peter Collins and Chris Morton at bay during the same race...they used all of the track! It had so many different 'racing' lines. Went to Exeter a few times and on my first visit made the mistake of sitting in the main stand and not being able to see any of the action on the home straight! Awesome track, however, and another sad loss to the sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reviresco Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 The Shay, Hyde Road and The County Ground were always great visits and were huge losses to the sport. I remember that in his programme notes after one particular visit to the Shay, John Berry wrote that Kenny Carter must be getting 'reet fed oop' with Billy Sanders tapping him on the shoulder and saying excuse me as he went past him again. Also remember driving up from East London in '84 I think and driving into the car park only for the meeting to be called off and re-scheduled for the following Saturday and then forgetting my car park ticket for the re-arranged fixture. The track was pitch black, the weather, and fog, could come in very quickly and the burgers were awful. (Just looking at your original post Steve, I'd argue that Penhall shouldn't be on the '70's list as he only had two seasons in Britain and hadn't reached a World Final by then, but three great lists and many memories invoked.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) The Shay, Hyde Road and The County Ground were always great visits and were huge losses to the sport. I remember that in his programme notes after one particular visit to the Shay, John Berry wrote that Kenny Carter must be getting 'reet fed oop' with Billy Sanders tapping him on the shoulder and saying excuse me as he went past him again. Also remember driving up from East London in '84 I think and driving into the car park only for the meeting to be called off and re-scheduled for the following Saturday and then forgetting my car park ticket for the re-arranged fixture. The track was pitch black, the weather, and fog, could come in very quickly and the burgers were awful. (Just looking at your original post Steve, I'd argue that Penhall shouldn't be on the '70's list as he only had two seasons in Britain and hadn't reached a World Final by then, but three great lists and many memories invoked.) Macca you know better than most but Billy really had raised his game before he went i noticed it as at the time i was a huge Crump fan.I loved watching Sanders ride a superb style,and it really surprises me no one really felt he could of been WC.I did he had earned his dues coming over as a young 16 year old kid and turning into a superb rider i really missed not seeing what he could of achieved.In all my memorabilia i have of Billy videos pictures (ect) i really felt he was a brilliant loser as well he showed that in the Pairs for Australia where apart from the fall he was awesome. Edited December 23, 2015 by sidney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reviresco Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 I don't want to ambush this thread so will just say, thanks Sidney and totally agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 I don't want to ambush this thread so will just say, thanks Sidney and totally agreed.Great stuff "macca have a happy Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reviresco Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 And yourself Fella and hope your new home track and stadium all falls into place in good order in 2016 and provides as much entertainment as in Years Gone By. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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