Who Has Ridden At Most Uk Tracks?

[daveallan81]

Jim McMillan from 1966-86 clocked in at 57 tracks including Motherwell. If you adjust Hunter's figures and drop 60-64 he'd also be on 57. I make it 67 tracks plus 7 non-leaguers for 1965-90 and I think there's enough information about from that time frame to form definitive lists.

 

During that period the following tracks all ran at least one open licence meeting without ever staging league speedway: Ashington, Brafield, Castleford, Cowdenbeath, Motherwell and Newtongrange. There was also one meeting out-of-season at Havingham in Norwich. Should those tracks be included? Maybe add them as a 'bonus' point eg. Jimmy Mac would be 56+1?

[Guest compost]

A quick update for you (I'm about 2/3rd through)

 

Of the 7 riders I thought might be in with a shout of beating George's total the scores so far are -

Jack Parker 34, Geoff Pymar & Wal Morton 35, Les McGillivray 38, Phil Bishop 39, Colin Gooddy 45 and leading the way is Jimmy Squibb on 66

 

The thing is that Squibb started out in 47 in the new NL3, progressed to NL2 and NL1 then rode in the Provincial Lge and went on to the BL and ended up with the NNL. He was riding when there was a lot of track opening and closing.

 

As I say still on going.

 

When complete I will list the venues for all 7 of the above.

 

BTW can anyone answer a couple of queries for me ?

When did Scunthorpe move track in the 1970's (and the year please) ?

Until the opening of Powderhall did Edinburgh only ride at the Marine Gardens (or was this just pre-war) ?

Finally, what years did Glasgow operate at Hampden Park ?

Thanks

Edited May 19, 2016 by compost

[Bruiser McHuge]

Malcolm Simmons rode athe Belle Vue Kirky Lane as well...for Kings Lynn in 93.

[JoeW]

A quick update for you (I'm about 2/3rd through)

 

Of the 7 riders I thought might be in with a shout of beating George's total the scores so far are -

Jack Parker 34, Geoff Pymar & Wal Morton 35, Les McGillivray 38, Phil Bishop 39, Colin Gooddy 45 and leading the way is Jimmy Squibb on 66

 

The thing is that Squibb started out in 47 in the new NL3, progressed to NL2 and NL1 then rode in the Provincial Lge and went on to the BL and ended up with the NNL. He was riding when there was a lot of track opening and closing.

 

As I say still on going.

 

When complete I will list the venues for all 7 of the above.

 

BTW can anyone answer a couple of queries for me ?

When did Scunthorpe move track in the 1970's (and the year please) ?

Until the opening of Powderhall did Edinburgh only ride at the Marine Gardens (or was this just pre-war) ?

Finally, what years did Glasgow operate at Hampden Park ?

Thanks

I thought Jimmy Squibb would lead the way.

Scunthorpe rode at Quibell Park until 1978 and Ashby Ville 1979 onwards.

Edinburgh rode at Old Meadowbank from 1948 to 1954 and 1960 until 1967. Marine Gardens was just pre war.

Glasgow rode at Hampden Park in 1969 and 1970.

Edited May 19, 2016 by brough

[daveallan81]

brough, on 19 May 2016 - 2:30 PM, said:brough, on 19 May 2016 - 2:30 PM, said:

I thought Jimmy Squibb would lead the way.

Scunthorpe rode at Quibell Park until 1978 and Ashby Ville 1979 onwards.

Edinburgh rode at Old Meadowbank from 1948 to 1954 and 1960 until 1967. Marine Gardens was just pre war.

Glasgow rode at Hampden Park in 1969 and 1970.

 

Glasgow rode at Hampden from 1969 to 1972.

 

Barry Thomas scores 59.

 

Taking a look at the modern-era 1991-date tracks earlier, I reckon only 50 tracks have run league speedway in that time so we can disregard any rider whose career began after 1990, in fact you could probably roll that back to post-1984.

Edited May 19, 2016 by daveallan81

[Split]

"Leading the way is Jimmy Squibb."

 

Almost invincible riding at his home track, New Cross back in the 60’s.

[lucifer sam]

 

When did Scunthorpe move track in the 1970's (and the year please) ?

 

 

Quibell Park (1971-1978)

Ashby Ville (1979-1985)

 

All the best

Rob

[Guest compost]

Many thanks for the replies.

 

Getting there ! Jimmy is currently on 68 tracks with Colin Gooddy on 55

 

Regarding Barry Thomas. Did you include Iwade (I seem to remember that he was involved in setting it up back in the early 70's) ?

 

I would check the totals for John Jackson but don't have details covering most of the 1980's.

[daveallan81]

compost, on 20 May 2016 - 08:28 AM, said:

Many thanks for the replies.

 

Getting there ! Jimmy is currently on 68 tracks with Colin Gooddy on 55

 

Regarding Barry Thomas. Did you include Iwade (I seem to remember that he was involved in setting it up back in the early 70's) ?

 

I would check the totals for John Jackson but don't have details covering most of the 1980's.

 

Iwade for Thomas - no. I don't think training tracks should be considered to be honest.

 

Looking at John Jackson's career time-line I don't think he'll beat Thomas but I'll run his figures later and see. Hollingworth is a decent shout but I don't have figures for 2003.

 

I've set up a track list to pick from which also allows me to see which tracks a rider didn't ride on. For Lawson I know he only missed out on 2, so any rider with a career spanning 1974-92 could only have ridden 55 tracks. Similarly, as I mentioned before, any rider starting after 1990 can only hit 50.

 

Thomas missed out on 6 tracks so there is still room for someone to pip him in the 65-90 period.

[TonyMac]

I can guarantee that Simmo never rode at Marine Gardens. You're thinking of Old Powdermeadow...

 

You're right.

Jim McMillan from 1966-86 clocked in at 57 tracks including Motherwell. If you adjust Hunter's figures and drop 60-64 he'd also be on 57. I make it 67 tracks plus 7 non-leaguers for 1965-90 and I think there's enough information about from that time frame to form definitive lists.

 

During that period the following tracks all ran at least one open licence meeting without ever staging league speedway: Ashington, Brafield, Castleford, Cowdenbeath, Motherwell and Newtongrange. There was also one meeting out-of-season at Havingham in Norwich. Should those tracks be included? Maybe add them as a 'bonus' point eg. Jimmy Mac would be 56+1?

 

Appearances on non-league licenced tracks should definitely be included.

 

Why would you drop George Hunter's 1960-64 track appearances when compiling a list relevant to the whole post-war period?

A quick update for you (I'm about 2/3rd through)

 

Of the 7 riders I thought might be in with a shout of beating George's total the scores so far are -

Jack Parker 34, Geoff Pymar & Wal Morton 35, Les McGillivray 38, Phil Bishop 39, Colin Gooddy 45 and leading the way is Jimmy Squibb on 66

 

The thing is that Squibb started out in 47 in the new NL3, progressed to NL2 and NL1 then rode in the Provincial Lge and went on to the BL and ended up with the NNL. He was riding when there was a lot of track opening and closing.

 

As I say still on going.

 

When complete I will list the venues for all 7 of the above.

 

BTW can anyone answer a couple of queries for me ?

When did Scunthorpe move track in the 1970's (and the year please) ?

Until the opening of Powderhall did Edinburgh only ride at the Marine Gardens (or was this just pre-war) ?

Finally, what years did Glasgow operate at Hampden Park ?

Thanks

 

Excellent work, thank you.

Malcolm Simmons rode athe Belle Vue Kirky Lane as well...for Kings Lynn in 93.

 

Blimey, that was a good spot - he only rode two matches for Lynn in that, his final season.

[daveallan81]

tmc, on 20 May 2016 - 3:55 PM, said:

 

You're right.

 

Appearances on non-league licenced tracks should definitely be included.

 

Why would you drop George Hunter's 1960-64 track appearances when compiling a list relevant to the whole post-war period?

 

That was only to compare him directly to McMillan.

 

So does Iwade count as a 'non-league licensed track'?

 

It's all largely irrelevant for the overall result though, no-one from the 65-present era will beat Jimmy Squibb's figure, there just weren't enough tracks in operation.

[TonyMac]

 

That was only to compare him directly to McMillan.

 

So does Iwade count as a 'non-league licensed track'?

 

It's all largely irrelevant for the overall result though, no-one from the 65-present era will beat Jimmy Squibb's figure, there just weren't enough tracks in operation.

 

Yes, I think Iwade should count for the purpose of this analysis - it was, after all, licenced by the SCB and pukka training track matches were staged there in the 70s. It won't help Thommo to catch Squibby but it may make the difference between him and another contender.

 

It's the likes of Johnny Guilfoyle's private training track at Chelmsford, Essex that wouldn't come into the reckoning.

Edited May 20, 2016 by tmc

[Tracy Bird]

Malcolm Simmons rode athe Belle Vue Kirky Lane as well...for Kings Lynn in 93.

and barrow(park road) for Wimbledon against Berwick 1981 inter league cup and Weymouth for Poole inter league challenge.

[lucifer sam]

and barrow(park road) for Wimbledon against Berwick 1981 inter league cup and Weymouth for Poole inter league challenge.

 

Simmo at Barrow is here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TGlesVS8dc

 

Rob Grant passed him from behind in his trademark forceful fashion!

 

 

All the best

Rob

[daveallan81]

How do you define an 'official' match at a training track? Is it not just a training session run to a format rather than a collection of random scratch races?

 

To keep any sense of accuracy only appearances in an official capacity should be considered. Case in point: Graham Jones of Berwick rode in second halves at Eastville but never in a full meeting. Unless you had knowledge above and beyond the published results there is no way you could know this and the results become skewed. A hypothetical example, Jimmy Mac didn't 'officially' ride at Paisley, but he perhaps rode in a 'special guest match race series' one night?

 

Without setting any criteria all you'll have until all avenues have been checked is a 'probable' list.

[Joe Beevers]

Good topic.

 

Well I would guess more recently that Tony Atkin was riding when there was one large Premier League (Now called the Elite League of course and much shorter) and also rode the current Premier League tracks and now rides the National League tracks plus he rode on defunct tracks like Milton Keynes and Long Eaton and he is 46 years old and still going. I would put him near the top.

[daveallan81]

John Jackson racked up 55 plus 2 non-league from 1970-83. He missed out on 5 league tracks (Nelson, Glasgow Hampden, Bristol Eastville, Reading Smallmead and Leicester) and 2 non-league (Ashington & Motherwell).

 

Tony Atkin would be lucky to hit 50.

[TonyMac]

 

Simmo at Barrow is here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TGlesVS8dc

 

Rob Grant passed him from behind in his trademark forceful fashion!

 

 

All the best

Rob

 

I should have remembered - it's on our Memories of Berwick Speedway DVD!

How do you define an 'official' match at a training track? Is it not just a training session run to a format rather than a collection of random scratch races?

 

To keep any sense of accuracy only appearances in an official capacity should be considered. Case in point: Graham Jones of Berwick rode in second halves at Eastville but never in a full meeting. Unless you had knowledge above and beyond the published results there is no way you could know this and the results become skewed. A hypothetical example, Jimmy Mac didn't 'officially' ride at Paisley, but he perhaps rode in a 'special guest match race series' one night?

 

Without setting any criteria all you'll have until all avenues have been checked is a 'probable' list.

 

The public were admitted to those licenced training track matches at Iwade, which is another reason why I think they should be included.

 

As for your example re. Jimmy Mac, if he rode at Paisley then that should be added to his list of venues. Those special match-races involving star riders were usually the BIG attraction on the night.

 

I agree, it would be hard to confirm every such appearance but if we know about it, then include it.

[steve roberts]

Not sure where Ken McKinlay would stand having ridden in the old National League, British Leagues One & Two?

[TonyMac]

Here is a piece I've written for the next issue of our Classic Speedway mag, which goes to press today.

 

I know what has been said on here about Squibb, Hunter, etc, but the idea of tghis piece is that it will stimulate debate among our readers (believe it or not, they don't all read this forum!).

 

Ideally, I'd love to present a Top 10 once all the research is completed and we are ready to crown The British Track Record Holder.

 

'Compost', would you please email me, Tony Mac, at editorial@retro-speedway.com

 

Thanks to all for your input.

 

Cheers,

TMc

 

PS - sorry about the fonts going a bit haywire!

---------------------------------------

 

WHO IS THE ULTIMATE BRITISH TRACK RECORD HOLDER?

 

WHICH post-war rider has ridden at the highest number of British speedway tracks?

 

It's an interesting question that cannot be answered without exhaustive research . . . and Retro Speedway is on the case.

 

The results of our detailed findings will be published in the next issue of Classic Speedway. While we keep you on tenterhooks, why not try and guess who the most travelled rider since 1945 could be.

 

Jack Parker, Phil Bishop, Geoff Pymar and Wal Morton (see p15-20) are obvious name that immediately springs to mind and, no doubt, would be strong contenders for the title of 'British Track Record Holder' if their pre-war appearances on long defunct circuits were also taken into account.

 

But for the sake of this exercise we decided to focus on the years following the second world war.

So who will top the list?

 

You would think that the winner would come from the group of riders whose careers spanned at least two, and maybe even three, divisions of racing, so we have to start by looking at those who competed in the old National League (1946-64), Provincial League (1960-64) and then the British League, which resulted from the NL/PL amalgamation in 1965.

 

Ivan Mauger, Ken McKinlay, Reg Luckhurst, Terry Betts, Malcolm Simmons, Norman Hunter, Trevor Hedge and the Scottish pair of George Hunter and Jim McMillan, among others, come into the reckoning at this point. The globetrotting Mauger would possibly top our list if his innumerable overseas track appearances were a factor but, as we said, this is a UK-only project.

 

What is for certain is that Mauger's Provincial League years with Newcastle in the early 60s puts him ahead of fellow greats Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs and Ove Fundin, whose careers in Britain were confined to the top division.

 

Do loyal, long-serving stalwarts such as Mike Broadbank, Nigel Boocock and Les McGillivray also have a claim?

 

The launch of British League Division Two in 1968 spawned a host of brand new venues, so now you have to consider riders who began racing in that fledgling second sphere before spending many seasons in BL1, at a time when 18 or 19 top flight tracks were in operation. We're talking about the likes of Dave Jessup, Barry Thomas, Peter Collins, John Louis and Phil Crump.

 

Let's not forget those who raced in the 50s, throughout the 60s and ended their long careers in the second division: McKinlay, Peter Moore, Stan Stevens, Reg Trott, Colin Gooddy, George Major, Jimmy Squibb and Reg Luckhurst all rode for teams at NL, PL and BL2 level.

 

And what about those whose careers endured so long that they ended up competing in National League (second division), which evolved from BL2, in some cases well into the 80s. Laurie Etheridge, Eric Broadbelt, Mick Handley, Graham Plant, Thomas, Jessup, McMillan, Hunter and Simmons did just that. Simmo actually made his competitive debut at New Cross, shortly before the south London venue closed in 1963 . . . and went on to race at three different Glasgow tracks.

 

Riders who began racing in BL2 and/or competed in the NL for many years certainly rattled up the mileage, too. Think John Jackson, Steve Lawson, Steve Wilcock, Robert Hollingworth, plus Les and Neil Collins.

 

As well as all those tracks who featured in the different leagues mentioned above, we are also including venues that ran on an open licence or were granted non-league status, including Rye House, Eastbourne, Aldershot, Ipswich, Yarmouth, Motherwell and, later, Iwade, so you'll appreciate that it's not an easy appearance list to compile.

 

Think you've got the answer? Well, don't miss our next issue when all will be revealed and we will crown the ultimate British Speedway Track Record Holder.

Edited May 24, 2016 by tmc