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Swindon,sheffield,belle Vue,halifax,reading. What Would Be Your Favourite Top Seven Of All Time.?


Sidney the robin

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Mick how many pints have you had? my top 7 witches in no order Sanders,Louis,gollob, Ricko,Sigalos,Davey, Loram.

 

Sid, I agree that Sanders at No 8 had me going "WHAT?" :o as well. He and John Louis are surely the first men on the team sheet.

 

I largely agree with your choices, although I think I'd have Chris Louis ahead of Mark Loram. Loram had two spells at Ippo, but neither came during his prime. He'd be in my King's Lynn, Poole, Exeter and Eastbourne teams. :wink:

 

I'd personally plump for:

 

1. John Louis

2. Dennis Sigalos

3. Billy Sanders

4. Tomasz Gollob

5. Tony Rickardsson

6. Chris Louis

7. Tony Davey

(8. Mark Loram)

 

Although if you also take Ipswich Mk 1 into contention, there's also Peter Moore ;)

 

All the best

Rob

Edited by lucifer sam
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How on earth do you place Michanek ahead of Sanders at Ipswich?

 

I think I'd have Tony Davey in there too - the 75/76 championship winning sides were built around the rock of Louis/Sanders/Davey.

 

All the best

Rob

Anders may have been a favourite of Mick's full stop, whereas Billy may not have been. Sam Ermolenko gets into my Sheffield side on the basis of being one of my favourites overall, not because of what he did in Sheffield colours, he only rode a season!!

 

If it's best riders in Witches colours, then I don't get his thinking either. :D

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My Reading Team would be (Years 1972-2004)

 

Michanek, Lovass, Jessup, Davis, Schwartz, Andersson, Leigh.

 

Wimbledon

 

Moore, Jansson, Briggs, Ross, Jancarz, Simmons, Hedge.

 

Hackney

 

Jansson, Lovaas, Morton, Petersen, Plech, Thomas, Thomsen.

 

Ipswich

 

J.Louis, Sanders, Davey, Sigalos, Cook (?), Doncaster, C.Louis.

 

Belle Vue

 

Mauger, Sjosten, Collins, Morton, C.Pusey, Wilkinson, S.Moran

 

PS I always base my top seven not just on average but their team awareness and entertainment value and overall impact which is always going to be contentious and open to personal opinion...but I do realise that this thread is about the all time top seven which I always have difficulties adhering to whatever the subject matter as it's always going to be subjective!

Edited by steve roberts
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My favourite Reading Racers would be

 

Bernie Leigh, Bob Humphreys, Boley Proch, Hans Wasserman, Tim Hunt, Phil Morris and Dave Mullett.

 

This isn't the 'best' Reading 7 but I prefer (-red) racers and triers to 'stars' (so never rated Dave Jessup or John Davis much as they never appeared to me to be team men)

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My favourite Reading Racers would be

 

Bernie Leigh, Bob Humphreys, Boley Proch, Hans Wasserman, Tim Hunt, Phil Morris and Dave Mullett.

 

This isn't the 'best' Reading 7 but I prefer (-red) racers and triers to 'stars' (so never rated Dave Jessup or John Davis much as they never appeared to me to be team men)

Tim Hunt was as mad as a hatter!

 

I liked the late Geoff Curtis. I had it confirmed that he was about to join Oxford in 1974 before he was tragically killed at Sydney Showground late 1973.. Remember his protege Alan Sorensen (all white leathers) who used to ride during the second half at Cowley in 1974.

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As I'm bored on nights this is my all-time fave Swindon septet.

 

Raba, Spinka, Karger, Silver, McConnell, Stangeland and Busk.

 

Best I've seen for Swindon.

 

Adams, Ashby M, Crump P, Ward, Nilsen, Petersen and Andersen.

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Just realised that I should have included Jack Biggs in the Newport team-thought people like Chunky, BL65, and Norbold would have been on my ass about that but maybe nobody cares about Newport any more :cry:

Jack Biggs would be a worthy contender for inclusion in your selection BOBBATH.

 

Do you remember 1st April 1966? Wasps had signed a Swedish rider for the season, he arrived in the country mid-afternoon and made his way, without his machine, to Waterden Road. In those days each track had a spare machine, which Newport took for him to ride. So he took to the track at Hackney, which he had never ridden before, scored a 15 point maximum, took the Silver Sash match race title from home captain Colin Pratt and won the second half final. He went on to top score in 29 out of 34 league and cup matches for the Wasps, finished with a league average of 10.53 and won the Internationale at Wimbledon with a 15 point maximum. Surely Gote Nordin must be in any favourite seven or top seven for Newport?

Edited by BL65
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Jack Biggs would be a worthy contender for inclusion in your selection BOBBATH.

 

Do you remember 1st April 1966? Wasps had signed a Swedish rider for the season, he arrived in the country mid-afternoon and made his way, without his machine, to Waterden Road. In those days each track had a spare machine, which Newport took for him to ride. So he took to the track at Hackney, which he had never ridden before, scored a 15 point maximum, took the Silver Sash match race title from home captain Colin Pratt and won the second half final. He went on to top score in 29 out of 34 league and cup matches for the Wasps, finished with a league average of 10.53 and won the Internationale at Wimbledon with a 15 point maximum. Surely Gote Nordin must be in any favourite seven or top seven for Newport?

How good was Nordin a silky smooth rider i only see him later on in his career for me Nordin/Bjorn Knutsson often get forgotten about both great riders.
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How good was Nordin a silky smooth rider i only see him later on in his career for me Nordin/Bjorn Knutsson often get forgotten about both great riders.

Gote's best seasons in Britain were 1966 and 1967, when he was exceptional, although he had finished third behind fellow Swedes Fundin and Knuts(s)on in the 1961 World Final at Malmo, with Bjorn and Gote ahead of Barry Briggs in a three man run-off for second place.

 

My top three Swedes of that era would be Fundin, Knutson, Nordin, in that order, but there were several others worthy of mention, including Bengt Jansson, Olle Nygren, Rune Sormander, Peo Soderman and Soren Sjosten

 

The strength of the Swedes was illustrated in the 1960 World Team Cup Final when Fundin and Nygren both scored 12 point maximums, Sormander dropped a single point and Knutson notched three wins and suffered machine failure in his other ride.

Edited by BL65
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Gote's best seasons in Britain were 1966 and 1967, when he was exceptional, although he had finished third behind fellow Swedes Fundin and Knuts(s)on in the 1961 World Final at Malmo, with Bjorn and Gote ahead of Barry Briggs in a three man run-off for second place.

 

My top three Swedes of that era would be Fundin, Knutson, Nordin, in that order, but there were several others worthy of mention, including Bengt Jansson, Olle Nygren, Rune Sormander, Peo Soderman and Soren Sjosten

 

The strength of the Swedes was illustrated in the 1960 World Team Cup Final when Fundin and Nygren both scored 12 point maximums, Sormander dropped a single point and Knutson notched three wins and suffered machine failure in his other ride.

BL what was your overall opinion of Knutsson? my uncle who first took me told me he was some rider and often had the beating of Briggo in the early 60s.And he was a staunch Briggs fan loved Briggs to death so in a way what a huge compliment my uncle gave him i never see Bjorn ride.
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BL what was your overall opinion of Knutsson? my uncle who first took me told me he was some rider and often had the beating of Briggo in the early 60s.And he was a staunch Briggs fan loved Briggs to death so in a way what a huge compliment my uncle gave him i never see Bjorn ride.Bjorn

Bjorn was one of the 'Big Five' along with Barry Briggs, Ove Fundin, Ronnie Moore and Peter Craven in the early 1960s. These were the riders who were deemed to be a cut above their rivals in British racing and so were rewarded by conceding a handicap to the rest. All five were good enough to still win a high proportion of their races. I think Briggo once said that Bjorn found the handicap less onerous to overcome than the other four because of his forceful approach. Barry and Bjorn were team mates at Banister Court until Southampton closed, so their rivalry was mainly tested in individual meetings and international events, including world championships and world team cups. When Barry joined Swindon and Bjorn moved to West Ham in 1964 they met a few times in team matches and I recall honours were fairly even.

 

Barry won more world titles than Bjorn, but over a longer period. Knutson was world champion in 1965 and I recall Speedway Star carrying a headline to the effect that he had finally overcome his big night nerves. He was certainly good enough to have won more titles. In 1961 he won 4 races and fell in the other and in 1962 he scored 10 points from 4 completed races, suffering machine trouble in the other. Bjorn was a similar age to Ivan Mauger and if the Swedes had not been banned from riding in Britain in 1965 perhaps he would have stayed with West Ham for a few more seasons. If he had continued his career beyond 1966 there is every chance he would have added to his one world title and Ivan might have had to settle for a few less, Bjorn was that good.

 

The last time I saw him ride was on the Vargarna tour in 1966, when he rode at Belle Vue, Poole, West Ham, Newcastle, Long Eaton, Cradley Heath and Oxford. Bjorn was outstanding as he recorded 4 maximums in those 7 meetings and averaged over 11 on the tour. Two notable defeats were by young Ray Wilson at Long Eaton and by Ivor Hughes in the second half final at Cradley Heath, just 10 days before the crash which resulted in Ivor tragically losing his life.

Edited by BL65
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Bjorn was one of the 'Big Five' along with Barry Briggs, Ove Fundin, Ronnie Moore and Peter Craven in the early 1960s. These were the riders who were deemed to be a cut above their rivals in British racing and so were rewarded by conceding a handicap to the rest. All five were good enough to still win a high proportion of their races. I think Briggo once said that Bjorn found the handicap less onerous to overcome than the other four because of his forceful approach. Barry and Bjorn were team mates at Banister Court until Southampton closed, so their rivalry was mainly tested in individual meetings and international events, including world championships and world team cups. When Barry joined Swindon and Bjorn moved to West Ham in 1964 they met a few times in team matches and I recall honours were fairly even.

 

Barry won more world titles than Bjorn, but over a longer period. Knutson was world champion in 1965 and I recall speedway star carrying a headline to the effect that he had finally overcome his big night nerves. He was certainly good enough to have won more titles. In 1961 he won 4 races and fell in the other and in 1962 he scored 10 points from 4 completed races, suffering machine trouble in the other. Bjorn was a similar age to Ivan Mauger and if the Swedes had not been banned from riding in Britain in 1965 perhaps he would have stayed with West Ham for a few more seasons. If he had continued his career beyond 1966 there is every chance he would have added to his one world title and Ivan might have had to settle for a few less, Bjorn was that good.

 

The last time I saw him ride was on the Vargarna tour in 1966, when he rode at Belle Vue, Poole, West Ham, Newcastle, Long Eaton, Cradley Heath and Oxford. Bjorn was outstanding as recorded 4 maximums in those 7 meetings and averaged over 11 on the tour. Two notable defeats were by young Ray Wilson at Long Eaton and by Ivor Hughes in the second half final at Cradley Heath, just 10 days before the crash which resulted in Ivor tragically losing his life.

Great post BL i have learned a great deal interesting that you mentioned Ray Wilson a great rider in my eyes mixed it from the late 60s as a young un Ray was one of my favourites great man to.
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Just realised that I should have included Jack Biggs in the Newport team-thought people like Chunky, BL65, and Norbold would have been on my ass about that but maybe nobody cares about Newport any more :cry:

Of course we care, poor Bob. There, there...

 

Just tell me though, who would you leave out of your original 7 for Jack?

 

Then again, I suppose there would be a strong case for two of your greatest servants, Jon Erskine and Norman Strachan. Or Phil Herne, and the great Tormod Langli!

 

Steve

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Wot about Newport then? Here's my favorite 7 : Phil Crump, Torbjorn Harrysson, , Sandor Levai, Dick Bradley, Peter Vandenberg, Jimmy Gooch, Alby Golden....

See post 30 bobbath some greats in yours I missed out

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Back to the OP. My favourite top 7 for the named teams....

 

Swindon - Briggs, Ashby, Kilby, Crump (P), Keen, Broadbanks, Gafurov

Sheffield - Airey, Haley, Wilson ®, Wyer, Moran (S), Paulson, Valentine

Belle Vue - Mauger, Sjosten, Pusey, Wilkinson, Collins, Morton, Smith

Reading - Michanek, Lovaas, Andersson, Brannefors, Mullett, Leigh, Schwartz

Halifax - Boocock, Carter, Cartwright, Younghusband, Kentwell, Gavros, Baker

 

As for my Heathens

Persson, Boulger, Collins, Pedersen, Gundersen, Price, Bastable.

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Back to the OP. My favourite top 7 for the named teams....

 

Swindon - Briggs, Ashby, Kilby, Crump (P), Keen, Broadbanks, Gafurov

Sheffield - Airey, Haley, Wilson ®, Wyer, Moran (S), Paulson, Valentine

Belle Vue - Mauger, Sjosten, Pusey, Wilkinson, Collins, Morton, Smith

Reading - Michanek, Lovaas, Andersson, Brannefors, Mullett, Leigh, Schwartz

Halifax - Boocock, Carter, Cartwright, Younghusband, Kentwell, Gavros, Baker

 

As for my Heathens

Persson, Boulger, Collins, Pedersen, Gundersen, Price, Bastable.

Penhall,Persson,Pedersen,Grahame,Gundersen,Boulger,King.
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