iris123 Posted March 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Sadly you cannot equate the two. When Jack Parker won the match race title the competition was only 5 matches per season. When Ole Olen won it there could be 30 matches per season or even more. The latter competition turned out to be a Mickey Mouse event , then it eventually died out You can though say that Olsens record was amazing.Nobody else came close really,at a time when a lot of very good riders were about And nobody seems to be able to answer the Vic Duggan question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) This is an interesting overall Link in regard to the 'Golden Helmet' Match Race Championship and associated match race championships. http://www.speedwaychampions.com/br-match-race-champs.php The following Link - thanks to SPEEDWAY RESEARCHER - covers the history of Match Race Championship results. A study for 1947 shows that after winning the title, Vic Duggan resigned as holder. This lead to the Parker brothers Jack and Norman being nominated to contest the vacant crown. http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/specialfeatures/mrc.pdf For further interest here is a Wikipedia comment on Jack Parker's Match Race Championship exploits: He was also match race champion on and off from 1946 to 1947, holding the title through 1948, 1949 and most of 1950, only losing the title at the end of the 1950 season to Aub Lawson.He took the title back in 1951, eventually losing it to Split Waterman.[ Edited March 14, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) The following Link - thanks to SPEEDWAY RESEARCHER - covers the history of Match Race Championship results. A study for 1947 shows that after winning the title, Vic Duggan resigned as holder. This lead to the Parker brothers Jack and Norman being nominated to contest the vacant crown. http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/specialfeatures/mrc.pdf .I guess Duggan wasn't too interested in the Golden Helmet or was he being punished for resigning the title,because despite being the top rider in the league in 1948 he didn't get a nomination to challenge for it.In fact he never again got a chance to race for the helmet Edited March 14, 2017 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) The following Link - thanks to SPEEDWAY RESEARCHER - covers the history of Match Race Championship results. A study for 1947 shows that after winning the title, Vic Duggan resigned as holder. This lead to the Parker brothers Jack and Norman being nominated to contest the vacant crown. http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/specialfeatures/mrc.pdf .I guess Duggan wasn't too interested in the Golden Helmet or was he being punished for resigning the title,because despite being the top rider in the league in 1948 he didn't get a nomination to challenge for it.In fact he never again got a chance to race for the helmet I am unsure about this - maybe norbold knows more? - but when Vic Duggan resigned the Match Race Championship in 1947 he also made it clear that he wanted no involvement with the championship in future years. That is probably why he was NOT nominated for the event in 1948 - he had made it clear that the didn't want to be. Edited March 14, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) k Just going back to Norbolds post stating the best rider in the world might not get a chance in the Olsen era.Seems like Duggan didn't get a chance when he was way ahead of the league averages in 1948.Guess he was being punished?Or did he refuse a nomination? This post by Norbold makes it even more interesting to think Duggan only got the one chance as he was for a preiod the dominant rider according to Norbold As I know we all love lists, here's one I made earlier.... I thought I would make a list of the dominant rider of their time. Of course, it doesn't mean they won everything going during the period in question but they were the rider to beat. I'm sure no-one will actually agree with the list as it stands, so any comments are welcome. - 1928: Frank Arthur 29-32: Vic Huxley 33-35: Tom Farndon 36-39: Bluey Wilkinson 46-50: Vic Duggan Edited March 14, 2017 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 The following Link - thanks to SPEEDWAY RESEARCHER - covers the history of Match Race Championship results. A study for 1947 shows that after winning the title, Vic Duggan resigned as holder. This lead to the Parker brothers Jack and Norman being nominated to contest the vacant crown. http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/specialfeatures/mrc.pdf .I guess Duggan wasn't too interested in the Golden Helmet or was he being punished for resigning the title,because despite being the top rider in the league in 1948 he didn't get a nomination to challenge for it.In fact he never again got a chance to race for the helmet I am unsure about this - maybe norbold knows more? - but when Vic Duggan resigned the Match Race Championship in 1947 he also made it clear that he wanted no involvement with the championship in future years. That is probably why he was NOT nominated for the event in 1948 - he had made it clear that the didn't want to be. Just going back to Norbolds post stating the best rider in the world might not get a chance in the Olsen era.Seems like Duggan didn't get a chance when he was way ahead of the league averages in 1948.Guess he was being punished?Or did he refuse a nomination? There is a quoted comment attributed to me with just 'k' being shown. My system crashed and I had to reboot. Sadly it seems that as usual iris123 you were poised to slam an answer back at me. Never mind, I have highlighted the reason why - and I am fairly sure I am correct about this - that in 1947 Vic Duggan resigned interest in the championship and specified that he did not want any further nominations for the competition. Hence no 1948 nomination. Later we may get a comment from norbold in regard to what did upset Vic Duggan in regard to the Match Race Championship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Last time I saw Tommy ride. Pretty sure I saw him ride in a later challenge against Dave Jessup at Reading, which may have been his last ever UK meeting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) There is a quoted comment attributed to me with just 'k' being shown. My system crashed and I had to reboot. Sadly it seems that as usual iris123 you were poised to slam an answer back at me. Never mind, I have highlighted the reason why - and I am fairly sure I am correct about this - that in 1947 Vic Duggan resigned interest in the championship and specified that he did not want any further nominations for the competition. Hence no 1948 nomination. Later we may get a comment from norbold in regard to what did upset Vic Duggan in regard to the Match Race Championship? As holder of the Match Race Championship, in 1947 Vic Duggan was entitled to a weekly payment of £7 from the sponsors the old 'Sunday Pictorial". In a modern comparison that is equal to £269 according to this calculator: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html Edited March 14, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Vic Duggan resigned the title because he said he wasn't interested in defending it and didn't want to be nominated again, as gustix said, I don't know why he came to this decision but that's why he wasn't nominated again. Edited March 14, 2017 by norbold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Strange really, and it might be rose tinted glasses I'm looking through but I'm sure that if it was all square after home and away legs and it went to a neutral track the neutral track fans were still interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Strange really, and it might be rose tinted glasses I'm looking through but I'm sure that if it was all square after home and away legs and it went to a neutral track the neutral track fans were still interested In the old days - the 1930s and 1940s especially - speedway was a mainstream sport with generous National press coverage. Many tracks had five figure attendances. Speedway early post-war was second only to football as a spectator sport. Hence, the National Press had great interest in the sport - especially championships. The Match Race was 'their darling' and if a challenge went to a third deciding leg it would be extensively publicised - much in the way top football games are in present times. And that Press 'ballyhoo' ensured a deciding Match Race event would be a crowd puller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Was that still the same in the 70s gustix, I'm sure I remember being interested in the golden helmet regardless who the riders were Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifer sam Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Vic Duggan resigned the title because he said he wasn't interested in defending it and didn't want to be nominated again, as gustix said, I don't know why he came to this decision but that's why he wasn't nominated again. From the Harringay moments for Classic Speedway No 33: Vic Duggan won the 1947 London Riders’ Championship at New Cross on May 28 with a 15-point maximum. He also won the coveted British Match-Race Championship during the season, defeating holder Jack Parker. But Duggan and opponent Bill Kitchen were investigated for allegations of match-fixing during his successful first defence. Both riders were cleared, but the inquiry caused resentment, and Duggan resigned the title and made it known that he would not accept an invitation to take part in the competition again. All the best Rob Edited March 14, 2017 by lucifer sam 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) From the Harringay moments from Classic Speedway No 33: Vic Duggan won the 1947 London Riders’ Championship at New Cross on May 28 with a 15-point maximum. He also won the coveted British Match-Race Championship during the season, defeating holder Jack Parker. But Duggan and opponent Bill Kitchen were investigated for allegations of match-fixing during his successful first defence. Both riders were cleared, but the inquiry caused resentment, and Duggan resigned the title and made it known that he would not accept an invitation to take part in the competition again. All the best Rob An excellent Post lucifer sam. That should allay any concerns that other Posters may have had as to why Vic Duggan was not nominated for a Match Race challenge in 1948. It also shows that my hazy recollection that he resigned the title in 1947 and declined being nominated for further challenges was also correct. I also appreciate norbold's comment in an earlier Post to this thread. Edited March 14, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 The first match race I remember watching was Peter Collins v Scott Autrey in a decider at Hackney which PC won comfortably 2-0. Unfortunately I'll never forget the date 8th June 1979, the night of the awful Vic Harding/Steve Weatherley crash. On a happier note the following year I was there to witness the only (as far as I know) Golden Helmet dead heat between Bo Petersen and Chris Morton. With Bo winning the decider at Leicester to be the 80-81 winter holder. Unfortunately for Hackney fans Bo got well and truly whipped by world champ Michael Lee in his first defence. I remember reading in the speedway star that Mike couldn't breathe properly for some reason, and wanted to finish as quickly as possible! I think he broke the track record and beat Bo by about half a lap in both races, which took some doing in those days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 Yes, but as you already pointed out above, these were under two different systems. You can't compare them just by numbers. In answer to you previous question I believe the old monthly 2 out of 3 challenge was best. You could build up the excitement, you knew you were going to have two riders worthy of the challenge, whereas under the newer system, the best rider in the world might never get a chance. Vic Duggan resigned the title because he said he wasn't interested in defending it and didn't want to be nominated again, as gustix said, I don't know why he came to this decision but that's why he wasn't nominated again. So that does put a bit of a damper on the Parker record imo.The best rider in the world beat him,then didn't want to keep on riding for the title.Say what you want,but i am not sure that was the case when Olsen won the Golden helmet almost 40 times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 The first match race I remember watching was Peter Collins v Scott Autrey in a decider at Hackney which PC won comfortably 2-0. Unfortunately I'll never forget the date 8th June 1979, the night of the awful Vic Harding/Steve Weatherley crash. On a happier note the following year I was there to witness the only (as far as I know) Golden Helmet dead heat between Bo Petersen and Chris Morton. With Bo winning the decider at Leicester to be the 80-81 winter holder. Unfortunately for Hackney fans Bo got well and truly whipped by world champ Michael Lee in his first defence. I remember reading in the speedway star that Mike couldn't breathe properly for some reason, and wanted to finish as quickly as possible! I think he broke the track record and beat Bo by about half a lap in both races, which took some doing in those days. I remember Michael Lee taking on Phil Crump at Swindon and he was so far in front that he began pulling wheelies down. the straights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) From the Harringay moments for Classic Speedway No 33: Vic Duggan won the 1947 London Riders’ Championship at New Cross on May 28 with a 15-point maximum. He also won the coveted British Match-Race Championship during the season, defeating holder Jack Parker. But Duggan and opponent Bill Kitchen were investigated for allegations of match-fixing during his successful first defence. Both riders were cleared, but the inquiry caused resentment, and Duggan resigned the title and made it known that he would not accept an invitation to take part in the competition again. All the best Rob An excellent Post lucifer sam. That should allay any concerns that other Posters may have had as to why Vic Duggan was not nominated for a Match Race challenge in 1948. It also shows that my hazy recollection that he resigned the title in 1947 and declined being nominated for further challenges was also correct. I also appreciate norbold's comment in an earlier Post to this thread. A look back to 1947 - when the great Vic Duggan had his brief spell as Golden Helmet match race champion. Edited March 15, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 So that does put a bit of a damper on the Parker record imo.The best rider in the world beat him,then didn't want to keep on riding for the title.Say what you want,but i am not sure that was the case when Olsen won the Golden helmet almost 40 times If you say so, Doug. Let's all agree that Ole Olsen was the greatest rider that ever lived and Jack Parker was useless. How's that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie B Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 Thursday 8 April 1976. Tommy Jansson beating the holder Martin Ashby 2-0 at Plough Lane in the first leg of the competition before the Wimbledon's league match against Belle Vue. The league match result was Wimbledon 35, Belle Vue 43. pop group Mud (Wimbledon supporters) sponsored the second half which was won by Peter Collins from Martin Ashby and Tommy Jansson. Chris Morton retired in the final. If I remember correctly a picture of the pop group appeared on the back cover of the Speedway Star after the event with the finalists. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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