steve roberts Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 From an Oxford perspective, probably the 2007 EL team before it went t*ts up. Massive and depressing home defeats to Coventry, Poole and Swindon. The 2007 season started on a massive low with the EL team, then we had a CL team which was like a phoenix from the flames and was hugely enjoyable and included one of my favourite meetings of all-time (the sheer drama of the play-off semi vs Plymouth), then the bombshell in November after the season ended. All the best Rob The Oxford 1982 team when we finished bottom...the team make up seemed to change every week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifer sam Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 Was that the same season you had Rickardsson " testing engines " or was that earlier ? That was one year earlier in 2006. Glad when we kicked out Rickardsson two weeks early and brought in Todd Wiltshire, who actually wanted to ride for us and was willing to help out the rest of the team. All the best Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 The idea here is to put down the 1-7 of the team you follow that was the worst that was on track over a season. We all have a team that really was shocking. My team is the Poole side from 1982 the first year I started following the sport at 13 years of age. Scott Autrey, Vaclav Verner, John Davis, Peter Prinsloo, Danny Kennedy, Neil Middleditch & Mikael Blixt/Erik Stenlund. Apparently 6 of the 7 rode in 1981 and looked pretty good unfortunately they only won 3 fixtures in the BL. To make matters worse I missed the wins over Coventry and Halifax. to be pedantic, Blixt rde only 4 meetings in 82 and Stenclund none. You missed our Kevin Smith. Tbf, there have been far worse sides than that one, which was really just an extra HL short of being a decent side. I can remember the days when four or five Riders averaged over 10.00 in the same Season. and in fact some would average over 11. But, that doesn't tell you anything about the strength of the league. The Polish league now is far stronger than the BL used to be, and only a couple of riders normally average over 10. In Britain, the key factor is the change in heat format. The introduction of heat 15 alone is likely to knock 0.5 off the average of an "old 10 pointer" and a point off an "old 9 pointer." Interestingly Poole's top average rider was John Davis with 8.68 and was 26th out of 201 eligible riders in the final BL averages that year. An average similar last season would have placed you SECOND out of 74 in the final averages. It shows how watered down the league is now and how there are so few top riders in Britain now. Also in 1982 in the BL there were 10 British riders in the top 26. Last year there were 8. Not much in it really. In 1982 there were 182 recorded full and paid maximums in the top 26 compared to 33 last season. Just some interesting figures I thought i would throw in. The league has been watered down, but those figures in no way prove it (tight conclusion, false argument). The main driver is the much tougher heat format in use last season. That is also the driver behind the reduced number of macimums. I think it was either 85 or 86 when Lynn went through the whole season without winning a single home meeting and only won one away. Vaguely remember them spending big on Mark Courtney and Paul Woods for that season and both being crap. Courney and Woods are both interesting cases. Both had superb "breakthrough" seasons in 1983, where they became true HL abnd England internationals. Courney had an ok 84 season for Belle Vue (great at home, pretty rubbish away) and then faded badly thereafter - recall an Aces programme in 84 bemoaning his lack of application. Woods from memory had an awful 84 season, and retired at one point? Returned, but like Courtney never got close to repeating the form of 83, depsite being pretty young at that stage. The shrinking of the BL to 11 teams may have been a factor, top HL maintained their averages, but a lot of others dropped markedly (thinking of the likes of Woods, Courtney, Campbell, Andy Grahame), I would say at least in part due to the talent being "condensed." To me, the two weakest teams I saw were the Eastborne and Swindon teams of 83. Certainly the Eastborne side that year was (on paper) eve weaker than the 84 side which Aces thumped 64-14. Weakest Aces side I saw in my years attending Hyde Rd was proably the 86 side - Morton was still a good number 1, Blackbird had a great season, Mckinn was solid, and Eccles impressed at reserve - but PC dropped over 2 points off his average, Andy Smith missed the whole BL with injury (eplaced by a lacklustre Courtney) and Barry Ayres was out of his depth - think the Aces finished 2nd bottom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevePark Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 (edited) I was there that night , Jason Lyons and Jesper were on an easy 5-1 and inexplicably rode into each other on the 3rd bend I was on the centre green that night (in the days when I was Dalbers' "runner" going between centre green and pits when either side were operating R/R) and I remember Jesper's wife Carol coming across and just saying with some acceptance (for the want of a better word) "What's he done now?"!!! Edited May 29, 2017 by Steve Park Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 That was one year earlier in 2006. Glad when we kicked out Rickardsson two weeks early and brought in Todd Wiltshire, who actually wanted to ride for us and was willing to help out the rest of the team. All the best Rob Didn't Todd have a falling out with one of the team? Seem to remember some hassle but can't recall who the other rider was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 That was one year earlier in 2006. Glad when we kicked out Rickardsson two weeks early and brought in Todd Wiltshire, who actually wanted to ride for us and was willing to help out the rest of the team. All the best Rob Glad I didn't witness Rickardsson as a 'Cheetah' personally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 Glad I didn't witness Rickardsson as a 'Cheetah' personally. A great Rider - but another one who never did it for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffdiamond Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 A great Rider - but another one who never did it for me. maybe you're too fickle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 (edited) A great Rider - but another one who never did it for me. Never saw him as a great team player...in fact can't recall him attempting to team ride whenever I saw him but I'm sure someone will put me right but then I did witness at close hand one of the best exponents of the lost art in Hans Nielsen! Edited May 29, 2017 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keef robin Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 (edited) 2011 Swindon Robins ...were stone bottom. Adams and Rosco had departed, Big Bald Ron was manager, Nicholls at number one, but the loyal fans kept coming back for more. Some embarassing defeats, lost half their home matches. Bloody awful season. Edited May 30, 2017 by beefy keefy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerblade Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 Sheffield's worst team in the BL was 1980, I can think of 2 defeats of 59 - 19 (Ipswich and Swindon - and that was a Swindon without Phil Crump as well!!!) and a 61 - 17 off the top of my head away from home! Ray Glover had taken over and promptly fell out with Doug Wyer and Craig Pendlebury, although Doug ended up staying on for that year. We had injuries to just about everyone, some of his signings were a disaster - even Shawn Moran failed to score on his debut and we thought "What the hell have we got here", but happily we all ended up being proved wrong pretty quickly! The worst in the lower league era was 1994, we even ended up getting hammered at home to Middlesbrough who were at that time marginally worse than us! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 (edited) Gonna sound harsh, but the Scunthorpe Stags team of 2014 was the worst I saw, I know it was built with 3.00ers to develop them, but they were still the worst... Steve Jones Aaron Mogridge Ryan MacDonald Tyler Govier Danno Verge Reece Downes Liam Sanderson I think this was the starting 7 of many riders used that year, and I remember watching Reece Downes fly over the fence in the first meeting (I think) was a spectacular crash... Does anyone have any information where Reece, Liam, Steve and Aaron are nowadays? As I say, it's harsh putting these lot here, but they're the only team I can think of... Apart from all the Redcar teams Edit: Most disliked rider for me was Jordan Frampton, just because of what happened to Rene in 2011, fine, the incident MAY have been an accident, but he didn't do much in ways of stopping the bike before he ploughed Rene into the fence... And then to be smiling and waving to the crowd, who were not best pleased with him, on the way to the pits? I hate that... No respect for a fallen rider at all... Edited May 30, 2017 by Dandelion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulco Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 Gonna sound harsh, but the Scunthorpe Stags team of 2014 was the worst I saw, I know it was built with 3.00ers to develop them, but they were still the worst... Steve Jones Aaron Mogridge Ryan MacDonald Tyler Govier Danno Verge Reece Downes Liam Sanderson I think this was the starting 7 of many riders used that year, and I remember watching Reece Downes fly over the fence in the first meeting (I think) was a spectacular crash... Does anyone have any information where Reece, Liam, Steve and Aaron are nowadays? As I say, it's harsh putting these lot here, but they're the only team I can think of... Apart from all the Redcar teams Edit: Most disliked rider for me was Jordan Frampton, just because of what happened to Rene in 2011, fine, the incident MAY have been an accident, but he didn't do much in ways of stopping the bike before he ploughed Rene into the fence... And then to be smiling and waving to the crowd, who were not best pleased with him, on the way to the pits? I hate that... No respect for a fallen rider at all... More disliked than Ben Powell ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 More disliked than Ben Powell ? Was that the one who rode his bike at Kenni Larsen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevePark Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Was that the one who rode his bike at Kenni Larsen? Yes. It even got a mention in a Sunday's Race Day Magazine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffdiamond Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Yes. It even got a mention in a Sunday's Race Day Magazine! was it 'adrenaline fueled' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Stewart Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Edinburgh won the wooden sppon (unluckily) in 1984 but retained it (deservedly) in 1985 with the following team: Brett Saunders Bobby Beaton Steve Finch Dave Trownson Phil Jeffrey Billy Burton Alan Mason Some decent riders there but none of them were at their best that year. We did win away at Long Eaton with Burton and Mason both doing well, which they didn't often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Johnson Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Gonna sound harsh, but the Scunthorpe Stags team of 2014 was the worst I saw, I know it was built with 3.00ers to develop them, but they were still the worst... Steve Jones Aaron Mogridge Ryan MacDonald Tyler Govier Danno Verge Reece Downes Liam Sanderson I think this was the starting 7 of many riders used that year, and I remember watching Reece Downes fly over the fence in the first meeting (I think) was a spectacular crash... Does anyone have any information where Reece, Liam, Steve and Aaron are nowadays? As I say, it's harsh putting these lot here, but they're the only team I can think of... Apart from all the Redcar teams Edit: Most disliked rider for me was Jordan Frampton, just because of what happened to Rene in 2011, fine, the incident MAY have been an accident, but he didn't do much in ways of stopping the bike before he ploughed Rene into the fence... And then to be smiling and waving to the crowd, who were not best pleased with him, on the way to the pits? I hate that... No respect for a fallen rider at all... if i remember that team was built very late on,just before the start of the season, the pick of the riders had got rides elsewhere, so we picked riders from our amateur meets,, i am sure other promoters were complaining about the team as too weak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 (edited) Yes. It even got a mention in a Sunday's Race Day Magazine! Ahhh, well that was before my time going to speedway, but Ben Powell still sounds like a dick if i remember that team was built very late on,just before the start of the season, the pick of the riders had got rides elsewhere, so we picked riders from our amateur meets,, i am sure other promoters were complaining about the team as too weak I know the management just chose people from the Scunthorpe scene, just saying, still one of the teams I've seen struggle the most, I think it was a good idea tbh, although the rider's confidence must have been shot, is that why so many riders were used over the season? Edited May 31, 2017 by Dandelion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Ahhh, well that was before my time going to speedway, but Ben Powell still sounds like a dick I know the management just chose people from the Scunthorpe scene, just saying, still one of the teams I've seen struggle the most, I think it was a good idea tbh, although the rider's confidence must have been shot, is that why so many riders were used over the season? Hey - Dandelion - where's your kangaroo gone? :shock: I liked that Avatar. If I may be so bold - I'm not keen on the new one. :nono: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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