Kelly Moran How Good.?

[hawkeyenz]

I loved the two seasons Kelly Moran had at Eastbourne. Made away trips worthwhile again. Gordon Kennett, Kelly Moran and Dennis Sigalos were a great heat leader trio in 1982 but we still finished near the bottom as they had inconsistent back-up.

[waiheke1]

I loved the two seasons Kelly Moran had at Eastbourne. Made away trips worthwhile again. Gordon Kennett, Kelly Moran and Dennis Sigalos were a great heat leader trio in 1982 but we still finished near the bottom as they had inconsistent back-up.

Ron Preston not siggy. And they also had Paul woods, so the top 4 was equal to anyone, but the bottom 3 not so much. Thought they finished top half?

Cant have Cook anywhere near the Shoey Bros both of them in there prime would Gobble Cook up.

Agree. Cook not in the same class as the other 3. King or Ermolenko may have made a more interesting debate, Cook was an entertainer and good heat leader, but not world class.

[Terry]

Brilliant entertainer was Kelly, my favourite yank. His career could've been over almost as soon as it had begun after he was badly injured in a horrible crash at Hackney in 78.

Not very nice spending your 18th birthday in hospital, although knowing Kelly he would've enjoyed all the attention from the nurses.

 

I remember an interview he gave on screensport during his Sheffield days when he referred to brother Shawn as "our kid."

I guess the local dialect must have rubbed off a bit!

 

The only occasion I went off him was when he beat my hero Zenon Plech in the 79 world final, depriving him a run-off with Mauger, but it soon passed.

[Andrew]

Practice day 1987,a Thursday afternoon during a school day.Two double social studies classes all afternoon,or Owlerton,six miles across the city.Only one winner there! So I nip into school (we live close by and I went home for lunch) for afternoon registration then a quick detour through the woods and back home and into my brothers car and off we went.The class was easy to skip as it was made up of pupils from several classes and was on a different site from the main school and they never checked upon you.

 

Anyhow,after being dazzled by Sean the Prawns latest luminous pink leathers,Shawn and Kelly finally took to the track,this being the first time Kelly had been back on a bike at Owlerton since the serious wrist injury the previous summer.Riding side by side,with Shawn on the inside,they took the first lap slowly at first then opened up the throttle for the second lap.As they came into the 3rd turn (I'm stood on the 3rd/4th terrace,so I'm looking right at them) Kelly sweeps out to the fence,makes a tight turn to square of the fourth bend and then pulls the most vertical wheelie I've ever seen the whole length of the home straight,finally putting the front wheel down on the first turn with Shawn still by his side !

 

Kelly was more of a showman than Shawn.I don't recall Shawn doing wheelies during races for example and Shawn was the better gater of the two by a long distance.Having said that the best gate I ever saw Kelly make was the one he made to win the ten rider ten lap race around Owlerton in 1988,probably the thought of the seven riders behind him focused the mind!

 

Maurice Ducker and Eric Boocock pulled of a masterstroke when they found a loophole that allowed Kelly to sign on a 7.50 average in '86 after missing two years when his final Eastbourne average had been around 9.Just imagine the outcry if some promoter tried to do that nowadays...

 

[steve roberts]

Cant have Cook anywhere near the Shoey Bros both of them in there prime would Gobble Cook up.

I have to admit I based my observations on not having seen many of the Yanks on a regular basis during the early eighties when Oxford were competing in the National League. Out of the four I saw Kelly ride the most as I used to go to Eastbourne quite often followed by John Cook. Both massive entertainers (again this is how I've categorised them). Never saw much of Shawn...never really excelled at Cowley to which he admitted was never a favourite track of his. Although seeing Sigalos score a fifteen point maximum from the reserve berth at Swindon during 1979 I viewed him very much as a gater...my personal opinion.

Ron Preston not siggy. And they also had Paul woods, so the top 4 was equal to anyone, but the bottom 3 not so much. Thought they finished top half?

Agree. Cook not in the same class as the other 3. King or Ermolenko may have made a more interesting debate, Cook was an entertainer and good heat leader, but not world class.

'The Eagles' finished well down the table (fourth from bottom?) despite, as you say, having a top four that was on par with most that season. A missed opportunity for Eastbourne that season in gaining some silverware particularly as Kennett, Moran and Preston all moved on the following season...Kennett to King's Lynn and both Moran and Preston to the States.

[norbold]

'The Eagles' finished well down the table (fourth from bottom?) despite, as you say, having a top four that was on par with most that season. A missed opportunity for Eastbourne that season in gaining some silverware particularly as Kennett, Moran and Preston all moved on the following season...Kennett to King's Lynn and both Moran and Preston to the States.

Eastbourne finished 12th out of 15 that year, Averages: Kennett, 9.72; Moran 9.62; Preston 9.19; Woods 6.62; David Kennett 3.55; Lillebror Johansson 3.55; Lars Hammarberg 3.37; Borje Ring 3.36; Keith Pritchard 3.27.

 

Part of the reason for their poor finish was due to Moran's rather wayward beahviour during the season. He was fined £1000 for failing to arrive at the match against Ipswich. He was then ruled unfit to ride by the track doctor in the match against Belle Vue. He was fined £10 and reported to the Control Board. Moran and the Eastbourne management put the fact he was unfit to ride down to the fact that he had been celebrating after qualifying for the World Final the previous night in Sweden and had then had to get to Eastbourne and that he was just tired. Though Moran did admit to being a "llittle hungover". In total he only rode in 35 out of a possible 48 matches that season and, with the tail being so weak, it didn't help that he was absent so much.

Edited December 4, 2017 by norbold

[Sidney the robin]

Just out of interest, if it goes Monday and Thursday in top league, is that something the panthers could do at the showground?

I have to admit I based my observations on not having seen many of the Yanks on a regular basis during the early eighties when Oxford were competing in the National League. Out of the four I saw Kelly ride the most as I used to go to Eastbourne quite often followed by John Cook. Both massive entertainers (again this is how I've categorised them). Never saw much of Shawn...never really excelled at Cowley to which he admitted was never a favourite track of his. Although seeing Sigalos score a fifteen point maximum from the reserve berth at Swindon during 1979 I viewed him very much as a gater...my personal opinion.

'The Eagles' finished well down the table (fourth from bottom?) despite, as you say, having a top four that was on par with most that season. A missed opportunity for Eastbourne that season in gaining some silverware particularly as Kennett, Moran and Preston all moved on the following season...Kennett to King's Lynn and both Moran and Preston to the States.

I remember the Swindon V Hulll meeting very well Steve 39/39 all Kilby 14. Sigalos 15 full max from the number 6 berth ( never met Kilb) Kelly got paid 11 Holloway 4 all were third places.It was a very wet meeting indeed similar to the Mike Keen meeting where DAG got 15 another strange thing was Siggy had got his max by heat 9 no Joe Owen he did not arrive.

I have to admit I based my observations on not having seen many of the Yanks on a regular basis during the early eighties when Oxford were competing in the National League. Out of the four I saw Kelly ride the most as I used to go to Eastbourne quite often followed by John Cook. Both massive entertainers (again this is how I've categorised them). Never saw much of Shawn...never really excelled at Cowley to which he admitted was never a favourite track of his. Although seeing Sigalos score a fifteen point maximum from the reserve berth at Swindon during 1979 I viewed him very much as a gater...my personal opinion.

'The Eagles' finished well down the table (fourth from bottom?) despite, as you say, having a top four that was on par with most that season. A missed opportunity for Eastbourne that season in gaining some silverware particularly as Kennett, Moran and Preston all moved on the following season...Kennett to King's Lynn and both Moran and Preston to the States.

Maybe i was doing Cookie a disservice he reached two World Final's and was a National Champion as well a real racer.In 1980 he averaged only 4.17 but in 81 he added another 4.5 points on his average some doing that. Edited December 4, 2017 by Sidney the robin

[steve roberts]

Eastbourne finished 12th out of 15 that year, Averages: Kennett, 9.72; Moran 9.62; Preston 9.19; Woods 6.62; David Kennett 3.55; Lillebror Johansson 3.55; Lars Hammarberg 3.37; Borje Ring 3.36; Keith Pritchard 3.27.

 

Part of the reason for their poor finish was due to Moran's rather wayward beahviour during the season. He was fined £1000 for failing to arrive at the match against Ipswich. He was then ruled unfit to ride by the track doctor in the match against Belle Vue. He was fined £10 and reported to the Control Board. Moran and the Eastbourne management put the fact he was unfit to ride down to the fact that he had been celebrating after qualifying for the World Final the previous night in Sweden and had then had to get to Eastbourne and that he was just tired. Though Moran did admit to being a "llittle hungover". In total he only rode in 35 out of a possible 48 matches that season and, with the tail being so weak, it didn't help that he was absent so much.

I was at Arlington on the occasion that he turned up with an almighty hangover (Wimbledon) and rode, if I recall, in two races falling off in both before being withdrawn from the rest of the meeting. He had just returned from the States if I remember correctly.

[moxey63]

I was at Arlington on the occasion that he turned up with an almighty hangover (Wimbledon) and rode, if I recall, in two races falling off in both before being withdrawn from the rest of the meeting. He had just returned from the States if I remember correctly.

Do you know what, I never really took a special interest in Kelly. Perhaps there was just too much talent competing against him back then. First impressions are important, they say, and so I probably judged him on a mediocre season at Birmingham in 1980 and then the match at Hyde Road for Eastbourne in 1982, 24 hours on from qualifying for the World Final, he was banned by the doctor from riding Eastbourne's match at Belle Vue (through over celebrating and over-indulgence!).

 

Then he missed a period in the BL and I felt his time to really climb the ladder to the top, after impressive World Final appearances at a tender age, had stalled. By this time, it was apparent that Kelly clearly had talent but not quite the dedication of, shall we say, the Danes at the time. He arrived at Belle Vue 1989 and I looked at him as exciting but not the rider to depend on for the serious job of acquiring important points that my team, Belle Vue, needed. Was he as serious to see Belle Vue win as I was? Like Peter Collins, Kelly was a joy to watch - in front or chasing for points. His style was a photographer's dream, his personality as welcoming as a warm fire on a chilly evening.

 

That final season at Swindon, 1992, a really poor ending to a career that had promised so so much. At 50, his passing was premature, a star had left the stage. Even seeing the video as he grasped for his last breath, Kelly's warmth was unmistakable.

 

Kelly seemed to bring the partying side of American speedway to these shores, otherwise he would have climbed right to the top, no doubt about it, with a bit more (much more) commitment. I didn't really take much notice of Kelly, like I said, during the 14 years his BL career spanned. But boy... wasn't I an idiot back then?

 

Some of us old boys don't know how much diamonds are missed until they are gone. We miss Kelly...

Edited December 5, 2017 by moxey63

[Sidney the robin]

Can remember Kelly riding in a test match at Wimbledon in 83 he had been inactive and was rusty also i think he was on borrowed aquipment.But to see him ride made me realise how big a loss for british speedway he was when he wasn't riding over here.

[Tigerblade]

Ive always thought Shawn the better of the Morans and Im always surprised how many people see it the opposite way round.

 

Shawns achievements clearly trump Kelly internationally and domestically. I know this debate is about pure talent alone and Kelly might have achieved more with more focus, but Shawn was no monk either and he didnt do half bad.

I think Shawn was the more serious of the two (not that that is saying a lot), although I get the impression that Kelly was the more popular nationwide. I remember very early in 1981 Shawn was given a public dressing down by Ray Glover about professionalism, or lack of it, after a meeting, but apart from that one meeting I can't really remember him giving any indication he was less than professional, at least whilst he was on the track.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Tigerblade

[Sidney the robin]

Absolutely agree. Shawn was streets ahead of Kelly, as was Sigalos.

Dont agree with that Frigbo..

[TonyMac]

Ive always thought Shawn the better of the Morans and Im always surprised how many people see it the opposite way round.

 

Shawn was a much more consistent gater, although - obviously - he was also brilliant from the back. His first race against Per Jonsson in the 1990 World Final was a classic.

[BOBBATH]

Most interesting comments -on youtube there are a number of entries regarding Kelly and his illnesses-was impressed as to Bruce Penhall's compassionate meetings with Kelly and how he organised his memorials-whatever anyone thinks about Bruce as a rider I think he was a really nice and compassionate guy and deserves credit for that!!

[Sidney the robin]

Most interesting comments -on youtube there are a number of entries regarding Kelly and his illnesses-was impressed as to Bruce Penhall's compassionate meetings with Kelly and how he organised his memorials-whatever anyone thinks about Bruce as a rider I think he was a really nice and compassionate guy and deserves credit for that!!

Totally agree Bruce who has had his fair share of tragedy in his life showed us a side not all of us knew about.Ok he handled his departure from speedway poorly but even after speedway i have enjoyed him as a commentator and to be honest he is a modest and humble guy and what a rider he was.But Bruce, Siggy,Ron,Bobby ect) showed us on those videos how much Kelly meant to them and that is what friendship is all about through thick and thin really moving at times.