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The first race you saw


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58 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Fitzpatrick is quite a Catholic name for an East Anglican meeting!!! I can only assume he is what my friend from Kells calls a ‘souper’ :D

Johnny Fitzpatrick rode for New Cross at one time. He was actually born in Guernsey, though his family moved to London when he was three and he was always thought of as a Londoner.

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2 minutes ago, norbold said:

Johnny Fitzpatrick rode for New Cross at one time. He was actually born in Guernsey, though his family moved to London when he was three and he was always thought of as a Londoner.

Are you saying Londoners are all Anglican ? I know some who are Catholic . I saw them going into Mass

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6th April 1974

Swindon 40-38 Ipswich

M.Ashby, Louis, Leigh, Nygren.

Mike Keen was injured in a spill with Billy Sanders in heat 3.

The meeting saw what became the traditional Martin Ashby 12-point maximum.

 

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5 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Just thought about it, the date was June 7th.

The race: Heat 1.

Riders: Chris Morton, Nigel Boocock, Paul Tyrer, Alan Molyneux (in finishing order).

If I recall correctly, think the time was 71.6 seconds.

I also had a home-made haircut, wore a pair of those Rupert pants that were in fashion, and my biro kept running out filling in each race.

How's that for memory?

Most of the above are untruths - I got the heat details from Speedway Researcher... about five minutes ago. 

Belle Vue v Coventry, Gulf Oil British League, 1975.

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Tuesday April 12th(?) 1980

Ladbrokes Stadium Crayford

Crayford v Young Sweden challenge match

Ex Hackney/Coventry/Swindon(?) rider Tommy Nilsson  won heat one i think, probably from Laurie Etheridge but i'm guessing here

Following week was my first 'meaningful' match, Don't remember the score but Crayford beat the Nottingham Outlaws despite Mike Sampson scoring a maximum.

it took a few matches but i probably really got hooked after seeing Les Rumsey's finest hour/six rides when we won the 4's at Peterborough later that year.

Thought it would always be like that,  following a successful team - little did i know that's as good a it got for that variety of Kestrel ...

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, iris123 said:

Are you saying Londoners are all Anglican ? I know some who are Catholic . I saw them going into Mass

You spying on Catholics now? That's creepy...

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25 minutes ago, chunky said:

You spying on Catholics now? That's creepy...

Ah well I have to admit I did attend Xmas mass and I was not alone. The place was packed and I am fairly certain the priest was a Catholic :D

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9 hours ago, Gambo said:

Can't remember the exact date, but it was in 1963.

My neighbours were Speedway fans and took me to Brandon one Saturday night.

We sat in the old wooden stand that looked down the straight, and I had no idea what was about to enfold.

4 riders lined up at the tapes, and when the tapes rose the riders raced straight towards us, and in an instant I thought they were all about to fall off as they threw their bikes into the first turn. I was hooked!!!

What an excellent comment. How well you summarise the impression most people gain from that magical first race first visit to a speedway meeting.

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4 hours ago, Andy Downes said:

Tuesday April 12th(?) 1980

Ladbrokes Stadium Crayford

Crayford v Young Sweden challenge match

Ex Hackney/Coventry/Swindon(?) rider Tommy Nilsson  won heat one i think, probably from Laurie Etheridge but i'm guessing here

Following week was my first 'meaningful' match, Don't remember the score but Crayford beat the Nottingham Outlaws despite Mike Sampson scoring a maximum.

it took a few matches but i probably really got hooked after seeing Les Rumsey's finest hour/six rides when we won the 4's at Peterborough later that year.

Thought it would always be like that,  following a successful team - little did i know that's as good a it got for that variety of Kestrel ...

Interesting comment. The date of the meeting was April  22 1980. Crayford beat the Swedish side 44-33. Tommy Nilsson scored a 12 point maximum for the Swedes.

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5 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

13th June 1964, Southern League match . Newport 52- Long Eaton 25.

Heat 1 Alby Golden, Jon Erskine, Ken Adams, John Mills  Time 68.4 secs.  Alby broke the track record in this heat.

I remember seeing Alby Golden for the first time at the old California track. It was in 1954. He was there with visiting Ringwood for a Southern Area League match.

Edited by Guest
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29 June 1963 - Speedway Championship of the World, "Sunday Mirror" Round Two (Great Britain) Meeting, Brandon Stadium

Heat 1.  Bryan Elliott (R), Eric Boothroyd (B), Jack Biggs (W), Terry Betts (Y&B)

Result : Biggs, Betts, Elliott, Boothroyd. 67.8 secs

Meeting result:

Ron Mountford 13pts, Doug Templeton 12, Jack Geran 10, Jim Lightfoot 9, Peter Moore 9, Ken McKinlay 9, Barry Briggs 8, Gordon McGregor 8, Len Silver 6, Jack Biggs 5, Terry Betts 5, Ronnie Genz 5, Bryan Elliott 5, Peter Vandenberg 4, Eric Boothroyd 3, Les Owen (res) 3, Pete Brough (res) 3, Cyril Roger 0.

In heat 2, Ron Mountford equalled the track record of 65.8 secs held by Ronnie Moore (1960) and Barry Briggs (1962) - several other riders went on to equal this time, until  on 14 June 1969 Conny Samuelsson (heat 5) and Nigel Boocock (heat 7) set a new record of 65.6 secs when Bees beat Oxford 46-32 in a Knock-out Cup fixture.

Edited by Midland Red
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I genuinely did not remember my first race as I didn't like it the first meeting I went to, but I know it was the Bass (former local brewery) Yorkshire Open on 16th September 1976.

Having checked the marvellous Speedway Researcher site, Heat 1 was  Ole Olsen, Ivan Mauger, Peter Collins and Reg Wilson (in that order) in a time of 67 seconds exactly.  Bear in mind the track record at that time was 65.4 set by Ole earlier in the season. 

Apologies for deviating from the original topic a little, but my first "proper" race I remember is when I went again on 15th September 1977 to the Gauloises Pairs semi final and was hooked, upon seeing the Flyer make the gate in his white tasselled leathers.  The result of that was Doug Wyer, Craig Pendlebury, Martin Ashby, Geoff Bouchard in a time of 66.8.

 

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46 minutes ago, auntie doris said:

1963..New Cross v Hackney.. probably Squibbo in first race.

If it was the first match of the season on 12 April you would have seen Reg and Eddie Reeves for New Cross against Colin McKee and Wal Morton for Hackney. It was a 5-1 for the Rangers. 1. Eddie Reeves 2. Reg Reeves 3. Colin McKee 4. Wal Morton. Time 64.6.

P.S. I don't remember seeing you there.....

Edit: I guess it must have been that match as it was the only time New Cross met Hackney at home that year.

Edited by norbold
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21 minutes ago, norbold said:

If it was the first match of the season on 12 April you would have seen Reg and Eddie Reeves for New Cross against Colin McKee and Wal Morton for Hackney. It was a 5-1 for the Rangers. 1. Eddie Reeves 2. Reg Reeves 3. Colin McKee 4. Wal Morton. Time 64.6.

P.S. I don't remember seeing you there.....

Edit: I guess it must have been that match as it was the only time New Cross met Hackney at home that year.

Eddie Reeves - "Cheetahs" legend!

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6 hours ago, Midland Red said:

29 June 1963 - Speedway Championship of the World, "Sunday Mitrror" Round Two (Great Britain) Meeting, Brandon Stadium

Heat 1.  Bryan Elliott (R), Eric Boothroyd (B), Jack Biggs (W), Terry Betts (Y&B)

Result : Biggs, Betts, Elliott, Boothroyd. 67.8 secs

Meeting result:

Ron Mountford 13pts, Doug Templeton 12, Jack Geran 10, Jim Lightfoot 9, Peter Moore 9, Ken McKinlay 9, Barry Briggs 8, Gordon McGregor 8, Len Silver 6, Jack Biggs 5, Terry Betts 5, Ronnie Genz 5, Bryan Elliott 5, Peter Vandenberg 4, Eric Boothroyd 3, Les Owen (res) 3, Pete Brough (res) 3, Cyril Roger 0.

In heat 2, Ron Mountford equalled the track record of 65.8 secs held by Ronnie Moore (1960) and Barry Briggs (1962) - several other riders went on to equal this time, until  on 14 June 1969 Conny Samuelsson (heat 5) and Nigel Boocock (heat 7) set a new record of 65.6 secs when Bees beat Oxford 46-32 in a Knock-out Cup fixture.

Was interested to see that Doug Templeton of Edinburgh in Prov. league scored 12 points-that seems to indicate he could hold his own with Nat. league riders. Did he get much farther in that years WCQR's-were there other PL riders in 1963 who could perform as well against Nat. League riders e.g. Ivan Mauger, Wayne Briggs, George Hunter etc.

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