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Ronnie Russell


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Excellent promoter to work for. Deserved more luck/success at Rye House. He poured cash in to make it work and was eventually beaten, but only after one heck of a fight.

The story made it to the BBC News website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-51383434

 

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Real character..Bow Boy and Ammer..although bruvver Terry is Orient fan. Good feature on BBC West tv.

Edited by auntie doris
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Reflecting on the Ronnie Russell years at Rye House... Pretty poor results wise, but at least we made a KOC Final. Highlight was Jens Rasmussen winning the 1988 Grand Slam at Oxford. One of my favourite days supporting the Rockets. Never spoke to the guy, but grew to appreciate his efforts keeping the club going in difficult times  

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2 minutes ago, Shadders said:

Reflecting on the Ronnie Russell years at Rye House... Pretty poor results wise, but at least we made a KOC Final. Highlight was Jens Rasmussen winning the 1988 Grand Slam at Oxford. One of my favourite days supporting the Rockets. Never spoke to the guy, but grew to appreciate his efforts keeping the club going in difficult times  

He likes pie n mash an all Chris:D

Keef

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1 hour ago, Shadders said:

Reflecting on the Ronnie Russell years at Rye House... Pretty poor results wise, but at least we made a KOC Final. Highlight was Jens Rasmussen winning the 1988 Grand Slam at Oxford. One of my favourite days supporting the Rockets. Never spoke to the guy, but grew to appreciate his efforts keeping the club going in difficult times

I was there...great day! Razzer was one of my favourites!

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10 hours ago, Shadders said:

Reflecting on the Ronnie Russell years at Rye House... Pretty poor results wise, but at least we made a KOC Final. Highlight was Jens Rasmussen winning the 1988 Grand Slam at Oxford. One of my favourite days supporting the Rockets. Never spoke to the guy, but grew to appreciate his efforts keeping the club going in difficult times  

Glad to hear it. You had to be close to the situation to really understand. It's not always how it looks from the terracing. 

Take another example. I was passing by the office when I heard a conversation between Ron and another promoter "Old (xxxxx) had a result last night - abandoned after six heats. Gets to keep the money"

Ron - "Yes but what about next week when they don't turn up?"

Always vowed that  we would only start meetings that we were going to finish. Those were sometimes stressful situations, battling to keep the place open until eventually he brought in partners who killed the place off. 

He gave us several seasons that in reality we should never have had. Even when we got that cup final he was forced to switch it to Arena Essex. Deserved far better.

 

 

 

Edited by RobMcCaffery
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shame it's got to the point of selling his medals, but for me when Ronnie had Rye House it was the end of GB Speedway being around the top, getting non Commonwealth into the National League was the end

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13 hours ago, Wee Eck said:

I didn’t know that. I’ve been maligning Len for years then :D

Ronnie's justification was that he had no realistic option. He needed a number one and no suitable rider was available. Jens had lost his place in the top tier, was settled in Britain with a British partner and family. He was an EEC citizen who had the right to work in Britain. Someone was always going to break the BSPA's outdated system. To deny an EEC citizen employment , it was argued, was against basic EEC laws and its fundamental principle of freedom of employment and movement. 

Yes it opened the doors to all kinds of foreign riders, but the horse had in fact bolted in 1973 when we joined the EEC. There was a 'gentleman's agreement' in the BSPA to keep the old British & Commonwealth restriction but it could not last forever. 

Whether or not this would all have been upheld in a court of law is for a different forum to argue, but there was a very real chance that the sport could have been in a legal minefield.

It wasn't Ron's fault that other promoters chose to employ less suitable riders. There's no reason why you can't choose not to employ a rider because he's not god enough, just not because he's a foreigner.

Yes, it did cause longer-term problems but at the time I'd say it saved Rye House from closure, and if Ronnie hadn't moved then, how long before someone else did?

Ask yourselves this, why did the BSPA allow him to sign Jens?

 

 

 

Edited by RobMcCaffery
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2 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

It wasn't Ron's fault that other promoters chose to employ less suitable riders. There's no reason why you can't choose not to employ a rider because he's not god enough, just not because he's a foreigner.

That's an interesting statement. Wasn't he the first to sign a "less suitable" rider as well?

Rasmussen  may well have been a success in the league but Peter Schroeck certainly wasn't! 

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