steve roberts Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 43 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: Others that i can remember just going straight into the BL Rob Foy, Graves, Eccles( useful was he a promoted junior??) Of course Mark Loram started off in the upper league as Hackney's compulsory junior and did fairly well but dropped down a league to aid development. The compulsory junior ruling was an odd one in my opinion but it did generate a few worthwhile riders who made names for themselves in the lower league. Paul Fry instantly comes to mind. Edited April 21, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) There were a few riders over the years who were not really ready for the BL even before the junior scheme came in.King's Lynn gave a few raw youngsters chances over the years ( i.e.) Sparshott,Dye, Framingham, Mallett Swindon- Simpson, Cross Halifax- Westwell, Stansfield, Baker( decent) Whittaker, Oxford- Butler, Surman, Stevens,( i liked) Cradley as you said Fryer( RIP great value), Leaver,Bostin.In the old days if a top rider was out somethimes you promoted a number 8 which was a big ask but a few riders developed there careers coming through that way. Edited April 21, 2020 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 50 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: There were a few riders over the years who were not really ready for the BL even before the junior scheme came in.King's Lynn gave a few raw youngsters chances over the years ( i.e.) Sparshott,Dye, Framingham, Mallett Swindon- Simpson, Cross Halifax- Westwell, Stansfield, Baker( decent) Whittaker, Oxford- Butler, Surman, Stevens,( i liked) Cradley as you said Fryer( RIP great value), Leaver,Bostin.In the old days if a top rider was out somethimes you promoted a number 8 which was a big ask but a few riders developed there careers coming through that way. I remember Billy Wall being thrown in at the deep end on occasions and, of course, Martin Ashby's brother, David, rode for a number of years for Swindon with very limited Second Division experience (I think he had a run out at Peterborough?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: I remember Billy Wall being thrown in at the deep end on occasions and, of course, Martin Ashby's brother, David, rode for a number of years for Swindon with very limited Second Division experience (I think he had a run out at Peterborough?) Yes remember Clark Facey, Billy Wall, Martin Hitch., Melvin Soffe, Kevin Pope, Richard Evans all getting opportunities. Edited April 21, 2020 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, steve roberts said: West Ham - Alan Sage Alan Sage rode for West Ham when they were in the First Division not the Second Division. Edited April 21, 2020 by norbold 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, norbold said: Alan Sage rode for West Ham when they were in the First Division not the Second Division. Thank for that! As I mentioned in an earlier post I'm basing my obserations on my memory...which fails all too regularly! I guess that Alan falls into that category of riders who commenced their careers in the upper league forgoing the less demanding route. Edited April 21, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 4 hours ago, chunky said: Firstly, I know it's YOUR thread, so you make the rules, but are we now including all riders who just made an appearance in the top division, rather than ones who actually established themselves at the higher level? Secondly, you have already listed Martin Yeates as Eastbourne. Thirdly, Kevin Holden started his career at Romford, not West Ham. ...as did Mike Sampson of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) Romford - Kevin Holden & Mike Sampson Previous entries amended accordingly. Edited April 21, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: Thank for that! As I mentioned in an earlier post I'm basing my obserations on my memory...which fails all too regularly! I guess that Alan falls into that category of riders who commenced their careers in the upper league forgoing the less demanding route. Yes, Alan Sage made his debut with First Division West Ham in 1971 and then moved on to Ipswich. He rode four consecutive seasons without missing one single match. He then moved to Second Division Crayford and carried on the record through 1975 - 1978 completing an incredible 327 consecutive appearances in official fixtures before breaking his leg in July 1979. Even then, when he returned to the saddle mid-season in 1980, he never missed another match for Crayford; and was ever-present again for Arena Essex in ’84 and ’85 and then for Canterbury in his final season of ’86. So, in 16 seasons from 1971 to 1986 Alan was ever-present in 14 of them. An incredible record! Edited April 21, 2020 by norbold 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 1 hour ago, norbold said: Yes, Alan Sage made his debut with First Division West Ham in 1971 and then moved on to Ipswich. He rode four consecutive seasons without missing one single match. He then moved to Second Division Crayford and carried on the record through 1975 - 1978 completing an incredible 327 consecutive appearances in official fixtures before breaking his leg in July 1979. Even then, when he returned to the saddle mid-season in 1980, he never missed another match for Crayford; and was ever-present again for Arena Essex in ’84 and ’85 and then for Canterbury in his final season of ’86. So, in 16 seasons from 1971 to 1986 Alan was ever-present in 14 of them. An incredible record! Alan was one of those dependable riders that speedway so desperately needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 15 hours ago, steve roberts said: Alan was one of those dependable riders that speedway so desperately needs. Unofficially in Alan's amazing career he rode in over 500 meetings a record to be proud of.It would be interesting to see how many meeting's both the Boocock brothers rode in,, Ashby, McKinley, Street all those guys did some meetings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: Unofficially in Alan's amazing career he rode in over 500 meetings a record to be proud of.It would be interesting to see how many meeting's both the Boocock brothers rode in,, Ashby, McKinley, Street all those guys did some meetings. ...and Jimmy Squibb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 15 minutes ago, steve roberts said: ...and Jimmy Squibb! Jimmy did well over 300 meeting's from 1965 - 1975 and his career spanned from 1947-75 a great servant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said: Jimmy did well over 300 meeting's from 1965 - 1975 and his career spanned from 1947-75 a great servant. ...and he was an ever present during many of those also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2020 Exeter - Martin Hewlett Ellesmere Port - Neil Collins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) Kings Lynn/Boston - Arthur Price and Carl Glover. I know Price had a handful of rides for Nelson and Crayford first, but he didn't do anything until he went to Lynn. Barrow - Craig Pendlebury and Keith Evans. Coatbridge - Mick McKeon. Edited April 28, 2020 by chunky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, chunky said: Kings Lynn/Boston - Arthur Price and Carl Glover. I know Price had a handful of rides for Nelson and Crayford first, but he didn't do anything until he went to Lynn. Barrow - Craig Pendlebury and Keith Evans. Coatbridge - Mick McKeon. Up until now I hadn't included in my lists any Anzacs but there are many that spring to mind...Gary Petersen (Nelson), Phil Crump (Crewe), Bob Valentine (Workington), Lou Sansom, (Workington) amongst many others I could mention. Good call on Arthur Price. I also had him down as King's Lynn/Boston but had forgotten about his previous clubs. Edited April 28, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 Another for Ellesmere Port - Nicky Allott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2020 Scunthorpe - Rod Haynes Rochdale - Ian Hindle, Mitch Graham, Robbie Gardner Sunderland - Dave Gatenby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.D Posted April 29, 2020 Report Share Posted April 29, 2020 For Eastbourne, the following riders have been missed out: Dean Barker David Norris Dean Standing Paul Dugard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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