steve roberts Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 7 hours ago, Sidney the robin said: After those we all mentioned for the Aces we should not forget Scarisbrick, ( Smith, Eccles/ Screen all thrown in the deep end full time) Smith and Screen were amongst that rare breed who forsook the route of competing in the lower league...Carl Stonehewer another...although the latter two did compete in the Junior league and later in their careers dropped down a league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nw42 Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 9 hours ago, Sidney the robin said: After those we all mentioned for the Aces we should not forget Scarisbrick, ( Smith, Eccles/ Screen all thrown in the deep end full time) Glen Hornby is another, I think he rode for Middlesborough but I'm sure he was a product of the BV training school. Early 70's Paul Callaghan was a Colts/Rochdale rider, his mum had a pub in Stockport, The Touchstone. The Meredith brothers, Duncan was one, can't remember the other's first name, they lived in Bredbury, Stockport, Duncan rode for Ellesmere Port and was a regular 2nd halfer at Hyde Road, I think he may have rode for the Aces an odd time or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: Smith and Screen were amongst that rare breed who forsook the route of competing in the lower league...Carl Stonehewer another...although the latter two did compete in the Junior league and later in their careers dropped down a league. When i first got to see Joe ride you could see he oozed class an era that sometimes gets overlooked but Screen,Dugard, Louis(jnr) Loram, Havvy were all riders i loved watching ride.I was chuffed that Dugard pushed on i see quite alot of him riding with Hans at Oxford and i have to say i always rated him but thought he might be just a one trick pony at Eastie but he was far from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 3 minutes ago, nw42 said: Glen Hornby is another, I think he rode for Middlesborough but I'm sure he was a product of the BV training school. Early 70's Paul Callaghan was a Colts/Rochdale rider, his mum had a pub in Stockport, The Touchstone. The Meredith brothers, Duncan was one, can't remember the other's first name, they lived in Bredbury, Stockport, Duncan rode for Ellesmere Port and was a regular 2nd halfer at Hyde Road, I think he may have rode for the Aces an odd time or two. What about good old Bernie Collier nw42. !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: When i first got to see Joe ride you could see he oozed class an era that sometimes gets overlooked but Screen,Dugard, Louis(jnr) Loram, Havvy were all riders i loved watching ride.I was chuffed that Dugard pushed on i see quite alot of him riding with Hans at Oxford and i have to say i always rated him but thought he might be just a one trick pony at Eastie but he was far from that. I first saw Joe (or Joseph as I think he was programmed?) ride at Coventry's Golden Greats in 1988 (Can't remember who he was paired against? Paul Dugard?) and he looked impressive. Personally I felt that Martin made a mistake going back to Eastbourne (bit like Gordon Kennett in 1979)...he should have moved to a bigger track and a trip "Down Under" would have done wonders for him. Edited May 1, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, steve roberts said: I first saw Joe (or Joseph as I think he was programmed?) ride at Coventry's Golden Greats in 1988 (Can't remember who he was paired against? Paul Dugard?) and he looked impressive. Personally I felt that Martin made a mistake going back to Eastbourne (bit like Gordon Kennett in 1979)...he should have moved to a bigger track and a trip "Down Under" would have done wonders for him. That also at the Golden greats meeting was the first time i got to see Joe ride he did look impressive.Dugard for me overachieved if anything he had a great career though GORDON i believed was going to join the Robins in 1980.But we signed Scott Autrey which was great for me as i was a big fan of Scott.But always felt if Gordon had joined in 1979, or 1980 his top class career would of been prelonged longer because he was one of the top visitors to the Abbey. Edited May 1, 2020 by Sidney the robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC2 Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 I remember Billy McNeil riding with Jan Andersson in the Swindon team when I stopped going in the 1970s. I gather Jan went on to do well (despite an awful first season for us), but how about Billy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 47 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: That also at the Golden greats meeting was the first time i got to see Joe ride he did look impressive.Dugard for me overachieved if anything he had a great career though GORDON i believed was going to join the Robins in 1980.But we signed Scott Autrey which was great for me as i was a big fan of Scott.But always felt if Gordon had joined in 1979, or 1980 his top class career would of been prelonged longer because he was one of the top visitors to the Abbey. I think that Gordon joining Swindon would have been the ideal move for him personally. It's a track he relished and I think that he would have develpoed even further at Swindon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) 43 minutes ago, DC2 said: I remember Billy McNeil riding with Jan Andersson in the Swindon team when I stopped going in the 1970s. I gather Jan went on to do well (despite an awful first season for us), but how about Billy? Bobby McNeil was one rider who escaped the clutches of Oxford! He found the transiton difficult riding full-time in the British League but was developing well after his first full season. He moved to Hackney because I believe his business was being compromised by riding at a Saturday night track. Unfortunately he suffered a couple of injuries and he was badly affected by the death of Vic Harding and retired soon after. Edited May 1, 2020 by steve roberts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC2 Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 1 minute ago, steve roberts said: Bobby McNeil was one rider who escaped the clutches of Oxford! He found the transiton difficult riding full-time in the British League but was developing well after his first full season. He moved to Hackney because I believe his business was being compromised by riding at a Saturday night track. Unfortunately he suffered a couple of injuries and he was badly affected by the death of Vic Harding and retired soon after. Oh, yes, Bobby! That’s why I couldn’t find anything about him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC2 Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 Grachan posted this in 2004: Bobby McNeil wasn't bad at all, though for most of his first season in the top flight he didn't look much and averaged around 4 a match. However, in the last match of the 1975/6(?) season at Swindon he then scored a surprising 14 points (I even remember it being against Hull!), and the following year averaged around 7.5. Maybe he never quite reached the heights expected of him, but certainly not a failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 3 minutes ago, DC2 said: Grachan posted this in 2004: Bobby McNeil wasn't bad at all, though for most of his first season in the top flight he didn't look much and averaged around 4 a match. However, in the last match of the 1975/6(?) season at Swindon he then scored a surprising 14 points (I even remember it being against Hull!), and the following year averaged around 7.5. Maybe he never quite reached the heights expected of him, but certainly not a failure. Bobby had been around a bit and was of course a product of Eastbourne. He rode in second halves at Cowley in 1972 and featured as Reading's Number Eight during their championship winning season in 1973. Bobby felt hat he should have moved up in 1974 but remained at Arlington (as their number one) and rode as Oxford's Number Eight on occasions. It was a bit of a surprise that he decided to move to Swindon for his first full season in the British League (1975) and he generally struggled but came on well in 1976 and 1977. He scored one full maximum for Swindon and credits that to Bob Kilby who let his thru' for the win during his last race. As I said the death of Vic Harding affected him badly and he bowed out after a couple of injuries in 1979 riding for Hackney. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 1 hour ago, DC2 said: Oh, yes, Bobby! That’s why I couldn’t find anything about him. Wasn't Billy McNeil captain of one of the great Celtic teams? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 40 minutes ago, steve roberts said: Wasn't Billy McNeil captain of one of the great Celtic teams? Yes he was, Steve! First thing I thought of too, and I'm sure he would have been a hard rider... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nw42 Posted May 1, 2020 Report Share Posted May 1, 2020 2 hours ago, steve roberts said: Wasn't Billy McNeil captain of one of the great Celtic teams? Also managed Manchester City and was very well thought of at Maine Road. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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