chunky Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 2 hours ago, BOBBATH said: At the Berwick meeting the star seemed to be a guy called Danny Bird for I.O.W.-did he end up having a good career. His career came to an abrupt halt in 2007 for being a naughty boy. There is more information available online... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, BOBBATH said: What year did the old second halves come to an end-were they abolished all together or was it a slow decline. They were going strong when I left but by my last ever speedway meeting in UK they'd gone. BTW the last ever meeting I saw was at Berwick on 19th October 2002 v I.O.W-Young Shield Semi Final. Not a success- I of course knew none of the riders, weather was cold, was standing up on terraces , my back was aching and left after Heat 7 to drive back to Edinburgh-got too used to comfort I guess. Following day saw Hearts lose 0-6 to Celtic at home, but a comfortable seat and had a pint in the bar with some friendly and good natured Hearts fans!! In the British league it was 1984 (not sure about the National League). In 1985 a Junior League replaced the old second half set up which was an admirable idea producing a number of riders of differing talents. However I personally preferred the old tried and tested system which gave riders an opportunity to test their abilities against full team members. There is an opinion that some riders 'bunked off' riding in the second half and although that was sometimes true it wasn't as common as some would suggest...certainly not during my years of following speedway. When the old second half came to an end it also drew negative views from many riders (Phil Crump and Keith Bloxsome...two riders from opposite ends of the speedway hierarchy...for example) I did put the question to Martin Rogers a couple of years ago and his reply in "Backtrack" was most informative and generally he was in favour of the old system. I remember when Oxford Promoter, Chris Shears, re-intoduced an old fashion second half after one meeting in 1995 and it proved popular with the fans however he was ostrasised by fellow promoters and was forced to dis-continue the initiative. Edited July 15, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 35 minutes ago, steve roberts said: There is an opinion that some riders 'bunked off' riding in the second half and although that was sometimes true it wasn't as common as some would suggest...certainly not during my years of following speedway. While "a few", may not have been interested, I certainly don't feel it was as big an issue as some may claim. Plus, in the late 60's and early 70's, it wasn't unusual to have a "star guest" make an appearance in the second half; often a match race (or series) against the top local(s), and contesting the usual second half event. At Plough Lane, it was usually a London-based rider, or someone like Terry Betts. It must have been worth their while to turn up for a couple of races... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 34 minutes ago, Richard Weston said: Ove Fundin came to King's Lynn once for a 2nd half. At Oxford we got see a 15 year old Michael Lee take on Colin Richardson in a series of interval match races. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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