Atomic

[iris123]

Tommy Miller !!! What a sensation ......not a thread on here about the wonder kid of Scottish speedway, so I hope someone or more can help maybe with first hand knowledge of just how good he was ?

The averages for his Coventry years are on speedway researcher, but by then sadly he was on the decline

1954 9.22 for all meetings and 2nd in the team averages, although in just league meetings he was top

1955 8.10 and 3rd

1956 7.10 and 4th

Quite a dramatic decline, but I think he was also involved in a short attempt to bring speedway back to his first love of Glasgow, which might have been a distraction.

If though I am reading Ian Hoskins (who describes Tommy as the best rider he was involved in alongside Bluey Wilkinson, which is quite some comparison) right he states Tommy had an average of 10.56 from the 4 years at Glasgow (1950-53) then he went to Motherwell for a short spell and then the Bees. Did his career then end in 1956, as he isn't at Coventry after that ?

[chunky]

Weird...

Like you, I have this feeling that he was an incredible rider, but unfortunately, there seems to be so little information available about Tommy, and he is largely forgotten these days.

I have just been able to get most of my speedway books out of storage, and I will go through them and see what I can find about him.

Can anyone else on the BSF provide any info?

[BL65]

Tommy Miller appeared in the same Bulls team as Ken McKinlay at the Bothwell (Glasgow) training track at the end of 1949, where he was discovered by White City.  He proceeded to top score for the Tigers in Division 2 in 1950 with 251 league points and a 9.78 average.  Miller upped his average to 10.70 in 1951, then achieved 10.91 and 10.81 in the next two seasons.  In the 1953 league season he only dropped 3 points at home.  Miller outscored McKinlay in each of the 4 seasons they rode together for White City.

When White City closed, Miller joined second division Motherwell for a fee of £1,500 in 1954.  His league average dipped to 7.70 and it was said that he was not popular with the fans, so he moved on to Coventry, also in Division 2, part-way through the season, for a much-reduced fee, managing to average 9.90 for the Bees in the league.  A significant dip in his scores followed in 1955 and 1956, with his average dropping to 7.47 and 6.69 respectively.  Coventry fans blamed Miller for the poor performance of the team and he was released, before joining 2nd  Division Oxford for the latter part of the season, where his average was just 4.29.

With White City closing at the beginning of 1954, Edinburgh pulling out of the league early on and Motherwell struggling on to the end of the season before closing, Tommy Miller had no choice of tracks north of the border and maybe this was a contributory factor in his rapid departure from the sport.

[BL65]

There is some information on Tommy Miller at

https://www.glasgowtigers.org/rider/tommy-miller/

https://blantyreproject.com/2016/05/speedway-atomic-tommy-miller/

I understand that Tommy Miller attended the pre-season practice at Oxford in 1957 but afterwards decided to retire.

 

[iris123]

Thanks. I had seen the Blantyre project piece, but not the other

Seems he smashed the Motherwell track record by 3 seconds !!! Took the Wembley 3 lap track record and the Lions management got in touch with Ian Hoskins in the hope of signing him. But Hoskins said the Glasgow fans would kill him if he let Tommy go

[norbold]

Tommy Miller was ranked in Stenner's Top 15 rankings three years running - 1951, 1952 and 1953. Not bad for a second division rider.

[BOBBATH]

I am interested in Tommy also- I got the impression he may have flamed out a bit too soon, wasn't he a heavy drinker? Toured Oz a few times, not sure if he came close to a World Final spot (can anyone tell me anything about how close he ever came to qualifying?) How would speedway historians compare Tommy to say Junior Bainbridge another White City rider. Think Junior kept going longer. Also didn't Tommy die at a youngish age?

[BOBBATH]

Sorry, just got to the link BL65 posted and that answered some of my questions-should have looked there first. I did see he died at the very young age of 51 -that's awful young even for that era.

[iris123]

19 hours ago, norbold said:

Tommy Miller was ranked in Stenner's Top 15 rankings three years running - 1951, 1952 and 1953. Not bad for a second division rider.

It was an amazing feat. I wonder if there was ever such a rise and fall in the speedway world in such a short time. Very sad and his early death just adds to it all

[BL65]

Although not scoring so well for his league teams in 1956, Tommy Miller performed well in the short season at Glasgow White City.  Representing a Scotland side against England Select in May he recorded three wins, was beaten twice by Peter Craven and was third behind Wright and Forrest in his other ride, totalling 14 points.  Later that month he scored 12 points from 5 rides in a challenge against Birmingham, being beaten by Alan Hunt and Ron Mountford (twice).  In June, Miller represented a Britain side against Overseas at White City, but had a disappointing total of paid 10 from 6 rides, but this included one mechanical failure.  At the end of the month he scored 10 from 5 rides in a challenge against Bradford, with two wins, two seconds and a fall. Finally, in a July challenge he scored paid 11 from 5 rides for White City against Norwich, including 3 wins and another fall.  In that series of meetings he averaged 8.44, so he seemed to generally still have the winning touch at White City.

[iris123]

56 minutes ago, BL65 said:

Although not scoring so well for his league teams in 1956, Tommy Miller performed well in the short season at Glasgow White City.  Representing a Scotland side against England Select in May he recorded three wins, was beaten twice by Peter Craven and was third behind Wright and Forrest in his other ride, totalling 14 points.  Later that month he scored 12 points from 5 rides in a challenge against Birmingham, being beaten by Alan Hunt and Ron Mountford (twice).  In June, Miller represented a Britain side against Overseas at White City, but had a disappointing total of paid 10 from 6 rides, but this included one mechanical failure.  At the end of the month he scored 10 from 5 rides in a challenge against Bradford, with two wins, two seconds and a fall. Finally, in a July challenge he scored paid 11 from 5 rides for White City against Norwich, including 3 wins and another fall.  In that series of meetings he averaged 8.44, so he seemed to generally still have the winning touch at White City.

Thanks for that. I was going to try and research that. You have saved me the work and probably done a better job that me anyway

[iris123]

Found a piece about his tour to Australia in 1950-51

Apparently after the first test where Tommy wore the no.13 race jacket and only scored 5 pts, he refused to wear it again. Team manager H. Tovey retired the no.13 and so Tommy wore no.16 in the 2nd test and duly scored 2 pts !!! Sadly this was the meeting Ken le Breton tragically crashed and later died. Wasn't a particularly good series for England losing all 7 tests, though Tommy did have a few decent meetings and also finished equal 2nd with Aub Lawson in the Australian 4 lap championship, which Jack Parker won. Tommy also had the fastest heat win of the meeting in Sydney where in the first 15 heats the track records was broken in 12 heats and equalled in 3 others !!!

Tommy was also involved in an accident when driving a lorry taking the bikes to the Bathurst test. Seems the wheels locked and he crashed into another vehicle. Some of the bikes were damaged and Tommy's wife, who was also with him had to receive treatment when they arrived at the track. Eddie Riggs, Eric Williams and Tommy were unhurt. A big problem it seems was that whilst the other 3 riders managed to get replacement bikes, Tommy's was special because of his small size with a low saddle and high foot rest and he couldn't find a suitable replacement. 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by iris123

[BL65]

38 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Thanks for that. I was going to try and research that. You have saved me the work and probably done a better job that me anyway

Glad to be of assistance. After nearly 60 years of researching I think I am getting the hang of it. It's amazing how many times subjects crop up and I remember having looked at them before.  I dread the day my memory gives up on me! 

[BOBBATH]

This is exactly why I love this forum-so much interesting stuff and you get to find out so many interesting things-thanks for starting this thread iris 123. BTW how did you come up with that moniker-also how would you folks rank the following in order- McKinlay, Miller, , Bainbridge. While different eras would anyone like to compare George Hunter to Tommy.

[BL65]

10 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

While different eras would anyone like to compare George Hunter to Tommy.

George Hunter had a modest start compared to Tommy Miller, averaging 4.34 in his first Provincial League season in 1960, rising to 7.41 and 7.66 in the next two years.  His best year at that level was 1963, when he achieved a league average of 11.09.  Two very good following seasons saw him attain 10.31 in 1964, then 9.41 in the first year of the British League. His final two seasons at Edinburgh saw him averaging just over 8, before two disappointing years when Monarchs moved to Coatbridge, with figures of 5.73 and 6.94.  Throughout the 1970s Hunter consistently averaged 8.00+ in Division 1 with Newcastle, Glasgow and Wolverhampton, before a couple of very good seasons at Oxford and Edinburgh in the National League.  George lasted a lot longer as a heat leader class rider than Tommy Miller, his rise was less spectacular but his decline was less marked, apart from the disappointing period at Coatbridge.  Hunter also spent three-quarters of his career riding in the top division, Miller rode at Division 2 level only.

[BOBBATH]

Interesting comments BL65, George was the first real top star of the Prov. League that I saw, for Monarchs when they visited Newport in 1964-very impressive. Wondered if he could ever make a World Final, but never seem to do well in big qualifying memories e.g. the 1966 European Final at Wembley-nerves maybe or motivation  or just not good enough at big occasions. However being involved in the fatal Peter Craven crash didn't seem to affect his later riding as it might have for some other riders.

[Fromafar]

1 hour ago, BOBBATH said:

Interesting comments BL65, George was the first real top star of the Prov. League that I saw, for Monarchs when they visited Newport in 1964-very impressive. Wondered if he could ever make a World Final, but never seem to do well in big qualifying memories e.g. the 1966 European Final at Wembley-nerves maybe or motivation  or just not good enough at big occasions. However being involved in the fatal Peter Craven crash didn't seem to affect his later riding as it might have for some other riders.

George definitely was a Top Man in 1965 ,and should have went further in the sport IMo.He walked out of a  Wet meeting at Meadowbank in 65 and then seemed to take a dislike to wet meetings.Think the Craven situation was always at the back of his mind,and nerves seemed to affect him on the big occasion.He was a class act and a fantastic style and team rider.He had a good career in the sport if somewhat underachieving.A good guy.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Fromafar

[steve roberts]

5 hours ago, Fromafar said:

George definitely was a Top Man in 1965 ,and should have went further in the sport IMo.He walked out of a  Wet meeting at Meadowbank in 65 and then seemed to take a dislike to wet meetings.Think the Craven situation was always at the back of his mind,and nerves seemed to affect him on the big occasion.He was a class act and a fantastic style and team rider.He had a good career in the sport if somewhat underachieving.A good guy.

George was a brilliant skipper during his twilight years at Oxford in 1978 & 79. His team riding skills were beyond question and he could dictate a race to perfection. Remember a classic second half final when he and Mike Sampson put in some tremendous laps passing and re-passing each other.

[norbold]

As a New Cross supporter, I didn't see many Provincial League riders in its early days, 1960/61, but I did see some in Individual meetings and in second halves. Purely from memory, without resorting to record books, I seem to remember that I thought Trevor Redmond and Ivor Brown were head and shoulders above the rest of the riders I saw and were the only two I felt at the time could hold their own in the National League. Of course that is purely a subjective view of a young speedway novice (me) and without seeing all of the top riders.
 

i'd be interested in hearing Provincial League aficionados from that period's views on Redmond and Brown.

[BL65]

7 hours ago, Fromafar said:

He walked out of a  Wet meeting at Meadowbank in 65 and then seemed to take a dislike to wet meetings.

George walked out of the meeting against Coventry on 7^th August 1965 after one ride, complaining about the state of the track.  Ian Hoskins was not best pleased.  Hunter threatened he would walk out again if improvements were not made. Hoskins wrote a strongly-worded letter to him and George turned up to ride the following week, but the track had been extensively worked on and bladed during the week by former Monarch Dick Campbell.  Ironically, the meeting against Swindon was rained off.  Having escaped further action by the Control Board for his walk-out Hunter was then suspended for 21 days for failing to appear at Coventry and Exeter on 11^th and 13^th September.  Edinburgh were able to use a guest to replace George for the home meeting with Belle Vue and so booked Ivan Mauger, although he only scored 9.  If the suspension had started with effect from 14^th September then Hunter would have been banned until 4^th October, but he appealed and was allowed to defend his Scottish Open title on 2^nd October, finishing runner-up to Arne Pander, with Mauger third.