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Godfrey's 16


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1 hour ago, Teromaafan said:

Ah...Rider Control. I was only a school boy at the time, but couldn't get my head around Dave Jessup (who would go on to be a whisker away from being world champion) going to Reading from Leicester, with Reidar Eide joining the Lions (from Newport?) for the 1976 season. I understood that this was associated with Rider Control. I don't know what the respective averages were, but even as a kid I thought we had been shafted. 1976 turned out to be most disastrous season I can remember for the Lions.

Yes, I was at school at the time as well. 

Dave Jessup wasn't subject to Rider Control IIRC, his move was a straight commercial transaction between two Reg Fearman promoted tracks, and DJ moved to Reading as a replacement for Anders Michanek who wasn't returning in '76. Leicester were allocated Reidar Eide via the Control committee, as their averages didn't have much of a disparity at the time. To make up the numbers, Leicester got two relatively unknown foreigners on assessed 7.5 averages, Ernst Bogh and Greg Szczepanik. Bogh was sacked after about six weeks and Szczepanik only survived the season simply because there was no-one else. His final CMA was 2.37 including bonus points. So that worked out well.

Four heat leader standard  riders were allocated to tracks and refused to go. Ole Olsen being the most famous, he was adamant he wasn't going to Hull and the ever enterprising Ian Thomas formulated a lucrative deal with Charles Ochiltree of Coventry for the Dane to complete his move there. The other three were Christer Lofqvist (Wimbledon) and Tommy Johansson along with Hasse Holmqvist (Wolverhampton).  Holmqvist hadn't even indicated he wanted to come back to the UK in 1976, so Wolves ended up using a combination of guests and/or R/R for both riders for the whole season. 

1977 was something of a transitional year which reverted to averages only to determine team strengths, although there was a sort of dying echo carried over from the previous season. Three teams were allowed to use R/R all season for non returnees, these being Hackney for Zenon Plech, Hull for Egon Muller and most controversially of all Dag Lovaas at White City  when you consider how the season panned out. Wolverhampton were granted the facility of either a guest or R/R for Tommy Johansson depending on the averages at any given time. All that was before both Cradley Heath and Leicester were allowed to use a guest for the same rider, John Boulger, for the opening months of the campaign. 

And people think the rules today are mad...  

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I considered then World Champion Ole Olsen being initially allocated to Hull as being more than cool, sadly Olsen didn't agree ;).  Have to say the man had point as he waited another year at Wolves after asking for a transfer to a bigger track and he said he'd already agreed a deal with Coventry.  I always thought rider control moves seemed to be quite random at times (Jimmy McMillan & Tommy Johansson were moved from Hull to Wolves as part of the Olsen move) but think I read somewhere that the Rider Control Committee was actually made up of a group of the then BSPA promoters, not as I thought the ACU or the then Speedway Control Board.  Think the SCB may have also have been formed out of BSPA members and / or referees, though I'm no defo sure on that one....

Edited by martinmauger
added info, spellin
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8 hours ago, pienpeesman said:

Also some riders ( foreing ) may find it difficult to get a fix in the uk next season due to flight operators IE easyjet pulling out of some uk airports !! & According to some things I've heard 1 or 2 Danes can't commit to the uk next season

Additionally some foreign riders, including Danes may be uncertain about visa eligibility should there be a hard brexit followed by  an  'Australian style' visa system.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well the way riders are signing for Polish teams and with other riders who are falling by the way side it looks like the 16 names Rob Godfrey has come up with might just come in handy eh...

Wonder if he can conjure up another 16 British names of say riders who have retired in the last 10 years and we can run a blended league of young kids and veterans...

Names on a post card...

Joe Screen. James Grieves. Stuart Robson. Adam Roynon. Lee Complin. Paul Clews. Andrew Tully. The Branney Boys. Jamie Courtney. Craig Watson. Gary Irving.  Leigh Lanham. Dsvid Howe. Paul Cooper. Chris Schramm...

There ya go 16... and there are many more... just to stir things up a bit like...

Regards 

THJ 

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49 minutes ago, TotallyHonestJohn said:

Well the way riders are signing for Polish teams and with other riders who are falling by the way side it looks like the 16 names Rob Godfrey has come up with might just come in handy eh...

Wonder if he can conjure up another 16 British names of say riders who have retired in the last 10 years and we can run a blended league of young kids and veterans...

Names on a post card...

Joe Screen. James Grieves. Stuart Robson. Adam Roynon. Lee Complin. Paul Clews. Andrew Tully. The Branney Boys. Jamie Courtney. Craig Watson. Gary Irving.  Leigh Lanham. Dsvid Howe. Paul Cooper. Chris Schramm...

There ya go 16... and there are many more... just to stir things up a bit like...

Regards 

THJ 

Mmmmm johnny ( tassles ) swales could race between grading

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16 hours ago, TotallyHonestJohn said:

Well the way riders are signing for Polish teams and with other riders who are falling by the way side it looks like the 16 names Rob Godfrey has come up with might just come in handy eh...

Wonder if he can conjure up another 16 British names of say riders who have retired in the last 10 years and we can run a blended league of young kids and veterans...

Names on a post card...

Joe Screen. James Grieves. Stuart Robson. Adam Roynon. Lee Complin. Paul Clews. Andrew Tully. The Branney Boys. Jamie Courtney. Craig Watson. Gary Irving.  Leigh Lanham. Dsvid Howe. Paul Cooper. Chris Schramm...

There ya go 16... and there are many more... just to stir things up a bit like...

Regards 

THJ 

Plus Carl Wilkinson.

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25 minutes ago, Big Al said:

Saw pictures of Doug "Flyer" Wyer a few weeks ago, looks good at 73. And also read that Graham Plant's been back on a speedway bike

Steve Wilcox from Middlesborough days, along with Geoff Pusey, were on a bikes during one of the Redcar Amateur meetings this summer.

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On 11/21/2020 at 8:36 PM, TotallyHonestJohn said:

Well the way riders are signing for Polish teams and with other riders who are falling by the way side it looks like the 16 names Rob Godfrey has come up with might just come in handy eh...

Wonder if he can conjure up another 16 British names of say riders who have retired in the last 10 years and we can run a blended league of young kids and veterans...

Names on a post card...

Joe Screen. James Grieves. Stuart Robson. Adam Roynon. Lee Complin. Paul Clews. Andrew Tully. The Branney Boys. Jamie Courtney. Craig Watson. Gary Irving.  Leigh Lanham. Dsvid Howe. Paul Cooper. Chris Schramm...

There ya go 16... and there are many more... just to stir things up a bit like...

Regards 

THJ 

In fairness those 16 riders are a loss to the sport just think how much knowledge and experience they have and could pass on to junior riders, Wayne Carter was brilliant with the young scorpions team 2005/2008 . Similar could happen with this list. 
would be great having someone like David Howe in my lads corner

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1 hour ago, phillwhitewasmad said:

In fairness those 16 riders are a loss to the sport just think how much knowledge and experience they have and could pass on to junior riders, Wayne Carter was brilliant with the young scorpions team 2005/2008 . Similar could happen with this list. 
would be great having someone like David Howe in my lads corner

Wayne carter.. david howe.. garry stead.. would be great for the young riders nowadays.. it's about time our powers that be got the likes of the riders I've mentioned above    etc on board with training days & other factors of our sport to make our kids well competitive & we could also have the likes of sean Wilson helping on advising on  & helping out with engine set ups at meeting etc 

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