Joe Owen NL was he the best…?

[Sidney the robin]

Just going through some old programmes from the old National league 1970 onwards wondered what people’s opinions were of who they believed was the best.? Lee, Carter, Crump, Louis i won’t include them them they were all destined for great thing’s mine has to be Joey Owen a terrific rider with his brother Tom a close up second.Others that really come to mind and i really enjoyed watching them ride were Jackson, Perks, Sampson, Etheridge, Lawson, a very tough league indeed.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Sidney the robin

[Guest]

From 1973 I'd add Lou Sansom, Arthur Browning, John Davis, Bobby McNeill, Mike Broadbanks, Carl Glover, Ken McKinlay & Geoff Bouchard.

18 teams in the league! Good old days :-).

[steve roberts]

8 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

Just going through some old programmes from the old National league 1970 onwards wondered what people’s opinions were of who they believed was the best.? Lee, Carter, Crump, Louis i won’t include them them they were all destined for great thing’s mine has to be Joey Owen a terrific rider with his brother Tom a close up second.Others that really come to mind and i really enjoyed watching them ride were Jackson, Perks, Sampson, Etheridge, Lawson, a very tough league indeed.

Mike Sampson was a favourite of mine and really came to the fore in 1977 when he also doubled up for "The Rebels". The Second Division produced so many star riders...Dave Jessup, Peter Collins, Gordon Kennett etc. It was no accident that when the League went its seperate way Britain began to loose its dominance.

Another good post Sid!

[Guest compost]

Devils advocat but strictly speaking shouldnt the best NL/Div 2 rider be Jack Young ?

More recently what about Carl Stonehewer ?  Unlike Joe (who was definitely the best NLer in the '70s and '80s) he did get to a 'world final'.

[Sidney the robin]

7 hours ago, compost said:

Devils advocat but strictly speaking shouldnt the best NL/Div 2 rider be Jack Young ?

More recently what about Carl Stonehewer ?  Unlike Joe (who was definitely the best NLer in the '70s and '80s) he did get to a 'world final'.

Yes great point compost and Sean the prawn Wilson was a legend for the Tigers in the Prem a terrific rider.

[Grachan]

Another great Second Division rider was Martin Yeates, who did pretty well in a British Final, which was unheard of for a second tier rider at the time.

[Sidney the robin]

11 minutes ago, Grachan said:

Another great Second Division rider was Martin Yeates, who did pretty well in a British Final, which was unheard of for a second tier rider at the time.

He was a great servant to all of his clubs great value could never quite understand why he didn’t quite make it as a regular British league rider.He did so later on in his career and had  a terrific spell with Swindon , i remember going to Belle Vue in 1984 for the Overseas Final Martin qualified scoring two points a terrific achievement. Lance King won the meeting with Sir Crumpy coming second on 12 points Carter also qualified scoring 8 points.

[steve roberts]

35 minutes ago, Grachan said:

Another great Second Division rider was Martin Yeates, who did pretty well in a British Final, which was unheard of for a second tier rider at the time.

Did great service for "The Cheetahs" in 1977. Steve Weatherly was another great rider from that era. The old Second Division/National League produced many talented riders.

[Sidney the robin]

5 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Did great service for "The Cheetahs" in 1977. Steve Weatherly was another great rider from that era. The old Second Division/National League produced many talented riders.

I think the reason of us producing so many good riders Steve over the years was the tracks in both leagues were so varied.The level in both leagues was very strong you had to ride in the uk then to be the best.Never really see alot of NL racing until Milton Keynes and Oxford entered it and for me was pleasantly surprised how much i enjoyed it even if it was at a lower level.In recent years i have got more pleasure watching the likes of Rowe,Palin,Thompson( bros) progress than watching the Grand Prix series.

[nw42]

10 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Did great service for "The Cheetahs" in 1977. Steve Weatherly was another great rider from that era. The old Second Division/National League produced many talented riders.

Carl Glover is one that springs to mind, had a very dominant period as Boston Barracuda's top man.  

[Sidney the robin]

1 minute ago, nw42 said:

Carl Glover is one that springs to mind, had a very dominant period as Boston Barracuda's top man.  

Before that  Arthur Price was another Boston gem.

[nw42]

5 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Before that  Arthur Price was another Boston gem.

Of course Sid, your memory bank is far better than mine, the way you recall meetings and individual performances never ceases to amaze me, I'm envious.  

Arthur Price was indeed a top 2nd division star, chuck in Michael Lee along with Carl Glover and what an era the 70's was for Boston.

[steve roberts]

14 minutes ago, nw42 said:

Carl Glover is one that springs to mind, had a very dominant period as Boston Barracuda's top man.  

Colin Richardson who I saw as fifteen year old giving demonstration rides at Cowley and beating a young Michael Lee. Another great product who never really progressed beyond his sensational 1977 season.

[steve roberts]

17 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

I think the reason of us producing so many good riders Steve over the years was the tracks in both leagues were so varied.The level in both leagues was very strong you had to ride in the uk then to be the best.Never really see alot of NL racing until Milton Keynes and Oxford entered it and for me was pleasantly surprised how much i enjoyed it even if it was at a lower level.In recent years i have got more pleasure watching the likes of Rowe,Palin,Thompson( bros) progress than watching the Grand Prix series.

I was fortunate Sid that at Cowley we had many talented Eastbourne & Peterborough riders take part in the old Second Halves (lamented in my opinion). Great days!

[Sidney the robin]

14 minutes ago, nw42 said:

Of course Sid, your memory bank is far better than mine, the way you recall meetings and individual performances never ceases to amaze me, I'm envious.  

Arthur Price was indeed a top 2nd division star, chuck in Michael Lee along with Carl Glover and what an era the 70's was for Boston.

My memory on certain issues Nw is very poor,  i  suppose it was just all of my youth was spent going to speedway with my uncle and dad it was full on really special memories i  cherish them.Watching Lee develop from a 16 year old was a privilege really a real natural talent only Carter, J, Crump, Gollob and in recent years Ward have excited me as much.

[Sidney the robin]

18 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

I was fortunate Sid that at Cowley we had many talented Eastbourne & Peterborough riders take part in the old Second Halves (lamented in my opinion). Great days!

Were you expecting  more of Ali Stevens Steve ? Dave Shields was a rider who excited me also watching an older Hunter/ Perks duo was a pleasure.

[nw42]

13 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

My memory on certain issues Nw is very poor,  i  suppose it was just all of my youth was spent going to speedway with my uncle and dad it was full on really special memories i  cherish them.Watching Lee develop from a 16 year old was a privilege really a real natural talent only Carter, J, Crump, Gollob and in recent years Ward have excited me as much.

Same here regarding my youth, I was my dad's ticket out of the house, my mum used to say "you can go but you can take 'trouble' with you so I can get some peace", so we were at the zoo every Saturday night, many Thursdays it would be a dash over Woodhead, our holidays were extended or curtailed to fit in a trip to a track on the way home.  Yet I can hardly recall any specific meetings, the most vivid still being the run off between PC & Michanek, which isn't a bad one to remember I suppose.  

Anyway, back on topic, as discussed above, for me Joe Owen would have to be the best from my era, constantly topped the averages in the Star every week.

[steve roberts]

23 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Were you expecting  more of Ali Stevens Steve ? Dave Shields was a rider who excited me also watching an older Hunter/ Perks duo was a pleasure.

Yes Ali Stevens was another 15 year old who gave demonstration rides at Cowley. He looked very promising and I seem to recall he suffered an off-track injury which seemed to set him back and never really fulfilled his full potential in my view. Saw David Shields ride to an immaculate 12 point maximum at Milton Keynes in only his second appearance for "The Cheetahs" in 1978. If he had chosen to return in 1979 I think that he would have become a very big rider in the National League and by the time he returned to these shores some years later I think that the early impetus was lost.

[Sidney the robin]

6 minutes ago, nw42 said:

Same here regarding my youth, I was my dad's ticket out of the house, my mum used to say "you can go but you can take 'trouble' with you so I can get some peace", so we were at the zoo every Saturday night, many Thursdays it would be a dash over Woodhead, our holidays were extended or curtailed to fit in a trip to a track on the way home.  Yet I can hardly recall any specific meetings, the most vivid still being the run off between PC & Michanek, which isn't a bad one to remember I suppose.  

Anyway, back on topic, as discussed above, for me Joe Owen would have to be the best from my era, constantly topped the averages in the Star every week.

Must be great to have those memories of your dad NW it certainly is for me would not change a thing.That run off must of been special one of my biggest regrets was not getting to Hyde Rd as much as i would of liked my favourite track along with the Shay even now.Two moments that stick out for me are Briggo going back to the Abbey with Wimbledon/Hull he got a great reception would of loved to of seen one of his 6 BLRC wins.

[Sidney the robin]

11 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Yes Ali Stevens was another 15 year old who gave demonstration rides at Cowley. He looked very promising and I seem to recall he suffered an off-track injury which seemed to set him back and never really fulfilled his full potential in my view. Saw David Shields ride to an immaculate 12 point maximum at Milton Keynes in only his second appearance for "The Cheetahs" in 1978. If he had chosen to return in 1979 I think that he would have become a very big rider in the National League and by the time he returned to these shores some years later I think that the early impetus was lost.

Holloway, Hack, Lamb, were three that come through at Cowley and the latter  two had brutal injuries which robbed us of seeing them go up the ladder i am sure both of them would of done in time.