KIRKYLANE Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 The first time I saw Norwich was at Hyde road with Ove Fundin and Olle Nygren as their top two..what a great spearhead for a team 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 Fundin and Nygren backed up by "Gentleman" Aub Lawson in the twilight of his career I seem to recall. There's a trio that would frighten the lives out of today's "SGP sooperstar" riders. Always wondered what would happen in a tussle between Mr N. Pedersen and any of Ove , Olle and Aub. :-) :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) Over 850,000 people live in Norfolk, 213,000 of them in Norwich then 63,000 to the East in Great Yarmouth! I still think theirs enough people in the Norwich and East Norfolk area that currently don't go to speedway who'd be interested in spectating at a new track in Norwich without impacting on the nearby Ipswich, King's Lynn and Mildenhall tracks. I doubt anyone from the Norwich area goes regularly to Peterborough speedway which is the best part of 2 hours drive away! As for riders well as is the same with fans the more tracks the more people come out of the woodwork to spectate and ride. Indeed one of East Anglia's greatest riders ever John Louis only took up speedway once speedway returned to Foxhall in 1969. - If Messrs John Berry and Joe Thurley wouldn't have reopened in 1969 its highly unlikely Louis would of even thought about speedway! Edited January 2, 2022 by 25yearfan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 25yearfan, You would think getting say a thousand out of 213,000 to a speedway track near Norwich wouldn't be a problem. London has a population of nearly 9 million, and you were lucky to see a thousand of 'em turn up at Lakeside Speedway. Point taken about Tiger Louis, who came from a moto X background into speedway. But with so many double up riders it is hard to see where decent heatleader standard riders for any new teams would come from. Lots have retired unable to make it pay. Sure there are plenty of young trainees keen to practice their mistakes at National League level ...... but hardly likely to attract a new audience to a new track. Oxford will be interesting .... they have been fortunate to join with EB and Kent pulling out of the CL freeing up some riders. Lets hope they can attract a viable crowd from the 150,000 population of Oxford . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 On 1/2/2022 at 6:29 PM, old bob at herne bay said: It is remarkable that only in British Speedway can we hear on the one hand a shortage of riders (even with almost everyone doubling up), and yet speculative discussions of new tracks opening....... In the case of Norwich, any former Norwich speedway supporters will have long lost interest and moved on. . I doubt there are enough speedway folk left in Norfolk and Suffolk combined to support another track without impacting on the existing tracks at KL Ippo and Mildy. (not to mention PBoro.) Well there wasn't a problem in the early 60's and the formation of the Provincial League, when there were loads of 50's riders swinging their leg over a bike to ride again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Stadia Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Tsunami said: Well there wasn't a problem in the early 60's and the formation of the Provincial League, when there were loads of 50's riders swinging their leg over a bike to ride again. I am not quite old enough, but I believe the 'Provincial league' was a 2nd or maybe 3rd division league? I was speaking to a friend of mine recently, who keeps up to date with non-league speedway stuff and it appears there are many non-league riders looking to ride. Yes, many 'wobblers', many up-righters, which might mean some 'old boys', but they are out there. I think speedway needs to look 'outside the box'! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch958 Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 2 hours ago, Tsunami said: Well there wasn't a problem in the early 60's and the formation of the Provincial League, when there were loads of 50's riders swinging their leg over a bike to ride again. wasn't a problem 68/69 either 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 10 hours ago, Ray Stadia said: I am not quite old enough, but I believe the 'Provincial league' was a 2nd or maybe 3rd division league? I was speaking to a friend of mine recently, who keeps up to date with non-league speedway stuff and it appears there are many non-league riders looking to ride. Yes, many 'wobblers', many up-righters, which might mean some 'old boys', but they are out there. I think speedway needs to look 'outside the box'! The Provincial league was a pirate league set up in 1960 by a string of promoters with Mike Parker and Reg Fearman plus others. The then British League was struggling, but it was the league that was recognised by national and international organisations. The situation came to an impasse in about 1964/5 when Lord Shawcross was appointed by the RAC to furnish a settlement which resulted in one British League, with all teams to be built to the strength of the winners of the Provincial League in 1964 which was an Ivan Mauger led Newcastle team. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Stadia Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 34 minutes ago, Tsunami said: The Provincial league was a pirate league set up in 1960 by a string of promoters with Mike Parker and Reg Fearman plus others. The then British League was struggling, but it was the league that was recognised by national and international organisations. The situation came to an impasse in about 1964/5 when Lord Shawcross was appointed by the RAC to furnish a settlement which resulted in one British League, with all teams to be built to the strength of the winners of the Provincial League in 1964 which was an Ivan Mauger led Newcastle team. Very interesting. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbuck Posted January 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 Yes there is some interesting information there, but the point I was trying to make is that surely, the Hevingham site is worth another look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertsRacer Posted January 9, 2022 Report Share Posted January 9, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 11:03 AM, Tsunami said: The Provincial league was a pirate league set up in 1960 by a string of promoters with Mike Parker and Reg Fearman plus others. The then British League was struggling, but it was the league that was recognised by national and international organisations. The situation came to an impasse in about 1964/5 when Lord Shawcross was appointed by the RAC to furnish a settlement which resulted in one British League, with all teams to be built to the strength of the winners of the Provincial League in 1964 which was an Ivan Mauger led Newcastle team. Not quite correct. Although the mixed car/bike meetings operated by the likes of Mike Parker and Jesse Halliday were run without permission in 1959, leading to those participating being suspended, the subsequent Provincial League formed in 1960 operated under the Speedway Control Board, and continued to do so until the 1964 season when the National League tried to force the 1963 PL champions Wolverhampton to join their league against promoter Mike Parker's wishes. Parker refused to join the NL leading to the PL operating as a pirate league in 1964. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertsRacer Posted January 9, 2022 Report Share Posted January 9, 2022 On 1/5/2022 at 4:55 PM, brianbuck said: Yes there is some interesting information there, but the point I was trying to make is that surely, the Hevingham site is worth another look? The track was behind the Marsham Arms pub on the Holt Road. As far as I know the field it was in has not been developed, and you can still see the outline of the track from the air. I would be very surprised if those looking to bring speedway back to Norwich had'nt looked at the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbuck Posted January 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) Mike Parker was a very uncompromising businessman who was much disliked as a speedway promoter, but he does deserve enormous credit for the launch of the Provincial League in 1960. The league transformed speedways' fortunes as it allowed new promoters to bring the sport profitably back to numerous venues. Very many riders of fairly modest ability had been forced into retirement during the slump years because there had been no opportunities for them at the surviving National League tracks, so the advent of the Provincial League allowed them the chance to resurrect their careers. The fact that Provincial League pay rates were set low (I believe the rate was 12/6 per point) didn't particularly bother them since most of them were part-time riders anyway. What could have strangled the league at birth though, was the way that the Southern based teams, notably Rayleigh, Bristol and Poole concentrated on bringing back riders who had only recently retired, which created a definite division between their strong teams at the top end of the league, and those of the Northern clubs who mainly used ex Belle Vue junior riders (even though quite a number were "veteran" juniors, and had no chance of matching their Southern counterparts. All told though, the new league proved to be a huge success, and as a Birmingham supporter with no team to follow at the time, I soon transfered my secondary allegiance from Coventry to Cradley Heath where the racing seemed to be more competitive. What all this has to do with Norwich though, is beyond me! Edited January 9, 2022 by brianbuck 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 On 1/9/2022 at 2:07 PM, HertsRacer said: The track was behind the Marsham Arms pub on the Holt Road. As far as I know the field it was in has not been developed, and you can still see the outline of the track from the air. I would be very surprised if those looking to bring speedway back to Norwich had'nt looked at the site. It definitely hasn't, I used to work at the Marsham Arms in front of it and go past it on each trip to Norwich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 I doubt unfortunately that Speedway will ever come back to Norwich . at least while those in charge at KL have any input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 52 minutes ago, wealdstone said: I doubt unfortunately that Speedway will ever come back to Norwich . at least while those in charge at KL have any input. Yes King's Lynn combined with Ipswich and Mildenhall would try to hinder any attempts to reopen speedway in Norwich cause they think their crowds would be affected but I think even in todays lean times all four tracks could survive running at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiegal Posted January 11, 2022 Report Share Posted January 11, 2022 17 minutes ago, 25yearfan said: Yes King's Lynn combined with Ipswich and Mildenhall would try to hinder any attempts to reopen speedway in Norwich cause they think their crowds would be affected but I think even in todays lean times all four tracks could survive running at the same time. There is a law now called Restriction of Trade..whatever the BSPA might or might not say..such a ban would be illegal..unless it deliberately flauts uk civil law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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