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Sheffield Tigers speedway


Guest Desy

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Has been around for quite a few years and I think the season before last had been going for 100 years.

Have you got any memories of the riders you watched, liked, hated.

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I've never been - but have heard it a few times in the Sheffield area !

How busy does it get (say compared to greyhound racing there) ?

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Sheffield are in the middle tier of british speedway. mainly have good up and coming riders . Sheffield is one of the fastist tracks in the country eg 4 laps in 69 seconds. The season starts on 15th march 7.45pm against wolverhampton in the top division in a challange match. gets about 3,000+ but the circuit is only open from the 3rd bend to the second and is £12.

The best thing is that the kids can talk to the riders and they all don't have ego's unlike footballers.

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How long has speedway played a part in Sheffield sport ?

Has it always been at Owlerton ?

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Who have been the big stars for Sheffield ?

And are there any famous faces you can see down there ?

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Jack winstanley

Tommy Roper

Clive featherby

Arnie Haley

Jack Kitchen

ronnie rolfe

Derrol Mebin

Reg wilson

Doug wyer

Shawn Moran

Kelly Moran

Lars gunstaed

Steve Johnson

Derrol Keats

Robbie Kessler

Simon stead

Carl stnoehewer

Andre Compton

Jamie Birkinshaw

Steve cope

jim airey

sam ermalenko

KYLE LEGAULT one of the best up and comers that sheffield have let go this season

Charlie Monk

Alan Moggeridge

And one of the best none Sheffield riders ever to never ride(well not that often James Grieves)

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A mate I went to junior school with was speedway mad while all the other lads were into following one of the two Sheffield football teams. He passed his 11 plus and I didn,t so we went our seperate ways. About four years ago I got back in touch through Freinds reunited and we got together on one of my trips home. Well it turns out his dreams became reality and he grew up to ride for the Tigers. His name is Philip White, I don't know how succesful he was during his career. He is now a pilot for British Airways.

Also Neil Machin the Promoter/ owner of the Tigers is a big friend of my best mate and fellow ex pat over here. I am sure if I ask him he could get some information for the site.

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A mate I went to junior school with was speedway mad while all the other lads were into following one of the two Sheffield football teams. He passed his 11 plus and I didn,t so we went our seperate ways. About four years ago I got back in touch through Freinds reunited and we got together on one of my trips home. Well it turns out his dreams became reality and he grew up to ride for the Tigers. His name is Philip White, I don't know how succesful he was during his career. He is now a pilot for British Airways.

Also Neil Machin the Promoter/ owner of the Tigers is a big friend of my best mate and fellow ex pat over here. I am sure if I ask him he could get some information for the site.

Phil white was ok but he never really made it above second string (that is the next one down from heat leader). He had a few good years at Owlerton.

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Guest sparky

Couple of things Desy. firstly Speedway has been going since 1929 tso it is actually 78 years this year. Secondly, you're being a bit unfair on Phil White!! Phil may have been a second string in the BL (Equivalent of EL and the top tier), but at the level we operate at now he was most definitely a heat leader! Some of those names you mention as top riders couldn't hold a candle to Phil!!

Still it IS the greatest sport in the world with some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet!

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Couple of things Desy. firstly Speedway has been going since 1929 tso it is actually 78 years this year. Secondly, you're being a bit unfair on Phil White!! Phil may have been a second string in the BL (Equivalent of EL and the top tier), but at the level we operate at now he was most definitely a heat leader! Some of those names you mention as top riders couldn't hold a candle to Phil!!

Still it IS the greatest sport in the world with some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet!

Sorry about how many years sheffield had been going. But I stated what Phil White was not what he should have been now.

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I used to go a lot back in the 70s the likes of Jim Airey, Begnt Larsson, Arnie Haley, Bob Paulson etc, can anyone remember the combination of smells on the warm summer evenings coming from Bassetts and the old Sunblest Bakery nearby to the Stadium mingled with the smell of burning fuel from the bikes??. Here's a couple of pics taken during the 70s there a bit grainey but you can make out most things.

:rolleyes:

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Guest DAVEK

Everybody who 'remembers' Sheffield Speedway from years gone by..... Get to Owlerton this Thursday............Tapes up at 7:45pm........The smell and thrill is still there.........but where are you??????????? ;) . New Year, New season. Relive your past and you will be bittn by the bug again.....I promise

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SPEEDWAY WAS IN MY BLOOD SINCE THE 50s WHEN I USED TO SIT ON THE HILLS HEADING UPTO SHIRECLIFFE WATCHING IT THROUGH BINOCULARS THAT WERE USELESS.OUR HERO IN THOSE DAYS WAS TOMMY ALLOTT WHO STARTED THE FAMILY OF ALLOTS AND THREE GENERATIONS OF ALLOTTS WHO RODE FOR SHEFFIELD. GUY ALLOTT,NICKI ALLOTT AND ADAM ALLOTT.THIS IS ALOT OF ALLOTTS.

AND WE USED TO RACE AROUND ON OUR PUSH BIKES AND SQUABBLE TO WHO WAS GOING TO BE TOMMY.

ALLTHOUGH JIM AIREY WAS PROBABLY THE CLASSIEST RIDER,THE MORANS, REGIE,ARNIE AND SHAUNIE WERE ENTERTAINERS. BUT THERE ARE MANY,MANY MORE BRILLIANT RIDERS I COULD TALK ABOUT BUT IT WOULD BE NICE TO HERE WHAT THE BEST RACE WAS THAT THEY COULD REMEMBER. MINE BEING IN 1973 WHEN LEICESTER WITH RAY WILSON AND DAVE JESSOP UNBEATEN ON ANY TRACK UPTO THIS POINT CAME UP AGAINST ARNIE AND REG. THE CONTINUOUS PASSING WAS UNBELIEVABLE AND SHEFFIELD GOT A 1-2 WITH A GREAT PIECE OF TEAM RIDING ON THE LAST LAP.

HAS ANYONE SEEN BETTER. STILL GET OVER TO SEE ODD MEETINGS.BEST SPORT IN THE WORLD

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From the Sheffield Star 1972 Sheffield Tigers team.

BRILLIANT FLYINGPIG. REMEMBER THEM ALL AND ARNIE AND BERT TOGETHER IN BAR LATER WAS WORTH THE ADDMISION ON ITS OWN.ALLTHOUGH WE LOST BERT AND RIEDER FOR 73 SEASON.ROD HAYNES AND CRAIG PENDLEBURY WERE THE RESERVE PAIRING IN WHAT WAS AGREAT SEASON.

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Super pictures of both speedway action and the team in the 70's - thankyou for making the memories even more 'real'.

Used to go to Speedway with my mate, initially because my mum and dad were concerned about the violence at football matches and there were no such problems at Owlerton.

Have so many memories of the sounds and smells of the sport - watching every race including the second half 'friendlies' and kids events, carefullly filling in our programmes resting on the almost compulsary home made 'speedway boards' painted blue and yellow, watching our heros work on their bikes in the pits and of course the interval chips from the 'hole in the wall' at the rear of the 4th bend stand!

Happy, carefree days!

(PS Can I belatedly apologise to the Tigers reserve rider, Brian Maxted, for joining in the shouts of 'gerooamemaxted' each time he came last in a race - never was quite sure what it meant)!

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A few more pics from Sheffield Speedway in the 70s, the fixture list from 1979 is only partial as the article it was taken from was done partway into the season notice there are some of the Tigers opponents from back then now no longer exsist. All these pics have been taken from a special Star Paper issued to celebrate The Tigers Golden Jubilee in 1979 it contains team photos going right back to the 1930s If anyone would like me to post more please respond in the usual way.

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Guest owl capone

BRILLIANT FLYINGPIG. REMEMBER THEM ALL AND ARNIE AND BERT TOGETHER IN BAR LATER WAS WORTH THE ADDMISION ON ITS OWN.ALLTHOUGH WE LOST BERT AND RIEDER FOR 73 SEASON.ROD HAYNES AND CRAIG PENDLEBURY WERE THE RESERVE PAIRING IN WHAT WAS AGREAT SEASON.

Funny game sppedway.Was a regular in the early 70's. "transfers as such were controlled by the governing body and they could "transfer" riders from one team to another so technically no side could become dominant through buying the best riders. Sheffield had Reider Eide and Bert Harkins in 72 but the control board took them off us the following year. It was frustrating if your team had been successful one year only to lose riders the following season. But could you imagine football being run this way!!! Instead of the season being over in August with Man Utd and Chelsea fighting over the Premier league, if at least 15 clubs had a realistic chance of winning the title.

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Phil White a pilot...cooo. I used to ride cycle speedway with Phil.

Jim Airey was my hero at that time then it was Bob Valentine then Reidar Eide. I remember Reidar Eide winning the Golden Helmet from Ivan Mauger at Belle Vue Manchester and Arnie Haley getting 3rd in the British League Riders Championships also at BV. Arnie liked a drink and always popped into the Norfolk Arms at Grenoside for a pint before he travelled back home to Leeds. I heard he died from injuries after falling off a ladder at his home.

There were about 20 of us, all lads from Grenoside, Ecclesfield, Foxhill areas, we went to watch Boocock at Halifax or Mauger at Belle Vue on Saturdays, we went to football and stockcars together, we formed a cycle speedway club, and went all over the UK riding cycle speedway and watching speedway and football, then met birds and booze and that was it....finis

I only retained my interest in stockcars.

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Guest carlie167

:) :) Used to follow the Tigers back in the 70s. Had some fabulous nights. Youre right about the smells and the sounds, never seems to leave you!! My favourite at the time was Bob Valentine, but there was nobody like Arnie Haley for riding on the outside on the boards, exciting to watch, Didnt know he had died, sorry to hear that. Reading all these posts has brought back some good memories

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Guest nosy nellie

One of my favourites missing from the list was Tony Robinson,he must have been down at owlerton in the fifties.The whole family used to go to the speedway.Great times.

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