Going Back in Time May 1964
It was being said that the main leagues would bring the pains on, once the PL North and South competitions and the NL's Britannia Shield were over , and so it proved. The Speedway Star for 1st May carried an SCB notice formally banning all PL riders and tracks. The battle lines were being set but some riders notably Peter Jarman, Roy Trigg and Colin Pratt were now realising that they weren’t going to get enough rides in the NL and were opting for the richer pastures that the PL offered. Eric Boocock had made the same decision earlier in the season, forsaking Belle Vue for Middlesboro. Being banned had little real impact on PL riders, although a few would not be able to take part in “official” grasstrack racing. Undaunted, it was announced that they would start organising their own grass events. It seemed unlikely that this actually happened, but it showed that a propaganda war was being waged. By now the SRA was having to walk away from their “one foreigner per track” ruling with both Norwich (Nygren and Fundin) and Wimbledon (Nordin and Harrfeldt) having two and West Ham making a strong case that they needed strengthened. The Hammers were soon to sign Bengt Jansson to join Bjorn Knutsson as their spearhead. The PL then announced they were going to apply for labour permits for foreign riders, but only to establish the principle, not because they needed them! The NL pulled off quite a coup in announcing that the Russians were coming over on tour in June
The First Ever Doubling Up Rider
By mid May, Wolves were still toiling to field a full strength side, while NL riders were complaining about a lack of bookings and that the promised extra tracks had not materialized. May 22nd was a pivotal day in the dispute. Wimbledon’s Bob Andrews turned out for Wolves, scoring a maximum against a fairly weak Sunderland side. The following night he turned up at Coventry ready to race for Wimbledon. However, both teams objected to riding either with or against him. After a forty minute delay, during which he was put under some pressure, Andrews agreed to withdraw from the meeting. Undaunted, Andrews turned out at Hackney a few days later for Wolves Southern League fixture there, but, while warming up his bike in the pits, he was served with an interim interdict to prevent him riding in the Provincial League. The following night Andrews turned out for Wimbledon at Oxford. Initially, the Oxford riders weren’t prepared to ride against him, but they were subsequently persuaded to by promoter Cyrille Melville. A few days later, a High Court judge sitting in Chambers upheld the interim injunction and extended it to September 29th. Mike Parker had little alternative but to accept this judgement but said he would take the case back to court if Andrews was stopped from fulfilling his Wimbledon contract. Prior to the interim injunction being served, Andrews had written a cheque to Wimbledon in repayment of his air fare from New Zealand, but stopped this cheque when the injunction was served. Interestingly, Eric Hockaday, in his capacity as a committee member of the Provincial League Riders Association, went to Wimbledon to tell Ronnie Greene, the Dons’ supremo, that the PLRA weren’t happy with Andrews turning out for Wolves and supported the Wimbledon stand.
For a couple of months, the matter lay dormant. Then the SCB announced Andrews was being fined one hundred pounds for riding on an unlicensed track. A bullish Parker claimed that if Andrews was made to pay, then he would give him rides at Wolverhampton, and he would return to the High Court to have the interdict overturned. Perhaps not relishing further legal confrontation, the SCB ruled that the fine stood and was payable at the end of the season.
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