1968

Inconsistent and Unpredictable: It's Progress!

Season Review

1968 can generally be remembered as the year that Cradley finally came together as a team but lost their star man. Pre-season team building went well and the Heathens again started the campaign with one of the strongest looking line-ups on paper.

L to R. Graham Coombes, Peter Wrathall, Chris Julian,
Tommy Bergqvist, Ken Wakefield, Roy Trigg, Bob Andrews,
On bike: - Ivor Brown.

Ivor Brown, Chris Julian, Tommy Bergqvist, Graham Coombes and Ken Wakefield were all welcomed back from the previous season, but two significant additions made all the difference. The major two signings of the winter were Bob Andrews and Roy Trigg, both capable scorers and genuinely nice guys, and they slotted in perfectly at Dudley Wood. With these seven and back-up at reserve from Alan Totney, Pete Wrathall and Archie Wilkinson, Cradley made one of their best starts to a season. Rising to fifth in the league table at one point, they looked solid and strong for the first time in the top flight. Both Andrews and Trigg were regularly topping the scorechart, the Heathens were looking powerful at home and were even turning in the occasional away win, including hard-fought victories at Oxford and Swindon.

Tommy Bergqvist seemed to be the only casualty of the summer, with a succession of injuries taking their toll on the Swede. He returned to Scandinavia to be replaced at the Wood by fellow countryman, Lars Jansson, who settled well. However, the turning point of the season came at the end of August. Cradley took on Oxford at Dudley Wood on the back of a thrilling two-legged victory in the Dudley-Wolves Trophy. The Heathens first lost Jansson from heat one, who in turn lost the tip of one of his fingers; In the same incident the Cheetahs saw their number one Ronnie Genz rushed to hospital with a fractured skull. The devastating blow for Cradley came later when Ivor Brown took a heavy tumble and broke his ankle. Brown was already returning from a damaged shoulder but the latter accident brought an abrupt end to his majestic career at Dudley Wood. Two home defeats followed and the team couldn’t muster another away win for the rest of the season.

In a close finish to the British League, the Heathens slipped to a relatively disappointing 14^th, and yet were just ten points behind eventual champions Coventry. And despite not managing to fulfil the promise of the early-Summer heights, it was a season of certain progress. There was no doubt whatsoever thatIvor Brown would be sadly missed from the Cradley line-up, but there was also visible signs that Bob Andrews and Roy Trigg were vital pieces of the jigsaw in turning the septet of Heathens into a real team.

Riders Performance Chart

'The Heathens' 1968

Rider	Matches	Rides	Points	Bonus	Total	Aver
R.Trigg	36	158	350	5	355	8.99
B.Andrews	31	126	221	26	247	7.84
G.Coombes	35	140	211	24	235	6.71
C.Julian	36	144	199	25	224	6.22
L.Jansson	11	41	55	8	63	6.15
I.Brown	22	90	111	16	127	5.64
K.Wakefield	30	103	107	23	130	5.05
T.Bergqvist	17	55	63	4	67	4.87
Ar.Wilkinson	7	20	14	8	22	4.40
A.Totney	6	17	13	2	15	3.53
P.Wrathall	13	40	28	5	33	3.30
C.Hawkins	4	8	1	0	1	0.50

statistics taken from the Cradley Speedway database for BL matches only.

Final League Table

British League

Team	PL	W	D	L	BP	For	Ag	Pts
Coventry	36	22	0	14	--	1436	1369	44
Hackney	36	21	2	13	--	1421	1383	44
Exeter	36	20	1	15	--	1556.5	1248.5	41
Sheffield	36	20	1	15	--	1463.5	1337.5	41
Newcastle	36	20	0	16	--	1454	1350	40
West Ham	36	19	1	16	--	1454	1348	39
Halifax	36	19	1	16	--	1424	1379	39
Coatbridge	36	18	1	17	--	1404	1397	37
Wimbledon	36	18	0	18	--	1411	1384	36
Belle Vue	36	18	0	18	--	1387	1417	36
Swindon	36	17	1	18	--	1448	1353	35
Leicester	36	17	1	18	--	1373	1430	35
Newport	36	17	1	18	--	1348	1457	35
CRADLEY	36	15	4	17	--	1373	1430	34
Oxford	36	17	0	19	--	1319	1487	34
Wolverhampton	36	16	0	20	--	1388	1413	32
Poole	36	13	2	21	--	1327	1478	28
Kings Lynn	36	13	1	22	--	1330	1473	27
Glasgow	36	13	1	22	--	1130	1495	27

KO Cup

Round 2-Sheffield 71 Cradley37
Bob Andrews 7, Roy Trigg 7, Tommy Berqvist 6, Chris Julian 5, Pete Wrathall 5, Ivor Brown 3, Graham Coombes 2, Ken Wakefield 2.

Sheffield lost to Belle Vue in the next round who lost to Wolves in the Semi-Final, Wolves then lost the Final to Wimbledon 118-98

Midland Cup
Round 1 - 1st leg
Leicester 45 Cradley 32
Roy Trigg 12, Bob Andrews 6, Chris Julian 5, Graham Coombes 4, Ken Wakefield 4, Pete Wrathall 1, Tommy Berqvist 0.
Round 1 - 2nd leg
Cradley 37 Leicester 41
Roy Trigg 10, Lars Jansson 7, Ivor Brown 6, Bob Andrews 6, Graham Coombes 5, Chris Julian 3, Pete Wrathall 0.

Leicester win 86 - 69 on average then went on to beat Coventry in the Semi-Final but lost the Final 77-78 to Swindon

Cradley again hosted a club international against Prague, Czechoslovakia and won 51-27.

The Alan Hunt Memorial Trophy was won by Hasse Holmqvist

Dudley Wolves Trophy

1st Leg - Cradley 62 Wolves 46
Bob Andrews 16, Roy Trigg 12, Chris Julian 8, Graham Coombes 8, Lars Jansson 8, Ivor Brown 5, Pete Wrathall 3, Alan Totney 2.

2nd Leg - Wolves 57 - Cradley 50
Bob Andrews 14, Graham Coombes 10, Roy Trigg 9, Lars Jansson 7, Pete Wrathall 4, Ivor Brown 3, Chris Julian 3, Alan Totney 0.

Cradley win 112 - 103 on aggregate

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