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972Bernt Persson second in the World
![]() Season Review
Cradley received very little help during the winter from the Rider Control
Committee and began 1972 with virtually the same team that finished bottom but
one in 1971. |
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L to R. Roy Trigg, Mick Handley, John Hart, Jimmy Squibb, |
The exception was
of course Bernie Persson who upped his average to more than ten and of
course the 'Black Country Swede' exceeded his wildest dreams by finishing
second to Ivan Mauger in the World Final at Wembley after a run-off.
More than twenty coaches full of Heathens fans plus hundreds of cars had a
night of entertainment they will never forget. Bernie couldn't carry the team on his own though and once again Cradley finished near the bottom of the league. Some consolation was at the junior end though with a wealth of talent - Dave Perks, Gerald Smitherman, Dave Harvey and Ian Ross all made the debut in the British League. Cradley were knocked out of the K.O.Cup in the second
round by Hackney who coincidently were the same team who had beaten them in
the Final in 1971. Wolves were the team to put Cradley out of the
Midland Cup after a Titanic battle but easily beat us in the Dudley Wolves
Trophy later on. Just to make matters worse a few days later Ole Olsen
walked away with the Watney Mann Trophy. |
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Riders Performance Chart
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statistics taken from the Cradley Speedway database for BL matches only.
Final League Table
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