1972

Bernt 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.
However most matches were close encounters and the Heathens won more than they lost.  In June a tremendous win against Newport 60-18 put them in 5th place in the table but following this they had trouble winning even home matches and soon slipped down the League again to third from bottom.
A slight improvement on last year but fans were left disappointed that the team with so much experience had not produced the 'goods'.
With riders like Bob Andrews, Roy Trigg, Pete Jarman and Jimmy Squibb in the side the supporters expected more.
team photo

L to R. Roy Trigg, Mick Handley, John Hart, Jimmy Squibb,  
Team Manager - Russ Bragg
Bob Andrews, Ian Ross, on bike: - Bernt Persson
(photo by kind permission of Speedway Star & News)

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.
In the other individual meetings Bernie won the Cradley round of the Midlands Riders Championship, Bob Andrews won the World Championship Qualifying Round and Pete Jarman won the Handicapped Alan Hunt Trophy.
progamme 1972

Riders Performance Chart

1972 Cradley 'The Heathens'

Rider
Matches
Rides
Points
Bonus
Total
Aver
B.Persson
27
122
312.5
5
317.5
10.41
R.Trigg
34
146
248
17
265
7.26
B.Andrews
30
123
205
17
222
7.22
M.Handley
31
102
101
20
121
4.75
P.Jarman
32
117
117
21
138
4.72
J.Hart
24
86
82
18
100
4.65
J.Squibb
27
85
65
17
82
3.86
B.Andersson
2
4
2
1
3
3.00
I.Ross
6
18
7
2
9
2.00
D.Perks
10
35
7
1
8
0.91
G.Smitherman
1
2
0
0
0
0.00
D.Harvey
4
9
0
0
0
0.00

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
Belle Vue
34
31
1
2
--
1592.5
1051.5
63
Reading
34
25
1
8
--
1454
1194
51
Kings Lynn
34
24
3
7
--
1432
1219
51
Sheffield
34
23
3
8
--
1488
1163
49
Leicester
34
17
5
12
--
1365
1287
39
Ipswich
34
17
1
16
--
1332
1313
35
Poole
34
15
2
17
--
1307
1342
32
Hackney
34
16
0
18
--
1306
1341
32
Wolverhampton
34
16
0
18
--
1302
1348
32
Coventry
34
14
2
18
--
1327
1317
30
Exeter
34
13
2
19
--
1291.5
1357.5
28
Halifax
34
13
2
19
--
1261
1388
28
Wimbledon
34
14
0
20
--
1225
1421
28
Glasgow
34
12
2
20
--
1263
1385
26
Swindon
34
12
1
21
--
1314
1337
25
CRADLEY
34
11
3
20
--
1234.5
1416.5
25
Oxford
34
10
0
24
--
1200.5
1443.5
20
Newport
34
9
0
25
--
1139
1510
18

Cradley hosted an International match at club level against  Bysarna, Sweden which ended in a draw 39-39

Three Individual meetings were held, The Alan Hunt Memorial Trophy was a handicapped meeting with Pete Jarman riding in place of Ronnie Moore who had broken down en-route, the victor. The Watney Mann Trophy in September was won by Ole Olsen and The Ivor Hughes Memorial in October by Dave Perks.
The LP Transport Trophy this season was a pairs event won by Bengt Jansson and Barry Thomas.

KO Cup

Round 2 - Cradley 39 Hackney 39
Bernt Persson 12, Bob Andrews 9, Pete Jarman 7, 
John Hart 6, Mick Handley 3, Roy Trigg 1, 
Ian Ross 1.

Round 2 Replay - Hackney 52 Cradley 26
Bob Andrews 10, Bernt Persson 7, Roy Trigg 5,
Pete Jarman 2, Mick Handley 1, Jimmy Squibb 1,
John Hart 0.

Hackney went on to the Final but lost to Belle Vue 82-73

Midland Cup

Round 1 - Wolves 40 Cradley 38
Pete Jarman 13, Bernt Persson 10, Roy Trigg 8,
Mick Handley 3, Bob Andrews 2, Jimmy Squibb 2,
Dave Perks 0.
Round 2 - Cradley 39 Wolves 39
Pete Jarman 10, Bernt Persson 10, Roy Trigg 7, 
Bob Andrews 6, Mick Handley 3, Dave Perks 2,
Jimmy Squibb 1.

Wolves win 79-77 on aggregate

Dudley Wolves Trophy

1st leg - Cradley 34 Wolves 43
Pete Jarman 9, Roy Trigg 9, Bob Andrews 7,
Bernt Persson 5, Mick Handley 2, Dave Harvey 1,
Dave Perks 1.
2nd leg - Wolves 43 Cradley 35
Bernt Persson 14, Roy Trigg 12, Mick Handley 4, 
Bob Andrews 3, Pete Jarman 2, Dave Perks 0,
Ian Ross 0.

Wolves win 86-69 on aggregate


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