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Post by Administrator on May 27, 2010 17:40:29 GMT
--- In oldtimespeedway@yahoogroups.com, "John" <diabloxrojo@...> wrote: > > If the Queen is pleased to honour the likes of school crossing Lollipop Ladies, then speedway World Champions surely deserve no less. The speedway lobby is very powerful. It was powerful enough to put Barry Briggs into second place in the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year twice in the 1960s. It's time for it to go into action again. > > My attempts to get just recognition for Fred Williams, World Champion in 1950 and 1953, has recently been joined by Dr Hywell Francis MP, who has kindly agreed to add his considerable authority to the campaign. Dr Francis is MP for Aberavon, which includes Port Talbot, the Welsh town where Fred was born. > > We need as many speedway fans as possible, past and present, who would like to see Fred summoned to Buckingham Palace to contact Dr Francis, whose address is: House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA. E-mail: francish@... > > They can also put Fred's case to the Welsh Assembly. The person to contact there is Miss Angela Bardo, Honours Secretary, Welsh Assembly, Room 1-001, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ. E-mail: Angela.Bardo@... > > It seems to me that the stature of Fred Williams is at least equal to that of Ronnie Moore MBE. Both are double World Champions from the same era, and if New Zealand is proud enough to honour Ronnie, Wales should be just as proud to recognise Fred's achievements. > > John Chaplin >
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Post by christreg on May 28, 2010 11:28:44 GMT
And so say all of us. For some reason there has been a great reluctance to honour speedway riders. Bill Longley, an automatic choice to represent Oz, battled for years to be entered into The Australian Sports Hall of Fame and I don't think he ever made it. Since the begining of speedway there have been outstanding British riders, Jack Parker for example and others like Phil Bishop and Wal Phillips who did so much behind the scenes that never appear to have had any official recognition from their country. There might have been a few BEMs but not much else apart from gallantry awards during the war. Mustn't forget Sir Arthur Elvin and Ronnie Green received Imperial Honours though speedway was I beleive only partly involved. When you consider the motley bunch that are receiving Royal Honours of late it is an insult that Speedway Riders, who make their own way into the sport (no government grants) and bring glory to their country are overlooked. On a bright note, it was great that Neil Street was awarded the Order of Australia for his contribution to the sport a few years back.
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Post by mrsgustix on Jul 3, 2010 9:22:16 GMT
Any idea how this petition in Fred Williams favour is going. And why isn't the petition for Tommy Price who was the FIRST ENGLISH rider to win the world title in 1949?
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Post by thebaldeagle1932 on Nov 2, 2010 18:23:49 GMT
And so say all of us. For some reason there has been a great reluctance to honour speedway riders. Bill Longley, an automatic choice to represent Oz, battled for years to be entered into The Australian Sports Hall of Fame and I don't think he ever made it. Since the begining of speedway there have been outstanding British riders, Jack Parker for example and others like Phil Bishop and Wal Phillips who did so much behind the scenes that never appear to have had any official recognition from their country. There might have been a few BEMs but not much else apart from gallantry awards during the war. Mustn't forget Sir Arthur Elvin and Ronnie Green received Imperial Honours though speedway was I beleive only partly involved. When you consider the motley bunch that are receiving Royal Honours of late it is an insult that Speedway Riders, who make their own way into the sport (no government grants) and bring glory to their country are overlooked. On a bright note, it was great that Neil Street was awarded the Order of Australia for his contribution to the sport a few years back. Has there been any progress in regard to an honour for Freddie Williams?
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