Dream Team: Stephen Cartwright

I lived only a mile from the old Hyde Road stadium. I have supported Belle Vue for 43 years and first went to belle vue in 1969. I rode speedway myself, I only achieved junior standard and had second half rides at Belle Vue and Sheffield. Nowadays I don't go to speedway because I live in Wales. Miss the old track at Hyde Road, it must have been the best racing track in the world. Anybody who has never seen any racing at Hyde Road don't know what they have missed!

Mauger	Parker

Ivan Mauger
6 times world champion. One reason for this, he was the best rider to ever grace a speedway bike. The all-time best rider, you can name any speedway rider you want past and present and Ivan would be the number one and captain of the team, that is unquestionable. Pure genius on a speedway bike!

Ove Fundin
A five times world champion, which speaks for itself.

Peter Craven
Two times a world champion. Totally magic on a bike and never, ever give up until the race had finished.

Chris Morton
Another fighter in the mould of Peter Craven who never gave up until the chequered flag. He is my favourite rider. The way he would blast around riders was simply magic. He must be one of the best riders to never win a world title. If he could have gated he would have definitely have won at least one title.

Peter Collins
The 1976 world champion. Anyone who watched the second half scratch finals between P.C and Mort it was worth the admission price alone. They would race each other flat stick with no quarter asked or given. They would both be no more than 2 feet off the fence. I was lucky to watch this week in and week out.

Eric Langton
Never saw this rider ride, but my dad did and told me how good he was. Included in my team simply for his record alone.

Jack Parker
See my reasons for including Eric Langton - another legend from before my time, but one of the best ever and I had to include him.

This article was first published on 12th February 2012

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