Voted the man of the Millenium, Ivan ranks as the greatest all time rider in the World of Speedway, and it was his ability not only to ride, but also as a team player that saw Exeter win their one and only British League title during the County Ground Years. During his time at Exeter, his sheer professionalism and dedication were to rub off on all the riders in the team and he forged a close knit camp at Exeter.

Many books have been written on this mans achievements alone, but just for the record, they included the following. World Champion in 1968/69/70/72/77/79, Runner up in 71/73/74, third in 1967 and fourth in 66/75/76. He won the 1,000 metre sand track title in 71/72/74/76 and runner up in 75. He was also to win every major title that included the British, European, World Team, World Pairs titles and a host of test, cup and individual matches.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to witness his debut in the Easter Bank holiday meeting against Poole in 1973, will never forget the hysteria of the record breaking 10,100 strong crowd that turned out to see the great man in a Falcons vest, he was to score 9pts that day in a 49-29 win for Exeter.

His arrival at Exeter had begun when the Rider control Committee had ordered him to leave the "Aces" and there began a flurry of Promoters keen to sign on the World's top rider. Wally Mawdsley agreed a deal with Ivan at the eleventh hour, and Ivan had laid down some strong conditions to the Exeter Management to which they agreed including the use of a private jet. He was to bring about several changes at the track itself which was a benefit to the whole team and Ivan settled down to the task in hand.

But there can be no doubt that it was all money well spent as Exeter entered into what was probably the County Grounds greatest era and the crowds packed the stadium once again and Exeter became a leading force in Speedway.

Ivan never dropped a single point at the County Ground (apart from mechanical failures) in his opening 15 meetings, and in his debut season, he appeared in 26 matches for the Falcons and averaged 11.29, and all the while he was instumental in the preparation of team building for Exeter's finest hour.

During Exeter's Championship winning year, Ivan had actually seen his average dip slightly to 10.88 from 33 matches. Not that Ivan wasn't still the man to beat, rather that his influence was rubbing off on such riders as Scott Autrey, Tony Lomas and Kevin Holden who were all tussling for the Heat leader positions. With Kevin Holden finishing fourth in the averages, little wonder Exeter were crowned League Champions.

Exeter never did regain the title after that year of 1974, but it's true to say that they were always in the battle and ranked amongst the Leagues best.

In 1975, Ivan went on to finish on an 11.52 average and in 1976 it was 10.86 from 33 matches. In 1977, he went on to record 10.5 from 32 before his decision to move on and he was to switch to Hull in a reported deal worth £15,000.

Then, in 1984 when Exeter made one last stand at hosting British League speedway, Ivan was to rejoin in a deal that meant he would only appear in home matches, which at the time caused something of an uproar, but it was permitted by the speedway board.

The season as it turned out was a huge dissapointment for Exeter and they returned to the National League the following season. In that season, Ivan appeared in 23 matches, but most of the sparkle had left and he ended on an average of 8.08.And so it was that probably the greatest rider and the greatest era of the County Ground years had come to a close, and who knows, maybe the greatest rider ever.