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Born in Exeter, Mike was originally on the books with Exeter as a Junior back
in 1971, when he was to be loaned out to to the Barrow camp. Appeared in one meeting
for Exeter in 1972 but failed to score. Mike made 13 appearances for Exeter in 1973
averaging 4.74, and in 1974, whilst doubling up with Eastbourne, he appeared in 9
meetings for Exeter and averaged 5.55. Made just three appearances in 1975 and scored
four points from 9 rides.
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Anthony (Tony) Sanford was born on the 31st July, 1951 in Exeter, and sadly his life was
cut short following a spill at the County Ground during a second half race on Sept 7th
and died in Hospital in the early hours of the following morning. Having ridden for Exeter
in just one meeting in 1979, he signed for Exeter and was seen as a future prospect in
1980 when he averaged 3,92 from 16 appearances for the Falcons. He had appeared in 14
meetings in 1981 averaging 3.2 before he was sidelined by injury. It was during his
efforts to get back into the full side that the tradgedy happened.
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Johnny made his debut at the County Ground in a WCQR on June 16th, 1950.
After a slow start, he had been scoring highly in 1951 when he was involved in a bad spill
at Rayleigh and suffered severe hand injuries that ended his season. He was back for the start of the 1952
campaign, but was soon out with a dislocated knee.
His form dipped in 1953 and he he went to St.Austell, but rejoined Exeter in 1954 and was
also back for the 1955 season. However, the arrival of Billy
Hole marked the end of Johnny's career and he quit the sport and emigrated to Canada.
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Leslie Sawyer was born on the 10th April, 1957 in Perth, W.Australia, and prior to his
move to Exeter in 1981, he had been riding at Cradley, Oxford, Nottingham, Halifax and
Stoke. Found the big County Ground track to his liking and and was ever present in the 1981
season averaging 7.68 from 37 matches. But the 1982 season saw him plagued by injuries when
he cracked a collar bone in may that kept him out till mid June, and then dislocated a
shoulder at the begining of August that ended his season. Les opted to return home where he
later turned out for Claremont. When he could ride in 1982, he had averaged 8.56 from 17.
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Born in Bristol on March 26th, 1964, Andy had begun as a Junior following his
exploits on the Grasstrack circuits, and was to soon feature prominently in
the Falcons line up. He had made his debut in the last meeting of 1985 scoring just
2pts whilst in 86 he had been averaging 4.10 from 14 before been replaced by the arrival
of Alan Mason. In 1987 his average was 4.66 from 25, 1988 5.32 from 31 and 1989 5.72 from 39.
Broke his thumb midway through the 1990 season and decided to retire from the sport
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Born in Cornwall on the 23rd, April 1960, Mike first rode for the Falcons at the County
Ground on August 5th 1982 scoring 2 paid 3. Appeared in
14 matches during 82 and averaged 3.72. During 1983 he was dogged by injuries, making only
five appearances and was free transferred to Weymouth in 1984 on Exeter's switch back
to the British League. Returned to Exeter in 1985, his season ended prematurely when he
damaged his knee in a challenge match at Workington in August. Until then he had appeared in 23 matches
and was averaging 5.29. Had a few rides in 1986 but it was too much and he called it a day.
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Born in New Zealand on June 6th, 1946,
Frank was another newcomer to the Exeter camp in 1973 having joined from Poole.
He appeared in 35 matches at Exeter that year and averaged 5.8 whilst in 1974 he
rode in 30 matches and averaged 4.76 before retiring to concentrate on business
interests abroad. With him he took something of a record having won a league winners
medal with Exeter. He became the first to win three such medals with different clubs,
having ridden for Poole and Swindon as league Champions. Tragically, Frank was to die in
a Motorcycle accident in America in July, 1997.
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Len had been riding for Ipswich back in 1953, when they were in the second
division, and it was from there that he came to to Exeter in 1961. It was as
the Falcons skipper that Len guided Exeter to the K.O Cup win against Stoke
with an aggregate score of 106-86, and went on to win the Provincial League
Riders Championship at Belle Vue. He was to also equal the record of winning
ten consecutive defences of the Silver sash. Left early in 1964 to promote Hackney
having scored 105 points from 11 matches that year.
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Born on May 10th,1971 in Truro, Cornwall, Mark broke into the team in 1989
and from eight meetings that year averaged 2.67. Apart from 1997 when doubts
over a shoulder injury denied him a place in the team, Mark had appeared every
season for the Falcon's and who's total number of appearances and points scored
were second only to Michael Coles. read more
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Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire on July 24th, 1981, Nick joined in 2004 after he had
impressed following 3 guest appearances in 2003. The previous season had seen Nick at
Stoke where he had been doubling up with C.League side Mildenhall and prior to that he
had been at Newport and Somerset. In 2004 he averaged 3.81 from 41 appearances and was back in the team
for Exeter's last season at the County Ground in 2005, but failed to improve and was dropped.
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Bernard, better known as "Bronco", first rode speedway around the County Ground back in 1932. After the war he
had trials with Wimbledon before he came to Exeter in 1947 as their first
post war Skipper and set the earliest track record 0f 84.0 seconds. He suffered
serious injuries in 1948 when he broke his pelvis, but returned for the start of 1949.
Started well, but as the season progressed his scores dropped and he retired at the end
of the year. Bronco was to remain with the sport and served as
both the team manager and chief mechanic at the County Ground.
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Born in Swindon on December 28th, 1965, David joined Exeter from Arena Essex in 1987
and was soon scoring double figures averaging 7.43 from 22 matches. His parent club
Swindon recalled him and sent him back to Arena Essex. Was back at Exeter in 1991 on
loan from Swindon and averaged 7.49 from 24 before moving to Mildenhall for the 1992
season. Returned to Exeter for 1994, but in his seventh meeting he sustained a broken
pelvis and announced his retirement at the end of that 94 season.
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Born on October 27th, 1969, in Perth, Australia, Frank made his debut for the Falcon's
in the penultimate match of
the 1990 season at Edinburgh. Had a frustrating 1991 campaign and managed only
six outings and was loaned out to Milton Keynes in 1992, but returned midway through
the season upon the Knight's closure. Averaged 4.91 in 1993 and missed several seasons
before returning in 1997 to average 7.28 from 42 meetings. His best seasom was 1998 when
he averaged 9.03.
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Born in Boltonon March 30th, 1982, Lee was signed on loan from his Parent club
Belle Vue having been at Hull prior to his arrival at the County Ground. Rode in
all of Exeter's 48 official matches to finish on an average of 6.71. Beacause of the
points limit, lee could not be fitted into the 2004 line up and went on loan to Newcastle.
Switched to Berwick midway through the 2004 season and was to sign on again for Exeter
for the 2005 campaign to average 6.18 from 41 meetings.
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Alan featured in the Falcon's line up during the 1966 season when he appeared
in seventeen matches for Exeter and from his 47 rides, he was to finish the
season on an average of 4.76. Had joined in a swap deal with Kings Lynn for whom
he had ridden 9 meetings and in 27 races had scored 20 points. Doug Dearden
was the Falcon who moved to K.Lynn who made the move from Exeter and appeared in only
4 meetings.
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Billie joined Exeter on loan from Ipswich, and was to soon find himself on that dreaded casualty list
of 1961 when he broke his collar bone in three paces, and that was after a couple of wins which made him look
a good prospect. Returned several weeks later and was a regular team member for the remainder of the season.
Whilst never in the Heat leader slot, Billie was seen as a valuable team member for the Falcon's. Appeared
in a total of 17 matches for the Falcon's and totalled 72 points.
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Scott Smith came to Exeter from Sheffield following a bad injury to M.Coles, and whilst
no one expected him to immediately fill Michael's boots, Scott was soon scoring well
and was very popular with the fans. Crashed on the second bend in his debut opener for
Exeter and took no further part in the meeting but bounced back with a win and two second
spots the next night at Exeter. From 21 meetings he averaged 6.34pts,
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Born on September 2nd, 1961 in Swanley Kent, Nigel had first come to Exeter on a loan
deal from Oxford,and he was seen as a valuable acquisition on the "Falcon's" return to
National League racing in 1985. He was to win the Siver Helmet whilst at Exeter and
he was to return an average of 7.39 from his ever present 40 appearances.
Sadly, in July 1998, Nigel was involved in a car accident and as a result died from
his injuries.
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Born in Queensland, Australia on July 27th, 1953, Bob was to be on the books
of Exeter at the start of 1975 but it wasn't until Geoff Mudge was forced out
by injuries well into the 1976 season that, Bob actually got into the line up
for a British league meeting. Whilst unable to make the Exeter team, Bob was
to appear in the Canterbury team and he appeared in 36 League and cup matches
for them resulting in a 5.11 average. Appeared four times for Exeter in 1976 and twice
in 1977.
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Bert has to be mentioned as he was the first to ever ride the Exeter circuit
along with Freddie Hore. The then 16 year old Australian had come to England
with a group of fellow Australians to help launch Speedway here, and on the
opening of the Exeter track, he was to take part in a demonstration following
a Rugby match at the Exeter club. Had the Nickname of "The Baby Cyclone".
He spent a couple of seasons riding mostly at Exeter and was part of an Exeter
side prior to entering the League structure.
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When New Cross closed down in August 1963, Jimmy was snapped up by Exeter and made
his debut at home to Rayleigh and scored a maximum. High scoring was to be the norm
for Jimmy over the next six seasons and was just a part of a long career in the sport
that spanned 36 years. Left Exeter at the end of 1969 and moved to Cradley but made
a brief re-appearance in 1972 but the old magic had gone. Sadly, the sport lost one
of its greatest ambassadors when Jim passed away in September 2004.
read more
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Born July 22nd, 1945, Norwegian born Edgar had joined Exeter from Newport in 1972, when he had actually planned
to retire to concentrate on his long track career in Germany. But he was coaxed
to stay in Britain by the Exeter management, which was fortunate as he went on
to total to average 8.23 from 31 matches for the Falcons. He was to move on to
Swindon in 1973 where he appeared 32 times and recorded 219 pts and there were
hopes he would again wear the Falcon's vest in 1978, but he finally opted to
ride at the Wolverhampton circuit.
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Born on March 12th, 1966, S. African Dave was to move to Exeter from Reading for
the 1993 season and made
his debut at Swindon where he topped scored for Exeter. However, the following night
he had to have part of his thumb sewn on when it caught in the chain in the pits. This was
later followed by a knee injury which slowed his progress, but despite this he still made
30 appearances for Exeter and returned a 4.76 average.
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Born in St.Austell, Cornwall on August 9th, 1967, Seemond joined Exeter in 2000 from
C.League side St.Austell "Gulls" and averaged 7.77 from 41 for the
Falcons. He struck up a very strong pairing with Lawrence Hare during the 2001 season to
average 7.62 from 50 matches. Left to join Trelawny for the 2002 season, but returned later that season after a delay with a hand
injury to average 8.46. In 2003 he ended on 8.46 from 46, whilst in 2004 he averaged 7.41 from
50 appearnces and 7.20 from 38 in 2005.
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Terry had started racing at Rayleigh in 1960, and was to double up with Exeter
between the years 1961-64. It was in 1964 that terry was sold to Glasgow from
where he went on to ride for New Cross, Ipswich and West Ham. Later returned
to Rayleigh where he remained until the Stadium's closure in 1973. Terry is still
often seen riding his Douglas with the "men in Black at various Veterans Meetings.
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Born in Australia on January 15th, 1931, Neil was to spend most of his long
career at Exeter and rode in 242 matches for the Falcons with a total points
tally of 1,580. The pioneer of four valve engines, Neil had also earnt a good
reputation on both grass and ice and was to be capped several times for his
country before he eventually retired at the end of 1976, and was to become
manager of Poole in the mid eighties. read more
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The teenage Czech was finally signed in 1994 after a delay in getting a work permit. Having finished eigth in the 1993 World U21 Final,
he looked to be the find of the season when in May he
scored 56 points from 4 meetings, 2 of which were away. His form however dipped and an injury
in August ended his season early with a 6.99 average. Never looked like regaining his form during
1995 and requested a transfer at the end of the season having earnt a 5.27 average. Ten years
later after a spell in the Elite League, Toni was brought back to Exeter for the 2005 season.
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Ronnie had come to Exeter on loan from the Harringay camp and made his debut in the
second half event on April 28th 1952 and in May rode in the full side scoring four
points that included a Heat win. Was to ride at reserve for the remainder of the season
before moving to Swindon in 1953 and was to
score a total of 493 pts from his 102 appearances over a three year period. Made a comeback in 1960
when he was to ride for rayleigh
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Tommy came in a Swap Deal that saw Alan Cowland move to Wolverhampton
who found the travelling to much. Was an instant hit with the fans when he
scored a maximum in his first meeting for the Falcons and averaged 9.11 from 37 in that
first season. Dropped in 1967 to 6.42 from 37 whilst in 1968 he ended on 7.31 from 37.
Just like Cowland, Tommy requested a move for 1969 owing to the travelling involved and
in his three seasons at Exeter, Tommy had never missed a match appearing in all of
Exeter's 111 matches.
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