Refurbishing
Apologies for the dropsheets, paint tins and scattered detritus. More information...
Name.......DAY, DENNIS.
Seasons....1962/63.
Others.....Ipswich,Hackney,Yarmouth.
Records show that Dennis had appearances at Ipswich as far back as 1953 but was to join them on a full time basis in the early sixties where he totaled 141 pts from 51 matches, his whereabouts between those years is uncertain. He was to spend only one season at the County Ground during which time he was to score 182 pts from his 41 outings in the Green and White. Dennis was to move on to Hackney for the start of the 1964 season that was to be his last as he retired from the sport at the close of the season following a bad spill at Newport when he suffered a badly fractured arm.
Name.......DEARDEN, DOUGLAS.
Seasons....1965/66.
Others.....Kings Lynn.
Little is known about Doug's career as a speedway rider except that he was viewed at Exeter as a bright prospect following his first ever League race win against Belle Vue. But sadly his expectations slumped after he broke his collarbone in a spill and it seems that his days on the shale were over. It isn't clear as to when Doug actually left speedway but we know that he was to continue racing on the grass circuits and whilst living in France he collected many trophies before he returned home in 1975 where he continued to appear as a top grasser.<
>
Name.......DOYLE, RAY.
Seasons....1985.
Ray made a couple of appearances in 1985 when he averaged 4.57 from his two matches for Exeter.
Name.......DRYMLL, ALES.
Seasons....1978/79.
Others.....Pardubice,Leicster,Birmingham,Sheffield.
The exciting Czech rider was brought into the Falcons line up near the close of the 1978 season in Exeter's push for honours and was to appear regularly in the side until the start of the 1980 season that saw Exeter switch to the National League and Ales move away from the County Ground to join Sheffield. It was in that year that he went on to reach the World Final scoring 5pts to finish twelfth while in 1993 he reached the World Long Track Final.
Name.......EATHER, ROY.
Seasons....1953.
Others.....None.
Sadly, Roy was never to make it into the full Exeter line-up following a double tragedy.Hoping to break into British speedway, Roy had come over from Australia for trials at the County Ground but during his first practice session he crashed and suffered concussion. After he had recovered from his injuries, he returned for his second practice session only to crash again but this time he failed to recover and died in hospital that afternoon.
Name.......EIDE, REIDAR.
Seasons....1978.
Others.....Leicster,Reading,Coatbridge,Edingburgh,Wembley,Poole,
Sheffield,Newport,Swindon,Eastbourne,Wolves.
If an Exeter 'Super Side' were formed, then surely Reidar would be one of those riders who would stake a claim to be in it. Though only at Exeter for one season, he was rarely beaten around the County Ground track and he was the winner of the first real long track event staged in this country at the nearby Haldon circuit. The Norwegian had made his debut in Britain in 1966 when he had signed for Edingburgh for whom he amassed 1,013 pts from his 113 appearances. In 1970 he was to be found riding with the Wembley outfit and totaled 346 pts from his 36 matches with them whilst in 1971, he donned the colours of Poole and showed he was able to ride any track by notching up 330 pts from 35 meetings for the Pirates. He was to appear in the 1968 World Final staged in Gothenburg, finishing 13th with 5pts scored. When he eventually retired from racing he was to secure a position as the Speedway administrator for Norway, but when this proved unsuccessful, he moved to Thailand where he farmed pigs. After a brief return to Norway, he went back to Asia where he was to pick up a fever called Brucellosis from which Riedar was to die in 1999 aged just 58.
Name.......ETHERIDGE, LAURIE.
Seasons....1967/68.
Others.....Weymouth,Hackney,Rayleigh,Crayford,Eastbourne.
Laurie had set out on his speedway career as a junior with Eastbourne but was forced out of the sport for a while due to lack of funds after his machine was stolen.He was later guided by the legendary Lew Coffin who took him under his wing at Weymouth, and his talents were to be spotted by former Falcon skipper Len Silver, who led him to join the Hackney outfit.His career was to eventually lead him to Crayford where he was to capture the National League Riders Championship.
Name.......EVITTS, PAUL.
Seasons....1988
Others.....Canterbury,Birmingham,Stoke,Cradley,Oxford.
Paul was to join Exeter from the then defunct Canterbury outfit, and hopes were high that he would recapture some of his old form from the days he rode at Birmingham, but apart from the occasional glimpses of his earlier style, Paul failed to live up to expectations. Together with a re-occurring back injury and the arrival of new signing Richard Green, Paul was eventually released from his contract. He rode at Stoke in 1980 with his brother Neil and had joined them from Cradley the year before.
Name.......FACEY, CLARK.
Seasons....1972.
Others.....Plymouth,Hull.
Clark had risen through the novice ranks into the Junior's along with his brother Glynn and had been a regular at the Lew Coffin training school and was to make eight meetings in 1982 as reserve .
Name.......FARNISH, NEIL.
Seasons....1980.
Others.....Swindon, Canterbury.
Neil had become only the third ever British rider to win the European Grass track Grand Prix in 1981. A bad spill in 1980 led to Neil to announce his retirement though his parent club Swindon, together with Exeter, were hoping a rest might see him change his mind.
Name.......FARRELL, MIKE.
Seasons....1975/76/78.
Others.....Queensland,Ayr,Leicester.
Australian Mike first rode as a Falcon back in 1972, not the Exeter type but with the Ayr Falcons in his homeland. Mike was to ride for Queensland during the 1973/74 seasons and was to take the junior Championship title as well as being in the North Queensland squad that rode against the touring British Lions side during the winter of 74.It was on this tour that Mike was noticed and signed up by the manager of the Lions party, it just so happened that the manager was Exeter's boss Wally Mawdsley. He became a constant high scorer with Exeter but he was to request his own transfer at the close of the 1978 season and switched to the Leicester camp.In 1980 Mike was to break his leg in a spill and saw his racing days come to an end.
Name.......FEATHERSTONE, TONY.
Seasons....1976.
Tony was to appear in three matches for Exeter during 1976 and had eleven rides from which he was to average 4.00 points.
Name.......FERREIRA, MIKE.
Seasons....1978.
A Junior who was to get his chance at League racing against Canterbury in 1978 and impressed the Exeter Camp with his determination.
Name.......FLANAGAN, PAT.
Seasons....1964.
Others.....Plymouth,Canterbury,Aldershot,L.Eaton,Newcastle,Bristol.
Pats name often led people to believe he was an Irish rider, but in fact he hailed from London. His extravagant style of riding made him one of my personal favourites as a lad in the early sixties and it surprises me he only spent one season at Exeter. Pat began riding as far back as 1948 at Harringay, later to be loaned out to Aldershot in the 1950 season. This was followed by a spell out of the sport due to injuries but later resumed riding at Aldershot before moving on to Ipswich in 1958. Next stop for the much traveled Pat was Bristol in 1960 before their closure forced him to move yet again, this time to the Plymouth camp. It was from here that Pat eventually came to the County Ground for a spell before continuing his travels to other tracks. During 1964, he appeared 22 times, scoring 38 points and 11 Bonus.
Name.......FORTUNE, ROB
Seasons....1988.
Others.....Peterborough,Kings Lynn,Rye House.
Rob was introduced into the Falcons line up halfway through the 1988 season following Exeter's poor performances. He was eager to team up with his old team mate from the Kings Lynn camp, Richard Green who had also joined Exeter that year. Perhaps Rob was a little to eager for he was to suffer concussion and a broken nose in his debut ride at Glasgow.
Name.......FRY, PAUL.
Seasons....1992/93/94/95/96.
Others.....Long Eaton,Milton Keynes,Arena Essex,Cradley,Stoke,K.Lynn.
Born on October 25th, 1964 Paul had an indifferent season in 1992 following his move from Long Eaton and he was loaned out to the Milton Keyne's track before becoming a regular in the line up for the 1992 season. Had declined to ride at the start of 1993 along with Richard Green in a pay dispute, but returned within the week. Paul was to remain with Exeter until the start of the 1997 season, when what with the new 3-Tier league structure introduced, Paul was to be suddenly dropped from the side.The new points limit and past conflicts with the Promoter Colin Hill, were seen as the key factors in the release of Paul from the Exeter camp.
Name.......FUDGE, PAUL.
Seasons....1997.
Paul got his break into the main team, following the withdrawal of Steve Bishop at the begriming of the 1997 season, mainly due to his excellent days in the Devon Demons Junior side. Injuries however meant that Paul was to be laid up for some time before he re-emerged into the newly formed Western Warriors team in a bid to regain his team place.
