past_era

Billy Sanders
9/9/1955 - 23/4/1985
Part 8

"I am honored to have known Billy, to have watched his debut meeting in England, to have seen him blossom from reserve to second string, then to heat leader, and finally to an international and world-class star. There will never be another Billy Sanders." These words were written by Dave Feakes in an email he sent me from England, and I'm sure he won't mind if I repeat them. I have John Berry to thank for putting me in touch with Dave who has been a supporter of the Ipswich club for many years and is very knowledgeable when it comes to matters relating to speedway racing at Foxhall Heath. He recently collaborated with Colin Barber (Dave contributed the text) to produce the book "Ipswich Speedway - The First 50 Years". For some years Dave also wrote articles for the Ipswich program in which he looked back at the history of the club. While corresponding with Dave, I mentioned to him that I was having difficulty establishing exactly when the two Boxing Kangaroo paintings appeared in the Ipswich pits and who was responsible for painting them. Dave went to considerable trouble to obtain the information for me and it is reproduced below. I sincerely thank him for his efforts. Dave also shared with me some of his memories of Billy, both happy and sad. He has given me permission to reproduce those as well. Firstly, Dave discusses Billy's debut appearance in England - then he provides a wonderful account of the three guest appearances Billy made for Ipswich at the Foxhall Stadium during the 1982 season which he spent riding for King's Lynn. Finally, Dave mentions Billy's death. Ross Garrigan.
YOUNG BILLY THE KID Good Friday 31^st March 1972. Excited Ipswich fans gathered in their thousands to witness the start of a thrilling new era of speedway at their Foxhall Heath raceway in Ipswich. Playing host in the Spring Gold Cup competition to the Hackney Hawks from London's East End, Ipswich had a strange new look about them. Stepping into the top league were Witches favorites John 'Tiger' Louis and Tony 'Shrimp' Davey. Newcomers included the wily Swedish veteran Olle Nygren and Hungarian exile Sandor Levai as the proven stars, along with former West Ham riders Alan Bellham and Alan Sage. But the name on most fans' lips, and the rider they had heard so much about and wanted to see, was the 16-year-old Australian discovery Billy Sanders. From newspaper reports and pictures, it seemed hard to imagine how this scrawny looking youngster would fare in the cut-throat British League. His inclusion as a partner to Tony Davey in the reserve berths must have been a huge gamble for the shrewd Ipswich supremo, John Berry. Nerves played a big part in the Witches' camp that day. The opening heat saw both Levai and Sage excluded for breaking the tapes in two attempts to get the race under way. In came the Ipswich reserves Tony Davey and Billy Sanders as replacements for the third attempt. Mounted on the 'Broomstick', the Witches' track spare, the confidence oozed from young Billy and, in just over a minute, he had shot from being an unknown to the hero of Foxhall! In his first ever race in England he had shot from the gate and beaten Hawks' Swedish international Bengt Jansson and their experienced campaigner Laurie Etheridge in a time of 68.6 seconds, just two seconds outside John Louis' track record. With Tony Davey third, the Witches had taken a 4-2 heat win. The same Ipswich pairing were out again in heat two. This time Davey broke the tapes and was excluded, leaving Billy to face Kiwi Roger Wright and Eddie Reeves. The tension in the stadium was gripping, the atmosphere electric. Out again and into the lead young Billy raced to his second win, this time in 68.4 seconds. As the names Tiger and Shrimp had been cheered in earlier seasons, the Witches now had a sensational new star, Billy 'The Kid' Sanders. Out again in heat 4, Billy replaced Tony Davey who had fallen and trapped his hand in Wright's back wheel. This time Olle Nygren won the heat from Channel Islander Hughie Saunders, with Billy coming home in third place. Heat 7 and he was out again in what must have been a stamina-sapping experience for Billy. This time Billy, replacing Davey, failed to score, losing out to Barry Thomas who won the race from Nygren and David Kennett. Billy took his programmed ride in the next heat against Etheridge and Wright. This time his partner Alan Sage broke the tapes and was excluded, leaving Billy out by himself. Unfortunately he fell during the race but quickly remounted for third place. Having already taken his full quota of rides - reserves were allowed a maximum of five outings - he was unable to take his place in heat 11, but in an eventful afternoon he scored 8 points from five races, finishing joint top-scorer alongside John Louis. Ipswich may have lost the match 44-34, but had gained a rising new star. The afternoon was not over for Billy as he had two further outings in the second half of the meeting, winning the Challengers' Chance from Wright, Bellham and Ted Howgego to qualify for the Champion of The Evening competition. This time he finished last behind Levai, Thomas and Dave Kennett. Seven rides overall from this young, innocent Australian - and a better debut could hardly have been wished for! His exciting performance earned him a whole stadium full of admirers who were convinced that the Kid really was another great find and a tremendous prospect for the future. That should have been enough racing for anyone on their debut day, but in England strange things happen and teams race against each other home and away on the same day. Such was the case this time. Hackney was a totally different track to Foxhall, but to Billy it mattered not. He followed partner Ted Howgego (replacing the injured Davey) home for a maximum 5-1 win in heat 2 over Wright and Reeves. A last place in heat four behind Nygren, Reeves and Saunders was followed by another great race from Billy in Heat 8. He made the faithful traveling Witches' fans roar as he sped away to win ahead of partner Sage for another maximum 5-1 win, this time against Wright and Etheridge. Given an extra outing in place of the disappointing Bellham in heat 10, Billy split the Hawks' pairing of Jansson and Etheridge, with John Louis finishing last. Hackney went on to double the Witches, winning the match 42-36. Billy scored 7 points plus a bonus from his four rides, finishing second top scorer for the Witches in this match. He then finished second behind Dave 'Tiger' Beech in the Reserves' Romp with Geoff Maloney and Howgego bringing up the rear. Adding the two meetings together, Billy scored 15 points plus a bonus from 9 match rides. In three second half races on the day, he scored a first, second and a last, the equivalent of another five points. Not bad for a 16 year old on his first day of racing in England - the other side of the world from his home. No wonder the fans, especially the young girls, mobbed him! That one day had been so very special with Ipswich making their debut appearances in Division One circles - special for the fans who witnessed those matches, for promoter John Berry, for the team, and for Suffolk's new-found hero, Billy Sanders. He played a magnificent role in the unique day, packed with tension, shock at Tony Davey's injury, excitement and pleasure. A day etched in the memories of time.

AN INVALUABLE GUEST RIDER After an unhappy time racing for Hull the previous year, Billy moved to King's Lynn Stars in 1982 where he was taking time to settle in. It was during his period of 'exile' that Billy was brought in as a 'guest' rider at Ipswich to cover for John Cook who was away on international duty. The supremo of the day, John Berry, had always fought against the use of guest riders but, on this occasion, he had little option. Bringing Billy back to race against the Swindon Robins in a League Cup fixture was akin to the return of the prodigal son. Always retaining his immense popularity at Foxhall, Billy set about the business in the only way he knew - leading from the front. In his first three races he dispatched the best of the opposition, including Phil Crump whom he relegated to second place. Billy followed his Witches' team mate Kevin Jolly home for a 5-1 maximum in an eventful heat thirteen which sealed a 46-32 victory for Ipswich and a superb paid maximum for Billy. Billy was back in the Witches' colors again at the Foxhall Stadium for his second guest appearance of the season - this time in the British League, and once again against Swindon. Ipswich went into this match without the injured Dennis Sigalos. John Cook, having walked out on the club, was missing from the lineup as well. Billy proved the ideal man for the job - five starts and five straight wins. A perfect 15 point maximum and yet another victory for the Witches by 54-24. Two weeks later Billy was back at Foxhall in the Witches' race jacket yet again, this time facing Poole Pirates in the British League. Against a side that included two English internationals, John Davis and Neil Middleditch, and also the American Scott Autrey, Billy reeled off another four superlative rides to record his third maximum on the trot for Ipswich. Was this a sign that Billy would be happier at his first home Foxhall Heath than at Saddlebow Road with King's Lynn? The facts seem to speak for themselves as Billy returned full-time to the Witches' fold the very next season.
BILLY'S DEATH - AND THE EFFECTS ON FANS AND RIDERS I vividly recall the day Billy died. I had been on early turn at the Railway Travel Centre, a typically normal shift with few delays and little frustration. At home I was playing with my young daughters when the telephone rang. It was the local radio station. 'Have you heard about Billy Sanders?' I was asked. 'Billy? No. What…?' They told me about his death earlier in the afternoon, and, in the same breath, asked me to supply details of his career for transmission in the next news bulletin. Shocked and upset, I was speechless. I almost cried as I relayed the news to my wife. For the next half an hour, with head spinning and a lump in my throat, I gathered the facts about his career and fed the information back to the radio station. I rang round my circle of speedway colleagues, and, to a man, they were all absolutely devastated by the news. It seemed unreal -like a terrible nightmare. Our adopted son of Suffolk had gone. Due to hold their AGM that same evening, the Ipswich Speedway Supporters Club immediately cancelled all business - those present were absolutely numb and shell-shocked. Billy's death effected everyone - the town of Ipswich went into mourning for their Aussie hero. Fans described him in the same way: "A likeable fun-loving guy off-track, a star performer on it. A rider with time for the fans." Rightly or wrongly, Ipswich Speedway decided that the next meeting would go ahead in tribute to Billy. An above average crowd gathered to pay their respects in silence prior to the meeting. All present were visibly shaken - the Witches' riders past and present, the management and the track staff, the visiting Swindon riders, and, of course, the fans on the terraces. The atmosphere throughout the meeting was dreadful - it would take a very long time to come to terms with his death. His funeral took place the following Wednesday, 1^st May. The hearse, flanked by his team mates, took him on one final lonely lap of the Foxhall Stadium track before making its way to St Augustine's Church in Ipswich. Here his coffin, draped with the Australian flag and the Witches team colors, was carried into the packed church. Scores of mourners had to remain outside. Billy's mother, who had flown in from Australia, joined his son Dean to lead the mourners. The effect of Billy's death lasted throughout the season - and beyond. For the fans, there was a void in the team - their genuine star rider had gone. The team was missing his inspirational leadership - the management had lost its biggest asset. The fact that Ipswich were defending British League Champions did not make the loss any easier to overcome, and the decision of the BSPA not to allow Ipswich a guest rider facility to cover for Billy seemed particularly callous. Shortly after Billy's funeral, John Cook painted the Boxing Kangaroo on the wall in Billy's pit position. Later, on Saturday 1^st August 1987 at the Billy Sanders Memorial meeting, won by Jeremy Doncaster, Billy's mother unveiled a plaque in his memory. Jem recalls that Billy's pit position was given to the Australians in later Witches' teams. The Kangaroo itself was insensitively painted out when the pit area was spruced up in May 1996 - an action which left 75 year old Mum Witch, Ruby Woods, infuriated. The original painting still showed through the new coating, and, after Ruby voiced her protests via the local Ipswich Evening Star, meeting presenter Kevin Long came to the rescue. In his words, he simply traced over and refreshed the original painting so that Billy's Boxing Kangaroo and plaque were justly re-united to remain a permanent tribute to our star. Here in Ipswich, Billy Sanders will never, ever, be forgotten…. Dave Feakes

The article thanks to Ross Garrigan. Brisbane
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Ross, and all those involved with putting together this series on Billy Sanders, for without their efforts and research into our Riders from the Past Era a lot of facts & memorabilia would be lost from those who formed our sport into what it is today, the greatest sport of all Motorcycle Speedway Racing. Ed - Craig.

Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Part 4
Part 5	Part 6	Part 7	Part 8