PS. Hi, Nigel what was in your opinion your best season as a Potter?
NC. All of them, but 1984 was really good for the way I
was welcomed here at Stoke and that was a really great first season.
1986, results wise was very good, the points scored and the averages
were good. I think that was the year when Thorpy had such a brilliant
season, but my points were still good and I had a good season. Then in
87, that was another good season, I think I had a 10 point plus average,
but unfortunately, Andrew Silver ruined everything! Finishing 2nd
behind him in Grand Slam at Oxford, 2nd in NLRC, and various
other things, but also won a few individual meetings , so that was
possibly my best season at Stoke.
PS. All time, points holder, appearances etc. how proud are you of that
achievement?
NC. I am very proud and i’m not as sure as that will ever
be beaten as I am not sure as riders have the same loyalty to a club or
the promotion as they had years ago.
PS. You won the Pairs twice with Stoke, which side was closest to the
league 84 or 87?
NC. I don’t remember the finer details, but we were up
there in both those years, challenging for honours, in 87 I think we had
a bit of a run in the knock out cup, eventually going out to Eastbourne
in a very tense meeting.
PS. How did your Stoke career compare to your
successful stint at Glasgow?
NC. Two very successful years at Glasgow, where we won
the double 2 years on the trot, I was captain the 2nd year
and proud of it, but, how much would I have given for that to have
happened at Stoke?! My Stoke career was my best times in the sport, I
enjoyed all the benefits of living local, and a very sad day when the
BSPA shut Stoke down in 92.
PS. You arrived at Stoke in 84, how did this come about?
NC. I rode against Stoke for Scunthorpe and I got a
maximum that night and we won the meeting, I later came back in the
Pride of the Potteries and was in with a chance of finishing within the
top 3, when Janet (Nigel’s wife) went into labour, and the Stoke
promotion at that time, John Dews, Ray Sant and Fred Collier were so
helpful even to the extent of Ray Sant allowing us to stay at his farm
for a few nights. I then came back in a 3 team tournament at the end of
the 83 season, and had another good score, then during the winter of
83/84 Newcastle either wanted me to go into the First Division with
them, or sell me to get funds towards it. Stoke and Middlesborough were
also after me, and infact Middlesborough offered me more money than
Stoke, but because of the connections I had made previously, and a track
I liked riding on, the rest is history as they say!
PS. Do you see yourself settled in North Staffordshire or do you one day
envisage a move back to your native Yorkshire?
NC. I have been here over 20 years and have a good job,
good friends around and this is now our home.
PS. You were runner up to Andrew Silver in 1987, NLRC, how close was
your decider race against him?
NC. From what I remember we had both won our first 4
races and it was heat 20, last race of the night, and there were also
Dave Jessup and Les Collins in the same race, quite a wet night too if I
remember right, and Andrew Silver got the drop on us going of gate 4, I
was going off gate 1, and that was that! I did feel at the time that if
I had got to the corner first, he wouldn’t have passed me, having said
that Andrew Silver was an exceptional rider, all season, and fully
deserved the NLRC title. I was very disappointed that i couldn’t carry
on where Thorpy had left off in 86.
PS. Upright or laydown engines?
NC. The lay downs came in during my last season, of which
I shouldn’t have even started that year. My interest had gone from the
job, I did have a lay down engine, but I honestly couldn’t really
comment on whether the lay downs or the uprights make for better
speedway. The only thing I would say is these lay downs rev so high it
doesn’t necessarily make the racing any better. All it does is just
throw the dirt so much further out towards the fence because of the high
revs
PS. Do you think Stoke could host a Pairs or 4s?
NC. I certainly do nowadays. The weather would need to
be right for us because of the lack of undercover facilities. But on a
nice sunny evening, I don’t think there is anywhere better to watch
speedway then at Stoke. We have now got all the equipment we would
need to host such an event, and with plenty of planning of the back up
team that Dave Tattum has now got in place, I don’t think they need to
be frightened to hold any big event!
PS. What is your involvement with Stoke these days?
NC.I have been friends with Dave Tattum from before he
was Promoter at Stoke, when he took over at Stoke he asked me to become
involved as Team Manager, which I did for a few years, but work
commitments have since dictated otherwise. But on a Saturday, I will
always be down there doing what ever needs doing. I do feel the last
4/5 years Stoke speedway has never been so safe, there has never been a
period in that time where anybody has been left wondering if it will be
running the next year.
PS. Do you regret retiring from racing at a relatively early age?
NC. No not one bit. I came home from my last meeting,
which was at Swindon, put everything in the workshop, and decided there
and then that was it, I had had enough, and I have never wanted to do
another meeting since. For all Dave Tattum, I cant remember what year,
did try to persuade me to do one more season, and I thought long and
hard about that, I would have only ever have done it for him, and at
Stoke, but, after thinking about it long and hard, I knew it wouldn’t
have been good for me, and wouldn’t have been good for Stoke.
PS. Why in your opinion are Stoke hardly ever in contention for
honours?
NC. I do think we haven’t had the luck with injuries when
we have had a team capable of winning the league, also, Stoke have had
to be very careful on the finances which has proved right for the
security of the club. Nobody would like to see us win the league or cup
more than me. But I do feel this season with the right luck, we could be
pushing in the right direction. I hear and read supporters say why don’t
we get an outstanding number one rider? They don’t come cheap and could
also put the club in jeopardy. As everyone can see, since 1999, we
haven’t had the success that the supporters deserve, but Stoke speedway
keeps going despite other clubs going through closure and changes due to
financial difficulties.
PS. Do you agree that Stoke is a too fair of a track and if yes what
can be done to rectify this as to achieve home track advantage?
NC. Stoke has never been any different, I don’t know of
any rider that comes and rides at Stoke, what has difficulty in always
performing at Stoke. As I said earlier in this interview, I remember
coming in 1983 and it was so easy to race on and a joy to ride. The only
problem is, it does make it harder for Stoke because there is very
little home advantage. Possibly one of the ways to get the home track
advantage would be to take the corners in and make them more of a point,
which then gives more racing lines in and out of the corner, similar to
what they have done at Eastbourne on the first and second turn. And for
you longer supporters, the way they changed the Glasgow track with the
pointed corners, which makes for some really entertaining racing and
gives you the home track advantage.
PS. Best rider you rode with at Stoke?
PS. You rode with Kenny Carter how good was he at an early age?
NC. Kenny came from the same village in Halifax, as where
we used to have our farm. When he came into speedway, he was an instant
hit and a really nice guy. Some people only knew the speedway side of
him, which was the cocky, arrogant one, but you don’t get to the top
through being nice. We rode together at Newcastle in the early days and
even then, you could see he was going to the top. He was British through
and through, and proud of it. He was desperate to be British World
champion, I’m sure he would have been, such a tragedy what happened, for
everyone, away from speedway he was nothing like the Kenny Carter
speedway rider.
PS. Who do you see if any, the next BRITISH WORLD CHAMPION?
NC. The ones id like to see; Ben Barker, Tai Woffinden,
both for obvious reasons. And instead of people getting on their backs,
they want to get off their arses and support young, British talent. We
need to be proud of the fact that we have got 2 men capable of reaching
the ultimate goal. British speedway, and the powers that be, needs to
support these and help them to achieve this in much the same way as the
Danish federation supports their riders.
