Refurbishing
Apologies for the dropsheets, paint tins and scattered detritus. More information...
Name.......MALMKVIST, GUNNAR. Seasons....1967. The Swede had only a short spell at Exeter before returning home after one season due to the demands of his business in Sweden. In 1968 he had agreed to return to ride at Glasgow, but finally opted to remain at home. He continued to race in Sweden and was the captain of the Njudungarna side, and often made visits to the County Ground when in this country. He had only appeared in 18 meetings for the "Falcon's" but was to score well with 158 pts, an average of just over eight points. Whilst with Exeter he was to capture the Silver Sash from Gote Nordin (Poole).
Name.......MASON, ALAN. Seasons....1986/87. After appearing in the 1986 season, Alan returned for a brief spell in the 1987 campaign, when he asked to be dropped to enable him to sort out his equipment. However, when he failed to answer an SOS from the team because of injuries, he was axed from the side with a vow from the then manager, Andy Brooke, that he would never wear the Falcons vest again.
Name.......MATTINGLEY, TONY. Seasons....1987/88. Others..... Tony was to be released from Exeter midway through the 88 season following poor form and with the injection of new faces to the team such as Richard Green and Steve Regaling and the ever improving Peter Jeffery.Name.......MAUGER, IVAN. (O.B.E.) Seasons....1973/74/75/76/77 1984. Others.....Belle Vue,Hull,Wimbledon,Rye House,Eastbourne,Newcastle. The sensational signing of Speedway's most successful rider ever from Belle Vue was to herald a new chapter in the history of Exeter speedway. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand on October 4th, 1939, Ivan was to steer the Falcon's to their one and only B.League championship in 1974, and make them one of the strongest sides in the country.
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. 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. Ivan appeared in 182 meetings for the Falcons and returned an overall average of 10.64 which included 78 maximums, but it was to be his influence on the other team members that made such a big impact at the County Ground. In 1978 he was to move on to Hull Viking's in a 12,000 pound deal though he returned for home meetings in 84, on Exeter's return to the British League. It is unlikely that the glory days of this period will ever be seen again at Exeter, the sport no longer generates characters such as Ivan Mauger.
Name.......MAXFIELD, ROBERT. Seasons....1980/81 1983/84/85. Others.....Belle Vue,Bradford,Glasgow,Newcastle,Workington,Ellsmere. Born in Adelaide, South Australia on May, 28th 1951, Robert had joined the Exeter camp on loan from Belle Vue to boost the side on their entry into the National League in 1980 after having been at Scunthorpe during 1979. It was in 79 that Bob was to become the South Australian champion. In his first season he was to top the Exeter averages with 9.09 and he was to score 8pts in the National league Riders Final.In 1981 he again topped the averages, this time with 9.07. Was to be recalled by Belle Vue (to be loaned out to Ellsmere) for the 1982 season only to rejoin the Falcons in 1983 and was to again top the scores in 1985 along with Colin Cook on a 7.74 average.
Name.......MAY, CHARLIE. Seasons....1953/54. Others.....Cardiff,Southampton,Walthamstow,Wembley,Birmingham. Charlie had been a rising star from the Wimbledon training school and he had ridden for the "Dons" back in 1946. He was then to have spells at Birmingham and the short lived Walthamstow, before joining Cardiff in 1951 where he was to team up with Exeter based Hugh Geddes. Whilst at Walthamstow, Charlie had collected 409 pts from 67 matches, whilst at Cardiff he was to improve his tally with 519 pts from 64 meetings. In his one season with Exeter he was to total 100 pts from his 22 appearances in the "Falcon's" vest. He had been a member of the famous 1947 Wembley Lions side that had been so dominant during that period. Later in 1951, he was to ride for England 'C' in the test series against New Zealand, (which the Kiwis won 3-2),scoring a high 14 pts.
Name.......McDERMOT, MAURICE. Seasons....1964. Others.....Rayleigh. Was to spend just the one season at Exeter following a long spell at Rayleigh where he was to team up with another Falcon, the late Jack Unstead, and was to amass 1,040 pts from 166 matches for the Rockets. It was as a replacement for Len Siver, who had gone to Hackney as co-promoter, that Maurice was brought to the County Ground.
Name.......MEYER, BOB. Seasons....1953. Bob had been seen as an good prospect, following his outstanding form in his native home, Australia but tragedy struck just prior to his arrival. He was involved in an horrific five man pile up on the high speed Royale circuit during a six man handicap race, as a result of which one rider was later to die in hospital. It proved to a confidence shaker for Bob who only made ten appearances for Southern League Exeter, managing but 11 pts.
Name.......MIDDLEDITCH, NEIL. Seasons....1973. Others.....Poole, Eastbourne. Neil was to have a couple of meetings for Exeter in which he was to average six before moving on.
Name.......MILLARD, KEITH. Seasons....1981/82/83/84/85. Others.....Peterborough. Born on November 11th,1964, Keith was signed at the age of sixteen following his success on the grass track, where he was a schoolboy champion. Was to break into the full team in 1981 and had set the County Ground alight in only his second senior outing when he scored ten points (paid twelve), against Oxford. His form continued to flourish and in 83 he went on to become British Junior Champion, beating Simon Cross in a run off after they had tied on thirteen points. His good form saw him included in the line up for Exeter's return to the British League in 1984, but was unable to maintain his high scoring and he was later to be loaned out to the Peterborough track.
Name.......MINALL, ERIC. Seasons....1954.
Name.......MOORE, TED. Seasons....1950/51. Others.....Leicester. Little is known of Ted's exploits with Exeter apart from the fact that he made a total of 70 appearances in the Green & White and collected a total of 265 points.
Name.......MUDGE, GEOFF. Seasons....1975/76. Others.....Poole, Newport, Reading, Southampton.Australian Geoff had opted to retire from the sport in 1972, but was coaxed back into racing by Newport in 1974. Prior to that, he had been crowned Australian Long Track champion in 1959, was runner up in the 1968 World Pairs Final with Ray Wilson, appeared in 13 test matches with the Overseas side (scoring 113 pts) and represented England in Ice Racing in 1960. It was with the Poole outfit that Geoff spent most of his days and was to total 2,488 points from 314 matches between 1960-1970 for the Pirates, an average of almost eight.
Name.......MYSON, JOHNNY. Seasons....1947/48/49/50. Others.....Harringay,Plymouth. Despite spending several seasons at the County Ground, Johnny is another of those riders about whom little can be found apart from the fact he made 99 appearances and scored 361 points for the Falcons.
