British Speedway Official Website: NEIL STREET

NEIL STREET

Wednesday October 05, 2011

BRITISH Speedway is saddened to report the passing of Australian legend Neil Street.

Neil lost his fight for life at his home in Melbourne, but was a hugely popular figure on British shores having started out as a rider with Exeter in 1952.

‘Bill’, as he was affectionately known also represented Swindon and Newport over a 24-year career and later team managed a number of sides which included Newport, Poole, Weymouth and the Australian national team.

He was also grandfather to three-times World Champion Jason Crump.

DATE OF BIRTH: 15 January 1931, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

BRITISH CAREER: (1952-55) Exeter; (1957-63) Swindon; (1966-68) Exeter; (1970) Exeter; (1972-76) Newport.

IT WAS back in 1952 that, as a twenty-one year old, one Neil Joseph Street first arrived on these shores to race. He linked with Exeter and, after a couple of seasons learning the business, progressed to the role of a heat-leader in what was then the old Southern League.

Unfortunately, Exeter closed their doors to speedway in 1955, and Neil returned home to his native Australia. He was to remain Down Under until the offer came to ride for Swindon part-way through the 1957 campaign. He arrived on 1 June but, due to baggage restrictions, he brought with him just a frame and his hand luggage. For such a skilled man this represented little problem in constructing a machine, though, and he duly made his debut for the Robins on 6 June in a league match at Oxford, scoring a paid 13 points as his new side ran riot to win 59-37.

The under-fire home team had no answer to the dynamic partnership that Street formed with the diminutive George White, as the duo swept to 5-1s in their three rides together. In fact, it was only the terrific effort of Ronnie Genz to get between Ian Williams and Neil in heat twelve that prevented the new Australian recruit from recording a paid maximum in his opening meeting for Swindon.

As far as then Robins' boss Bert Hearse was concerned, Street was the final piece in his team building jigsaw. Indeed, the side certainly looked solid enough, with each man capable of recording a double-figure tally either at home or away. There can be no doubt that Mr. Hearse knew what speedway was all about, since his judgement proved to be spot-on. Swindon went on to lift the League Championship ahead of Belle Vue, and Neil played a major part with 134 points and an average of 6.70.

The 1957 season was the first in a 7-season stint for Street at the Abbey Stadium, during which time he was a consistent scorer for Swindon and captained Australia in Test matches. Neil's best year for the Robins occurred in 1958, when he netted 166 league points for an average of exactly 8.00, and never once did he fail to top the 100-point mark during his stay with the club. Those who can recall such halcyon days, speak volumes of Neil's ability to team-ride with his fellow Robins. Indeed, his clever tactics earned plenty of extra points for his colleagues.

Street returned to Australia at the end of 1963, and sat out the next two seasons, prior to rejoining Exeter in 1966, when he recorded 244 league points to average 8.51. He remained with the Falcons until the end of 1968, when he again elected to stay at home in Australia. He was back in 1970, again with Exeter, but took another year off in 1971! Newport was his next port of call when he again ventured to these shores in 1972, and he was to see out his on-track days with the Welsh side, racing through to the end of 1976.

On one of his trips back home, in 1974, Neil met a friend in Brisbane and they discussed the building of a four-valve speedway engine. What started out as a mere conversation would change the mechanical world of the sport forever; Street was quick to provide a set of drawings and, early the following year, he and his colleague saw the new engine become a reality. The engine, according to Neil, was built in just four weeks and significantly increased the horse-power of a speedway bike.

The sport has been his life and he has served it brilliantly in many roles. Following his retirement from active racing, he was appointed team manager of Weymouth in 1981 and, when the side moved to Poole in 1985, he continued in the role. Street stayed on board with the Dorset outfit until the end of 1998, before taking up the reins at Newport in 1999. During his spell with Poole, he also made a brief return to help out as team manager of Swindon, under promoter Richard Vowles, in 1986.

In 1999, aside from looking after his troops at Newport, he guided Australia to victory in the World Team Cup final, with his charges subsequently repeating their success in the re-titled Speedway World Cup in both 2001 and 2002.

Neil's family connections are steeped in the sport. He is, of course, the father-in-law of former Swindon idol Phil Crump and the grandfather of triple World Champion, Jason. A very knowledgeable man and one who is always a pleasure to talk to, Street has put far more into speedway than he has ever taken out. However, he did receive a much-deserved testimonial to mark his 50-year involvement in the sport at Broadford in Melbourne on 2 November 2002, when Leigh Adams took victory in the final from fellow Aussie greats Todd Wiltshire, Jason Crump and Mick Poole.

The Australian government awarded Street what was the equivalent of an M.B.E., the citation being for all his work in speedway over many years - not just in a riding capacity - but also for his mechanical knowledge, as well as coaching and management etc. As a result, in his homeland, he was now known as Neil Street O.A.M., which stands for Order of Australian Merit.

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