Monarchs' legend George Hunter has died after a short illness at the age of 60. George was arguable one of the greatest, if not the greatest speedway riders that Scotland has ever produced.
He was originally from Fife and was dubbed the 'Ladybank Express'. although he was understood to be living in the Wolverhampton area in recent years. His spell with Monarchs co-incided with the halcyon days in the 1960s at Old Meadowbank.
George rode for the Monarchs for 13 years and was one of the greatest and the most popular riders ever to appear in Edinburgh colours. He joined Monarchs at the aga of 21 graduating from grass track racing. He appeared in 360 league matches for the Monarchs and only Les Collins scored more points in the blue and gold. He also appeared for Motherwell, Coatbridge, Newcastle, Glasgow, Wolverhampton, and Oxford in a career lasting 23 years. Les Collins said that the world of speedway would be devastated by the news of Hunter's death.
"Although we never raced together in the same team, George was always much talked about during my ten years in Edinburgh. He was admired both on and off the track and I always got the feeling that he was a hard act to follow."
"He helped a lot of the young lads coming up and my younger brother, Neil talks very highly of him. He used to tell me how George loved the inside line and would put on brand new tyres every second meeting so he could hug that line."
The notion that Hunter could help anybody may come as news to many of his team-mates who claimed that he was always surprised and sometimes frustrated that others couldn't do what came naturally to him. Scottish speedway great, Brian Collins, described Hunter as his boyhood hero.
George was such a natural on a bike that he couldn't understand why other people couldn't do what he did. It's ironic that I named him in my all-time dream team for a speedway magazine two weeks ago.
Hunter was regarded as one of the world's great team riders and twice reached the final of the world pairs trophy with Jim McMillan in 1971 and 1976. He was a master of holding up the opposition to allow a less experienced team-mate to stay ahead. Edinburgh spokesman Mike Hunter observed in the Edinburgh Evening News:
"Holding back the opposition is quite an art in itself and George was superb at it. He was such a natural talent but he couldn't teach anybody because I don't think even he knew how he did it."
"George will go down in the annals as a great crowd pleaser."
George represented Britain and had 36 Scottish Caps by the time he retired in 1983. He will probably go down as one of the greatest rider never to reach a world individual final. Mike Hunter added:
"Sometimes the most talented people in sport don't always reach the top because they don't apply their talent in the right manner."
Unfortunately, the event that George will be most remembered for is his part in the crash that ended the life of Peter Craven at Old Meadowbank in 1963. He was leading Craven in an Inter-League match against Belle Vue and lost control on the second lap. Craven swerved to avoid his him but clipped the skidding bike and hit the fence. He suffered head injuries and died four days later.
George is survived by his wife Barbara and his daughter Natalie. A minute's silence will be observed at Armadale this Friday before the Premier League match against Swindon.