Died: February 1999
British Clubs: Edinburgh (1966, 1967), Coatbridge (1968, 1969), Wembley (1970), Poole (1971), Sheffield (1972), Newport (1973-1975), Leicester (1976,1977), Exeter (1978), Reading (1979, 1980), Eastbourne (1980), Swindon (1980), Wolverhampton (1980)
Honours: World Finalist (1968), Norwegian Champion (1967-1971), Nordic Champion (1968, 1972)
The arrival of the great Reidar Eide with Monarchs came about because of misfortunate to two other Scandanavian Monarchs.
First, fellow Norwegian Henry Harrfeldt broke his leg in April 1966, and then his replacement Runo Wedin (Sweden) was suddenly denied a work permit along with other UK Swedes at the time. Something special was needed - and Ian Hoskins found just that, recommended by Harrfeldt.
Reidar Eide was already quite experienced in Scandinavia having had almost a decade in the sport, but he wasn't very well known in the UK. How would he fare?
He was due to make his debut at Glasgow on 13th May but had transport problems, and it was the following week at King's Lynn when he arrived, with two-piece leathers and Russian-style clip-on handlebars. He won a heat there, and scored well right from the start. Gradually his scores built up until a memorable night, 6th August, when he scored a home maximum against Long Eaton and broke the Old Meadowbank track record.
Clearly Monarchs had something special - but Reidar failed to complete the season, revealing the other side to his character as he left Monarchs in September after a financial dispute with promoter Hoskins. Financial disputes littered Reidar's career, some made public but many others fought out behind the scenes.
In his recent book "History of the Speedway Hoskins" Ian Hoskins concentrates almost exclusively on this aspect when discussing Eide, one of his greatest signings, but this was unfair to a rider who was as charismatic as anyone Monarchs have ever had in their ranks.
A top class skier, his thrilling style owed a great deal to balance and he could pull off amazing passing moves. He was highly competitive and a real fan pleaser - he liked nothing better than to put one over on the Glasgow Tigers.
Hoskins knew he had to persuade Eide to come back, and he was in the ranks for the final Old Meadowbank season in 1967. He rode brilliantly throughout the season, averaging just under 9 and coming fourth in the Scottish Opens of 1966 and 1967 (both staged in '67).
The team moved to Coatbridge in 1968 and while the track there wasn't to everyone's liking, it seemed to suit Reidar down to the ground. His great skill allowed him to weave through from the back when required, and he was a truly thrilling entertainer.
He reached the World Final in 1968 after a dramatic passage which included third place in the Nordic-British Final at West Ham, qualification from the European Final in Poland and then a ban from the Norwegian authorities! This was because they had instructed their riders not to compete following the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, but eventually the ban was lifted.
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| Bernie Persson & Reidar Eide |
In 1969, with Bernie Persson gone, Reidar had a magnificent season in a poor Monarchs' team. He averaged 10, won the Scottish Open after a run-off with Ole Olsen (a rider he often got the better of) and he starred for Norway in a two-match series in Scotland. He set the Coatbridge track record on his return from injury on a night when he had to be lifted onto his machine.
The Monarchs then closed, and Reidar's subsequent teams included Wembley, Sheffield, Poole, Newport, Leicester and Exeter. He gave good service to all his clubs but never quite seemed to fulfill the promise he shoed in the late sixties. Perhaps if he had come to the UK earlier he would have done even better.
We saw him as team manager at Powderhall of a Norwegian touring team, and he certainly remembered Meadowbank - "Bloody good racing!" was his comment on his first UK home.
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| with the Golden Helmet |
In spite of what his promoters might have felt about him, Reidar Eide had a great personality which supporters appreciated, always friendly and willing to chat. Regrettably, he died at the young age of 58 in 1999, after contracting Burcellosis while working with pigs in Thailand.
| Year | Team | Meet | Race | Pts | Bon | Ave | M | Paid |
| 1966 | Edinburgh | 20 | 83 | 102 | 19 | 5.83 | 1 | |
| 1967 | Edinburgh | 38 | 166 | 355 | 18 | 8.99 | 7 | 1 |
| 1968 | Coatbridge | 29 | 125 | 273 | 9 | 9.02 | 5 | 3 |
| 1969 | Coatbridge | 34 | 145 | 353 | 10 | 10.01 | 5 | 3 |
| 1970 | Wembley | 37 | 163 | 354 | 17 | 9.10 | 3 | 1 |
| 1971 | Poole | 36 | 156 | 341 | 14 | 9.10 | 2 | 4 |
| 1972 | Sheffield | 33 | 145 | 295 | 26 | 8.85 | 1 | |
| 1973 | Newport | 31 | 133 | 306 | 19 | 9.77 | 3 | 6 |
| 1974 | Newport | 34 | 149 | 336 | 15 | 9.42 | 2 | 1 |
| 1975 | Newport | 34 | 134 | 280 | 21 | 8.89 | 2 | |
| 1976 | Leicester | 6 | 21 | 16 | 1 | 3.24 | ||
| 1977 | Leicester | 6 | 21 | 16 | 1 | 3.24 | ||
| 1978 | Exeter | 41 | 155 | 305 | 22 | 8.44 | 5 | 1 |
| 1979 | Reading | 17 | 62 | 67 | 14 | 5.23 | ||
| 1980 | Reading | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6.29 | ||
| 1980 | Wolverhampton | 20 | 78 | 124 | 14 | 7.08 | 1 | |
| 1980 | Swindon | 6 | 26 | 34 | 8 | 6.46 | ||
| 1980 | Eastbourne | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
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| in action for Newport |
