SMALLMEAD Stadium in some quarters was nicknamed ‘Little Sweden' during the 1970' & 1980's because of the number of Swedish riders that had adorned the famous winged wheel for the Reading Racers. We had Nordic stars such as: Anders Michanek, Bengt Jansson, Uno Johansson, Jan Andersson, Per Jonsson, Pierre Brannefors to name just a few.
1986 saw a new name arrive in Berkshire when TONY OLSSON agreed terms to ride for the Racers.
Olsson was born on the Island of Gotland, which is between Sweden and Finland on 13th March, 1965. He was a keen sportsman during his teenage years playing ice hockey where he also developed into a good skater. He also played soccer and enjoyed running and also did some long and high jumping, but he was soon to become interested in speedway.
He lived in Bysarna in Sweden, but they didn't have a junior track so his dad would take him across on the ferry and then the long drive to Mariestad to get a ride. In 1980 Bysarna had a junior track where he became part of their team for two years. He made steady progress at junior level and actually rode in two test matches against Denmark. As the Swede began to grow he switched to 500cc machines and when he became sixteen, went into the Bysrana team proper along with Mikael Lofqvist.
Olsson knew that for his career to progress he had to come to Britain to race regularly. Sweden was fast emerging as a major speedway force again; Jan Andersson was top man and had been with the Racers for a number of years and Per Jonsson came over in 1984 and Jimmy Nilsen soon followed. The young Swede bided his time and began to improve and in 1986 he finished as runner-up in the World Under-21 Final in the old Soviet Union. Igor Marko won the meeting on 13 points, but Olsson must have felt a tinge of disappointment as he seized an engine in one ride and scored 12 points from his other four rides and could have well won the title but for that touch of misfortune.
1986 saw Olsson ride in the Swedish team in the World Team Cup Final at Bradford and, although he failed to score, he was soon to return to Britain on a permanent basis. Jan Andersson had been asked to find a new rider for Reading after John Davis had walked out on the club. The word was that Roland Danno was earmarked for the Racers team, but he had given Andersson a rough ride in a previous race so recommended to promoters Bill Dore and Pat Bliss that they go for Olsson instead.
It took three weeks for the work permit to come through but Olsson travelled over to England straight-away to stay with Andersson and learn the ropes from his Swedish counterpart. In the meantime he practiced at Smallmead to be ready for his debut. His debut for the Racers was at Bradford where he scored a couple of points and then followed that up in his first meeting at Smallmead with six points. He later scored a maximum against a touring Czechslovakian team, but in official meetings for Reading in 1986 he scored a 4.19 average from 5 meetings.
He returned the following year as a full-fledged Reading Racer and after understandably taking time to find his feet in the League Cup meetings for Reading, he raced to a 7.33 average from his 21 British League matches.
The following season he had a 7.02 figure from 38 meetings with Reading and, although this dropped to 6.38 in 1989 he did qualify for his first and only World Final which was being raced in Munich's Olympic Stadium in Germany. He acquitted himself very well on his big night debut scoring 8 points, which earned the Swede an eighth place finish. Hans Nielsen was crowned World Champion that night, with his Oxford team-mate Simon Wigg second and Reading's own Jeremy Doncaster third.
1990 started well. Reading had a terrific team that year: Per Jonsson, Jan Andersson, Todd Wiltshire, Dave Mullett, Jeremy Doncaster and Olsson himself. Things were going well for the spikey-haired Swede, he married his wife Jane in March and thing were going pretty good on the track until he made a guest appearance for Cradley in August. He crashed heavily in one of his rides where he was diagnosed with a broken upper arm and a smashed kneecap. Olsson's season was over, but Reading drafted in Armando Castagna as a replacement and the Racers wrapped up the season with the British League and KO Cup double.
After Reading's double success in 1990 the team had to be broken up because of the points limit, which saw Olsson move out on loan in 1991, where he had spells with Hackney and Belle Vue. 1992 saw him line-up with Ipswich in the British League, before coming back to Smallmead to ride for the Racers in 1993 where he raced to a 6.14 average from 40 meetings.
He dropped down to the Second Division on loan with Swindon in 1994 where he was revelation in the lower league accumulating a 10.02 average from 34 meetings. He also won the Second Division Pairs Championship with team-mate Tony Langdon. However, he was back at Reading in 1995, where he was appointed captain of the Racers and enjoyed a successful Testimonial at Smallmead on Sunday 23rd July.
The two leagues merged into one big league in 1996, but the season turned out to be the worst in the clubs history as they finished nineteenth and last in the League. Rider of the season was Olsson with an 8.29 average, despite starting the season not fully recovered from a thyroid operation. His season was also brought to a premature end when he was injured riding in the Czech Golden Helmet.
Reading dropped down to the Premier League in 1997, but Olsson wished to remain in the top flight and went out on loan to local rivals Swindon for a second spell with the Wiltshire Club. He scored 6.87 from 30 meetings in the Elite League with the Robins, but it was to be his final season in Britain, although he did continue to ride for a while in his native Sweden.
Olsson remained involved in speedway, which includes later going onto become the Swedish National Team Manager. He had major success in this new role and led his nation to World Cup Final success in Vojens, Denmark in 2003 and Poole, Dorset in 2004.
