Leaderboard

How - and why - is it worrying? There is nothing written there that we didn't already know. It's been covered to death on the BSF. I don't think the head-in-the-sand attitude comes from the supporters; we all know British speedway is in trouble. The apathy from supporters stems from the fact that realistically, there is bugger all that we supporters can do to stop the rot... Steve

Good article and hard to argue with on so many points. For me perfectly summed up by the following. Corcoran describes the camaraderie in the sport as the glue that holds it together but is damning on the reasons for speedway’s decline. “The bikes’ technology has changed but the presentation has not,” he says. “There has been a distinct lack of innovation and investment and it has been a race to the bottom rather than the top. The sport screams out for a Bernie Ecclestone or Barry Hearn character to grab it and run with it. “There is nobody centrally driving the sport. If you were a potential sponsor from a big brand you wouldn’t have been approached by anybody. Same goes for TV. They have had centrally negotiated TV contracts but they have been pitiful because the guys you are dealing with are, with respect, scrap metal merchants and used-car salesmen.”

Lesson is don’t pay on appearance ,pay on performance. Imo

Decent solid performance tonight with promising rides from every rider Bomber was a class apart with a couple of sublime passes (even more commendable given the track) Impressed with Jake and Cam generally and Richard finished strongly Danny seemed a little subdued but thats not unexpected David had a tough start but had a encouraging race win Drew didnt look totally comfortable but scored well and great to see him with a Witch on his chest Only slight disappointment was the lack of any victory parade. Quite a number of Witches fans had travelled and deserved some acknowledgement Nice to start with a win and I can see this being a team worth watching Get yourself down to Foxhall good people and give it a look

get the Guardian online - very interesting article about (the decline of) speedway https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/mar/23/who-haul-speedway-out-of-1970s-back-into-affections-uk-viewing-public

Crikey what a complete mess! How people still prefer individual suits with bibs to team suits is beyond me. The fella on the right looks like he’s using a ten year old suit dug out of the lost property bin!

Again Steve, the number of existing fans is still so insignificant compared to what we had years ago, that even if we all went regularly now, it wouldn't make a difference. As far as the distances needed for even a "local" team now, I was really spoiled in having two teams in London, plus. Arena, Crayford, Rye, Milton Keynes, Eastbourne, Reading, Oxford, and Canterbury all very doable. From having at least ten tracks from which to choose, only ONE of those survives now. THAT is what hurts. Steve

Yes thank you very much - he was rather good 2 sublime passes that you really wouldnt have thought possible

Spot on.

Interesting and thought provoking article.

Are Scunny the only championship team not to have team kevlars?... The pics I've seen from Sheffield's and Redcars p&p would suggest not..?

As I have said many times, and as was also stated in the article, with what tracks we do have being forced out of the urban areas, people aren't exposed to the sport now. Even if they are, they can't just hop on a bus or train like we did... Steve

That's why i worry for the likes of Eastbourne and Birmingham that have moved up. The fans they need to balance their books don't exist anymore. There is no new blood coming into the sport and there is nothing that can be done to change that.

I would put a cap full in my old Yamaha xs 360 back in 83 n ride around town :-)

Jenga, would think one of the reasons my self and around another 100 or so comets fans traveled to support Ben was that it was on Saturday afternoon, same goes for other fans who traveled, and could get home at a decent time

Agree, but its not. I think its good if they honour their prior arrangements, after being shafted elsewhere.

So Polish rider has a clash of challenges matches and has to be at the one in his own country ie the federation that issues him with his racing licence. Seems pretty straightforward and understandable to me. Not really getting the whinging.

Remember the late Rob Woffenden placing Castrol 'R' in his petrol driven lawn mower so that he could enjoy the whiff when cutting the lawn!

A hell of a good read , alot of remarks about the "smell" which was castrol oil but when was that last used? Remember in the 70s going to derwent park on sat morning picking up cans of "speedwell "cans to put on our push bikes and dream of being lou sansom !

No he won't because he did , not rocket science is it. Anyway haven't saw any users with those names on here, you must be thinking of the Workington forum.

First fixture and first guest that dont help get people along does it !!

I bought a copy of Speedway World at the first meeting I ever went to. Its front page headline was "Brian Crutcher Retires", so I never got to see him ride! I think though there is no doubt he should be in a top 30 British riders of all-time. As you say yourself, Sidney, for a while he was the equal of the likes of Fundin, Briggs and Moore and he was a well-known name in an era when speedway received a bit more publicity in the papers than it does now. On the other hand I saw Ron How many times and thought he was always a bit underrated because he was second to Ronnie Moore but he was an essential part of the all-conquering Wimbledon team of the late 50s and early 60s. He was a world finalist eight times and between 1958 and 1964 averaged over nine points per match every season. Between 1958 and 1965 he was ranked in the Top 20 riders in the world in the Speedway Star ranking lists, generally around mid way. Without listing the other top British riders, I think I would have him in my top 30.

Covatti and Jakobsen are stronger than Allen and Heeps no doubt... Ipswich look wooden spoon favourites Strongest heatleaders- Swindon strongest middle order - Wolves Strongest reserves - Poole Weakest heatleaders - Ipswich Weakest middle order - Peterborough Weakest reserves - Swindon/Wolves - all depeneds on Becker..

For all its faults and mismanagement, and lets face it they are legion, glad to see logic has at least prevailed in the M+SDL with Reading racing at Swindon, Weymouth at Poole and Exeter at Plymouth. My fragile faith in the speedway gods is at least partly restored.

In certain parts of Norfolk all the answers given would be correct and mean the same person