Piotr Pyszny

Interesting read. It seems ridiculous the hospitality areas have been stripped. Bit worrying, though, that in 1997 Bradford could track a championship-winning team yet struggled at times to attract four-figure crowds. And speedway's profile has slipped a long way during the intervening 23 years. How good a job did Rees do of promoting speedway at Stoke?

Certainly did a decent job in his one season at Middlesbrough. IIRC, for home meetings, Moggo used to slog up to Teesside from Uckfield, East Sussex. Talking of Teesside, Martin Dixon racked up a few clubs: https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/800/martin-dixon

Blimey. Keep turning left!

I watched that 4TT pile-up, close to, from the back straight. I remember Matousek got to his feet, grinned broadly then mimed a bird in flight to the crowd.

Yes, I think that was the one. Thanks! As I recall, World of Sport got Coles's permission (and ensured he was unhurt) before screening it.

Four I've witnessed stick in my mind: Eastbourne's Robert Slabon 'Fosberry flopping' over the third bend safety fence at The Shay. He ended up on the terracing. Early Eighties. Milton Keynes's Troy Butler sustained a neck gash when he piled up on the first-second turn during Glasgow's ill-fated half-season (1987) at Derwent Park. Throughout Glasgow's stay, the track, apparently left to its own devices from one meeting to the next, was better suited to Moto-X. Mark Lemon, straight from the gate, going right through the first bend safety fence at Kirky Lane, ending up on the dog track. It was a World U21 qualifier, early 1990s, I think. Middlesbrough's Chris Readshaw having three spectacular offs in one meeting at Cleveland Park. Late Eighties. The final spill saw him skim the top of the home straight safety fence before landing heavily on the track. IIRC, Readshaw injured a wrist slightly. Amazing. Brave buggers, speedway riders! Plus: I've seen TV footage in the past of a shocking first bend crash at Eastville, Bristol. Hell of an impact. Miraculously, the rider was unhurt. Was it Graeme Stapleton?

Guy in the lead popping wheelies down the straights. That sort of showboating never ends well!

I'm going to pick 1990, for the simple reason it was the year I decided to have a 'speedway holiday' - an opportunity to visit a load of tracks I'd only ever read about in Speedway Star. With the blessing of my then-girlfriend, I took a week off work and bought one of British Rail's All Line Rover tickets. At the time, I was living in Cumbria. The plan was to watch eight meetings on consecutive days, coupled with as much sightseeing as I could squeeze in. I struck lucky with the July weather, which was dry, warm and sunny, though I nearly came a cropper at the last match, during which dark clouds hovered ominously. I'd have preferred to stay in youth hostels but, being on the train, B&Bs were easier to get to and from. Made the overall cost that much higher! My itinerary was: 21/7 (Sat) Coventry 37 Swindon 53 (British League KO Cup, Quarter-Final, Second Leg, 71-109 aggregate) 22/7 (Sun) Rye House 46 Arena-Essex 49 (National League) 23/7 (Mon) Exeter 68 Peterborough 28 (National League) 24/7 (Tue) Milton Keynes 40 Glasgow 56 (National League) 25/7 (Wed) Long Eaton 45 Poole 51 (National League) 26/7 (Thu) Ipswich 56 Glasgow 40 (National League) 27/7 (Fri) Hackney 57 Stoke 39 (National League) 28/7 (Sat) Arena-Essex 50 Wimbledon 46 (National League) On the Wednesday, it was a toss-up between Long Eaton or Wimbledon. I didn't fancy watching Glasgow three nights in a row, so I opted for Station Road. I was seriously browned off when Wimbledon closed. Thankfully, I managed to get to Plough Lane in 2002 after its short-lived resurrection. All but Ipswich and Hackney I revisited - at least once - in later years. I had a similar 'speedway holiday' (this time in the car and with the company of my two younger brothers) in 1991 (Eastbourne, Swindon, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Cradley Heath, Sheffield, Belle Vue, Stoke) and 1994 (which included Reading, Poole, Oxford and King's Lynn). Don't think either was as much fun as the first! Having grown up watching speedway at Halifax (1976-83), I became a Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough, regular (1991-96) when I worked on Teesside and lived near Stokesley then saw a lot of Scunthorpe (2005-08) while based in North Lincolnshire. I've lived in York for the last 11 years. It's an hour's drive to the nearest track (Redcar, Scunthorpe or Sheffield). Over that 11 years, I've watched hardly any speedway; maybe 10 meetings. I guess I'm now one of the sport's many 'lapsed' enthusiasts. In all, I've watched speedway at 53 different British venues. Favourite track I'd say is Clay Country Moto Parc, St Austell. Went there three times. An amazing setting for speedway. The scenic location of Buxton (Hitmen's 'purpose built' track not the stock car stadium) makes it a close second.

As you allude, the biggest problem British speedway faces is that hardly anybody knows what (or where) it is.

Could anybody supply details of the points scorers from this British League match? It was my first speedway meeting - the only one I've attended for which I don't have the programme. I know Halifax won 44-34. Thank you!

Nicely argued. But is doing nothing an option?

China will rule the world. It doesn't need a conspiracy to achieve global domination.

Quite so. It was an 'I'm sorry you feel that way' non-apology apology.

I guess that rules out Speedway Star.

Message over the weekend, from a leading Tory, could be distilled to 'we're all in it together'. How well did that go last time?

I suspect this will hit badly a lot of sports. For many, watching sport is a habit. Plenty of opportunity, in the months to come, to get out of the habit.

I recall seeing Darvel Rockets (and Northumberland's Felton Flyers, come to that) riding in the second half at The Shay against Halifax's juniors - in the oddly titled Scottish Junior League, I think. I know Felton had a practice track (but rode matches at Berwick). Did Darvel (near Kilmarnock, I later discovered) have their own practice track?

Developers are surely less of a threat than waning interest among what few supporters the sport still has.

That's very sad news. What a fearless rider Roman was.

Hear, hear. Given modern British speedway's crowds - many counted in hundreds rather than thousands - it's ludicrous any participant should expect the sport to be a full time occupation.

Problem is, it's very difficult to ascertain the views of former fans who have voted with their feet over the last three decades. Speedway's existing, year-on-year declining audience won't keep the sport alive. It needs to reach out to former fans (extremely difficult to win back once the habit has gone) and, more importantly, those who have never watched speedway. The biggest obstacle with the latter is most of Britain has no idea what speedway is. Outside the isolated pockets of speedway activity, the sport's media profile is nonexistent.

Believe me, at The Shay it was terrible. The distance from the pitch affected the atmosphere greatly. No problem at the speedway, of course.

Why would any football club want a speedway track round their pitch? They make viewing terrible for spectators. As a kid, I watched Halifax Town and Halifax Dukes at The Shay. The viewing for football was very poor, because of the speedway track, whose presence also resulted in the narrowest pitch in the Football League. Early and late in the football season, a film of dust covered every surface.

I assume you're alluding to the Rugby Football League's decision to take on the Odsal lease, thereby propping up basket case Bradford Bulls for an extra season or two. Thing is, Bradford are one of the Super League era's biggest names, attracting crowds in the fairly recent past up to 20,000. I've been a fairly regular visitor to Buxton, going back to the first season, when they raced at the stock car stadium. They were never well supported. Few, if any, crowds topped 150. You're hardly comparing like with like. Out of interest, did anyone ever come across anyone at a Buxton meeting who was from Buxton? In my experience, most of the crowd travelled from Sheffield, Manchester, the Potteries, West Yorkshire (I drove over when I lived in Leeds) and southeast Derbyshire.

Bah. Always been my viewing location of choice (well, until I stopped attending entirely). Biggest problem with Owlerton is lack of elevation (certainly if you want to be outside rather than behind glass).