1stbendwinkoboy

Lest we forget what it's all about amidst the bitterness of recent events, you may wish to check my "Ode to Brough" on speedwayplus.com Read it and weep. It's a poem. A poem?! Well, I did go to East Walker Primary.

For sure the team fell to bits. But no-one could have foreseen that Bradley Wilson Dean would have been unable to perform given his record with Peterborough when he was last over here. He could reasonably have been expected to be a very competent number one. George Congreve was right up with Dean in NZ but proved to be out of his depth here. Not really Grant's fault. Plus Wright, Clegg, Wethers and Starke. To me it didn't seem to be a table topping team but, frankly, neither did not seem to be a bad team. A pivotal point, oft forgotten, was the Glasgow farce at Newcastle. Cammy Brown should never have been allowed to brow beat the referee regarding a hole in the track that no rider had gone near. Brown knew we were going to win that one and the negative psychological impact on Newcastle riders was severe when the meeting was lost by default. A lot of new faces at Brough that night. But they witnessed faffing about and delays and then lost a third of their entrance money when the meeting was cancelled. We may never know the whole story. But continuing the pillorying of Grant will be no help whatsoever as potential buyers will be really alarmed about the vitriol spilling out in this blog.

Just an aside but Bradley Wilson-Dean signed for Polish Division 2 side Ravicz at the same time he signed for the Diamonds - it's on the internet. I was watching the Rawicz match on Polish TV yesterday and he was in the pits (his name was on the back of his mechanic's shirt). It'll be interesting to see if he rides in Poland this year. Hopefully Matty and Max will get fixed up as they have been loyal Diamonds' riders. They, Paul and James should be retained as Diamonds' assets in the vague hope that we can restart next season.

Just to clarify a couple of comments on Sunderland. Mike Parker closed it in 1964 so he could bolster his other teams viz. Ken Sharples came to Newcastle with Jim Airey and Gordon Guasco going to Wolverhampton. It operated 1971-4 which were the years when Newcastle was closed. And that's nearly fifty years ago - there could be a new clientele out there. As for today, it is correct that there is racing on Sundays but that is from 10.30 and over lunchtime not in the evenings. If it was to reopen - as I suggested as the North East Diamonds (not Sunderland Stars for heavens sakes!) - then access to the track could be possible on the Saturday. Beggars can't be choosers here and it is an assumption that the owners would not allow the relaying of a track. Just saying that it's worth checking out given that we haven't got a lot of options right now.

If the Diamonds are to continue then a new venue seems inevitable. Check out sunderland-greyhounds.co.uk as a possibility. The facilitates seem first rate. Speedway was raced there twice. Difficult to tell if the track is still in place but, if not, could be reinstated. The team could be called the North East Diamonds and could pull in we die-hards, new fans from the area and its closer to Redcar than Newcastle. Worth checking surely!