moxey63

Tried subscriptions for a year or two and the reduction it offered, but postal service was terrible, and often the mag would arrive a week late. Just get from supermarket now. Not the publishers' fault; more to do with the demise of the postal service. Nothing in the UK seems reliable anymore.

It's an old trick. I did it years back, dropping a cigarette from my new outfit I hated, to damage it, so I wouldn't have to wear it again. I was only six, my parents went mad, told me never to smoke again when wearing new clobber.

My Star hasn't shown up yet, five days late. I don't blame them, it's the Post Office's fault.

History of the sport that has an uncertain future is the only thing we can be certain of though.

Grown up sports don't need to attract fans with quick fix gimmicks that eventually makes it seem daft.

Exeter in 2000 1 Exeter 26 15 1 10 1335 1003 31 13 44 2 Swindon 26 18 0 8 1249 1094 36 8 44 3 Hull 26 16 2 8 1201 1142 33 9 42 4 Sheffield 26 16 4 9 1226 1102 32 10 42 5 Workington 26 15 2 9 1261 1114 32 10 42

The bonus point rarely impacts on how the table finishes though. A strong home track advantage probably benefits a team.

We all know speedway is exciting to watch. But after a while you need someone to support and cheer, turn up at matches to offer vocal support. A fan of a team needs a team to support. There is no such thing as a team to support nowadays, they are merely pegs who fit in holes. I see the loyal-to-British speedway man Tai Woffinden is back to save us. I couldn't cheer someone whose only affection to my club and sport is when it suits their schedule.

After reading through the posts on here, I wondered why I stayed away so long. My Star was late last week but on time this. In other news: I am still disappointed why it ditched the Angus Kix glamour league.

The question regarding speedway's future has to be where are the new fans. I began attending in 1975, for example: but who is the most recent first time attendee on here, for example? I guess most would say the 70s and 80s.

Wasn't it PC's idea to invite prospective sponsors who possibly could have injected cash into the club? Surely allowing 100 or so individuals who would never have attended in the first place wouldn't have cost Belle Vue a dime... but could have helped swell the coffers. He wouldn't have brought 200 along every meeting, surely? Or is it 300 this week?

Here's one. Barry Ayres rode 12 matches for the Aces in 1986 (18 in all, 1984-86). Ove Fundin rode 12 matches for the Aces in 1967. Could you imagine supporters requesting that Mr Fundin should pay to get in and queue up with other fans at the admission gate? No? So why are the likes of Barry Ayres any different?

Barry, there are too many armchair speedway world champions on the BSF. Don't worry what they say. I remember your career, and your name has already gone down in the sport's and, indeed, Belle Vue's history, no matter how many points you scored. I look up to all you guys... in fact, more than the high rankers.

This is getting serious. Doubts over so many clubs. Sooner rather than later, the middle man in what is often a laborious and predictable six months of table fixtures could be a thing of history, and perhaps we can just go straight to the two-team Grand "Last Men Standing" Final.

Many fans lose patience with those running speedway and eventually just stop going. The product is still fine, but the short-termism and come-day, go day attitude has been speedway's problem for decades. Tracks are closing at an alarming rate and there is no solution. Hopefully the sport will continue in some shape or form, as it still provides a good few hours' entertainment.

Can't wait for it to go back to black and white pictures, then. Would this cut costs more? To be perfectly honest, though, I only buy it because I have them all and to stop another magazine from going to the wall.

The covers used to be eye-catching, but now they are quite childish and ott. Overall, the magazine's standards have dipped in recent years, and the paper quality very poor. Oh, for the days when you used to get a proper match report from someone who was live at the match, and when Peter Oakes used to have something in there worth reading. They only really push the boat out during Grand Prix weeks.

It was indeed a Bank Holiday Monday morning, an 11 am start if I recall. It wasn't the return at Hyde Road later, but instead straight over to the Embassy Internationale at Wimbledon where PC was hampered by machinery problems. I think Eddie Jancarz won it, which was a shock at the time. His Wimbledon team mate, Larry Ross, was second. Wilkie's fine for his altercation with the ref was paid for by a whip round on the BV supporters' coach. His car windscreen was shattered by hailstone on the way home from King's Lynn, and he had to drive a fair distance without it. Things you remember as a 14-year-old!

Trying to win an argument by claiming someone's views should not be given an airing because of a "brain injury" is a bit low. I find PC's points of view fascinating, and if I were him, I would be more critical about the genuine injuries he sustained while riding for the Aces—the leg in 1977 and the shoulder in 1980—which cost him at least another title and another three or four years at the top. Having read the book, both injuries were the club's fault. Added to that, Belle Vue knew his father had died but didn't tell him until after he'd scored a 12-point maximum for them. I'd have gone ape. Even more illuminating, the poster worried about PC's account of his career being affected by his brain haemorrhage doesn't seem to shy away from criticising someone like Barry Ayres for not succeeding in his racing career. By all means, give free admission to anyone who rode for the Aces. The truth is though... speedway is so far from the halcyon days when most of them raced.... they wouldn't even want to attend.

The part of the brilliant PC book I found of most interest is when he became the promoter and his experience of working with John Perrin. I laughed at the punch-up at the Swinton club between Perrin and his co-promoter, Don Bowes. I think I actually have the pamphlet from that evening. Mr. Perrin was a colourful character, not everyone's cuppa, but surely there are enough stories out there from riders who rode for him to retell in a book. I'd read it.

My copy arrived today. The weight of 500-plus pages hitting the floor from the letterbox made me think I'd dropped my wallet. Very impressive, long-awaited book by one of speedway's finest. Well done to all.

Looking at some of the crowds, the plight of the sport, my not attending isn't killing speedway. It's those that followed me. That parrot is dead.

After several months of pretending that six teams chasing a top four spot is really interesting, the Play-Offs have once more turned into a damp squib. The accident of Belle Vue's Max Fricke while riding for his Polish side nullifies what the play-off finals are meant to be. A side losing one of its main cast ruins the showpiece of the British season that promoters sell to the public. It is like tearing the last page out of a novel. Reading the previous pages was pointless. Even more of a joke, some fans want Belle Vue to sign a temporary rider as a stand in, but that rider will be someone who couldn't be arsed dirtying their gear in Britain in recent years and, what's more, will no doubt turn their noses up next year, too. Try telling that to someone new, even to the TV audience: your own rider was injured while riding in a foreign league, but wait for it, this British guy who rides in foreign leagues but doesn't want to ride over here, will be standing in for him because his he has time now that his other foreign leagues have ended. It does make British speedway feel second-class.

In tune with the National anthem?

Yes, Swindon went into Division Two in 1993, two years after refusing to do it. Arena had a decent side in the second division and were quite entertaining in the top flight when they came up. I have one of Andy Galvin's race jackets from one of those early years from the 90s.