Chadster

BT lost out in the battle for cricket coverage so that might be good for speedway as another summer sport to fill the schedules that might have gone to cricket. It also means that BT should have some cash available...unless they decide to save it all up to try and crack Sky's position in football.

If we could bring someone back from 1964, I would imagine they might find this thread familiar. One league was running black, the top flight was down to 7 sides (with one of them closing at the end of the season) and the country's best rider, and one of its biggest drawcards) had been killed the year before. And yet, things did improve quite dramatically, as we know. So things can change. Arguably, the challenges now are greater and the external agency that brought about the change (the Shawcross report) isn't there, but dramatic change is possible. There's a lot of comment on this and other threads about the sport not being run 'professionally' and yet in its golden years speedway was always a semi-professional sport, and with attendances as they are, it really needs to go back to being that again.

I wonder if you had one big league with each team meeting each other once home and away, whether what are now regarded as 'meaningless' meetings would become more meaningful? For example, Swindon, Somerset and Poole could begin the season with a mini-league, in the knowledge that those teams would only be visiting once more, rather than twice. Similarly, individual meetings would be more attractivebecse they would be featuring riders visiting for the third of fourth time. As an old-fashioned old-timer, I'd like to see one big league but, the BSPA having loudly proclaimed the bold new future of British speedway last winter, I can't see them making more far-reaching changes soon.

The real problem is with the number of doubling-up riders how will they be able to fill 126 team places in one big league? If it went ahead they'd have to re-introduce 6 man teams.

Was at that cup meeting, still possibly the best meeting I've ever seen, with all three results possible as three riders roared off the last bend of heat 13 together. I seem to recall Bengt Larsson also beating Mauger that night as well.

A very solid heat leader for Sheffield in his day. Qualified as reserve for the 1969 World final but didn't get a ride. A year or so later I remember him beating Ivan Mauger around Belle Vue in nthe Silver Sash match race.

In 2005, the GRA would have been hoping to sell the stadium very quickly for redevelopment. My guess is the other tenants of the stadium, not being involved in a league structure, could be evicted quickly whereas the speedway, needing to run for a whole season, couldn't. I suspect the rental demands on the Dons were much greater so as to provoke a breach.

If I'm asked about what attracted me to speedway I initially mention the sensations; the noise, the smell, if I'm honest being frightened, but also the bright primary colours of the race-jackets against the black leathers of the riders. The designs were clean and simple, so many modern race-jackets/race suits are over cluttered and badly designed. Recent Belle Vue race suits are a case in point, not a patch against the classic design.

As I recall, on the re-opening night, the track was laid on top of the stock-car track and the plan of the promoters was to 'lift and lay' the shale for every meeting. One problem was that the track shape was far from ideal and coupled with the wet weather, the racing was, shall we say, not for the purist. The initial track record was 90 seconds in heat one though by the time of the abandonment it was in the 60s. The next scheduled meeting was postponed as the saturated shale had not dried in time and fairly quickly the bends were widened to produce better racing. The problem then was that the inner curbs of the stock car track were in the middle of the track, which was considered a safety risk and the new promotion was ordered to build a new track completely inside the stock car circuit. Given the succession of difficulties that were faced I was impressed that the promotion survived as long as it did. I must stress these are the recollections of a terrace fan and not an insider so I hope they are accurate.

I enjoyed the recent one on Wembley by Peter Lush and John Chaplin. It's reviewed in Speedway Star this week.

The only Sheffield rider I can think of who wore glasses was Dave Baugh.

I've seen a black and white picture of an Ipswich team in quarters but hard to say what the colours were, but blue seems likely to have been one of them. Sheffield rode in blue and yellow quarters in the late 60s and may have done so earlier.

My first visit to speedway was to Liverpool in 1960. I can't remember anything about it apart from it being very wet. I have much better memories of those Liverpool football teams of the 60s. Peter Thompson almost always played at no 11. Ian Callaghan was no 7. I saw Alun Evans debut against Leicester in which he scored and we were 4-0 up in 12 minutes. By that time I was going to speedway at Hyde Road and being absolutely hooked on the sport.

Brings back some very happy memories.

Charlie won a big individual meeting at West Ham very early in the 1965 season, which surprised a lot of people. When you consider how powerful the Hammer's heat leaders were that season it was some achievement.

Remember that Cradley meeting, it hinged on an exclusion for Bo Peterson in heat 12, I think. The other memory is of the Cradley team coming round on a lap of honour and getting a great reception from the Hackney fans. Fair play to them. another fond memory is a cup match at Hyde Road against Sheffield in 1969, I think. It was just one good race after another, culminating in 3 riders coming off the last bend of the last heat line abreast with all 3 results possible. In the second half Arnold Haley capped a great night for Sheffield by taking the Silver Sash off Ivan Mauge.r

In the cup match Nygren replaced George Hunter who was on international duty that night. Can't explain the presence of Mauger in the league match, especially as the Monarchs had signed Bernt Persson by then.

There were no guests in 1965 and no rider replacement. That came in the following season to replace an injured heat leader only. I think guests were allowed if 2 heat leaders were missing. We shouldn't write off all challenge matches as duds. Some of the most fiercely contested meetings I ever witnessed were the early season challenges between Wimbledon and Hackney in the late 1980s. The league matches were quite tame in comparison. Wolves and Cradley fans will probably say the same things about the Dudley-Wolves Trophy meetings.

I used to take the train over to Hackney Wick station and walk to the track. Retraced that Journey earlier this year. I walked up to the canal and all was as I remembered it. Walked over the bridge and it was a completely different world. If I hadn't have known where I was I wouldn't have known where I was, if you follow me. Brought back some happy memories, though. I think Lanning was after Jeremy Doncaster as a no 1. i always think we should have gone up and built the team around Wiltshire, who was actually terrific that season at Reading. Once Lanning went, the sparkle went out of Plough Lane and I think the closure became inevitable. A pity Russell Lanning was lost to the sport, he was far and away the best promoter at any track I attende regularly.

The first thing is for the racing to be as good as possible so the track has to be consistently well prepared. Then the presentation of the meeting is important. The meeting I attended at Sheffield this season I was quite impressed with the show they tried to put on but at Belle Vue the presentation was lethargic. is there necessarily a tension between presenting the sport as a family occasion and as an extreme sport. It's surely possible to appeal to more than one market?

It has been suggested that riders who are excluded for tape offences or under 2 minute rule should be automatically be put on 15 metres. If that were to be the case do we need two reserves? Go back to the pre-1969 system of one reserve whose programmed rides were with the second strings. If needs be no 6 in the averages could be a supplementary reserve.

I worked with a few Poles and they hated the Russians with a passion. I suspect their pride is more to do with their resistance to communism through things like Solidarity and through their support for the Catholic church.

It would be good if clubs could link with the community. providing some sort of social service might not just be altruistic. Those clubs with training facilities could work with local councils to provide courses to help keep youngsters off the streets, off drugs or out of gangs. They might get some riders out of it at best and hopefully some fans, too. I wonder whether, on a national level, the sport could develop some teaching materials for local schools. Maths would be an obvious area. Two times tables (the tactical rule ), statistics, average speeds, distances travelled by riders etc. I know nothing about Primary School National Curriculum, but if it could be done, and linked to a visit to a meeting, there would be obvious benefits.

I was quite impressed with Belle Vue interviewing the riders after the match and then having them walk back to the pits through the crowd. The riders seemed to enjoy it and it was very popular with the youngsters (and the not so youngsters).

I disagree with the idea because when clubs close down their fans tend not to go to other tracks but just stop going. That's certainly what happened to me when Wimbledon closed but another point would also be that the sport is seeing itself in a very negative light and a series of closures would only emphasise that. Other sports have problems; Athletics with drug cheats, Cricket with minimal attendances at county games and counties hugely indebted, however they don't seem as negative about their future as speedway. When we had few clubs running in the 1950s things did not go well at a time when it was easier to attract audiences.