Piotr Pyszny

A lapsed supporter of several years, I made a 'comeback' last week, accompanied by a newbie. Had to explain (as best as I could remember) the rider replacement and guest rules. Oh, and why a team called Halifax is based at Scunthorpe. As you say, a crazy sport...

Sounds about right. Like so many people, I stopped watching speedway (for various reasons), in my case about a decade ago. Since then, I met a woman I eventually married. She's as middle class as they come: grew up in a posh Surrey town and is a solicitor. I mention speedway now and again. Last week, she was on leave and, out of the blue, I took her to meetings at Redcar and Berwick. The size of the crowds shocked me. About 450 at Redcar and circa 350 at Berwick. The Redcar promoter's wife told me they'd had a "good" crowd the previous week for a match with Peterborough, adding it was 581. How do these clubs survive on such tiny attendances? I saw very little, at either meeting, to convince me speedway isn't dying on its arse. Incidentally, my wife described her two speedway experiences as "exciting" and a "fun evening". A convert in the making? She did think it was expensive, however, for the entertainment on offer. We'll certainly go again this season, probably to a few of the other northern tracks.

Rugby (by which I assume you mean rugby union) has never been particularly open when it comes to divulging attendance figures. The professional and semi-professional teams (ie not the numerous amateur clubs) playing rugby league, on the other hand, have published attendance figures through the sport's history.

I'd agree. The British GP attendance is probably about the sum total of remaining fans. I was at Redcar versus Ipswich on April 20th, as a neutral. Doubt there were 500 watching. Got talking to a woman before the meeting. She said she was the promoter's wife. Having been a regular at Cleveland Park between 1991 and 1996, when I worked on Teesside, I asked her about Redcar's crowds this season. She said the previous week's, for a cup-tie with Peterborough, had been "good" - then added it was 581. IIRC, in the club's last season, 1996, Middlesbrough Bears' attendances rarely dropped below 850.

At this one as a neutral. Having heard about this season's improved crowds at Shielfield, I was surprised to see such a sparse attendance. Maybe 350, tops. There were certainly no more there than on my last visit to the track, for a meaningless end-of-season match against Rye House in September 2015. A regular told me Berwick fans like to vote with their feet. Only too obvious!