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I posted this on FB on learning this very sad news. As an Exeter fan of 40 years, one of my three favourite Falcons ever. Deeply saddened by this news. "Absolutely gutted to hear of the passing of this outstanding speedway racer. I began my speedway education at Exeter in 1975 & when this guy arrived in 1977 it was a like a whirlwind had blown into Devon. One of the most magnificent racers ever to grace the CG, he was totally fearless but fair on track & was possibly the most spectacular racer ever to wear the green & white & one of my top three Falcons of all time. No one wanted to miss a race when this guy was on track - he... was dynamite. Off track, he was the complete antithesis of his on track self, kind, gentle, humorous, always happy to speak to & spend time with fans & just the most amazing commitment to the cause - trekking across from Czecho every week, when the iron curtain was still up, in his Skoda. Speedway has truly lost a great man & a gentleman. A sad, sad day for our great sport. RIP Vac & thanks for the most amazing memories you left us all with." And I posted this on the Dream Team section of the Speedway Plus website in 2006. "During those formative years of my speedway days at Exeter, an unknown Czech arrived in 1977 & became possibly the most spectacular racer in the history of the Falcons. Paid 11 on his debut & incredibly a near 11 point average at home in that first season. But it wasn't his points scoring that endeared him to me or the other Exeter faithful, but his all out, full throttle style. I swear once his reputation got around visiting riders would miss the gate to make sure he was ahead of them! The County Ground was a fearsome place with its banking & steel fence, but many a rider would ride wide only for Vac to find a "gap" to go outside him & roar to another win! It was only when you rushed down to the fence to see the tyre marks half way up the steel fence you realised that there was actually no gap to go through...."

I would like to thank all the track staff, they put the air fence up yesterday which was a massive job in the conditions. The track held up ok. Needs a week of good weather to harden the surface up. The guys helping yesterday were great, a lot of knowledge so they were telling me where there are small problems with the surface that appear during a meeting. The rakers are there week in week out and see things with the track that most don't see, so working with them will be good. Glyn.

I am in no doubt, if all tracks were similar to Belle Vue, our sport would benefit no end..... The Riders love it, the fans love it, and you wouldn't have to watch any of this 'Gate and Go' rubbish. Just imagine watching proper races everytime. That was a wonderful dream.......... now back to reality......

The sadness for me is that none of this - having something to sell to Poland and having such an amazing racetrack - would have been possible had David Gordon and Chris Morton hadn’t put their lives on hold for 10 years to ensure that the NSS became a reality. One day, perhaps, their hard graft will be properly recognised and true Belle Vue people will take it over again.

Maybe he's still bitter about being at Poole and not at his preferred choice of Somerset?

Just popped up to practice in between races at Cheltenham. Gotta say the suits look smart as F. We might not win the league but in terms of looking profssional we are going to put the Poole "Pikey" Pirates to shame.

'I was also there' for The Wilkie 4's, big turn out of fans on a freezing cold & wet day with many top riders riding for the 4 teams: Ivan Mauger, Bruce Penhall, PC, etc, etc which showed the high esteem people had, and still have, for Alan. Ivan won the World Individual Championship & tunned around the fortunes of, and won the league with, every team he rode for. Except Hull. The 3-no shows at Wimbledon + 1 non-arrival at Swindon in 1979 which did for Hull's title challenge were entered into the annulls of speedway history. Though Ivan did win the then World Team Cup with New Zealand in that year. Think the only 'major' (no pun intended) national trophy Hull won during Ivan's time (1978-81) was the Interleague 4TT - and ironcially Ivan didn't ride in the IL 4TT Final at Sheffeild. Many riders, didn't make it back from the postponed for 24 hours World Pairs at Vojens the previous day, though Zenon Plech did, but Ivan wasn't scheduled to ride at Sheffield on that day in any case. ...

This Bib is generating a lot of interest good for Volvo Cars, Wessex marine and County Crest Pallets!

Add it to the long list of circumstances in which he isn't interested!

There it was on page 3 of the Speedway Star. I simply cannot believe the attitude of Lakesides Promotion and how they have the front to move up from the NL still owing money to the rider. Whether or not he is a soft touch is of no consequence the promotion are a despicable pair. They more than anyone know the risks riders face since they lost their Captain and the big bills that could follow up a couple of engine blow ups etc. For JC to say he had no idea is laughable. So much for the BSPA taking money from clubs when a new promotion join to cover such eventualities. You couldn’t make it up.

I also don't recall Matt Ford taking the credit for Chris's original appearance on these shores back then. He was instrumental in bringing him back over when he started riding here though. It wouldn't be impossible to confuse the two issues ten or so years down the line.

He did mention when interviewed pre-season last year that he could stay at Troy's or a friends in Whittlesey.

Are we the best team on paper, no, but certainly not the poorest, 5 of last year's riders retained and Heeps I think will do well for us, the one question mark is Ash Morris but he'll certainly give it 100%. Admittedly we don't have Freddie but I have every faith in Jacob.

Dont worry its probably personal.

If you ever want fans of other clubs to come on, then I d Deffo be up for that at some point

I very much doubt he gives a fudge Ray

I agree but he will get a good reception at Poole especially after a couple of good meetings, he may not get a great reception elsewhere especially Kings Lynn but he deserves a chance to put the past behind him. He has been a terrific servant to Poole over the years and will do a great job for the team.

Maybe they do, but i dont think Chris will lose any sleep over it if he doesnt. Chris has been through a rough time, and already people are banging the drum. Give the bloke a chance.

We're still waiting for you to let us Diamonds fans know the final two riders as you seem to have a crystal ball...

Easy answer to that, - bring back Second Halves. I'm sure there's many youngsters that would jump at the chance for on-track time, even though no pts money.

I look forward to seeing Chris ride again and i think he will get an ok reception at Swindon i hope so anyway.A fresh start for him we all make mistakes in life so let him move on hopefully he will get back to the form that we all know he is capable of.I think Chris wants to stay low profile concentrate on his racing and enjoy his racing again.

Last weekend, March 10th, saw the staging of the outstanding State Sidecar Speedway titles in South Australia and Western Australia, (Tasmania and Nthn Territory have not held state title mtgs since 2012.) At Gillman SA, Trent Headland & Darryl Whetstone went through the card unbeaten, New Zealander Andrew Buchanan with Denny Cox in the chair taking 2nd place from Mark Plaisted & Ben Pitt. (Ht points: 15, 14, 13 respectively.) The WA title meeting at Pinjar Park was full of excitement as veteran Brad Willis, with Jesse Thomas as chair-man, had to do it the hard way, - again and again - , much deserved after a 34+ year wait ! After 3 wins from 4 rides Wills lost a coin toss for a place in the Final alongside unbeaten Scott Charsley & Morgan Cornwell, (4 wins from 4 rides; all heats 3-man races), the other 11 pointers Chad Harvey & Jamie Thomson going directly into the Final. Wills, riding with Thomas for the first time, had to take the flag in the 'Last Chance' semi to join them, which he duely did. In the Final the hitherto unbeaten Charsley & Cornwell made a good start from gate 1 and led for 3 laps, with Wills at the back in third place, but creeping up on the leaders. On the final charge down the back straight Harvey blasts underneath Charsley followed by Willis. Out of turn four all three outfits were bunched together, but Harvey gave a little ground heading to the flag, enough for Brad Willis & Jesse Thomas to squeeze by. A great race, - the crowd went wild: Brad Willis, - third in 1983/84, third in 1995/96 - , had finally made it. The Sidecar scene moves next to the International 'biggies', with the FIM Oceania Sidecar Championship on Sat. 31st, and the FIM 1000cc World Cup the following day, Sun. April 1st., both at Gillman, SA. The Australian National sidecar title is raced for at Tamworth, NSW, on April 14th.

The ban would have been 2 years but as De Jong was caught with cannabis in 2010 it was doubled to 4 years.

Hoping to see a couple of NL meetings at Leicester this year. The team Coventry has set up should deliver plenty of entertainment and i think there will be some nicely balanced matches there. Its almost a shame that the Prem team is so strong this season as in previous years there may have been a few more spectator converts from the higher tier.

Should get the baliffs from Can't Pay We'll Take it Away, they nearly always get the cash!!!

Can't all the stadium stuff be discussed in a different section I'm bored of all the squabbling and keep this to talking about the nl team for 2018 i mean half the bees fans possibly more are not even acknowledging it a Coventry bees team because they don't think they should lower themselves to our pitiful depths of the national league yet Still Post On Our National League forum .. Good Luck To The campaign But its peoples Atttitude like ive Mentioned that will Lose you support Or Maybe just myn .

Let's not go ott here. Ford never found him, he found Ford (via Mick Poole). Mick Poole contacted Ford when Peterborough failed to do anything about signing Chris after he'd had a couple of after meeting spins round Alwalton on machinery borrowed from Jason Crump.

I began going regularly to speedway with 6 meetings left of the 1977 season. Alan Wilkinson featured in 4 of these, rather a sobering thought now, after what was to happen to him the following season. I daresay I'm not the only contributor to this topic who was at his benefit meeting in April 1979.

Just a classic case of Speedway being lazy and not efficient enough. Things nowadays can be turned around in a matter of days if they are efficient enough. Even having overshirts would be a damn sight lot better than a race jacket so at least the top half is all the same for the riders in the team and more importantly than anything, the sponsors!

Let’s face it, scoring 40 points at home would be an improvement!

It should be presenting a professional image. Things working 'alright' 70, 60, 50 etc. years ago so not being changed is the exact reason Speedway is on its arse here now.

This really is some terrible news. Hard as nails, and a little scary at times, but the kind of rider every manager and every fan would welcome in their team. A 100% trier, a loyal team man, a nice guy, and someone I will remember very fondly. R.I.P. Vaclav Steve

Musielak has a suit for his first meeting. Only time we didn’t have team suits for riders is when we had guests. I really don’t see the issue. Even championship/NL sides have them.

I don’t get why you wouldn’t want teams racing in the same colours, not is it professional, allows team backers to be seen. Swindon said tonight they’ve a main team sponsor who’s on the front but also 9 other sponsors who have space on the team suits....can’t wait for Man City players coming out in odd kits

Mate, i had a long chat with Glyn today, and im very impressed with what he's trying to do, he explained to me what he's done on turns 1-2, and it makes perfect sence, im not going to give away any trade secrects, but suffice to say, because of this bad weather we have had, it might take 2-3 meetings to get it perfect. and it will be.. Yes it did cut up a biit but that was to be expected with the weather we have had. We will not lose any home advantage because of it... He also agreed with me, you dont need the volume of dirt on 3-4, especially turn 4 where riders were straightening up last year, he's also altured the blade on the tractor and wants to bring in a wonder wheel, i am not a great fan of those, but again he explained to me what it will do for our track. He is also is well aware of the effects the sea tides and table have on the track, he will learn the track set up fast. He talks to Chris who will leaise with the rest of the boys, he has already familierised himself with the rakers and asked them what they do,during and after the meeting, He's very good and very professional. The riders were very happy and Chris was very keen, he was first out, got in plenty of laps and had a spring in his step, as you say, james was happy, i also explained to him what Glyn had done, he raised his eyebrows, I expect Brady to improve again Josh was just testing.Its a confidence thing mate, good smooth track breds confidence, as i said, we will not lose any home advantage. I fully expect the new boys to get in plenty of laps next friday, weather permitting. Matt and Neil were happy. So far so good,

Happy to see that we’re being professional this year with team Kevlar’s. I can’t believe that other teams in our league will be pikey & not have team suits.....even championship sides have them!!!

How many Poole fans are looking forward to a good season ? I am !!

Unfortunately Peter has not been well either. To correct one thing there is that I am the TM but will also be the co-promoter ...and I do know what is going on behind the scenes . There is daily contact between the key people involved with Birmingham Speedway .....and Lee Kilby gave more updates than just about sponsorship . The meeting went well and those fans there went away happy at what had been discussed and what they heard.

Like most of the rest of your post, this is completely untrue - I have never said, or even implied, this. This is a multi-faceted argument, which is, I suspect, one of the reasons while you seem unable to "get it". For the purposes of the discussion let's just accept for the moment your point that the racing, or lack of, is not the reason for the decline in crowds to it's present (all-time?) low. Please tell us what the reason(s) for the persistent decline in crowds is, and secondly how you would correct that decline and get crowds back up to a sustainable level.

No chance of me going either. I'm more tempted to go to Eastbourne the following night.

Hats off to Birmingham for admitting that the process for signing the 7th rider is taking far longer than expected and that selected 3 pointers have been invited to P&P in case there is a requirement to declare them in the initial side for challenge / Trophy meetings. Although that is a little kick in the plums for Kyle Roberts its important to do what is best for Birmingham Speedway.

Brady's deal was done before he went back to Australia last season!! Dudek was a definite target last season, but I seriously doubt whether he could be comfortably afforded this year. Poole, like most clubs I presume, run to an annual budget which will be based on expected achievements, crowd numbers, sponsorship etc. Its no secret that Poole have had 2 successive seasons of 'under-achievement' by their own high performance standards - made even worse by injuries and dramatic under performing by certain riders!! That said, there has clearly been an unexpected financial strain on the club's budget which MF is attempting to address for the coming season and is cutting his cloth in selected areas accordingly. Fortunately sponsorship and advertising income is still very buoyant, whilst turnstile income will no doubt be swelled when the team are successful again - eg season ticket sales have already been reported as being the best for 10 years!! An improved customer experience has been promised with track work and grandstand seating improvements already done and other racenight/presentation tweaks underway. Personally I can't wait for the team fixtures to begin on Good Friday. Bring it on.

R.I.P Vaclav Verner.....very sad news.

The first sentence is also absolute nonsense if you do abit of research online. Just because Matt Ford says it, doesn't make it gospel.

IF it is Lakeside that owe the money, they should be forced to clear their debts before they are allowed to run in 2018. Its disgusting ...

You surely have to be closely related to Horton to spout the continual bile and lies on here in support of Horton. The only fact on here is the vast majority of Bees supporters do not rightly so trust Horton and will not be giving him any of their money. Whatever the consequences then so be it but he is the kind of person Brandon Estates need to drag us to oblivion and they will succeed. Jeff and David have always shown passion and integrity to save Coventry stadium and the Bees, all of this is alien to Horton. However you just keep showing your support for that perpetual liar and loser.

Ivan didn't want to leave Belle Vue having spent 4 seasons there. It was Belle Vue that let him go, albeit allowing it to be believed it was the rider control committee that were responsible so as not to alienate any fans. They did it because they correctly believed that they could build home grown and less expensive league winning teams without him. Ivan also spent 4 seasons at Hull and 6 at Exeter, so certainly cannot be accused of being a rider who regularly moved from one team to another after relatively short stays. I've no doubt that he would have had very attractive offers if he had let it be known at the end of a season that he was available. I think the evidence points to the fact that he was committed and passionate about his clubs by doing whatever he could to make them successful. He didn't have to do that. He could have done what the majority of top riders do and just ensured that he gave 100% to his riding and that would have been perfectly acceptable. However, he went way beyond that and so far as I know, for no additional financial benefit to himself. Tsunami's post gives further examples of his going above and beyond what he needed to do to help Newcastle and other riders.

Ivan insisted on having a say in the riders that were signed and the running of the teams he was involved with. It is no coincidence that Belle Vue, Hull and Exeter were all successful during his time with them. I'm sure he negotiated good deals for himself but his commitment to his teams was beyond doubt.

Spot on... What so many promoters over the past twenty years or so have failed to grasp is how important that 'emotional attachment' to your team actually is... The riders mentioned (and many more) helped engender that loyalty bond between fan and 'their' team.. Nowadays two random, cobbled together septets riding under a couple of 'flags of convenience' masquerading as body colours, simply can never engender that loyalty... Running a team sport with such a concept and expecting enough of a fan base to buy into it to make it successful is frankly ludicrous in the extreme... Oh for Wilkie and others of his like today...

Could be a hell of a lot worse you could have heeps,greaves and Morris