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Absolutely. It goes back to what we were saying earlier about the nights when Mauger, Olsen, or Penhall came to town; we had been looking forward to those for weeks! One of the other factors you mention that destroy the aura is familiarity. We would generally only see those riders once - maybe twice - a season. Smaller leagues and multiple matches against the same teams means they become a "part of the furniture" so to speak, and they lose that aura. Steve

Bring back the old club call lines at 1.50 a minute, to get your results and new signings

Chris didn’t know who was in our group either did he

Plus this year I will see the 'superstars' riding Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Polish League and Tuesday's every week in Sweden.. And then watch them regularly in the GP's too... All in glorious HD from the comfort of my armchair.. No 'mystique' sadly anymore.. You went to watch Collins, Mauger, Olsen, Penhall etc etc when they visited your track, as it could be the only chance you got all season to see them, apart from the Saturday highlights on World Of Sport of the big meetings...

There wouldn't be enough hours in the day to keep putting out press releases/news regarding speculation,rumours especially that arise from this forum.If Neil and Ged are still the promoters and nothing has changed why should the club have make a news item to say all these rumours are untrue.As i said not enough hours in the day to keep putting out news bulletins regarding rumours that 90% of the time start on here. Now if they have left then things are different and you would expect the club to make an announcement straight away.

Please can we get back on topic i.e. the underwhelming and depressing article by the uninspiring vice chairman Godfrey....?

My favourite rider of all time was Mark Loram right from the point of watching him as a mascot and my uncle sponsoring him all the way through to the Holy Grail. It doesnt however cloud my judgement as to his ability.......He was a one time world champ whose overall form was worse than most other world champions..............couldnt ever stand Havelock but without doubt in 1992 he was the dominant rider on the world stage that year bar perhaps Per Jonsson. I never saw Fundin ride and not much of Mauger either but im not foolish enough to think Mark was better than either of those. But yet out of Rickardsson and Loram i know who i would prefer to watch and pay to see

Disappointing? Didn’t Harris beat Doyle when it mattered most,finals!

Just what the promoters need to listen to. Gone are the days when fans just follow a club blindly, watching any type of speedway is expensive, if the standard of entertainment is poor then the fan will pick and choose what to watch. It is not disloyalty to comment on the standard of racing, when you can fill your programme in on 1st lap 2nd bend, is that entertainment, I fear not. Why is it the fans fault when they walkaway , surely it is the clubs fault for not supplying good speedway and entertainment, so unless the Promoters pull their fingers out and give what the paying public want, I fear for the future of the sport.

Two races that stick out for me are Rolf Gramstad beating Ivan Mauger in the 1979 Swindon v Hull meeting and Malcolm Holloway beating Shawn Moran and getting a 12 point max in the 1982 Swindon v Sheffield fixture.

Do you think any current promotions genuinely give a toss about bringing on young uns? The vast majority of M/SDL teams are all organised and run by devoted individuals despite clubs/BSPA best attempts to hold them back (i agree the NJL is a little different). Until everyone stops thinking about the next meeting and has a genuine view to the future there will be no future.

Doubt that anyone would choose to watch the updates rather than go to the meetings. The guy probably wasn’t going to attend anyway.

Sounds like the name of a good book to me....

The problem is that so many people just see things in black and white, whereas in most situations, there are grey areas that apply to many facets of that situation. One of the biggest issues I have with modern sport (and trust me, American sports are the worst) is that they try to explain and justify EVERYTHING (including probability) by using figures and stats. Look at darts. Percentage shots (having two beds to aim at instead of just one) are inflexible. Points-per-dart averages are also, with the ONLY factor involved being what you throw yourself, but speedway CMA's are affected by many outside factors, such as opponents, gate positions, mechanical issues etc. Having said that, trying to explain to an idiot how you can win at darts despite having a lower average, isn't easy... In speedway, a similar situation used to occur in World Championships. A rider could win every race in every world championship round, yet drop one point in the final, and he ended up second. Another rider could scrape through each time, have a good night at the final, and he was World Champ! That is why I find the SGP's much fairer... This leads me to ask one question that I have been thinking about during this discussion (and I would love to see everybody's answers and reasoning)... Which was a greater achievement; Hans Nielsen winning the 1986 World Championship, or his incredible 1986 BL record away from home? Steve

ive never understood the need for all riders to have the same set of kevlars and team suits so i get why Poole dont do it. I always remember as a young lad going to Rye House and Ipswich and buying the little riders toys and racing them on the kitchen table..........Cox in black and white checks....Naylor all black. Mullarkey in white and red..........Preben Eriksen all yellow......John Cook in grey........Siggy in white with the stars and stripes...........different leathers made it more fun for me back then and i still prefer it that way....dont like everyone decked out in the same stuff.......just my opinion

Thank goodness the vast majority of supporters do, it’s just a very few of the posters on here that quite frankly moan about everything that the club does that doesn’t. My worst fear is that I might find myself standing next to one of these people at a meeting, doesn’t bear thinking about.

The number of studio and pitchside experts deployed to live sport broadcasts is becoming ludicrous. David Coleman and his like didn't need that, and what is more they wouldn't have tolerated it.

I don't know which is worse bad P.R or no P.R. It's certainly not the way to keep sponsors though.

But now bad and sad news for Swindon and the Robins as the Honda factory is due to close...this will badly hit working people and therefore speedway attendances...!!

They wouldn’t.

I thought that Rob Godfrey had some "believers" who were distorting the posts with the All Our Yesterdays" posts in order to soften the criticism of his statements.

So, if you didn't have updates for home meetings, how would the away fans be able to follow them ?

If you want to talk about Chris Morton, it's hard to beat his ride against Gundersen and Muller in the 1981 WTC Final at Olching... Steve

Liberal use of the record and fast forward facilities gets around that one

I think one of the problems we get when averages "collapse" as a consequence of smaller leagues, is an accompanying reduction in the "wow effect" when a lesser rider upstages one of the higher scoring ones, because having a 10-point average, in the minds of the spectator, creates more of an aura than if that same rider has a "mere" 8-point average. The achievement by the lesser rider is probably just as great, but the reaction is possibly more muted because he has "only" beaten an 8-pointer, especially if that 8-pointer is having what you would call an off-night. There just aren't any riders taking part in any league nowadays who has that sort of aura. The collapse of averages produced by smaller leagues plays a part in that, but other factors have contributed significantly to a situation where no rider in the world has that aura.

And Stan Stevens beating Barry Briggs at West Ham.

Jim Tebby beating Ivan Mauger at Wimbledon has to be up there moments like that made speedway special.

In the early 60's Craven and Fundin were two of the five riders who were in a league of their own. Björn Knutsson, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs were the others. They became known as the Big Five and incredibly in the 1962 world final, four of them were drawn together in the same race, in heat 6. Moore was the one who did not ride in that race which was won by Briggs with Craven (who won the title that year) second.

Don't see the problem. If it's run badly it'll be his pocket and reputation taking a big hit whereas the punters can just spend their money elsewhere.

Having watched Niels in seven of the eight years, I believe he has been more instrumental to everything Lynn have produced than anyone. There are many reasons why I'd like to see Niels in the team, his excellence, his determination, his quality , his reliability, the list goes on... him having a low CMA would have been easier to fit him in than he would be normally.... With the exception of Lambert, all the rest of the proposed team are young, willing and able, but not any can be relied upon when the chips are down... without that second accomplished heat leader we will struggle ….

Interetsing thread this one. What's developing in to a bore on another thread is the insistance that riders be judged upon how many times he wins a race. Sure winning races is important but it's how those races are won is what many of us remember and judge. Those are the memories I cherish and reflect back on. I particularly recall the classic race between Peter Collins and Gordon Kennett at Hackney...Peter riding the fence and Gordon the white line side by side for four laps which ended up as a dead heat and drawing massive applause from the appreciative fans. Or Gordon splitting the team riding Ole Olsen and Alan Molyneux at Wood Lane and coming thru' fo a tremendous win!

Strange that we have 3 promoters that fail to communicate with each other and the team manager is the only one making official club statements. It gets more like a Whitehall farce by the day .

In fairness to dear old Bryan, and to norbold, of course, did either of them state categorically that Clem Cort appeared in 1929 Southern League matches for Wimbledon and Harringay, or did they simply state that he appeared for those teams in 1929. If only the latter, then where did the claim that they appeared in Southern League matches for those teams originate? Did gustix simply assume that he appeared in Southern League matches, or was there any indication that he did? If there wasn't, then gustix could be considered more than the "messenger"... Similar to Mark Cherry. I am happy to state that he rode for Birmingham in 1976, but I cannot interpret that as him riding in the BL in 1976... Steve

The best way to sort this out is for the club to make an announcement on the official website, or is that too simple ?

Bought a lump to my throat that. Very unusual for me. Nice to see someone like that young Lady stand by their partner when things go ** up. Great little vid SS. At 6.35 Fu@king allergic to alcohol comment from Darcy had me genuinely laughing out loud after hearing it earlier from the brides Father( I take it)

PLAY OFF CONTENDERS Is it only me that I can see no point of the "Play offs" were they not introduced for the benefit of Sky ref. the Elite league? The Championship "Play off" winners won't be getting promoted the following year, so whats the point! I would rather see an end of season K. O. Cup. I've said it before but I think the promoters have taken their eye off the main event, I think we the supporters want weekly entertainment. The Promoters put all their efforts into winning maximum league points by any method with entertainment & good speedway not top of their shopping list......

Fantastic thread Rob Godfrey must be pizzing himself!

The Sverre Harrfeldt thread got a bit side tracked by a discussion about Christer Loftqvist andReidar Eide so rather than spoil that thread I thought I would start a separate one as both were involved in two of the most memorable races I have ever seen. I say memorable rather than great because we can have different opinions on what is a great race but sometimes you see a race or races that just seem to define everything you love about speedway. The two races in question took place in a West Ham v Wembley match 13th October 1970 . There was a great build up to them . Reidar went out and won heat one over a second faster than anyone else rode that night, and inflicted Olle Nygrens only defeat of the evening. He was back out in heat 5 and whopped Tony Clarke and Barry Crowson. Two heats later he came out on a tac sub to beat Christer Loftqvist. He was looking invincible and the fans resigned themselves to him going through the card. Then came a fabulous heat 11 , when Loftqvist and Eide were programmed against each other. Reidar made the gate (just) but with Christer scraping the fence as only he could , he slowly edged in front , but with barely half a bikes length lead he locked up sightly coming out of bend two lap 3 allowing Reide back in front by a matter of inches. I think Christer had the throttle hard against the stop for the rest of the race and came back to win by about half a bikes length. Heat 13 was a repeat of Heat 11 except that this time Christer was round the line unusually for him and Reidar round the boards. Christer again locked up a bit, same place ad before, but being on the inside, he recovered more quickly and again won by about half a length. Speedway at its absolute best. Anyone else remember it ? One of the few programmes I still have. West Ham closed down for redevelopment soon after and I felt bereft. I continued to Hackney for a time but it was never quite the same to me and eventually I drifted away for many years until returning to Lakeside, which for me somehow captured the mood of Wets Ham in a way that Hackney never did, not for me anyway.

I was at the meeting and I have just got my programme out to see if I wrote anything on it as I sometimes did if there was anything worth recording. However, the only thing I wrote was on Heat 13 where I wrote, "Christer from behind." I don't particularly remember those races like you do, E.I., but I was always very impressed by Reidar Eide at West Ham. He rode it very well and it was always a bit of a surprise to me that he never quite made it to the big time the same way Sverre did.

My opinion and i am entitled to it and you mock me and tease me but you have a WEAKNESS it is your way or no way my opinion of Rickardsson shows you that i don't go by stats.

I had the privilege to attend the Ronnie Moore Memorial Meeting yesterday at Moore Park Christchurch . It was an outpouring of love and respect for the great man that has done so much for and in Speedway. The attendance was huge, swelled by many past competitors, at least double any crowd I have seen at Moore Park. The meeting needed 81 Races (61 solo and 20 sidecar) to allow all the competitors, who wanted to, a chance to compete. The contestants were in various grades ranging from Bradley Wilson-Dean to the 68 year old on an old upright and the seven year olds on the 50cc bikes on the inner training track. The oldest bike was a 1946 JAP and there were Jawa, Weslake, Godden etc to gladden the heart of an old speedway supporter. There were approximately 50 solo competitors and 20 odd sidecar duos. I was really impressed some of the old fellas still fitted their circa 70's/80's leathers. In the A grade BWD looked unbeatable and his only likely competition Thomas Jorgensen of Denmark had to retire from the meeting after winning his first heat because of the pain from hand injuries sustained in a Mountain Bike crash when exploring our beautiful country. The final was won by Andrew Aldridge after BWD had a mechanical failure while well in the lead. Ryan Terry-Daley was second and Jake Turner third. Unfortunately no new prospects on the near horizon. George Congrieve our latest U21 Champion is about the same standard as Ryan Terry-Daley. They had the best race of the night in the semi-final with passing and re-passing final settled in Ryans favour out of the last corner. A great day and a really moving tribute to a great man and speedway rider.

What is worrying is that so many people seem mathematically challenged these days. It's not just that they don't understand it, but because they don't understand it, they don't believe it. Simple mathematics is generally - well - simple! More than that, it tends to be consistent and reliable - until people start adding unnecessary variables. Without the variables, even though the actual answers may differ (and here, I did state that the example was extreme and unlikely - though not impossible) the concept and the processes used to reach that conclusion remain constant. That could be one of the reasons I love darts and speedway so much; they both revolve around numbers! Steve

Like Cityrebel, I am from London and seriously regret the fact that there is no longer any Speedway there. Nearest point now, I suppose, is Rye House ( hardly London !) and I consider it the DUTY of the current Speedway bosses to get the place back in action for our sport at the earliest opportunity. I was told that more than one promoter is/was interested but that the cost of paying off the previous promoter's debts, as demanded by the ( BSPA ? SCB ?) was prohibitive. I read in the SS that the previous owner had been made a bankrupt...why should a prospective new promoter have to pay off his debts ? To be fair, this was just hearsay and may not be true. Does anyone actually KNOW the facts ?

this thread is at the top of the page, you'll notice also that threads for most of the teams that are all announced are slipping down to the bottom because no-one is interested any more, they've had their say, but this one keeps going .....

Being critical of the management and 'supporting the team' are two completely different things. Indeed, it could be strongly argued the absolute worst fans are those who stand around happy clapping instead of voicing their displeasure at the decline in fortunes of the club/sport they claim to love so much.

Apologies if I've missed this, but any truth in the rumour that Buster's home had a fire whilst he was away?! As for the TJ story in the Star this week - it was primarily about the help he received from the club during 2018. It stated he was 'still hopeful' of a team place.

Really? BV strongest top 3? Swindon 4th? Wolves 6th. I just can’t agree with that.

I fear we will not hear from Ged or Neil again. It is almost unbelievable the total disregard for the paying public shown by the Mafia and the seeming contempt in which we are regarded.