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As the lovely weather continues week after week, a lot of speedway people must be thinking 'if only', i know i am. I know it's not important in the present climate, but this exceptional spring could have been a real shot in the arm for british speedway. We can all dream, can't we?

My wife is suffering this badly, because as she has double lung cancer and is currently on a 21-week course of chemo, she's not even allowed to leave the house for a 10-minute stroll. Now with the government saying that social distancing will have to remain in place for the rest of the year, we've been told that must remain within the confines of our own home for that length of time. I won't go out and leave her on her own, so we're both prisoners for the rest of 2020, and I'll find that mentally difficult, there's no two ways about that.

I'm going to pick 1990, for the simple reason it was the year I decided to have a 'speedway holiday' - an opportunity to visit a load of tracks I'd only ever read about in Speedway Star. With the blessing of my then-girlfriend, I took a week off work and bought one of British Rail's All Line Rover tickets. At the time, I was living in Cumbria. The plan was to watch eight meetings on consecutive days, coupled with as much sightseeing as I could squeeze in. I struck lucky with the July weather, which was dry, warm and sunny, though I nearly came a cropper at the last match, during which dark clouds hovered ominously. I'd have preferred to stay in youth hostels but, being on the train, B&Bs were easier to get to and from. Made the overall cost that much higher! My itinerary was: 21/7 (Sat) Coventry 37 Swindon 53 (British League KO Cup, Quarter-Final, Second Leg, 71-109 aggregate) 22/7 (Sun) Rye House 46 Arena-Essex 49 (National League) 23/7 (Mon) Exeter 68 Peterborough 28 (National League) 24/7 (Tue) Milton Keynes 40 Glasgow 56 (National League) 25/7 (Wed) Long Eaton 45 Poole 51 (National League) 26/7 (Thu) Ipswich 56 Glasgow 40 (National League) 27/7 (Fri) Hackney 57 Stoke 39 (National League) 28/7 (Sat) Arena-Essex 50 Wimbledon 46 (National League) On the Wednesday, it was a toss-up between Long Eaton or Wimbledon. I didn't fancy watching Glasgow three nights in a row, so I opted for Station Road. I was seriously browned off when Wimbledon closed. Thankfully, I managed to get to Plough Lane in 2002 after its short-lived resurrection. All but Ipswich and Hackney I revisited - at least once - in later years. I had a similar 'speedway holiday' (this time in the car and with the company of my two younger brothers) in 1991 (Eastbourne, Swindon, Peterborough, Wolverhampton, Cradley Heath, Sheffield, Belle Vue, Stoke) and 1994 (which included Reading, Poole, Oxford and King's Lynn). Don't think either was as much fun as the first! Having grown up watching speedway at Halifax (1976-83), I became a Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough, regular (1991-96) when I worked on Teesside and lived near Stokesley then saw a lot of Scunthorpe (2005-08) while based in North Lincolnshire. I've lived in York for the last 11 years. It's an hour's drive to the nearest track (Redcar, Scunthorpe or Sheffield). Over that 11 years, I've watched hardly any speedway; maybe 10 meetings. I guess I'm now one of the sport's many 'lapsed' enthusiasts. In all, I've watched speedway at 53 different British venues. Favourite track I'd say is Clay Country Moto Parc, St Austell. Went there three times. An amazing setting for speedway. The scenic location of Buxton (Hitmen's 'purpose built' track not the stock car stadium) makes it a close second.

Surely half of oldies care for grammar? And the other half care for granddad! I'll get my coat.

Typical of the luck that British Speedway has!!

I fail to see what purpose it would do given the season has no chance of starting before the court date. Birmingham have already issued a statement, and its true there is nothing else to add.

Dream on

Giving how it descended yesterday into a childish slanging match its hardly surprising.

Us oldies don't care too much for grammar!

No one is saying to do nothing. However, I don't think tinkering with the league structure, race format or eligibility of riders will make one iotas difference to the number of paying customers thorough the turnstiles. The answer in my mind is marketing. You can fluff up the product as much as you want, but if no one knows about it then you'll only ever be attracting a diminishing number of diehard fans.

I know you are ploughing a lone furrow here Stoke Potter but I am inclined to agree with you on most fronts. Unfortunately for the sport the silencer regulation changes imposed on the sport by the F.I.M (2011 season) have rendered many speedway tracks in this country vastly inferior in terms of racing and entertainment to what they served up previously. Small tracks, narrow tracks and tracks with particularly long straights have suffered most. Tracks have remained the same while the machines have altered considerably . Laying off the throttle, riders seem to go backwards, giving it a handful the bike seems to rear up. Forget having plenty of dirt down, bikes can't handle it and forget any inclement weather, meeting off , it also doesn't help the bikes sound like a swarm of bees and don't smell of Castrol R any more, the sport lost some of its soul and most, sorry all of its atmosphere on the terraces. Unfortunately modern speedway is most suited to flat out full throttle speedway on big , banked , slick tracks, a great example being Manchester. Unfortunately the tough bit is it is virtually impossible, practically or financially to adjust or alter many of the tracks left in the league, we are pretty much stuck with what we have. In short the current product is not good enough, often enough. You may get away with it to a degree if you have the Worlds best riders but as we know that's not going to happen. You can forget expensive marketing, plenty of people know about speedway, watch it on TV , but choose not to go. Admittedly unless the TV match is from Manchester or Swindon its hardly exiting, mostly boring. I know nobody wants a bad news story but the sports been on a swift decline for the last 10 years and I cant see that decline being arrested even with all the goodwill in the world. Britain will not go on its own to change machinery and tracks wont change so you have what you have, with a weakening rider standard year on year.

Indeed gin for summer, whiskey for cold winter nights, beer of one sort or another all year round.

All the best to you and your wife Mimmo.

Hey... Speak for ya sel Marra I might not have much to cut these days but possessing my own "Wahl Clippers" what I do have gets a good clipping every three weeks... Old habits die hard and with our old RSM if he could pinch any ov it outside the beret he pulled it out... So no thank you to the "Scruffy Old Mop" / "Rasta" look and looking at Richards dad (Steve) who still has a full hair line although well cropped currently; Richard wont be going bald anytime soon... can you imagine that weave in white... could be the new Roy Wood or Santa Claus look... Know you don't like Christmas getting a mention too early gazzac and only 246 days to go so sorry for the Santa reference... But I suppose it will keep him warm on cold winter nights so I will give you that... Honestly just had another look at a current photo and I'm now not sure if its a "Rasta" or "Predator" look he is going for... Also how does all that fit under a helmet? Does he take the liner out ffs? Either way I still think it looks a clip... Sorry... Regards THJ

His will dry easy plenty hot air near him

Cheers cityrebel. It is an old joke, I know. But I was spring cleaning some old family bric-a-brac and came across a postcard I wrote from holiday some 50 odd years ago. It had my usual parting shot at the bottom, "excuse grammar, she's in hospital". It's a bit like flairs. If you keep them long enough, they'll come back into fashion.

Has any speedway meeting *ever* started on time?

oh, well you seem to enjoy being disliked, carry on.

Spare a thought for those who haven't got a garden. It's driving me mad (as I would imagine many others who have no access to a garden) and not being able to fish at my local lake (5 minutes drive away) which is the ideal self-isolating activity as regards good mental health. How people must be coping in high rise flats in inner cities I can't begin to imagine.

A used to cough to hide a fart.... Now a fart to hide a cough.... Cough cough... Regards THJ

You’re slipping from debate to abuse.

Never seen such dedication and probably Cradley Speedway is the one thing that even today unites Cradley folk. I seriously hope one day it’s possible that you guys get your own place. I don’t think any region of the sport deserves it more.

Would love to know what baggage Pedersen and Gollob have to be lumped in with that lot.

The top two leagues of British speedway has for many years relied on cheap airlines to enable riders to race in multiple leagues around Europe, however with the aviation industry collapsing the knock on effect for British Speedway is simple….. it will not have access to riders who wish to race in more than just the British league as the logistics will just not allow it. No star riders will mean a significant drop in crowds (I am guessing levels of 50% pre CV19) which will lead to lower revenues from ticket sales along with a significant drop in sponsorship/advertising revenue as well. If clubs have less money to spend then riders will also be paid less and some will probably turn their back on the sport as they cannot afford to ride, thus reducing the pool of available riders down even further. In my opinion British Speedway needs to give up on the idea of their rider assets holding any financial value and press the reset button to create a new blueprint to survive post CV19 ready to be launched in March 2021 (subject to government restrictions). I believe now is a great opportunity for supporters to share their thoughts and ideas on what British Speedway ‘reborn’ should look like and which clubs should be part of it so I can send them on to the current guardians of each club. I look forward to reading the thoughts you may share on this.

To get to the point where such larger gatherings can take place again the pressure on the NHS will be much reduced from the current position so it may not be the problem that it seems it could be right now

Me neither, but then i looked in the mirror

THJ was talking about maryport scuffs, was he looking in't mirror ?? No seriously the long haired Dan bewley is doing a Q+A session on belle view Facebook thingy tomorrow if anybody is interested

If there was no action at all this season i think you would have to do something. Maybe a Monthly Star. People have habits. If there is none at all, That is what they will get used to. Not me btw. You could at least do that. I am certain you have enough interesting things to go Monthly. Hopefully it will not come to that.

This. And would add to it, those with young kids especially. We at least have a quarter acre garden they can play in, as well as having a range of beaches in easy walking distance. Certainly makes "lockdown" a whole lot easier.

Am in me 50's so am not that far behind you... but if any one asks am 39... going on 14... At the minute everyday is Christmas Day with this lock down... boring... it's driving me nuts... and no av not opened any whiskey in the last couple of weeks funnily enough... pienpeesman mentioned the other day along with Ruffdiamond that they both were giving the gin a go... so I cracked a bottle of Tanqueray the other night as I hadn't had a G&T for a while and to be fair av quite enjoyed it... saying it's a girls drink... Regards THJ

That's tough! Best wishes..

He's still wearing it.... Just all the hair has grow through it... Honestly he used to be a tidy kid but he could do wid a hair cut that's for sure... Smart lad when hes been clipped and shaved... looks a scruffy get nowadays!!! Always thought Maryport was famous for the "Jam Factory" not its Rastafarian's... Freddie Notes & The Rudies sang about Montego Bay not Maryport Bay... Never mind at least we know its not Richard hoarding all the soap,,, Regards THJ

If Barry & Martin have done nothing else, they have made supporters feel valued, whereas many of the old guard seem to have supporters their on sufference, and have to be put up with rather than valued, this also comes across from the BSPA, and the Sport as a whole..

I think the Isle of Wight is a unique case when it comes to crowd figures relying on holidaymakers for much of their crowd rather than 'home fans'. You really couldn't use their crowd numbers in comparison to others to judge popularity. However they are very clearly doing something right as far as the paying public on here are concerned and at the end of the day that is more than the vast majority of promoters seem to be doing. The 'old guard' need something to jolt them out of their 'stick with what hasn't sent us bankrupt' mindset, understandably in many ways but Barry and Martin have created a feel good factor on the Island without reinventing the wheel.

To be honest Hgould Birmingham since moving back to Perry Bar the crowds have never been great, even the opening night yes a big crowd but not as big as what Tony mole was expecting and the club on a whole as never made money

There was definitely an issue that particular season. It happened on at least three or four occasions. Mind you, I’m sure it’s not unique to Somerset.

Feel sorry for you, at least I have a fairly large garden to tend/relax in. i wish you well.

I agree marketing is key however I think you have the wrong idea if I am suggesting we tinker with the sport. I am suggesting British Speedway will have NO OTHER OPTION but to completly REBUILD itself due to CV19. Surely you can see it will not be possible for the sport to operate as was planned? If so then what should the clubs do?

And you’ve joined me down here in the gutter, didn’t take long for the sh it to stick did it, you cheeky wee idiot.

I like your ideas but to implement them and be ahead of the game thing's need to start happening now.In speedway this has never happened a rushed conference every year with no real longterm vision and usually nothing really changes your ideas are refreshing though.

Yes, it is indisputable. You can pick two teams and compare them, (I think the 2007 team would beat the 2019 team) however every time the points limit is below 42, which it has been numerous times in the last decade, the league gets watered down.

Yes, very few mentions of April Showers this year. Although having said that I haven’t been watching the weather forecasts because they have become pretty much redundant. The good weather has though kept the public onside with the lockdown and the hour’s exercise or sitting in the garden has been a treat. If we’d all been looking out at rain we’d be more depressed.

Less meeting's really?? that is one of the biggest problems speedway in the uk has at the moment people get used to not going and find other things to do.At the moment most teams are very lucky to get three meetings a month yet you suggest we should have less.Your idea of having less meetings and bringing the best riders back to get the crowds in is a great one but in reality a pipe dream.I am all for your idea so can you explain how the clubs would PAY for it would the increased GATE money do that.?

I suspect that the 2021 season may possibly start on time, although the announcememnt today that " Covid 19 is here to stay until an effective vaccine is available" . Bearing in mind that the vast majority of supporters are in or near the vulnerable elderly category, there may not be many of them risking a trip to the speedway in 2021.

I don’t mean to be a “bah humbug” but can we not see a poole meeting where there is decent racing and a close scoreline? That is 2 weeks in a row where the meeting was all over bar the shouting early doors with big home scores. I, like many speedway fans enjoy these speedway rewinds as it get us our speedway fix in this terrible time. If anybody from the pirates videos/board/website is reading this can we please get a closer meeting with better racing as i think it would attract more viewers as big win after big win gets a bit tedious, non pirate fans will loose interest. regards

No question.................... got to keep supporting the Star! My immediate family have three subscriptions and can't imagine life without the Star. Keep up the excellent work!

Brilliant issue...if only speedway was run as well as the SS the sport would be in a far better shape.

Must admit i am not interested in watching the gps again. Would rather search out the Club meetings that i have not seen before. Been IOW and Berwick ones mostly. IOW ones are done really well on Portal. The lad Barry seems to do a dance on them all.

In the nicest way possible, most of the suggestions on here are a bit, crap - it is nothing out the box, and nothing that hasn't been mentioned and done to death 100 times. A new fan will most likely neither notice or care about such things as score boards or the overly done to death obsession with music played at a meeting. A subject that has been tirelessly spoken about on this forum for one which is so meaningless when it comes to reasons why people don't attend. As well as not being of interest to most new fans, the things mentioned have done little to retain fans who have left the sport, fans have dwindled out the door as the product has watered down because fans of a sport know what good looks like. If people want to stand and listen to music, they go to a thing called a concert, a pub or bar - very few people attend a meeting in the hope they will hear a fantastic song, very few reflect back on their speedway memories and reflect on the music played or the scoreboard - these things aren't the USP, they are a backdrop at best. The USP IS the sport, when people wish to attend they want to see fast racing and the best riders - this has shown over the years when the sport had better riders - more people were attending.... it now doesn't have the best riders, less people are attending. There is too much speedway in this country, the season is too long, the sport drags on months past it has to, there are too many finals, semi finals and championships - they all just lose meaning and become lost in each other, in a desperate attempt to boost revenue by hosting more, the sport has just made everything less than, ends up with Finals and Semi Finals overlapping to the point they start to confuse each other. Speedway should be a league season, less meetings and attempt to boost the quality again. Once people know they are watching good again, they might consider the sport again. A Poole fan who was spoiled on Rickardson, Loram, Holder etc isn't coming back for a score board and Calvin Harris music when he is having to watch a team the standard of that they have the last few years. A new fan likely won't stick around long when they know they aren't watching the best on offer, there has always been a naivety around the idea a new fan would fall for the BS of just watching a good race, for a while at best they might, but more people want to see the best at their sport rather than those less than, most sports attendances reflect that - quality typically equates to a higher attendance. If you are asking people for the cost speedway tracks do you need to have some pretty decent USP's - scoreboards, music etc ain't that, people can find that at most other sports in the country which offer far superior stadia and facilities to that which most speedway tracks ever will, when they first walk into most their first impression at most tracks will likely be what a dump it is compared to stadiums and sports they have been at . It is actually probably more beneficial to draw peoples eyes away from most of the dumps they have to stand in.

I would like to hope not, as that is a bit of a defeatists and losers attitude to life which won't see them go very far in the sport. That probably does reflect in the standard of racing in recent years.