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Hang on , are people honestly classing riding a motorbike stoned just as bad as robbing two vulnerable people with a blade ? Jesus Christ.

I suspect the other thread got closed down rightly so IMHO by the venomous personal insults being thrown around - not connected in anyway to JG!

I once asked the late, great Ivan Mauger, who knew a thing or two million about the Brough Park / Newcastle Stadium track, why he chose Newcastle for son Kym's first club. He replied (words to the effect) "it's a bit of a tricky track but if you master it you should ride all tracks better or at least you will improve as a rider. Plus the Geordies up there are great, friendly people and if they can see you are trying your best, then they will support you all the way which is very important especially when you are starting out". Couldn't have put it better myself....

Anyone who thinks what was working 30 - 40 years ago is the way forward is deluded. However, the way things are now is definitely not working. The answer? No idea.

I’d imagine IF the season was running the press release may have been different. However I still think it would include the line ‘we will not be making any further comment’. Some people quickly forget when something like this happens. Ward abused chance after chance and must rank as one of the worst regular offenders but some people forgave or forgot because of how good he naturally was on a bike. Garrity should be treated no different as it was no worse than Ward’s involvements back then. No doubt the moral police will continue to attack Garrity and defend Ward in equal measures because time elapsed. Just to be clear I am in no way defending the behaviour of any one of the individuals.

I fully believe that in order to save British speedway something radical has to be done and starting with standard engines is what I would do and yes they would be uprights. Having watched racing from the 80s and 90s on you tube recently it's clear that the current bikes do not work on UK tracks. With the uprights riders Were riding the inside middle and outside of the tracks. The same tracks these days with the current equipment and the line is mid track to the outside so inside half the the track sees very little traffic. That can't be good. Seeing the reports this morning that the Poles are asking riders to take a 50% paycut so they can operate behind closed doors maybe it's time to reduce costs across the board for the greater good.

I honestly don't believe that you need the top riders in the world in the UK. If you're trying to attract new support to tracks then the top riders make little difference the likes of Nikki Pedersen Chris Holder etc etc are not known outside of the speedway world. However the entertainment level needs massive work so the place to start is with the bikes that clearly do not suit the vast majority of UK tracks and cost a fortune to run a cost that UK speedway can't support.

No what needs to happen is to look back then and see if we can make it happen today , no one is advocating a league of regression merely hitting the reset button

One of my abiding memories of the summer of 76 was the great ladybird invasion. We had a caravan down on the Essex coast and when we arrived we thought that somebody had painted the sea-wall red..but we didn't let it bug us!

Dicky Case Memorable for me for two things First his failed attempt with Max Grosskreutz to promote speedway in Hamburg And secondly for his part in the Harringay riot when he was part of the Hackney team that beat their local rivals and both himself and his wife were attacked by local fans

No their is a nice piece about him on the local paper website with pics, he was part of a group who put money on a race in memory of a friend who died young ..

Fasinating stuff, Mr Ore. Oops, turnpikes, standpipes, any kind of pipe really . Point taken, my bad, '76 was a long time ago . There has been the odd water leak in Hull with water gushing powerfully into the air, like you see in American movies with kids playing in it til the Fire Dept turn the water off, often gushing many gallons for a full day creating a stream flowing along the road....

BASICALLY not enough revenue from one issue as opposed to four (or five) to cover costs, especially salaries, National Insurance, etc, office rent, rates and we wouldn't get into supermarkets and many newsagents. Plenty of other reasons too.

I can see sponsorship or indeed the lack of it being a huge issue. I get the point of showing events on tv, even on a pay per view basis. However if or when we get through this then thousands of companies will be reliant on trying to survive the aftermath and keep afloat. Sponsoring sports events will probably be last on the agenda.

Ward didn't steal the motorcycle. His conviction was for driving/riding under the influence, evading police and having the incorrect license. This was an offence punishable only by a fine. If Garrity is found not guilty, then i would agree he cannot be punished by speedway authorities, in the same way Darcy was not for the offences he was found not guilty of. If Garrity is found guilty, i would imagine there is no way he avoids jail time. On release however, i would assume he is free to continue his profession in the same way anyone else released from prison is. Though i would be very unhsppy to see him signed by my club.

COMMENTS like yours have certainly made us think. There was a furore amongst some when we dropped actual match reports (a financially based decision) and race times. Have said many times that we cannot please all of the readers all of the time but we are taking stock at the moment about content of SS going forward.

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?

And Tim Bungay,christer sjosten and Keith wright

There little we can do with the tracks most of which do date back to the 60's /70's so the only alternative is do something with the engines this is more than possible with the right input.I would set up a body of newly retired riders or one's who are nearing the end of their careers( they would be much more open minded ) and get to experiment with for example 2 valve uprights ( just as a baseline to start from) or alike. Take them to every track in the country and test them out under friendly but competitive conditions ,this could be done now behind closed doors and take advantage of the lockdown .

Wolverhampton/Cradlley Billy Hamill, Bobby Schwartz, Bob Andrews, Howard Cole, Bruce Cribb, Brian Brett, Jan Simensen, Andy Grahame, Peter Ravn, Peter Jarman, Harry Bastable, Max Clegg, Ashley Morris, Derek Braithwaite, Errol Brook, Mick Handley, Bruce Cooley, Bengt Andersson, Eric Eadon, Cyril Francis, Guy Allott, Ivor Davies, Eric Irons, Phil Malpass, Roy Moreton, Fred Priest, Derek Timms, Jim Tolley, Les Tolley, Archie Wilkinson, Bill McGregor, Brian Shepherd, Craig Taylor, David Clarke, Les Rumsey, Malcolm Shakespeare, Nigel Wasley

It is all doom and gloom at the moment, but a lot can change in a few months time. Fingers crossed!

But also even for spectator sports the post war years were a boom time despite it being financially difficult for business and life generally. It seems that when life gets difficult for people entertainment assumes a more important role.

It's a fact that Angling has done well in the past when unemployment figures are high, i would imagine that would apply to most low cost participation sports...

Both w@nkers imo!

Nobody is defending Ward or garrity. what Ward got up to was stupid , illegial and irresponsible. What Garrity has done is scum of the earth behavior . A level above what Ward done. that said , both are a pair of brain dead idiots

Hopefully Prague will be later on in the year

That was me

Nice...Drugged in charge / drunk in charge of a potential killing machine...the sort of offences that can have consequences just as lethal as carrying a knife. Lucky nobody actually got hurt in either case. Stevebrum has hit the nail straight between the eyes here. And like stevebrum I too in no way condone what Garrity did...simply examining a different angle to the "hang him high" approach that got another thread closed down.

I remember walking round the park about 5 in the morning with people asleep on the grass because indoors was too warm, i lived on an estate of flats back then. I had a radio with me and Stevie Wonder's You are the Sunshine of my Life came on. Strange what you remember

No they are all in No1 genius Chapman’s lock up!

2012 grand final on you tube at 18:30 today and second leg tomorrow, in case any of you haven’t checked the robins website recently.

A brilliant read Steve and this week's edition will bring back loads of happy moments maybe you will have a tear in your eye.!!!!Steve Weatherly still looks very well still young looking and where have all the years gone??.Going back to White City Steve 1976 a World Semi final Championship round there did you go ?? i have the programme a 17 year old Michael Lee just failed to reach the British Final on 8 points after scoring 5 points from his first two rides.After Kennett Lee must of had one of the best records at that circuit i can remember coming home disappointed that Michael did not win the Intercontinental final in 1983.This after making a horrendous mistake and letting Carter through in one ride he still qualified though but Norden 83 was one of my biggest disappointments in speedway.

My abiding memory of 1976 was me and my dad laying a patio in the back garden and having to place wet sacking on the cement to stop it from going off too quickly.

I've just ordered the latest edition of "The Star" as it contains a feature on the City "Rebels"...looking forward in receiving it and will bring back so many great memories!

The geniuses at the BSPA... they know what’s what about engines!

All the best Mimmo.. I am at the other end of the spectrum and only just getting days off again after a month or so, due to the tens of thousands of customers who have wanted serving.. Therefore I cannot begin to understand what such isolation must mean.. Hope you can stay strong for yourself and your good lady... Best wishes. .

Weren't they called standpipes ? Memories of '76 and the aftermath of the '87 hurricane. I saw one last week when the water authority were testing water quality outside my place, and they used a temporary standpipe and left it gushing with water for 30 minutes.

Didn’t know Josh Grajczonek was THAT old.....10 Top League titles....Come back when Swindle have 11!!

Sarcasm aside I recall way back in '1976 - the year of summer', there were turnpikes in the streets and and on the news they would show water levels in resevoirs were down "and for the first time in many years ruins from the lost village of whatever can be seen from when the valley was flooded to create the resevoir". We've had (relatively) decentish warm summers since '76, no turnpikes I'm aware of but still news reports still sometimes say "ruins of the lost village of whatever can be seen from when the valley was flooded to create the resevoir". Global warming ?...

Don't miss this week's Speedway Star for our latest 2-page Backtracking interview. This time we look back with 'Mr King's Lynn' - the one and only Terry Betts, who reveals that he used to receive a cut of turnstile receipts at Lynn as part of his deal with promoters Maurice Littlechild and Cyril Crane. To subscribe, go to www.speedwaystar.net Or phone Dave on 020 8 335 1113

tut tut Neil, & keep up. It is the BSPL now .............British Speedway Promoters Ltd.

It's so tiresome. He isn't just a negative speedway fan, he's a negative speedway fan who goes to the ends of the earth, and is often wrong, to attempt to prove his point.

Enjoying the riders views on current tracks , how about their views on recently closed tracks eg Coventry, Rye House, Workington, Reading, Exeter?

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

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

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

FINALLY took out a subscription. Mrs did it to so i have something to keep me quiet. Is such a great read. This will be like the Star from now on. NEVER MISS A ISSUE.

I was hoping that he was coming to Oxford in 1985 (Andy Grahame came however after there were stories circulating that Kelvin Tatum had been approached)) but he went to King's Lynn...a move he regretted and explains fully the circumstances in this edition of "Backtrack". Apparently his first choice was Ipswich after it had been known that Eastbourne were to drop a league. He was a cracking white line rider round Arlington and would pass many opponents using that technique.

That would be the best option IMHO

Maybe because they don't know if or when the season will start, and how many matches will take place? As far as I am concerned, they can roll my season ticket over to next year, and I can pay for the few matches which are likely to take place later on.