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The problem was, I feel, the ego of British speedway fans at that time. Everyone was so convinced that, in order to be World Champion, you HAD to ride in the British League. The fact that was proven to be incorrect not only shocked people, but caused resentment and suspicion, as there was "no way it could happen".

I'm sorry you feel that way, but I have done NOTHING to turn norbold against you; this is all your own doing, as you were the one who - again - decided to twist everything I said, and make accusations and get insulting. I will tell you this (although you won't believe me, I'm sure) - I do not dislike you. I dislike the way you carry on a lot of the time, particularly when you are abusive, but I don't hold a grudge. There have been a number of individuals on here for whom I have had no use, but you are not one of them. This is a forum - for discussion. Not everyone is going to agree, and there is nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is the way people react. Last night, you blew everything out of proportion from the point I said that I didn't consider that the two of us were at war. Again, I don't have a problem with you, but clearly you have a problem with me. There is absolutely nothing I have said that warrants the histrionics and abuse you have directed my way over the last few days. I don't want to see you go, and frankly, I don't think there is any need for you to leave the forum, but that is your decision.

I think you just made a strong argument for GP series being harder to win than the old world champs. Easiest: win an individual gp. Finish top half of field, finish in top two in one race. Be best rider in one race Harder: finish in top "x" in 2-4 qualifying meetings. Be best rider in one meeting (typically a line up missing at least a couple of the worlds top ten riders, and containing at least a couple of riders well short of world class standard) Hardest: be the best rider over a series of 6-13 meetings, containing 15 of the worlds best riders (typically including all of the worlds top 10 riders, rarely containing more than 1 rider not of top quality).

Hi guys, something a little different that we hope will be of interest to all speedway fans. Tomorrow, Sunday 10th May, at 6pm a new type of speedway is coming…. Are you ready for suspense, excitement, and speedway? Are you ready to be entertained, to see a real speedway meeting which you do not know the result of? We kick off tomorrow at 6pm – this is a game changer. Join Barry Bishop in the YouTube live chat room from 6pm, as we watch the action unfold. The countdown is on now

There was a statement from Len Silver at the time, saying that Billy Sanders should be awarded the title, because he rode in Britain, whilst Egon didn't. In the words of Dizzy Rascal; Bonkers. Egon turned up for an indoor meeting at Wembley and was booed by maybe a couple of hundred moronic Brits for no reason at all. Brilliantly he took to the mike and speaking in perfect English, politely questioned their irrational negativity, which of course none of them had the balls to reply to, before doing a couple of songs with his band to huge applause from the vast majority. . Rambling on ,at a time before making our own way to foreign meetings and saving a fortune, we were on an organised trip with around 4 coaches, stopping for breakfast in Bavaria in the exceedingly early hours. A group of Peterborough fans came over to the table I was sat at with my mate, to ask how we had been given a huge breakfast buffet , while they only had a couple of slices of ham, cheese, and bread each. I suggested that looking at the menu and speaking politely in German to the waiters may have had something to do with it, rather than them shouting, "Here, Adolf, what about a bit of service ?". Sadly such attitudes still remain. and in the political field in many cases. No doubt these who took the superior attitude then are the same ones who moan now the boot is on the other foot, having done a complete U turn themselves.to become the hard done by. . It wasn’t just speedway though where the British arrogance showed. I honestly believed Jimmy Hill’s analysis that German football was slow and boring with no passion, until I saw my first live Bundesliga game between Bayern and HSV, which was stunning and so superior to what our leagues churned out at the time . We then had the allegations of England losing because of cheating foreign teams. Again, having seen Dennis Bergkamp, amongst others, playing in Holland and his attitude to the game immediately ruined by his coaching over here which saw him spend most of his time on the floor. When cycling was very much a minority sport it was laughable that the likes of Phil Liggert revered riders as being English speaking as if it implied GB were doing well, didn’t he know that they were probably all English speaking ? Obviously, the top English (speaking) rider at the time; Lance Armstrong, was also the biggest drug taker. Makes you proud to be English (speaking) . I don’t think you could top show jumping for the ultimate quasi nationalism from the commentators, one of whom was also an announcer at many big events. When all GB riders had been eliminated the Australians, who had been declared as such earlier, were suddenly also representing the Commonwealth and the Germans/Dutch/Italians etc. Europe, to make it seem we were part of any victory. . The ultimate was a jump off between an American and Argentinian, well before the Malvinas conflict, in which the American was announced as, “Riding for the USA and Northern Hemisphere”. Had the Argentinian won what’s the betting he would have been representing the World to give us a share of the kudos?

I really can't see your problem Sidney. This is what Chunky said: "I had seen Tommy a few times in 1975, and yes he was very good; the last time I saw him was when he won The Laurels with a 15 point max. I hadn't been at all in 1976, but it was Tommy's death that brought me back the following week. I get the point that Doug is making, and I agree that he was much improved in 1976, and as I said, I think he WOULD have got there - quite possibly that same year - but it was too early in 1976 to actually say that he had reached the elite few. It was a terrible tragedy, and we will never know." What do you disagree with there and what do you think he is lying about?

Figure of 8 speedway, over 4 laps maybe , fear might keep the racing close, slight design change on the footrest and exhaust might be needed though.

The stadium was already there, being used for Greyhounds - see pic on defunct site.

No we are just fine as we are, the biggest club in the sport no matter what league. Other fans must have a team to aspire to and want to emulate. That goes for all sport. Mind you I haven’t noticed us acting as “big time Charlie’s” since The club was taken down. Perhaps the professionalism of the club makes us look that way?

That'll be the "ridiculous" Polish contracts that are still paying the riders you've mentioned plenty more money than they'd be on with their normal UK contracts despite a hefty Polish pay cut to reflect TV-money only rather than gate-receipts as well. All this at a time when the Poles are on the verge of racing while there is absolutely no chance of any UK action before August given the latest government hints and the plans already published of other UK sports. Which of these statistics is the more "ridiculous" ? - Polish coronavirus deaths so far, 21 per million-population - UK , 460 per million-population !! "Ridiculous Polish contracts" or ridiculous for riders and their machinery not to go and earn some good money with no alternatives elsewhere for at least the next 3 months that's only risking missing out on a few weeks of ordinary money in the UK that might never take place anyway. ? !! One other thing, looking ahead to 2021 - if you don't make the effort to ride in Poland this year, good luck getting the deal you want there next year when hopefully all of speedway is returning much closer to pre-coronavirus days. It's only your UK-blinkered view that's hopelessly naive and "ridiculous", not the Polish contracts given the current coronavirus circumstances.

You called me a prick. That isn't name calling? Now you called me a complete tool. That isn't name calling? How have I not been an adult? You are lying when you claim that I thought Tommy was a novice. I stated that he WAS world-class, and you can go back and check. All I said was that he was not yet at the World Champion level, a fact substantiated by statistics and results.

Never nice to see riders crash and hope on every occasion they walk away healthy as possible. However some are quite spectacular, some are ball breaking and you also see the odd comical ones where the rider may even feel silly. Post a crash thread.

That's my point. People often concentrate on what happens at the very end, but that really was a defining point.

That's maybe a good thing, but you can bet that whenever Cardiff is staged premier Inn will already know and charge top price !!

Well carry on as we are, I give it how many years 5/7 certainly not 10, look around on the terraces how many under 40,s are their and thats being generous.. a potential sponsor said they didnt like how speedway is presented but it seems the old diehards are perfectly satisfied.. Jeez how long are you going to keep the blinkers on, Speedway is on its knees in the Uk.. but carry on marching the riders out to their bikes, carry on taking 2+ hours to run a meeting that should take 1 hour at most, carry on having tractor racing, carry on having the same riders appearing for 2/3 teams, carry on playing 80,s music between heats, after all its been proven thats what the modern day spectator wants to see not!. Ohhh and i forgot its what major TV companies want to avoid, and Newspapers continue to ignore... but no lets not change anything because it aint broke..

And I didn't want to quote your whole post(Mr Ore) but I agree 100%. Nothing worse than the coverage of the Olympics in my book, where coverage of seemingly every event is so GB biased. I sort of understand it but it gets to the point where coverage of events with no GB interest gets forgotten. Going back to Speedway and the 1983 Final, it's true that British Speedway was in a trough as the country struggled. I seem to recall a lot of comment in the Speedway Star that the 1983 season had been affected by the lack of a World Champion plying their trade and a repeat in 1984 would be another big blow for the domestic product. Then there were comments like these in Peter Oakes post Norden report. Alongside respect for Egon's achievement there was " he will in the days and weeks ahead be labelled the champ who buckled on the title belt because the track was tailor made for his own particular ability" " there were even pit whispers that HE commanded the interval work". Then Billy Sanders...."I know I'm a better speedway rider than him - how's the sport going to benefit?" and finally Bob Radford "a general feeling.....he isn't the World Champion that Speedway needs"

Len said the same thing about Les Collins when Brucie won in 82!

...wasn't without precedence. Halifax did the same when Kenny Carter was injured in 1984.

One less dodgy track now:-)

But it wont just be the top league if they think the idea works......

I would agree as I enjoy reading contribtions from both Chunky and Sid.

Dave ALWAYS like to stir things up! I'm sure you agree, but watching some of the stuff from the 70's, there are so many things you couldn't imagine happening now. Some crazy refereeing decisions, races continuing with bodies sprawled across the track, and as for the starts... Plus, speedway was a very different beast in Eastern Europe. Look at the reactions to the World Final incidents when Samorodov and Klementiev were excluded.

Hey, we've had our issues in the past, Doug! It happens, and you move on.

Think you have blown everything out of proportion. Only a while back I mentioned a thread about Dave Morton, where I posted what I thought was an innocuous post and the same thing happened to me. Again I have nothing against you, nor do I against gustix or anyone. I can lock horns with someone on one topic and on the very next I can agree with them. I think BWitcher can confirm that. If gustix posts a decent post I will agree with him. Most of the time unfortunately, and for whatever reason I have no idea, he tries to disrupt the forum or put the boot into speedway, and I don't agree with that the trouble is, instead of people saying that to him, they think the one or two who can be bothered, are bullying.......

I think post 2000 ish Jason alone was the perfect speedway rider.

Agree and given the limitations on cross border movements which are likely to be around for a very long time, perhaps it is time to look at what speedway has got in terms of riders and then have one or possibly two leagues with teams running Wednesday to Sunday on days that suit the local track and possibly look at ways of introducing the formula 2 bike to cut rider costs and let’s see where it takes the sport. It can forget about international racing for a year or two so why not experiment. I am sure that many fans would like to see some form of regular speedway on popular nights whenever that may be and hopefully find those local heroes of the track once again.

Never seen him ride obviously but the oldies at Newport absolutely loved him so must of been pretty good!!!! a class speedway family , Neil Street was a great bloke too

Please copy and paste the items where I said: 1) He was a novice 2) He hadn't achieved anything of note 3) He wouldn't have reached the top level from 1976/84

IMO a a 'one lap dash/fast and furious' call it whatever you like is no equivalent to a 'big bash' In big bash terms it would be like having one ball overs and no running

Good old Gorilla Monsoon.

You are right, I think that this would be the best we can hope for. But there are distinct possibilities that could mean we cannot run unti lthe summer of 2021 OR when a vaccine is widely available.

Would you guys take your arguments over Poole elsewhere. I set this up for EMTV information to be posted.

Sadly so do I.

Richard Juul came back a couple of seasons later, was very tentative in his first ride but after that was back on the gas, Fair play to him he's got intestinal fortitude as they used to say in the WWF.

Visited his grave at Farnley a couple of years back.

I think this could be just the opportunity the Poles need to push ahead with exclusive contracts as the norm......

Didn't he (Lukas) have a nasty crash at Poole in a GP qualifier? Or am I dreaming that. Of course his brother Ales had a bad one at Oxford which looked touch and go for a while.

Thank God Arthur for some sanity. I challenge anyone offered the chance to work for very good money indeed better than available anywhere, not to take up that opportunity. To hear the bleatings of some on various forums and social media, you would think speedway riders were being kidnapped, taken as speed slaves to some god-forsaken hole and mal and mistreated. The Poles have made it clear that there will be a significant reduction in pay, strict travel conditions and a need to abide by Polish rules. Anyone going is going with their eyes wide open, anyone not has the right to decide. Britain is still letting 15,000 people in per day with no testing, no quarantine and the excuse in the Papers today that "if doesn't matter as the Covid rates are so high anyway" is the most inhumane stupidity ever hear. The sooner UK adopts Polish Border regulations the better. Those LUCKY enough to be invited to join a Polish top tier Team have 2 considerations (a) do I want to leave family and friends and go over there for possibly 4 months (b) do I want to ride speedway and earn some money. Simple as that. Anyone thinking as we now are that there is going to be ANY Speedway in the UK in front of anything more than 50 people (e.g practice) before October is I think living in cloud cuckoo land. Any Speedway anywhere in Europe in 2020 is almost certain to be behind closed doors and that includes SGP. The only chance I see of Speedway in UK this year is possibly a variant of SON at Belle Vue right at the very end of October (basically with any Nation who'll turn up) and possibly a few Challenges / Testimonials and Individuals from the handful of Clubs who can either afford to race in front of very small crowds or who can find ways of encouraging enough to come out and take the risk. If we can start "on time" early April 2021; I think that right now, that would be an absolute result. The stark fact is that we may still be in some form of strict crowd control and social distancing measures well in to the summer of 2021.

Another was a windy, gusty nite in Hull v Coventry in 1999, riders were noticably slower down the backstraight at times but a sudden strong gust as Sam Ermolenko entered turn 3 (imagine not riding around the corner but just taking a sharp left as into a side street) took him across the bend and into the home straight fence taking the unfortunate Su Robson with him. Both riders finished up sitting on the track, arms outstetched in the universal 'what the flip' expression, just batterd and bruised apparently. More biazarre and much worse was David Walsh, again at Hull in 2001. He was following close behind Peterbrough rider Jan Andersen, again in turns 3 & 4, Andersen suffered an engine failure and the unfortunate Walsh literally had nowhere to go, collected Andersen and carried on towards the start line and coming to a sudden stop on the track but his bike's cut-out failed to operate and it turned a sharp left across the rugby pitch, acclerated by itself travelling the full length of the pitch until coming to rest on its side against the fence at turn 2, engine screaming at max revs until a member of track staff manage to stop it. One of those times I was pleased to be in the main stand and not closer as I'm told Walsh's distress could clearly be heard from the terracing. The crash ended his career and I believe Andersen broke his leg though recovered and rode on for a few more years....

Many years ago I ran a speedway sim, sadly I no longer have the spreadsheets for that to reference, all lost, however from what I can recall each stat has a multiply factor, gating was times 5, passing was times 4, team riding was times 1.5 or 2, I think the rest was straight numeric value, I can’t recall the calculation though of how I used to get the number down to a base figure that could then be used as a final result, I used excel and used complicated formulas which took a long time to refine and there was a percentage chance built in to allow for some leeway in results, I also used formulas to determined chance of falls, speedway scene was a big help in this as I used a lot of how that worked to determine percentages. its a complicated as you want to make it, spreadsheets can do calculations in milliseconds, you just have to know what you want it to do to give you the set of outcomes that best simulates what you are after.

This is a big issue which Speedway has failed to overcome, how do we make Speedway more sexy to the general public ?, the rules and regs certainly dont help it, especially when a rider appears for 1 Team on Monday, another on Thursday and maybe guests for a 3rd Team on Friday, this is just one aspect the sports hierarchy have failed to grasp over many years.

Woah great find Ian. I haven't even got to the crash yet as i've spotted myself as a kid by the start gate right at the beginning of the clip and got myself a bit emotional.. will watch the rest now!

No matter what ways anyone loks at the situation the club are in the wrong, you can say whatever you like about clubs going out of business, this guy has paid around £500 and cant even get a reply, Peterboro speedway are treating their customer with contempt, I personally would request my money be returned, and then i would take my custom elsewhere..

Nothing wrong with the Isle of Wight coverage. You know who I mean. Not your best attempt at wit. Well, half-way there. Poole's arrogance shines through in those videos that they are showing. Might it be an idea to show some decent matches rather than bathing in your trophy-hunting glory? We all know you've won so many titles, and how. Thanks to your pathetic mischief-making I've had to explain to Andy that my comments were not attacking him. Comparing the delightful IoW videos with the strident arrogance in the commentary on the Poole videos is like comparing chalk and cheese. By the way the conversation was friendly and we agreed on many points. Not the outcome you were hoping for but you can go and wallow in your endless videos of Poole's shabby glory. Edinburgh have won a fair bit over the years but despite this are obviously choosing meetings on their quality, not whether trophies were won. Perhaps you don't have any similarly interesting meetings down there? This thread has been rightly celebrating a great service from EMTV and sharing the enjoyment. You might try the same. I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping Poole head back to the Premiership soon without poisoning an enjoyable and generally friendly level of speedway.

Meetings were held at Rochester with a few trial meetings at the end of 1931. Two more were held in 1932, on 1 and 9 August. Lea Bridge's Alf Foulds won the Chatham Scratch Race. Pete Lansdale and Wally Mawdsley looked to revive speedway at Rochester in 1969 and built a 340 yard track. A demonstration race was held for the local Council on 14 March which was won by Martyn Piddock from Reg Luckhurst, Judd Drew and Ron Stewart. On 25 March, Rochester Council gave permission for a one-year trial period. Rochester then raced their first fixture, away at Ipswich on 17 April, followed by a second at Long Eaton. Following this meeting, Kent County Council overturned Rochester's approval and Lansdale and Mawdsley submitted an appeal, but thought it prudent to look for another home for the Bombers. As their office was in Romford, they spoke to the owners of Brooklands Stadium and reached agreement with them to stage speedway there. Before finally moving to Romford, they raced two more fixtures as Rochester (so four altogether), but then on 29 May, Romford opened and that was the end of Rochester.

I Have paid £480 and not even got a ticket worthless though it may be, but the boss of my club studiously refuses to even reply.

She wants it to be over 1 just to be different ,to pretend she is doing it her way

I'm thoroughly enjoying the racing. Always good to see a small track where you can pass on the outside. I've been a couple of times but you get a better idea from these excellent videos. Thank you for helping us through this awful period, Monarchs. As for Mike, I wish I'd had the courage to be quite so direct! A true antidote to the sycophantic videos being posted by a certain outfit near Bournemouth ;-)

By far the best in choice of meetings and quality of commentary. I’ve watched a couple of Eastbourne meetings and they use two commentators which seemed a good idea but one says indeed constantly and the other says absolutely in reply. Drove me crazy and I switched off after heat 7.

EMTV is another doing a good job during this lockdown.