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Great to see a forward thinking club who are providing a great product i.e track,stadium and team can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned hope you guys win the playoffs.

Rob Grant has had a torrid time since taking over, and it shouldn't be forgotten the situation he found himself in soon after taking over, none of which was his fault. But the sad truth is if you prop up one failing business with another you invariably end up with two failing business, and I don`t think anyone would expect to put his own business at risk to keep Newcastle Speedway going. As for the future it does look very bleak right now, hopefully the BSPL will come up with the changes and league structure necessary that will make running speedway at Brough Park an attractive proposition.

Sad news that the Diamonds may be lost. As a Middlesbrough/Redcar fan we have had many many great meetings over the years. But I'm afraid no matter what the B.S.P.A. have or haven't done to help/hinder, the bottom line is there weren't enough fans turning up week in week out.

Surely the BSPL can't just stand by any longer and just watch the sport evaporate before their eyes. They HAVE to make Speedway clubs viable to run, the ONLY way to do this is to put a cost cap in place. Whether this means pay rates or sealed engines or whatever it is, please do SOMETHING!

We would love that at Eastbourne, one last chance to say goodbye, meet old friends etc. So would Oxford, Cradley, Swindon and everybody else...

Devastating news. I’ve been one of the hard core since 1975 and struggle to imagine summers without the Diamonds. Unfortunately the Diamonds are not alone in being an unsustainable business and something really needs to be done to unify speedway from the top. I won’t hold my breath.

Honestly Ian can't disagree but the BSPL are the problem... I am brewing for a blow out with a few home truths I'm just checking with my brief and other colleagues as to what I can and can't say because it's disgusting what's went on really... but more on this possibly later... It gives me another meeting to work on Rob and see what we can do because he is the only hope for the spot... unless I win the Euro lottery that is... Regards THJ

Gutted.. Not Robs fault at all and mainly down to previous promotion, thanks George etc, and the amount of times I was told they were wonderful etc. I am not sure of the point of the end of season meeting, so we have a big meeting with old riders and everyone enjoys it with a big crowd… what’s the point???

Shame, he was cursed from the start, if anything was to go wrong for him it did, the previous promotions troubles probably didn’t help.

Thanks Martin for the information - Deflating way to lose out on the title - Thankfully cars and vans much more reliable these days - Back then a lot of the guys would put the bike in a frame on the back of the car - Remember seeng Bobby Beaton and Graham back in the day, not sure about Frank - I had the great pleasure of meeting Ivan when I was down at Lydd in 2000 - I would go there with one of my sons on sundays for his practise and racing and like most fathers did we helped out on the track by track grading, carrying red flags, painting the boards etc - On one occasion I was track raking at speed and someone shouted ‘Ivan’s here’ and everything stopped and I thought what is going on - we all walked back to the pits and there he was - the great man - apparently he knew the club patron and had asked to come along and see us all - Ivan started talking to us but I think pretty much everyone was starstruck so I thought it best to interact with him and it seemed to put him at ease and afterwards ( and I will never forget this) he came walking across to me with his arm outstretched to shake my hand - it just seemed unreal - and we spoke one to one and I apologised for booing him years before which made my friends laugh but he laughed and then kindly said he took all the boos as a mark of respect - He was the consummate professional with immaculate leathers and bikes - a great man - Lovely to be able to share the story -

Terrible move from Worrall

Wolves at Monmore Green are actually.

They can only take a long hard look at themselves if they take their heads out of the sand.

Best wishes to our diamonds friends from up the road, hope some good news comes about and we see you at the tapes in 2022

I only saw Craven ride once, and that was on the terrible night in Edinburgh. I went to his memorial service in 2003, at Liverpool Cathedral out of respect for the man. In his eulogy Ove Fundin openly admitted he would not have won as many titles as he did had Peter lived. Bartosz Smarslik pushes the boundaries. Perhaps he can with air fences and modern helmets and padding, but these boys had none of that. I hope he stays serious accident free because he is exciting. RIP Peter Craven.

I have a video of the incident in heat 1 as it was right in front of me. Thompson locked up slightly and left Kelleher with no where to go but into him

I loved my times at Plough Lane, but old videos seem to tell a different story to the one I remember... I don't know about you, but I think I know part of the appeal. Shiny black leathers and gleaming chrome were spectacular under lights. The kevlars and bike covers don't do it for me. I was a kid, watching these he-men wrestle their bikes through deep heavy tracks was fantastic. These he-men called Arthur, Norman, Bert, and Fred... Now, I'm the old fart, watching these snotty-nosed, tattooed little kids called Tai, Dakota, Jordan, and Jaimon... Where did we go wrong?

Even the "pundit" said it was a bad move

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19547060.speedway-return-oxford-stadium-next-year/

Mark Lemon,not the best tactically.I haven't been following the best gates but you need to be on the best at Wolves.

Decent crowd for a telly match

Sad news for the fans but nothing new there. Newcastle have been an utter farce under Rob Grant both on and off track.

Well, you can't please everyone all of the time. I've been to around 75% of Cardiff GPs. I've seen incredible racing there, poor racing there and mostly, some pretty passable decent stuff. But every single time I have found the atmosphere in and around the stadium to be fantastic. Of course, everyone's different, but the consistent 40k crowd suggest I am far from being alone in my experience.

I agree with some of this. But I think it's telling to look at where the BLRC (or today's incarnation) is. It's a perfect example of what happens when a sport doesn't evolve and move forward. Today's Riders Championship is light years behind the occasion the BLRC was. The World Final was heading the same way at Norden, Vojens, Pocking and so forth. Without the evolution of the GPs, there is no doubt the World Championship would have been a pretty tepid occasion, untelevised in some British, Swedish or Polish backwater. Anyone who thinks the continuation of World Finals would have meant massive Wembley occasions is kidding themselves. I got to a few World Finals....Norden, Bradford, Amsterdam, Bradford and Wroclaw...I can honestly say that all of them have been bettered by GP occasions I have attended in Cardiff, Torun, Bydgoszcz. Agree. Some of the modern day racing in the GPs is staggering. You could spend hours scouring footage from the 70s, 80s on YouTube and you wouldn't find anything to beat some from the stuff served up by Zmarzlik, Woffinden, Janowski, Laguta, Sayfutdinov, Doyle and Lindgren. I admit to not be as invested in today's racing as I was in the 80s/90s...perhaps that's more to do with my age and other life commitments taking precedent? But I couldn't squarely look a modern day fan in the eye and tell them all the racing was better in the 80s/90s, it simply wasn't.

They haven't noticed the demise of a good many over the past two decades it would appear.. And if they have, it hasn't prompted them to look at making the radical, fundamental changes the sport needs.. The best they could come up with this year is packing a load of Div 1 heat leaders into the 2nd Div.... Whilst allowing a huge imbalance of that resource from team to team... A marvellous plan... A master stroke.... Best wishes to Rob Grant and Newcastle Speedway, dealt an appalling hand by others, it would appear, so no failure attached to their collective efforts I would suggest..

Another sad day for British speedway

Negative people on here moan about the track but the fact is that there wasnt one bad event a cardiff. As a live spectacle it was brilliant. I went every year except 2017 was always a great atmosphere and Id be suprised if there was a single person at the stadium who went home dissapointed. Loads of people who arent Speedway regulars go to Cardiff. Madness if they dont have a Staduim in the UK. Yes Belle Vue is a great track and I wish it was also in the GPs. But the Stadium events are something else.

It is a strange conundrum with both Worrall's.. It seems that every season for a long time "something happens" to them and at the end of the year it is generally decreed that "we have to bring them in as they are on a bargain average, and they are much better than that"... And then by the end of the next season it was proved crystal clear, once again, that they weren't...

Peter was indeed a very clean rider, I cannot remember him doing a dirty on anyone. Despite his short height he wasn’t an easy pushover though. Fundin, on the other hand, was considered to not ride cleanly all the time. Having said that, I never saw Fundin do anything dirty to PC. I think he had great respect towards Peter. PC was a man for the fans, always willing to sign autographs and have chat when he could. I remember the shock and sadness in our household when we heard Peter had passed away.

Just reading a post on another thread, I have found out that the home match against Kings Lynn, has either been postponed or cancelled. Per the fixture list, Tigers are now away on that date. I am really at a loss to understand why a match is taken off the fixture list like this, without a new date being arranged, and why better attention is not drawn to these actions, so fans who wish to go, can make arrangements. Definitely feels like they are working against, rather than with the fans, and totally fail to understand why.

Peter did indeed have a great talent. We know his nickname was “the wizard of balance”. I think he was 5’ 2”, so small. We see many photos of him with his head as low as the left handlebar. Not always his riding style, more when he was riding the inside line. Remember that in the 50’s/60’s handlebars were wide and often upswept. This made it the more incredible his style of riding. Getting his head down low would put centre of gravity low, which no doubt helped his balance. Whilst a great talent, and one of the famous five ( Knutson came good 1959/60), his performance in the world finals was perhaps not as consistent as the others. For example 1959 9th, 1961 10th, and 1963 10th (his last world final). Fundin, Briggs, Moore and Craven were pretty much same age…. All born 1933 or 1934, so they were all rose to their peak at the same time, and about to start their decline (the Mauger years staring in 1968). Whether Peter would have won any more world titles we will never know, but I would say it was not a cert. I never heard Fundins eulogy at Peters funeral, but I don’t understand where it is said Ove said he would not have won as many world titles as he did if Peter had lived. Ove won in 1963, Peters last final (Wembley). when he finished 10th, and Ove only won one more world title, 1967, meaning Fundin had already won four. This is taking nothing way from Peters record, it’s just a fact.

Absolutely correct, ktl, but then if you can't make a judgemental comparison, why say, "Zmarzlik is incredible to watch, a hundred times more spectacular than Mauger, Briggs, Olsen and many others put together and he pulls off moves you would never have see any of those afore mentioned riders make"? I saw Craven ride many times so I feel well qualified to make that comparison.

Yeh but we know cook gets away with everything, same as a few others in recent years who feigned injuries so as not to get a ban for other issues

I note in the Q&A Mr Jordan says the stadium rental is £1000 + VAT per meeting!! Some other tracks would consider that a snip!!

'Lawson makes Wolves stronger'.

The starting gate looking like a potato field is the norm. It is ripped up on purpose. what needs to happen with the stadium is the lease is revoked from the current landlords. They are not fulfilling their obligations of providing a sports facility for the people of Poole. No dogs, no football, no five a side pitches, no nothing. They make their money charging nurses to park there for the hospital. Take the lease from them and give it to Matt Ford and a consortium to bring sport to the stadium. Matt has said previously he knows he can get a group of businessmen together to do this. Gaming International or whatever their current name is, are a failed business. Wherever they have been, trouble follows. Where is the new Swindon stadium? Where is the new Torquay Utd stadium? Thank the Lord they don’t own Poole Stadium.Matt said the council is 100% on his side.

Well there you go…..as it seems to be allowed, who have Glasgow gone for? Laguta, Zmarzlik, or, with the connection to Hancock, maybe Janowski? Or is it just Dudek after all?

It would be interesting to see how that rule would be viewed by the Directors should a CL Club try to sign, say, Artem Laguta.

I think one of the major factors in track conditions is the demands on the track man from riders. If the promotion were strong enough to tell the riders to leave the man alone to do his job then maybe we might get a smooth consistent surface. It's all well & good for the top riders King & Schlein to make their demands but the lesser riders like Hume & Nielsen have to ride the same track. As we pay through the gate we expect the heat leaders to return double digits on any track but its the second strings & reserves that win the meeting with a hard earned 7/8 point haul

Quite, Sidney. Not to mention Peter Craven - you could hardly accuse him of not being spectacular. And then there were the likes of Sverre Harrfeldt and Christer Lofqvist. Each generation has had its share of thrill makers, going right back to 'Cyclone' Billy Lamont, whose on-track antics earned him the nickname, "The Man With a Month to Live!"

More spectacular than Briggo really ? and by the way they have 13 world titles between them hardly a bunch of also rans.

I've also visited Newcastle & Workington, 2 venues with a lot of speedway history, I enjoyed both tracks and was so glad I made the effort. Sadly I never made it to Wimbledon, another venue of much history of course. On enquiring of a possible Hull Speedway Supporters Club coach trip in either 1980 or 1981 I was informed "we are not sure whether we are taking a coach to the Wimbledon v Hull match, but then again we are not sure whether the Hull team will even be there" (!). A caustic, yet accurate remark referring to the (in)famous match Dons v Vikings match in 1979 when 3 Hull riders didn't make it to Plough Lane and the remaining Vikings (Ivan Mauger, Kelly Moran, Dennis Sigalos, Joe Owen + guest Graeme Stapelton) battled on, losing 41-36. Many still beleive this meeting cost Hull Vikings the League Title in 1979, the final match of that season was lost before an estimated 20,000 crowd (!) at Coventry, another venue of great history....

Doyle was the best rider in the series for two years, injury robbed him of the title in 2016. Fully deserved his World Title in 2017.

Think Matt said there was an issue with the landlords and that the rent for each year was always paid in advance. He didn’t go into detail but reading between the lines the landlords could be demanding a much higher rent for next season. I might be off the mark. The landlords no longer use the stadium at all and only use the car park to charge nurses to park there for work. The only people to now use the stadium is the speedway. Matt said the council back the club. It’s about time the council withdrew the lease from Gaming International.

Saw a quote yesterday that Glasgow throwing money at trying to win the League again with our new signing. Whilst other teams also make signings but are not throwing money at it. Must be just us that throw money about you couldn’t make it up. Not surprising though.

Hope you are right Waco but previous week the blue groove on turn one after just 4 heats returned and was not properly sorted - Not seen that in previous meetings this year but saw plenty of it in National League days - Will probably give the Birmingham fixture a miss and see what the forum has to say about the track - Hope to then be back for the rest of all fixtures - Hope all goes well and good racing -

And the inner rim of his front wheel...

Skys helmet cam was on the helmet so during the race it was at least pointed were the rider was looking

Needs to double up to make things pay?

...I was there also but some of the "Vikings" unprofessionalism cost them dearly at crucial venues (Swindon also comes to mind). Ian Thomas may have been a good administrator but, in my view, 1979 blotted his copybook although one could say that it was out of his, or Ivan's, control. John Berry must have had a quiet smirk as regards the failure of Hull to collect the title considering that he was often at loggerheads with the aforementioned Thomas!