Midland Red

One advantage of those days from the past - there was little or no televised speedway, live or recorded So, if you wanted to watch the sport, if you wanted to see the "big name" riders, the ONLY way was to pay your shillings and pence at the turnstiles With a big league in operation, there was probably only one chance a season (two with a cup meeting) to see the stars when they appeared at your track

Yes, Zach is immense on grass. So too is James Shanes Pity they can't transfer this to shale

Sir Shoutalot at his very loudest last night His screaming every time there's an exciting race is getting more and more childlike by each meeting Is there not a decent professional commentator available for UK TV coverage?

I think in essence the term "one league" refers to the "top flight", with room for a development league as well Similar to when the NL and PL amalgamated into the British League in the 60s, there was still room for a Div 2 development league

In the best interests . . . .

Problem is - very few, if any, of the "modern initiatives" seem to have succeeded (most have failed), therefore those that recall better times often feel that a return to what worked then would be worth a try

Spell check - rubbish Shoveller Don't you just love the cart dealer's username?

The cart dealer's gone very quiet

Nail right on head! Mondays and Thursdays are not 'night out' days, so why run Speedway on those nights? Run meetings on Saturday which IS a 'night out' day - or on Friday!

If the standard of rider was more equal, irrespective of the level, it would make for closer and more entertaining races

Of course, there's no TV, pizza houses, cinemas, etc on Mondays or Thursdays - "those who know best" obviously recognise this

No, of course I hadn't forgotten Just feel the best of British Speedway should be raced on spectator-friendly nights, ie Friday and Saturday Monday nights continue to appear so very spectator-unfriendly Good to see the programme for Bank Holiday Monday, but that's standard fare Obviously those that know best consider it better for clubs to be forced to move away from their normal nights No wonder attendances continue to fall

Saturday night, Bank Holiday weekend, and what have we got? Two second division matches, and a third tier 3TT Just when is British Speedway going to sort itself out?

Noooo! Not the best team of all-time, but one to pay money to watch every week 1 Nigel Boocock - who else but Little Boy Blue - no sponsored vehicle or motor home, just load the bike on the back of a Ford Consul and off to the meeting! 2 Col Cottrell - smooth operator who for a short time was quite unbeatable around Brandon and was part of a wonderful opening pair with Booey - sadly died aged 40 in 1982 3 Tom Farndon - never saw him (obviously!) but the one rider of all time I wish I had seen 4 Ron Mountford - they say that they had to repaint the kick-boards after each meeting where The Man had left tyre marks in his all-action style 5 Tommy Knudsen - the young Dane who made racing look so stylish and so easy (which it never is!), sadly left the sport way too soon 6 Les Owen - the late great Muscles, Coventry kid so seriously injured in 1973 in a track-crash from which he never fully recovered, tragically killed on the railway at Canley crossing - RIP Les 7 Gary Guglielmi - this has to be the young GG who first came to Brandon in 1977, not the later version - watching him try and complete even one lap around Brandon was worth the admission money alone

Kevin Hawkins' boy

It's changed since I was last there - there were thousands of spectators there then Test match v Young Czechoslovakia 1970!

Not the track's fault - bikes now too powerful

Time to ditch tv before it kills off league speedway Time to ditch Monday as a league night Time to use Fridays and Saturdays for better attendances

It's not down entirely to the calibre of the riders, but the fact that they're all quite equal in terms of standard and ability Sadly, in UK leagues, there's such a big disparity in standard and ability across the riders who fill the teams that the majority of races produce unexciting processions with a large distances between first and fourth Because of the regular exposure to OOFC, customers now expect similar standards of competitiveness in each and every UK race meeting, something it is nigh on impossible to replicate

Still merits a place in my all time favourite Bees 1-7

. . . or even amended

Who's Tom Fardon?

It was a horrific accident which involved John Harrhy as both Bees riders came to grief I met Les several times in later years, he used to shuffle up to the trade counter at the place I worked and would always shake your hand - but his hand was always as cold as ice To think back to the big strong man he had been previously and see what he had become was so sad I also met John Harrhy a couple of years ago - he "survived" the crash and did return to the track, but he still suffers physically to this day

Perhaps it needs some more engine oil on it?

There is a better answer