Hot Shoe

It wasn't a case throwing it away but more a case of the home teams riders not being able to gate.

Best post i've read in ages on here.

What are the wages here and abroad?

That was one of the most baffling decisions i've seen in 50 years of watching speedway. I'll second that. Yes got to agree the Glasgow fans certainly created a great atmosphere.

I remember some decades ago when someone brought a new speedway engine over to the UK from Czechoslovakia. There were lots of sceptics then as to whether they would ever sell one let alone thousands. I think they sold a few in the end. People don't like change and in speedway it's no different.

It would be good but at least we have 2 amateur meetings every month at Scunny to see us through the winter.

Yes very happy thanks. I'm also a realist.

Just the same as 2016 then although on saying that as a regular at both Scunthorpe and Leicester in 2016 it was hard sometimes at Leicester to convince myself that this was supposed to be the higher level.

Spot on. Sadly the M4 will not be jammed with traffic heading out of London to watch speedway at Swindon. Totally agree. Not owning their stadiums was speedway's biggest mistake and if they had owned them it could have secured speedway future. As it is there is no future for speedway in the UK.

Thanks

Could anyone give me an update on the new stadium?

I respect every speedway rider. Whether i like them or not is a totally different matter but i have total respect for what they do.

I presume by 'football' you mean the Premier League and Football League as there are hundreds more football clubs that struggle to survive week to week. The fact that football 'sucks up so much' shows how successful the game has become. I'm sure speedway would like to suck up the same amount football does if they could but speedways demise has nothing to do with the success of football. If speedway ever became a money generating business do you think that the bulk of the money would flow anywhere but upwards because i don't. Rather than being a less favoured sport i'd say it was more like unpopular. It's a shame but that's the way it is. ...and like nearly every stadium is/was held in the speedway promotion don't own the stadium which has been a major reason why speedway has never had a solid footing in the world of sport in the UK.

I don't loathe any sport. If i don't like a sport i don't watch it but the problem is that football at Premier League and Football League means money nowadays and that attracts people like investors and developers. I'm not sure why a football club with attendances of 3,500 to 4,000 needs such a big stadium but the developers obviously like the flats and retail outlets that go along with it. The football bubble will inevitably burst one day and it will probably all end up as a flats one day.

Will this be the last season at the old stadium and if so what is the plan for next season as far as the Robins are concerned?

Thanks everyone. It was a tongue in cheek comment i have to admit. I realise that it's easy being wise after the event but i was amazed at the time how so many people seemed to accept that the building of the new stadium was just a formality after the track record (excuse the pun) that speedway has with stadiums. I was going to ask if they were going to have another 'farewell meeting' but maybe i won't.

Can anyone tell me when the first meeting will be at the new stadium?

An abandoned Staines Stadium (which briefly held speedway in the late 1950s) is featured in the 1964 film Seance On A Wet Afternoon although there is no speedway action in the film. The stadium was i think demolished the following year (1965) having held the last stock car race 5 years earlier.

That was probably There Is Another Sun (aka Wall Of Death) a 1951 film starring Maxwell Reed, Laurence Harvey and Leslie Dwyer (later Mr Partridge in Hi-De-Hi). There are some good speedway action shots and also some good ones of the stadium. The Renown DVD is available and it was on Talking Pictures channel only last week.

Yes they are left hand sidecars. 'Left-handers' are still raced today and Kent has aways been the most popular area for them. There are 3 sidecar classes. The most popular being the Right Hand Class that races clockwise with the sidecar on the left (nearest the outside of the track). The Left Hand Class race anti-clockwise and also have the sidecar on the left (nearest the inside of the track). Both use multi-cylinder 1,000cc engines. The 3rd class is the 500cc class that race anti-clockwise (like solos) use 500cc single cylinder (similar to speedway) engines with the sidecar on the right (nearest the outside of the track).

Excellent. Thanks for that. Much appreciated.

Anyone know what the Fritte Cup Internationale is on Sunday, 12th July at Mildenhall and what the line-up is?

Excellent. Thanks Midland Red, i knew i hadn't dreamed it.

As cityrebel said they were by far the best 2nd Half races anywhere at the time.

I was there in 1970/71 and the Flying Lap definitely happened. Only one rider per meeting had a go at it (possibly the meetings top scorer?) and i'm sure that home riders Ove Fundin and Bert Harkins had a go and remember visiting riders like Ole Olsen having a crack at it.