salty

According to this weeks Star, the meeting ref - Ronnie Allen - and other officials have sent reports about the Cook incident to the SCB.

Hopefully in the not to distant future you'll have to amend your Cradley entry to "Cradley Heath (Dudley Wood)! Love the site though.

Will have to be on after the 9 o'clock watershed.

Just saw that. Very strange choice.

Not much overtaking but against expectations I really enjoyed tonights meeting. Both full 7 men teams and the close scoreline made it good watching.

Less cameras is obviously a negative, hopefully improved next season. However, the other areas of presentation are so much better. Very few pointless interviews between races means the action rattles along and most of the chat and analysis takes place after Heat 15. Big improvement for those at the meeting and watching at home. Natalie and Steve Brandon do a very professional job as presenters/interviewers.

Why? Were the burgers free.

Interesting. I had it in the back of my mind (a very cluttered place) that it was a football pitch. But Peter Foster's history of the club had a different story as mentioned by myself earlier in this thread. i.e. purpose built behind the Victoria Brewery. My Dad arrives this evening for a wee visit - he should know.

So Batchelor wouldn't have had any qualms about moving to Poole (or anywhere else) just before the deadline and seeing another rider dumped without a team place.

How could you have heavily fined Batchelor? He was signed by the doctor at the track.

Don't really see what all the fuss is about. Teams make changes all the time. Up to the deadline last week there were pages of suggestions for team changes on the Poole thread and I didn't see many people concerned with the fate of the riders they were looking to get rid off. On a similar note if this had happened a few days earlier and Holder and Batchelor had been snapped up by someone such as Leicester the two of them wouldn't be losing too much sleep over the riders they replaced.

Is THJ a Poole asset? If so, then presumably Matt Ford would have to have been contacted for permission to approach him? How could he have fined Batchelor? He was signed off during the meeting by the doctor. Rubbing Chapman's nose in it by guesting the following night he can't be fined for either, so Buster did something he could do - he got rid.

Dudley Wood Stadium was indeed purpose built for Speedway - on the site of an old fairground. Opened in June 1947 with an estimated crowd of 12,000.

If I remember rightly Harrfeldt struggled from the off (having missed the previous season through injury) and them got another bad bang. I think that's when they introduced Christer Lofqvist. I also seem to remember Sverre becoming team manager post Lokeren. Garry Hay did ride and escaped from Belgium with minor injuries, then had a terrible crash in the close season which left him paralysed.

Lokeren in mid-July must have knocked the stuffing out of them - and they were only a couple of wins away from mid-table.

I reckon that a strong Germany can only be good for the sport. Kai looks like he can make the jump up to Gp's if he continues to improve. As you mention he is always good to watch in the Euros/pairs, illustrating again the folly of Brits not being allowed to compete.

She speaks nearly the same language as Sam.

Super meeting. Lovely wide track, well prepared with 4 teams fairly evenly matched. Lost count of the quality races. Well done to the Latvians. Hope they do themselves justice in Poland.

Ila was rumoured to be a Cradley target for a few seasons before Dan McCormick finally nabbed him. Ironically when he did finally ride for Cradley he never reached the heights he had for the Lions. One of my favourite riders of the seventies, last I read he was involved with the FIM, so a shock to hear this news. RIP Ila

I find it amazing that Matt Ford, who is so meticulous about his approach to building the best team each season and maintaining his income streams from sponsorship etc, hasn't done major surgery on that track. A poster above reckons its down to home track advantage, but when front wheels are routinely bouncing in the air entering bends then safety becomes a major issue. Couple of decent heats tonight near the end, but overall the racing was dismal.

Well don't vote Tory then!

Zero % chance I'm afraid. 602 flats are incorporated in the site's rebuilding. Speedway never really stood a chance - the other possible developer (which would have kept a dog track) was still going to involve a lesser amount of housing and had no plans to involve motor sport. The money boys won.

You knew spring had moved into summer when Eddie turned up! - Sure Cyril said something to that effect once or twice.

Cradley - Early 70's Top Hat Sam - can't remember his real name - a very vocal supporter who became a sponsor. The open air "toilets" on the second bend. "Scotsmans Bonk" on the 4th bend where dozens used to watch for free. Wimbledon - Early 80's - the old guy who used to open the pit gate - never watched the 4th lap of a race - he used to wear a black beret. Ken Tozer announcing the wrong riders on parade. Getting a free pint off Doris in the bar.

I get Jan Andersson was not renowned for his overtaking skills, but I liked him because of his quiet persona. Going back to the OP - riders who didn't capture the imagination? Spent a lot of time at Plough Lane in the 80's - never took to John Davis or David Jessup.