salty

Is the right answer.

Hackney should have had, firstly, Zenon Plech and then his replacement Jerzy Rembas (I think). Neither showed, hence the RR facility. They also lost top man Dave Morton to injury early on in the season, so ran with guests most of the year. As for Hull, only thing I can think off is Briggo had finished at the end of '76 and they hadn't replaced him! But they ran practically all year with McMillan, Beaton, Drury, Owen, Caruso and Auffret.

Enjoyed the anecdote about the end of his time at Oxford and the actions of Colin Horton and Aaron Lanney. Was a Plough Lane regular during Todd's time there and it was no surprise he got on a World Final rostrum. Guess we'll never know how good he would have been because the injury stopped him riding for so many years. In reply to a poster on the previous page whilst Dave Lanning called Toddy the "fastest alive over the first 25", it was very much "Rip Snortin'" Ray Morton!

Has anyone told Starry he's been deposed?

Not just Russia, but the Gaffer used to ride for Vladivostock on the Eastern seaboard

I wonder what Tai had for lunch? Hopefully it would be good old British fare.

Apart from Lambert we got 3 second places - hardly sensational. But good experience.

I'm guessing not wanting to clash with the football Edit: beat by a minute Nick.

Dave Shields came back to Cradley in 1981 and was a big part of us winning the league (definitely still had a "spark"). The longer the season went on the more effective he got and whist John McNeill and Bent Rasmussen struggled, Dave was the vital back up from reserve to the top 4. Would have been interesting to see how far he would have got but he never came back to the UK after '81.

Paul Whitaker springs to mind. Used to see him blast around before he reached his 16th birthday and thought he was going to be a massive star, but never really fulfilled that promise even before he got some rotten luck with injuries.

Brian, isn't this the same position as Oxford and Wimbledon? RCP owned those stadia (through their purchase of GRA) on the back of loans that ended up in the control of NAMA (the Irish bad debts). GRA have been owned by RCP for over 10 years and there is no question the acquisition wasn't to run dog tracks, but to build houses with the help of their "friends" at Galliard Homes.

1969 was my first full season watching the sport. Saw Poole get beat at Cradley early in the season, but was then lucky enough to be at Wimborne Road later in the season (we were on holiday in Bournemouth) when the Pirates beat Glasgow. By then they were close to clinching the title. Mudge, Smith, Fossengen, Cribb, Guasco, Laessing and Shuter can still remember the great atmosphere that night.

Irrelevant. Someone - "Sommelier" - asked if he would see you at the Watermills on the 21st. I think it is reasonable, given your obvious links to Wimbledon and Facebook, that you would have known what he was talking about. But you didn't and also said you would not be attending. Yet within a day you have been "asked" to help publicise the event. As I said - strange.

Yet yesterday morning on another thread you seemed to have no idea about the Reunion - asking why somebody had mentioned "Watermills". Strange - almost as strange as your comments about AFC Wimbledon "cashing in" on the Wimbledon name on the Facebook site.

Pretty sure Ipswich used to put their attendances on their website a few years ago, though if memory serves, they were always suspiciously rounded numbers - so they might have been less than official.

Come on Gustix!! It's at Merton Abbey Mills and is the venue for the Dons Reunion & Memorial get together in a few weeks time. Check it out on Facebook....https://www.facebook.com/events/1569608146701756/

Don't know if anyone else noticed but in the interview on BT before last night's GP, presumably in Tai's house, there was a boomerang prominently displayed on the wall. Absolute disgrace. I think he should be made to undertake an Aussie type version of the "infamous" Tebbit cricket test.

Getting back to the original point of the thread. Good luck with the venture. If it leads to the resurrection of the Dragons - fantastic. As RMC points out it was the starting point of bringing back Rye House.

Stay of execution for Plough Lane with a new 2 year contract signed (with 6 months notice required). Cynics will say they are keen to avoid a repeat of the Oxford situation, but dogs continuing has to be good news.

Yes. Who was the mysterious "Man in the room"???

If you can't beat 'em join 'em.

My understanding of the rule (having read it) is that only the rider with the highest MA can move up - certainly doesn't say anything about only Tier 1 riders.

I've got a lot of time for Newman. I seem to recall he was always one to travel to the continent in the under 21 competitions, whilst others stayed in GB. Massive part in landing the last two titles for Poole, they would have been mad to put him in the 1-5 whilst they could keep him as a FTR. If only someone at Brandon could have done the same with Garrity, the Bees starting septet would have been so much stronger.

Point taken, but it was Michael Vaughan (Lancastrian originally) who lifted the Ashes in 2005.

I don't recall Jan Andersson skipping the Swedish Championships - certainly not whilst when he was riding at his peak.