Garry1603

Sad news to read that Ila Teromaa passed away yesterday. He was always a whole hearted, but fair rider when he came to Belle Vue with Leicester and Cradley. Injuries maybe stopped him reaching the highest level but a great entertainer. Riders like Ila are the mainstay of the sport in any generation of riders. Condolences to his family and friends. http://leicesterlions.co/news.php?extend.31018

Bryan Seery was one of the most influencial figures in speedway to the real fans - giving us what we wanted. Before the days of computers it has to be said. RIP Bryan and thank you.

Maybe there should be a restriction in the number of guests a team can use in a season? If they were allowed {say} six for the season there would be at least a few opportunities to give youth a chance whilst fielding a strong team for the 'big' matches.

Along with Nicky and Greg, I can also see Chris Holder struggling to get top eight - three world champions!

Best wishes for a full recovery Danny. Too many bad injuries in the last couple of years

Sadly, this is true.

Really looking forward to this. My twopenneth's worth:- Doyle Tai Emil Barty

Happy retirement Davey and thanks for the entertainment. Don't be tempted to come back and risk injury - move on with your life (hopefully within the sport)

Great servant to the sport and appears to be a good guy. In the event of the tragedy in Poland at the weeked, let's celebrate a good career and be thankful that he has come out of it healthy and with the respect of most fans. Hope you stay in the sport Davey in some way and thank you for the entertainment!

Tomasz is one of the greatest motorcyclists ever - fingers crossed that the news is not as bad as it appears.

My personal happiness that Belle Vue seem to have been saved and have a secure future has been flattened by the news about Coventry. One of the great clubs in speedway history has potentially been lost due to the greed and ego of people who shouldn't be allowed near a track again, let alone run a club. I feel so sorry for the fans and riders who deserve better. A sad, sad day for the sport.

I have to say that it rekindled my interest in the sport about 15 years ago after being a regular at Belle Vue in the 70s and 80s. I eventually started to go again maybe half a dozen times a season and have been to Cardiff three times. So for a former fan I think it's a great reminder of just how good the sport can be (and the Sky coverage was generally excellent), but I'm not sure that it would attract new fans necessarily. The rules are too complex for a non fan to comprehend and the amount (and concept) of guest riders must make the sport look very amateurish I'm afraid.

No point on speculating until we get an official press release. It might be days or weeks from now, but let's just wait and see. All we can do is hope that there is good news (whenever it happens)

Great news for the Aces and their fans. Let's hope that Coventry will be saved as well.

Young Briggo was a very talented young rider who's career was sadly cut short by injury. I saw him a few times and he certainly looked like he had the ability to go far. I'm sure with his Dad's backing he would have been a star.

Terrible news for speedways history and of course for the Coventry fans. Losing Wimbledon, Coventry and possibly Belle Vue would be like losing a vast part of the sports heritage. Another big nail in the coffin of the sport in this country.

Maybe it's not totally the sport itself which is the issue. A top speedway meeting is still one of the best night's entertainment that you can get in my opinion. The problem is that not enough people know about it or have assumed it to be consigned to history. I know of many people around Manchester who used to go to Hyde Road but lost track of the sport completely when they moved to Kirky Lane. The lack of 'promotion' of the sport is staggering both at local and national level. An easy comment make, I know, but if we had a Dave Lanning (or for the older fans Johnnie Hoskins) around today they would be banging on the doors of the press to get some publicity for the sport. Maybe if a rider could somehow get themselves onto a program like I'm a Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing or any of the other reality shows which have become so popular with younger viewers, the knock on effect for the sport could be great - at least people would realise that it is still around (just). Surely contacting someone who has worked in the media to act as a consultant would be a good place to start.

I think that comes from the perception that stock cars ruin the speedway track rather than any problen with the sport per se.

Sadly, it has been reported on Facebook by Dave Morton that former Belle Vue, Sunderland and Middlesbrough rider Russ Hodgson has sadly passed away. Russ was, by his own admission, never a top rider but his enthusiasm and happy nature made him a big part of the Aces team in the mid 70s. After he retired he had a salvage business in the West Indies and his boat appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean! Condolences to his family and friends.

Ah, fair enough.

As technology becomes more and more advanced, maybe we need to make attending a match a more 'interactive' experience. Most people have smartphones these days so why not insist that every rider wears a helmetcam and spectators can follow the race 'live' and get the feeling of how exhilerating riding a 500cc motorcycle with no brakes actualy is? (it may even tempt one or two to give it a try), There could be apps developed which would allow you to switch between riders or maybe even let the fans see what the referee sees. A small charge could be levied as well. You could also have fans predicting the outcome of the following race by pressing the relevant button on their phone with a prize if anyone got them all right at the end of the night. There could even be a predictor league competition between fans. A decent presenter announcing the 'fans choice' before each race could get a bit of a reaction as well.

Half the trouble is that the 'older generation' (and promoters) don't want to change the sport that we've all loved for 40+ years. However, in order to attract the next generation we have to accept that by putting up with:- management who see customers as a nuisance poor standards of presentation, inadequate food / drink, 'team' speedway where the 'team' changes most weeks no interaction with fans (whether by social media, internet, youtube etc) ........... means that there isn't really a product to sell, unless it becomes a 'treat' whe it's a couple of times per year. We have to make the regular weekly meetings an event that fans want to return to. The teenagers / 20s of this world demand more (rightly). So we have to either adapt or die out. Like the dodo in fact!

Then let's try to get Sky involved - say a £50k winner takes all. Marketing is the key to get anything like this going and to capture the public interest.

I agree. Keep the league winners as 'The Champions' and have the playoffs as a separate trophy (say the BSPA Shield) - you could even have the Championship winners / runners up taking part as well to spice it up and generate extra gate money for them.

... and that's true.