Ray Stadia

Sandhu was the last person to own the stadium, before selling the stadium to Brandon Estates, although I seem to recall with his brother. He bought it from the Ochiltrees and other owners of the stadium, but the Ochiltrees were dedicated to Coventry seedway. Horton, I believe, was the final promoter, but as we know, a promoter is not necessarily the owner, more often a manager. Horton, obviously made a dogs dinner of it and then Coventry closed. Sandhu had some financial issues as I recall, especially surrounding his brother. I think Sandhu bought the stadium, not to ensure speedway security/longevity, but to hope to build on the land, which is where the situation is now, after he sold out to Brandon Estates.

I do. When he bought the stadium, he said he was committed to speedway and presumably, bangers and stocks!

Good old Sandhu!

I used to enjoy watching the odd game of golf when Peter Alliss was a commentator. He had the knack to make it sound interesting, in my opinion. He had a dry sense of humour!

The advert has a moto X bike. Are there a lot of grasstrack bikes? Do they have speedway bikes there?

I suppose Oxford is the nearest, as I seem to recall, Swindon versus Oxford was known as a local derby? And it has always been said, that Bristol got big crowds! I don't know why someone couldn't do something like 'a Workington' somewhere near Bristol, Swindon or South Wales. Maybe there isn't anyone with the money or the interest to start something up. However, there is a Swindon action group, how are they getting on?

Probably, in the background, Sam Lovegrove had rebuilt it and scraped off all the castor oil crud that would likely have been inside!

Ok. Done! 👍

I have looked at the 'call to action' and there is a document which the action group suggest using, but use different wording. However, the document is very long and also very technical. Therefore, I'm not sure how we can add to an already well prepared and well put together document?

It's sad to hear of Len's passing. A great ambassador for the sport of speedway. Condolences to family and friends.

He did, but allowed the club to die again.

And of course, traditional league speedway is a runaway success, with more and more clubs wanting to open. Sorry to be cynical.

The Rye House stadium is right in the middle of Hoddesdon and I'm not sure if the local residents are sympathetic about the loss of speedway in their town. People on here have mentioned about the rundown look of the stadium when it hosted speedway. In my opinion, Len Silver had a great opportunity to secure the longevity of Rye House Speedway, but failed. If it returns, wonderful, but I wouldn't bet on it. The club had its chance, when it was lost before, but has squandered that lease of life, in my opinion.

Sorry.......I meant Northside.

If you like!

I thought, when they were constructing the track, they said they had security in place! Northfield was turned over, before the new set-up. I'm sure it was suggested then, it was the scourge of our nation, whose description begins with G and ends in s!

Thank you Rusky. Condolences to Graham's family.

RIP Graham, however, maybe someone could put up a bit of information on Graham's connection to speedway, as I didn't know him, but would like to hear about the chap.

Wasn't there a Mexican speedway rider called Speedy Gonzales?

What is p***k...Plonk? 'Plonk' is slang for wine, I believe!

I hope it does happen for 2025, but the guy is already talking about 'pulling the plug'!

So, some speedway riders definitely aren't holier than thou! For a professional sport, that's unprofessional behaviour! (and mean).

I agree, it is possible the tabloids could get create a negative story, if Jason was allowed back into the sport, but Oscar Wilde said 'there's only one thing worse than being talked about and that's not being talked about'. Is it likely a planning officer/committee would have it brought to their attention that 'speedway employs convicted criminals'? They seem to worry about how the surrounding public are going to be affected, such as: Will the roads be able to take the extra traffic, will the stadium have adequate parking, will the environment be affected, will the greasy motor bike types cause trouble in the area, the noise polution, etc etc

Was Jason a good 'spares van' customer then?

I don't see why speedway riders must be holier than thou, to be riders. I'm pretty sure many riders have a 'back catalogue' or skeletons in their cupboard. Many boxers have skeletons and back catalogues. I do understand speedway promoters getting worried about the affect on their gates. On the other hand, he might be a draw. 'Come and see the bad boy come good'!