Chadster

A very solid heat leader for Sheffield in his day. Qualified as reserve for the 1969 World final but didn't get a ride. A year or so later I remember him beating Ivan Mauger around Belle Vue in nthe Silver Sash match race.

In 2005, the GRA would have been hoping to sell the stadium very quickly for redevelopment. My guess is the other tenants of the stadium, not being involved in a league structure, could be evicted quickly whereas the speedway, needing to run for a whole season, couldn't. I suspect the rental demands on the Dons were much greater so as to provoke a breach.

If I'm asked about what attracted me to speedway I initially mention the sensations; the noise, the smell, if I'm honest being frightened, but also the bright primary colours of the race-jackets against the black leathers of the riders. The designs were clean and simple, so many modern race-jackets/race suits are over cluttered and badly designed. Recent Belle Vue race suits are a case in point, not a patch against the classic design.

As I recall, on the re-opening night, the track was laid on top of the stock-car track and the plan of the promoters was to 'lift and lay' the shale for every meeting. One problem was that the track shape was far from ideal and coupled with the wet weather, the racing was, shall we say, not for the purist. The initial track record was 90 seconds in heat one though by the time of the abandonment it was in the 60s. The next scheduled meeting was postponed as the saturated shale had not dried in time and fairly quickly the bends were widened to produce better racing. The problem then was that the inner curbs of the stock car track were in the middle of the track, which was considered a safety risk and the new promotion was ordered to build a new track completely inside the stock car circuit. Given the succession of difficulties that were faced I was impressed that the promotion survived as long as it did. I must stress these are the recollections of a terrace fan and not an insider so I hope they are accurate.

I enjoyed the recent one on Wembley by Peter Lush and John Chaplin. It's reviewed in Speedway Star this week.

The only Sheffield rider I can think of who wore glasses was Dave Baugh.

I've seen a black and white picture of an Ipswich team in quarters but hard to say what the colours were, but blue seems likely to have been one of them. Sheffield rode in blue and yellow quarters in the late 60s and may have done so earlier.

My first visit to speedway was to Liverpool in 1960. I can't remember anything about it apart from it being very wet. I have much better memories of those Liverpool football teams of the 60s. Peter Thompson almost always played at no 11. Ian Callaghan was no 7. I saw Alun Evans debut against Leicester in which he scored and we were 4-0 up in 12 minutes. By that time I was going to speedway at Hyde Road and being absolutely hooked on the sport.

Brings back some very happy memories.

Charlie won a big individual meeting at West Ham very early in the 1965 season, which surprised a lot of people. When you consider how powerful the Hammer's heat leaders were that season it was some achievement.

Remember that Cradley meeting, it hinged on an exclusion for Bo Peterson in heat 12, I think. The other memory is of the Cradley team coming round on a lap of honour and getting a great reception from the Hackney fans. Fair play to them. another fond memory is a cup match at Hyde Road against Sheffield in 1969, I think. It was just one good race after another, culminating in 3 riders coming off the last bend of the last heat line abreast with all 3 results possible. In the second half Arnold Haley capped a great night for Sheffield by taking the Silver Sash off Ivan Mauge.r

In the cup match Nygren replaced George Hunter who was on international duty that night. Can't explain the presence of Mauger in the league match, especially as the Monarchs had signed Bernt Persson by then.

There were no guests in 1965 and no rider replacement. That came in the following season to replace an injured heat leader only. I think guests were allowed if 2 heat leaders were missing. We shouldn't write off all challenge matches as duds. Some of the most fiercely contested meetings I ever witnessed were the early season challenges between Wimbledon and Hackney in the late 1980s. The league matches were quite tame in comparison. Wolves and Cradley fans will probably say the same things about the Dudley-Wolves Trophy meetings.

I used to take the train over to Hackney Wick station and walk to the track. Retraced that Journey earlier this year. I walked up to the canal and all was as I remembered it. Walked over the bridge and it was a completely different world. If I hadn't have known where I was I wouldn't have known where I was, if you follow me. Brought back some happy memories, though. I think Lanning was after Jeremy Doncaster as a no 1. i always think we should have gone up and built the team around Wiltshire, who was actually terrific that season at Reading. Once Lanning went, the sparkle went out of Plough Lane and I think the closure became inevitable. A pity Russell Lanning was lost to the sport, he was far and away the best promoter at any track I attende regularly.

The first thing is for the racing to be as good as possible so the track has to be consistently well prepared. Then the presentation of the meeting is important. The meeting I attended at Sheffield this season I was quite impressed with the show they tried to put on but at Belle Vue the presentation was lethargic. is there necessarily a tension between presenting the sport as a family occasion and as an extreme sport. It's surely possible to appeal to more than one market?

It has been suggested that riders who are excluded for tape offences or under 2 minute rule should be automatically be put on 15 metres. If that were to be the case do we need two reserves? Go back to the pre-1969 system of one reserve whose programmed rides were with the second strings. If needs be no 6 in the averages could be a supplementary reserve.

I worked with a few Poles and they hated the Russians with a passion. I suspect their pride is more to do with their resistance to communism through things like Solidarity and through their support for the Catholic church.

It would be good if clubs could link with the community. providing some sort of social service might not just be altruistic. Those clubs with training facilities could work with local councils to provide courses to help keep youngsters off the streets, off drugs or out of gangs. They might get some riders out of it at best and hopefully some fans, too. I wonder whether, on a national level, the sport could develop some teaching materials for local schools. Maths would be an obvious area. Two times tables (the tactical rule ), statistics, average speeds, distances travelled by riders etc. I know nothing about Primary School National Curriculum, but if it could be done, and linked to a visit to a meeting, there would be obvious benefits.

I was quite impressed with Belle Vue interviewing the riders after the match and then having them walk back to the pits through the crowd. The riders seemed to enjoy it and it was very popular with the youngsters (and the not so youngsters).

I disagree with the idea because when clubs close down their fans tend not to go to other tracks but just stop going. That's certainly what happened to me when Wimbledon closed but another point would also be that the sport is seeing itself in a very negative light and a series of closures would only emphasise that. Other sports have problems; Athletics with drug cheats, Cricket with minimal attendances at county games and counties hugely indebted, however they don't seem as negative about their future as speedway. When we had few clubs running in the 1950s things did not go well at a time when it was easier to attract audiences.

Tostig

I thought that he wouldn't reveal a blue print for reform in the Star but rather discuss it with his fellow promoters first. Like other posters I did notice a slightly defeatist tone in the interview. I can understand that some problems are difficult to resolve, if not intractable, but surely there can be no excuse for poor track preparation and poor presentation. The other thing that struck me was that certain initiatives hadn't been thought through. The idea that the EL and PL should be closer in standard was explained in terms of promotion and relegation but then you would expect that to be introduced but doubling up makes it impossible and if you strengthen the PL then of course it makes it much harder to step up from the NL, which is now where there is a problem.

You're totally correct about the differences between the 50s and the present. The point I wanted to make, but didn't emphasise strongly enough, was the need for clarity of thought and unity amongst promoters. In fact the big change in the 60s was brought about after chronic rivalry and division but it required an outside agency, the Shawcross report, to bring them about. We could do without that brinkmanship now. I also enjoyed the two seasons of one big league but always felt that certain promoters were unconvinced that it was the right way to go and did not do enough to make it work in terms of releasing riders etc. I still think it's the best way forward for the sport giving consistency of fixtures and different opposition every week but to make it work every promoter needs to be convinced by it and it would probably mean 6 man teams to get round the rider shortage.

There's no doubt the sport is in a hole at the moment, but whether it's in a bigger hole than it was in the late 50s is open to question. Yet within 10 years the fortunes of the sport had been transformed. So change is possible but I'd suggest it needs clarity of thought and unity amongst the promoters. Chris Louis last week put forward his ideas to develop new riders, which is vital in the long term but there needs to be action in the short term so these new riders will have tracks on which to display their talent.

I attended my first three meetings this season last week, two at Belle Vue and one at Sheffield. For what it's worth, I thought the crowds were better than on my last visit to those tracks which probably reflects the improved performances of the two teams. Perhaps Ipswich's struggles this season are reflecting in their attendances? Two of the meetings I saw were delayed due to weather and injury but the other meeting proceeded at a very leisurely pace. I'm sure better, sharper presentation would help crowd levels. Is speedway a £10 sport? No, unless it's at NL level. Any decent level sport is expensive to watch these days. Tickets for my local Championship level football club are £27 so £17.50 for EL speedway doesn't seem so bad.