Chadster

Yes, but they don't have to interview you.

Old Music itself isn't the problem, more the quality. 'The Magnificent 7' seems to me to be a stirring anthem and worked brilliantly at Hackney, 'Those Magnificent Men on their Flying Machines' doesn't cut it at all at Rye House. Traditional music can still be part of the spectacle if it is traditionally associated with the club, as 'You'll never Walk Alone' shows in football

I haven't been to speedway for a few years now, largely since Wimbledon closed. I'd prefer the old tac. sub rule but I can see the thinking behind the tactical ride, though I can see why it would puzzle newcomers because it is so unlike other sports, many of whom have substitute rules. Scoring systems are complicated in a lot of sports (bonus points in cricket and rugby, away goals in football) so why are these things not issues in those sports (perhaps they are, but I'm not aware of it). I suspect the difference is that speedway is perceived to be in crisis where the other sports aren't and so its fans are casting round for a solution and these seem to be obvious targets. Personally, my nearest track is Rye House and I don't go because it's a long trek by public transport for some not very good racing the last few times I was there. The racing there used to be good in the days of Ronnie Russell and I went regularly. So, my suggestions are, well-prepared tracks, evenly matched riders and speedway can still be immensely attractive.

Tokyo Melody, I think it was called. It was used to introduce TV coverage of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. I remember it from my first visits to Hyde Road in 1967. Regards Frank

My understanding was that it was to give the riders a longer run in to the first bend

I always enjoyed watching Trevor O'Brien at Rye House. At Wimbledon it was Roger Johns, with an honourable mention for Nathan Simpson.

Could the track be the original track at Rye House, now the go-kart circuit, I believe? I've no idea, but as a readily available track near London it seems as likely a choice as any. Has anyone got any photos of the orignal Rye House?

With regard to photo 10a, are the West Ham riders Tony Clarke and George Barclay?

Crowds at Wimbledon in the last era there were down to the small hundreds, weren't they? I read somewhere that the average crowd at Wimbledon in the last NL season was 800. Now Newport would probably kill for crowds like that, but the rental costs at Plough Lane are huge and, of course there's no income from catering to offset that. Those extant speedway fans in London would probably still see themselves as Wimbledon or Hackney fans and be reluctant to attend the 'old rivals' track. The failure of the London Lions suggest that changing the name wouldn't help.

I don't know about Reg Lambourne but I remember watching Ray Wilson on it, in the late 60's or early 70's I would say.

2 memories to add to the list; one good, one bad. The good one came in the year when Hackney challenged Reading strongly for the League title, the year of the Reading 'insurance' policy. IIRC Hackney had finished bottom of the League two years on the trot, started the season badly and then went to Hull and won to start a tremendous challenge for the title. The key match was against Cradley at Waterden Road and Cradley won by virtue of Bo Petersen being excluded in the penultimate heat. I remember the response of the Hackney fans, they stayed and cheered Cradley on their victory lap of honour. I was very impressed. This was at a time when an adverse refereeing decision would have sparked a riot at any football ground. The bad memory is the death of Denny Pyeatt, without a doubt the worst thing I've ever seen at speedway

I salute your grey hairs, Speedyguy. 1946 is way before my time. Then they had 8 man teams racing over 14 heats with no tactical subs or r/r so apart from the reserves it was 4 rides each. By 1965 it was 7 man teams over 13 heats with tac subs but still no r/r so the maximum number of rides was 5. A rider scores 12 points from 5 rides and their average is 9.6, 12 points form 4 and it's 12...quite a big difference. I suppose my complaint is that it's just the one season in a not inexpensive book when the averages don't give a true picture and the main victims are the reserves/second strings who come out with some very low averages which don't give a fair reflection of their ability or their importance to their team. My recollection of 1967 when I first started attending in a sentient way was that rider's averages and hence team positions were decided on a score per race. can anyone else confirm that? There were no point limits then and everyone moaned about the Rider Control Committee. As ever riders were forced out, but often because there were simply not enough team places available. Division 2 sorted that out. Many of the older riders were forced out of the sport. The fun went out of the game. It is now all too complex. I guess there are many who do still enjoy all this complexity - for me bring back 1946! <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The London Stadium was built first in the early years of the 20th Century and the others (there was also a White City Stadium in Liverpool) would be named after it as they were opened for Dog racing which only began in this country in the 1920's. The London Stadium was built as part of a huge Anglo-French Exhibition site. The entrance to this stood until recently next to Shepherds Bush station. This led into a series of Exhibition Halls which streched North and West up to Wood Lane. They were all painted white, hence, I suppose, the name. Most of these buildings sttod until recently but have been demolished to make way for the shopping development. The site is massive; there would have plenty of room for a track there!