Chadster

I thought he made some reasonable points and would agree the AGM was a cautious tep in the right direction. I was surprised about his enthusiasm for one big league as the decisions at the AGM actually moved the top two leagues further apart after years of them moving closer together.

I think the programme was originally set in the 50s but later series saw the period move into the 60s, so I think Geordie's ok to be driving a 1965 car and no doubt having conversations with the new vicar about the merits of Ivan Mauger over whoever is riding for the Grantchester team.

I've recently been looking at the first 3 BL seasons (1965-7). Some things are the same; Fixtures incomplete, arguments over team make-up, new rules introduced mid season and flagrant breaking of rules, but one of the big differences is that most tracks ran the best part of 30 meetings. Given that there were only a maximum of 18 home league matches and one World Championship qualifier, it's obvious that there were a lot of challenge matches, Individual meetings etc. Yet people say they aren't interested in such meetings these days and most tracks, especially in the top two divisions won't put them on. Is this a failure of promotion or is it a wise recognition that in an era where many tracks see teams twice a season, such meeting represent overkill. Is a solution to devise more meaningful competitions, e.g regionalised cup competitions, Fours qualifiers etc?

The air fence hasn't helped Rye House. Last time I was there, there were really only quite limited viewing options. As it stood, I always thought it was a track that didn't need an air fence such was the amount of run off on the bends

My impression of the one big league set up in the 90s was that it didn't work because a significant number of top flight promoters were not convinced it was the way forward and really wanted to retain the two league system. It was different in 1965. The top league had struggled through 1964 with 7 teams (sounds familiar!) and when it was clear Norwich were closing down they had nowhere to go other than amalgamation.

I think you have a point but there have been times in the past when the gap between riders was bigger. In the 60s and 70s there were quite regularly riders averaging above 10 and sometimes over 11 and yet that period is seen as a golden age for the sport. Maybe we need to look at the formula to protect the weaker riders, as was the case back in the day when the reserve rode in heats 4 and 8 programmed with second strings.

One way to end doubling up, I suppose

I feel that Holder was never the same after his bad crash at Coventry (was it the year after he won the world title?).

One big league worked in the 60s but it only lasted two yers the last time it was tried. The big difference I see between now and the 60s is that the element of freshness (Provincial League supporters seeing the big NL stars, NL supporters seeing the PL young guns) no longer applies because doubling up has meant that even in one big league the riders would be largely similar to what we've been seeing recently. Another difference would be that in British speedways last existential crisis, there were promoters about who had the drive, energy and confidence to get through big changes. Are there those sort of people around now? It's a pity because instinctively, as an old-timer, I like the idea of a big league. Variety of fixtures, continuity and one visit by a team per season so ,if you want to see jason Doyle riding you have to go when Somerset are in town and not shrug your shoulders and put it off until their second visit.

I accept that contnuity of fixtures is a good thing, but running from mid-March to the end of October is about 30 weeks and I can't see any league structure that would give that many meaningful fixtures. I'd argue that we should seriously consider starting slightly later and finishing by the end of September, but within that framework try and arrange meaningful fixtures as consistently as possible.

2 years ago it was announced that the future of speedway was promotion and relegation, last year it was fixed race nights. I suspect this year it will be something else and most of us would probably agree that the league structure needs looking at, but it will be like re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic if they don't seriously address issues like; track preparation, slick presentation and better organisation of fixtures. It seems ridiculous to me that after the hottest and driest summer for years that fixtures are being crammed in at the last minute and that some teams didn't complete their fixtures before the deadline.

In the early years of the 13 heat format teams had only one reserve, programmed to have two rides. The change was made to two reserves in 1969. This might have been linked to the insistence on excluding tape breakers and the need for more reserves to cover the extra rides. Now that starting offences can be penalised by putting the offender off 15 yards it might be worth looking again at the need for two reserves. Giving the reserve two protected rides, as used to be the case, might be a way to introduce, or re-introduce, a fast-track system.

I remember Finn Thomsen taking Billy Sanders off quite deliberately after a race at Hackney. Injured him quite seriously as I recall.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/speedway/2018/07/22/speedways-promise-dust-din-danger-crucial-battle-gain-television/

I first started going properly to speedway at Belle Vue in 1967, because my uncle wanted to watch Ove Fundin ride after he signed for the Aces. He averaged over 9 points a match for the Aces so was obviously effective and of course, he won the world final that season.

What a race that was. Never get tired of watching it!

Thanks for putting that up. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Was Czestochowa the track where Screen passed that team-riding pair on the last bend?

I suppose big names would bring in bigger crowds but would the increase be enough to cover the costs? You'd really have to be an insider to answer that question. Another point is, who would these big names be. I can't imagine Hancock and Pedersen at this stage of their careers wanting to get into the routine of Poland, Britain, Sweden and back to Britain on successive days so we're looking at Woffinden and the Poles, I imagine. Woffinden has already struggled with such a level of commitment. I suggest the only way he'd be back in the UK is if we followed the Polish and Swedish models of 7 home meetings a season. How many of us would be happy with that?

We obviously had a plan but it didn't survive the first two bends, after which the Russians were in front. Bit difficult to come up with plan B in the middle of a speedway race. Out of interest, how many times in the whole SoN did a rider in front successfully slow a race down to let his partner get through?

Beat me to it!

When Woffinden passed Laguta in the main event, Laguta lifted and almost got into trouble. I wonder whether Woffinden thought that if he pressed him in the final, something similar might occur and let Lambert through? Enjoyed the tournament after a slow start. Perhaps a return to the WTC next year and then alternate with SON? One change to make would be the team behind going into the grand final wins only if they get a heat advantage.

I've always thought that the fitter you are the more mentally alert you're likely to be, especially in a sporting sense. I'd agree that Woffinden isn't always a brilliant starter but at his best whilst he may not be first into the first bend, his sharpness of decision making means he's often firsy out of the second bend.

When I started taking an interest in speedway Wolves ran on Fridays. When did they change to Mondays?

Didn't Craig Cook feature for Buxton?

Is there any possibility of entering into negotiations with the Swedes and the Danes to ask them to change their race nights to Monday and Thursday, giving Britain protected Tuesday and Wednesday? I don't know whether Tuesday and Wednesday are sacrosanct in Seden and Denmark. I recognise that people will say why should they change but a programme of Poland on Sunday, Sweden on Monday, Britain on Tuesday and Wednesday and Denmark on Thursday would probably make for less travelling for riders and might enable them to perform better.