moomin man 76

People may have mixed thoughts about Tero's ability as a rider, but he is a whole hearted trier, who will not duck out of meetings unless he genuinely is injured. If he doesn't appear, he doesn't earn and unlike others, he hardly has an extensive list of other fixtures to fall back on to ride in and earn from.

As far as I am aware, Nike Lunna is the only Finnish representative in the qualifiers and he will ride in the semi-final at Belle Vue.

The concept in itself could work, but it is the execution of it that is wrong. Aside from 'Monster Energy' the actual 'trade teams' appear to have no immediate recognition outside of Poland and perhaps Germany. After all, what exactly is 'City Team?' As a result, any initial attempt to spread the speedway gospal outside casual observers; especially outside of Poland is doomed to failure... In my opinion, the concept could work but it would also need riders of a consistently high standard, rather than those representing 'City Team.' At present, it seems as if I had enough money, I could recruit any riders of some standard to buy my 'team' into the series. For instance, I could recruit three Finnish riders, make up an artificial team name and have my own 'Team Finland' in all but name...

I'm sorry but I can't really summon up any real interest for this new format. I could just about swallow One Sport's 'Best Pairs' format when the teams represented countries, but not with artificial 'trade teams.' There are some decent riders competing, but they are spread across the teams; aside from 'City Team' which maybe is a vehicle for German riders, but is woefully weak at this level.

Great to see this feature on the BBC, but as you have already partly intimated, it is not 'new' news. For instance, I still have an article about the same gentleman that was in the Norwegian airlines in-flight magazine in July 2015. However, he should definitely be applauded for his age not proving a barrier to participation.

I guess that there may well be 'good' people involved in the 'Night Wolves' in Ufa, as I wouldn't wish to tarnish everyone in a group with the same brush. Some may even have good intentions regarding the development of the Ufa club. Unfortunately, it runs contrary to their wider image in the west and presumably in Russia too. The image of Krasnikov in his 'Night Wolves' jacket on the Winners Podium on Saturday was dubious at best. Some would even accuse him of bringing the sport into disrepute by wearing an overtly political symbol. I know that the 'Night Wolves' are an illegal organisation in Finland and I can't image that Finland is the only country where they enjoy such status...

I would definitely agree. There were always one or two, but I cannot see the likes of Ledstrom having the same impact as either Serenius or Svensson in their heyday, or even Hirvasoja. The number of non-Swedes riding in the Swedish League is symptomatic of the problem. The likes of Harold Simon managed to rise to some level by going to Russia to ride, but you can hardly see the Russians allowing their pre-eminence to be challenged by allowing significant numbers of non-Russians to ride in their league. However, I wonder how much the lack of an international dimension to the sport is slowly killing the sport in Russia, even before polarising groups like the 'Night Wolves' got involved?

Indeed, but what is to be expected. None of the non-Russian riders could be considered to be full-time professional riders unlike their Russian counterparts. Equally, they don't have access to the same training/practice facilities; even more so with the succession of mild winters. Unfortunately, I can't see any further than the sport continuing to decline at international level. There are a handful of riders coming through, such as Ledstrom and Seifter but I simply can't see them progressing to the next level to challenge the Russians. The reality of the 'Ice Gladiators' series is that it is a World Championship in name only, as the Russian Championship is of a higher standard, which very few of the Western riders would realistically quality for.

Many thanks for your reply. At least, I know that my search for these programmes, as well as those on my 1960s 'wants' list is not futile, as can sometimes be the case with rain offs!

I was wondering if any forum users, either had copies they would be willing to part with, or any information ascertaining to the existence of the following programmes; Cradley Heath Homes: 15/3/75 v Sheffield (Challenge Match) - Rained Off 9/10/76 v Birmingham (British League - 30) - Rained Off Cradley Heath Aways: 10/6/71 v Wimbledon (British League) - Rained Off 12/8/71 v Oxford (British League) - Rained Off 18/9/73 v Leicester (Midland Cup) - Rained Off (The Match was a Double Header v Kings Lynn) 28/2/76 v Coventry (Training School Challenge Match) 6/6/77 v Halifax (British League) - Rained Off 30/10/79 v Nottingham (Challenge Match) - Rained Off These are the only 1970s Cradley programmes that are missing from my collection, so I would be delighted to hear from anyone.

Since my last posting, I have managed to obtain a copy of Poole v Cradly on 21/9/60, but if anyone has any other programmes that they wish to part with, or any further information I would be grateful.

Yes, Each of those three programmes were issued as I have them in my collection, but I do not have any duplicate copies of them. I've seen several copies over the years of 8/7/63 v Edinburgh, but the two programmes from 1968 are rarer (at least in my experience).

Many thanks for that. I do recall seeing the Neath programme on Ebay some time ago, but it is good to know that the other programmes are in circulation and potentially the Halifax programme exists too. Any further information would be much appreciated!

Many thanks for everyone's helpful comments so far. At least that is another three programmes, which I now know definitely exist. If anyone has any of these programmes for sale, I would be delighted to hear from them!

Many thanks for that. At least, I know that 5/5/69 exists now, rather than it not being issued at all! On the Speedway Researcher site, it has details of the meeting on 28/8/61 at Brough Park, which Cradley won 44-34 after maximums from Harry Bastable and Ivor Brown. Here's hoping that a programme was printed for that too!

I was wondering if any forum users, either had copies they would be willing to part with, or any information ascertaining to the existence of the following programmes; Cradley Heath Homes: 27/8/60 v Rayleigh - Challenge Match (16) - Rained Off 14/9/68 v West Ham - British League (24) - Rained Off Cradley Heath Aways: 30/5/60 v Liverpool - Provincial Cup 18/7/60 v Wigan - Challenge Match 26/7/60 v St Austell - Challenge Match 21/9/60 v Poole - Provincial League 20/4/61 v Middlesbrough - Provincial League 28/8/61 v Newcastle - Provincial League 1/6/62 v Neath - Provincial League 3/9/63 v Long Eaton - Provincial League (Rained Off) 2/9/68 v Halifax - British League (Rained Off) 5/5/69 v Newcastle - British League (Rained Off) These are the only 1960s Cradley programmes that are missing from my collection, so I would be delighted to hear from anyone.

On Sportowefakty this morning, it is being reported that Paco Castagna is indeed signing for Sheffield as a replacement for Ashley Birks.

A great result for the British team to win on German soil, but so near so far for the Finnish team from perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the competition...if only Aki-Pekka and Jesse Mustonen had had a little more support!

Hello, I was wondering if any kind individual had a copy of the following programme, either as a spare or as a copy they were prepared to part with; Cradley Heath v West Ham (British League) - 14th September 1968. I am aware that the meeting was rained off, so copies are probably scare, but a copy would help complete my collection of Cradley 1960s homes. If anyone is able to help, please could they send a private message to me.

I have large quantities of spare programmes, which I have accumulated over the years from both tracks. If anyone is interested in obtaining programmes from the following periods, even if it is for those allusive one or two that are missing, please let me know via a private message. Cradley Heath 1961-1996. Wolverhampton 1961-2010. NB: I do not have spare copies of either Hamill Select v Hancock Select (28/10/95 - Last Meeting at Dudley Wood) or Cradley & Stoke v Exeter (12/10/96 - Last Meeting at Loomer Road). NB (2): The majority of Wolverhampton programmes from 2010 have now gone.

I have a good quality scanned copy of the original programme for the meeting held at Kingmoor, Carlisle in 1937, but as gustix has pointed out there was only one meeting held there and the crowd on the day was disappointing, so I cannot imagine that many copies exist any more.

In Nike Lunna, the promotion are signing a rider with 'potential.' How much potential remains to be seen. Remember, he is only eighteen years old and outside of Finland relatively inexperienced. Comparisons with Palovaara at Glasgow aren't fair, as Palovaara, as a Swede has had consistently greater access to a higher level of racing in Sweden than Nike Lunna has had in Finland. In the longer-term though, Lunna may well prove the better rider. He is certainly the best young prospect in Finland at present and he wants to make a professional career for himself as a rider. As you will see his style is certainly entertaining!

They still look too strong for the assembled opposition, irrespective of who has or has not been picked.

In 1996, I can remember Ronnie Correy riding an upright for Wolverhampton for the first half of the season; especially around Monmore Green, whilst averaging around 9.5-10.00. He only switched to a lay-down, when the early faults outlined above seemed to have been rectified, giving his competitors in his eyes an edge.

Go to Workington - a potential belter of a meeting, run by one of the more progressive promotions in British speedway. Each time, I've been to Workington in the past twelve months it has been an enjoyable experience; even my seven year old step-daughter loved it (if only to be able to talk in Finnish to Tero Aarnio)!