Ommer Mon

Even as a Cradley fan, he was one of my all time favourite riders. Here's a couple of magic moments. At Monmore riding for Exeter he was the victim of a ragged start and after a great deal of arm waving to the referee he finally got under way with the other three going into the third turn. You can guess the rest.....there was only going to be one winner. Then at Perry Barr, after sufering a first race defeat to Andy Grahame and getting stick for being 'past it' nobody got near him for the rest of the night and he shepherded Bobby Beaton home in the last race for a match winning 5-1 for Hull. Have a great retirement Ivan. Without doubt the greatest ever and the man who brought a new level of professionalism to the sport, which the likes of Olsen, Penhall, Gundersen and Nielsen all learnt from.

Done. Hope I'm not too late.

A really nice gesture to a great servant of the Club down the years. He could have been one of our all time riding greats too if he had not had to retire following the Lockeren tragedy. I didn't see him beat Mauger twice in 1970 but that night is still often referred to. A genuine speedway character with a wealth of knowledge. Great to see him involved again in whatever capacity and how fitting that our first matches this year are against Coventry!!!

Great Topic Dean. Initially, I sprang to the same conclusion as you - the retirement of Bruce Penhall. That removed the greatest rivalry in the sport at the time between him and Kenny Carter. Erik and Hans kept it going for another 7 years but Speedway used to thrive on these rivalries. I remember going to Monmore in the early 70s to see a Wolves / Belle Vue challenge just to see Olsen and Mauger clash (and they actually didn't as Ivan was excluded under two mins when he was coming over the dog track - nice one ref!). The Grand Prix may have played a part. It removed the one off World Final and tied up a load of dates for the top stars. This and the rise of the other Leagues has meant an exodus of star names. Look back at your programmes from the 80s and some second strings would be No1s in today's so called Elite League! All this plus the failure to promote the sport properly. Blimey, I'm getting quite depressed now and believe me I'm actually really looking forward to the start of this season!

I think if any rider is committed and wants to make progress at National League level there can be no better place to ride than Dudley. The track is always well prepared, the set up is professional in all respects, there is a World Champion on hand to offer advice, there is backing available through sponsors, 50/50 lotteries and fans who will simply put their hands in their pockets to help. The level of support both home and away is amazing. I think all the lads we have signed this year have the potential to improve and I wish them well. It would be great to see them all put a point on their averages. As far as Lewis and Paul are concerned I think they will be aiming higher than that. The Management have done a great job in putting this side together after having to lose so many points and I, for one, can't wait for the tapes top go up on 9th April. Ommer 'em Dudley!

So, Gareth Isherwood it is!A warm welcome to the Heathens. Gareth has had very few outings since his back injury so hope he is fully recovered from that and can settle in quickly. A solid scorer who will be valuable in the middle order (or maybe even more than that if he can avoid injury). Hope you have a great season.

I'm really pleased to see Armo back in Speedway. He was brilliant for us at Dudley when we had to build a team from scratch and was a massive help to the youngsters coming through. His help in establishing the Club should not be forgotten. An absolute gent and great with the fans. I hope he has a really good season. He's one 'Bog Moggie' we wont be booing at Monmore Wood!

Cracking signing - Kyle Hughes. I do have my doubts about Smartie hitting the ground running with his 9.5 average though. I do wish him well however. He did a cracking job for Dudley and deserves a good run following his injuries. Good luck Lee.

Seemingly no obstacles to Paul Starke coming our way now that the Isle Of Wight have completed their (amazing) side without him. Let's hope the 'Class of 2013' are up to the challenge when Tom, Byron, Darryl and Dan come calling.

It looks like a fantastic team to me and I do like the 'Dudley South' tag. I agree with Greyhoundp that there could be a few Heathens fans turning up at the likes of Buxton Coventry and Stoke to cheer our former lads on. It could get a bit confusing at Monmore Wood when they come visiting. Some of us have never fully got to grips with cheering the red and blue helmet colours there and this will only make things even more confusing. Good luck to the Islanders. You've certainly done your sums!

Oh well. I got my prediction of Brendan Johnson wrong. He's just put pen to paper for Coventry! Hope Paul Starke is still on the shopping list though.

I suspect that Brendan Johnson will be on our Shopping List at some stage and I would be tempted to go for Paul Starke who seems to be a steal on 5.70. Robert Lambert would be a 'useful' 3 pointer to complete the team (Yes - I know thats not going to happen!) I expect to get shot down here but I would not be averse to giving Luke Chessell another go. His gating is very good and he gets away consistently. His difficulty is in staying aboard for four laps but we now have Jan O on board and I would hope that he could help there. Difficulty in going for Luke is that we would have about 4.2 left to play with (taking Brendan as a given) and I can't see anyone around that figure who looks like they could improve significantly.

Whoops, I forgot that not everyone out there is a Cradley fan!! We were 0.02 over the points limit and released Bobby before the 1980 season started and he came back to score a brilliant 21 point maximum with Reading beating Mr Penhall & Co along the way. The only away rider to ever score a maximum that was greeted with a standing ovation at Dudley Wood (not that there was ever much of an option to sit down there).

I have been surprised by the choices the management have made so far. I would have done the opposite, as far as Tom and Darryl are concerned, but you can see the logic of both decisions. I certainly won't be going on Facebook to have a moan though! Its a hard enough task without a few 'experts' having an ill mannered 'go'. It was always the same at Cradley when Pratty had to do this year on year. Whatever team we put out will still be our team and the management are clearly going to pack the middle order with lads who have the potential to improve their averages and, at the end of the day, isn't that what this League is all about? I thoroughly expect Tom to return and do a Bobby Schwartz (and ya know wot that means doh ya!)and best of luck to him wherever he ends up next year.

Excellent news......................and everything berniev123 said!

I'm no expert but perhaps getting one of the riders with their bikes to a local school or two to get the kids interested would help. Dish out some free passes to the kids. If they come along they will need to bring their parents with them; at full price of course! How about a discount for season ticket holders at other tracks? I always go when Dudley are there and may be tempted on a nice sunny day if there is a bit off to go towards the petrol. I'm sure there is nothing new here and that Jayne has considered them before. Anyway best of luck to all at Buxton and I hope they will be back next year - a nice little set up (as long as you remember to take a warm coat!)

Whilst it would be great if we could keep Ash and Tom, its not only their averages that make this unlikely but also the fact that both will be doubling up and we've all seen the problems that causes when fixtures clash. PS I think it is sensible to stay NL for now. The money that is made will be better spent on a track of our own than flying some Number One around Europe. The Promoters need to bank as much as they can over the next 12 months and we all need to support them in doing so by paying our hard earnt at the turnstiles.

I thought Jamie was from the Stourbridge area which makes Greyhoundp bang on target. I wonder what happened to Richard Franklin and thought he was a Coventry asset and from that area. Really nice lad and potentially useful in the middle order.

Coventry v Dudley at National League level. Now there's a prospect! There will be more there for that one than many of the Elite League fixtures. A mouth watering prospect to see the Heathens back to Brandon after so many years. Forget the Premier League its time to bash the Bees again (in the best possible taste of course)!

I have to say that I agree with 21st Century Heathen's analysis. The Youtube video and Anglia TV footage do make it look as though Adam takes a look and flicks out a back wheel at Stefan. It looks bad but it is deceptive as what it does not capture is the abrupt change of line from Stefan. Referee's make good calls and bad calls and I have seen plenty of both in my time but the advantage the Referee has over all of us is that he is in an elevated position and can see the lines that riders are taking. For those who have never watched racing from the Ref's box believe me it does make a big difference. That means that the Ref's first call is usually best and that videos are often used only to prove in close up whether there has been any contact or not. That's clearly not an issue here. On that basis if his first call was that Stef should have been excluded (and I have no proof of that) then that is what he should have stuck with and the fact that he appears to have changed his mind after a visit from Chris Louis is incredible. Chris should know better then to go to the box and the Ref should certainly know better than to engage him in discussion before giving a decision. To go on a slight detour here was a contributory factor the fact that we have playoffs in the National League? (and this is not just because we finished top of the table). The situation put all four of them under enormous pressure and this is a League which is for relatively inexperienced riders. Just a thought. Our sympathies have to go to Adam. We all know his story. He is very down at the moment and who can blame him. A highly talented rider and a great lad too! We've really enjoyed his company at Dudley over the last 2 years. We all hope he will get over this and best wishes to him for the future whatever he decides that this will be.

Yep. Congratulations to Mildenhall but boy did we run 'em close in the circumstances. The news on Adam is not good with a broken leg and shoulder. It's tragic for the lad. If he had not had all the misfortunes he has suffered he would be at the top end in the Elite League by now and possibly knocking on the door of the Grand Prix. He'll be back no doubt and I'm sure the whole country will wish him well for next year wherever he may be riding. He is still one of GB's best prospects. So well done to the 'Bog Moggies' and let's hope for more of the same next year if both Clubs are in the came League. The rivalry and controversy has certainly livened up the NL this year!

You could always appeal to the BSPA. On second thoughts................................................................maybe not!

This should be a great night. I agree with Greyhoundp that Mildenhall start slight favourites over the two legs. I think our biggest problem has been a lack of activity. Dan, Daryl and JWW have hardly ridden for over a month now and we really need them to score well. Good luck lads and as Greyhoundp says lets put the spats behind us and enjoy a great night's racing.

Oh dear. Another blame everything on Dudley thread could be about to take off. I'm presuming this is a tongue in cheek comment. If we had been desperate to squeeze a fixture in I could understand it to some extent but Dudley have been sitting at the top of the League for a considerable time now and, let's face it, we haven't exactly struggled against Rye House and I.O.W this year. Looking forward to a great end to a highly successful season. Any clashes with Mildenhall could be classics. It's good to be back.

Track was really tricky last night, especially in the early stages. Credit to both teams on putting on some good racing when conditions allowed. It will be much closer when Mildenhall come back at the end of the season with Cameron on the team. We could be in for some classic encounters. Very impressed with young Bates. Spectacular style and quick when he hits the front. A good prospect. Good to see some Mildy fans there and I'm sure they enjoyed the night if not the result. We even gave 'em a round of applause at the end of the night. A fair bit of banter with none of it over the top. Credit all round - let's keep it that way. Looking forward to our next encounter with the 'Bog Moggies'.