25yearfan

Its well documented that in his school holidays John Lennon used to spectate at Fleetwood speedway in the 1950's when he used to stay with a relative out that way! Fleetwood FC who are now in the football League play their games at Highbury stadium where the speedway took place. Unfortunately all trace of the speedway has gone and the stadium has been squared off! Its also quite likely that some/one or all of the Beatles may have went to Liverpool speedway when it ran in the 1940's/50's cause in them days every other person went to speedway at some time or other!

I seem to remember reports of the 2000-01 attempts by the great resurrector of defunct speedway teams/tracks Tony Mole to reopen Ellesmere Port speedway saying that the bids were turned down due to noise and parking issues! I also remember it being said by someone that they felt the Council had an alterior motive in expanding a nearby retail park over where the stadium site is?? I remain convinced that Ellesmere Port speedway could be viable in present times in either the PL or NL if ran properly! Ellesmere Port Gunners is also one of the greatest speedway team names ever!

Rochdale speedway packed up in 1971 because it never got crowds of ay note! Trouble was the set up was basically Belle Vue running at aother track, it had hardly any identity of its own! Ellesmere Port was opened for speedway in 1972 by that great great promoter (Someone who did actually promote!) Ian Thomas. With it being not a million miles from Rochdale/ Belle Vue they always had a fair few links with them tracks and quite often second half riders from Belle Vue who were ready for National League racing went there. Riders like Chris Morton, Paul Tyrer, Graham Drury with strong Bele Vue links rode for the Gunners! If speedway came back to Ellesmere Port then PL or NL would be the most likely Leagues the Gunners would comeback in and again it'd be likely any promising riders in the North West could end up riding for them! Would love to see Ellesmere Port back cause I think if an properly PL and NL speedway could be viable there. Yes it closed two times in 82 and 85 because the crowds wern't great but then again Scunthorpe never had decent crowds in them days and look how successful they've been since coming back in 2005!

When Tony Mole tryed at EP in the early 00's he even went as far as having public meetings which were well attended and there was obvious much local support for the speedway to comeback, much more support than a few voices against it. The Council turned it down on noise grounds and the problems of parking which were both cop outs and aparently they had ideas of the nearby shopping centres and retail park spreading out and eventually swallowing up the stadium! Nowadays with the new silencers bikes are much quieter and with money beign spent on the stadium surely this means it will be around for a while yet and 25 nights a year of rental from a speedway stadium plus bar and refreshment taking would ensure the venue is more finanically viable and wouldn't be a noise problem such is the short time that speedway races take place spread over a 3 hour period? As for the nowadays very plush Boldon stadium, Sunderland, this would still make a very good venue for speedway and I know a few persons have looked into reintroducing speedway to the stadium since it was last staged there in 1974. Aparently the last person(s) interested just a few years back was told by the stadium owners that they'd like speedway there but they'd also like a 6 figure per annum rental fee for the pleasure! I also know that the Newcastle Diamonds promotion would be dead set against speedway returning to the venue because they reckon they would lose some of their crowd but I'm not sure how many peple from the Sunderland area go to Newcastle anyway? Probably like Norwich based fans who go to King's Lynn - not that many I suspect! While both Ellesmere Port and Sunderland stadiums are still standing theres always the chance that something might happen and whilst that chance is slight it is possible cause it does happen from time to time!

I see that Ellesmere Port stadium the former home of Ellesmere Port Gunners speedway team from 1972-1982 and 1985 has had a 6 figure sum spent on it and reopened for greyhound racing this month! With this sort of money spent on it surely they'd want to see the venue used as much as possible so could speedway returning be a possibility? Greyhounds can't run 7 days a week so surely one day a week could be set aside for speedway? I know Tony Mole had 2 PA's for PL speedway turned down in the early 00's but in the last couple of years a former Ellesmere Port speedway fan started a petition in support of reintroducing speedway to the venue and the Council said if they had enough names on it they'd seriously consider a speedway reopening bid! Worth a go, cause if a decent sized track couldbe built inside the greyhound track then someone with the finances could build a track and run the Gunners team in the NL with possibly PL being possible in the longer term if the venture was successfull?

Is anyone really surprised given (no!) stadiaUKs track record? Criminal really the amount of Bulls*it they have sprouted on the proposed new stadium over the last 5 years! Even more criminal is now 4 and half years after Smallmead was demolished not long after the end of the 2008 season, Reading Racers last season in the sport, the site just sits there doing nothing other than the old car park being used when Reading FC are playing at home nearby! All that stadium needed was a brand new main stand and it could of been one of the better speedway and greyhound stadiums in the Country!

Just been on the excellent www.speedwayplus.co.uk site and a guy on their claims that persons are trying to get speedway back at Craven Park Hull, the home of Hull speedway from 1995-2005! I thought that the Rugby club there had revamped the infield erasing all memories/physical evidence of the speedway track and new stand(s) were (are?) being built over where the speedway bends were which would square off the stadium and eliminate the possibility of speedway returning?? I think if ran properly speedway in Hull could be viable even with nearby Scunthorpe now fully established back in speedway, indeed the two clubs could enjoy a great rivalry at Premier League level! Be interesting to know if theres any truth in what the guy said!!?

Like I said before, Mildenhall speedway is the best racing in East Anglia regardless of the fact they are in the 3rd Division!

Cambridge is Mildenhall Fen Tigers speedway territory! Mildenhalls the nearest track to Cambridge and I know a fair sprinkling of Mildenhalls impressive crowd figures are from that neck of the woods! Mildenhalls also the best racing in the East Anglian area and also the cheapest!

The British speedways dying theme has ongoing since the early 80's yet here we still are with many new tracks having opened since then, others trying to reopen and most tracks that have closed in that time have only done so cause of other reasons than poor crowds, losing money etc! Indeed in my early years watching the sport in the 50's the sport very nearly died and it was only the mid 60's onwards that it recovered! We all know theres problems but speedway can still hold its own with most other sports and while I think it may have to sink lower in order to get better things aren't as terminal as we're led to believe. End of the day if all sports in this Country were required to be proftable in order to keep going we wouldn't have hardly any sport at all! The obvious problem is the cost which puts of potential riders, supporters, promotors and sponsors. I've always maintained one of the biggest mistakes ever in speedway was the move from 2valve to 4 valve engines becauses the costs exploded and the racing has got worse with it! Another problem is we have too much speedway in this Country so we all get saturated with it and sick of it. Speedways a summer sport so should only take place from April to September. Its no coincidence that crowds in Poland and Sweden are much higher than ours and they on average have just over half the meetings we do. My local NL team Mildenhall are another example of how having less meetings can result in bigger crowds cause supporters can't pick amd choose and stay hunger to go to speedway. On the other hand my local PL team Ipswich have definately suffered from having too many home meetings which dilutes the crowds. In the latter EL seasons at Ipswich many supporters wanted regular weekly action so welcomed the PL move. When it happened and more home meetings were staged many found it too saturated and subsequently many Ipswich fans pick and choose their meetings!

Considering the cold weather and as per usual for an afternoon Foxhall meeting slick track the meeting wasn't bad. I suspect with a grippy track the meeting would have been more than good! Crowd although big by normal standards, wasn't that big for a Good Friday, another 1000 would of been tempted out in normal weather conditions! The Witches made hard work of beating a Rye House team that probably won't be challenging at the top of the table! Barker done his job and will do better in evening meetings when he can build up more speed on grippier surfaces! Makinen - Very poor and only justified my huge doubts hen I heard the Withes had signed him. Looks very awkward on a bike and its hard to see where it will get much better for him! Tungate - Inconsistant as usual. Hopefully EL outings for Poole will bring out more consistancy in him! Risager - Again disapointing. Has always had potential and has nearly always not shown it in results. Needs to get better if Witches are to seriously challenge! Lanham - Slow start understandably after doing next to nothing all winter but got better and paid 11 was a decent return. Not a fans favourite but is more likely to deliver decent end product then other team members! Ellis - 3 points so got his average and done his job. Looks like hes got much potential to get better! Heeps - A winters riding in Aussie paid dividendsfor him. His high score won the match for Ipswich! Must get better if they are to challenge but its early days as yet! Plymouth on Thursday will be harder I suspect!

Freddie Williams was one of the biggest names in the early 50's, one of Britains greatest courtesy of his world titles! R.I.P!

The introduction of 4 valve engines! Previously riders would have one-two engine rebuild PER season, now its after every 4-6 meetings. Costs went through the roof for riders and promotors, the quality of racing overall went down (if you don't believe me watch a series of 2 valve races and then watch some 4 valve races), new riders found it harder to get into the sport and rider skill became less of a neccessity! The formula 2 speedway idea instigated by ex rider Pete Seaton is basically what speedway with 2 valvers was like!

I thought that when a PL reserve rider was unavailable for whatever reason then a guest from the NL was used? I saw this happen last season many times! Personnally PL teams should be made to include 2 British riders at reserve and a minimum of 3 Brits per team. I know theres many riders in the NL who won't go any further but these riders are still better than promoting a 2nd half nowhere near good enough to get into the team. At Mildenhall where most of my NL spectating is at, the Fen Tigers have a rider who fits into this category Dan Halsey. Dans still a decent entertaining rider and theres no one in the 2nd halfs whos anywhere near his standard or even good enough to get a reserve postion. Dean Felton the regular contributor to this forum is another who falls into this category but I'm sure hes provided much entertainment and passed on a lot of knowledge top younger riders who've used it to their advantage! Please remember that any rider who shows promise in 2nd halfs and/or the junior Leagues will get a chance in a NL team sooner rather than later!

['Ray Stadia') I know you can never be complacent, but the stadium is in the middle of heath and woodland, so it is unlikely that it would be considered viable for building houses........one hopes! People in Ipswich used to say the same thing about the old Ipswich airport - now buried under large swathes of housing estates! Foxhall stadium has been long rumoured to be in the sights of housing developers and I believe it nearly happened in the late 80's! The stadiums an East Anglian institution that provided thousands of people with great times so should be protected!

This has been on the cards for quite a while now! The previous owners Ipswich speedway Ltd who were nothing to do with the current speedway promotion or any other previous speedway promotion are the virtually same lot (passed down through family) who owned the stadium when it was built in the early 50's. Spedeworth are obviously pro motorsports, has spent money on the facilities, need speedway at the stadium to make it viable and the stadium now seems out of the hands of younger members of families who might be swayed by a life changing huge payday! Happy days!

Why is this the end of the line for Exeter speedway? While the fund set up by the late Colin Hill was intended to help with the resurection of the club, the money being put into Plymouth speedway will only probably be a % of the funds, not a huge amount given its only a part share of Plymouth speedway and if Plymouth is run properly then its proven to be a place which can attract big profitable crowds which would mean the trust fund would benefit. Plymouth speedway have only got a 2 year lease on the site and the owners want to sell the land of for development, so Plymouths long term future is certainly up in the air, let alone a currently defunct club! Whats to say in two years time Plymouth gets turfed out of their current home, then cannot find another location in Plymouth yet manage to find a site in Exeter? Then Plymouth Devils speedway would reform (Doctor Who changing into a new actor style) into Exeter Falcons speedway! Plymouths loss would be Exeters gain but speedway in the area would still retain a track! Saying that this is the end of the line for Exeter speedway is like saying that this is the end of the hopes to reopen speedway in Cornwall cause one the of the prospective Cornwall promotors (the guy Taylor I believe his name is) is involved with the new Plymouth promotion. For the record this Mr Taylor guy has already said that his involvement at Plymouth speedway won't have any detrimental effect on the Cornish plans which by all accounts are well advanced! While the trust fund set up by Exeter legend Colin Hill is obviously the main player in the (I hope) ongoing efforts to find a new site a for a speedway track in the Exeter area for the Falcons to fly again in the eyes of the BSPA, whats stopping someone/ others doing a Mike Bowden and finding a site for speedway in Exeter on their own? I'm sure the fund trustee holders would gladly forgoe any BSPA rights agreement they have if a site is found by others. Indeed if the potential parties had any sense then they would work together to make it happen? If a new site for speedway is found in Exeter then I'm sure they'd be someone (probably more than one person) prepared to bankroll the costs of building the facility, be it the the trust fund or not! Having been to speedway at Plymouth, Exeter and St Austell over the years, I know what a speedway hotbed the area is and I think the area could sustain all 3 teams running at the same time if they were run properly!

Probably the right decision to make. James done well to get as far as he did but was unlikely to get any better!

['builderbob' timestamp=] he may never make it to international level, or even past a premier league reserve, but if thats the reason to not have him then you may as well not bother with most of the riders in the national league. as most of them will not progress much further than james has Nail hit very firmly on the head! I'll go even further and say that most riders in the National League won't go do as well as what as James Cockle has and I'm no fan of his either! James Cockle I know for a fact isn't many speedway fans cup of tea due some of his acions in the past but most will accept that he has been a mainly decent 3rd tier performer ever since he 1st burst on the scene a decade ago! If he wants to continue riding at that level and a team wants him then fair enough even if hes now on downward spiral!

Very few speedway clubs own the stadium they race out of. In fact I'd say you could probably count them on one hand and possibly have digits left over! From where I'm standing Dudley the current incarnation of the former Cradley outfit are an EL without a track of their own and have now outgrown the NL. Staying at 3rd tier level will only see enthusiasm dampen which would be detrimental to the chances of getting their own stadium. Particularly at this moment in time they can move up and take 3 of the team with them! I see no problem with the Ladbrokes stadium at Monmore cause Ladbrokes would surely welcome the extra income from the extra Heathens meetings and the stadium can accomodate them for 14 Tuesday meetings then surely they could do another 10 or so? British speedway hasn't had a 2nd tier club tracksharing with a top flight club since Belle Vue and King's Lynn ran reserve teams in the 2nd tier of the time but Dudley are a special case who should be welcomed with open arms since they get bigger crowds than nearly all of the current PL tracks I'd suggest. With Leicester wanting to move up, Plymouth dropping down and possibly Berwick not running then the PL coudld very well do with a new team joining up! On the rider front Dudley would have no problem finding riders for a PL team cause many people in speedway know how the Dudley management and supporters look after their team!

Wouldn't Cameron Heeps' near 6 PL average for Ipswich make him ineligible for the National League? Other than him I think the Fen Tigers can build a potential NL winning side out of all those who rode for them last year without having to look much further!

Great meeting considering the appalling conditions! Times were 10+ seconds down on normal times yet there was some very good racing which goes to prove that its not all about speed. If this would of been a regular League match in the middle of the summer, this meeting would have been called of way before the start time. Yet again more proof that quite often not enough effort is made to save meetings. Probably the fact that King's Lynn have all the equipment on hand, something which many other tracks don't seem to, played a big part in getting the meeting on! My view on the heat 15 incident was Roynon was in front and Nielsen tryed to go through a gap that wasn't there, so I think the ref got that one wrong. Although I didn't have the benefit of replays like the ref did! Anyway congrats to Mildenhall and hope Roynons not to badly hurt! And please all this stuff about Mildenhall moving into the PL - Please no! Its been tryed before and failed. While Mildenhalls crowds have been excellent in the last couple of years, a lot of the reason is cause they have about 10 less meetings than your average PL track so fans aren't saturated with meetings and therefore aren't forced to pick and choose meetings. I don't think crowds would increase with a PL move and likely would drop as many fans would find it difficult to attend all the extra meetings. Also like others have said, Mildenhall is Ipswichs nursery track so riding in the same League as the Witches wouldn't be ideal!

Guy sounds like a bit of a Billy Bulls*iter! I've known porky pies telling blokes who played pro football and others who rode pro speedway but in reality did nothing of the sort!

While Dudleys presense in the NL has seen good paydays for other tracks, now it seems that Dudley enormous pulling power is now very detrimental to the League. Only Mildenhall and maybe Stoke can get near to Dudley in terms of attracting riders. Sad to read about problems at Buxton who are the only ever present in the 3rd Division since its rebirth in 1994, hope things are resolved! Like Jayne Moss says, the 3rd tier went down ot 5 teams in 1998 and survived so if some changes can be made to make it more viable then hopefully we'lll see a League with as many members as this year!

Adam Roynons comments in this weeks speedway star hints that possibly Dudleys management are giving serious consideration towards going Premier League? Obviously their crowd levels would comfortably sustain 2nd tier level racing but haven't the management already publicly stated that the limitations at their current Monmore Green base makes this unviable? Or maybe they'll have their own home soon? Intriguing!