MajorMauger

Tough rider and character as well! Never a star but a middle order/ lower end team rider who contributed much to a golden era of speedway!

Walthamstow stadium was iconic and was still turning over a tidy profit with decent crowds still watching the greyhound racing right up until its closure. Another place that should have been listed and the old speedway track was still inside the dog albeit tarmacked over. Walthamstow stadium could have provided the answer to speedways current lack of presence in the capital.

Sponsorship/lower wages for the players/ rich benefactors!

If every sport needed to be profit making in order to continue existing then there would little to no sport about now and that includes the Worlds most popular sport - football! - Look at the current plight of 3rd tier clubs Bolton Wanderers and Bury as well as one of the biggest football clubs on the planet Manchester Uniteds ongoing debt. Indeed without many modern day football stadiums being multi use venues, football would be even more unviable! The universally more acceptable athletics has never been profitable! I do feel that certain things should go above profit making and money for the best interests of society. Stadiums should be included in this. Iconic speedway stadiums like Belle Vue, Exeter, Norwich, Southampton, Wimbledon, West Ham, the old Leicester, Coventry, Cradley, Oxford and probably quite a few others should have been listed and prevented from being turned into housing estates. Had indeed been the case then the sport today would undoubtedly be in a better shape. Football gets afforded this allowance cause of its popularity and local communities all over benefit from it. and Like I've said before on here, Odsal could be staging football, speedway and stock cars if ways could be found to make the venue more multi use?

Bradford and Halifax Dukes speedway team. Stock car racing. Bradford Park Avenue Football club. All 3 above sports could be reintroduced to Odsal! - Would be nice!

The 3rd tier is one of the best things to happen in British speedway in the last 30 years, if not ever! The 3rd Division should have started in the late 70's/ early 80's when a number of tracks were starting to struggle with the then 2nd Division (called the National League) getting more and more expensive. The great promotor that was Ian Thomas said as much at the time. Maybe then tracks like Barrow, Workington, Milton Keynes, Castleford, Boston, Scunthorpe, Paisley, Ellesmere Port, Birmingham Bordesley Green and probably others would of had a longer more viable existence in the sport. These combined with training tracks of the day like Felton, Iwade and Ringwood and other potential venues that would have been tempted to open in the lower cost League would of made a decent League that in them days would have been in undated with potential riders to make up the teams! The current struggles of one of Britains top prospects Drew Kemp in the 2nd tier emphasizes how the 3rd tier is needed to help nurture young riders rather than put them off by throwing them in the deep end of the 2nd tier to soon! Without the 3rd tier, Birmingham and Eastbourne would have closed a number of years ago which would have had a knock on effect in the 2nd tier cause without the Brummies and Eagles this season the 2nd tier would be down to 9 tracks! Likewise would speedway at Somerset have ever been attempted without the safety net of the 3rd tier when they first opened in 2000? Would Berwick have re emerged in the 2nd tier had they not had a number of seasons building themselves up again in the 3rd tier in the 1990's? I'm sure at some point attempts will be made to re establish League racing at Rye House, what's the betting this will be in the 3rd tier? Look at today! - Without the 3rd Division, I wouldn't be going of to West Row to hopefully enjoy Mildenhall take on Thurrock a currently homeless team which is no doubt being helped in their attempts to find a new track of their own by being able to run challenge matches at 3rd tier level. Combine this with the fac that young riders will be getting valuable track time especially in the junior match that takes place after the main meeting!

Whilst I agreed with Mildenhalls decision to drop David Walllinger, denying the lad the chance of rides to put himself back in the shop window is ridiculous!

An understandable move in order to maintain interest levels at Mildenhall! Wallinger was at Mildenhall as a 2nd heat leader to put pressure on Danny Ayres at number 1. While Wallinger was a steady scorer at home albeit not out and out heatleader form, his away form was poor and made Mildenhall weak. Due to Leek increasing his average he has become the unlucky sacrificial lamb in order to fit in Atkins. That said a reserve duo of Butcher and Kelly looks vulnerable especially away from home so Atkins will certainly have to score double figures every match in order for the team changes to have the desired effect.

Essex Showground just outside Chelmsford? Romford Greyhound stadium? A stadium not far from Southend would surely be viable? I'm sure while Rye House remains as it is physically then League speedway of some sort will return at some point. Saturday nights were popular just a couple of years ago.

Thanks for the Wikipedia information. It looks like it would have been possible to have accommodated speedway after the 2nd World War as is proved by the car racing!

I wonder why speedway never returned to Stamford Bridge in the immediate years after the war, given how popular the sport was then, the track still existed and the midget car meetings were well attended?

25 meetings a season, one day a week at the most, at Perry Bar in which 30 minutes of motorbike noise is spread over 2 hours and the pits area is adequately situated and acoustic barriered of so that no noise is heard from it doesn't constitute a noise problem! A designated park for wheeled/noisy motorsports uhmmm! - Birmingham have been there before in the 1980's when speedway struggled through 2 full League seasons and a handful of open meetings in 1984 at Bordesley Green! Birmingham Brummies speedway is in its spiritual home and best place - Perry Bar Greyhound stadium!

Yes a horrible moment which in reality Dugard should have been heavily reprimanded for but he done it in a way that makes the incident look like it could have been accidental! Like you say that ruthless determination from Dugard that no doubt helped him go as far as he did! Haven't a link but try typing Eastbourne v Arena Essex 1995.

Theirs an infamous incident involving Robert Ledwith and Martin Dugard from Eastbourne in about 1995 on Youtube. Ledwith riding as a reserve for Arena Essex inflicted a shock defeat on Arlington expert Martin Dugard who then would of had one of the highest averages in the top flight. In true Dugard family bad losing fashion, Dugard took offence to this shock defeat by a reserve on his home patch where he was nigh on unbeatable by not shutting off after the chequered flag and taking Ledwith clean through the fence which as one can imagine caused quite a commotion. This shows how much ability Ledwith had. I'm sure some posters on here would have been present that evening and will be able to elaborate more!

A 15/16 year old rider who is quick enough, and ready for the commitment of League racing will almost certainly get a team place in the NL. Putting a wobbler not yet ready for NL racing is counterproductive to everyone including the rider. Anyway if a promotor has the choice of either an inexperienced 15/16 year old or a 30+ year old journeyman whos been around for a while who are at the same level, then the youngster will get the team place cause he/she will be seen as having more potential to improve. As a Mildenhall speedway regular, I can categorically state that Jon Armstrong has provided some top notch racing at West Row in recent seasons and is renowned for his great experience and mentoring of young riders! As for Robert Ledwith, he was a tenacious, talented rider in the early 90's in the top 2 Divisions who probably didn't achieve as much as what his ability suggested he would. If hes just half as good as what he was back then, he will serve a useful purpose in next years NL!

A very weak 2nd Division team but built within a budget understandably. The move up was needed to create more interest cause a club like Birmingham should have higher aspirations than the NL. The trouble is that losing to many home meetings will see crowds plummet. Really hope things work out for Birmingham in 2019 but it looks likely team changes will be needed mid season?

Ipswich speedways greatest rider and one of Englands finest, John Louis was born in 1941 and had his first rides on a speedway bike at Foxhall in mid 1969, so he was just 28 I believe! I'm all for bringing on young riders, that has to be a main aspect of the National League but I disagree with putting a rider in the team just cause hes young. Also if riders like Jon Armstrong, Robert Ledwith are still quick enough then their experience can be invaluable to young riders!

Quite agree Dean, but on the other hand I've always taken the stance that if a track attracts a paying crowd then its only fair that the riders get a share of the gate receipts cause they are the reason why fans are paying to watch!

Fair enough!

Sceptical of this move to take Ipswich up, although I probably think in the right conditions the Witches natural place is in the top flight! Looks like Buster bought Peterborough and Ipswich in order to keep the top flight going. I can only see a conflict of interests cause Buster doesn't like Ipswich so he won't want to see Ipswich outdoing his beloved Stars. This will surely hinder Louis's team building efforts. Say for instance Louis somehow managed to convince one of the top GP riders to join would Buster want to finance it when it would be costly and might propel the Witches above the Stars. Also if the Witches start of poorly, and Louis has to make changes and manages to convince one of the Worlds top riders to join mid season to help a late push for the play offs, will Buster again sanction such a move which could force King's Lynn out of the play off picture? With both teams now likely set to share the same racenight, will Buster worry that some fans may chose to go to Ipswich instead, if the Witches were doing better with a more exciting team? All I'm hoping for is that Ipswich are competitive and that admission prices aren't pushed up to much!

A previous poster said that Smith had been released by Belle Vue before he had signed for Redcar!

Here by lies the problem! With the costs involved in buying equipment, maintaining them, fuel, tyres, buying transport, maintaining it and petrol and diesel costs, a rider getting 250 pounds for a NL meeting without sponsorship wouldn't see much profit! The NL undoubtedly saved Birmingham, Eastbourne, Coventry and Cradley from closure/disappearing completely after losing their tracks, but the adverse effect was that these former higher League powerhouses have pushed up the rates in the NL which has in the last 2 seasons seen King's Lynn Young Stars and now Buxton withdraw because of it! The modern era 3rd tier has always been a fine balancing act between clubs there for development and those who need to attract a viable crowd to survive, just in recent years this act has gone up some notches. Hopefully with Birmingham and Eastbourne now in a League more natural to their size and history the NL can become more balanced. If Cradley ever get a new track (fingers crossed!) and the Kent management realise that to grow the club and prevent going stale they will have to move up at some point then the NL might be even more balanced?

Fair play to the Masons in taking the gamble of taking the Birmingham Brummies up in to the 2nd tier. Though I suspect had they of stayed in the NL things would of gotten very stale and that would of ultimately been costly. Therefore moving up despite the extra costs was the best route to take cause as long as they get through this difficult 1st season unscathed with bigger crowds then hopefully they can continue to grow. Danyon Hume is fast but hasn't yet proved he can ride at the speeds required in the 2nd tier consistently enough without over riding, crashing and getting injured. I can understand the Brummies being reluctant to take another chance on him, but I'd love him to establish himself in the top 2 Leagues. Castagna seems to get a lot of chances cause of who his father is and is likely cheap but apparently has improved since his abortive spells at Sheffield and Ipswich. The new Scandinavian is a gamble but a cheap one. Osterrgaard has been a top 2nd tier rider but is he on the wane? Morris should do a steady middle order job.

Going to quite a lot of Mildenhall and Ipswich meetings in 2018, I can confirm that Danny Ayres was certainly one of the bright spots and in my opinion would of done a job for the Witches at the bottom end. Dannys only been riding League 4-5 seasons, is a top heatleader at NL level and has aspirations to go higher, which I think he still can so I don't class him as a journeyman. On the other hand Danny Halsey who was a good servant to Mildenhall has been about for 15 years in the 3rd tier is now a journeyman cause he will probably never go any higher. That said hes still a decent enough rider and experienced enough to be of good use to young riders in the League. I'm pretty certain that if you had a Mildenhall team with mainly junior league standard riders, you lose a big % of the crowd which would seriously threaten the tracks existence.

Shame that Jack Smith a rider who still looks like he has untapped potential has been discarded because of the points limit being reduced only to be replaced by Danny Phillips who looks like he probably won't go any further.