MajorMauger

The creation of the 3rd Division in 1994 and its continued existance ever since has been one of the best things to happen to British speedway ever and really the sport could of done with it being formed in the late 70's/early 80's! The reasons it has been so beneficial to British speedway are - Many British riders have had their first rides in League speedway in the 3rd Division. It has produced more riders than the old junior Leagues that existed before 1994. Theirs a number of riders who are not good enough for top 2 League speedway but can still produce good entertainment and want to ride. These riders have been able to ride League speedway through the 3rd Division. Old speedway centres that struggled to afford top 2 League speedway like Mildenhall, Rye House, Stoke, Wimbledon, Scunthorpe, Plymouth, Berwick, Arena Essex, Weymouth, St Austell and possibly others I can't think of now were given a route back into speedway through the cheaper 3rd Division. Its likely that most of these tracks would of never reopened without the 3rd Division. As well as old centres, new teams and others that have never staged League speedway like Buxton, Carmarthen, Somerset, Linlithgow, Sittingbourne, IOW, have all started in the 3rd Division. Look at the current PL (+ the EL with Lakeside, formerly Arena Essex who rode in the 1996 3rd Division after leaving the top flight the previos year) and the line ups for the League in previous years and you'll see that many tracks and teams that either started in the 3rd Division or reopened in it. So therefore the continued strength of the PL owes a lot to the 3rd Division! Being local to Mildenhall I know thats its probable the track would of never seen speedway again after shutting midway through the 1992 Division 2 season. Indeed the club made the misjudgement of moving back into the 2nd Division in 2006 and struggled at that level for 3 seasons before having to move down after a disasterous 2008 campaign. Long live the 3rd Division and anyone that think its not worthwhile should look closely at the facts!

As usual a good post Rob! I respect you more than most on here cause you do talk sense on here but we'll have to agree to differ over Mr Steve Ribbons! I too respect Mr Ribbons for his part in opening the door to reopenings at Rye House and Wimbledon but not for the shambolic efforts at Plough Lane that saw the operation temporarily closed mid season and needing taking over by the PLC in order to reopen! And yes I'm well aware of Steve Ribbons' partner at Plough Lane but had Steve had the finances to do the job proporly without needing to lean on that character for financial backing then things may of been different. Apart from the 2002 Wimbledon fiasco, Mr Ribbons very undiplomatic nature and Eutopia like dreams that he couldn't subsidise, means that the BSPA won't take him seriously nowadays even if he has the money to do things more properly nowadays. The recent Mildenhall developments should have been handled better by the BSPA in that they should have made their intentions over Steve Ribbons clear instead of their backdoor methods of trying to stop him being involved, but they were totally justified in not allowing to become the promotor of Mildenhall! Anyway back to the thread, I'm really chuffed that Hackney and Mildenhall are running this season!

I agree that Rob McC normally posts very sensible posts and sounds like he knows his stuff about speedway. This is why I find it so bemusing that he continues to stick up for/heap praise/doesn't see the reality on a failed wannabe dreamer, bodge job promoter whos recently and rightfully had the door shown to him when he attempted to return to the promoting ranks! Great to see Hackney back in speedway albeit as a "cuckoo" at Lakeside and Rye House. Surely there must be some available space/smaller stadium within the Olympic site that could be used for a proper Hackney return at a track of their own after 2012? Hopefully the Olympic committee will be true to their word and make full use of the Olympic site creating a true legacy for North London and England. This would in my eyes have to include a speedway stadium! I remain convinced that London could accomodate two viable speedway tracks and teams if both venues were well run. One in South London, Wimbledon and one in the North, either Hackney or Romford?

Some people although enthusiastic and well meaning, live in cloud cuckoo land and try to do things they are not capable off, enjoying the noteriety at the same time and almost everyone whos came across the person I'm referring to will know what I mean! Shame my honest, truthful post has been deleted! The Rye House revival in 1999 led to the club returning to their spiritual home the next year which made it a very good, worthwhile exercise, but the Hoddesdon, Rye House stadium return probably wouldn't of happened without Len Silvers influence and finance even if he can be a funny old boy! Please Mr McCaffery inform me whats factually wrong about the above paragraph! The reopening of Wimbledon in 2002, although initially a bodge job served a useful purpose in that it opened the door to Plough Lane, which meant that when taken over by capable persons we were able to enjoy 4 seasons of Wimbledon Dons being back in the sport. This would not have happened with the original promtion involved in the Wimbledon 2002 revival! Please Mr McCaffery inform me whats factually wrong about the above Paragraph! The unamed gentlemen I'm referring too deserves credit for helping to start things going at Rye House and Wimbledon but not for what happened after the reopenings. Thats not derogetory one ounce, the truth again! Who or what Iam or is irrelevent because I just speak from experience, using the truth and have never said anything derogstory about anyone on here so just because I don't give out my real name online doesn't make me a bad person or indeed those that do rightous and correct! Your entitled to your own opinions, friends and associates Mr McCaffery but your assessment of a certain character we know I'm talking about is way, way out! Still lets be glad that we have Mildenhall back in speedway!

Great news! Yes Steve Ribbons should be commended for his enthusiasm as you point out Rob but his previous record means that the BSPA won't ever take him seriously anymore and thats whay they are so anti towards him! (see my longer post in the other Mildenhall thread in the NL section to get a better impression of the above mentioned character and his relationship with the speedway authorities!) Word of caution for the new promotion, something I'm sure they've considered? - With the huge shot in the arm that Ipswich speedway have had in dropping down to the better run and more viable PL combined with getting together such a good team, Mildenhall has to be right otherwise people will stay away and get their speedway kick at Ipswich!

I know that many NL riders will pick up tyres that are barely touched after EL and PL riders are permitted to discard them after one meeting! Read Simon Wiggs book and you'll learn that in his last season at Weymouth in the old NL in 1982 he done I think he said 4,5 or even as many as 6 meetings on the same tyre and this was when he was the best rider in that League! A previous poster suggested running a Black League featuring the likes of LYDD and WEYMOUTH! The problem with Weymouth is that agreement and/or even communication can't be reached with the owner of the track, nothing to do with the much maligned BSPA! Lydd is in the middle of nowhere with no facilities. It serves a good purpose as a training track but would not be viable as a League venue unless a lot of money was spent on improving facilities!

Nomadic teams using some other teams tracks is not ideal but in the case of Redcar, Rye House, Scunthorpe and possibly others this method is often a prelude to speedway returning to an area where it was closed down in the past! Lets hope that this Hackney project does well and end up returning to their own stamping ground when after the Olympics have finished!

Yet again a very sad state of affairs as regards to Mildenhall speedway! I can understand the BSPA having reservations about Steve Ribbons because his previous record in speedway promotions is not good and he rubs everyone up the wrong way, hence the very low opinion most have of him, but British speedway would be better with more tracks and that should be the BSPA's main aim, surely? I learnt a few years back that when Steve Ribbons gets involved in anything to do with speedway, normally things at some point will go t its up which is what I thought would happen with his recent interest in Mildenhall, but he has a point this time. Its ridiculous that Mildenhall have to pay a fee to ensure their NL membership when other tracks in the same League don't! Last years unnecessary (unnecessary in that the reasons given for the closure were b oll ocks and things could have been sorted) mid season closure at West Row has had the knock on effect that in future getting speedway re established their will be difficult as its now proving! The head of last years failed promotion, Ray Mascall is nothing to do with this winters attempts to reopen Mildenhall and neither is his righthandman John Adams. Indeed I'm led to believe that when Ray Mascall pulled the plug he lost the £5000 bond he had to put up when opening last season! Mildenhall speedway is viable at 3rd tier level if ran properly. Ray Mascalls fiasco making of last year shouldn't have any bearing on any future attempts to reopen Mildenhall speedway. Likewise if the BSPA don't want Steve Ribbons involved in any speedway promotion, then they should make this very clear to allow a path to be cleared so that Mildenhall could be allowed to reopen. It seems to me that insisting the Ribbons promotion pay a ludicrous membership fee that no other NL team has to pay and that he justifiably refuses too, is just a backdoor way of ensuring Mr Ribbons doesn't achieve his dreams of being a promoter! I've been going to speedway a long time, have stayed loyal to the sport despite losing my team (Norwich Stars) 46 and a bit years ago and having to put up with years of mismanagement and deteriation but this winter I can fully understand why many thousands of people have turned their back on the sport. Speedway can still be a great sport if it was organised better! Like many have said this winter, its about time that an independent governing body is created to oversee speedway with totally the best interests of the sport at heart and has no "my" track motivated ulterior motives that presently occur in the old boys network/masons like organisation that calls itself the BSPA!

Good to see an old name back in the sport! Be even better if the entry of Hackney into the 2011 NL is a prelude to a speedway track track being put in somewhere on the olympic site of which the old Waterden Road site is part of!

Good news! Belle Vue Colts were good additions to the 3rd tier when they ran in 1997! The more teams the better as far as I'm concerned cause that means more riders getting team places!

I get hold of most Norwich City programmes and I have seen the speedway photo that was in Mondays Middlesbrough V Norwich City programme! The 2 Teeside Tigers riders with ex Boro player David Armstrong are current Redcar (only up the road from Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium) promotor Brian Havelock and a very young Mark Courtney! Good luck to Mildenhall speedway in the future whoevers running them!

I disagree Malcolm! The fish and chips at Rye House are superior and better value for money than those served up at West Row although I hope we'll see speedway back at Mildenhall next year as well as a strong and vibrant 3rd tier!

A Eutopia I'd like to see as well! As a lapsed Norwich fan (very lapsed considering we last competed in a League in 1964!!) I know that I'd love nothing more than to see a Norwich team in the 3rd tier of British speedway! I think Coventrys pull out is more political so I'd assume they aren't interested in running NL, while it looks like Peterboroughs sugar daddy Rick Frost has said enoughs to bankrolling 6 figure losses but if Peterborough can run in the NL(or any EL,PL, Coventry as well!) in order to keep going then that'll be better than nothing and the racing at NL can be very entertaining. From what I've seen of Peterborough home meetings in recent years, a healthy crowd isn't a regular occurance while low crowds were much regular. So a drop down to a level where their low crowds would more financially viable wouldn't be such a bad thing?

Speedway will never return to Romfords Brookland stadium because it was knocked down in the late 0's and now has housing on the site! Romford Dog track could fit a speedway track inside though like you said they' be guarantees that it would be supported by sufficient numbers, though I'd give it a better chance than many!

Romford was a place I didn't mention in my list in this thread but that place supported speedway in huge numbers before and I'm sure if someone could get the sport introduced to the very smart dog track then that place would enjoy big crowds! It would be nice to have a leisure firm buy the GRA with the intention of maintaining the stadiums cause we'd have Oxford and Wimbledon back in speedway!

Hopefully there'll be some new teams in the NL to make up for the likes of Bournemouth closing along with others and Plymouths proposed move into the PL but I'm not holding my breath! Bournemouth was run under the Poole promotion which is very possibly the best supported track in Britain. If they can't make NL racing viable then it doesn't give much hope for others? As for for new standalones, well if any were intending to open for next year we'd of probably heard about it now. The (possible/probable?)reopening of Mildenhall is all we'll get in this area I suspect? The likes of Norwich Great Yamouth, Iwade, Bristol, Exeter, Cornwall, Long Eaton, Boston, Ellesmere Port, Crewe, one in Scotland, Sunderland, Milton Keynes/Northampton, Hull, Wimbledon, Swansea and probably others could support 3rd tier racing and maybe higher but the chances of any of these and other surfacing in time for next season would be extremely low!

Well done Buxton who have been in the 3rd tier since day 1! The place is never going to attract big crowds and therefore move up so it has to be run on a shoestring but Buxton speedway is the almost perfect 3rd tier role model club! I've said many times that if the National League had 5 or more Buxton like set ups dotted over the Country then British speedway would be in a much healthier state!

Wishful thinking I suspect but it would be nice to see a stronger 3rd tier! The Heathens are a different entity to any other club because they were the best supported club in the Country, their closure is still reasonably recent (1995 at Cradley) and they have 2 tracks Wolves and Birmingham that are 15-20 miles and under away from their heartland which is not such a chore for fans to get to! The idea of resurrecting defunct clubs at neaby tracks sounds good in theory but in reality existing tracks are stuggling with poor crowds and one track supporting 2 teams has never been financially viable not even in better times. Also fans of defunct clubs don't really see their ressurected teams running at another team as being the real thing so don't support it. The Boston operation of 2000-2008 was born out of a desire to persuade the local Council to provide them with land to build a new track. When that became obvious it wasn't going to happen interest in Boston home meetings at King's Lynn dropped big time! Crewe last ran in 1975 so their can't be that many around who'd remember them although I know efforts were made a few years ago to build a new track in the area! Leicester will have enough on their hands running for the 1st time since 1983 without having to worry about starting a 3rd tier team as well! My old team Norwich last ran in 1964 and I don't think running a 3rd tier Norwich team out of King's Lynn or Mildenhall would see loads of fans flocking in from Norwich. Afterall I bet not that many fans from Norwich go to speedway anywhere at present. Mind you a new track in the Norwich area would be very well supported I suspect! Running 3rd tier speedway at Iwade (who called themselves Sittingbourne) is difficult and I'm no sure if the owners wants to or not so I wouldn't hold my breath there! As with any defunct track, reopening after closure is rarely straightforward so Mildenhall returning is not by any means guaranteed particularly with the rather awkward stadium owner who wants too much rent money! I think Plymouth have now got to the stage where they need to move up in order to maintain/increase crowd levels but their promotor is well known for making big statements that end up not materialising! Hopefully Weymouth will be bought out by people capable of making a good go of it! Also hopefully the owners of Oxford stadium will see sense and let speedway return but again no guarantees! I hope the 3rd tier survives but like in the past it has a struggle cause speedway as a whole in this Country is struggling at League level!

Phil Clarke R.I.P Norwich Stars speedway legend!

I understand your frustrations but I'd suspect if every club stopped running cause it didn't make money one year we wouldn't have many tracks left! Like others I have heard stories originating from people close to the management at Mildenhall about what happened and it certainly sounds different to whats been said in the speedway star. This season was certainly a sad story regarding Mildenhall speedway but whats done is done now and those involved in trying to resurect the Fen Tigers have to look to the future and hopefully learning the lessons from the mistakes that have been made this season. Mildenhall speedway in the 3rd tier of British speedway is viable if ran properly by those in control of the club!

The too small EL with its twice at home and twice away fixtures is repetitive, offers no variety and combined with foriegners missing, not enough British riders, racenights all over the place - doesn't work! What needs to happen and what most people with an interest in British speedway would know deep down is that the EL needs to amalgamate with the PL and have a new top flight with 16 teams and a new 2nd Division featuring the 7 former PL teams not in the new top flight plus Plymouth, and any other 3rd Division team wanting to step up and any possible new tracks like Leicester, Sittingbourne, Oxford. This new top flight would be at a level inbetween the current EL and PL but closer to the PL. The new 2nd Divison would be at a level in between the current PL and NL. A proper 3rd Division for any standalone tracks not wanting to ride in a new 2nd Division and reserve teams from senior tracks would be formed and would feature British riders only! As for Birmingham not being able to afford the EL. Well that could probably be the case but I bet that Birmingham get bigger crowds than at least one EL track. The bottom line is that the EL is unaffordable for neary every track in the Country apart fom 4-5 tracks! Anyway Birmingham have got to gain full planning consent before they can think about next season!

What an amazing life!

Very sad news indeed! I respect the fact that Ray Mascall put his money where his mouth was (unlike any of us!), he is the wrong age and mental state to be a promotor, hes had big traumas in his personal life recently and being in charge of Mildenhall speedway was very difficult for many reasons but - The very reason for Ray Mascall buying the club before the 2009 season was to secure its future. Pulling out mid season this time around has effectively pulled the rug out from Mildenhall speedway. Ray had been making it known to various persons from before the start of this season that he wanted out! More delegation and better comunication could of seen a solution found to see out this season, then set about securing the future of Mildenhall speedway when there'd be more time in the close season to sort things out. I could go on but I've said the main bits that people involved in Mildenhall speedway will think but won't say! Lets hope that Mildenhall speedway can be resurrected in the future which I believe stadium owner Dave Coventry wants!

Joe Abbot rode for many years from the early beginnings of the sport in this Country in the late 20's until he got killed at Odsal I think in the late 1940's or early 50's when he was in his late 40's I believe.

Ivan Mauger Barry Briggs Hans Nielsen Tony Rickardsson Ove Fundin Ole Olsen After that I can't think of any definates though the likes of Jack Parker, Peter Craven, Peter Collins, Jason Crump, Eric Gunderson, Nicki Pederson, Ronnie Moore would have to be considered for the last spot!