MajorMauger

And many more famous old teams that even in todays lean times would still draw a viable crowd! While I appreciate the role Iwades played in providing a place for speedway riders to hone their skills since the early 70's, its not ideal as a League venue with its limited spectator facilities. But while Central Park was nigh on perfect as a Kentish League venue it looks like that option could be closed off for now, so Iwade will be able to fill in and will help to boost numbers in the National League. I feel the Kent Kings belong at Central Park so any NL team operating out of Iwade should be called the Sittingbourne Crusaders which is what previous 3rd tier teams at Iwade have been called.

I'm afraid thats the nature of social media, I avoid most of it apart from going on here cause I like to see whats going on in the speedway World. Still in your current position of trying to convince persons with the power to say yes or no, that reopening Rye House speedway is worthwhile, arguing online and biting at people who maybe aren't saying correct things and/or have a different opinion to yours isn't productive. Now I fell out with your mate Steve Ribbons on here years ago cause I correctly said that he isn't the right person to run a speedway outfit but I respect him cause he was a major player in the 1999 rebirth of Rye House speedway and the 2002 reopening of Wimbledon. - History proves all this correct. I see a similar story possibly emerging at Rye House. I wish all your efforts in reopening Rye House speedway the best of luck. Like I said before the (so called) BSPL back when the last promotion running it folded, should have made more effort to keep the track going cause Rye House is a proven League track and also has less restrictions which means it can be used for training purposes! Best way to beat all your critics is to prove them wrong by a successful conclusion to your campaign with speedway taking place at Rye House again, good luck again!

Good luck to those involved in trying to resurrect Rye House speedway, if ran properly it has been proven in the past to be more than viable. I suggest that maybe if the stifling set racenights hadn't been enforced then possibly Rye House wouldn't have closed a few years back cause Saturday nights in the top flight were well supported? But Rob you've fallen into your mate Steve Ribbons trap of getting involved in petty arguments on forums which can make you look amateurish, looking for notoriety and rub people up the wrong way. I think you and Steve mean well and your doing what the BSPL should have done a couple of years back with Rye House with the generous planning on offer and just basically keeping a track going but I think it'd be wise to keep your distance from online forums.

Sam Ermolenko because he rode for longer than Olsen and Nielsen did at Wolves! Olsen had a massive impact at Wolves as did Nielsen!

I think Heeps has reached his ceiling in speedway but could still be a 5-6 point rider for Ipswich next season if hes fully focussed which has been the issue all along with him.

Lots of stadiums have this ridiculous no food or drink ruling. A lot of football stadiums play the non violence card saying that full bottles can be used as weapons, so take them away but then when you get in the ground they are selling drink! Alot of people with specific dietary requirements, health issues, oldies (myself included) don't/can't eat unfrozen cheap fastfood or fizzy drinks stodge so need to take food and drink with them. I know King's Lynn have this rule (whether it is enforced more at stock cars than speedway I'm not sure ) which doesn't effect myself cause I don't go there nowadays but if I ever did decide to go back and was refused entry cause I had a bottle of water of some light refreshments then I'd ask for my admission money back and go home, probably never to return! Back to the subject matter - good luck in saving the Birmingham Brummies. If the consortium pulls this off then it may work out better than the Masons era cause living that far from the track you promote at like David and Peter did can't always be conducive to the tracks well being?

In fairness that septet were all riders that had decent lengthy careers and the in the case of Jessup and Louis two riders close to being World champion! Mullarkeys wind ups would have made the pope swear in all fairness while I suppose you've put Rob Hollingworth in there due to his long association with Panthers long lost old Derby rivals Boston!? Monaghan rode for Peterborough when past his best at the end of his career when he was hanging on for a money spinning testimonial, but he was a good value NL heatleader during his spells at Mildenhall and Stoke!

Hope so! Buxton first ran in 1994 and was the epitome of the 3rd Division. Its still there! Loved the original nickname!

I've said all this before but it is still very relevant. The Louis/Godfrey vision of the 3rd Division is a novice League full of wobblers, no experienced riders and no standalone tracks which is so far from it where it needs to be in reality. Also forget about the pairs half hearted and aborted "British Junior" League. In 2021 the gap between the 3rd Division and the 2nd Division was way too big which is a major stumbling block to riders trying to make their way up the ladder unless as Barry Bishop stated they are exceptional talents that would have made it whatever system was in place. See this is where Chris Louis (like his father before him) doesn't "get it" cause he was an exceptional rider who became an 8 point 2nd tier rider after only one season. What British speedway has lacked since the 90's and it was in decline then was numerous British 1st tier and 2nd tier league journeymen, guys who wern't ever going to be World Champions but were regular, loyal servants to teams and being home grown local people took more interest in going to their nearest track. I saw this first hand from first watching at the Firs Stadium Norwich then the 1970's halcyon days at Ipswich, King's Lynn and Mildenhall. Locally based competitors is major reason why stock car racing is more popular in East Anglia than what speedway is. The 3rd Division has over its various guises since its 1994 formation been a less choppy water for new tracks to test the water, former tracks to reopen and tracks struggling in higher Leagues to run at a financially viable and competitive level. This is what disappoints me about Rob Godfreys stance on the 3rd tier cause he only reopened Scunthorpe (an area that struggled to run viable speedway in the 70's and 80's )in the 00's when it offered the beforementioned values. The likes of Birmingham and Eastbourne only kept going a few years ago because the 3rd tier was in place and offered a viable set up. Mildenhall I doubt would have ever reopened to speedway had the 3rd Division not been around. At this moment in time I suspect more than half the current teams running in the Championship struggle to be viable and would be better suited to racing at a cheaper amateur level. The 3rd tier doesn't need to be turned into a complete novice League because you already had successful junior Leagues below it in the well run Midland and Northern Junior Leagues to cater for novice riders. Experienced 3rd tier journeymen riders who won't ever make the regular step up to higher League like Luke Priest was in the past and Connor Coles is shouldn't be blocked from riding in the League if they wish to race cause they will provide better learning opportunities for newcomers racing against them than just racing against fellow novice riders and can provide good racing. Obviously there should be limits on the number of "old hands" in 3rd tier teams but wiping them out completely would be counter productive. What needs to happen is the top 2 Leagues merge into a bigger top flight at a level slightly better than the current Championship while those 2nd tier clubs that can't make it pay to drop down into a new 2nd tier that is at a level inbetween the current Championship and National League. Then 2 Junior Leagues below this level called the Northern League and the Southern League be formed organised in a similar way to what the well run Midland and Northern Leagues were.

Like his old boss Colin Pratt who passed away in the last couple of days Alan Grahame was a long term, top level, great servant to speedway in a racing career that lasted from the early 70's to the late 90's, even overcoming serious illness in the mid 80's to keep going. Probably one of the very few riders who would have rode League speedway on two valve and laydown machines which gives an indication of his longevity. I'll remember him for gaining countless numbers of points through sheer determination when it didn't seem possible. Very unfortunate way to go but Alan led a very active and successful life in his time.

Wonderful servant to the sport.

100%! My local National League track Mildenhall is almost perfectly functional and financially viable in the 3rd tier with its healthy crowds for the level they run at. I get the impression that the powers that be would rather Mildenhall stepped up into the 2nd tier but that wouldn't work out as costs would go through the roof, admission prices would have to go up but crowds probably wouldn't go up to subsidise the increases. And I doubt racing the racing would get any better cause race times would sometimes be 2 seconds quicker which would mean race times of under 50 seconds which would be a blink of an eye and make overtaking even harder! - Indeed with out the 3rd tier Mildenhall speedway would of probably finished permanently in 1992 when the track folded mid season in the 2nd Division and the track tarmaced over for stock cars. The reality is in present times most tracks in the 2nd tier don't get big enough crowds to afford to pay riders a professional wage. In fact most of them would be better of racing at 3rd tier level where the crowds would be more viable in terms of the reduced costs. Rob Godfrey has a short memory cause if there wasn't a 3rd Division when he got Scunthorpe going in 2005 its doubtful he would have even tried cause reopening Scunny in one of the two professional Leagues, a former failed speedway centre that failed to attract viable crowds in the better supported times of the 1980's would have been a massive gamble! I also suspect Godfrey is a tad bit oblivious to the struggles of other tracks in the Championship because his team is subsidised by being able to have almost unlimited access to his track which means he can put on lots of practises, amateur meetings, stock car meets and the venues available for private hire. The likes of Birmingham and Eastbourne only kept going a few years back when they had to drop down into the less expensive 3rd Division. The modern 3rd Division in its numerous guises has been one of the best innovations in British speedway ever since it was formed in 1994, in fact its something that would of helped speedway if it had been formed in the late 70's. - I suspect quite a few of the track closures from the late 70's to the early 90's may have been prevented had a 3rd Division been in place then? Apart from offering up and coming riders a constructive 6-7 person team League to race in the 3rd tier has been a viable water in which to reopen former tracks and for new venues to test the water. Also competent riders not good enough for higher Leagues but are still capable of providing good racing and passing on experience to young riders have benefited from the 3rd tier. Basically all this leads me to conclude that British speedway needs to go to 2 Leagues next season. - The top League called the British League will be an amalgamation of clubs in the current Premiership and Championship that can afford to run professional speedway at a level akin to the current 2nd tier. - This would be at most 15 of the tracks at present I suspect? The new 2nd tier to be called the National League to be a semi professional League stronger than current National League but not by a massive amount. This would contain the likes of Birmingham, Newcastle, Berwick, Kent, and maybe Scunthorpe and Redcar combined with Mildenhall, IoW, Oxford, Eastbourne, Workington and maybe a couple of reserve teams like Belle Vue Colts if they could afford to? - No foreigners except Commonwealth riders with a British League average under 5 or 6 allowed. 2 per team allowed. The successful, properly run, enthusiastic 4 person Northern junior League and the Midland Development League (rename it the Southern League to encourage Southern tracks to enter and for a equal North South split!) to continue for novice riders not yet ready for National League. Forget about the still born, half hearted Godfrey/Louis Premier junior League from this year. Allow teams representing defunct tracks to enter like Milton Keynes, Exeter, Reading cause these could possibly stir up enough interest to provide the inspiration to open new tracks at these lost centres like what happened at Scunny cause again Mr Godfrey who blocked such teams from running done exactly the same thing in 2003 and 2004 before Normanby Road opened in 2005! Things need to change thats for sure but what is certain is the National League has to continue albeit at a little bit higher level!

Increasing the gap between the National League and the two higher leagues will make it harder for riders to progress!

Needs to go to 2 senior Leagues next season! Top flight of up to 12 teams or 13 if Swindon return. The League of a similar standard to the current Championship. KO cup and 4 team tournament qualifying rounds so teams have a minimum of 13 home meetings. No set racenights or doubling up apart from lower end riders. 2 rising star British riders at reserve. 2nd Division with the rest, plus any new tracks, (Oxford, IoW, Eastbourne, Workington?) and current NL teams that wish to continue at a standard higher than the current NL. Riders who averaged 6 or above in the higher Leagues this season are ineligible unless they have no higher League place. Teams allowed 2 commonwealth riders but no non overseas foriegners allowed. Below this 2 junior four person team Leagues, North and South for clubs that wish to enter a team including teams representing defunct tracks if fans wish to run them and subsidise them at a nearby track -As in the cases of the trackless Middlesbrough junior team of the early 00's and the 3rd Division trackless Rye House team from 1999 these projects can lead to more tracks being built or reopened. Riders who averaged 6 or above in this years NL are ineligible regardless of whether they have a team place in the 2nd Division. The respective Midland development and Northern junior Leagues were functioning just fine until the BSPL in their wisdom decided to muscle in and create the Premier junior League of which we've seen ONE match all season.

Reading packed up in 2008 and for the last 15 years they ran, the speedway didn't attract very good crowds most of the time with the greyhounds subsidising it. That said I'd love speedway to return to Reading, has Smallmead been developed yet?

Lets hope Oxford return next season and as the Cheetahs AND in a sustainable League, please authorities don't push a new Oxford set up straight into the top flight to help prop it up! White City Rebels only lasted 3 seasons in front unviable crowds! Boston Barracuda Braves opened in 2000 using King's Lynn as their home base. Barracudas was the great original name of Bostons speedway team that ran in the town at New Hammond Beck Road from 1970 - 1987. The Braves nickname originated at Skegness in 1997 and 98. When speedway finally finished in 1998 they decamped to King's Lynn where they became the Norfolk Braves. In 1999 they metamophosised into the King's Lynn Braves. In an attempt to gauge interest in building a new track in Boston the same promotion with a couple of additional investors created the Boston Barracuda Braves! The most successful team to have taken another teams nickname is King's Lynn Stars who opened in 1965 after the 1964 closure of the Norwich Stars!

Absolutely!

Fair play to Ian Jordan for being very honest! The bottom line is that without the Dugard family speedway in Eastbourne would have been nothing more than a training track facility like nearby Iwade or Lydd. It probably was sustainable in the 1970's 2nd Division then the 1979 move into the top flight saw the Eagles struggle financially until dropping down in the 2nd Division again in 1985 where they had a few years of sustainability although the emergence at the time of Martin Dugard would of no doubt made any losses more bearable to the speedway mad Dugard family. Come 1990 and with Martin Dugard having flown the nest to the top flight the speedway promotion was sold to Gareth Rogers who only lasted a year. 1991 saw Eastbourne not start the season cause they wern't allowed into the newly amalgamated top flight until one of the promoted teams Wimbledon closed and moved in mid season. Top flight speedway was then staged regularly losing money until a few years ago when they made the sensible move into the 3rd tier to compete in more sustainable financial waters. Bottom line is without rich benefactors Eastbourne speedway is only going to be viable in a League like the National League or a League thats inbetween the current 3rd tier and the Championship. The time has come for speedway clubs in this Country to take a leaf out of Mildenhall speedways book and run at a level that is best for them financially and on a night/afternoon that is most ideal. - Two Leagues next season - No fixed racenights, Top flight consisting of up to 11 tracks that can still afford to run at that level. Ipswich, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Wolves, Belle Vue, Poole, Sheffield, Glasgow and Leicester are the only 9 current tracks I believe capable of being sustainable/ have enough financial clout behind them to run in the top flight. National League of a higher standard than the current NL featuring all the rest and any tracks brave enough to run a reserve team at this level. Northern and Southern Conference Leagues consisting of 4 man teams running alongside senior tracks for riders not ready for National League racing.

When a track closes down most of the tracks regulars stop going to speedway completely, a fair few may take in the odd meeting elsewhere and only a small percentage become regulars elsewhere! - I saw this in the 60's when my first track Norwich closed. - Many went to King's Lynn initially until slowly drifting away while Lynn eventually built up a large following of locals from their area rather than the Norwich area. Its looking a more than reasonable chance that speedway could return to Oxford in the near future years but I just hope that Oxford speedway reopening is not just a substitute for Swindons non return?

I believe when Plymouth reopened in the late 60's when the 2nd Division of the British League was formed the track was tarmaced and they used to put sand on top so the speedway bikes had less grip. No doubt such a top dressing just sitting on top of a hard stock car track would of made riding very inconsistent and tricky which is probably the reason why times were so slow? - Could this track surface of been the reason why speedway at Plymouth only lasted a handful of years until 1970 cause spectators grew tired of poor quality racing?

I can't believe those criticising Kerr! Hes been one of the few King's Lynn riders who can hold his head up and know that hes performed this season.

The meeting literally had the "rug pulled from underneath" it when it started raining right on at 3pm then stopped at 3.30pm which gave the promotors the idea of trying to salvage the meeting and prevent the Berwick boys incurring heavy costs by returning for the restaging. I thought the track looked tricky but rideable when Bickley and Jenkins had a spin and looked to ride easier the more they rode but they told the ref it wasn't so that was that. Not a good advert but like I said, circumstances were against the promotion.

You'd get few more in but not that many more cause I fear that the majority of lapsed fans who don't go can't be arsed with speedway full stop. A prime example of this is Mildenhall speedway. They don't want to move up to the 2nd Division even though the crowds are on a par with many in that Division cause crowd levels wouldn't increase by hardly any yet the costs would go through the roof. I'm afraid speedways a retro sport and when us 60+ age group, fans are gone their won't be many others left to make staging meetings worthwhile. In a way I feel blessed that I can still watch speedway in my retired years cause the few youngsters that attend meetings now I suspect won't have the same opportunity in their later years? - I hope I'm proven wrong!

I thought the racing was good tonight! The wider Ipswich track has been very poor for outside overtaking but tonight there was plenty! Ipswich woeful apart from King, Rowe and Starke. Crump quickly realised he shouldn't have ridden. Allen and Cook were out of form. Kemp, again the reality/ results isn't/aren't nowhere near as good as the hype. If he doesn't learnt to start mixing it more and riding harder he won't go further up the ladder.

A decent meeting I thought with quite a few overtaking manouevres, yes mainly up the inside. Peterborough look decent while Ipswich were virtually a 2 man team and very naive on their own track. Starke looks like it could be a struggle for him to get going and Kemp was backing of way too much. Cooks a class act who would have been alright at King's Lynn I suspect if they'd given him time to ride out a tricky start.