singy13

I wouldn't say "rather than gate receipts" though because the wealthiest must surely be a fair combination of all income strings in their bows. Sponsors probably do rule though I admit. But full terraces are also good for gaining the sport points via strong media coverage - ha ha ha.

Does that imply that those two are the worst supported clubs?.................I THINK NOT!!!!!

So the Polish teams, 8 of them says the post, only have 7 home fixtures from let's say April to September (24 weeks)???? My calculation has them with 17 blank weeks during Summer. How do they survive that ?

Just been catching up on these posts. Where on earth have you got the 200 crowd figure from ? I'm a regular and haven't seen any crowds at Northside that poor. Show me proof that I need to go to specsavers.

Yes very unlikely is how it may well be..But I think east Boldon greyhound/speedway stadium is only 5/6 mile from the large catchment area of Tyneside so it's surely worth some wealthy promoter at least running the rule as to reviving speedway - maybe some already have of course?

Just before the 1970 season started when interviewed on Border TV Ian Thomas labelled Vic Lonsdale 'The King of crash',,,,,but soon the crowd got tired of Vic's low scoring and booed at the mention of his name, he was hopeless. Then yes Chris Blythe got that title - not exactly one to be proud of eh. (I think Chris passed away this year?) And yes two unlikely lads won that 'best pairs' - I was there watching it.

What about Odsal?

Yeah chunky mentioned him.....Taffy Owen did a bit of doubling up too.

Yeah good shout marra. Don't forget also Peter Collins and Alan Wilkinson at Belle Vue and Rochdale.....so yep doubling up was there but I think not liked by the fans. And that remains as an awfully unpopular speedway feature nowadays.

Please note Workington Town are also at home on Sunday, kick off 3 p.m...................It's an 80th Birthday celebration match for Town (1945-2025) and they are drumming up support for this special occasion. UTT and UTC....love them both.

You missed off the remainder of that sentence!

That's a good question. No supply but plenty of rider demand if new tracks did appear (and doubling up would probably prosper). There are training tracks ongoing I believe. So maybe a couple of years as now until expansions? I just think that 6 and 7 team leagues are not exciting the evermore dwindling support. And while I confess to not helping any positive outcome I like to post here to see if anyone can help the dying sport. So in my early years of becoming a speedway fan, 1970 and the rest of that decade, how was it that new tracks were sprouting like mushrooms and doubling up was not a feature. Yes guests and rider replacement for injury cover. So how did all the 'mushrooms' manage 7 riders - granted some were as wooffy would say "wobblers" but certainly in Division 2 they were mostly acceptable. Ian Thomas used to advertise someone in a Comets squad as 'the king of crash' - I'll not name him but the crowd eventually got fed up of his poor returns. Yet all of this kept us talking speedway, it was thrills, spills, and excitement.

Yeah suppose....but the shale is automatically thrown away from any pitch i.e. left to right.....then of course fans get hit, so programme boards at the ready....why is speedway so difficult to maintain.

Okay 1 down....400+ to go.

Sadly speedway keeps losing tracks and it's possibly the final countdown for the great sport. What occurs to me, rightly or otherwise, is that speedway is short of top promoters - guys with funds and ideas to introduce new parties to the ranks. I see there are over 400 non league soccer grounds in existence. Plus more rugby stadiums. So can't a wealthy promoter (if they exist of course) find at least 5/6 stadiums capable of joining the speedway world? Ok it would need soccer's permission to build a track around a pitch but why not? I mean for approx 30 years I enjoyed seeing the Comets race 398 yards around Derwent Park's rugby pitch with minimal problems and great speedway. Surely down South or in the Midlands some stadia exist awaiting a promoters call?