bellevueace

Have to disagree mate in past eras especially before the GP,s where every rider had to qualify through difficult rounds and there was far more hard riding opponents wouldnt just open the door, take out Brady theres been no competition apart from Laguta for one season. Its about opinions but the sport today is far removed from what it has been, in any sport you cant compare different times. Usyk has acheived more than Ali was he greater, could each have adapted to different eras? I think when talking about sporting greats we have to look at their particular era.

You certainly cant compare the eras.

Goat possibly in the grand prix era but today its a far cry from the days of Crump, Rikardsson, Gollob, Adams, Pederson etc, and certainly cant compare the GP,s with the one offs with the stupid scoring and now the sprint race. Different eras yes but i turned this off GP,s just dont do it for me im afraid, the novelty wore off a while back, suppose its just personal preference.

I remember going down to Wimbledon in horrible weather and seeing a good meeting, modern day machinery wouldnt be able to handle the conditions, though according to reports there were riders willing to give it a go at Sheffield.

Its the reason fans dont travel away if there is the slightest doubt about the weather, years ago down went the sawdust on went the overalls and away they went. Nowadays with the modern bikes not a chance of that happening, i cant comment here as i didnt see the track but as some wanted to ride and others didnt i would imagine the referee would go with the majority?

This does seem to happen far more than back in the day when riders were loyal to their teams it was their club, and there was a real rivalry riders we,rnt seen stood in the opposite side of the pits chinwagging with rivals, there was far more altercations between them that created real atmospheres but they were not rivals one night and team mates the next. No wonder we dont see the characters of yesteryear.

We should have brought in Jack Smith to replace Max fricke 🤣

Obsessed with us mate.

He was never going to make it.

Living rent free in his head 🤣

Another thing i always remember is travelling to away matches by coach, i can remember 6 coaches leaving the Belle Vue complex going down to Swindon covered in scarves pictures of the riders/team in the windows. What was great going down to Wembley when we got down to the Midlands we would be travelling along with coaches from Wolves, Cradley, Coventry all decked out had some great banter at the services.

The BLRC at Hyde Road was always an incredible meeting, all the top riders a line up that was better than the world final, 20,000 crowds, and the fun fair as previously mentioned. I also loved it when each track had their own individual meeting The Golden Hammer at Cradley, The Brandonapolis at Coventry, the Internationale at Wimbledon, and The Pride of the East at Kings lynn imagine individual meetings and challenge matches drawing crowds today?

I remember Brandon always being criticised for a lack of dirt.

I used to go to meetings with soldier boy met him when i was staying in the union jack club in london as i was going to Kings lynn v Belle Vue by train, he was going along too we missed the last train back and had to thumb it remember him eating all the drivers sandwiches. 🤣

It doesnt take me that long cycling, you can take the tram too

As regards the gate and go track some people dont understand the impact conditions like yesterday bring for the track staff, no matter what the track these type of conditions make track prep really challenging. You only have to look at it to see this is no way a gate and go track, it was created purely for racing and is one of the best in the country in my opinion.As for the proper bar well who is to say in time there wont be something similar to what Somerset had on the first bend?

I enjoyed my first visit to Northside very impressed by the overall set up, one look at the track you can see its designed to give riders the opportunity to race so without a doubt that will provide some great racing, the conditions being hot, dry, and with that stiff breeze that was blowing made it very difficult for the track staff. Its does also seem to have the capacity to be developed further as the club progresses, reminded me a bit of Somerset and how that developed. I will certainly be back, at first it looked like the Monarchs were going to win at a canter but Comets made a great fight back to take the last heat decider. A great day out except for the 45 mins delay on the M6 for an accident and a 1 hour delay on the A66 where i believe the air ambulance was called out, but it didnt spoil the day, congratulations to all that brought the Comets back with this facility.

Even fans in the stadium dont know the attendance only an estimation and fans do tend to over estimate their own clubs. Sad really when nowadays people boast about crowds of 2 to 3 thousand, i can remember when every club ran with five figure crowds as the norm, including individual and challenge meetings, imagine them being supported today? Fact is speedway has fallen massively out of the general publics conscience for a number of reasons.

Yes it does but as for the original post its not relevant to crowds at the NSS as it is in close proximity. Salford and Trafford are part of Greater Manchester but different boroughs.

Ipswich v Leicester final, Ipswich to win over two legs, if i was a Lions fan i would prefer to go with R/R for Becker as coming back from a long injury absence would be a gamble considering how well the facility has worked for them, if they go with a guest could be more of a gamble.

Manchester United are based in Salford both only 10 mins from the city centre so dont think thats any issue

Last years system is irrelevant the new system was put into place so this season its all about the current rule, which is there for all.

Im with you i go to football etc but speedway has always been my favourite sport. Belle Vue lost a lot of fans with the closure of Hyde Road, a lot of fans didnt take to the dog track and just drifted away. The amount of people i speak to who say i used to go the speedway at Hyde Road and who didnt even know about the NSS is unreal. Also we didnt just lose a speedway stadium when the Belle Vue complex closed there was the fun fair, zoo, kings hall where all the top bands played, the ballroom, beer keller, the suites etc, i think thats where the sport lost a lot of fans.

The whole sport is a secret Lisa.