Graham

Wasn't the last speedway meeting on 1/11/87 v Coventry in the KOC replay? Always thought it a bit of a shame that the last track action at Hyde Road was a stock car meeting held in mid-November 1987. It should really have been the bikes which closed the place in my opinion. Should also mention that Belle Vue was in fact slightly smaller than Exeter, 382 metres v 396. Great track. No-one I know really likes the new place very much. It just isn't the same.

Hi there The one that comes immediately to mind is the disgraceful incident at Long Eaton in 1988 where he brought down Mike Spink and Darrell Branford going into the third bend. A crude bit of riding? Undoubtedly. I was also party to two other (unpublicised) incidents in which AG's behaviour was, how can I put it, "immature" to say the least. As I remember he had a column in one of the magazines at about the time and some of the guff that appeared in it was childish to put it mildly. I realise I'm flying in the face of the pro-AG brigade here. I'm genuinely not trying to noise anyone up but I do hope you respect my opinion, even if you don't necessarily agree with it. G.

I don't particularly care if the attendance is up or down. Neither do I mind if it's not a great meeting. Personally i just enjoy the whole experience, being in the city centre with the atmosphere building, meeting old friends from around the country and playing spot-the-rider. I can't be bothered with people moaning about every little thing. Just sit back, take it in and enjoy it.

Neither. I've been going since before Galvin started riding and have attended well over a thousand meetings in that time. I can remember AG riding for Crayford, Hackney and Arena-Essex. Too much of an ego-tripper for my liking I'm afraid. I found his behaviour childish and his on-track tactics crude - he was the king of the knock off. Regardless of how good or otherwise he may have been in the 80s, you cannot deny that his return to the PL a few years ago was a resolute failure. He was unfit and was frequently left standing by riders half his age and with a fraction of his experience. In all honesty I thought the guy was well and truly found out on his comeback, even allowing for the bad injuries he'd suffered in the early 90s. VV you're obviously a fan and that's fine but do you really think he would make a succesful comeback at this stage? Be honest.

It's irrelevant. He's 40, has a history of injuries, wasn't much cop the last time and frankly no-one would be stupid enough to take him on, not even TR who for some reason thinks the sun shines out of his bum. BTW even if you are addicted to watching speedway from the terracing (and I can understand that) what's stopping you from visiting the bar after racing has finished?

Should have mentioned that one of my memories of WC was a feature on an episode of Blue Peter showing the demolition of the stadium. I was amazed at how much work was involved in knocking down a place like that. Fascinating and sad all at the same time.

Hi there I saw a film on TV last week called "The Games" starring Ryan O'Neal and Michael Crawford. One of the scenes was filmed inside the old White City stadium in West London. It got me thinking about the place when it was used for speedway. While I never managed to get there I can remember reading about it a lot as a youngster. No one ever seemed to have a good word to say about it and I wondered if it really was as bad as everyone made out. I'd love to read your recollections of the old stadium and the meetings held there. Regards, G.

I've done 4 meetings in two days before: May 24 1998 Glasgow v Newcastle May 24 1998 Newcastle 4TT May 25 1998 Stoke v Glasgow May 25 1998 Wolverhampton v Oxford I'd love to see those Glasgow/Newcastle home-and-away meetings brought back, if only to save myself a half days annual leave.

Looks like we're going to lose another former speedway venue. Go here for the story: http://members4.boardhost.com/ukovalracing/msg/7327.html It wasn't a particularly successful speedway venue but I remember it being a fairly good track, quite wide and a nice shape. Shame. Graham.

Super Steve Lawson, Glasgow captain April 1981 - October 1992

Both of them were rallycross drivers. Regarding Martin Brundle, he took part in autograss racing as a youngster but not speedway. His only connection with the sport (as far as I'm aware) was that his dad's garage used to sponsor Michael Lee in the late 1970s.

This is extremely tenuous, but here goes. The late, great Barry Sheene took part in a speedway training school at Hackney before switching to road racing. He was of course World 500cc road racing champion in 1976 and 1977. A better example would be Dave Buttigieg, who rode for Poole in the early 1970s. He changed to karting and in fact was European 250cc Superkart champion four times (1976, 1978, 1982 & 1991). Then of course there was Jimmy Squibb who, like Barry Lee, went on to successfully compete in Rallycross.

A riders eleven took on a supporters eleven at Meggetland, Edinburgh on 22 April 1978. Among the riders were Mick Newton, Rob Hollingworth, Mal Chambers, Benny Rourke, Brian Collins, Alan Bridgett, Steve McDermott, Dave Trownson and Alan Morrison. I'm looking at the photo of the supporters team and the only one I recognise is Norrie Tait, currently the programme stall man at Armadale. Apparently a crowd of 325 turned up. Not bad.

This is probably a question for Belle Vue fans but do you remember the old indoor chopper bike meetings held (I think) in a ballroom near the Hyde Road track? I was just curious because I was looking through an old Speedway Star and it had a report of one complete with a photo of Arnie Haley in flares astride one of the bikes. Who organised them and what was their purpose?

I'm looking for some more information about this one-off meeting held at Chasewater trotting track on Sunday April 17 1977. Details are sketchy although I have seen some photos from it. Were you there? What was it like? Also, does the stadium still exist? It doesn't seem to be on the modern day OS map for the area. Would be grateful for any information, memories or anecdotes. Cheers, Graham.

I saw this mentioned in an old yearbook today. A very odd title for a meeting. Can anyone give me any information about it?