chunky

Absolutely he did. Thing is, coming from a country where speedway didn't exist made it very difficult. He did ride in odd meetings on the continent, but obviously, was more successful on long track and grass.

I know you don't think it's worth more than twenty quid, but...

With McKinlay, I don't think it could be considered "something" of a collapse! 7 points from his first three, and then nowt from his last two. Worst thing is, he couldn't even beat Glucklich, Mucha, or Klementiev in those... I was there that night.

Ron Mountford 1965 - 8.74 1966 - 9.29 1967 - 8.66 1968 - 9.62 Over those four years, his average was 8.92. Compare to some of the other riders I mentioned. From 1965 to 1969: 10.73 - Nigel Boocock 10.31 - Eric Boocock 9.46 - Martin Ashby 9.44 - Terry Betts 9.43 - Ken McKinlay 9.27 - Ray Wilson 9.22 - Trevor Hedge 9.14 - Norman Hunter 9.03 - Dave Younghusband

Here are the Top Ten averages by year (over 9.00) 1965 11.12 - Nigel Boocock 10.83 - Ken McKinlay 10.48 - Mike Broadbank 10.16 - Ron How 9.90 - Jimmy Gooch 9.65 - Cyril Maidment 9.45 - Ronnie Genz 9.43 - Eric Boocock 9.42 - Norman Hunter 9.35 - George Hunter 1966 10.54 - Nigel Boocock 10.46 - Eric Boocock 10.00 - Colin Pratt 9.67 - Ken McKinlay 9.60 - Mike Brooadbank 9.55 - Cyril Maidment 9.42 - Norman Hunter 9.41 - Terry Betts 9.39 - Trevor Hedge 9.29 - Eric Boothroyd 1967 10.52 - Nigel Boocock 10.43 - Ray Wilson 10.29 - Eric Boocock 9.74 - Terry Betts 9.53 - Ken McKinlay 9.37 - Roy Trigg 9.12 - Dave Younghusband 1968 10.74 - Nigel Boocock 10.72 - Martin Ashby 10.17 - Eric Boocock 9.71 - Norman Hunter 9.62 - Ron Mountford 9.58 - Colin Pratt 9.45 - Terry Betts 9.40 - Malcolm Simmons 9.37 - Ray Wilson 9.15 - Trevor Hedge 1969 11.08 - Eric Boocock 10.78 - Nigel Boocock 10.56 - Ray Wilson 10.35 - Norman Hunter 10.33 - Trevor Hedge 10.01 - Jim McMillan 9.97 - Martin Ashby 9.39 - Reg Luckhurst 9.38 - Dave Younghusband 9.35 - Terry Betts

Hurriken, definitely. If you're looking at league figures, Eric Boocock will be there too.

Here are the results I've been able to find. Southampton 51 - 45 Belle Vue Leicester 45 - 51 Birmingham Swindon 51 - 45 Poole Coventry 50 - 46 Wimbledon Ipswich 60 - 36 Norwich Rayleigh 46 - 50 Poole Coventry 59 - 37 Birmingham Ipswich 57 -39 Bradford Oxford 37 - 59 Belle Vue Leicester 49 - 47 Bradford Oxford 60 - 36 Bradford Leicester 55 - 41 Norwich Rayleigh P - P Wimbledon Southampton 55 - 42 Norwich Ipswich 54 - 42 Belle Vue Swindon 33 - 63 Wimbledon Oxford P - P Birmingham Coventry 55 - 41 Poole Southampton 64 - 32 Wimbledon Southampton 48 - 47 Birmingham

Oh, that's so sad to hear. I know he was still very active on Facebook, but I haven't been on there for a few days. Thanks for that...

I'm just trying to work out what language he's speaking...

Make that three reasons... I've often said that they state at the GP's, " the track takes a few heats to settle down". Same with league; if the juniors get out there first, the track will be in great shape from the start.

Great theory! Except that like you, I use Chrome as my browser on my Chromebook and phone, and I have no problem liking a post! Our darts website has been having some weird problems too. We have downloadble spreadsheets that you use to submit results. 90% of people - including myself - have no problem at all, yet there are a few who say they can't download them! I think that there is so much stuff out there that conflicts with everything, particularly after there are major updates. It seems to me that nothing is tested properly for compatability before it is unleashed on us. Thing is, it's difficult to find an answer when not everyone is experiencing the same thing. As I keep saying, technology is great - when it works!

Very valid point. Again, when people complain about the sport's demise being down to the speedway authorities, I am always quick to point out that the lack of venues is just as much to blame. Particularly with the decline of greyhound racing... Ah, the days when speedway was a "city centre" sport...

So, here are the remaining teams by the number of seasons : 12 - Crayford, Ellesmere Port, St. Austell 10 - Kent, Liverpool 9 - Yarmouth 7 - Coatbridge, Crewe, Lea Bridge 6 - Aldershot, Barrow, Crystal Palace, Iwade, Nottingham 5 - Glasgow Ashfield, Birmingham Hall Green, Linlithgow, Sunderland 4 - Armadale, Cardiff, Fleetwood, Motherwell, Rochdale, Romford, Stamford Bridge, Tamworth, Walthamstow, London White City 3 - California, Carmarthen, Leeds, Nelson, Preston, Wombwell 2 - Barnsley, Brafield, Doncaster, Hastings, High Beech, Leicester Super, Paisley, Ringwood, Skegness, Warrington, Manchester White City 1 - Bolton, Burnley, Dagenham, Neath, Salford, Smallford, Wigan

Well, I was thinking about it, and while speedway fans love stats, they never seem to post that particular stat.

Not really... I will post the rest of the teams later, but I didn't want to make a single post too large and unwieldy!

Okay.... So everyone thinks that British speedway is on its last legs, largely due to the reduction in the number of tracks. In 2023, there were 19 tracks hosting league action - the same number as in other post-covid years. Doesn't seem like many does it? Particularly with the loss of Peterborough and Wolves. Are you aware that there have been a total of 14 seasons with fewer tracks hosting "official" (league) fixtures? A few will remember 1958, when the National League dropped to 10 teams - plus a reserve team from Yarmouth. Everyone thought speedway was dead then. It didn't die. As early as 1935 we had a season with only SEVEN teams in league action - and six of those were London teams! Anyway, now I've eased your worries, let's look at how many tracks have staged league racing since 1929, and how many seasons they have run. That last part of the sentence is the scary thing... I've compiled a list of tracks. When a team changed names (St. Austell, Arena Essex), but rode at the same track, that counts as one. When a team rode at different tracks (Glasgow, Belle Vue) that counts as one. This includes years where a team did not complete the season, but rode in at least one official fixture. Track shares are not counted as separate. 88 - Belle Vue 75 - Coventry 74 - Poole 73 - Sheffield 71 - Swindon 67 - Glasgow 66 - Ipswich 63 - Wolverhampton 62 - Edinburgh, Newcastle 61 - Oxford, Wimbledon 59 - Stoke 59 - Eastbourne 56 - King's Lynn 54 - Berwick, Exeter 53 - Peterborough 46 - Leicester 45 - Birmingham, Rye House 44 - Mildenhall 42 - Cradley Heath 40 - Reading 38 - Middlesbrough 35 - Arena Essex, Hackney 34 - Workington 33 - Plymouth 32 - Bradford, Scunthorpe 30 - Long Eaton, West Ham 29 - Newport 25 - Buxton, Halifax, Southampton 24 - Hull, Wembley 22 - Isle of Wight, Norwich 20 - Canterbury, Somerset, Weymouth 19 - Rayleigh 17 - Boston, Harringay, New Cross, Redcar 16 - Bristol 15 - Milton Keynes

A Big Mac?

Jealousy, jealousy... Did ye put your boot through telly in 1966? Bahsta' Geoff Hurst...

I remember we got stuck there one night, coming back from Belle Vue. There was a loud knocking sound coming from the floor of the coach, and nobody could find out what it was. The driver didn't want to take any chances, so we spent several hours, waiting for a replacement coach. We discovered what it was the next day... Someone has nicked a metal road sign for a lark. Not thinking, they stuck it face down under one of the seats. It was dark, and the back was the same colour as the floor. When we hit bumps in the road, the bloody thing would knock against the frame of the seat ..

Very sad to hear...

Seeing as there is no mention of them on there, I would suspect that they may have been individual meetings - or at least, not classed as "international" (National Team) events. The heat details for June 19 are: 1) Harris, Beattie, Winstanley, Robinson. 2) Paynter, Sharples, Caisley, Oliver. 3) Winstanley, Oliver, Robinson (N/F), Harris (N/F). 4) Sharples, Caisley, Paynter, Beattie. 5) Sharples, Winstanley, Beattie (F), Harris (N/F) 6) Paynter, Robinson, Harris, Oliver (E/F) 7) Robinson, Winstanley, Caisley, Oliver. 8) Beattie, Sharples, Paynter, Harris (F). 9) Robinson, Oliver, Paynter, Caisley. 10) Sharples, Winstanley, Caisley, Beattie. ENGLAND Maury Robinson 0 N 2 3 3 - 8 Paul Sharples 2 3 3 2 3 - 13 SCOTLAND Jack WInstanley 1 3 2 2 2 - 10 Milton Caisley 1 2 1 0 1 - 5 AUSTRALIA Graham Beattie 2 0 F 3 0 - 5 Alan Paynter 3 1 3 1 1 - 9 NEW ZEALAND Peter Harris 3 N E 1 F - 4 Brian Oliver 0 2 E 0 2 - 4 It doesn't seem that there was any strict structure, with teams riding as pairs AND individuals, and note the discrepancy with Milton Caisley's points (posted as 4, but apparently, he scored 5).

The meetings were at Cesenatico (18 June), and Rimini, the following day. Both meetings featured pairs from England (Maury Robinson, Paul Sharples), Australia (Graham Beattie, Alan Painter), New Zealand (Peter Harris, Brian Oliver), and a non-Scottish Scotland pair (Jack Winstanley, Milton Caisley). At Rimini, England won with 21, with the Scots and Aussies on 14, and the Kiwis on 8. Not sure about the first meeting, but at Rimini, the 8 riders also competed in a number of midget car races. Courtesy of Brian Collins' fabulous International Speedway website.

Yeah, I saw the photos. It scared me that I didn't even recognise Martin! Briggo and Broady don't look any different, but Martin...

Didn't know that? I'd loved to have been there. I was never a regular at Blunsdon (Saturdays were always difficult for me because of darts), but I always enjoyed my visits. Still reckon that between the 40's and 60's, Swindon had some of the greatest programme designs ever!

It was, and nobody said anything to the contrary. You must have just misread something.