lucifer sam

Given the huge success of the 1973 tournament (apparently sponsors Daily Mirror gave it back page coverage for the two weeks), why wasn't it repeated? And, no, I'm not counting the rather half-hearted 1975 competition consisting of just 6 meetings and with no final. Was it another sign of the rather blase attitude of the 1970s promoters, who thought that speedway's popularity would stay no matter what? All the best Rob

There will be an Oxford Speedway reunion at the Plough Inn, Wheatley on Sunday, July 25, 2010. It is a free to attend the event, which will take place from 11.00am until late. There will be a raffle, etc and any profits will go to the Speedway Riders' Benevolent Fund. The driving force behind the event is Ann Booker (nee Cross), a very well-known figure at Oxford Speedway in the 1980s. More details to follow. All the best Rob

My team is: 1. Jason CRUMP £50,000 6. Nicki PEDERSEN £45,000 (captain) 9. Fredrik LINDGREN £35,000 10. Hans ANDERSEN £35,000 13. Jaroslaw HAMPEL £25,000 All the best Rob

What's the draw for Saturday's GP? I assume the ridiculous idea from last year of doing the draw on the Friday has been scrapped. All the best Rob

F1 is rather different that speedway in terms of the amount of "gear". The riders all have equipment on the continent, and should be able to get it by road to Poland without too much fuss. All the best Rob

I think it's the 1973 World Final at Katowice (won by Jerzy Szczakiel) that holds the attendance record. All the best Rob

Oh come on, there was nothing wrong with the tactical sub. Obviously you're a fan of landslide wins, but I prefer a close-fought meeting. All the best Rob

Norbold, all you can do is to educate people to the way things actually began. This Darrell Mason chap is remarkably uninformed for someone writing such an article. I think we need an article for a certain Norman Jacobs in that magazine to put the record straight. All the best Rob

If Johnnie Hoskins is God, then Norbold is heading for hell, after daring to question West Maitland's claim to be the first speedway meeting. All the best Rob

ML - I don't want to be a mod, it's too much hassle. All the best Rob

Yep, but given his association with Speedway in Years Gone By, this is a more appropriate place for a thread. A great shame that Harry Carpenter has gone. A real professional. All the best Rob

Bobbath, I think it was yours, mine, Norbold's & ArnieG's opinions that I previously summarised - Cardrew had just quoted it. Interesting that this thread has kicked back into life. Of course, in the meantime, Backtrack have played this game themselves in regards to the 70s & 80s. All the best Rob

And here's a link to Parsloes Park: http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformatio...loes_Park/7dc4/ Parsloes, it's somehow appropriate that you are named after somewhere in the London Borough of Barking (and Dagenham) All the best Rob

QUOTE (Robbie B @ Mar 22 2010, 05:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Could anyone if they have one, either post or PM me a picture of a 1976 Eastborune and Stoke speedway badges. As I want to make sure I have the correct year badge on my website at Visit My Website Robbie, that's a very impressive website. All the best Rob

Rob, apologies for my facetiousness, it's just my manner, please don't take it the wrong way. I'm certainly not 100% decided, but based on the evidence presented so far (largely Norbold's article in last week's Star), I angle towards the ACU-approved "Dirt track" meeting at Droylsden as the first meeting (Camberley sounds just a little too different). Bikes and riding styles evolve, so I can accept them being a little different and it still being speedway. All the best Rob

Hi Rob, I agree that it's not "black & white", but at the same time I'm not one to do a "Kelvin" and sit on the fence. There has been some fascinating some on this thread. What would be very interesting if anyoNe can pinpoint at which point in Australia did they start broadsiding? EDIT: Meanwhile, I've found this: http://www.historicspeedway.co.nz/Start%20...y%20(world).htm All the best Rob

Cyclone, I guess speedway has evolved a lot over our lifetimes. At one time, had people been discussing the criteria for speedway, it would have included "putting the foot down" as well as broadsiding. But these days not all riders do put their foot down. And of course, this harks back to the leg-trailing trail-blazers of the 1920s. So, in this example, speedway has changed back to being more like its original form. All the best Rob

Cinders are important They were speedway's original surface - so the first meeting worldwide and in Britain should really be ones that took place on cinders. So does anyone know if they were broadsiding at the Thebarton Oval? All the best Rob

Cityrebel, I really enjoyed Brighton. I guess one qualification that no-one has mentioned so far is the size of track. Is a speedway meeting still a speedway meeting if it takes place on a 150m track or a 800m track? It would say it was, especially in the days before Longtrack was "invented". Norbold, I realise your enlightening piece in the "Star" plays the probabilities with regards as to what is the first British speedway meeting. Actually, what exactly qualifies West Maitland as the first-ever speedway meeting? What did it have that the previous motorcycle oval events didn't have? Were they broadsiding at West Maitland? Or is this being the first meeting merely an invention by the wily Mr. Hoskins? All the best Rob

Rob, he did indeed, but then nailed his own colours to the mast of the Easter meetings at High Beech in 1928. Whereas I choose Droylsden in 1927. It's all a matter of opinion - what's yours? All the best Rob

Well I doubt very much that it was just sand, and didn't have a good amount of shale mixed in. All the best Rob

No, what I saw at the weekend at Assen was Ice Racing not speedway. And Telford isn't either - it's an abonimation. Speedway takes place on: 1. Cinders 2. Shale Nowt else. All the best Rob

Norbold, you're right - the direction isn't vitally important. The track is though. Wasn't Camberley on sand? Speedway takes place on either cinders or shale. Which means Droylsden is still Meeting No. 1. All the best Rob

Cyclone, we went there during a Northern Tour. I was very impressed. But are brakes (or rather the lack of them) any more a part of a speedway meeting than, say, a stationary start. It's still bikes going around an oval track on cinders/shale - and the riders winning the races are not going to be using the brakes in any case. Cyclone, so what do you reckon was the first meeting? All the best Rob

Norbold, personally I think you're being a little too narrow in your definition. After all, you could also say a stationary start and starting tapes are essential ingredigrents to a speedway race, in which case you can shift the first meeting back to around 1933. Or you could say the bikes should have four values, in which case the first meeting is circa 1975. Speedway has evolved over the years, and therefore a meeting taking place in 1927 would have different circumstances to one in 2010 or 1970 or even 1928. And if you're discounting meetings with a lack of dirt, then I haven't been to that many meetings over the last few years. If the track is oval, the track surface is either cinders or shale, and the motorbikes are travelling in an anti-clockwise direction, then, in my book, that is speedway. And therefore Droylsden is the first speedway meeting in this country. But I agree with you said about it all being down to personal intrepretation. All the best Rob