Sir Sidney

Very sad to see yesterday that the demolition of Wimbledon stadium has started. I have spent so many happy days there supporting the Dons. An important venue in the history of speedway is being lost and I doubt we will see a new stadium for speedway in London. A sad day

Thanks Richard, I think Jake has been hard done by here. He tried to do the right thing and has lost out as a result. I'm glad he can move on. Let's see if the rule is enforced in the future

Yes, I was just being a bit flippant - however, depending on just how bad a rider's machinery really is, the method of turning up but not being able to compete might vary. At National League level how many bikes and engines can a rider be expected to have, and what is a realistic timescale for him to get competitive equipment in place if he has had genuine issues? As HA said, the regulations need to reflect the realities at the particular level.

I would think Ond is referring to when Wimbledon were in the Conference / National league,so comparable to Eastbourne now. I find it incredible that this rule has been enforced against Jake Knight (I can't imagine he was pre warned that he would get a ban) - let's see if We get consistency in the future. Of course, any rider in similar circumstances will now just turn up and go through the motions - 5 exclusion s under the 2 min rule?

As someone who followed Wimbledon from the times the team included world champions and international stars, to the Conference League days I can only say that I was prepared to pay to watch my team regardless of the league they were in. My team was My team - and I suspect that throughout that time frame were much more stable and likely to have a greater deal of continuity,Not just from week to week but also from year to year. I don't believe I would have enjoyed the current doubling up rules

I am in the area this week on holiday and was hoping to go tonight + really looking forward to it as I have heard so much positive feedback on the racing at OTA. The weather forecast was pretty poor, but has improved as the day has gone on, and we have only had a couple of light showers earlier today. I understand making an early decision, but it does seem to have been made very early today. Unfortunately, I won't have another chance to go this time

My recollection is that Mike was like a breath of fresh air at Wimbledon. Mike was certainly very different to dear old Ken Tozer who preceded him. It was not unknown for Ken to have to ask riders on parade who they were! I think Ken was happier on greyhound nights Sure Mike would wind the opposition fans up a bit (!) but I think you'll find that, when Wimbledon fans went to away tracks where Mike was the presenter, he did the same to us - which we took in the spirit intended. If Mike was like Marmite I think there were plenty of Marmite eaters at Plough Lane - now cue the Vegemite likers to respond.

That might explain why the lease has yet to be signed (if that is still the case). I don't expect the new promoters will take on a lease with terms that are unfavourable or unaffordable. Manchester City Council may have the 'whip hand' but the new guys could just walk away. Very sad, no doubt but very true - no wonder we are such a minority sport

Whether all the info ever comes out I don't know. There seem to be two main camps on here. Those that say CM and DG knew there was a problem and should have cancelled the opening meeting and those that say the true problem could not have been known at the opening meeting and only fully came to light once the excavations had happened and the real issues uncovered. However, putting that aside, I would suggest that if the proposed new promotion do take over they come with a level of business expertise not seen for many years (if at all ) and I would not expect them to tolerate the shenanigans and manipulations that have gone on in the recent past (nor any nonsense from the Council). Interesting times ahead I think.

Not sure I follow your post Gustix. Post #427, which you quoted in your previous post, suggests plans are being made so that speedway is represented on the last night. What makes you thinkk that it won't be?

Thanks Matt,on that basis you are probably right that the Council Tax income will be greater than the business rates income - even allowing for all the info that's unknown (rateable value of the new stadium if built, Council grant income from central govt etc). Let's hope the Council really wants speedway!

Interesting. Thanks Matt. Is that an extra 200 properties if the stadium isn't built or just the number that are included in the current plans? Sorry, I'm not up to speed with the numbers, but as a Wimbledon supporter sympathise with Swindon fans re the uncertainty. The figures from the VOA website that you have quoted are the rateable values rather than the amount payable (which is roughly half of that). At present Swindon Council only get a % of the business rates,but that % is likely to increase in the next few years. All a bit fluid for Councils at the moment!

I went to the meeting last night, as a neutral. We drove through a lot of rain to get there, with no great expectation it would be on. We arrived at about 6.15 and, given the improving forecast, went in. I was pleasantly surprised that the track looked better than I thought it would. Then it rained for the next hour, and quite heavily at times. I thought that was it - so when it was announced at 7.45 that racing would start at 8.15 I was even more suprised. Half an hour later, with sawdust liberally applied and graded racing did start, and was very good in the circumstances. A huge credit to both teams and to Eastbourne for getting it on. It would have been helpful to have had a couple of announcements leading up to the scheduled start time just to let us know what was happening,but that's a relatively small criticism. I liked the enthusiasm of the announcer. I thought he did announce the r\rs for the first heat. I wasn't familiar with the riders but wrote the right names down! I managed to work out who Tommy B was without too much trouble. Perhaps over time he'll get the balance right, but he'll do for me. The music seemed a bit more up to date that at some tracks - not entirely my taste,but I didn't hear too many complaints. Over all,a much better night than I had expected, racing more than acceptable (and I have seen plenty of worse meetings in the dry), but most of all congratulations to all for just getting on with it. The national league often just get on with it.

Well, actually Alex Hales was probably paid less than some other members of thethe team as he is on an incremental contract http://www.thepca.co.uk/england_contracts.html The key thing is it is transparent. I find it hard to believe that there wasn't clarity beforehand,and it is a sad indictment of speedway compared to other top level sport if the competitors didn't know (or if they were concerned, didn't ask) what the financial agreement and other terms were before the event.

Plenty to do in Stratford and Hackney Wick. It would be interesting to know just how far out the extended roof comes now. That said, I can't see that BSI would take a risk on putting a temporary track in without full cover in the British climate.

I once lined up with world champions Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs and Ove Fundin - at the bar at a VSRA (as it was then) dinner. Where did you do it Robert72?

Wasn't it Tony Briggs,promoting the Wembley indoor meetings?

My simple answer to the original question is 'yes'. If the BSPA wanted to make it conditional that to be selected for the national you had to ride in the British leagues they should simply set that out before the season starts (the RFU do a similar thing saying that if you don't play in England you will not be selected to play rugby for England, other than in exceptional circumstances) but the BSPA hasn't done so,so we must assume they are happy to do so.

Or perhaps that one is a Grand Prix round (as a part of the world individual championship) and one is the World cup (the most prestigious team competition). I'd venture that any rider with world class aspirations would ride in those regardless of who was the sponsor. For what it's worth: I was at Cardiff and didn't hear the comment live. I have subsequently seen the interview. I don't think Tai was wise to swear, and I would expect that BSI / FIM might well have given him a warning. Am I offended - not really - but I'd prefer he didn't do it again. I was at Cardiff with family including early teen relations. Given the music they listen to I suspect they wouldn't have even noticed - which perhaps says something about the society we live in. Should the BSPA have Tai as team captain? Again, I would expect that they might tell him the standards they expect. I would be more worried that the captain can lead by example on track and motivate and inspire his team. I have no idea how his team mates feel about him, but I would bet that they would rather have him in the team than not.

Good luck to all at Belle Vue. I hope to night is a tremendous success and the NSS becomes a great asset. British Speedway needs great venues

Would it be possible for a truce to be called on these exchanges that have nothing to do with the reunion? Jon Stevens has put a lot of effort into this event which is also to remember Tommy Jansson. It would be great if the thread just concentrated on publicising the reunion or sharing memories of The Dons or Tommy. As with so many of us Wimbledon was such a great part of my growing up and I would be there like a shot if a miracle happened and it started a again.

Blimey. I've got a boomerang in my house as well.Does that make me an Aussie or just show that I like Australia?

Hope I'm not breaking any forum rules by copying the same quote twice. However, having just looked at your profile I note you are a Reading fan. Given how Reading lost its stadium to a developer who clearly didn't want speedway and who then didn't provide the new stadium promised (as I understand it) I would have thought you might have been more sympathetic to the plight of we Wimbledon supporters. In the face of an owner / developer who doesn't want the sport both clubs have sufferred a similar demise. Is there an active campaign, that has a chance of sucess, to resurrect Reading? I have no intention with falling out with supporters of other teams, but it does illustrate the difficulty of bringing back sides who have lost their venue. Too many of us on here have lost our teams.

I hope that doesn't include me! If it does then I apologize if I have misrepresented anything. I wonder if you could persuade Ian to post a summary of what actually happened.