mikebv Posted yesterday at 12:51 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 12:51 PM 7 minutes ago, SUPERACE said: There was loads of great races back in the day. Before bikes got too fast. Watch any race with Moran v Nielsen in it. BV v Wolves in the early 90's were some of the best meetings I have ever watched... Both Home and Away... Ott, The Moran's, Screen, Lyons, Ermolenko, The Karlssons, Correy Jones, etc... Brilliant racing, with many last heat deciders... Then air fences came in to narrow both tracks, and laydowns came in to put power down on the track differently... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralMelchett Posted yesterday at 12:54 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 12:54 PM (edited) 23 minutes ago, DJC said: Not quite on the same lines as the other posts but I bought some photo's off Vinted from Newport that were taken on the corner I used to stand with my old man after a few too many sherbets last week. The lady kindly put in a host a of old programmes that her uncle had left, opened the package at my old mans and they turned out to be his old programmes dating back to the early 70s and up to 2004. He'd sold them on just after Newport closed and I've somehow managed to get them back. Great Sunday afternoon reminiscing over lunch When my old man passed away in 2022 I found a load of old camera slides of meetings we had attended in the late 80s and early 90s - it brought back memories for sure! One thing that stood out was just how much more packed the terraces were! Edited yesterday at 12:55 PM by GeneralMelchett 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldPitGate Posted yesterday at 01:49 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 01:49 PM 56 minutes ago, mikebv said: BV v Wolves in the early 90's were some of the best meetings I have ever watched... Both Home and Away... Ott, The Moran's, Screen, Lyons, Ermolenko, The Karlssons, Correy Jones, etc... Brilliant racing, with many last heat deciders... Then air fences came in to narrow both tracks, and laydowns came in to put power down on the track differently... Christ we were spoiled in those days Mike add in Henka, Rikardson, Boyce, Adams, Gunderson, Neilson, Pederson, Knudson, Loram stacks of star riders. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted yesterday at 02:12 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 02:12 PM (edited) 32 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said: Christ we were spoiled in those days Mike add in Henka, Rikardson, Boyce, Adams, Gunderson, Neilson, Pederson, Knudson, Loram stacks of star riders. The Fours were also amongst the best racing you could ever see... Each team seemed to have four top class international riders, with some having five, and some also having a "wunderkind" U21 rider at six in his first UK season... Many would be considered a GP level meeting today given the talent on show... Plus. Each event had three lots of away fans there in decent numbers, giving atmosphere and status to the events... Something sadly missing at many matches today due to a lack of away followers... Getting more U11's, and away fans into tracks should be the No1 priority of the sport.. The kids to get parents and guardians there, the away fans to add atmosphere... Give tickets away if needs be as a "loss leader"... Given so few attend now, the cost will be negligible... Edited yesterday at 02:22 PM by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted yesterday at 02:28 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 02:28 PM While talking of nostalgia ,for me nothing beats the BLRC CHAMPIONSHIP meetings at Belle Vue Hyde Rd. Jam-packed every year+ Fun Fair for after. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted yesterday at 02:51 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 02:51 PM (edited) 23 minutes ago, Fromafar said: While talking of nostalgia ,for me nothing beats the BLRC CHAMPIONSHIP meetings at Belle Vue Hyde Rd. Jam-packed every year+ Fun Fair for after. Over 20,000 in attendance. Tickets bought in March for an October meeting to ensure you got your usual seats.. One rider from every team ensured at least 16 teams had fans there, some in big numbers... Dozens of coaches from around the country .. 100's of bikes lined up in the KL car park (hardly see a biker at Speedway nowadays).. Red shale gleaming under the lights and a crackling atmosphere.. As the night porter said to Georgie Best in the Savoy, when he entered his room with Champagne,on ice, tenners strewn all over the bed from the casino, and his girlfriend, (Miss World, Mary Stavin), relaxing on the bed ready for an evening with the great man .. "Where did it all go wrong?" ..😁 Edited yesterday at 02:52 PM by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSmiler Posted yesterday at 04:21 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 04:21 PM Not a day goes by where I don’t feel sad not having Coventry racing. I really, really hope we can see Brandon back some time but the longer it goes on, the slimmer my hopes get. 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur54 Posted 23 hours ago Report Share Posted 23 hours ago (edited) 6 hours ago, PhilTheAce said: Brandon had aura. Coventry had aura. Poole have aura. Belle Vue have aura. Ipswich starting to have aura. The league had aura make speedway great again I think the only way Poole will be racing those teams, if it is one league Edited 23 hours ago by Arthur54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siggytastic Posted 23 hours ago Report Share Posted 23 hours ago If only we still had a magazine dedicated to the era being talked about! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Shaleman Posted 23 hours ago Report Share Posted 23 hours ago 6 hours ago, The Third Man said: I remember them being on a Wednesday night at Coventry Often on Derby day at Epsom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur54 Posted 23 hours ago Report Share Posted 23 hours ago 2 hours ago, Fromafar said: While talking of nostalgia ,for me nothing beats the BLRC CHAMPIONSHIP meetings at Belle Vue Hyde Rd. Jam-packed every year+ Fun Fair for after. And all the different fans from each track mingling, without an ounce of trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellevueace Posted 22 hours ago Report Share Posted 22 hours ago 6 hours ago, Odds On said: i can remember going to British finals at Coventry, there was one in particular that stands out...coming through the turn stiles and then walking that bit to the stadium, it was rammed and nowadays H & S would be in clover, anyway there was one guy who sorted it all out, pointing and shouting at people to do this and t'other....a speedway character called soldier boy, I think was his name. 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. 🤣 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellevueace Posted 22 hours ago Report Share Posted 22 hours ago 6 hours ago, mikebv said: Brandon wouldn't have served up a race like that... It was always a strange thing for me that what always looked a great shaped track, and always seemed so well prepared, offered up little in passing opportunities... A good many races were "close" but not many actually had too many passes.. Riders like Tatum, Smith and Havelock, who could gate well, and ride very fast when out in front, always seemed to do well at Coventry... Whereas riders like Loram and Screen often tended to have to fight for every single point, riding every inch of the track to often make zero impact on the rider in front.. The Overseas finals were also similar, some very close racing but not many of those races manifesting themselves into passing opportunities... Was it the camber that wasn't banked enough? As the bends seemed quite wide., Or maybe the level of dirt on the track? But it did often seem quite well covered.... The Sunday occasions were great though, especially when Havvy had a bad day and you were stood near the Bradford fans.... 😁 I remember Brandon always being criticised for a lack of dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellevueace Posted 21 hours ago Report Share Posted 21 hours ago (edited) 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? Edited 21 hours ago by bellevueace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldPitGate Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago The other thing I have noticed when doing research and google flagging me posts on this site from 10 plus years back is how many people no longer post here unless they have rebranded, I reckon there is 30-40 of us on here which again is shocking for when you think about what the sport used to be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therefused Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago 2 hours ago, Arthur54 said: And all the different fans from each track mingling, without an ounce of trouble Is there trouble nowadays? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaColette Posted 19 hours ago Report Share Posted 19 hours ago 50 minutes ago, therefused said: Is there trouble nowadays? Oh yeah. Arthur managed to anger some Oxford fans the other week 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJC Posted 7 hours ago Report Share Posted 7 hours ago 20 hours ago, GeneralMelchett said: When my old man passed away in 2022 I found a load of old camera slides of meetings we had attended in the late 80s and early 90s - it brought back memories for sure! One thing that stood out was just how much more packed the terraces were! Great stuff! There were a few pictures of the back straight at Newport and I don't ever remember it being that busy but it was packed out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macky Posted 4 hours ago Report Share Posted 4 hours ago On the same subject I have just purchased a pile of old speedway stars from an antique shop ranging from 1967 - 1969 and the memories they bought back are brilliant. I found the the report for the very first speedway meeting I went too. Wimbledon v Swindon, where a Swindon side with Briggs, Broadbanks, Ashby and Kilby won. From that moment I was hooked. After that meeting we went to Wimbledon regularly until 1968 when Canterbury started. There is report of a meeting at Canterbury against the best of the league with 9,000 watching. The reports of all the meetings make good reading with all the star names of the era riding every week,(all for one team) Briggs,Mauger,Boocock,Ashby,Wilson, Betts, and a couple of promising new comers, Olsen and Michanek (I wonder what happened to them?) the list goes on and on with all the new riders in the new second division. If only we could return to those days..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie456 Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago 17 hours ago, therefused said: Is there trouble nowadays? You obviously never went to a Wolves v Cradley match in the day.Was always a very highly charged and nasty atmosphere which lot of times ended up with fights on the terraces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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