LagutaRacingFan Posted 12 hours ago Report Share Posted 12 hours ago This brings back a lot of teenage memories for me. Speedway peaked between 2000 - 2015. The decline started when Matt Ford shafted Coventry and Peterborough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sidney Posted 12 hours ago Report Share Posted 12 hours ago 16 minutes ago, LagutaRacingFan said: This brings back a lot of teenage memories for me. Speedway peaked between 2000 - 2015. The decline started when Matt Ford shafted Coventry and Peterborough. Speedway peaked a long time before 2000. The decline started way before that. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LagutaRacingFan Posted 12 hours ago Report Share Posted 12 hours ago (edited) 17 minutes ago, Sir Sidney said: Speedway peaked a long time before 2000. The decline started way before that. Sorry, I wasn't around back then. Edited 12 hours ago by LagutaRacingFan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sidney Posted 12 hours ago Report Share Posted 12 hours ago 1 minute ago, LagutaRacingFan said: Sorry, I wasn't around back then. I won't hold that against you! And I do understand where you are coming from. I started going in 1969, and, even though crowds were much bigger than the 2000's, if I read programme notes from back then promoters were bemoaning the large drop off in crowds compared to the 60's and 50's. I'm sure there are many more knowledgeable forum members who could put numbers to it, and when the real decline started 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebrum Posted 12 hours ago Report Share Posted 12 hours ago On 8/22/2025 at 6:01 PM, Teromaafan said: The only trouble with fans these days is getting them through the turnstile! (…..and I don’t mean because they are too fat). Just threaten to close down and they will flock to the last meeting. Birmingham tonight was ‘sold out’ (except it wasn’t according to fans inside the stadium) and people were turned away. I know, I was one of them. Wolves last ever match I’ve never seen a crowd like it as well. it seems the only thing that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macky Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago Sometimes you remember the stupid things that happen, as a Canterbury supporter four very stupid memories come back. when the supporters on the coach had a whip round to buy Mike Ferreria from Coatbridge so he could ride that night. The time the coach driver was declared as our number 8 at Berwick so we didn't get a fine for not having enough riders, An injured Bob Spelta shouting abuse at fellow Ausies at Crayford and a Crayford supporter telling him he should try riding if he thought he could do better, with Bob pointing out he got ten points last time he was there. But the highlight must be the time Barry Thomas started his bike in the back of the coach full of supporters while on the motorway on the way to an away match. Frightened the life out of everyone including the driver. Good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
False dawn Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour ago, macky said: Sometimes you remember the stupid things that happen........ I remember Rick Miller at Coventry ending up in a race on his own when the other 3 were all excluded. He completed the 4 laps but was showboating with wheelies etc. He, himself, was then excluded for not making a bona fide attempt to race. You couldn't make it up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
False dawn Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 7 minutes ago, False dawn said: I remember Rick Miller at Coventry ending up in a race on his own when the other 3 were all excluded. He completed the 4 laps but was showboating with wheelies etc. He, himself, was then excluded for not making a bona fide attempt to race. You couldn't make it up. And on a related point. If we're getting nostalgic, I don't remember, back in the day, riders pulling up just because they are at back. Bona fide attempt to race? Pulling up on lap 2 and then riding back to the pits after the race has finished! It annoys the hell out of me. There was even examples of this on show last night at Perry Bar. In former times I can remember meetings taking place on wet circuits that would never take place now. Riders would get filled in and then complete their 4 laps, well off the place, without goggles. I think I'm a dinosaur. P.S. I don't watch much league racing in Poland. Do riders "pack up" at the back there? I suspect the Polish managements wouldn't put up with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 7 minutes ago, False dawn said: And on a related point. If we're getting nostalgic, I don't remember, back in the day, riders pulling up just because they are at back. Annoys the hell out of me this does! And we get to see quite a lot of this with Drew Kemp at Leicester, even if you're not going full bore at the back you should at least be on the pace(ish) at the back, who knows what's going to happen to the riders in front during the rest of the race... it shows a really poor mental attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago (edited) 11 hours ago, LagutaRacingFan said: This brings back a lot of teenage memories for me. Speedway peaked between 2000 - 2015. The decline started when Matt Ford shafted Coventry and Peterborough. 11 hours ago, Sir Sidney said: Speedway peaked a long time before 2000. The decline started way before that. For me, speedway's real decline began when they introduced such things at double point Tactical rides and 39 point points limits. I'm not sure when that was now. Maybe around 2000-ish? These, for me, caused a big reaction, and I remember going the following season and being surprised at how much crowds had gone down as a result. I don't think the sport ever really recovered from these "adjustments". The big irony with these, if course, is that it was Ipswich (the team that everyone now sees as the powerhouse strong side) that were very influential in such things being brought in because they were struggling with weak sides. Nowadays I struggle to get through a meeting on the TV. I'm sure that losing my team (Swindon) has a part to play in this, but I really do look at the sport on a Monday night and wonder why it is so boring. Is it just my own interest dropping off, or has it genuinely become that? I grew up loving speedway, and going to Swindon, Oxford and Reading where huge crowds would bait each other and the atmosphere would thrive on it. I guess I blinked and the World changed. Edited 1 hour ago by Grachan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topaz325 Posted 56 minutes ago Report Share Posted 56 minutes ago My first year watching Speedway , 1978 Derwent Park Workington v Berwick... The smell, the speed, close to the fence within touching distance to the riders... Brian Havelock (my first favourite rider), Ian Hindle etc.. Oxo drink, meat and potato pie, Cheese crisps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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