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The campaign group has no allegiance to anyone, and any evidence of “all the trouble the group has caused” would be welcomed. If I in any way felt that what was being done was not being done in a professional or respectful way I wouldn’t be putting my name to it as one of those involved - especially as I am quite openly involved in various ways across the sport. You’re welcome to come to a campaign group meeting, you might learn something - but I guess then we might also learn your identity, which presumably you don’t want to happen.

Ivan insisted on having a say in the riders that were signed and the running of the teams he was involved with. It is no coincidence that Belle Vue, Hull and Exeter were all successful during his time with them. I'm sure he negotiated good deals for himself but his commitment to his teams was beyond doubt.

FOR those who haven't bought a copy or read Wilkie's book, there are copies still available. And, of course, it is helping Alan and his long-suffering wife Jean. Available by sending a cheque or p.o. for £15 plus £3 p and p made out to JA and JA Wilkinson to 7 Cavendish Road, Worsley, Manchester M28 2TQ.

To be fair, he has had a few hits

No, but I did early 80's so pretty close. However, it's not particularly relevant. Here is my view, to explain it in more details. A race will always seem better the bigger the crowd and the better the atmosphere. A good race becomes a brilliant race. An average race becomes a good race and so on. The same principle by definition applies to the meeting as a whole. The perfect example of this is the 81 Wembley Final at which the racing was overall average. Yes a couple of great heats but many poor one. BUT.. the atmosphere was fantastic and as such it's remembered (rightly so) as one of the best meetings to have been at ever. Had the very same meeting taken place in front of 1000 people it would get called a poor meeting in reality. So, in the 70's and into the early 80's there were good crowds packing stadiums across the country. The atmosphere was great, local derbies and rivalries were aplenty. Even poor meetings seemed good because of the crowd. Then came a series of events.. Penhalls retirement, the death of Sanders/Carter, the troubles of Lee.. and most importantly the race fixing scandals which killed off a lot of press coverage and caused a lot of fans to walk away. As the decade went on, the age demographic of the sport continued to rise. As with ALL sports as fans grow older they can lose interest, stop attending as regularly (even in football I know of many who were season ticket holders not so long ago but now as they get older have stopped attending). Of course sadly fans also pass away. The sport failed for the most part to attract a younger fan base. The image of it began to be one of mostly 'older' people and it became less trendy for youngsters. Throw in the loss of a number of popular tracks and their support base (not to mention the rivalries they had) and the problems became worse. As we continued into the 90's and then the 21st century most sports realised they were fighting new battles against other attractions. Many re-invented themselves to an extent.. whereas speedway just carried on with the same old, same old. However now, as the crowds began to fall.. good meetings seemed like average meetings, average meetings became poor meetings. The age of fans continued to rise, the number of youngsters attending continued to fall. Then throw in the weakening of the top league season on season to drive yet more fans away. The 'dodgy' (being polite) way the sport has been run with regards to the implement of certain rules.. all contributed to driving ever more fans away.. which again adds to the cycle. Now what were previously good meetings to have attended become poor and so on. Speedway is still a fantastic sport, it just doesn't feel like it often enough anymore.

Spot on... What so many promoters over the past twenty years or so have failed to grasp is how important that 'emotional attachment' to your team actually is... The riders mentioned (and many more) helped engender that loyalty bond between fan and 'their' team.. Nowadays two random, cobbled together septets riding under a couple of 'flags of convenience' masquerading as body colours, simply can never engender that loyalty... Running a team sport with such a concept and expecting enough of a fan base to buy into it to make it successful is frankly ludicrous in the extreme... Oh for Wilkie and others of his like today...

But at least we get speedway on TV mate surely, got to be better than a slap round the face with a wet kipper.

Well boys when’s your ‘management’ going to pay Kim Nilsson then? disgusting...

Chris Holder will do just fine when he returns to Saddlebow. provided. 1 It’s Dry 2 The track conditions are to his high standards. 3. He is in the mood to be assed to race, 4. No one upsets him or says anything nasty to him... Bless 5. It’s not close to a Grand Prix. Will Holder get back to anything like he was in his pomp or is he a spent force who is on a downward spiral.? Time will tell

Seems to me is if you cannot pay the riders the club should not be in business.

Surely it's time to put the Holder/Batchelor thing to bed. Nobody can change what's happened in the past, so lets forget it, enjoy today, and look forward to tomorrow, life is to short.

VERY few promoters attend Cardiff ... which says a lot really

Long rambling post which offers no evidence to back up the claims. Whereas I can point to every available piece of evidence to back mine up. Gates and 'quality of racing' quite simply aren't linked to any great level. Otherwise Belle Vue would be sold out every week. Scunthorpe, Peterborough and other tracks that we hear have fantastic racing week in, week out would be attracting big crowds. They aren't. The reason the sport is in the mess it is quite simply is it is TOO much like the 70's.

Chris holder will be just fine, he's back home were the promotion look after there riders

Should have got Glyn Taylor in to sort it!!! lol

Wow! Look at the expression on Wilkie's face. You can see why it's taking 3 blokes to hold him back. Great days when people had a bit of passion for what they did rather than constantly thinking how much money they can screw out of it. Anybody who can identify all the riders gets a bonus point.

There is no doubt that Stoke has its faults & that finances are a large factor of this but there are plenty of positives too like the track shape is good, it can produce good racing & the viewing is excellent. What often lets down visits there is the approach from the club. If they had the IOW style upbeat attitude along with a welcoming atmosphere you would find many are far more forgiving. Every year i hope to see Stoke succeed on the track but for them to succeed off track they need to accept the failings and look to address them one step at a time rather than deny they even exist.

Loved watching Gollob at his peak. His strength was how he could race on big grippy tracks which was spectacular and could never be written off during a race. Unfortunately put him on small tight or slick tracks and he looked (for him) a totally different (worse) rider. Mike Lee on the other hand on big, small, tight, slick, grippy tracks at his peak was almost unbeatable. As a Lions fan I hated it! Given the strength of speedway rider talent on display in the UK almost every night at that time it really is a challenge to think of anybody ever being better than Mike the Bike was at his peak.There can be no "he could have been," he was World Champion and top of the strongest league averages by a country mile. Shame he found it so easy, got bored and became distracted/disenchanted with the sport

Danny Phillips it is

A part of the Speedway Meeting Certificate states:- We being the TEAM CAPTAINS certify that all monies due to each member of the Team have been paid as per the Riders Agreement except as listed below.

Always wondered why riders don't stand together more when payment isn't forthcoming.. No riders, no Speedway meeting...! Didn't Captains once have to sign something to say that all money was paid and up to date..? Sadly, you sometimes think that some riders would jump at the chance of taking a guest booking to replace another who takes a (ludicrously unfair) 28 day ban for "withholding his services" rather than standing as a collective to get a fair deal..

There is no agreement yet on the Swedish league being shown on TV in Sweden- C More could well be not interested any more. So until a contract is signed there is no chance of Poland and the UK getting a feed. I believe that all the matches are likely to be available on a pay internet stream- which hopefully at least will mean we in the Uk will be able to purchase.

About £85 k.

Now now, you really have to apologise to the car salesmen and rip-off merchants.... There is "something of the night" about them ;-)

Well said Dave. Keep up the good work, you`re doing a great job.

If I had signed to ride for Lakeside in 2018, having seen this, I would be reading my contract very closely and ‘having a chat’ with the promoter NOW.

We have found a supplier of red shale who will mix it to what ever mix you want.

Another wind up merchant mate Ignore it Steve. There are a lot of good posters on here mate, but there are a few who spoil it for the rest sadly.

Where does the previous poster accuse Sandhu of money laundering? He says Sandhu was involved with a money launderer. That is quite true. The Jatinder Singh Batth quoted in the article was a convicted money launderer.

Keep up with the news dear boy. ☠️

Great news, well pleased. I'm more than happy with the whole set up, nice to see Suzi Perry involved again. BT did have us sweating for a while there, but top marks to all involved for a two year deal, at least we know we are guaranteed viewing for that period. Its now up to British Speedway to show BT they have made the right decision by giving them and us fans an excellent product with slick presentation and good racing. Bring it on!

sounds like the Wimborne Road track will be smoother than Wimborne Road

Surely this is fantastic news

This the UK in 2018, 3rd world road surfaces.

Deal with BT until 2020 just announced.

After listening to the Facebook chat, which is well worth a listen, I still can’t understand the disconnect between the current promotion and the campaign group.Horton says he wants to cooperate with them ,must be a reason they don’t want him on board. i don’t trust Sandhu either he has obviously contributed to this mess. going forward we just have to hope Rugby BC reject the application and the subsequent appeals which will no doubt follow and drag it out for several years.

Well he’s riding for Redcar this year....maybe he wants to get over here and test the equipment he’s brought over

Not sure but I think she is Luke Chessell's girlfriend, she used to do second halves at Sheffield.

major changes at Sheffield greyhounds there spending a fortune on building executive boxes so has to be a big plus for speedway fans

From someone who knew Mike fairly well, it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact point when his fortunes turned sour . It was very clear he had no friends in the BSPA who wouldn't do anything to help his corner. When he won the WC , you would have thought he would have been the biggest promotion our sport could have. Had he been any other nationality he would have been hailed a hero and treated as such. But it wasn't like that. If they could create a problem for Mike. they would. It was very politically back then in that the BSPA wanted to rule the sport all over the Europe. When Ole Olsen came up with this Grand Prix idea, BSPA said no and arranged other fixtures in competition to it. Lee was being pulled from pillar to post. Mike became very disillusioned. Sure he wasn't no saint, but he suffered more than more from petty political arguments. Like when they arranged a pointless 4 team meeting on the same weekend as the World Pairs Comp. Because the WP meeting was rained off for 24 hrs, 6 riders failed to turn up for the 4TT. But it was only Michael who was fined. Fined for representing his country. The straw that broke the camel back was that '5yr ban' that the SCB/BSPA imposed for a crime he didn't commit . It was there for all to see, that they were going to get him whatever the costs..... There was no end to the deception these people would pull. An appeal hearing was planned on the Day of the British Final. With no case to answer, from these concocted lies it was advertise Lee would be riding in that final, But we all know what happened. In their determination to rid the him from the sport, they changed the offence and banned him for a year. That was the day speedway lost the plot. You never kill the goose that lays the golden egg, but they most certainly did. They lost probably the best rider some of us had ever seen, plus thousands of fans who turned up each time he rode. They turned their backs forever....

Thanks for that I'm going to phone in a couple of weeks il let you know how I get on

Christina Turnbull had a set at the Poole fans meeting last night. Neil Vatcher mentioned a few snippets. 1. The second starting line has been withdrawn and riders must remain astride their machines whilst ‘gardening’. 2. Rider eligibility for heat 15 is being expanded. 3. Of the six trainee referees who started in 2017 only three are going in to year 2. There are six new trainees starting out in 2018.

Well, I never... That, for your info, was my first match!

I remember a meeting in 1975, Belle Vue beating Coventry by 49-29. Not much to write home about, it might seem but for two of the best races I've ever seen, Alan Wilkinson and Nigel Boocock going at it hammer and tongs for 4 laps and Booey both times winning it with a last bend pass. Terrific stuff and almost as good was the respect between the two rivals after each race. They obviously enjoyed it as much as I did.

Lets also not forget the likes of Tommy Jansson when talking about special talents and tragic endings to careers, Tommy was a great talent and another who could have so easily gone on to be world champion.

From the way he was during his short stay at Swindon, I would say that yes he would have. There was something about him that I haven't seen in other riders - even Jason Doyle.

Yes, Sidney and moxey are so right. Speedway riders used to be like sticks of Blackpool rock - the name of their team ran through them from head to toe and the team's name became synonymous with the name of their top guy - Ole Olsen's Coventry, Doug Wyer's Sheffield, John Louis' Ipswich, Kenny Carter's Halifax, Bruce Penhall's Cradley and so on. When you pitched up to support your team, you were 99% sure who would be riding for you and pretty nearly as sure who the opposition riders would be - they would be the same crew who rode last time. Now you turn up for even an NL meeting and you are greeted by the mind-numbing experience of guests and rider bloody replacement.

I wouldn't worry about them shooting themselves in the foot... With British Speedway they would bring Stevie Wonder in as the hit man...

FANTASTIC character, real salt oil the earth, under-estimated rider, skipper of a multi-talented Belle Vue side and as important to the team as his more illustrious colleagues Peter Collins and Chris Morton. Fortunate to have a long chat with him at the NSS last year. As forthright as ever. What a tragedy his accident was, not just for Wilkie but also his long-suffering wife whose own life was turned upside down after that fateful evening. Talk about heroes ... Wilkie is one.

Poole..... isn’t it obvious they know a good thing when they see it..... one for the future, unlike one of the past as in ex World Champions who want to pick n choose the conditions they wish to ride in