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Nobody, but I bet there are a few on here who may sponsor you to stay away. LOL mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Fully understand that, as I've had to do that many times in the past. You shouldn't go on social media and say you know something paying fans don't.

*different

Going by the posters on his wall, it seems the vicar of Grantchester is a speedway fan

Nah, it was spelt correctly ...

I'm going to stick my neck on the line and go with the surprising choice of Jenga. I'm hoping I'm right and they improve enough to actually post something half decent for a change. Prove me right Jenga! As for riders, I think Jake Allen could be one of the leagues top riders by the end of the year!

... and here's a team picture with the Gordeev brothers in the USSR Test Team on their 1974 UK tour http://www.internationalspeedway.co.uk/engvsu.htm Valeri Gordeev (no.1) and Vladimir Gordeev (no.2) in the front row (center left side)

Andy Galvin [even though he went off the rails] and Alan Mogridge were worth the admission money on their own at most tracks. Top entertainers

I'm really looking forward to this season. To have so many NL riders join the Championship league. Good luck to them all., Only one thing would have pleased me more and that was to have in every team 6 & 7 National league riders to even it out.

You are both correct. When i worked at Wimbledon back in the 1980's, they were both working at the stadium for the cleaning company. They were also top riders in the old NL at the time. I wonder how many professional riders combine jobs these days.

31st February

I believe Alan Mogridge (?) did at one time?

Pretty sure Andy Galvin did.

He sold out his Cleaning business pretty early on, and made a lot of money from the sale. Got the feeling that some riders close to him also worked in the company but I might be wrong.

I thought that EVERY premiership club was hosting a round of the youth championship.....

The last club to stage dirt-track motorcycle speedway in South Africa has given up its lease on the Walkerville Showground oval, bringing to an end 90 years of speedway in S.Africa. Operating as a true riders' club, - besides an annual subscription, members paid an entrance fee to participate in meetings - , retirements and work relocations meant that in recent years, as numbers diminished, it had been Flat Track and Quad bikes that have kept monthly meeting going, albeit spasmodically. Yet still the club struggled, with the only the odd speedway demonstration heat in the Sunday afternoon race programme. Even so, these alternatives have not been enough. The Speedway-SA website, originally built for the WSRC (Walkerville Speedway Riders Club,) for result reporting and communication, has been re-built to serve as an historical archive for the 90 year history of speedway in the country, plus an additional supplement added to capture and record speedway elsewhere in the African continent during that time, from Egypt to Lesotho, via Kenya, Mozambique, and the Rhodesias, (today's Zambia and Zimbabwe.) http://www.speedway-sa.com/ www.speedway-sa.com

KLFM no sane under 40 listens to that cack. Radio Norfolk is the only place for Norwich fans to vent, apart from the football it's then just the blue rinse brigade listening. Twitter = 4055 followers, lucky to have a 3rd of that turn up on race night. Also down just under 2000 followers from 2016. Instagram = 603 followers, abysmal for a professional sports club. So, clearly the current media stance of drip feeding is delivering F-all except frustration and turning off the supporters.

'Convenient' Dave ?,,, a dunno, maybe nobody wants to work with him 'full time'

FFS Geoffrey. Give it a rest.

I’ve been reading your guff on here for the last weeks and months absolutely convinced you were an immature youngster so gave you the benefit of the doubt. Just browsed your profile and I’m shocked to see you’re a 54 year old grown man! FFS grow up!!

Wolves Peterborough Poole Swindon Belle Vue Ipswich Lynn I might edit this if Lynn’s team turns out different from the one proposed on here. Actually no I won’t I’ll leave them last regardless

Has starman got relations in Manchester

Igor Baranov. I saw him at New Cross when well-known showman, Johnnie Hoskins, was the promoter. I wonder if there was any connection....

Norwegian speedway rider Edgar Stangeland in the colours of Newport Wasps

... and here is a picture of the Gordeev Brothers ! Valeri is seen on the left side of this picture (wearing the USSR No.9 racejacket) and his elder brother Vladimir is on the right

I haven't been able to get any riders points for 2010 I'm afraid, so this is from 2011 onwards. NORTHERN JUNIOR LEAGUE RIDERS' POINTS 2011-2018 Archie Freeman 239 Corban Pavitt 221 Josh Embleton 204 Kieran Douglas 187 Sam McGurk 177 Jordan Palin 176 James Hitchen 175 Ryan MacDonald 170 Gavin Parr 159 Kevin Whelan 157 Carl Basford 153 Dale Lamb 153 Luke Harrison 150 Daniel Phillips 144 Elliot Kelly 143 Harry McGurk 143 Lewis Millar 135 Kean Dicken 133 Leon Flint 130 Gregor Millar 121 Kieran McCoy(aka Taylor) 119 Ben Basford 110 James McBain 105 George Rothery 103 Ryan Morris 97 Kyle Bickley 96 Tommy Fenwick 96 Jack Wright 94 Luke Ruddick 84 Dan Gilkes 82 Alex Goldsbrough 81 Paul Bowen 77 Max Perry 71 David Morgan 70 Peter Johnson 63 Rob Shuttleworth 57 Stefan Farnaby 56 Mark Mclkenny 55 Luke McKenna 54 Lloyd Ditchburn 52 Joe Lawlor 52 Sheldon Davies 50 Liam Carr 47 Blair Smith 42 Jay Farish 40 Chris Hay 40 Kyran Lyden 39 Sam Darroch 38 Jack Bell 36 John MacPhail 35 Dale Pate 35 Ben Rathbone 35 Steven Morris 32 Kevin Keay 30 Danny Smith 30 Jack Flynn 29 Andrew Sturrock 28 Tom Spencer 28 Brenton Barnfield 27 Jamie Halder 27 Rikki Anderson 20 Gary Flint 20 Beau Stonehewer 20 Ace Pijper 19 Connor Lamb 18 Bailey Fellows 17 Greg Mackie 16 Arlo Bugeja 15 Adam Kenyon 15 Caydin Martin 15 Brady Mudgway 14 Kyle Deans 13 Matt Williamson 13 Callum Gill 12 Max Clegg 11 Daniel Mitchell 11 David Pye 11 Liam Little 10 Michael Neale 10 Glyn Picken 10 James Cartmell 9 Marty Rathbone 9 Montana Jowett 8 Lee Baldwin 7 William Cairns 7 Emerson Jones 7 William O’Keefe 7 John Atkinson 6 Jake Isherwood 6 Alex Wilson 6 Jack Hall 5 Phil Learmonth 5 Adam Barber 4 John Gaskell 4 Rachel Hellowell 4 Ashton Vale 4 Connor Coles 3 James Culbert 3 Dean Douglas 3 Joe Fisher 3 Freddie Fox-Baron 3 Dan Thompson 3 Joe Thompson 3 Ben Trigger 3 Luke Whitehead 3 Luke Woodhull 3 Andrew Blackburn 2 Sam Chapman 2 Kris Forster 2 Archie Wareham 1 Stephen Whitehouse 1 Daniel Woodward 1 Lewis Winthrop 0 Compiled by Mike Moseley.

Remember when Mauger knocked Kilby off at The Abbey, angry Swindon fans on the GREYHOUND track. Smuggled out under blanket in back of Mercedes, to avoid being lynched by the natives! Pedersen v a lot of riders at the Cardiff GP, dirty sod. Andersen v Pedersen was very tasty! Mauger and Olsen were dirty buggers

You do have to respect confidences or requests to not disclose though

Yes miss those Thames Valley derbies, Swindon-Oxford-Reading, plus Newport and Bristol and the west London trips. Also Zummerzet will be missed this year. With Coventry not running Poole is nearest, nearly 80 miles away.

Even more annoying disrespectful is those connected to Lynn tweeting that they know the team but aren't telling. Seems fans are not only second class citizens in the promotions eyes.

Along with a terrific race track which, ultimately, is what really matters.

Speedway certainly doesn't have 10% of the pull it had a generation ago. The set up within Manchester is perfect as is the stadium and track and if this was Poland it would be copied in 10 -15 places. Speedway in the UK has fallen into a whirlpool of disinterest and may survive after the Big Reshuffle in a semi pro or amateur sport. The NSS was sadly born 15 or 20 years too late.

As has been said, the idea of them being one and the same was just a crazy idea based on the western distrust of Eastern bloc nations at the time - and perhaps a little Lanning sensationalism! They both rode in the 1976 World Team Cup final at White City. I think that was the only time I saw them together in person, but they were also in the 1975 final. Steve

wolves ipswich peterborough bellview swindon poole kings lynn [ hard to pick without riders ]

Maybe still a few ripples locally from the opening meeting ? I only mention that being a possible reason as there have been letters about it in the Speedway Star in the last couple of weeks. Always said it from day one: brilliant achievement just building the stadium in the first place....

I don’t think barren years will matter. BV supporters are used to it, and we have managed to maintain reasonable levels over the last decade. Unfortunately speedway just doesn’t have the pull. For the majority of people it’s boring and not worth the investment. The catchment area etc doesn’t really matter. It’s the same for many clubs. I think an average attendance of 1.5k is an astonishing achievement, I really do, given the absolute mess this sport is currently in.

That's about 1 a month No other team has Erik, TJ, MPT or Kerr, so I guess its them 4. Back up for Lambo is a must for me, but very unlikely, and Lewis is a big risk. Lynn and Ippo battling it out for the spoon, i'm thinking. If that is Lynn's team I won't be to pleased. Buster becomes chairman and seems to neglect Lynn a bit. Then buys 2 more clubs an its looking like the Panthers have a great team, Lynn look like they are gonna suffer to save the Prem for 1 more season. After waiting over 50 years, and coming close you would think that Buster would do all he can to deliver the title to his beloved team Lynn.... We should know the team by May at this rate

We have had some shocking crowds when the weather has played a part but the crowds ain't as bad as you think, People just look at only 2 blocks being full in grandstand and think there's only a few 100 there. But in fact there is about 800. And that's just grandstand. South stand is usually full with probably a good 800-100 in there. Regarding finances I don't know much about them but did hear they lost 80k last year. But that was alot less then previous year. They are hoping to gradually bring it down to break even within 5 years. How they will do that I'm not sure as they are not particularly good at promoting like every other promoter. But Adrian is a clever men. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve. And for anyone thinking he's ready to jump ship and they are not committed. Adrian for 2 years has lived in a hotel all week away from his family that he/club pay for. But now he's buying a house not far from the track to live up here. So clearly they are here for the long haul

So from claiming to have all the facts, it's now gone to having zero facts, and it's descended to nothing more than one of those Speedway Star letters... "I've been a fan for 40 years, so my own odd opinion is more valid than everyone else's..." and "I have some good mates"

Goes back to when Vladimir received a years ban after using nitro during the 1971 World Final. Valeri then suddenly appeared on the international scene in 1972 and for a couple of years they never appeared together in a meeting in the west and a conspiracy theory began to develop that they were one in the same...hard to believe I know but I do remember the rumours and counter rumours flying around at the time. If I remember they eventually appeared together in Britain during a test series in 1974...unfortunately the Oxford meeting was cancelled and it wasn't until 1976 that I got to see the Russians in action (Swindon) Good story if nothing else and probably fabricated by mischeivious western journalists at the time!

I'm not but aren't they targeted at your personal search history and interests etc.

Early 60's to 1970 - loved the speedway asa youngster. Visits by Russian and Polish teams, either national or club. They rode Eso/Jawa with "funny" handlebars clipped to the front forks. Plechanov, Samaradov, Gab Kadirov, Kurilenko etc. For the Poles Zyto, Pogoselski, Migos plus other names I couldnt say. The Swedes starting to rule the roost with Fundin, Knuttson, Sjoston, Bengt Jannsson, Goto Nordin, Bernie Persson (not one of my favourites). Seeing Hyde Road bulging when it was British League Riders Championship, and that continued thro the 70's and 80's. Brilliant days. Then the 70's - Britain became top dog, if Team GB had riders now like then GB would be top again. Some Americans on the scene and of course the next dominent country Denmark. The years Peter Collins/Chris Morton burst on the scene with their style of excitement. Ivan and Olle continued domineering, Anders Michanek andHans Neilson adding to a classic time period. Those were the days my friends (I could burst out in song but I dont have Mary Hopkins voice).

At the end of the day Plymouth will continue to have a speedway team next season something which was much in doubt at the end of last I think. New sponsorship or actually any sponsorship is so difficult to get so my thoughts are WELL DONE to the Mark, Stuart and Mattie. Paul is working hard as well. I am pleased to sponsor a heat for the season as I have done the last two years. It's a relatively small amount but if it helps keep my Friday nights going, we as spectators just need to get behind the team and give them the support they need and deserve.

...Despite it's many failings I'd personally rather watch the BBC than many of the commercial stations that continually, and at great regularity, ram adverts than one's throat. The number of times I've ceased to watch a programme on ITV or any of the 'free view' stations because of banal interruptions... and before anyone asks I don't have a playback facility preferring to watch my vast collection of DVDs instead as TV I generally find rather mundane nowadays especially when inundated with sport events that saturate the listings!

Shouldda mentioned Bert Harkins-just started reading his book(great read)-wotta character of the sixties also. Here's another- Brian Brett -any memories, I always recall he was considered to be a cert to qualify from the British Final of 1964 to get to the World Final-and maybe even become British Champ-famous photo of him sitting on the track after his first ride when he fell. Got to the WF in 1965 and performed creditably-went from Swindon to Newcastle and then I think retired-anybody know why he quit so young?

I wonder how many World Championships Briggo would have won if he had paid the same attention to detail, and organised his equipment, in the way Ivan did?

Lots of memories here, I started going to " the speedway" in 1965 at somerton park. Some things that stick in my mind from sixties & early seventies. Nigel Boocock " little boy blue", Garry Middleton, Reg Luckhurst, Olle Nygren, Etc, race jackets - for some reason the iconic Newcastle one, we had a few characters in our wasps team trough the period I remember vaguely a full on fight between 2 of our own riders Bill Andrew & Jon Erskine not far from where I was. The first time Ronnie Moore turned up with the Dons seemed like the return of of a King, , booing the likes of Ivan, Ole but not Briggo for some reason. I m not sure the racing was any better but I think the package was.

Hi Gustix, My Father Fred Taylor was one of the riders in New Cross Rangers team in the match with West Ham in 1946. My late Father had been trying to make it in post war speedway, he had second half rides at many London tracks including Rye House where he had been quite badly injured. He and his brother John who also rode second half races at West Ham and ran a motor cycle tuning business in Sunnyside Rd Ilford. My Dad had moderate success in an injury blighted career and after he married in 1947 he retired and worked as a draughtsman for Ilford Films. Later he worked as a Hornchurch school metal work teacher and retired in 1981 and enjoyed over 25 yrs retirement until his death in 2006 ( 86yrs old ). I was a regular at Ken Mackinlay / Sverre Harrfeldt era at West Ham but also with my Father attended many Grass Tracks which my Dad really loved as I still do. Lakeside Hammers are my local Speedway team now and I have helped as a track marshall/ grader last season. Regards Geoff Taylor

Cor. I remember watching this on TV. Another reminder of age! By the way it was a Provincial League match not a Challenge. I would go along with it being Len Silver. That was my first thought on seeing the picture. Doubt it is Squibby and it is definitely not Olle Nygren. Alan Cowland wore white leathers so probably not him. With both teams having Monday race nights the rearrangement to fit in with TV was probably not too difficult. Do wonder whether there would be such co-operation these days though. Nice thread, thanks for setting off the memories.

I was at that meeting. I don't remember seeing you there!