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https://ipswichwitches.co/j-louis-my-innings-in-speedway-has-been-brilliant/ Enjoy your retirement John

John has given Sterling service to Ipswich speedway as a rider and as a promoter. Genuinely humble and a top guy. I think he should be nominated for a MBE or OBE. Not sure how you go about that but perhaps someone out there can advise as John really does deserve to be recognised. A genuine legend.

So Linda and Martin Ochiltree selling to a known property developer get no criticism, just Sandhu? I'd say the beginning of the end was when that happened.

I can barely hold in my excitement Will it be Riss, Kerr or TJ next

Berwick has 2nd half pits

You must be a bit older than me then. I remember as a 13 yr. old on a Saturday night, catching the bus to the town, then going to the picture house and buying a bag of sweets, Ice cream in the interval, before going to Ruston's fish shop for supper, usually then having to run to catch the last bus home ..... and still had change out of the 10 shillings pocket money...... Wonderful times…...

Charmer

I am sure Henning Loof should be on the list as well.

Has to be the most unfortunate team pre-Play-offs, over a full season. The Play-Off system only becomes important in the latter stages and perhaps being unfortunate in that is like being unlucky in the KO Cup Final.

Every time I see this thread I think, speedway has always been a THING in East Anglia, we are blessed with 4 tracks, it's great, especially now 3 are in the same league

Not 100% certain but Danny was Ipswich asset, sold to Peterborough, then Birmingham. When Birmingham shut after leaving el and closing, then I think Danny became kl asset

If the thread was titled most unlucky team ever you might have a point. Its not the definitive most unlucky team ever thread, maybe set one up to prove your point. There are many examples of unfortunate teams throughout the years, as evidenced on this thread. All are valid reasons.

that's what i call a real fan . to the 'fan' who started all this GROW UP.

Big Al was a legend at Hull too, 1995-1998, many times he team-rode home 2nd strings & reserves....

Asking fans for help with pre-season tidying up is a common thing. At Hull , Craven Park there were promises of tea / coffee & biccies, with maybe fish & chips if the work extended past tea-time, sadly I was never able to join the fun as it was always on a week day. Two local girls regularly tidied up pits, changing rooms, etc. On one occasion help was requested to paint the safety fence, one enterprising chap turned up and painted the entire fence, kickboards on straights boards on the bends, all by himself taking some 8 hours. Refused any form of payment, now that's dedication. Also, pit accomodation for 2nd halfers was roomy, in front of the old dog kennels....

And Redcar.

I suppose in len's defence, he did have staging costs and medical cover to pay for. I don't see how Reading can meet that outlay, unless they have some decent sponsors.

The BSPA would like it to be known that the late cancellation of their "piss up in a brewery " was entirely unforeseen and beyond their control . A spokesman said " how on earth could we have been expected to know the brewery had closed several years ago, you would have thought someone might have told us" We would like to assure fans that the necessary increase in admission charges to defray our loss will be kept to a minimum.

Not sure! If he was, He certainly flew back to UK before Middlo as I've spoken with him since!!

Jari Makinen was the Finnish rider. There was some absolute dud Poles in Truminski and Mroz too.

Pretty sure Danny King was one.Remember watching him practising at Lynn just before he won the British Final and someone telling me he is a Lynn asset,due to when Buster took on Mildenhall.

Hi Glenn, No buses to and from stadium direct, for 7 people worth hiring 2 taxis or one minibus. About 8-12 pounds one way from station. Don't get into Hackney cab waiting on rank, too expensive. Cross Street, office by the station, are the cheapest 01793 232323. Book in advance for minibus. Better to eat outside of stadium, good pubs, hotels, eateries, takeaways nearby. Have bruv in Adelaide, has been over for GP, in 2008. Support Swindon though! Enjoy your trip

Definitely not the way to announce the team to keep fans interested.

Yes the fans must be so excited!! Or are now bored with no news and couldn't give a monkeys what the team line up is anymore.

Phil Crump scored a full maximum against them though! My selective memory has conveniently forgotten what the rest of the Swindon team scored in that match!

Glenn, Best if you byepass and swerve the Abbey Stadium dump and get the train up to Owlerton Track, Sheffield or an even better track at the NSS, Manchester...worth the effort mate as they are two of the best speedway tracks in the world....IMO.

Back in '65 I had just started my working life as a trainee engineer at the Sugar factory. One dinner time, I cold hear this noise of bikes racing nearby. We followed the train lines to investigate the appealing sound. At the back of the old greyhound site, we squeezed through a small opening in the derelict tin fence to witness 2 small men dressed in black leathers racing around a black cinder track. The smell was so amazing, it was so intoxicating, it rekindled my love for speedway that had been lost since the 'Firs had closed some years back... One of those men was Cyril Crane, time disappeared as we talked of his idea to bring the sport alive in Kings Lynn. He gave me an open invitation to the site whenever I wanted to come. (Very nice man) This was the start of love affair with the Stars that had lasted over 50 years... By the time I got back to work it was gone 3. I got a right ole boll.…ing but they put it down to youth and ignorance of time. Fortunately, I got away with a warning...

Jan Graversen Chris Schramm Kasper Wortmanm think that was his name ? there was a Finnish rider can’t remember his name think there was a Pole as well - Jason King which he sold on I think to Newcastle- there was others as well who I can’t remember there names

I can't say I am surprised that T Balfe has withdrawn there team sponsorship , hardly surprising when we supposedly have 3 promoters who don't communicate with each other and do not even communicate with supporters at social nights, sounds like all 3 promoters have been gagged and only the lapdog team manager is allowed to make official statements after they have been verified by Chapman .

So you're saying a team who didn't finish top of the regular standings can't be the most unlucky team ever? That would rule out Wolves '93, as well as many of the other leading candidates, such as Belle Vue '78, Harringay '53 and Cradley Heath '82. Not sure I agree with you there.

Seem to be AWOL from the website: MAIN TEAM SPONSORS - TO BE CONFIRMED - WATCH THIS SPACE.. so looks like a good initial spot

My best days at Lynn were when you could stand next to the fence, some days I would go early just to get next to the boards. I started in 72 at the age of 8.... 7 mile round walk with my Dad. We did it for years, getting chips on the way home from the chippy off of Saddlebow road. Big crowds back then. Later I think there was a single metal bar preventing you from getting to the boards, That we used to walk over,then a wooden one, then a big wire one.

After 98 along came the lesser known at the time east anglian elite league team containing Crump, Sullivan and the unsung Tesar to win the EL Championship, KO Cup, Craven Shield and provide the riders champion and all with around half of the team that dominated the Premier League the season before those were the days when speedway was proper speedway

if they leave before the closure that could affect their redundancy payment, hopefully Honda will do the decent thing and honour any redundancy payments for any worker who successfully finds alternative employment. Either way I wish all involved the very best of luck in finding a new job.

If ever i get married again( never) will try it in shorts lol long and happy times to both .

The cars Hans Kirimar designed are called "Rebels" and they race on both shale and tarmac tracks around the country. Their 2019 fixture list has 23 dates including dates at Stoke and Mildenhall. The Rebels would never have been run on a track bigger than a quarter of a mile as with 750cc Reliant engines they would run out of revs long before the end of the straights. They are a contact class which are probably more fun to drive than watch although I have seen some very good races from them.

Back on topic and I think it is crystal clear from the article and other comments over the years that what Godfrey really doesn't ever want is one big League, I have always thought he sees the Championship as a Northern League and the Premier as a Midland ( south of Belle Vue) /Southern League and probably wants an 8/8 9/9 type split and 2 home and 2 away. I'm not sure how close he and Buster are, but it looks a bit of a dictatorship at the moment The fact that it took so long apparently for Birmingham and Eastbourne to be ratified to the CL in the winter and in that 5 page article he could not mention Somerset; Birmingham or Eastbourne once again proves the point. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2019 and what the reaction to either One Big league or a North/South split is in 2020 as it seems a few Clubs already "hanging on" like Redcar / Newcastle (Nissan) and Swindon (Honda) plus others in Midlands (Wolves / Birmingham / Leicester) could be hit by sudden collapse in Car Industry and associated supply chains; and any even small loss of core support could impact on pretty much every Team, with very few exceptions.

In 2008 Birmingham had a team that was many peoples pick to walk the premier league. With the likes of Kyle Legault, Adam Roynon, Phil Morris, Jason Lyons I think that was a reasonable prediction. However 13 injuries in that season put paid to that and the team (from memory) finished one of the bottom. Not a lot of luck there.

Brando, Middlo, Lemmo and all the Holders were in attendance plus many many more.

Len sold them a stadium that needed upgrading, true. My understanding is that all the electrics for example needed to be replaced. But did they need to replace all the fencing? Rip out all the red seats? Did they HAVE to replace the pits with a super size version? Rip out the long bar? Fine if the 'dealership' was immediately going to increase their revenue, but.... Are we saying that any business plan they had was scuppered by fixed race nights? The 'turkey' had provided speedway for years, to a certain standard. BMR seemingly had the best intentions, but got it horribly wrong.....

What a fantastic post, hats off to you SS and massive congrats to Darcy and his missus.

ive never understood the need for all riders to have the same set of kevlars and team suits so i get why Poole dont do it. I always remember as a young lad going to Rye House and Ipswich and buying the little riders toys and racing them on the kitchen table..........Cox in black and white checks....Naylor all black. Mullarkey in white and red..........Preben Eriksen all yellow......John Cook in grey........Siggy in white with the stars and stripes...........different leathers made it more fun for me back then and i still prefer it that way....dont like everyone decked out in the same stuff.......just my opinion

Whilst i agree with the racing side of it,i also think as it's a team sport you should all look the same like in every other team sport.People moan and groan about speedway being stuck in the 70's and 80's well having no team kevlars is one that is still from that era.

Agree Czech golden helmet is a big accolade scotty finished in the top 10 in the world on 4 occasions and has a record number of British titlesI really don’t see that as underachieving

It shows how times have changed. When the NSS opened fans sitting in the section of the grandstand closest to the first bend complained about being hit by shale. Notices had to be put up warning of the danger.

When will fans realise that once they have paid their money they serve no useful purpose

T Balfe no longer team sponsors