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Although there are question marks against a few of the team, you could have gone under, & the team can be changed if anyone struggles. I'm sure most Diamonds fans would have taken that a few weeks ago. If the new riders get near their average, you also gain a couple of assets.

Bit of a tail for Christmas (s'ok a happy-ish ending with some speedway thrown in). We also had a collie, totally black from head to foot, obtained from a local lowlife who proudly proclaimed the dog was 'too much trouble' for him and was to be soon despatched with a spade. We couldn't let that happen so took her in, had her signed over to us and she lived with our other 3 dogs (lab look-a-likes mongrels, all spayed bitches). Her first 3-4 years with us could be quite heart-breaking as she spent 90% of her time in 'shut down' or 'stand-by mode' and wouldn't join in with the other dogs, so we let her be. Then one day she came out her shell and you couldn't meet a more gentle, loyal, loving dog - the kind you would introduce to people who are scared of dogs, everyone remarked how happy she was. She lived to be 15, never suffered, and like our other dogs who are no longer with us but lived to be 16-17, she died of old age and kindness and we console ourselves that we gave her 11 years of happiness she otherwise would not have (no sugar, Sherlock). Yeah collies defo like long walks, the longer the better, ideally accompanied by a ball. Sorry to 'bring the forum down' a little but to turn things around: we since acquired a sprocker spaniel (springer / cocker cross). Nutshell: spaniels never, ever get bored or tired. Ever. I don't think I've even seen ours sleep. If you feel at all down - consider a spaniel, but get it trained, or train it yourself and be prepared for it to be 100% full-on, 24/7. Always. Back on track; Kirky Lane obviously wasn't ideal but kept the Aces in business between losing Hyde Rd (heck of a circuit / stadium) and acquiring the NSS (destined to Hyde Rd 2, or too soon ?). Stock cars can being in invaluable income but I don't see them racing at the NSS due possible damage to the expensive pitches but they don't necessarily need to destroy a shale speedway track. I was suprised that Scunny didn't get seriously ripped up and rutted by stox, I'm told this mostly happens when cars lose a tyre or wheel or roll over, but at Scunny it is probably also due to the speedway promotion running stock cars and prepping the track for both....

Only when buying vouchers for others.....

Right, that was the lovely Nanae Okamoto back in 1964 - and here are some motion pictures of her riding on an Australian speedway track ! https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVACC3RI6JBIDVE9J2LVYSV237CM-JAPANS-SPEEDWAY-GIRL-IN-AUSTRALIA/query/PRETTY

It seems some Promotions are starting to do some 'out of the box' thinking.. Maybe some actually do come on here after all and we should charge a consultation fee? The next stage for me is a loyalty ticket for those who attend 'now and again'.. Say attend five matches and you get the sixth half price? Five more and you get the next free? Something tangible that you feel rewards you.. "Keep 'em coming regularly" has to be the output of any promotional venture... And when you have punters attending events through habit you are a long way down the road of being successful.. My team have, I would suggest, circa 3000 fans who attend over a season with various degrees of attendance levels, ranging from the die hards to the Easter Bank Holiday one offs, resulting in a huge disparate number from their best attendance to their worst.. Enticing those who attend once or twice to attend five or six times, and those who attend five or six times to attend ten or eleven is the key to overall success.. And easier to get them to do that I would suggest than get 'newbies' to become regulars..

are there any rumours coming out of monmore of a farewell for rory ? he has done more for british youngsters than 90% of british riders so i think it would be a fitting goodbye .

I can't remember posts about who's team gets more loan fees than others, until Poole dropped down Let it go

How the hell Hume has not got a premier league ride next season is beyond me a class bloke on the bike and a class act off it also.ridiculous in my opinion.

Mike Lanham had a chip shop in Ipswich which hes now passed onto his two sons one of whom is Leigh Lanham! Shrimp Davey works at a garage near Ipswich! Ted Howgego owns confectionary stores. Mel Taylor works for a housing developer. John Gibbons owns a plant hire/groundworks business. Mick Hines owns a forklift business. Robert Henry was driving a sweeper lorry!

Rutherford has been around a long time now and at best, is a poor reserve, no future in him whatsoever in my opinion. Wallinger is around 27, again in my opinion, not a one for the future. At Berwick we have Mason Watson, only been riding a year, ex Moto X and you can see the improvement almost weekly, The type of rider I’d like to see the promotion going with, After all it is the National DEVELOPMENT League

#knobheeeeed you'll never get Geordie dialect

Well enough clubs have signed him

Expect Flint to be in

Wallinger would be a great signing on a low ave, don't really see any promise in Rutherford though!

2019 away aves, Ledwith 5.26/5.68 whereas Morley 8.98/9.46, so can't agree with you on that!

Sad to hear this. Doug was a major rider in the PL which remains easily my all time favourite league. So many huge personalities who seemed to appreciate the opportunity of riding after the near total demise of Speedway in this country. An all in it together time. Very different from the mid 80’s onwards when Speedway became very much a “me” environment by all concerned. RIP Doug.

He did beat Malcolm Simmons though!

I often think Jack gets forgotten after Tommy Price and Freddie Williams.

I still think it’s a decent side, but could have been better by using the extra 2 points.

Gutted he is not at Kent, but my honest assessment of Nathan is that he is the best natural talent on a bike since Tai Woffinden. So it would be an utter waste of talent for him to leave the sport, so I am very glad to see him riding. Once his belief matches his talent the sky is the limit imho.

I messaged my good friend, Ross Garrigan, one of Australia's leading speedway historians, to see if he knew the answer to your question. I don't think his reply is of much help really! But this is what he said: "I don't think there was too much organization competitors-wise with the staging of Australian Championships back in those days. Vic Huxley spent some time racing in Adelaide before heading to England in 1928. I seem to recall he returned to Brisbane to say farewell to his parents and then left again to head south at the time Hunting's party was about to leave Brisbane to head to England. Another thing, I think Huxley went back to South Australia after his brief return to Brisbane because he had met a girl there. Probably to say goodbye to her before leaving for England."

Hagon is a bit of a fashion icon in Swindon’s Old Town I’ll have you know......

Is it sh!te!! Once woke up to a ford Escort wedged 8ft up between 2 trees when i was staying Clarkies ( Lee) and the gluesniffers used to play on the noisy seesaw all effin night!!. Eee arr eeee arrr...

Back on to the topic. It’s easy to be down on Kirkmanshulme Lane but, we should not forget that it was the original site of the Belle Vue Aces when it opened in July 1928 and, had it not been there when Hyde Road closed down, Speedway might have been lost to Manchester for good. My first visit there must have been 2003 or 2004 when I was first involved with Glasgow. At that point, I went to few away tracks so my “standard” for speedway stadia was Glasgow Ashfield, Edinburgh at Armadale and Workington. All “serviceable” rather than comfortable. After a rain off at Hull, I went to Kirky Lane with one of the Glasgow riders and was knocked out by what I saw - a fully enclosed glass fronted stand with plush seats indoors. I thought it was properly luxurious. When Chris Morton, David Gordon and I joined forces at the end of 2006 to buy Tony Mole out of BV, I couldn’t wait to be part of the operation. It was only when you saw it close up, you realised how dilapidated it had become, how poor the viewing was on the terracing, and what a mess was made to the track by the stock cars. We were contracted to let them race there in exchange for them making a contribution towards track repairs. My recollection was the payment was around £1600 but it cost us more than that to effect repairs. We had a decent relationship with the stock car promoter - well, some of us did - but the cars, especially the F2s, were so powerful, they cut through to the track base. But that is all in the past. I will be sorry to see the old stadium go, inevitable though it was as soon as speedway moved out. It’s on prime development land after all. People talk in hushed tones about Hyde Road, and so they should, with Speedway being ridden there continuously for nearly 60 years. But Kirky Lane did the next 29 or 30 years, so it was a little more than just passing through. I’ll miss it when it’s gone and hope that, rather than departing the earth completely, some of its soul heads down the road to the somewhat austere (imo) NSS. (I’ll probably get pelters for saying that )

Crowds have been dropping since the 1980's, long before the top riders departed. That isn't to say that their departure hasn't had a significant affect but at the moment, we can't compete with the money on offer in Poland or even Sweden. That means, that in the short term, we are not going to attract those riders back in any numbers. However, there is much we can do to attract and keep more fans and at little or no extra cost. We can improve the credibility of the sport by having sensible rules applied fairly and consistently. Preferably by an independent body. We can improve the speedway experience by more professional presentation with meetings starting on time and a requirement to avoid all unnecessary delays during the meeting. There must be a greater realisation that speedway is an entertainment. Riders and team managers must be able and indeed encouraged, to express their reasonable feelings and opinions during a meeting. I certainly do not advocate violence but the antics of riders remonstrating about the actions of their race opponents or the referee and of team managers dashing to a centre green telephone to let the referee know what they thought about a decision, was often long remembered after the racing in that meeting was forgotten. It certainly added to the atmosphere and entertainment. Fixtures must be run on the designated dates unless there are genuine and valid reasons to make a change. Timely and sensible dates must be set for the completion of all competitions and every effort made to ensure that they are adhered to. Proper training should be organised for those involved in track preparation and regular inspections made at tracks to ensure that high standards of preparation are achieved. Promoters need to work together to find out what works elsewhere in the country to increase crowds and to improve the overall product and where practical, to implement those things. A working party of promoters, riders, referees and fans should be set up to devise and consider new meeting formats that could potentially bring a new audience to the sport.

Was also a female Japanese rider that rode in Australia in the early 60s. Must have been a contemporary of Jimmy Ogisu when they were still riding on dirt. The first female riding Oz dirt tracks since 1928 (Fay Taylour ?)

I disagree with sides bringing others down because they cant afford top riders. people can say what they like but crowds have been dropping ever since the product has been severely weakened. Remember 2004 when they brought the grading system in? How did that go? If a top tier club can afford two number ones then let them, they shouldnt have to split their top end up because other teams cant sign a number one.

Very sad to hear this. I met Dougie a few times, a lovely man in my experience. My condolences to his family and friends. R.I.P. + Dougie.