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Plenty of validity .. i was showed the text messages being sent at the time .. The dispute was about Ford being bitter after losing the final and then going out of his way to make sure Cov never could track the side they wanted . Pure bitterness and revenge at the expense of sport . .Boro sadly just got caught in the crossfire . That winter cause untold damage to the sport

He wasn’t. He and other promoters were tying to keep the sport viable. Matt Ford is no angel but if people knew the truth about the so called Winter of Discontent they would know that he and a couple of other promoters did a a lot behind the scenes to patch up the differences and keep the sport together in that time. I am no lover of Matt Ford , and I have been critical of him enough on here, but credit where it’s due, he understood the sport better, and was a far better administrator of the sport in his time on the BSPA management committee than the cowboy currently masquerading as chairman will ever know how to be. Toto is absolutely clueless about the sport. But of course , we knew that already. ,

For me, it started to decline when 'England' stopped ruling the Speedway roost at international level.. The TV companies and tabloid press lapped up (no pun intended), the way England regularly won Best Pairs and World Team cups, and obviously in Peter Collins had a dare devil young hero that transcended the Speedway world and was amongst the most well known sportsmen in the country. Not only winning a World Title, but doing it in a way that showed just how exciting and breathtaking the sport can be.. Then, towards the late 70's and early 80's the UK started training up many Danes and Americans in particular to take over their previous World Champion mantle.. All of a sudden, there wasnt quite the same coverage given to USA and Denmark victories by the mainstream media, (and why should there be?) However, instead of focusing on getting back on top of the pile by having a detailed, fit for purpose training plan to provide young English riders with the opportunity to progress, the authorities instead then opened up the 2nd Division to foreign riders which allowed them to train up even more nations' riders, who took up team places that young British riders used to have.. And finally as we hit the 90's winning at club level became all that mattered with Promoters trying desperately to get one over their fellow promoters by ensuring that their team was best. Completely ignoring the blatant fact that league title wins for Poole, Wolves, Belle Vue, Coventry etc etc etc had not one jot of positive impact to the sport nationally amongst generic sports fans and national media.. And had lessening yearly impact to even die hard fans when they considered the often 'Mickey Mouse' operating model that facilitated the winners' victory.. Hence winning at club level became all encompassing so clubs filled their teams with journeymen foreign riders, who would then throughout the season get replaced by even more journeymen foreign riders when averages dictated. And would also every now and again unearth a foreign 'wunderkind' on a ridiculously low entrance average which would provide that team with a 'fourth heat leader' at reserve, which would decide so many matches in their favour.. However, the team with the next '4 point superstar' may have cared about their victorious season , but hardly anyone else did.. In short, it's been a crap operating model for nigh on 40 years and if your intention was to promote your sport positively to millions of the nation's sports fans then it was as wide of the mark as it possibly could have been.. However, looking at the work being done around the young talent that's out there now, maybe, just maybe, the penny has finally dropped and a successful 'Great Britain' team will soon be regularly back on the top step of international meetings, with all the extended coverage from the wider sports media it will bring. In Woffy and Robert Lambert the country truly already have two who can compete at the very top, which can only help enormously to start generating wider interest in the sport if they get publicised well.. However. Four or five other World Class riders in the top 20 would certainly add to the publicity the sport gets, and can only have a positive knock on impact to the domestic leagues and their teams..

Great performance from Hannah to finish 3rd. Gating let her down in the end

The demise of "World of Sport" was a major factor in my opinion...although not probably seen as that at the time. The likes of Briggs, Mauger, Collins etc were names that many outside of the sport had heard of as they plied their trade on national TV.

Very interesting to see the replies are all in a similar ball park with regards to when things started to go wrong. It’s safe to say that we’ve been in a decline for almost 30 years then. That’s almost a third of the time Speedway has existed. I’ve always seen the World Cup as being a bit crap personally. Perhaps because we have never looked remotely like winning it while I’ve been a fan. It is interesting to note what Mike says above about us losing publicity when we stopped being a force internationally however. Has the ship sailed too far for us to ever become a force again unless by some minor miracle two or three exceptionally talented Brits come along and grace the same generation. It can’t be a coincidence that our best two riders (Woffinden and Lambert) currently cut their teeth in Australia and Germany respectively. Our representative in the GP challenge, Adam Ellis, did likewise in France I believe? It appears that we are beginning to show some promise with a few younger riders. But is that because they are better than what we’ve churned out before or is it because Denmark, Sweden and Australia aren’t turning out riders of the same standard they used to? Poland could have the monopoly on the sport completely soon enough. That could lead to the sport dying in a lot of other nations and then they’d be shooting themselves in the foot.

Dave, take it from someone who's done the job. albeit at a much lower level, if you delivered the perfect commentary someone will always come out from under a stone to attack. Often it's motivated by simple jealousy. You're right to research and try to get it right. You're doing a great job in very difficult circumstances, so remote fro m the action. I thoroughly enjoy your work. You avoid lazy cliche for starters. Thank you. You're doing an honest job and doing it very well. It's a pleasure to have your company for a couple of hours, although five nights a week is pushing it ;-)

Tungate having a good season. Great race! Yes as a Poole fan, I age watchedKurtz enough to know he is a Schlein, not a Holder. Goes AWOL when it matters and isn’t mentally strong. Having a mare season well below his standard Though. His confidence has taken a pounding. Lindsey is no better than Kurtz.

Independent body anyone?

The only way forward is to be constructive with your criticism. Some excellent posts on this thread, trying to show a way forward. Most promoters will listen, but the arrogance of spectators about past halcyon days of speedway are not interesting. We now live in a completely different era and have to address present issues, not resurrect old ones. Newcastle Speedway this season, would have been a pleasure to visit. All the hard work behind the scenes would have reaped huge benefits. For once look at the positives as they are few, but a way forward.

Maybe instead of linking riders pay to the points they score it's time link riders pay to the number of punters that turn up to watch them, that way they'd be more involved in trying to get bums on seats

It’s perhaps a good move that you don’t sign for your local club as the pressure can ruin any potential rider. The connection with Pipe certainly does him no favours particularly at Redcar but it shouldn’t hold him back in the long term. There is no denying the kid has talent and good equipment but he lacks mechanical knowledge and desperately needs guidance in that area. I’m not sure he’ll learn anything special from ex diamonds or even current Bears as like many, he hates the Newcastle track but perhaps if he wants to get tattooed he can learn something from Kerr.

They were filming at Daugapvils for the Baltic League Round One, involving riders from Finland, Estonia and Latvia. They also filmed the day after the Latvian Championship. As noted above, they are all connected to VRT (main rider Jesse Mustonen), who are the main driving forces behind the Baltic League. It would be rather unlikely they would either be able to, or permitted to, film Polish Division One action at Daugapvils.

If he can learn anything from Lewis Kerr it will be resilience and mental toughness, the way he has bounced back[ no pun intended ] from some very big get offs. Shows he has them in abundance.

Amazing third place with thrteen points for Hannah Grunwald. Never knew she was that good !

Far from that but a rider who has confidence issues. As I said not a fan of his even though he rode for Poole for several seasons. Found he struggled with pressure and went awol when it really mattered. Ipswich away in the semis last season the prime example. He's a good rider and will serve BV well next season and their fans will like him. But never a GP rider and his level is heat leader in the U.K. and second string Extraleague/heat leader league One Poland. Also, who is Lindsay, stop being pathetic.

Seen a fair bit of him. A reserve in the U.K. and rightly so. Does a little better in Poland where you have to crank the throttle wide open. Have yet to see anything to change my but to give the lad a chance I am willing to change my opinion. Had one good meeting when he came in to replace Kurtz, butas faded since. A mediocre Aussie rider, nothing to see here, move on.

He will be a Plane back home shortly.

Lidsey is the correct spelling.He is bigger talent than Kurtz,don’t know how many matches you have seen with him this season but he is certainly not a gating tart, mixing it with the best IMO.

Lodz seemed to have it all last year. Great new track plus some fun presentation - all the rider photos for TV line-ups had them in similar hats, but where did they end up? It would be nice to see their ambition rewarded this year. They've had two solid home wins prior to tonight but three straight defeats away.

Peterborough are definitely poorer without him

Personally I would say the early/middle nineties. We had good crowds at Cowley during the eighties but having a successfull team and a World Champion helped towards that. When Hans Nielsen left due to, we are told, the pay structure that was imposed crowds dipped and never really re-covered.

I started watching in 88 and I would say it wasn’t exactly thriving then so the fall probably started before then, Arena did have some cracking seasons in the early 90s but it wasn’t the same elsewhere where clubs didn’t have very good teams. we have seen tracks close but also new tracks open or resurrected after years away (Leicester, Redcar, Scunthorpe etc) so it’s never been all doom or all great, just going through the motions as best as it can.

I'd certainly agree with that era. Don't forget that was also when the British League ended (1990). There were several factors over a two or three year period that really didn't help.

Lindsey is an average Aussie. I don’t see him being anything other than a grating tart ala Fricke.

Kurt has always been just a gating tart.Shows the GB standard when you see the points he scores here.

They have always had them and unlike Poland, Sweden have a race- off(has your memory suffered during lockdown )

Yes, and i fully expect gates 2 and 4 will be best early on.

I’d say 1989 We had a fairly decent decade in the 80s imo, but the fall of the iron curtain marked the end of the good times. Ok my team Wimbledon went on a couple of years and wasn’t so effected from the rise of Polish speedway.

Brady Kurtz is so overrated imo. His nightmare season continues.

You obviously never seen Kildemand in mid- week.Maybe not world class but not aspent force in that League.Bad meeting maybe,they all have them.

Around the same sort of time, i saw Barnet at Weymouth's old Recreation ground in the town centre. I went to the NL pairs at Swindon afterwards. A good day out!

well you wouldn't want to argue with the people who own Euromarkets i can tell you that

Greyhound racing mirrors Speedway in its decline since the 70's and many tracks can make more profit from empty stadia with racing streamed around the globe in the afternoon, than they do when they have punters in during evening events.. Eventually, especially since C19, there will be only certain ones that last the course and they will keep the sport going.. And given the dreadfully poor press it gets for its treatment of the dogs, and the demographic of its patrons, I can't see it every "growing" again in this country. . And with such a poor long term outlook I would think many stadium owners would see a sale to property developers as an excellent opportunity... Which means that renting a greyhound stadium out 20 times a year isn't going to be any long term plan I would think if you want to run a successful business yourself... Maybe though it's an opportunity for those who do rent the stadia to look elsewhere locally and build a brighter future for Speedway? No rent, and keep the car park and refreshments take etc.. May well start up a bit rustic (eg as did Somerset), but at least promoters will be in charge of their own destiny.. If you are relying on the Greyhound Stadium owners then your destiny definitely isn't in your own hands I would think...

Certainly not open at the moment

It's not closed

Yes, but where did those rumours spring from and what is there validity.? I have a lot of time for Rick Frost.He is a genuine bloke and Speedway is poorer without him but in 2010 he was still a bit of a novice promoter. I noticed as time went on he distanced himself from the Trump Sandhu position. The dispute was primarily about points limit s and money paid to riders. Matt Ford at the time, could have afforded it as Poole were very successful but he good see that it was going to drive some clubs out of business or at least into the lower leagues, which wasn’t going to be good for the sport. It all became academic anyway because between the lot of them they still managed to lose the TV deal and mess the sport up completely.

Will he not learn from ex Bear Jorgensen and current Bears Palm Toft and Erik Riss? or is this just an excuse to mention the Diamonds? Whatever, it’s just a shame to see another north east lad not sign for his local club but I think the connection with a certain Mr.Pipe has soured the relationship and as Pipe is claiming it’s all his mentoring that’s getting young Kelly on an upwards spiral this will never change.

I saw Newport County there in 1983. It never felt like a proper football ground

Excellent news for the next speedway star of the future from the north east Elliot Kelly linking up with the kings Lynn outfit... He will learn so much from the likes of Lewis Kerr & the new euro champion robert Lambert both ex duamonds... So good luck Elliot well deserved and a great carrer move

That may or may not be true but it was also a different time. Neither Poole Speedway or the owners are responsible for the pandemic, the actions of those who run greyhound racing or the local plan. I suspect that many clubs are possibly under the cosh as we live in different times and different priorities and who knows what will be left of the world of U.K. speedway. One thing you may well find is that most Redcar fans could do without your sort of support. You are not a true speedway follower but I guess you have something that you get off on but let us know when you next visit the southern part of the U.K. and those tracks that are left, many will be more than happy to put you right and god help you if you turn up at Poole and are bold enough to make yourself known.

Awful crash but where were the medical staff ?? Not a yellow card incident but holta rightly excluded

No its not directed at Grisza. Grigori was actually tested for fuel for several times always with negative results. If You knew Polish language you'd know that more ppl are interested in testing Unia Leszno bikes than Laguta

Email should come straight away as a payment confirmation mine did

Saturday 8th i think. 1st race 16.15 local time line-up 1. Nicolai Heiselberg (Dania)2. Rasmus Karlsson (Szwecja)3. Julian Ploog (Niemcy)4. Mikkel Andersen (Dania)5. Antoni Kawczyński (Polska)6. Isak Lundkvist (Szwecja)7. Thomas King (Dania)8. Victor Rask Sundboel (Dania)9. Villads Luka Nogel Christiansen (Dania)10. Mikołaj Krok (Polska)11. Alfons Wiltander (Szwecja)12. Anton Jansson (Szwecja)13. Kacper Halkiewicz (Polska)14. Hannah Grunwald (Niemcy)15. Emil Rasmussen (Dania)16. Manfred Zetterstroem (Szwecja)17. Paweł Caban (Polska)

I have updated the results links. https://www.svemo.se/Sporter/Resultat/Speedway/Serier/ (for all results this season) https://www.svemo.se/Sporter/Speedway/tavling/dagenstavlingar/ (today's meetings) http://old.svemo.se/sv/Grenar/Speedway/Resultat/ (old site, results from previous seasons). Svemo have finally published heat schedule: https://www.svemo.se/globalassets/speedway/dokumentcenter/korschema/korschema_2.15.6-7-elit.pdf

I have now had it confirmed that if the home team picks 1-3 in heat 13, Heat 14 will be 2-4, Heat 15 will be 1-3 and vice versa. In these heats the riders in Red and White will always have the inside of the team's gates. (Gate 1 or Gate 2)

Personally I felt it was a massive shame when Buster Chapmans son dropped out of the sport. Not everyone’s cup of tea but he had some great ideas when he was involved, it’s a shame some of the ‘experienced’ promotors never let him see them through.

They have cancelled the FIM speedway Gp of Poland. How about the 2020 lower Silesian Voivodeship GP

Yeah we all know that but when the admin staff are told that it looks as tho that's it alarm bells start to ring louder than normal especially with the new housing development going on at the back of the old pub ( fossway ) & BT site... Could be the end for brought ??????? I wonder