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Just for clarification, my intention was not to reduce sales of the book. One of the reasons for delaying commenting was to ensure that the period when the greatest number of sales took place would not be negatively impacted. Secondly, this was not a “personal note” that PC wrote. It was an inscription made on a book by the author directed at someone who had paid him £20. Also, someone asked whether Steve Casey’s cancer was well known - Steve neither hid it nor made a fuss over it so I’m not sure about “well known”. And finally, there was a comment about a donation being made to a cancer charity. My view is that a financial penalty or penance is not sought or required. Steve’s cancer is not really relevant to the matter - in my view, it’s the shocking treatment of someone who had worked so hard to effect a reconciliation. Taking twenty quid off him was just the icing on a nasty tasting cake.

That wasn’t the tone of his post- PC needs to restore his reputation quickly because quite frankly his actions have resulted in it being in tatters. I for one am pleased this came out and wasn’t swept under the carpet.

In normal circumstances I would have agreed with Tony MacDonald that personal disputes should be kept private, but this is an exceptional case, and I think it is right and proper that this matter should be brought to everyone's notice, and as someone who has known and respected Steve Casey for over 50 years, I am absolutely appalled at the way that he and his family have been treated, and fully agree with the sentiment that Peter Collins has now lost the admiration and respect that very many speedway supporters once had for him.

Max Fricke was injured! Why do the whingers keep making it sound as though BV made a tactical change? They had suffered in the play-offs before when losing a rider, and this time they were able to bring in a replacement, within the Regulations. Of course, no-one would batted an eyelid if the Aces had been forced to use a guest or R/R and Sheffield had waltzed to victory ... "Unlucky Aces, play-offs injury curse strikes again", etc. As it was, the Regulations allowed the change because of the specific circumstances of Fricke's absence. In reality, Sheffield lost because of Holder's awful performance (and, to a lesser extent, Howarth's erratic riding) at Belle Vue. But that's speedway.

A rider on the decline who is not a particularly nice personality so no great loss really.

I think the moral of the story is "If you don't want the public to think of you as a dick who would viciously scrawl an obnoxious message on a book that a dying man had paid £20 for, then don't be a dick viciously scrawling an obnoxious message on a book that a dying man paid £20 for".

Taken from the new Nora Speedway League Facebook page today: A BRAND-NEW SPEEDWAY LEAGUE - the first for more than a quarter of a century - is set to launch. And it will welcome competitive team racing back to the Isle of Wight. Three other clubs, Plymouth, Sittingbourne and Cradley Heath will compete in the summer-long Nora Speedway League (NSL). The Isle of Wight will welcome back team racing after they dropped out of the National Development League at the beginning of 2020. Completing the 2023 starters are Plymouth, Sittingbourne and Cradley Heath. The Devon team will be a separate club to the Championship Gladiators and the new NSL Sittingbourne Crusaders will race at Iwade totally unrelated to Kent Royals. The Heathens, who have been without a permanent venue since their Dudley Wood Stadium home was sold for a housing development in 1995, will be a fully funded nomadic side, racing both home and away at each of the other circuits. The Nora Speedway League has already attracted a league sponsor in the form of Nora 92 and will be known as the Nora 92 Speedway League in 2023. The NSL is a major boost to the sport’s grass roots and organisers hope it will be a fertile nursery for Great Britain stars of the future. Club bosses have already agreed rules and regulations and insist the priority is to combine competitive racing with entertainment from the minute fans enter the stadium to their last step out on the way home. There will be a number of ground-breaking innovations that will set the NSL aside from other competitions with the introduction of a revolutionary handicap system that was successfully trialled on the Isle of Wight last year. Founding promoter Barry Bishop said: “The Nora 92 Speedway League will help develop riders even further with a focus on entertainment and value. In addition to this, it will be a league to encourage new riders into the sport by allowing them to be part of the meeting from an early stage while keeping a firm eye on the bigger picture of helping riders go on to great heights in the sport in the UK or abroad. What the league is not about is taking anything from the brilliant work of the BSPL’s National Development League; we are here to complement it, in a way that works for our businesses with the product that we want to put on under the guidance of Nora. The Nora 92 Speedway League is a natural follow on from the two successful Nora speedway seasons staged on the Isle of Wight in 2021 and 22, and at other tracks around the UK. Each team entering the league will consist of six riders who will get five rides per meeting. The league will make use of rules that have been tested over the last two seasons on the island to encourage rider development while focussing on entertainment. These rules which deviate from regular speedway will be included in matchday programs but are expected to include Team Manager selection to handicap opposing team riders and rider selection across all three of the last heats”. Bishop added, “We’ve proven that riders who come to the Island and participate in our meetings have shown considerable improvement over the last two seasons and the Nora 92 Speedway League will help develop riders even further with a focus on entertainment and value. My partner Martin Widman and I are so excited to be able to take the style of the Nora meetings we stage from the Island to the mainland and we are extremely grateful to stadium owners allowing us to rent their venues for this exciting new venture. The fixtures will be released as soon as possible and with most clubs, except the Warriors, running at the weekend we believe it is a brilliant opportunity for riders to get on track with the Nora 92 Speedway league for some fun time speedway. We would all like to thank Nora 92 for becoming the leagues sponsors in our fledgeling season and we are delighted they are on this journey with us. Hopefully, the fans and sponsors will welcome the teams to their hearts and get behind them all. We’ve worked so hard to ensure that we are ready for this and websites and social media will be online soon and, of course, team announcements. Hold on to your hats, this is going to be great. Please keep up to date with everything Nora Speedway League initially via our Facebook page “Nora Speedway League”. Lastly, we’re delighted to be finalising the 2023 agreement with Wightlink also and we will make a statement on this in due course.” NOTE: The last new national league competition to be launched was the British Academy League (now branded the National Development League) in 1994. and this from the Wightlink Warriors website: More Team Speedway For The Warriors In 2023 As Founding Members Of New League The Wightlink Warriors promotion have been beavering away during the off season with plans for another summer season of shale track action at the Smallbrook Stadium in Ryde – and there will be an exciting addition to the weekly fayre as the Warriors are in line to be founder members of the newly formed Nora Speedway League. The league – which has attracted sponsorship from Nora 92 will be known as the Nora 92 Speedway League - will feature the Warriors, Plymouth, Sittingbourne and Cradley. Warriors’ co-owner Barry Bishop said, “We are delighted to participate in the Nora 92 Speedway League which focuses on entertainment and value while looking to develop riders’ futures. It would seem that track time in the UK is becoming a precious commodity and we are only too pleased to allow our riders the maximum track experience that we can. Martin and I are just so excited about this, and we know the league will draw on our experience from the last two seasons to offer a new style of Speedway. We cannot wait to get going. The Nora 92 Speedway League will be complemented by a Knock-Out Cup too, and as well as the cup we hope that other innovative meetings including a Nora Riders Championship will also be possible. 2023 looks to be a bumper year for riders, fans and sponsors as we plan our full programme of action at Smallbrook Stadium including the Island Masters, Uprights, Ladies, MSDL, Flat-Track, Pairs, Handicap and more. This is an important year for us as we take the Warriors team off the Island again and we will soon be announcing team members, managers, fixtures and more.” Tapes up on the 2023 Speedway Season is expected in June.

Perfectly correct Chris - Nora's insurance was infact superior to the BSPL's NL with the exception of death when we did the analysis, and underwritten by the same company. I would imagine when other stadiums that also run Nora events, Iwade, Lydd, Scunthorpe, Leicester, Kings Lynn, Redcar when for example Dirt Track Events race there or even their own series of racing the insurance has already been deemed as acceptable by those clubs too. For the last two season everything has worked fine with the insurances when needed and the general feedback by those that needed it was that it was swift and easy to claim (if it is ever easy to claim for such a thing). So we are happy with it, riders can also take out their own personal insurance with the Nora race license which comes in very competitively when compared to other licenses and insurance options. All the best and thanks for the feedback. Barry

The subject of insurance was fully explained when IOW went to NORA. So with an expansion of tracks racing under NORA, insurance is still not a problem as riders will be covered in the same way they have for the past two seasons. If anything I have said above is incorrect I am sure that the IOW promotion @barrybishopwill be on here very quickly to correct me. I wish promotion, riders and fans all the best for 2023.

Perfect. Free speech - lets shut it down immediately. I see nothing but facts here personally - and if you don't like what is being said then you should jog on. It would be a pretty pointless forum if every thread was shut down on the basis of somebody not liking what they read. As a close personal friend of Steve's over many years - I am happy that a certain ex-rider is being exposed. And I know Steve's family feel the same way. There is way more to come out about this but might have to be on alternatives platforms if people like you insist on shutting down the truth.

That's totally uncalled for, and you should apologise. PC was well enough to write a book, and go out publicising it, so no excuse for this appalling behaviour. The tone of Garry's message was clear.

Interesting Facebook post this morning about a new league involving Isle of Wight, Sittingbourne, Plymouth and Cradley Heath which, being headlined as Nora will be run without BSPL involvement.

The Fen Tigers 2023 team is complete! The Mildenhall DJS Fen Tigers, proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery are very pleased to announce that the final part of their 2023 team is 18 year old North Walsham racer William Richardson. William was a regular during 2021 practising at the club after meetings and took his place in the U21 Semi Final as an unattached rider in April 2022. After making an excellent start in his opening race he was clipped by another rider which resulted in a season ending leg injury. Now fully fit and raring to go the Norfolk youngster is determined to make a success of this opportunity. Everyone at the club will be fully supporting William as he makes his initial steps in league racing. William starts thason on a 3 point average. Let's give William a massive Fen Tiger family welcome!

This forum is also the ideal place to chat about the past in my opinion.

You need to get off your high horse, people are discussing matters relating to PC's book (as per thread title) - if you don't like it, move on.

Or...do what Poole do and have both !

It's all down to opinion, of course, but you are asking for trouble if you build a team around two heats (13 & 15 in this case). To me, you are better building "strength in depth" rather than too "top heavy".

I fail to see signing one of the Top riders in the Championship’s is negative.Too obsessed with averages.IMO.If he wins 3-4 heats a meeting ( which he has every chance of doing)he will be keeping the Team in the match.

The point is that it is not a personal note. It was done at a public book signing, PC put himself out there.

Same as most years then

I loved PC as a rider and he was always approachable to young fans like me. I eagerly awaited his book and read it from cover to cover when it arrived. It was well worth the wait and gave an honest, entertaining review of his life and times. I especially liked the first third of the book when he talked about his childhood and his schoolboy friends. However, I have to say that, following the disgraceful treatment of a true gentleman like Steve Casey has changed my opinion of him completely. He suffered a stroke several years ago and I am sure that he still has medical issues. The 'old' PC wouldn't have stooped as low as this, I'm sure. So sad that he has ended up a bitter old man, his legacy is in tatters for me. I was going to read his book again in a few months, now it will sit on my bookshelf forever.

The book signing was public, for marketing- there is no obligation for this to remain private, especially as the buyer paid £20 for the privilege of getting a signature on the night. Outright vulgar behaviour to accept the cash then ruin the book, should have offered a refund and politely declined to sign.

That's true. But frankly the horse has long bolted and it was entirely avoidable with tact, sensitivity and a little foresight. I have long made the case that this project should not have seen the light of day. I am very much on the periphery of the sport, but even I was aware of the open secret that since his brain haemorrhage PC is not the man he used to be. Tony and Retro Speedway, being way more connected with the sport for decades and the many surrounding individuals would have been much more aware of it than I. PC is still a name in the sport, so this always had the potential to be a money maker, but also morally questionable. The former has trumped the latter in this calculation. You can take the financial benefit or the moral highground, but in this case you can't have both. You can't bemoan PC's unsavoury grievances being made public when you created the platform for them to become public. I have been pretty heavily castigated in this thread for making these points and plenty have weighed in to support that. I hope some will reflect now on previous assertions and assumptions. All that said, nothing is ever black and white and no-one needs to grab their pitch forks quite yet.... To reiterate, Retro Speedway and Tony have made a really, really positive overall contribution to the sport. Their books are a welcome presence on my bookshelf. This one will not join them and is a project that was - I believe - a bit naughty. I don't believe Peter Collins to be a bad guy. It is certainly never a reputation he had in the sport in his heyday and beyond - and as a young fan, he was always approachable and happy to sign a programme and interact with supporters. Some of his recent behaviour, I believe, is more medically related and - I hope - doesn't taint what should still be legendary status. Steve Casey I had the fortune to meet on a few occasions. A really positive, easy to talk to, likeable and inoffessive fella. He lived and breathed the sport. He is a sad loss to all those who knew and loved him. I wonder if a way to salvage some of this is a donation from the book's profits to a cancer charity?

Thurrock councillors have unanimously backed a motion calling for Thurrock council to use the local plan to support the retention of Speedway in Thurrock and identify a new home for Grays Athletic FC.

That’s the Birmingham scenario this season with Morris at No1 and the rest could be anything.

I don't think it's for us that's for sure. I think we're going 2.30 under the limit if Tomalin buys the club because Michael clearly wants Holder in the side, @Gasser90 has stuck with the same 1-7 all winter and it just looks a formality at this point imo. Is Anders Rowe on the RS list? If yes then someone has probably dropped out at another Prem club and they've signed Anders as the replacement.

There are probably some in a hole, too...

Anders Rowe is riding in the UK this season and his Championship average is too high to fill any of the remaining team places left in the Championship.

Looking at the SRBF’s “objectives and aims” they refer to speedway riders contracted to a British club or riding for the Great British team. So a non contracted rider, whether that’s riding in amateur competitions or the Nora league, or any other similar events is not included, but a contracted rider is covered regardless of the event. That then would extend to any non-contracted rider riding in UK open events so, for example, the five then unattached riders who rode at Belle Vue’s Peter Craven Trophy last year would not, strictly speaking, have been eligible for support. Fortunately, that was never tested.

Not even for season ending injury?

Indeed it is. But that's because it sold so many first hand copies that statistically some were bound to turn up in charity shops later. I can't say I have any complaints!

Lawson has been aTop rider in Championship for the 8- 10 years.Don’t know where you get your facts.

Oxford have a very good top 3 (championship level), they will get murdered at reserve!

Not compared to Oxford!!

For news of bold plans in 2023, look in the Development League & Youth section of this forum where a new topic 'Nora Speedway League' has been started.

Article says home meetings to be run on the other participants tracks . So the reality is cradled ride away every meeting but classed at home on occasions. It's a start for the league though decent idea

I hope nobody in your family suffers a stroke and you just abandon them because they're not like they were before... that's quite sad

I'm sure it would depend on the rider, I'm sure if Zmarzlik said to Lublin he wouldn't sign a contract saying he'd have to pay a fine if he got injured & missed matches, they'd change it sharpish!

This is a Forum, not Facebook or Insta

Either would certainly be the most interesting signing Ipswich have made since Gollob in 98

Might depend on how much money changed hands, cant think that Panthers in current situation worth much or anything

I never personally met Steve Casey but saw him in the pits at BV and now and then watching last season at Owlerton. I’m aware of PC daft issues about BV but I said on the other thread that what PC did on signing his book was disgraceful and many will feel PC has gone from hero to zero. You did right thing Mr Pairman making this public. What PC did is unforgivable and people should no what a bitter little man he is.

So Newcastle Diamonds live on, well for one night only! Redcar have organised the tyne tees trophy with a Newcastle "select" Diamonds side on the 24th March I think. A good gesture by Redcar and hopefully a few Diamonds fans may make the trip down the a19. No idea who is riding for Newcastle though...

Wouldn't that be starting on -10 then!

Yep yer team manager needs all the help possible

The council don’t really need to spend any money, just force the developer into making changes to their plans. Simple solution would be to give the speedway stadium and large part of car park back, volunteers and sponsor backing could handle the rest.

Sounds good, but Thurrock must be one of the worst Councils in the whole country. How they can be making decisions on such things at this time ? Thurrock Council announced this week that it was effectively bankrupt, issuing a section 114 notice to bar itself from making any non-essential spending as it grapples with a £469m funding black hole. It emerged recently that Newcastle City Council was among a number owed money by Conservative-run Thurrock, which it has been reported has amassed a vast total of £1.5bn in borrowing debt – including £900m in short-term loans from other councils.

Spot on. Very impressed with Glasgow Speedway over the years. All these people who moan/complain about them but I tell you what, if they were no longer there they would be sorely missed. Keep on with your forward thinking and although I am not strictly speaking a Glasgow supporter, I hope they win the league this year. Good luck!

Firstly to say that we at Retro Speedway are naturally sincerely saddened by the news of Steve's death. In my experience he was a very amiable, decent bloke. He was clearly devoted to Belle Vue, had a keen sense of Aces' history, and was a natural enthusiast for speedway as a whole. With respect, Gordon, and I fully appreciate you are feeling very sad and upset right now, the acknowledgement you hoped for WAS addressed by Retro Speedway - PRIVATELY - with Steve direct. An online forum is not the best way to handle such personal matters. I believe Steve thought so too. Possibly unknown to you, Susie and I both communicated personally with Steve, separately, over the book signing matter. Understanding the possible upset caused, we offered to try and resolve things to his satisfaction. He appreciated our sympathetic words. As you rightly point out on the other thread, Steve did read the book and said he enjoyed it. In fact, on Nov 23 he sent me an unsolicited text saying: "Hiya Tony...just finished the PC book and really enjoyed it...was a great read with some fabulous memories and insights (accompanied by four 'thumbs up' emojis)." I obviously thanked him for his kind comments. Earlier this month, he phoned me to say how grateful he was to unexpectedly receive our new DVD, Defunct British Speedway Tracks 2, which we sent him as a goodwill gesture, to hopefully lift his spirits after another spell in hospital, and because he actually features on it in the BV Kirky Kane segment. I hope this serves as the public 'acknowledgement' you expected and that those reading these posts gather a true picture of Retro Speedway's part. RIP, Steve.

In my opinion British Speedway needs to give up on the idea of their rider assets holding any financial value and press the reset button to create a new blueprint vidmate 2019 instagram video downloader