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I used to climb the fence at Armadale. The steward caught me and told me to get back in.

Very smart of Kings Lynn to choose so many 6 point riders - makes it easier for their fans to add up the team total using their fingers

Have you been the head of marketing and advertising for UK Speedway over the past 40 years?

We release the fixtures month by month, currently March and April fixtures are available. You can watch the meetings at any time you like, there is even a feature to skip you straight to each heat. Scores are hidden on past meetings and are only revealed by clicking "show/hide scores" toggle.

Because as a team they don't look the best,,, in fact they look 7th best,,, if you took your Rose tinted glasses off,, you would see that

Maybe Kemp said no thanks,, not for RS money.

I think Ipswich picking Thomson says more about Rowe and kemp than anything else. Bad apples and all that.

As a Cradley fan it has to be Bernie. Was more or less an instant hero at Dudley Wood when he joined in 1969 and gave great service certainly for the first few seasons. Slightly sullied by the last couple of seasons as a Heathen where his appearances were sporadic to say the least. However, I would guess to many Heathens fans of my vintage he is our childhood hero. Will never forget Wembley 1972 and how close he came to the ultimate prize. Others worthy of mention are Christer Lofqvist - always spectacular and in later days Peter Nahlin who made a huge impression in a short time at Cradley.

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/2022-rider-statistics/ If you look at their 2022 GSA’s, Kemp wasn’t a million miles away from Flint who everyone is saying is far and away the strongest rising star. Also factor in that Kemp was riding as the senior reserve despite being on the rising star list himself. Kemp IMO was one of if not THE plum pick, and nobody has picked him..

But kemp is not great round Ipswich for the amount of laps he's done there, so joe may turn out the better option

It’s not a good look for them that’s for sure, especially Kemp who is a club asset. With all due respect to Joe, Kemp would have been the stronger rider, but Louis clearly just doesn’t want to use him for whatever reason.

Because being a ex Coventry fan he's always had a huge chip on his shoulder about Wolves,probably because we are able to go each week and he's stuck in the house watching Coronation St.

Think Ipswich would have benefited from Emil having a meeting under his belt before their first league fixture next week, but from a business point of view there no way Louis would let that happen. IMO they’ll want Emil’s first meeting here to be at Foxhall.

....isn't nearly every Poole (home) match a banker ? (well...sounds like 'banker' ?)

I attended one of Olle's Training Schools at King's Lynn back in the early 80's...a real character but I think that he soon realised he was going to get nowhere with me!

Ollie Nygren was one of my favourite riders and certainly my favourite Swede. His white boots and flowing green scarf got my attention on Wimbledon's first visit to Glasgow in 1965, along with him being prepared to sign autographs and talk to supporters, in stark contrast to the brusque treatment we got from Charlie Monk. And he backed it up on the track, with ten points that night in the Dons 41-37 win. He subsequently won the Glasgow Open Championship in 1966, having finished third the previous year and his booking for the last ever meeting at Edinburgh's Old Meadowbank in 1967 shows the high regard in which he was held in Scotland. Other Swedish memories were more of a mixed bag. Neither Tommy Berquist nor Bengt Brannefors, signing targets in early 1966, were allowed to join Glasgow, though Brannefors actually attended a rained off meeting. Nils Ringstrom flattered to deceive. After a promising start with a match winning second place in the last heat at Edinburgh, his form sloped off alarmingly and he eventually lost his team place. Ake Andersson was much the same, although without the good start! Bo Josefsson improved steadily in his first season in 1967 and had an unforgettable night at Poole scoring 14 points and losing out to Gote Nordin in the Silver Sash. He started off 1968 with a maximum at Kings Lynn, the first by an away rider but was the innocent party in the spectacular crash with George Hunter at The White City and was never really the same after that. Gunnar Malmquist gave the Tigers the run around about signing for them - he was to be the replacement for Charlie Monk - and promoter Les Whaley went out and signed Lars Jansson. He started well and looked like being an astute signing but lost his way as the tracks became slicker and was replaced by Ake Andersson ...and that didn't turn out well!

Ove has been my favourite since my very first speedway meeting in 1960, even though he was riding for the opposition! He scored an 18 point maximum for Norwich against New Cross that night. His sheer class put him head and shoulders above the other riders and he continued to be far and away the best rider at New Cross in 1960 and 1961 (apart from two memorable nights when Jack Young somehow found his early 50s form). There was also the memorable occasion in 1967 when I took a group of fellow students from Norwich, who knew very little about speedway, to the World Final and said I was supporting Ove, and, as none of them knew much about speedway, they duly joined me and did so as well. Of course, as we know, he won in spite of being past his best by then. It was quite a party we had that night! It is still my opinion that of all the riders I have actually seen, Ove is the greatest. His sheer determination, skill and will to win, in my opinion puts him above Mauger, Rickardsson and anyone else. In the last 20/25 years or so, I have come to know Ove personally and count him as a good friend. He is a real gentleman and very modest about his own achievements. He continues to show a real interest in the sport and is willing to spend hours talking to fans and supporters in general. The only other Swede I would speak of as a favourite of mine is Bjorn Knutson. I only really saw him for the one year he was West Ham captain, but, again, for that year, he was class personified and a firm fan favourite.

Doctor, l think.....

Will he be Captain ?

Pretty much agree with all you've said. Riding at number 6 is a lot harder than the RS spot, so Kemp should've been looking at putting a point on his Prem ave if signed.

And I thought that Mystic Meg was no longer with us!! I hope that you never appear on a Jury in the English Legal System.

Kemp was also poor for Wolves last year.

You always get bloody one, don't you..... I was having a quiet pint and went a read this.. Spoiled my night now

There is a reason for that

He loves us lol

Bangers and stocks are still pulling in pretty good crowds, and imagine Spedeworth have a contract for x amount of years at a time. A lot of the speedway stuff, tractors etc went after the Jordon ruination of the club, so think its full time or nothing really, I genuinely think they may have lost the will for speedway but hopefully they'll be a further statement of why, but imagine probably not.

Thanks to you and all involved for trying, I know you know the family but does seem from the outside that all the noise about not wanting NL etc was just a stalling tactic. Wouldn't have been any speedway at Arlington for decades without the Dugards so shouldn't complain now really I suppose.

Yep, we have colour film of them all racing at Smallmead on the DVD.

On our DVD, we show previously unseen 8mm colour cine clips (taken from the Smallmead terraces) of Hasse riding for Oxford against Reading in 1975. He is wearing all-white leathers. He also features in the coverage of the 1973 International Tournament Final at Wembley.

Much prefer the winning option though! I have Southampton FC for the losing bit.

Was the busiest night at the NSS last season. I've got my ticket, can't wait it has been too long!

I'd say the exact opposite. I'd much rather go to Birmingham v (say) Redcar - match that could go either way; than Poole v Berwick ( which looks like a home banker). As a rule home defeats are not good for business. While the Brummie team looks weak away, it might just be competitive at home.

I think for an early season individual that's a great line up. Having a track like that will certainly get good riders to come.

Quite an impressive line up however there was Uno Johansson? Not one of the Reading "Berks" better Swedish acquisitions!

BSN were always streaming it, we just didn't tell you

The first point 100%. If the first happens, that should stop the 2nd happening to some extent. But riders will come for the money, if allowed.

The first Swede I saw ride for the Robins was a young long haired blond lad called Jan Andersson. I was there at his Abbey debut against Sheffield I think. His first ride he was first out of the gate, hotly pursued by Carl Glover, held him off for a debut win. He struggled the rest of the meeting but you could see he was quality. Gutted when he moved on to the Racers, but proved me right as to his world class ability. Also had a soft spot for Soren Karlsson, although never in the same class as Jan Anderson, he was a really good team rider and on his day you felt he could beat anybody. Always seemed to get injured, but a real battler and in his first season with the Robins he was in heat leader class.

Gote Nordin was one of the best riders in the world in the mid-1960s and a big favourite of mine. I watched him cruise to two consecutive wins with sublime displays in the Internationale at Wimbledon in 1966 and 1967, each time against a field of world-class riders. He also claimed second place in the event in 1965 and but for a fall he might have secured a top three finish in 1964. In 1961 Nordin joined Ove Fundin and Bjorn Knutson on the rostrum to complete a Swedish 1-2-3 in the World Final. Between 1964 and 1967 he had three seasons in Britain, averaging over 10 points per match for National League Wimbledon, then in the British League for Newport and Poole.

Good stuff good to see walshie still a comets fan.

As a Don, Tommy was my hero. I still remember picking up the Daily Mirror on the Friday morning to see the headline, "Speed Star Killed"; seems like yesterday. I was at West Ham for Christer Lofqvist's first meeting, and immediately took a liking to him. There are so many others not mentioned here that I remember well; Leif Soderberg, Soren Karlsson, Stefan Salomonsson, Bo Jansson, Bo Wirebrand, Haase Danielsson...

100%... So the "glamour, trophy hunting teams" should compete in the top tier and let the 2nd Div revert to what it once was...

No Torbjorn Harryson? Remember seeing him scoring a 15 point maximum at Belle Vue in 1967 and was the only rider to beat Ove Fundin that night. He only rode two seasons in Britain but was regarded as perhaps the next big thing until he broke his leg in the 1969 Worlf Final and never got over the injury.

As Mr Burns would say...'Excellent'... 2023 Race Suits

Premiering tonight at 7pm sees the last of the 2022 season Gladiators TV rewind streams. Thanks for watching throughout the close season guys, we hope you have enjoyed all the action.

Young Brits always seem to be the fall guys when it comes to team changes.

I'd get that calculator. it's £5,040

[...] Foreign motorcycle racers visited Japan for the first time in 1934, with the initial dirt track race being held at Inogashira in Tokyo. The five-man American team, headed by famed Putt Mossman, had been invited to Japan by the Yokohama Port Festival Exhibition and raced before capacity crowds at several locations in the country during their stay. They put on demonstrations of the first short track racing ever seen in Japan, and the team members became idols, mobbed by fans wherever they went, much like the Beatles of today. The Americans rode Martin racing motorcycles powered by 500cc JAP engines. This was the first time Japanese riders had seen real racing machines, and they soon began experimenting with building racers of their own. Prior to this time, motorcycles used for races in Japan were merely standard street machines which had been modified to the extent of pulling off the lamps, etc., by the riders and their mechanics. [...] This excerpt comes from a 1967 Cycleworld Magazine article "The History of Japanese Motorcycles" written by W. B. Swim. The complete article can be found here https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1967/11/01/the-history-of-japanese-motorcycles

Tbh, your never going to get a worldbeater this late in the day and on this sort of average but it could be a lot worse than Proctor. Get behind the lad at least!

Primarily this is an event is to raise funds for the SRBF, all riders U.K. based that are fit & able should make their selves available to ride in this event therefore if it doesn't " capture the imagination" you know where to point the finger. Personally I don't think the line up is to bad & well done to Buster Chapman for providing the venue. I thank all the riders that have offered their services plus Paul Akroyd & his team for all the hard work in making the event happen good luck to you all on the 25th.

Fair play to Ben Barker, turning out again this month for the BenFund to maintain the only 100% record in the series