Wackie

Obviously didn't make a fortune out of the sport, although he's still to put up who he actually is and what he actually achieved, offering £50 towards the Ben Fund for a season long entry pass to any stadium in the country, that would equate to what 2 and a bit full admission costs for an EL meeting, maybe 3 PL meetings. Expect he'd want a free programme too!

Not at all as Leigh gave more than 5 years service to British speedway. As for rider who have made good money out of the sport getting in free, they would tend to be stars of the sport who like I said fans would be interested in hearing from or talking to, rather some old 2 bit rider like you!

Wellie was part of the Management Team at Reading then, so not an ex rider getting in for free. He was one of a kind of course who could probably of got away with charging promoters for his attendance at their stadium for his entertainment value. I like the idea of an 'ex riders pass' with subs from which going to the Ben Fund. Even with this though, there needs to be some qualifying criteria such as 5 years services to British/National or EL/PL or a career ending injury sustained on track. Of course you'd never expect the likes of Rickardsson, Ward, Hancock etc to pay to get into any stadium as the likelyhood is if they did attend a UK meeting they'd be publically interviewed during the meeting and adding to the entertainment value in that way.

Oh come on, Cook doesn't come across as being overly intellectually blessed. He's got to remember to keep the throttle open, multi tasking by thinking of what line to ride is probably a little out of his comfort zone. There's a few notes missing from your tune Starry!

If the Don's weren't going to move up, he had to move on. I mean come on, he went from reserve to heat leader within in few weeks after his British League debut in 1990. Best £20k Pat Bliss ever spent

I think the fact that Todd was able to come back after 7/8?? years out of the sport and become a star of it again is testament in itself to what a special kind of rider he was.

Seen the report about Canesten being proud of their continued sponsorship of Stevebrum in 2016!

I think you're all giving Batchelor too much credit. My post was a summary of what he said, it really was a 'don't give a f**k* about what you think, I didn't fancy it, and wasn't going to try'. Of course riders have emotions, but they're also paid to do a job and in this sport if your heads not in the right place your more of a danger to others and yourself. He'd have been better off pulling out of the meeting and Swindon using r/r that night. His whole attitude stank. It was that bad that I now want any team riding against him to win - including Swindon!! (can't believe I just typed that)

I'm not a Swindon fan but was at the first Abbey farewell meeting and was also shocked by Bratchelors comments made openly to a massive crowd that day. Basically it was along the lines of he didn't try during Swindon's home leg of the play offs as the track was crap and after what happened to Ward he wasn't prepared to put his safety on the line. Which is fair enough. However speedway is a dangerous sport and the riders put themselves on the line every time they arrive at the tapes no matter whether the track is dry or wet. It was basically a huge 'up yours' to the fans that day and he didn't get a warm reception for his comments.. I can't see Buster of Rob Lyon putting up with his 'honesty' Personally I think Rosco treats the riders too much like mates and not enough like employees there to do a job.

Wellie is still fondly remembered and still very sadly missed in the speedway world. A proper character with a huge personality, he may not have reached the heights of some riders, but speedway is a poorer sport without his involvement.

Still seems unreal. #RICO

Even more so to get behind the team then. When it's gone it's gone and if the support isn't there now why would anyone invest in keeping the club going, and finding/building a new stadium for the future. Jesus, Smallmead was a tip and I think we had 2 or 3 good years following Per Jonsson's tragic accident in 1994 through to 2008, but what I've give to have that old tip and a mediocre team back now.

All clubs go through times where results don't go their way, real fans stick with it though through thick & thin. Coventry may not have been built as strongly as some other sides this season, but there was hardly a wealth of options available, and even less so now.

Maybe he needs to go the whole hog like professional cyclists and shave his entire body to make him more streamlined

Quite the little ray of sunshine aren't we? Still, as someone else pointed out you won't have anything to moan about when you club's gone. Some of us fans would love to have the opportunity to watch our club at any level, let alone two!

Looks like there's been a bit of male grooming going on in the Pedersen household, but I don't think he's gone as far as botox! So what if he has anyway, who are we to judge??? May improve his racing ability in any case, maybe his unruly eyebrows were obstructing his vision.

The lease was reduced, never quite got to the bottom of the reason. Some say it was because the terms of it wasn't adhered to, others say Allied Presentations cashed it in to keep Speedway afloat during some lean years. It was a fantastic track though and produced some great racing when prepared correctly. The stadium itself always looked temporary, but it held many happy and a few sad memories for lots of us. It's a crying shame to see the land stood as a waste ground now Used currently as an overflow car park for the football stadium and as a paradise for fly tippers! There were plans submitted last year to build on the land. An ice rink I believe, I remember rumours of an ice rink in the town being around for a good 30 years though, so whether that ever comes off who knows. The land allocated just north of Smallmead for the new stadium is now being developed into commercial units (Cheers for that Stadia UK!!) The quest to bring the Racers back is building momentum now though and a supporters trust is in the process of being formed with the support and advice provided from the Cradley fans. Give us a like and help spread the word! https://www.facebook.com/Reading-Speedway-Action-Group-490790471107024/?fref=ts

Brilliant meeting!

Lindback could have kept that if he'd had stopped fannying about looking around all the time!

Thought Magic dropped it a little too easily there

Doyle hung Vaculik out to dry on the first turn, but agree that wasn't a deliberate move that caused the crash.

He's been around a few years, must be early 20's.

Don't need a helicopter, from the top of a step ladder you can see that the sport is unsustainable in it's present form. It needs to cut costs across the board from admission prices to what it pays riders. It would no doubt lose some of the more demanding riders because of this, but it'll lose them all unless it cuts it's cloth accordingly as the sport won't exist in 10 years time! Oh, and from the first step you can also see that it needs an independent governing body with representation from BSPA, SRA and Supporters.

If only Nicki Pedersen was a Brit. We'd have a multi winning world champion who actually loved riding for his country and supported the sport in his nation.

Does Matt Ford really stink of wee?