brianbuck

I agree that both riders have an exceptional talent and can go on to make real names for themselves. At the moment, Wilson-Dean probably has the edge, but it has to be remembered that Zach Wajtknecht (I've learned to spell it correctly now!!) is such a lightweight and doesn't look any older than about 12, so when he is crowded, he is easily shunted out of the way. When in a couple of years time he gains a man's strength, he will be awesome. I wish both riders the very best of luck for the future and feel sure that they would both prefer to get on with their racing rather than be the subject of comparisons which don't really mean that much at this stage of their careers.

Most of the races which are halted after a rider has made a so-called "perfect " are stopped because the referee has seen the rider "creeping" and wants to avoid a prolonged delay whilst the broken tapes are replaced - so he raises the gate and straight away puts on the red light. The way to combat this in my opinion, is for the tapes to be released not by the referee, but by a starter who should be positioned where he cannot see the riders and the riders cannot see him, and on a signal from the referee that the riders are ready, he would raise the tapes, varying the time he waits, from race to race. The referee can then give all his attention to watching for movement on the line - and any rider who moves before the race is started should be excluded with no warning. Additionally, when a rider is excluded for a starting offence (or for failing to meet the 2 minute time allowance for that matter), there should be no reserve replacement or 15 metre handicap. At present, many riders consider a rolling start is worth a try but with this system, they would soon latch on that the risk was too great and that they would be liable to a pasting from their team manager when they returned to the pits instead of being encouraged to try it on again as they often are now. As several posters have said, there is no need for new rules - just some consistent firm action from the referees.

It is - and it was! I think most people will feel that Martin's assessment is a bit unfair - but he is entitled to his opinion and I am sorry that he doesn't feel that he has had his moneysworth, but different people appreciate different things and from his comments I presume that he found last season's succession of runaway wins highly entertaining! In several of the races this season, the riders have been well strung out but we have to bear in mind that every National League club is currently tracking three 3-pointers who are experiencewise, some distance away from being able to compete with their more experienced opponents. This was illustrated last night by the fact that Coventry's two reserves were way off the pace as were a couple of the Cradley riders. As the season progresses, these riders will begin to improve and the races in which they compete will then become closer but this is going to take time and patience. This isn't a criticism and I think most people will agree that the decision to slash the points limit and thereby force clubs to bring in these newcomers, will pay dividends in the long run.

There is a local bye-law which forbids the use of the stadium for any activity which is betting related, so although Perry Barr normally stages Friday night Greyhound Racing, they can't run on Good Friday. This is the only reason that the stadium landlords allow speedway there on this particular Friday.

There was a rule which prevented the use of rider-replacement for a rider who had not previously ridden for a club. Has this rule been scrapped?

I've absolutely no objection to the Cradley Heath supporters calling the stadium Perry Wood or anything else. What's in a name anyway? As other posters have said, although we are separate promotions, we are absolutely dependent on each other - on the track we are rivals of course - and that is good for the sport - but in every other respect we have to work together for our common good. There are a few "headless" supporters at every track - and on the odd occasion, Cradley's few have given the remainder an undeserved reputation of being poor losers, but there was certainly no evidence of that last Wednesday when all of the Cradley people I spoke to after the match were gracious in defeat and generous in their praise of the quality of the meeting. Understandably, they were disappointed to see the end of a long succession of Cradley wins - who wouldn't be, but in reality, there wasn't a loser in sight last Wednesday. Birmingham snatched the win from a humdinger of a match which could easily have gone either way, but Cradley deservedly won the trophy by virtue of that awesome performance the previous Wednesday, and I heartily congratulate the Heathens on that. We all want Cradley back in a stadium of their own, but we have to recognise that to achieve this will take time and infinite patience, but in the intervening time, let's be thankful that we both have a club to follow and as far as is possible, let's support each other. Uk Martin's scheme for hounding the councillors might seem logical, but these people are all the same. They will just tell us what they think we want to hear and then come up with all the usual excuses after they have been elected. The way Dudley Council have treated Cradley Heath Speedway is an absolute disgrace.

There really isn't the need for supporters to keep sniping at each other on this forum. Several people from both Birmingham and Cradley Heath have worked exceptionally hard to try to make this ground share operation work so the very least we can do as supporters, is give our full backing to it. Let's remember that this plan needs both of our clubs to be successful - if one of them fails then the other one couldn't survive on their own. So why try to sully the memory of a terrific meeting last night, by trying to score silly points off each other?

If you take your own food and spead it out over one of the the tables in the restaurant/bar then you can expect the GRA to pick up on it and enforce their rule - which is no different to any hotel or restaurant - none of them allow people to consume their own food. On the other hand, if you take your own sandwiches or snacks and eat them on the terraces without making a big show of it, no one will take any notice. That's what I do, and it's just a matter of being sensible about it. The GRA's food and drink prices are legendary. No one is happy about this including the stadium staff - but they have no option but to charge the prices that their London masters say they have to. They could have made a killing last Wednesday if their prices had been realistic and when there was a corker of a crowd, so perhaps if people didn't buy food or drink at their inflated prices, the message might sink in. Paying up and then griping about the costs in this forum will get us nowhere.

I am very sorry to learn of the passing of Bryan. I never met him but exchanged much correspondence with him over the years and am well aware of his love and affection for Norwich Speedway, and it was very sad for him to have his hopes for a new track in the City shattered just a years or so ago when the prospects looked to be so promising. A very genuine and loyal enthusiast. May he rest in the peace of the Lord.

I also think that many referees are more lenient with National League riders - and longer-term I don't think this is helping them (the riders that is). It's just encouraging them to pick up a habit they will find difficult to break. The rules should be rigid regardless of the ability level of the competitors. Yes, sometimes excluding a rider does spoil a potentially good race, but a lot more scope for good races is created if the riders know exactly where they stand with the rules - and this isn't so at the moment.

My very best wishes to the people who have worked so hard to bring speedway back to Oxford. May their efforts be suitably rewarded with a new team next season. It's my belief that Oxford is well ready for a speedway resumption and that it will be well supported, and my own recommendation would be to go for the National League which is the place I think that speedway stands the best chance of stabilising itself and creating itself a platform from which to expand again. I'm sorry to say that I haven't been to Oxford Speedway since Good Friday 1958 (the night that Jack Young made his British comeback with Coventry and won the meeting with 14 points) but I'd certainly try and get there again if the Cheetahs do make it back.

Adam Kirby completes the Birmingham team.

My enjoyment of a number of the National League matches I watched last season was spoiled by the increasing number of riders who seemed to set out to try and jump the start - and far too often they were allowed to get away with it! Referees' seemed to me to be a lot more lenient with the creepers than they are at Premier and Elite League level, and apart from spoiling some of the races, this is in my view, encouraging young riders to pick up a habit that can be difficult to break, so hopefully, referees at National League matches will tighten up on starting procedures next season, and come down hard on the riders who won't toe the line.

Just been announced - latest Birmingham recruit is Alex Wilson - another 16-year old.

The chief planning officer has discretionary powers to allow one-off variations of the planning conditions when a sufficiently good case for doing so is made to him. This was sought and granted for the two-in-a-week incidence mentioned - that was a season in which we had 11 home matches rained off, so the planning officer was sympathetic. We are also now allowed to stage rained-off Bank Holiday Sunday meetings on a non-Bank Holiday Sunday if necessary with the council setting a maximum of five Sunday meetings per season (with no meetings on the Wednesday or Thursday of the same week without these discretionary powers being sought). For Sunday meetings, the curfew is brought forward to 9pm with meetings starting at 6pm if required.

I doubt whether any rider could match the achievements of Graham Warren who broke the Perry Barr track record eleven times and also simultaneously held the track record at eight different circuits.

In my opinion, match races are an anachcronism from the distant past and have very little appeal these days, and the Bronze Helmet challenges didn't inspire much enthusiasm last season. As soon as the league match had been completed, the crowds started drifting away as normal, even if there was a Bronze Helmet race to come. When Graham Warren and Jack Parker met in the Golden Helmet Match Race at Birmingham in 1949, they drew a record crowd of 41,000 (some reports say 43,000) to Perry Barr - but those days are well and truly gone now, and I do feel that the Bronze Helmet races should be allowed to fade away.

Bear in mind that with the truncated Elite League programme, there are likely to be quite a few blank Monday dates at Monmore so with a bit of give and take it ought to be possible for Cradley to split their home matches between Wolverhampton and Perry Barr. Not the ideal solution I know, but it would enable both clubs to run in the National League without any conflict over who gets priority over dates. It is crucial that if this is possible, we should work together over this.

As a lifelong Birmingham supporter (63 years), I would welcome a track share with Cradley Heath and although there are a certain amount of misgivings in both camps, I think the majority of fans would support this rather than lose one or both of our clubs. My view is that for both clubs to operate from the same stadium, they would both have to be in the National League which is the only competition which would allow sufficient dates to accomodate both, but if the Brummies can't come to the tapes then I accept that Cradley Heath could only be called Cradley Heath - a hybrid name wouldn't work. I think that the majority of Heathens fans would give their support and probably a lot more Birmingham supporters that may be imagined, would do the same. Cradley have been very well supported during their time at Monmore so if we add to their number, a good percentage of Brummies people, then the combined attendances would be very impressive and profitable, and the long term objective of Cradley relocating at a stadium of their own in the Dudley Borough, and the Brummies back home at Perry Barr, can still be persued.

A hard core of people find it convenient to blame the BSPA for all of speedway's ills, but having been present at the meeting attended by Alex Harkess and Phil Morris in which we were given detailed (but some of it confidential) information regarding the situation at Birmingham, I can only say that I was satisfied that the BSPA did everything they could to firstly resolve the mess that Alan Phillips put the club in, then to try to ensure that Birmingham finished the season, and have gone out of their way to try to facilitate a revival for 2015.

There is no real animosity between Cradley and Birmingham supporters even though we are less than 10 miles apart, but there is the normal resentment at some levels (not connected with speedway) of a small town next door to a big City. "Birmingham Heathens" or "Cradley Brummies" would be a total non-starter. It would have to be Cradley Heath racing at Birmingham - like it or lump it. As a lifelong Birmingham supporter I fully appreciate that. This is not to suggest that such an arrangement wouldn't work. I think it would and although it isn't the solution that either set of fans really want, it would at least be a lifeline for both of us to hang on to, and perhaps eventually the time will come when we can shake hands, wish each other good luck, and go our separate ways as two distinct clubs again? To make this viable though, we would all of us have to accept it as a fait accompli and give it our support. Both sets of supporters have to give it their full backing and not take the view that "I'm not going to that place" or "I'm not supporting any team not wearing yellow and red." If too many take this attitude, then this will just lessen the long term chances of survival for both Birmingham and Cradley. If the combined attendances from Monmore and PerryBarr can be maintained, then speedway at Perry Barr would be a profitable undertaking. We need each other - and never more than we do at this moment, so please, please supporters of Cradley Heath and Birmingham - give it your backing if it does happen. The alternative is what we Birmingham folk suffered for 21 years, and you Cradley people for 15 years, so does anyone really want that to happen again just for the silly rivalry over a name? I hope not.

Although not arguing with the need for this, it should be pointed out that from 1928 until 1964 speedway WAS ruled by an Independent body - The Speedway Control Board - but everyone (promoters, riders and supporters) wanted to change that!

Unfortunately, the "wealthy promoter" didn't pay his bills. Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to!

Replying to the post from Gustix, it is true that the track at Bordesley Green was built as a joint stock car and speedway track and although I accept that the two sports can and do live with each other as at Coventry for example, the killer was in the fact that anyone who wanted to, was allowed to drive stock cars round Bordesley Green every day of the week and whatever the weather conditions were, and even after the venue had closed down for the night, the clever boys would force open the entrance gates and drive round until late and night. The track was a really good shape and received fulsome praise from many of the riders when the speedway was first launched there, but it couldn't stand the battering it got from the cars which wrecked the base and the quality of the racing deteriorated sharply because the riders didn't trust the track surface. We tried very hard to come to some kind of agreement over usage with the stock car promoters including doubling the width of the bends so that speedway would use the inside section and the cars the outside, but the Wheels operators would always say that the track was there to be used as often as possible and no matter how bad the weather was, they wouldn't say "no" when someone turned up with a car and wanted to drive it round. We did make an agreement with the stock car promoters Incarace that cars would stay off the track on Thursdays so that it could be prepared for speedway which at the time ran on Friday nights, but the Wheels people just wouldn't enforce it and time after time in the second season especially, our people would spend Thursday afternoon and evening preparing the track only to find it wrecked again by the cars by the next night. I doubt that Bordesley Green would ever have been an outstanding success - it was in the wrong part of the City really, but with a bit of sensible give and take I do think that it could have paid its way without ever making anyone a fortune.

Speedway has reached the stage where is wouldn't be possible to ditch every sub-standard foreign rider in one fell swoop.To do this would only create a vacuum which at present couldn't be filled and have the inevitable result of teams of very lopsided strengths - but we could say "no more from now on" - and stick rigidly to it. We could revert to the old system whereby EVERY foreign rider was automatically given an eight or nine point average and kept it. That way promoters would soon latch on to the fact that bringing over unknown foreigners who might or might not eventually make the grade, would be an expensively pointless exercise.