brianbuck

The bottom line is surely a question of whether we really need centre green presenters? A clear, articulate announcer with a good knowledge of speedway in general should be more than sufficient in my opinion. All we really need on a match night is the racing, clear announcements of results and the contestants for the following race, plus any interesting information relevant to the meeting or one of the riders taking part. Instead, all too often we get inane long winded irrelevant chatter from people who often seem to imagine themselves as the star of the show, which just slows down the meetings and adds little or nothing to the entertainment value. As the ideal announcer, I'd nominate Terry Astley whom most people will never have heard of, but who for many years was the announcer at my cycle speedway club's (Sandwell) home matches. Terry always did his homework, was always clear and consise and never reduced himself to pointless wittering. He works on the track and sweeps out the pits at Birmingham and Wolverhampton these days, and in my opinion, is wasted!

There isn't the need to frame any new starting rules - just a need to rigidly enforce the existing rules! "Two minutes" should mean that a rider has 2 minutes to be at the start line (or a rest line drawn across the width of the track 2 metres behind the tapes. Any digging, rocking backwards and forwards or turning back towards the last bend should be included in the two minutes and there should be no reserve replacement for a rider excluded under the two minute rule. Riders can't have it both ways. They should have two minutes to be ready to start the race - not two minutes to get out on the track and then as long as they please to get themselves ready. To avoid confusion, the two minute warning should be sounded before the start of every race, and the pits gate should only be opened when it is sounded. All it needs are hard and fast rules that are rigidly observed. There would be chaos at first whilst riders tried it on, but they'd soon get the message and meetings would be speeded up accordingly once this has sunk in.

I think it's an established fact that Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath play to different crowds and in my experience, few Wolves fans go to watch Cradley meetings and vice-versa. The two clubs have their own distinctive followers and the only thing they have in common is that both use the same track. I'd agree that the National League has become very badly balanced this season and that this is leading to a high percentage of one-sided matches which is not good for either the winners or the losers - or for speedway in general. Unfortunately, it's not possible to level teams up - only level them down, so Cradley have the alternatives of either dramatically de-strengthening their team (which understandably, the supporters won't like), or moving up a division and taking on the much higher costings with possibly only a marginal increase in attendances. Of course, the real solution is for Cradley to have a track of their own - and as a lifelong supporter of Birmingham, I do wish you a happy ending to the long, long search for that goal.

I don't have any inside knowledge of Tony's plans but I would think it logical that they will be about Premier League racing. Clearly the Elite League cannot last much longer in its present form and will have to eventually amalgamate with the Premier - and common sense says that this is going to be on the Premier League clubs' terms for surely none of them will vote for or accept, anything which increases their costs. If that means that the top Elite League riders desert their clubs then so be it. In the long term, that may well be for the best.

I would definitely recommend Nico Covatti as a very good addition to the Sheffield team. Whoever takes him on will get not only a very accomplished and skilful rider but also a wholehearted battler who interacts superbly with the supporters.

Six tracks have now made this fantastic gesture - Coventry, Wolverhampton, Cradley Heath, Scunthorpe, Belle Vue and Berwick. It's much appreciated and emphasises what is good about speedway and the people involved in it. Many thanks to all of them.

Birmingham's stadium at Perry Barr is always and span and very presentable and the toilets are maintained to a very high standard. Unfortunately the venue is let down by the fact that much of the spectating areas are very flat and don't give a very good view of the track. The view from the tiered glass fronted bar area however is excellent but of course, many supporters do not like watching from inside even this this has its consolations on wet or cold nights. The speedway club has done what it can to improve things, purchasing two temporary sections of covered terracing and adding other uncovered terraced areas where there is room to fit them in. The GRA have been very co-operative, especially the staff at the stadium, but they won't allow anything which obstructs the view of the greyhound track and the bottom line is that at Birmingham, we can only work with what we have got. I also regularly visit Wolverhampton where the viewing is very good, the toilets clean and well maintained although watching from inside the bar isn't so good as it is not tiered and only the people on the front row get a decent sight of the track, and Coventry which although a stadium needing a bit of a facelift, has good viewing and customer facilities though I don't much like the centre "black!"

Jimmy Gooch would definitely come into this category. He pottered around as a reserve for donkey's years then suddenly at the age of 42, he had a purple patch and was good enough to qualify for the World Championship Final.

Wolverhampton's 10pm curfew is also voluntary but the club has the good sense to observe it strictly. Birmingham's 10pm curfew is a condition of the planning consent so to ignore it or observe it casually, would be suicidal, despite the fact that the stadium is situated at the junction of two of the busiest and noisiest roads in the City and opposite Birmingham City University from where the noise of loud music is regularly deafening!

Yes. Well done Newcastle Speedway. Typical generosity and thoughtfulness of Geordies. Birmingham made a similar gesture with free hot drinks and cakes at the Perry Barr Press and Practice Day, which was also much appreciated by those of us there.

I saw the Mail as a natural replacement for the old "Speedway World" which was launched in 1937 and continued until about 1961. The World was a newspaper style publication, always well informed and very well filled with highly readable articles and did not waste too much space with pictures. Unfortunately though, its appeal fell away when it established a link with Stock Car Racing which meant that half of it became of very little interest to speedway people. I preferred the Mail before it switched to the magazine format which made it become too similar to Speedway Star. I always thought there was room for both publications but less so when they became more like each other. I was sad to see its demise.

As a speedway enthusiast for over 60 years I think it is fantastic to read of the progress at this superbnew venue and would like to wish the promotion and the team every success in 2013 and beyond, and hope very much to be able to take in a meeting at this stadium before the season is through.

Very pleased to hear that everything has been put into place to allow Plymouth to continue operating next season. I wish the new promoters every success in their efforts to provide a team that you supporters deserve. Best wishes from a lifelong Birmingham supporter to all Plymouth enthusiasts.

I don't think there need be any concerns about Adam Roynon. He has had an unbelievable run of bad luck with injuries and he was treated shamefully at Workington last season, but I am confident that in Adam you will have the National League's top rider in 2011. Adam is a genuine racer and I believe that in him and Tom Perry, Dudley will have two of the most entertaining riders of next season.