The White Knight

But ............................................ DO WE CARE!!!

But I'm from Sunderland..................................

I wear an 'Aussie' Hat. :unsure: What a SNOB you are SCB. :rofl:

I am not mechanically minded Long Eye. I would say however, in defense of my argument, that the 2-Valve Engine is easier to maintain. The Riders in the old days were not having to pay very expensive Tuners as they are today - a lot of them maintained there own Engines. These days, by the time the Rider has bought his new Titanium Parts for his Engine and everything else that is required to make it (the Bike) go faster it Costs him a fortune, this is passed on to the Promoter by way of increased Wage demands which, in turn, is passed on to us Supporters at the Gate. Now I have Supported Speedway for a very long time and the Racing today is, in my opinion, not as good as what we used to watch years ago. A lot of things contribute to this - but - to my mind Speedway is a diminishing spectacle to what it used to be. You go to Speedway to watch RACING. The racing nowadays is certainly not that much better when you consider the COSTS of 4-Valve and Laydown Engines against that of the 2-Valve Engine years ago. Pounds definitely do NOT = Improvement. Added to that - there were injuries back in the Seventies but certainly not as many as there are these days. To me - this alone would be reason enough to retun to 2-Valve Engines - I DON'T like seeing Riders hurt. That is happening far too often at the moment.

Thanks for your most excellent definition Oldace. I will continue to wear my Belle Vue Coat (NOT Wulfsport), enjoy my Sandwiches and Bovril (from a Flask) - I have NO old Programmes well not many anyway - but I do have every Copy of Vintage Speedway Magazine, Classic Speedway and BackTrack. Like Moxey63 I am now desperately SNIFFING.

Good idea - with upright 2-Valve Engines. It would certainly reduce COSTS and probably injuries as well. :approve:

What the heck are they Oldace? A Driving School perhaps.

D. Ward will do for me. Great Rider - but VERY wild in the last GP - he was all over the place.

Yes - a BIG difference.

Yes definitely - if it's on Eurosport. :rofl:

Spot on - you are dead right Hackett. There are those on here who will say - I would say that though wouldn't I? IT'S TRUE THOUGH!!

Berwick showed it can be done.

Actually you very much echo my feelings about the Meeting itself, I said as much to my pal on the way home - very poor I thought. TeamGB (YUK!!!) were very good - but - Australia were terrible. Not their fault, but if they could not field a better Team than that they should probably have put the Meeting off until they could. Fricke and Doolan were reasonable on occasion - the rest - very poor. I think if they could have fielded Doyle, Josh Grajczonek and had Christian Henry not been injured it would have been a far more interesting Meeting.

You are right but - I think that bubble has burst.

If you study our Website you will see that Sunderland never really got a fair rub of the green from Speedway Promoters. We closed early in 1964 in order that Parker and Bridgett could reinforce their main Teams with our ('Saints') Riders. Allied Promotions Sold the Sunderland License when Speedway was a going concern and successive Promotions ran them in to the ground. I am grateful for a lifetime of supporting Speedway - but crucially - as a Sunderland ' Saints', 'Stars' and 'Gladiators' Supporter I/we at Sunderland have been VERY BADLY served by Speedway Promoters. Perhaps if Allied Promotions had kept Sunderland under their banner instead of selling our License on - I would not feel as I do. I just believe that Speedway only played with Sunderland and we were never really given a fair chance to succeed. To make the point, we were given a very weak Team when we opened in 1971 and finished bottom of the League, hardly a Team to encourage people to attend. You NEED at least a chance of success when you open a new venue, WE never got that. :sad:

Personally - I don't believe there will be ANY Speedway on SKY next year. :sad: I just hope and pray that I am wrong. :sad:

Cheeky git!! :rofl: Sorry I didn't get the chance to speak to you yesterday Dave.

I must admit that I was impressed with his Four Laps. It will be different with three other Riders on the Track but he looks a good addition to me. :approve: Good Luck Anton.

1971 to 1974. Yes Len Silver opened Sunderland in 1971 under the Allied Promotions banner. He did not close Sunderland though they were sold to another Promoter, then sold again to some people who didn't seem to have a clue. Finally those Promoters had to sell the Team back to the original sellers - but by then - our support had dwindled to almost nothing and that group had no alternative but to finish the Fixtures and close early. So, to answer your question directly, we WERE closed down due to lack of Support but there WERE reasons for that lack of Support - Losing all of our HOME Meetings for the first half of the Season (1974) until the Promoters, who had the last Promotional Rights, took over and injected new talent to our Team. But by then it was too late - our core Support had been lost. As most folk know, once Support is lost, it is very difficult to get it back. We failed in that regard hence our closure.

Penultimate Meeting 8,000 - source The 'Sunderland Echo'. What I believe to be the true story can be found on the following Link: http://www.sunderlandspeedway.co.uk/stats/1964/1964_Season.html Hope this shows you where I am coming from Gustix.

:shock: NOT at Sunderland it wasn't. - they gave us a Track for NINE Meetings and then snatched it away from us. :mad: But am I bitter? TOO BLOODY RIGHT I AM!!!

It gives me NO pleasure whatsoever to Post as I did in my previous Post. We in Sunderland have been longing for FORTY years near enough for someone to come in and Promote Speedway. I sincerely hope that if WE had some Promoter brave enough to take a chance that we (Supporters) would NOT treat him/her to the kind of abusive comments appearing on here. We would be eternally grateful that we had some Speedway to watch. I tell you what - if DH were to come to Sunderland - I/We would welcome him with open arms. Please try to be grateful for what you have - you NEVER know when it may be taken away from you. YOU WAITED LONG ENOUGH TO GET IT!!!

Well said. If I were DH and read some of the bile Posted on this Thread - I would close the place down straight away. It's one thing to be critical - it's something totally different to be abusive. :angry:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Do you know ANYTHING about Speedway? :rolleyes: Genuine question.