Chadster

There were no guests in 1965 and no rider replacement. That came in the following season to replace an injured heat leader only. I think guests were allowed if 2 heat leaders were missing. We shouldn't write off all challenge matches as duds. Some of the most fiercely contested meetings I ever witnessed were the early season challenges between Wimbledon and Hackney in the late 1980s. The league matches were quite tame in comparison. Wolves and Cradley fans will probably say the same things about the Dudley-Wolves Trophy meetings.

I used to take the train over to Hackney Wick station and walk to the track. Retraced that Journey earlier this year. I walked up to the canal and all was as I remembered it. Walked over the bridge and it was a completely different world. If I hadn't have known where I was I wouldn't have known where I was, if you follow me. Brought back some happy memories, though. I think Lanning was after Jeremy Doncaster as a no 1. i always think we should have gone up and built the team around Wiltshire, who was actually terrific that season at Reading. Once Lanning went, the sparkle went out of Plough Lane and I think the closure became inevitable. A pity Russell Lanning was lost to the sport, he was far and away the best promoter at any track I attende regularly.

The first thing is for the racing to be as good as possible so the track has to be consistently well prepared. Then the presentation of the meeting is important. The meeting I attended at Sheffield this season I was quite impressed with the show they tried to put on but at Belle Vue the presentation was lethargic. is there necessarily a tension between presenting the sport as a family occasion and as an extreme sport. It's surely possible to appeal to more than one market?

It has been suggested that riders who are excluded for tape offences or under 2 minute rule should be automatically be put on 15 metres. If that were to be the case do we need two reserves? Go back to the pre-1969 system of one reserve whose programmed rides were with the second strings. If needs be no 6 in the averages could be a supplementary reserve.

I worked with a few Poles and they hated the Russians with a passion. I suspect their pride is more to do with their resistance to communism through things like Solidarity and through their support for the Catholic church.

It would be good if clubs could link with the community. providing some sort of social service might not just be altruistic. Those clubs with training facilities could work with local councils to provide courses to help keep youngsters off the streets, off drugs or out of gangs. They might get some riders out of it at best and hopefully some fans, too. I wonder whether, on a national level, the sport could develop some teaching materials for local schools. Maths would be an obvious area. Two times tables (the tactical rule ), statistics, average speeds, distances travelled by riders etc. I know nothing about Primary School National Curriculum, but if it could be done, and linked to a visit to a meeting, there would be obvious benefits.

I was quite impressed with Belle Vue interviewing the riders after the match and then having them walk back to the pits through the crowd. The riders seemed to enjoy it and it was very popular with the youngsters (and the not so youngsters).

I disagree with the idea because when clubs close down their fans tend not to go to other tracks but just stop going. That's certainly what happened to me when Wimbledon closed but another point would also be that the sport is seeing itself in a very negative light and a series of closures would only emphasise that. Other sports have problems; Athletics with drug cheats, Cricket with minimal attendances at county games and counties hugely indebted, however they don't seem as negative about their future as speedway. When we had few clubs running in the 1950s things did not go well at a time when it was easier to attract audiences.

Tostig

I thought that he wouldn't reveal a blue print for reform in the Star but rather discuss it with his fellow promoters first. Like other posters I did notice a slightly defeatist tone in the interview. I can understand that some problems are difficult to resolve, if not intractable, but surely there can be no excuse for poor track preparation and poor presentation. The other thing that struck me was that certain initiatives hadn't been thought through. The idea that the EL and PL should be closer in standard was explained in terms of promotion and relegation but then you would expect that to be introduced but doubling up makes it impossible and if you strengthen the PL then of course it makes it much harder to step up from the NL, which is now where there is a problem.

You're totally correct about the differences between the 50s and the present. The point I wanted to make, but didn't emphasise strongly enough, was the need for clarity of thought and unity amongst promoters. In fact the big change in the 60s was brought about after chronic rivalry and division but it required an outside agency, the Shawcross report, to bring them about. We could do without that brinkmanship now. I also enjoyed the two seasons of one big league but always felt that certain promoters were unconvinced that it was the right way to go and did not do enough to make it work in terms of releasing riders etc. I still think it's the best way forward for the sport giving consistency of fixtures and different opposition every week but to make it work every promoter needs to be convinced by it and it would probably mean 6 man teams to get round the rider shortage.

There's no doubt the sport is in a hole at the moment, but whether it's in a bigger hole than it was in the late 50s is open to question. Yet within 10 years the fortunes of the sport had been transformed. So change is possible but I'd suggest it needs clarity of thought and unity amongst the promoters. Chris Louis last week put forward his ideas to develop new riders, which is vital in the long term but there needs to be action in the short term so these new riders will have tracks on which to display their talent.

I attended my first three meetings this season last week, two at Belle Vue and one at Sheffield. For what it's worth, I thought the crowds were better than on my last visit to those tracks which probably reflects the improved performances of the two teams. Perhaps Ipswich's struggles this season are reflecting in their attendances? Two of the meetings I saw were delayed due to weather and injury but the other meeting proceeded at a very leisurely pace. I'm sure better, sharper presentation would help crowd levels. Is speedway a £10 sport? No, unless it's at NL level. Any decent level sport is expensive to watch these days. Tickets for my local Championship level football club are £27 so £17.50 for EL speedway doesn't seem so bad.

In hindsight the 1965 season seems one of the most successful in the sport's history as the initial season of the British League. No guests were allowed (and no non-resident foreigners). However, there were a number of matches that were little more than massacres as teams were going into matches with 2 heat leaders missing and being replaced by juniors and so at the end of that season guests were allowed if more than one heat leader was missing. If only one heat leader was missing then r/r could be used. There was also an increase in foreign riders, though the big influx came in 1967.

In the 1960s certainly the Tac Sub rule was not limited to being used only once. You could use it as many times as you wanted if you were 6 points behind after heat 4. You could also swap gate positions when 6 down. With the onset of 2 reserves from the 1969 season, a good team manager was worth his weight in gold. Incidentally, rider replacement was introduced in 1966 for heatleaders only.

It was meant as a joke.....

Isn't this typical of British speedway? There are British flags wanting a chance and instead Somerset turn to a foreign flag.....

In the 19 strong BL from 1966, you'd have 36 league matches, at least 1 KO Cup match, 3 World Championship qualifiers and then there were Challenge matches, Individual meetings, in London and the Midlands there were regional cup competitions, Midland Riders/Northern Riders qualification meetings. That probably adds up to about 50 without guest appearances. Given that many of the riders were not full-time that was more than enough.

I was a regular at Wimbledon from the late 70s and never saw them race from different start lines or to different finish lines.

My understanding was then when they changed the track it was felt that the run to the first turn would be too short so they moved the start line back.

Last meeting at Liverpool in 1960. Can't remember who against but the Pirates won, a rare event that season

With no association with either team, I thought that was a terrific meeting last night, a reminder of how good speedway can be. Poole have been a 6 man team practically this season but Newman's return to form in the second half of the season meant that they were able to cope. I thought Howarth was terrific in the play off final and I hope his display gets him an opportunity to race abroad next season, which is so vital to the development of young British riders. I've also been impressed with Sarjeant when I've seen him lately. Makes you wonder why he can't get a PL berth.

Craven Shield? Young Shield?

Like all tracks there were good and bad meetings there, but when it was good, it was very good. I was actually at that Northern Riders meeting, my last ever visit to Hyde Road. Carter broke the track record in his first ride and then Morton came out in the next heat and absolutely obliterated Carter's time. It's safe to say the Belle Vue crowd, who I always felt were quite partisan, were delighted with that. I recall a couple of great races between Nigel Boocock and Alan Wilkinson, a fantastic KO Cup match against Sheffield, with all 3 results still possible as the riders came off the last bend and those fantastic BLRC nights in the 60s, when the place was heaving. I'm told the new track will be about 8 metres shorter than the old one, but hopefully it will generate the same happy memories.

Alex Harkness can't be blamed for the rain, which has so disrupted fixtures, for the injuries which have so depleted teams, or for foreign riders deciding not to honour UK commitments. If these problems which we've seen last week recur next season, then he most certainly deserves blame.