Chadster

2 memories to add to the list; one good, one bad. The good one came in the year when Hackney challenged Reading strongly for the League title, the year of the Reading 'insurance' policy. IIRC Hackney had finished bottom of the League two years on the trot, started the season badly and then went to Hull and won to start a tremendous challenge for the title. The key match was against Cradley at Waterden Road and Cradley won by virtue of Bo Petersen being excluded in the penultimate heat. I remember the response of the Hackney fans, they stayed and cheered Cradley on their victory lap of honour. I was very impressed. This was at a time when an adverse refereeing decision would have sparked a riot at any football ground. The bad memory is the death of Denny Pyeatt, without a doubt the worst thing I've ever seen at speedway

I salute your grey hairs, Speedyguy. 1946 is way before my time. Then they had 8 man teams racing over 14 heats with no tactical subs or r/r so apart from the reserves it was 4 rides each. By 1965 it was 7 man teams over 13 heats with tac subs but still no r/r so the maximum number of rides was 5. A rider scores 12 points from 5 rides and their average is 9.6, 12 points form 4 and it's 12...quite a big difference. I suppose my complaint is that it's just the one season in a not inexpensive book when the averages don't give a true picture and the main victims are the reserves/second strings who come out with some very low averages which don't give a fair reflection of their ability or their importance to their team. My recollection of 1967 when I first started attending in a sentient way was that rider's averages and hence team positions were decided on a score per race. can anyone else confirm that? There were no point limits then and everyone moaned about the Rider Control Committee. As ever riders were forced out, but often because there were simply not enough team places available. Division 2 sorted that out. Many of the older riders were forced out of the sport. The fun went out of the game. It is now all too complex. I guess there are many who do still enjoy all this complexity - for me bring back 1946! <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The London Stadium was built first in the early years of the 20th Century and the others (there was also a White City Stadium in Liverpool) would be named after it as they were opened for Dog racing which only began in this country in the 1920's. The London Stadium was built as part of a huge Anglo-French Exhibition site. The entrance to this stood until recently next to Shepherds Bush station. This led into a series of Exhibition Halls which streched North and West up to Wood Lane. They were all painted white, hence, I suppose, the name. Most of these buildings sttod until recently but have been demolished to make way for the shopping development. The site is massive; there would have plenty of room for a track there!