Leicester Hunter

After the farce in Manchester tonight, there won't be one.

Well, I would have to say it's a and b. Because they are both. That's a massive understatement to say the least If Rick Frost walks away from the sport now, who could blame him?

Well, if you viewed Blackbird Road as a scruffy version of Brandon when Charles Ochiltree was the promoter there, you would be bang on the money. Size-wise, they were virtually identical, as were Blunsdon, Poole and Saddlebow Road. Sheffield was the same length (more or less), but a totally different shape. Hyde Road, The Shay, White City, Exeter and The Boulevard at Hull were much bigger, Waterden Road, Hackney just a tad shorter, although the racing was very much on a par with Leicester. Cradley Heath was slightly shorter. Wolverhampton, Ipswich, Reading, Wimbledon and Birmingham were much smaller. Then you had the alleged horrors of Somerton Park, Newport and Bristol, at least when it first opened, as the dual purpose sand-based track didn't work at all. Of all the tracks I visited during my early years in the sport, I have to say that Leicester, Hackney, Sheffield and Halifax were the stand-out venues, probably in that order. Birmingham Perry Barr wasn't too bad either for a small track, as was Wolverhampton, but that was almost certainly down to the quality of the Wolves team in those days! Out of all those tracks mentioned, only two are currently operating/existing, and one of those has been altered out of all recognition. Missed certainly, but not forgotten.

Well, if ever a rider didn't achieve what was expected, he has to be a prime contender for that accolade. Came over from Finland as an unknown in 1975, did reasonably well, upped his average to almost 9 over the next two seasons, still averaged almost 8.75 in '78 in a much stronger Lions team. Then he requested a transfer, presumably to become a No1 in his own right, request denied, he got injured on the continent early in the '79 season, and his average plummeted. He was eventually sold to Cradley Heath after the Lions had virtually finished their league programme and avoided the wooden spoon, but due to the 50 point rule, did not complete any home matches for the Heathens that season, and was cup-tied too. After that, his career in Britain just ebbed away, really, and he retired from British speedway at the end of the 1980 season, finishing his riding days in the German Bundesleague. A great shame, and a missed opportunity in many ways.

And Swindon always won 40-38 (happiness!) at Leicester during the Martin Rogers era. But you're right about the lamp standards, they were dual purpose if I remember rightly, for both speedway/stock cars and greyhounds. Saw one of them demolished at the end of an individual meeting, a tangle between Alan Grahame and Doug Wyer I think, although no-one was injured thankfully. Health & Safety would have a fit if they saw those things so close to a track these days! Scott Autrey won the Golden Gauntlets three years in a row (78-80), virtually unbeatable at Leicester in those days.

No, allocated to Newport for 1972 under rider control. Lions got DJ from defunct Wembley as recompense. Yes, he did. And they were in the team that went unchanged throughout the 1969 League Championship campaign, a record that will never be beaten! I knew DJ was injured sometime in 1973, but couldn't remember when. I looked up the details in Alan Jones excellent book 'When The Lions Roared' which covers the years 1968-83. Shame Blackbird Road was redeveloped, a great race track.

Yes they did, and that would be 1973. But DJ was injured on 17th April in their home match with Ipswich, missing exactly 3 months of the season, making his comeback on 17th July against Reading. That might have cost them a decent tilt at the league title, as all three heat leaders feasibly might have achieved 10+ averages that season.

Not likely! All teams will be moved a minimum of 50 miles from base camp, you'll have to be in the stadium 90 minutes before the start and pay to use the bogs!

Certainly is, Sidney. Rated by some critics as the best match race they've ever seen.

It is, but I still think it's marginally better than the 1970's when a few BL teams were Guest & R/R city.

According to Speedway Updates, it occurred during the match itself in a public way. What a way to treat a supporter who has expressed an honest opinion....not.

Personally speaking, may I say I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments voiced above.

We all know the answer to that one. And some still wonder why speedway in this country is dying on it's ar$e.

It was on sale at Perry Barr last night. Hadn't got any spare cash last night - will give it a try next week, if there's any left.

Oi! Don't give 'em ideas!

Not then, no. The total average allowed for a team at that time was 52. You had to have a stunning team or an outrageous home track advantage to get anywhere near that total. Yep, I remember Roman Jankowski, Sidney. A rider who would do sod all until a vital last heat decider and then go out and get the necessary points to win a match! Especially away from home! You were right about his score, Sidney, it was a paid max.

Remember Jerzy Rembas? How true. Using the above named as an example, Rembas was promoted as 'the next big name' in Polish speedway. The next Edward Jancarz or Zenon Plech. Len Silver even wanted him as a direct replacement for the unavailable Plech in '77, but he wasn't allowed over either. He was allowed over in '78 however, and allocated to Leicester. He struggled like hell. Uncompetitive, couldn't gate, couldn't pass either, and was hanging on to his team place week after week, but just as the axe was about to fall, he dropped to reserve and scored a few points to make him worth persevering with. Then he qualified for the Wembley World Final. He looked a completely different rider, getting to a run-off with Scott Autrey and Dave Jessup for third place, making Leicester team mates John Titman and Ila Teromaa (who were both averaging 8.5/9 points a match in the British League) look decidedly second rate. His average including bonus points for that year? 4.84!

Excellent post Crump99, but do you honestly expect them to do it?

No, as I understand it, the deal was along the same lines as the Doyle/Janowski one. A straight swop with Kenny Ingalls. Not bad business, that.......

Completed, thanks!

It still might be, although admittedly not on the back page and in banner headlines, but enough to be noticed. The best thing Neil Middleditch could have done in this case is just issue a 'No comment' reply and leave it at that. What is more worrying is the fact that Ward could afford to pay the fine straight away, a sum that would have made most on this forum think twice. It just doesn't appear to sink in with some individuals, does it? He has been involved in some very unsavoury incidents in the last eighteen months or so, but just carries on as though it's the norm. Well, it isn't. Just when sponsorship is getting hard to obtain, this happens. Poole may have difficulty in obtaining such lucrative deals in the future. Would you want your product associated with criminal behaviour?

That would be right if you'd have signed a hire purchase agreement or agreed a 'buy as you ride' scheme between the two clubs, but you haven't! Anyway, anyone would think this thread now is just about Batch, just look at the amount of bandwidth that's been expended on him. On a more positive note, good luck with the Bob Kilby meeting, hope all goes well. On an earlier post, I noticed that someone asked about a Malcolm Holloway themed meeting. Certainly, one would be welcome for an individual who wasn't an out and out star, but the sort of character the sport can't do without.

I thought that's what happens now. They're called the BSPA and SCB, governed (and I use the term loosely) by the ACU. Yes, it's got more than a faint whiff of 'not thought of here' about it.

Because they can't. Nobody can at this stage. We're in largely unknown territory here, and so therefore, it's just a matter of debate. Exactly. As has been pointed out by a few posters here, they would simply be treated as a commercial transaction by the stadium owners concerned, to their benefit. I suppose the real acid test on this would be if the two EL tracks not rented/leased nailed their colours to the mast. What would the BSPA/SCB do then? Not a lot is my estimate. They haven't trademarked the word 'speedway' (they can't, a few other countries would have something to say about that), and as far as I can see, can't stop speedway bikes being used at other meetings. The comparison between football and speedway is pointless here. Footballers are salaried staff, receiving a weekly/monthly wage plus bonuses (I would imagine), whereas speedway riders are self-employed. If they are approached about anything like this and there is no clashing pre-arranged commitment on their part, who can stop them? It's really no different to the old style individual meetings that used to be staple diet on the speedway calender years ago. We won't know until it's tried, will we? Everything has to have a starting point somewhere. I've watched Arena MX on YouTube and it's also recently been on the local regional news. It's not my personal cup of tea, but there's no doubt these people know how to get the crowds in and generate revenue. The local TV slot was centred on a 9 year old girl who was returning to the sport after missing most of last year due to a broken arm. She was enthusiastic and said how much she was looking forward to getting involved again. Translate that to speedway, get them involved with the youngsters, we could be on a winner here with this. Just a thought.

And that's the whole point, isn't it? I for one am getting utterly sick and tired of reading nothing but cr*p about a sulky individual, who if left on his own in a lift for about two minutes would fall out with himself. Look, it's quite simple: A few weeks ago, Birmingham and Coventry were locked in a similar impasse over Ben Barker. Why not take a leaf out of Alan Philips and Mick Horton's book and start a dialogue, in a calm and civilised way. Agree a price and then get the commercial department to rustle up a little extra cash to make up the difference. Or are Swindon afraid that Batch will play his face again at the end of the season and become 'uncontactable' again? Because then, he really will be unsellable. And before anyone comments about other riders and clubs arrangements, let me say this: I'm not interested. Not in NKI going on loan for a third season, not on who's said what to whom, not on what happens after certain dates. That's for those self-interested clowns on the BSPA to sort out. If they don't understand now that supporters are completely peed off with them, they never will.