Leicester Hunter

No probs Gemini. It's meetings like those that stay in the old memory bank!

Yes, it was. It was Mildenhall in June 1986, and I attended that one as well. I was a glorious evening by the time Long Eaton took to the track for the first of their 13 5-0's, but IIRC, there had been one of those summer downpours at around 6 o'clock, so the track could have been termed as 'a bit on the damp side', at least to start off with. However, it did dry out very well and Gerald Short actually won heat 13 in a time not far off the track record.... Both Dave Jessup and Mel Taylor received bans at the subsequent hearing, a year each, I think, suspended for a year. They were also fined around £1000 each for their troubles. Mildenhall captain Rob Henry was fined £500, but didn't receive a ban. Most of the discipline panel's ire fell on the Fen Tigers team manager, Maurice Everett, who it has to be said, was a real trouble maker and pain in the backside. He alone was fined £1000, an unprecedented sum for a non rider. And it wasn't long after that the SCB/BSPA told Mildenhall to dispense with his services or face a sanction.

Aye, and even then Batchelor tried to weasel out of any responsibility by throwing a sickie. I find it quite gratifying to finally see Batchelor dumped on from a great height after how he's shat on and generally messed people about over the years.... He was even still at it in his pathetic 'poor me' press release recently. Plainly, he couldn't care less who got thrown out of work at Poole or wherever, so long as he got what he wanted. Well, it looks as though it wasn't just Buster Chapman who was monitoring his performances for Swindon before returning to Kings Lynn for some more serious pi$$ taking. Other promoters must have though 'how long before he does that here?' and left well alone. Looks like both are finished over here, and you couldn't seriously blame promoters for turning their backs on both of them after this.

That's fair enough, I don't have a problem with that. You can't race against anyone who is no longer there for whatever reason. This situation is entirely different. Lakeside have unilaterally decided that they are not going to honour their cup fixture with Belle Vue due to 'a lack of available dates'. Come off it. In a league which only has 11 teams in it? Frankly, that's laughable. That said, you can only get away with what you are allowed to. My own view on a lot of things is if you don't ask, you don't get. In this case, Lakeside should have submitted the cancellation as a request, not a statement of intent. The very fact that the BSPA and the SCB have not made any comment on this and buried as a minor footnote in a very vague manner shows that they just don't give a toss any more, so why should the supporters? It's been said on this thread that there has been a woeful lack of promotion from the Hammers camp this year. I would agree with that, and add that you can put a hell of a lot more 'promotions' into that bracket. A vast swathe of the fanbase in speedway these days is continually being taken for granted. It's simply not good enough, but with the current clique in charge, when is that going to end?

It certainly does beg the question, but they'll find dates for those matches, don't worry about that. So Belle Vue have been awarded a 'walk over' in the cup, have they? As in 'swept under the carpet'.

What a load of old rubbish. And before anyone starts, I'm not having a pop at East End Fan. No, it isn't. I'd really love to be able to talk speedway in general up, but with the Championship Fours already this week and now this, it's rapidly becoming an even worse joke in incredibly bad taste. Those supposedly in charge of the sport really are making this up as they go along. It's bad enough a team just 'dropping out' of a competition, but to give the reason as 'not enough dates' when you've only got eleven teams in the league currently, that's not credible excuse by a long way. Lakeside fans, if there are many left, really are being short changed here. And what about Belle Vue? They've just lost another home fixture for no good reason. The Lakeside promotion should be taken to task over this, but of course, they won't be, the way speedway is run these days. Hammers fans, you have my deepest sympathy, because you really are being taken for mugs.

OK then, here's how I view it. Frankly, it's the way it's run. Eastbourne won it in 2015 and Birmingham in 2016, and neither team was/has been given the chance to defend it. Add in the fact that only half the teams are allowed to enter or are entered by the powers that be in any given season. Now, that really is a joke. Not so long ago, the National League was probably the best organised speedway league in the UK. That, in itself, is not challenging in any way, shape or form, given the general mess speedway in this country is in. It just seems to me though, that having seen some of the unfathomable decisions made by this league this year, it's determined to follow the rest of the sport in Britain down the plughole. It's the National Trophy for gawd's sake. In it's current guise, it's anything but national. Surely, in a league of only 11 clubs (there were 12 earlier in the year), another tournament can be run on a season-long basis. Or is that too much to ask these days?

Nailed it in one. If all the bouquets going IoW's way had come from just home fans, I would have been sceptical and thought it was the locals 'bigging up' the club. But it isn't. The positive reviews have been universal, which just shows this Promotion really cares about it's product, what it is marketing and presenting. That means listening to the customers, and acting in a proactive manner. They don't want people to just go once, they want them to return time and again. Sadly, it looks like the usual suspects in the 'We know best' brigade don't view this favourably, as all their inadequacies are being shown up in glorious technicolor. With all that's happened in the last three weeks or so, it appears the powers that be have given up any pretense of evenhandedness or being impartial. In all honesty, hypocrisy doesn't even come close....

With those two added to the four already signed, 5.60.

If you substitute Alex Wilson for Harvie Banks, I reckon that team's on the right track.

Best wishes to you, Bryn. Hang on in there and get well soon.

Kenneth Hansen, I presume? If so, not applicable. He rode for Workington this year.

You never know your luck - next time I see Graham Reeve I'll certainly ask him about it.

That's all well and good, could you do it on a Douglas, though?

Whatever - the rest of what I posted still stands.

He had the same attitude with riders who continually pushed the tapes, they got the same short shrift. Looks like I'm not the only one who would welcome Mr Ebdon back ASAP. Certainly, he would be a major culture shock for a fair few riders in all leagues in this country. Back in the day, when names such as Bill Daff, John Eglese and Stan Green appeared in the programme as match referee, they caused a fair amount of derisory comment. Some, but by no means all of these comments could and would be fully deserved. But when you look at what a referee had at their disposal technology wise, their job was somewhat 'what they saw', sometimes in just a split second, so it's no surprise mistakes were inevitably made. Those referees also ensured meetings kept their momentum, and the only major delay was if injury occurred, or the safety fence needed considerable repair. Not so today. It seems that all the faffing about such as returning to the pits to refuel, have clutch adjusted again and about a thousand other sundry reasons is taken as acceptable these days. Well, it's not. I can't comment on Dave Carrington, all the matches I have attended with him in charge seem to have gone without a hitch and received no adverse reaction, I can only conclude he is one of the better referees currently. Obviously, that wasn't the case last Monday. He could, and should have ensured the match reached it's conclusion well within the allotted time. After all, he was in overall charge of affairs. You haven't lived though until you've witnessed one of Jim McGregor's truly appalling epics; and quite how prize planks like Mick Bates and Dave Watters keep their licences I don't know. I know the rule book, such as it is, is overly complicated, but really, it appears that these three in particular have never even looked at it. If you can't even get the basics right, it's time to go. The overall standard of refereeing these days is absolutely abysmal. Get that sorted out, get that right, and yes, get referees actually in charge of meetings again, and that could be one of the cornerstones of a speedway revival in this country.

You've got that the wrong way round Steve. Ivan Mauger accepted a guest booking for Wolves against Belle Vue, because if the Aces won at Monmore Green, it gave them the title over Exeter. It certainly worked. Ivan top scored (I think), and Wolves won the match 40-38, giving Exeter the championship.

Of course they could. Obviously falls into the category of 'In the interests of British Speedway'.... He doesn't have a bona fide PL average either. His 'new' NL average is a doubled up assessed PL CMA, as he never reached the required standard to achieve a proper one.

Yes, you do. Quite a lot, actually. A million what though? And think very carefully before you answer that one. Do you have any self awareness at all?

No, and TBF here, I'm pointing the finger at people who write open ended rules with no thought whatsoever for the consequences. I'm just waiting now for a rider to declare 'Nah, don't fancy that, get a guest in', and the way it's going, that could well happen. I don't blame Cradley at all. The rules say they were allowed a guest and booked one, end of. In many ways, it's 1976 all over again. Wolverhampton were left without a full team thanks to stupid planning (or lack of it) by the then Rider Control Committee and they were told they could plug the gaps by using guests and R/R. Dave Parry himself admitted he hated the whole scenario, but would use it to give Wolves the best team possible and show just how idiotic it all was. After a bit more of the same, certainly with regard to the R/R element in 1977, everything calmed down a fair bit for the next few years. But here we are again, and it just shows that the people formulating the rules never learn from history. Doesn't it just, everywhere you look at the moment there's a crisis in some form or another. Other than all this, you still keeping OK Mike?

So was I. Go on then, tell me why.

Why? Prior to Ole signing for the Bees in 1976, they were going nowhere. Booey was gearing up for retirement, although it didn't initially last that long, and who else was there in the team to take them forward? No one, that's who. Which is why Charles Ochiltree stared down the rest of British Speedway until he got his man. He did one of the shrewdest pieces of business in British League history when he paid an undisclosed sum of money to Hull Speedway to secure the Dane's services. Ochiltree and Olsen needed each other and they knew it. Olsen's reputation as an out and out team man and his uncanny knack of getting the best out of the most unlikely team mates turned Coventry into title contenders and attractive visitors everywhere they went. Always gave good interviews as well, and was willing to call any situation as he saw it, which got him into trouble with the authorities on more than one occasion. He was a real character as well, a 'bums non seats' person who fans would go to see, if only to see him get beaten. I remember him being interviewed (by Tony Butler, I believe) during the interval of the 1977 Second City Trophy at Perry Barr and it was interrupted by the famous 'Soldier Boy'. What followed was around five minutes of totally unscripted comedy gold, real interaction between a rider and a fan. We certainly don't get that today. Whatever you think of the Grand Prix series, IMO it's churlish in the extreme not to recognise what Ole Olsen contributed to British Speedway over something like 17 seasons. That he spent eight of those seasons with Coventry is more than enough to suggest he is worthy of consideration of the title 'Mr Coventry Speedway' alongside the likes of Nigel Boocock, Ron Mountford, Les Owen, Tommy Knudsen and Chris Harris. One final thought. At the conclusion of his Farewell Meeting, the 1983 Brandonapolis, he stood on the No1 step of the victory rostrum and delivered his final speech. After apologising to Kenny Carter for momentarily taking his place, it began to drizzle with rain. 'It isn't raining' he began, 'these are my tears at leaving British Speedway'. He then went on to thank Britian, not Denmark, because in his opinion, this country had given him all the riches, monetary and otherwise, during his career. A real character, and one such person the sport is badly missing today.

I don't see any issue at all. I seriously doubt that. Let's not forget, back in 2008, it wasn't in the 'interests of British Speedway' that Mildenhall picked up a single match point all season. Wanna bet? See the example I just gave above. Different bunch of faces, yes, but still the same old crap.

I certainly remember him! What a character. The unscripted 'debates' between him and Ole Olsen were pure comedy gold.

Too true Sid. I first saw Mike Lee at my second ever speedway match, he was guesting for Leicester in place of Reidar Eide. All I was told before the match was 'just watch the Lions rider at No5'. Quite simply he was miles faster than anyone else there that night and scored an effortless 12 point maximum. When I asked who he was when the match was over, I was told he rode for Kings Lynn and 'it's hard to believe he's only 17, isn't it....?'