foamfence

Interesting point about Coronation Street, I remember when one of the women characters was going out with a Speedway rider, Eastenders had a character who did a bit of riding and Birds of a Feather often had one character wearing Hackney Speedway clothing. This year TV coverage has been reduced and apparently Speedway will be paid little or nothing for any coverage in future seasons, just one meeting a year on mainstream TV would make much more of a difference, when you think of the masses who have little or no awareness of the sport.

540 but 520 of them were Chris Harris.

But you put a rider at the top who confessed to involvement in bribery.

I would think 'slightly' instead of 'very' might be nearer the mark. There are currently several clubs that are running at a loss, it's only funding from other sources that keeps them going. I imagine there are more, so if they all go under, who knows what will happen?

And?

Too many old hands in the NL, a rider/coach is acceptable, not three or four.

Exactly right! My local university is famed for 'peace studies' FFS. I was an apprentice engineer and there was plenty of work in those days, these days we are too reliant on service industries to take up the unemployed.

I didn't.

I wasn't that impressed with him at his peak either, what I meant was that he might have been a different rider at Ipswich than he was elsewhere.

1 Carter 2 Wilson 3 Simmons 4 Morton 5 Louis They were all respected by the top overseas riders but Carter was probably the most feared and he would ride with severe injuries which wouldn't have been allowed today. Wilson was very solid at any level. Simmons was sometimes referred to as the best rider never to have been World Champion but his cheating involvement has tainted his (and some others) image. Morton was a little battler but he was exceptionally gifted at bemoaning his lot and was mostly in the shadow of Peter Collins. Louis rode for us at Halifax, I don't know how good he'd been at Ipswich but for us he was little more than a gating tart.

Don't those who criticise (often constructively) also have a 'genuine love for the sport'? People have different points of view and aspirations, if we were all nodding dogs the whole forum would die.

I think you ought to edit out a few mistakes there. 'may' and 'song' for instance.

I started going in the 1950s, I often went three times a week and would go to big meetings at Belle Vue, Wembley and Wimbledon, that carried on until Odsal last closed. These days there are no tracks near me, I have no transport and money is tight. When money wasn't 'tight' I was a sponsor and also a mechanic for a few years. So anyone younger who criticises that because I'm no longer a regular, should remember that I've probably been to more meetings than they ever will and I still care about the sport.

I wouldn't exactly say 'desperate' and many of my friends remarked that it had been one of the best seasons ever, at the time. Many of my friends also enjoyed it on the two occasions when we had one big league. It isn't currently feasible to totally ban Aussies or anyone else but it'd be a good day when all teams were fully staffed by Brits, if it ever came. It used to sicken me when some fans supported their club foreigner in test matches and internationals, booing the British riders and even cheering when they fell.

It all sounds ideal and that seems to be what is going to happen but if a club can only use one of those nights and they have a few rain-offs, then they are still going to have to encroach on nights allotted to a different league, in order to complete their fixtures.

We could certainly cut down, especially when you see two teams each having a guest at number one, surely R/R should apply in such a case.

But if you have someone out injured and another rider is called up for some official international purpose, the only instant and short-term answers would be to have a guest (even a youngster) or turn up with five riders. When the latter has happened it hasn't gone down well on this forum.

There are riders that don't double up and riders who fit in work alongside racing, so it shouldn't be essential.

Doubling up! You can never eliminate guests, even if you limited them to young British riders or whatever, there would still be need for a substitute at times.

I understand that Lakeside have announced their intention to move back up.

It looked embarrassingly empty when they last were in the 'top flight' but they must know how far they can stretch and they'll surely be aware of the 'fixed race night' likelihood.

That still isn't 'all the facts' as some clubs might prefer option two because they are currently losing money. Deans poll was as meaningful as that would be.

Worrall is never going to be a Crump or a Rickardsson, even if you ladled money into him. While there may be validity in the point he makes, there are other riders who ride in one league and other riders who do other work to supplement their income. If the situation remains as it is it's likely that some clubs will close in the next two years. The poll reflects that, even though it only contained a few hundred votes.

If that came to be, they'd all still be at the start line next Spring.

Neither is the sport going bankrupt.