MajorMauger

Your sound stinks like someone with little speedway knowledge other than a deliberate attempt to belittle the sport for an ulterior reason - Your something to do with Brandon Associates and/or Clark Osbourne? Your totally oblivious to the history of Buxton speedway, what it stood for and was about! Buxton never got more than 2-300 on a good day. It operated on a shoestring budget and was an ideal track for the lower cost 3rd tier and helped to produce many riders by propping up the 3rd Division. - Most of the crowd were fans of senior tracks getting a Sunday afternoon speedway fix. I'm sure it will continue in a similar vein if it reopens next season.

Speedways in 90% of cases (tracks) is loss making but the same can be said for all football clubs in the UK. I think a report the other year stated that the average losses for Championship (2nd Division) football clubs was a 6 figure fee a WEEK! Norwich City who average 26,000 crowds lost £25M last season while Ipswich Town who average just under 30,000 crowds lost £38M! Rebuilding Coventry speedway stadium will happen if the owners sell up or decide to lease it out. Investors are in place but I suspect it will take a compulsory purchase order from authorities to make this happen. The plans for a new Wimbledon speedway track are I believe on an existing motorsports facility and persons with the available finances are involved. Can it happen? - Long shot but got a chance for sure with the before mentioned necessary finances and the aim to build it bit by bit starting at grassroots level which I believe is the best way for new tracks to reopen. Buxton speedway site still exists in situ, is only grass roots so doesn't need the usual huge cash influx to reopen and anyhow persons with finance are behind Laurence Rogers reopening plans. - Decent chance of coming back although I'd prefer they are called their traditional Hitmen nickname! Northampton has interested parties I believe and this is going to be a hard sell I suspect at a venue that hasn't ever staged senior level speedway, last had junior League/ training level speedway in the late 60's and is a few miles out of Northampton. - Maybe would be better suited to 3rd Division, training track level? As for Swindon speedways future, I'm sceptical given Clark Osbornes history and get the impression the new track plans are just a staged farce to enable the old Blunsdon stadium which currently has protection gets demolished for housing. I assume the local Council are aware of all this and won't allow Blunsdon top be demolished until the proposed new site has been running League speedway for at least a season. - While Blunsdons car park has been built on and houses surround it, alternative parking for fans if it reopened is available at Businesses nearby so I still feel that this venue is the best place to reopen Swindon speedway AND greyhounds which both have been well supported in the Town. - I get the impression negative poster R87 knows more about Clark Osbourne that most I suspect?! I agree that speedway in the UK is on the wane and has been since the mid 70's but it is certainly not down and out. The sport like the allegedly mass money making football has always required rich enthusiasts/ investors to prop it up and will do so for as long as it continues.

Hitmen is a wonderful, completely original nickname that should be kept. Wouldn't it be better for any MDL team running out of Buxton to be called the Bulls or even better - Buxton Shotguns?!

That is a cracking line up for non League Iwade speedway! Lets hope speedway can return to Eastbourne and bid to build on Arlington gets turns down and the stadium sold to persons interested in keeping the stadium as it is!

Whilst I hope that speedway returns to the Showground grandstand or not, obviously it would be better if the grandstand was used! Is the grandstand still able to be used again?

Keep signing!

John "Tiger" Louis getting better almost lap to lap in his formative years 1969 - 1972!

Mildenhall?

One of Englands finest, and without doubt Ipswich Witches greatest ever rider. In fact theirs no doubt whatsoever that the emergence of the at the time 28 year old John Louis as a Foxhall 2nd half speedway rider near the end of the 1969 season who before had never sat astride a speedway machine before, then almost unbelievable rise up to 4th in the 1972 Wembley World Final 3 years later and top level service for the Witches until his 1981 departure to Halifax moulded Ipswich into one of the hotbeds of speedway. Johns swansong as a rider was as King's Lynn number one in 1983-84 when despite being in his 40's, well past his best and in an era when the top flight of British speedway was the strongest League in the planet he topped the teams averages in both seasons. R.I.P John Louis.

100% which goes back to what I said in my earlier post, speedway racing has been open to both males and females since 1988 so quite simply if a girl is the best option then she will get the ride! Unfortunately I feel Celina Liebmanns inclusion in the Comets team is a PC stunt rather than her being the best option!

Great to see Workington speedway back at their natural level although I suspect the team may need strengthening at some point to avoid attendance levels dropping. I've never seen Celina Liebmann live in a meeting but from what I can make out from following her results over the last few years is I'd gauge her level at about a 7-8 point NL standard but a bit short of being competitive at Championship level. She needs 10 meetings to try and give herself a chance to get better but I'll be surprised if she lasts the season, though I hope she proves me wrong! I don't get all this recent clamour over females racing in speedway because the sport along with its cousins grasstrack and longtrack were made multi sex sports way back in 1988. Back then a handful of girls briefly rode for junior teams and Simon Cross' sister Julie Cross rode at Telford before many years of no girls until Jessica Lamb rode a few meetings in the 3rd Division in the early 00's.

If the laws of the land are applied Osbourne and Co will be severely reprimanded for the planning breaches and the current application for change of use will be thrown out. A question for those who may know - With the stadium carpark now built on would it be possible for speedway to restart at Blunsdon stadium without such a facility? - Where would supporters park?

Just noticed this! At my age computer basics get the better of me sometimes! Can I move my post into the Swindon stadium thread?

If the laws of the land are applied then the planning breaches will be brought up and the changes of use proposed will be thrown out. A question to those who may know - With the old stadium car park now built on would it still be possible to stage speedway racing in front of four figures at Blunsdon Stadium without the car park? - Where would supporters park?

100%! Right decision to call it a day.