25yearfan

Wimbledon Dons 1983 Dave Jessup Malcolm Simmons Kelvin Tatum Kai Niemi Roger Johns Mike Ferriera

Ipswich Witches 1983 Dennis Sigalos Billy Sanders Jeremy Doncaster Preben Eriksen Andy Hines Andy Hibbs Carl Baldwin Kevin Teager Andy Nightingale King's Lynn Stars 1983 John Louis Richard Hellsen Kevin Jolly Gordon Kennett Keith Bloxome Mel Taylor Colin Richardson

Good, sensible move which will hopefully result in the somewhat flagging club of recent years getting a fresh more modern outlook, thus strengthening the clubs long term future! While Len Silver was at the centre of the recent decline of the club his experience is invaluable and his continued involvement will help the transition through!

Bit harsh with your words Clouting although the points you make are spot on! Yes Johnson is a NL journeyman whose not going to progress beyond the 3rd tier, but hes still rode speedway at a level that most keyboard warriors haven't got anywhere near too and he nearly lost his life racing speedway a few years ago! Eastbourne have been very harsh with the boy and like others have said Warwick would have probably been a better bet to drop. But I'm not surprised cause the Dugards aren't renowned for their subtlety much like yourself on this forum! I suspect the ultra keen Johnson will fill one of the spots in Rye Houses NL team. I will chuckle if he scores well against the Eagles!

Is James Shanes going to practise at the training track at Iwade? Hes riding for Kent Kings who ride their home meetings at the Central Park Greyhound stadium in Sittingbourne! James Shanes is one ell of a talent, very quick on the grass!

I think there will be parties interested in getting the Oxford Cheetahs speedway team going again cause the BSPA have been keeping a close eye on developments hence the reason why this latest news was on their website! I'd say that if Oxford speedway reopens next year then after 9 years of no League action, interest will be high for a while which will mean decent crowds and decent returns for the promotion who take the plunge, so their will be interest! The 1984-92 top flight glory years with messrs Payne, Crapper, Nielsen, Wigg and CO when Oxford were one of the better supported tracks shows that getting 1000-1500 average crowds in 2016 (which in modern times are decent crowds for British speedway) are obtainable if things are done correctly! As for Sunderland speedway at Boldon, it has been investigated more than once since the 1974 closure but the two biggest obstacles there are the extortionate rent the owners want and Newcastle speedway being against it cause they think it will impact on their crowd levels, something I'd dispute! I think theres scope there for a viable NL operation cause I'm sure there'd be enough people who don't currently go to speedway in the hugely populated Sunderland area interested and Newcastle and Redcar hardcore speedway fans looking for an alternative speedway day out would be interested - Mildenhall have always got a fair old scattering of nearby Ipswich, King's Lynn and Peterborough fans in the crowd enjoying some NL scrapes! Now an Oxford V Sunderland speedway League fixture in the future would be nice!

Very harsh on the ultra keen and well turned out Brendan Johnson but the facts are hes a NL journeyman whos not going to ever get good enough to go any higher and a potentially exciting, new rider from New Zealand will be more of a draw with more potential to get better! That said like others have said, Danny Warwick would have been a better suited rider to drop cause hes a lot older than Johnson, been riding for years longer never going beyond 3rd tier level, will likely struggle to adapt to the tight confines of Arlington and probably won't be as committed!

Fingers crossed hey! Oxford Cheetahs in the Premier League with an Academy side in the National League would be good and viable!

Georgie Wood is a great signing cause as anyone whose watched him race grasstrack will testify, hes a wonderfully talented quick rider with a lot of natural ability! Georgie Wood is a great signing cause as anyone whose watched him race grasstrack will testify, hes a wonderfully talented quick rider with a lot of natural ability!

I feel if they could get away with it, Rye House would run there NL team along similar lines to what Scunthorpe did last season? They need to get a move on thats for sure!

Never read anything truer in my life! To be a successful speedway promoter you won't be able to be friends with everyone all of the time and and decisions will be made that won't please everyone! Graham Drury is the ultimate example - Not a particularly nice person at times, a bit abrupt but very good at speedway management! I seem to remember one of the all time great promoters of the 70's and 80's being a bloke most people found socially awkward and not at all pleasant - the late great John Berry who took Ipswich Witches from the speedway graveyard in the late 60's to become one of the most successful speedway centres in the Country, a legacy that continues to the present!

Graham Drury is well known for being, shall we say, at times not the easiest person to get on with but what can't be denied is his extensive speedway experience on both sides of the fence and his administrative skills are 2nd to none! The Brummies had the ultimate in inept, inexperienced management last season which caused the closure, so its a good move by Tony Mole to employ someone who has a proven record of success in speedway management, whether you like him or not! The Louis' who run my local track Ipswich are far from being universally popular amongst the regulars but you can't deny Ipswich is one of the more stable better run clubs in the Country and they always pay their bills on time. They are in my opinion the best equipped persons to run Ipswich speedway so be careful what you wish for!

Interesting you state you haven't been to a live speedway meeting since 1985, almost 30 years ago which I feel hits the nail on the head! Theres thousands of lapsed supporters like yourself who still retain an interest in the sport but never go, or like more than a few thousand only go to Cardiff once a year! I reckon if only 25% of these lapsed supporters returned to watching live speedway again and we got more kids going to meetings then speedway would be doing great!

A rich speedway club is one which gets decent crowds and has a rich owner! Birmingham next season can only guarantee the rich owner part, cause recent history suggests crowds haven't been good enough at Perry Bar in higher Leagues, dodgy Phillips promotion or not!

I wasn't having a go at Cradley, just indicating that being such a big club they will be a huge draw for riders but the points limit has limited how this which makes the League more even. Birmingham will also be one of the more attractive sides to join in the NL and they to will be limited. As it is I still think Cradley are favourites looking at line ups! Yes we know that Amateur speedway is free but if your running a team out of stadium where you pay a hefty rent eg, Cradley, Birmingham, Mildenhall then you have to charge an admission to cover costs and supporters won't pay these admission prices if the team is too weak!

Like you said Cradley have cherry picked to SOME EXTENT! This indicates the points limit have done their jobs! I think the new points limits have meant theirs more emphasis on bringing through 3 pointers and make it more difficult for the 3-7 point career 3rd Division riders to find team places And for me seeing some of the virtually unknown 3 pointers progress with enthusiastic racing will be something worth watching! Back to thread namely Birmingham Brummies, despite being a standalone track not long out of the EL with a rich owner and bigger crowds than most NL clubs the Brummies have signed a number of 3 pointer riders plus up and coming 5 pointer Sam Chapman! Fair play Birmingham Brummies!

The heatleaders will hold their averages at least, and the decent 3 pointers will increase theirs significantly. Some of the riders inbetween and a few 3 pointers will put more on their averages than they would have in a stronger League but the minimum ans maximum points limits were necessary cause the League has more teams so the strengths had to be better levelled out than they were in the past. Also the League couldn't afford a team doing a "Scunthorpe" and putting out an uncompetitive team which costs the others money. At the other end of the scale the maximum limit will ensure the likes of Cradley don't cherry pick all the best riders Anyway come 2016 and most likely their will be a different number of teams in the National League so the points limits will need to be tweeked againi!

Looking at the record books, I see that Peterboroughs reserve team once it again, Sheffields reserve team won it twice and the Bournemouth Buccanears won it so the 2nd teams of higher League tracks haven't done to badly!

Yeah I agree the balance looks good with an emphasis on pushing 3 point newcomers through. Though I suspect their will be some spread out races as the heatleaders will initially be beating most of the 3 pointers by quite a distance although you do get better by riding against superior riders. Yes Deans right in that the standalones with higher outgoings can't afford to track teams of novices because they won't get crowds so you'll always have the situation of many of the standalones being stronger than the 2nd teams of higher League tracks. But the big standalone teams don't always win everything - Since the modern 3rd tier started in 1994, the long gone Linlithgow who were the Scottish equivalent of Buxton won the League in 1996, followed by Peterboroughs reserve team in 1997, I think Newports reserve team won it soon after, then Oxford won it in 05, little Buxton won it not long back and didn't Scunthorpes 2nd team win a few years back?

In 60+ years of watching speedway the formation of the 3rd Division in 1994 has in my opinion been one of the best things to ever happen to British speedway! The 3rd Division in its many guises since 1994 has benefited British speedway for many reasons such as developing young riders, allowing riders not good enough for higher League racing but who can still provide good entertainment and experience for the young riders a League to race in, new tracks a lower cost level to race at to test the water and allowed former higher League tracks many of whom shut down because they couldn't afford it a League to race in and thus become active in speedway again! Considering our last World champion Tai Woffiden started his League career for Scunthorpe in the 3rd Division says it all. Somerset , Trelawny, IOW, and Kent all of whom had never staged League speedway before started in the 3rd Division. Would they have started without the 3rd tier being in operation? - Maybe not? Former higher League tracks like Mildenhall, Rye House, Stoke, Wimbledon, Weymouth and Cradley all reopened in the 3rd tier. Terry Russell had deserted Arena Essex back in 1996 yet they were kept going by running a team in the then Conference League. I know for a fact that without the 3rd Division my local 3rd tier club Mildenhall wouldn't have reopened and I'd say its likely Rye House and Stoke would be the same. Look at this upcoming season, messrs Eastbourne Eagles and Birmingham Brummies would be lost to League racing without the National League! (Lets hope the drop down proves successful for both clubs!) Would the longest serving 3rd tier club Buxton have ever ran in one of the top 2 Leagues if the 3rd tier had not been around? - Probably not! The 3rd Division will always have clubs with different reasons for being there like higher League tracks 2nd teams in it to develop riders and the stand alone clubs (bar low cost Buxton) having to try and win the League in order to attract viable crowds. This upcoming seasons minimum and maximum points limit should help to keep teams closer in terms of rider strengths and stop the ridiculous Scunthrope Stags situation of last season occurring again! In my area I think Mildenhall speedway in the NL offers better value for money than the nearby King's Lynn in the EL and Ipswich in the PL!

Yeah sure, I think Eastbourne will win most of their home matches simply because the tight confines of Arlington will offer a lot of home track advantage and many away riders will overshoot the corners which will allow the technical riders like Mason and Johnson to get points just by holding the line. But away from home the team could find getting harder with Mason the No1 a definate "homer" who doesn't travel well. But many fans especially those who've seen Eastbourne win the top flight on a number of occasions and be the stand out team of the mid to late 1980's 2nd Division will be very sceptical about 3rd Division racing and will no doubt only take to it if Eastbourne are seriously challenging at the top which at present looks unlikely! Nowadays for the worse I think, winning has become the be all and end all in League speedway. I remember watching Norwich in the early 1960's when we had 2 reserves called Reg Trott (latterly rode for Eastbourne in the early 70's!) and Derek Strutt who never scored much at all particularly away from home but stayed in the team for a number of years cause in them days we liked seeing regular line ups. In modern times both of them would of lasted a season at the most!

David Mason has been a tremendous servant to the 3rd Division through all of its various incarnations over 20 years, indeed one of its best ever riders and I'm sure he'll score more than OK around the tight confines of Arlington which I suspect will catch out many of the throttle merchant inexperienced riders, but hes not a No1 nowadays! Look at last season with Kent. He averaged about 9 at home and about 5 away where many of performances were poor at best! I could understand siging Mason as a back up to a strong No1, but with Eastbourne dropping down they needed exactly that, a No1 capable of being at the top of the League averages and a team capable of seriously challenging for the title! Like I've said before, I hope the venture into the 3rd Division works out well for Eastbourne speedway because surely the future of speedway at Arlington depends on it, but the team has a very unappealling, mid table at best look about it!

This side has a 3rd Division "Dad's army"/never will be's/ journeymen look about it! Marc Owen is the only one out of the 4 signed that can say with any honesty that he can realistically look to move to a level beyond the 3rd Division and hes been riding for a few years without be one of the top youngsters around! I presume one of the last 3 remaining places will go to the Dugard boy who rides and the other 2 have to be young up and coming 3-4 pointers who have serious potential! After 23 years of continuous top flight speedway, before that 16 years of 2nd Division speedway with a 5 year top flight spell in the middle of those 2nd Division seasons, regulars at Eastbourne have had a rich diet which means that next years move into the 3rd Division has to be done with a decent team challenging at the top of the League to ensure crowds don't dip under the 400 mark!

Brendon Johnsons a decent nice lad whos friendly, professional and reliable, but he's never going to go any further than 3rd tier level (please prove me wrong Brendon!). That said hes got lots of experience at Eastbourne, can turn a bike hard so should be able to score well at Arlington! Danny Warwicks also a decent guy whos approachable. Hes also very quick especially on the big tracks and on the grass and beach racing. It will be interesting to see if he can get used to the tight confines of Arlington although even if he doesn't he'll still be able to get the better of many riders there! Fingers crossed that National League speedway at Eastbourne on a Sunday can be sustainable. Crowds of 500+ should be achieveable on a Sunday afternoon especially on a nice day!

I think the racing at Ipswich is better than King's Lynn which is one of the most over rated tracks in the Country nowadays!