25yearfan

The poster has come up with valid points, just they aren't yours which is no doubt heavily influenced by your involvement with the well known guy who makes big statements about opening up tracks but apart from Wimbledon and Rye House which both needed bailing out by others who could actually do the job, hasn't come up with the goods including my old team Norwich a couple of years ago. Anyway like I said before, the guy in question wouldn't be allowed a licence anyway! I agree that if anyone listened to the realists and indeed your own sanity, no one would ever open speedway tracks given the perilous nature of speedway in this Country and the incredible amounts of red tape you have to get through when applying for planning permission, but it does happen every now and again and can be successfull. But to do so you you need incredibly deep pockets, good business skills, good people skills and not get carried away romancing about what you are going to do, all aspects your mate aparently struggles with. I lost my original team Norwich Stars 50 years ago this October so while I've heard it many times before about Norwich speedway reopening I kept an open mind about you mates plans 2-3 years back despite his poor record in the past but unfortunately my fears came true! As for Milton Keynes, its well known it struggled for crowds over 20 years at two different venues and it done extremely well to survive as long as it did. Like I said before Milton Keynes was a track and team that needed the 3rd Division forming 10 - 15 years earlier than it did the same as the likes of Workington, Barrow, Birmingham at the Wheels project, Ellesmere Port and the various training tracks of the 1980's like Iwade, Felton, Farringdon, and Matchams Park. Mildenhall and Stoke probably wouldn't have shut in the early 1990's if the 3rd Division had been around then as well! I really hope that we see another track built in Milton Keynes but the above factors need to be considered, though its not a dead cert that reopening tracks where the sport struggled in the past means they will struggle again. Mildenhall shut in 1989 and 1992 probably because of struggling to make 2nd tier racing viable. Now Mildenhall get decent crowds, levels that many higher League tracks would be envious off! Scunthorpe had a similar history to Milton Keynes when they ran from 1971-85 in that they always struggled for crowds at two different venues. But since reopening in 2005 under the very astute promotion of Rob Godfrey (nows there a proper promotor!) it has been viable due to the training schools, stock cars and tight budgeting plan used by Godfrey. Workington shut in 1981 due to poor crowds and then reopened in 1985 for open meetings but fared the same as 1981. Workington looked like a venue that would never see speedway ever again but fast forward to 1999 and the multi track promotor reopened and Workington was for a few years one of the best supported speedways in the Country and although crowds have gone down it is still a viable operation today! Good luck to the new track plans in Milton Keynes!

Hope this happens! BUT - We've heard this sort of big statement from the super keen (but often jumping the gun) Mr Laurence Rogers in the past at Swansea and Yarmouth in recent years! I also hope the prospective promotion doesn't include the infamous one who made big noises at Norwich a few years ago and isn't allowed a license, cause it won't happen? Milton Keynes were never well supported at the Groveway 1978 - 1988, then at Eldfield Park 1989 - 1992, in times when crowds were generally bigger than they are nowadays! Its one of them places that needed the cheaper 3rd Division level racing in order to be viable but unfortunately the Knights shut 2 years before the 3rd tiers creation in 1994! I think with a promotion with deep pockets and astute hard working management, Milton Keynes can be a viable 3rd Division outfit in time so lets hope we see a new track there! New tracks in areas that haven't had speedway for a while or ever bring fresh faces into the sport. Yes we have a shortage of riders and fans but its likely we could lose tracks currently involved this season so any new track should be encouraged!

I can see the advantages of regionalisation but as an Ipswich regular I enjoy the visits from the Northern tracks more than seeing some of the Southern teams twice/three times over! For instance one of the best meetings at Foxhall was the 45-45 draw against Glasgow. And I really hope we don't see Somerset again this year cause they are poor round Ipswich! For me I think we've got to go down the Swedish and Polish route of having half the meetings which prevents saturation! I thinks its no coincidence they get better crowds when they only ride other teams once at home and once away. The EL made a big mistake when they went back to twice at home and twice away this season cause that's too much and people start picking and choosing and many people can't afford to go every week. Mildenhall in the NL who get at least 500+ every meeting are the perfect example of less is better. They wouldn't get them crowds if they ran every week. We have got to follow the football route of one home match a fortnight, one away match a fortnight. The days when people would religiously go to speedway every week in large enough numbers has gone! Extra meetings could be generated by KO cup, challenge matches at the start of the season against foreign teams (look at the huge crowd at King's Lynn at the start of the season to see them ride against that Polish club side!)a proper World championship/British championship qualifying system like we used to have in the 1980's and a couple of test series against Poland, Sweden, Australia, Denmark etc.

Without the National League the likes of Mildenhall, Cradley, and Stoke would be defunct and Kent would likely under the draconian planning restrictions not have opened! In my opinion Scunthorpe this season is made up of an old guy at number 1 who'd be a reserve at most other tracks, a handful of young guys with a bit of potential who'd be reserves at other teams and the rest who nobody else would want in their team. Its applaudable what they are tyring to do but went way over the top in doing so! The likes of David Mason have a huge mass of speedway knowledge that can be passed onto youngsters. This is better than Scunthorpe where there is no one in the Stags team with that much experience. The National League/3rd Division has and always will be a League with conflicting interests. managed properly this can be just about sustainable but next season please no way too weak teams like Scunthorpe are this season!

Birminghams problems this season were more to do with inept owners rather than the Elite League itself. Birmingham with its high rental and not huge hardcore support will always be highly vunerable in the hands of incapable owners regardless of the League they are in! The EL hasn't been truly that since the first two years of its inception! It should be 6 man teams mainly filled by the cream of World speedway and should only be once at home and once away! Its no coincidence that the better attended Swedish and Polish Leagues run half the fixtures we do over here. People get tired of seeing the same old teams over and over, many others can't afford to go most of the meetings so this results in many potential customers picking and choosing. We only need one home meeting a fortnight just like the much more popular football has been for years. Less fixtures would mean the season could start later in April cause afterall speedways a summer sport and many people don't go when its too cold. I don't think one set day for EL matches would work in this Country cause most teams don't own there stadium and midweek fixtures don't attract the crowds like Fridays and Saturdays. Note that Belle Vue intend to move to Friday nights when/if they get there new stadium. Less fixtures would enable British speedway to maintain its current multi night meetings! Teams complaining about a lack of home fixtures could also run teams in the NL, King's Lynn and Coventry already do while Belle Vue intend to in their new stadium and Lakeside are considering it. Wolves at Monmore Green are different in that they share there track with Cradley who could realistically also sustain EL racing there. Other tracks like Eastbourne and Birmingham who struggle with crowds would probably be happy with a less congested fixture list and wouldn't be interested in the NL. Test matches against the likes of Poland, Australia, Denmark and Sweden could be restarted on EL tracks to give them more fixtures. Individuals and most shared events could also be staged on EL tracks to give them more home fixtures. Teams from Poland, Denmark and Sweden could come over at the start of the season to ride challenge matches at EL tracks. Look at the huge crowd at King's Lynn at the start of the season to watch the Polish team. Challenge matches against teams you will be facing in the League aren't very apetising. The 6 man teams should be filled by the Worlds Elite and British riders. The 2 reserves will be British only, the requirement being a PL average of 6+whos never averaged over 6 in the EL before. One other British doubling up rider could ride in the main body of the team but would require a PL average of 8 or over in the PL. No foriegners could double up. (A similar fast track system to that used in this seasons EL could be implemented in the more suitable PL with the requirement being a NL average of 6+.) A better run less congested EL would attract more fans, sponsors and more interest from SKY and other TV companies. More finance would enable the League to be truly Elite attracting the worlds best riders and would enable test matches to be viable again and would enable the clubs to run National teams and put more into training young British riders. Very true but I look forward to the visit of the Northern tracks to Ipswich more than what I do the more local teams cause you know you'll probably only see them once a season. I also enjoyed the one big League set up of 1995-96 but many of the former 2nd Division teams didn't! Like another poster indicates, it easy to say the BSPA don't do this and don't do that but as we've seen on this thread everyone has their own ideas and I firmly believe that while British speedway can be more sustainable than it currently it, it will always be vunerable and that has nearly always been the case since I first went in the 1950's!

No Stan I don't know all the facts, but surely all Birmingham speedway fans whether they are nice people or not all want the same thing which is the reopening of Birmingham Brummies speedway next season? I spectate at Ipswich more than anywhere else and like many Ipswich regulars I'm not a fan of the Louis' but they've been running Ipswich speedway continuously since 1989 and I doubt if anyone else could do any better, so I'm not loud in criticism of them! All personal feelings should be put aside is what I'm preaching!

That's exactly what I done quite a while ago now! If the racing at King's Lynn was on a par with what it used to produce in the 70's and 80's I would go to more than a few meetings there! I respect Buster Chapman and no I'm not in dispute with him or have a grudge like another poster suggests! Ipswich produces better racing than King's Lynn nowadays something you'd of never said years ago and you can take your own food in there!

I'm very calm thank you!............dear!!!!!! Glad to hear its only on SWC, still very very wrong though! While Buster Chapman deserves every piece of credit for what he's done at King's Lynn, the place is far from the being as heavenly as some make out particularly the very over rated racing!

That's terrible! Blatant commercialism! Another reason not to go to King's Lynn speedway!

I used to like and respect your views Stan but these chip on the shoulder attitude posts aren't no good for you and don't help in everyones common cause here which is the reopening of Birmingham speedway!

I've been watching speedway since the 1950's and for the majority of that time barring 10 years at the very most, people have been going on about how the sports declining and will die! , There's been many people who've got into speedway thinking they have a magic wand and will turn the sport around but there isn't no exact science that will cure speedways faults. Promoter's in this Country are battling against many obstacles and hindrances that are more often than not out of their hands! As for boycotting meetings, well hasn't that been going on for years anyway, with nowadays many people who'd consider themselves speedway followers who don't ever set foot in stadiums! I'll agree that everything's far from rosy but I'm convinced speedway will survive in one form or another in this Country!

Nothings been posted on the Brummies forum for a couple of days now so nothings been missed! With the excellent response to the fighting fund, the stadium owners apparently wanting speedway to return, Tony Mole and others interested as well as sponsors I'd say Birmingham speedway can re emerge next season, probably in the Premier League and be sustainable if ran right!

Yes I'm, sure the continuity was a consideration but saying it had nothing to do with one of your riders (Ryan Fisher) racing for Friday nighters Coventry who are also ran by the same promotion with many persons involved at both clubs is gobbledygook! Peterborough speedway ran continuously on Friday nights from their formation in 1970 right up to 2000 with no problems including Friday nights when the Showground was awash with people involved in setting up a weekend show. Indeed I remember absolutely huge crowds in 1970-71 7-8000+ when the club ran meetings coinciding with big shows taking place there! If running on Friday nights was viable for 30 years then it should of been viable afterwards as well! Enough people have come on here saying Tuedays aren't viable for them while Fridays would be and the people who come on this forum would only be a small % of Peterboroughs crowds and potential Friday night fans! Lets use a similar example at ironically Mick Hortons other club Coventry a number of years ago. Now Coventry are one of the Countries best supported clubs but a whileback they moved to Thursday nights which resulted in a disasterous drop in crowd figures and Coventry soon moved back to Friday nights! Peterborough have always attracted a fair amount of their support from out of the County let alone the City and now on Tuesday nights this travelling support would no doubt have dwindled! Its been stated that Peterboroughs break even crowd figure is 700 - I think Friday night speedway would comfortably achieve this which would mean the club would making a profit! People will travel to Peterborough to watch because the track is fairly unique and normally produces good exciting, very fast speedway. Friday nights are much easier to do than Tuesdays!

Easy one! Firs Stadium Norwich where I first watched speedway in the 1950's! I wish the place had never shut down in 1964! I'm convinced had the Firs stadium survived to the present day, Norwich Stars would be in the Elite League and still would be one of the best supported clubs!

Friday night is Peterborough speedways traditional racenight and its a good one too cause many people don't have to get up for work the next day and the kids don't have school! This is the reason why Peterborough get poor crowds on a Tuesday! I thought one of the reasons for going to Tuesdays was cause Coventry run on a Friday night and at the time Ryan Fisher was doubling up with both! I understand why Chris Brown doesn't go a lot on the Hortons after what happened at Oxford but without Mick Horton there'd probably be no speedway at Peterborough so his negativity towards them on a Peterborough thread is a little bit wide of the mark! Oh and when I went to Peterborough speedway on Good Friday this year the crowd was very good at least 2000+ I'd say!

I've no doubt Leicester are still paying of the costs of setting the venue up. indeed they still need a permanent main stand that will have to be paid for! I have been told Leicester average over 2000 a meeting. If the seemingly very sensible and decent speedway promoter (despite what the Lions fans may say!) David Hemsley budgeted for crowds bigger than what they are getting then I'd be very surprised! Yes I'm aware of the rivalry between Derby County FC and Nottingham Forest FC and have seen this first hand at an England football match a few years ago when I saw Derby and Forest fans have an altercation. That said in my area Norwich City FC and Ipswich Town FC hate each other but I know more than a few Norwich City fans spectate at Foxhall, Ipswich and in the past I've even seen yellow and green Norwich shirts in the crowd at Foxhall! Going back to the days of the Firs, Norwich Stars speedway used to get a more than a few of their fans from Suffolk! Ipswich speedway is nearer for many people in Norfolk than what the actual Norfolk track King's Lynn is. Football fans tend to ignore their rivalries if they are interested in speedway. Myself for instance am a Norwich City fan but the speedway track I've watched most meetings at has been Ipswich, though had Norwich speedway kept going that would be different! This isn't taking into account the many speedway fans who couldn't give a monkeys about football! If both Nottingham and Derby had speedway teams then I'm sure they'd be a rivalry similar to the football like I remember Norwich and Ipswich speedways having but I'm sure any speedway enthusiasts from Derby would have no problem going to Nottingham to watch the great sport!

Yes its a long shot anyone would be interested in spending a fortune on introducing speedway to Nottingham Greyhound stadium! And that would be after a similar long shot of persuading the owners to let them do it! For the record I know for a fact Tony Mole enquired about staging speedway at Nottingham Greyhound stadium soon after Long Eaton finished in 1997 but the owners weren't interested! In these times of speedway struggling in our land, its amazing that anyone would want to risk their financial well being by putting 6 figure sums into speedway, so thank god for the likes of Tony Mole, Bob Dugard, Alan Phillips and quite a few others! Leicester are getting some of the biggest crowds in British speedway so they are doing better than what you make out! I still maintain that out of all the areas/Cities not currently staging speedway, the East Midlands area of which Nottingham is the principal City is an area that would have a better chance of supporting a top 2 tier speedway team then most others because it did at the sadly defunct Station Road Long Eaton even when the team were more often than not at the wrong end of the Leagues they competed in!

Most professional football teams play their midweek games on a Tuesday nowadays. It used to be Wednesdays in the past but they are few and far between! Anyway footy teams don't play home games every midweek anyway! I'm sure that if someone could persuade the owners of Nottingham greyhound to let speedway be staged there then the prospective speedway promoter's would be the ones paying for all the alterations required for the speedway! Like I said before, I think a well run speedway set up at Nottingham Greyhound stadium would work with Nottingham being a huge City, Derby no far away together with Long Eaton which got sustainable crowds!

Has anybody involved in speedway been in touch with Mr Taggart? The last Wimbledon speedway promotion who I believe keep a close eye on developments or the BSPA? Surely Mr Taggarts bid would be strengthened by the inclusion of the resurrection of a famous team who represented the Borough?

Anyone with a big interest in Cradley speedway and British speedway as a whole would be aware that since failing to buy the Heathens former home Dudley Wood in the late 1990's, (not a criticism, Barratt homes were going to have the site whatever rival bid came in!) Tony Mole has been trying to find a site for a new stadium for the well supported club. Indeed I'm convinced that without the intervention of the very anti speedway local authorites in that neck of the woods, he'd of already achieved this and Cradley would be racing in the Elite League! The impression I got from last weeks announcement is that the Cradley management are hinting they have identified a site and Tony Mole is on board to finance it and to use his experience in reopening tracks! If anyone can do it then Tony Mole can!

Tony Mole looked into introducing speedway to Nottingham Greyhound stadium after Long Eaton finished after the 1997 season. Like greyhound says I think the owners aren't interested in speedway. I personally think the stadium would be ideal cause the facilities are decent, theres plenty of room inside the dog track for a decent sized speedway track and the Nottingham/Derby area is a big population area with Long Eaton slap bang in the middle, an area that sufficiently supported the Invaders at Station Road for many years. I'd say the chances of getting a site in Long Eaton would be minimal. People have said the facilities aren't supporter friendly for viewing but many dog tracks (and indeed other stadiums) before speedway tracks are built don't look suitable for speedway. If you went to Perry Bar before the Brummies returned there in 2007 it wouldn't of looked that suitable for speedway with the viewing areas but the stands installed on the 1st bend alleviated a lot of these problems. Perry Bar was looked at as a possible venue for Cradley after Dudley Wood was lost in 1995 but many said that the underground services in the middle would have rendered this a no goer for speedway! Kirky Lane Belle Vue in the 1980s was another one that until speedway actually went in and a few alterations were made, didn't look suitable for speedway! I well remember a speedway star interview with Workington and Glasgow legend Steve Lawson in the mid 1990's who stated he didn't think it was possible for speedway to return to Workingtons Derwent Park cause the stadium and rugby pitch had altered!! If speedway came to Nottingham Greyhound track then I don't think it would be right to use the Long Eaton Invaders name. Nottingham Outlaws was a name Long Eaton went under in the late 1970's and early 1980's and would be ideal for a Nottingham speedway team in the future. I think a properly run Nottingham speedway with a decent track built could sustain Premier League speedway at least, especially if they ran on Long Eatons former racenight of Wednesdays! Hopefully one day Nottingham Greyhound stadium will be owned by people who realise that the rental and bar/refreshment takings from one week of speedway would make the venue more profitable for them!

Why not build houses elsewhere? The chances of getting another site in the Coventry area are remote! Brandon stadiums a fantastic facility, why move anywhere else? Why would Sandhu sell Brandon for redevelopment in order to make a lot of money then build another stadium elsewhere that would cost at least £500,000 for a club of Coventrys stature and support? Sandhus made out that the sale of the stadium for redevelopment is set in stone and all permissions for this have been granted! All the issues Sandhu has come out with above are all smokescreens. He wants to sell the stadium and make a load of money with no thought whatsoever to speedway, stock cars, greyhounds and the history, heritage and asset to Coventry is whatsoever! What needs to be found out is what the current planning situation is because I bet that its not set in stone like Sandhu makes out. The stadium may even have a leisure use only restriction on it? Campaigns have to start NOW opposing Sandhus plans because if Brandon Stadium was lost the chances of Coventry getting going elsewhere quickly and at a stadium as good as Brandon would be remote. This is coming from myself an ex Norwich Stars fan - We lost the Firs Stadium in 1964!

I keep reading all this stuff about Ostergaards absence being the key but RR for him scored 9 which isn't many points away from what he'd of got. Take away the two tapes exclusions and the Witches might have won by more! I predicted a comfortable win for Ipswich tonight cause being an evening meeting the track would maintain moisture creating a grippy track with an outside line that would favour the home team. Good Fridays mauling by the Panthers was down to it being a daytime meeting which limited the quality of the track grip wise which played into the faster trapping Panthers side!

I've been saying this for a number of years now - take away the over 50's who make up a large % of crowds and speedway crowds would be even more pitiful than they currently are. When the current over 50's supporters slowly whittle away its hard to see where the crowds are going to come from. Vinces ideas seem very good! Although I like to see the Brits do well in it, personally I've got no interest in the media/commercial circus that is formula 1 racing. Its like standing beside any motorway watching vehicles pass by yet millions of people are interested in it. Speedway knocks spots of formula 1 as a racing spectacle, so all is not lost! It needs independent leadership with no self interest at the heart of big decisions and interest from major Companies and speedway can become more popular once again!