MajorMauger

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!

I know what riders I have put into the categories I stated but that would be unfair to name which riders go into each category cause I respect anyone that has a go but people watching Scunny could probably work it out! Like I said I respect Scunny for trying to be totally ethical about bringing on young Brits but the reality is half the Stags team are riders who wouldn't get in any other team apart from maybe the bottom end at Buxton and will struggle to get any better! If my local NL team, Mildenhall put out a team like Scunny Stags have they would lose over half their crowd and struggle to be viable. That's the perennial problem with Division 3 racing in this Country in that you will always have teams with different outlooks. Scunthorpe have taken their outlook to the extreme which in fairness Rob Godfrey said before the season started was exactly the idea behind the project! Yes King's Lynn have got a number of journeymen who'll go no further but like Mildenhall they have to try a put together a competitive team or otherwise they'd lose a packet running NL meetings at King's Lynn. I've been told Buster Chapman wasn't happy with the Stags line up being so weak! Another way to eleviate this problem would be to restructure the League set up in Britain with a bigger top flight featuring the stronger PL teams, a middle tier weaker than the present PL but with more Brits, EG the experienced old hands in the NL moving up along with the strong standalone clubs like Mildenhall, Kent, Cradley, Stoke and a more development based 3rd Division which would suit the Scunthorpe Stags ethic much better!

The ethics and theory behind the Scunthorpe Stags project this year are fair enough but in reality the team is made up of an old hand at no1 who isn't that experienced and is a 2nd string at best, 2-3 at the very most young inexperienced riders with potential and the rest journeyman, development League/amateur riders who no one else wanted with virtually no hope of ever getting better! I can see some standalone NL clubs reducing admission prices unless the Stags beef up their line up, just like Bob Dugard did in the late 70's at Eastbourne when ironically the visitors were Scunthorpe in the 1970's National League! As for King's Lynn, I'd agree the likes of messrs Mallett, Cockle, Hughes and Campos are journeyman National League guys who aren't going to get better but messrs Rose, Bailey and Owen will likely get better and like a previous poster says quality is better than quantity! I'd rather watch the likes of Cockle Mallett, Hughes and Campos than what I would no hopers trailing round at the back! Maybe if they were so interested in giving rides to inexperienced development riders Scunny would of been better of running two/three development teams in the Midland Development League calling them Scunny Stags, Saints and even maybe Hull Vikings?

I hope Stoke speedway sorts out its many problems and returns to being a decent sustainable set up! Its been proven in the past that when run properly Stoke speedway is a viable middle tier club. Running 3rd Division level racing there is always going to be difficult even when ran well because most of Stokes history has been spent in the middle with even one season in the top flight in 1996 when Cradley moved there so long term fans find that level hard to accept. Although Cradleys spell there in 1996 ended cause the crowds wern't that great and in my opinion in present times National League speedway is often better value for money! From what I've heard from many people in speedway and Stoke fans, the recent years have seen the standards drop big time and anyone constructively criticising the promotion (which the paying customer in particular those who've been going there for a lot of years have every right) have been met with abuse. The current problems epitomise this.

Somebody should get the petition online and on this site so we can all sign it to fight against this nonsense!

Excellent piece by someone who has certainly been a commited Glasgow speedway fan! Glasgow speedway has certainly had a colourful and chequered past! You should count yourself lucky that beings Glasgows such a big City, you've had other venues available after losing a previous track! I often wonder had White City near to Glasgow Rangers FC survived then would speedway in Glasgow be more popular? I loved going to Hampden Park, what a venue, particularly when speedway was there with its huge terraces. Unfortunately this venue was too big! The 1980's were mainly a very lean period spell for the club. The 2nd Blantyre venue would be a poor 3rd Division venue. Glasgow have done well to keep going. I'd love to see a National League team open up somewhere in Scotland to help produce some Scottish riders something of which we haven't seen much of lately! Any potential venues in Scotland for a National League team?

Telstar by the Tornados always reminds me of the last last few years at the Firs stadium, home of the great Norwich Stars!

Very true unfortunately! The same as anything thats loss making, how ever much you may enjoy it there will come a time when you think I don't want to keep burning money! Easy to critiscise when your not putting your own money in! The only hope now is some tycoon comes in last minute or one of the IOW few regulars win the lottery!

Peterborough speedway has been bankrolled for a number of years now! I'm convinced the problems there started when the traditional Friday night racenight was changed! The two tracks I spectate at the most Ipswich and Mildenhall both have long standing traditional racenights and are both well supported compared to most other tracks in this day and age. If both moved to another racenight or had the infrequency of irregular racenights like Peterborough have had then both would see reduced crowd levels and in Ipswich case, it has nearly always had bigger crowds than Peterborough! Regular Friday night speedway at the EofES and Peterborough speedway would hold its own, maybe even without a rich benefactor propping it up!

While its great to see another team in this years NL, its bewildering why Poole couldn't of come to some arrangement to prevent the IOW from folding! Even more bewildering when Pooles not that far from the IOW while its a mighty distance to Scunthorpe! Still fingers crossed the IOW can sort something out! I'd rather the IOW were saved and Scunny didn't have a NL team cause British speedway would still have 1 more track! Being greedy lets hope the IOW can keep going!

Peterborough speedway ran sucessfully for 30 years on a Friday night! Therefore Friday night remains the best night for speedway at the Showground when many people don't have to get up for work the next day and there is no school! Like others have said, speedway ran successfully for many years on Fridays including times when events were being set up for the weekend. Why it became a problem all of a sudden is crazy, although I suspect new management with different ideas probably had something to do with that! Premier League speedway on a Friday night with the club being ran properly will in my opinion see the venue become viable again, but running midweek at Peterborough is the main reason why the place has struggled for the last 13 or so years!

I agree Malcolm Vaseys got his faults like we all have but what you can't fault is his enthusiasm and dedication to the sport and particularly the 3rd Division. Dave Tattum holds the reins at Stoke and from what I can gather Macolm Vasey only works within Tattums constraints! Haven't been to Stoke for quite a while but it seems theirs problems there and the place needs a change of speedway ownership to give it a necessary shot in the arm! When an established Premier League track drops its 1st team into the next League down theres bound to be quite a few fans who won't take the drop down lightly and stop going. This is why when a club does drop down it has to run really well and progressively with strong team and a reasonable investment in trying to improve or at least maintain track, facilities and presentation standards. From watching from afar this is what seems to be happening at Stoke.

Combining all 4 sports there would be the best outcome but would there be room for the lucrative housing? Maybe a stadium featuring dogs, greyhounds and stock cars thats a bit bigger than the new Crayford track could be possible beside a bigger football ground? And yes I've been to the new Crayford and I've always maintained that dinky little stadium could accomdate a tiny Plymouth like speedway track! I don't get all this WImbledon stadiums now poor talk. Yes its needs some TLC (we all know the reasons why that hasn't happened!) but it would still be better than most other speedway stadiums in the UK! I fear that football will win the day unfortunately cause they could guarantee 4000+ crowds and would get more if they climbed up the Divisions. Speedway if they reopened in at least the Premier League with a good track would at best average 1500-2000 for a start but this would drop after the honeymoon period had gone! Hopefully the fact that Wimbledons the only place with a London postcode that still stages greyhounds and stock cars (and could stage speedway) will be given serious consideration.