steve roberts

I used to be able to walk to Cowley Stadium when I lived in Oxford which was a massive incentive. I used to travel extensively around the country following speedway but, yes, you are partially correct in your assessment but I re-iterate to encourage me to re-attend there has to be an incentive and the thought of getting into a car and battling thru' traffic for fifteen heats of racing offers me no encouragement.

I understand that appears to be the present climate of thinking and economics. However I haven't attended a speedway for 12 years due to re-location and I wouldn't consider getting into my car and driving to my nearest track (Sheffield from York) for fifteen heats of racing. Not value for money in my opinion. Personally twenty heats of racing (in whatever format) suggests a better return on my admission and petrol money.

Yep! Used to enjoy watching the second halves personally. So did many of my mates around me...it was a time to relax and have a bit of banter after the main event and enjoy a bag of chips! Shan't repeat my reasons for being pro-second half. It's been well documented elsewhere on this forum.

Fabulous publication!

Of course during the days of the one-off World Finals the British event (Wembley and later Bradford) profits would be distributed amongst the British tracks and often was a life saviour for some of the promotions at the time. However when the GPs were introduced this income disappeared much to the annoyance of John Berry.

I know that I keep quoting the late John Berry but he was quoted many years ago saying that British Speedway no longer benefited financially from the the SGP and lost out when the FIM decided to go along the route of the GPs. I admired JB and how he spoke a lot of sense about the direction in which speedway was heading. How we could do with him now in some form of administration.

Chris Slabon's father was Robert (who rode for Eastbourne in 1981?) and was Polish but emigrated to Canada.

I remember I had a conversation with Peter Collins at Oxford when his son, Chris, was riding. PC even then was concerned about the speed and handling of the bikes compared to how little tracks had altered over the same period.

I recall some years ago that there was an initiative to experiment with Honda engines with a view of cutting costs but the BSPA didn't show any enthusiasm towards it. Eric Boocock was involved with the trials as it was hoped that, if successful, costs potentially would have been reduced. Problem is that riders, given a free reign, will always look at ways of out doing each other for that extra horsepower. John Berry always maintained that the introduction of four valves in the middle seventies was the beginning of the end as regards keeping costs down...and has been unfortunately proved correct.

...and people complain about our politicians!

Some of the associated collections in connection with the sport. There's the obvious ones - programmes and badge collecting - but my brother had one of the more bizarre collections...shale collected from each track visited and stored in those little 'Tic-Tac' mint boxes!

Fabulous statistical section in the latest edition of 'Backtrack'. In an easy to interpret list it makes for an interesting analysis. However my one query is whether Bob Coles rode at Yarmouth?

Tyres have been a constant source of debate going back decades. Pirelli, Barum or Carlisle to name a few. It's been argued that some are too narrow/wide, soft/hard, deep/shallow treads etc etc.

The crash was shown on World of Sport if I remember?

I recall an interview with the late Kelly Moran some years ago when he was quoted as saying that he had difficulty riding a lay down engine.

Bobby Beaton at Cowley in 1972. Colin Gooddy's bike broke down immediately in front of Bobby and he had nowhere to go. Hit him from behind and flew over the fence hitting, if I recall, a lamp standard. He was carried off and we feared the worse. He was riding again within 24 hours!

Yes he was involved with the proposed sale of Cowley Stadium back in 1976 before it was saved by a committee of speedway and greyhound enthusiasts.

Internationals between England and the USA and Denmark....or going further back Sweden. Those badges with year bars. Going into a last heat decider and winning. Memories of many with Hans Nielsen and his partner achieving same on many such occasions. Remember when said Colin Meredith appeared in a second half race at Oxford under the name of Tony Brooklister. Personally I used to enjoy the tactics at the gate with riders trying to out wit their opponent but can understand why the no touching tape ruling was brought in.

I used to get excited attending the official pre-season practice watching the riders go thru' their paces and anticipation was high for the new campaign!

Good post! Enjoyed reading that! Generally been a good and interesting thread.

I used to paint boards to order and even had a contact in Germany who used to purchase some from me. I even painted a board for Steve Regeling's wife! Remember, well, the track shop at Coventry where you could purchase personalised programme boards. Recently saw a car with a bike on a rack pass me on a motorway...really brought back memories!

Remember those jackets as well! Another great memory was the personalised programme boards. Very innovative some of them. I used to paint programme boards in enamels (actually sold a few too!) and it was exciting prior to a new season starting painting my new board. Riders transporting their bikes on racks on the back of their cars and occasionally spotting them when travelling to and from meetings. Those sun strips (murder to stick on) displayed either on the windscreen or rear window of the car. I recall having three displayed at one time!

I cringe at the memory that I used to wear a 'Skol Halls' jacket when they sponsored Oxford back in the 80s but I thought that I was the bees knees!

I followed speedway for over thirty years before relocating. It had everything and some of the aspects that first attracted me to the sport are as follows... The atmosphere and the smell of castrol R. Visiting different tracks (home and abroad) that required different riding techniques adding to the pleasure. The sad demise of Wembley as a speedway. The personalities involved (riders, management and fans). The colourful and distinguishing leathers which made identifying riders more easy. Old style second halves. Meeting up with people on the terraces and developing a little clique. Trying to out guess the Team Manager's next tactical move. Collecting the programmes and filling them in with accuracy. The noise of the bikes with straight thru' exhausts (never quite the same with the advent of silencers). Local derbies (sadly no longer possible with many now defunct tracks). The statistical side of the sport that enabled fans to keep their own records together with the official ones. I could go on.

I agree! The old Second Division/New National League was originally created to bring on fresh talent with a few 'old 'hands' to get things started. It produced many riders who went on to achieve great things at international level. By the late seventies, however, the impetus faded and the league moved direction and eventually, with the inclusion of foreign riders, became a very different animal.