RobMcCaffery

They had nine teams. Smederna (Eskilstuna) Dackarna (Malilla) Vetlanda Rosspiggarna (Hallstavik) Vastervik Indianerna (Kumla) Lejonen (Gislaved) Masarna (Avesta) Piraterna (Motala)

A Saturday night down the M2 to Kent was always a lovely end to the week. Yes, Wally Mawdsley did run it for a while towards the end before selling out to Chris Galvin, but its first promoter through the sixties and seventies was the one and only Johnnie Hoskins. It was narrow but racing was possible. I miss so many tracks that we've lost but Kingsmead is one of the greater regrets outside the loss of the London tracks, Coventry, Cradley and of course the original Belle Vue. The second division was my league though and I so miss being able to head to that fine city for a good night's speedway with a great atmosphere and fans.

I write an honest piece and get the usual rubbish from you. You illustrate my point about some of the people who I encountered in the sport who made me wish I hadn't bothered. I hope I didn't meet you. I obviously can'tr tell since you spread your poison from the cowardly defence of a false name. You disgust me. In a way this incident sums up my experience of the sport. You do something honestly and with the right intentions to help people understand what went on and you get reptiles like you crawling out from under your stone. I talk about the sport and mention my own experiences. Somehow that's a crime in your eyes. Perhaps it's because you've done f all for the sport except sneer at those who have at least tried. But then anonymity is so convenient eh, especially for cowards like you. It's clear that anything I post is going to get crass responses from you like this so it's best if I don't bother. I met plenty of egomaniacs in the sport, especially in announcing and writing. I assure you I'm not one of them Perhaps you should try taking them on? I gave a damn. More fool me, eh? I'll let you get back to your poison pen letters, oh superior one..... Anyway, for those people who are interested in the sport rather than hurting others I hope my original post helped them understand what went on at Wimbledon. Sadly orion puts his need to be unpleasant to others above that. Perhaps my posting went over his shabby little head? Anyway, apologies for making a posting. I must remember that I have to ask permission from an idiot in Wiltshire first. Speedway, a great sport, ruined by people who don't give a damn about others.

June 26th, 1971, Rayleigh v Romford, British League Division 2. Heat 1 - Kevin Holden, Nigel Rackett, Mike Sampson, Geoff Maloney. The Rockets recovered from that 4-2 reverse to win 45-30, including a heat 13 3-0 to the home side with Alan Emmett the only survivor from a race that saw Kevin Holden retire and Hugh Saunders and Bob Coles both fall.

The 2002 Wimbledon opener should never have happened, and that's coming from someone who was involved in the new promotion as a publicist. It had been demonstrated by Len Silver at Rye House that it was possible to 'lay and lift' a shale track over a tarmac surface and a similar solution was initially adopted for the Plough Lane revival. It's not exactly an easy technique, laying a shale track just for one night, unless you have a GP-style budget and even in ideal weather conditions you're taking a risk. When the heavens opened it was clear that it was impossible to go ahead. One of the promoting pair together with most of his team knew it had to be called off. However there was a second promoter who, I am told, overruled the only sensible decision. The resulting fiasco split the partnership with the one who claimed he wanted it postponing having the responsibility dumped on him. I cannot mention names because one of the promoters is notorious at bullying forum owners with legal threats. Unfortunately so often in speedway it's the good guys who receive the bovine excrement while the guilty use their financial power or sheer ability to bully to walk away with a clean reputation. I stayed in my role for a while, even going with the team to Buxton where only one promoter was there. He told me later that he had parted company with his partner but couldn't even find the decency to face me and tell me in Derbyshire. Since that wholly unsavoury experience apart from helping out at the delightful Iwade for a couple of seasons I have kept well clear of working in speedway. I still love the sport, but certainly not the way it is run or too many of the people involved in it. I saw too much. Self-respect is something I wasn't prepared to compromise any longer.

Remember Sue - it's fine to talk to yourself. It's just when you start arguing that the tranquiliser rifles come out ;-)

Source: Google Maps. They tend to be pretty accurate. Typical BSF - state a fact from a reliable source and still have to fend them off. Anyway geoff100 - I tried to help. More fool me.

12 miles. Crewe, then under the promotion of Len Silver, were obviously not happy about Stoke opening in 1973. It wasn't many years before they folded. It wasn't as close as Cradley and Wolves - 9 miles, or White City-Wimbledon, 8 miles, or West Ham - Hackney, 5 miles.

I've never been bothered about calibre or ego. I just work when people ask me to and try to do my best for the sport I love. I wasn't that good or I'd still be doing it but for a while my whole life centred on helping speedway rather than myself. More fool me for trying since all you get is crap from time wasters like you and Orion. I put my love for the sport way above ego or money. You should try it instead of just being an online bore.

Sorry, I'll ask your permission in future. If I 'd known you were reading this I would have typed more slowly so your fingers and lips didn't struggle to keep up. I'll use shorter words and capitals in future.

The King's Lynn Linnets faux pas was presumably just a momentary lapse. It's no surprise, if Wikipedia is accurate, given the links between ice hockey and speedway, especially in our 'golden age'. Some here may not be aware that the Speedway Star used to carry ice hockey news and stories. I've seen it in early 1960s issues. Alan was expert at dealing with the minor sports so was valuable to the Beeb. I was used in the same way by Screen Sport for a while - until the night they had me do Thai kick boxing in Amsterdam and my promised co-commentator had already finished six bottles before I got there.....Tractor pulling's another nightmare memory.

That's right, Bunce. The BBC covered speedway as far back as the glory days of the 1940s at least, albeit via radio then. For many years during the 60s and 70s they just covered one meeting a year - The Internationale at Wimbledon. That was a single film camera effort shown either on the Wednesday or Saturday following and indeed commentated by Alan Weeks, who apart from expertise on ice skating and ice hockey was the BBC's man for the obscure sports like ours. He did give himself away once by describing Terry Betts as "riding for the King's Lynn Linnets". Later the Beeb did cover the odd world final but overall their commitment above local radio and regional news level has been minimal. in the 80s when I was covering Dutch ice hockey the usual question from the organisers was "So, do you know Alan Weeks?" I wish I had - he could have passed on a few tips...

Burnicle made a fatal error right from the start. "Hello, it's Jack here!". That presumed firstly that we were all viewers of the other motorcycle sports he covered, and secondly that we were such fans that we didn't need to be told his surname, as if if most give a damn about who the commentator is. This idea that all speedway fans are fans of all the other motorcycle disciplines, and vice-versa is as ludicrous as assuming that a football fan must be a cricket or basketball fan because all three are played using a ball. David Rowe knows his stuff but I feel just needs to relax a little more at the mic. It can get a bit strident at the wrong times sometimes. There's a time to (almost) shout but it needs using carefully or it loses impact. On the rare occasions he was allowed to be lead commentator (play-offs on Sky) I found Kelvin Tatum to be by the best. Pearson does his job well, if that's the style you want. Again he knows his stuff and does a great job of reminding viewers just how many British tracks there are and what they were doing, as a clear suggestion that the viewer should go and visit their local track, but the relentless hype can get tiresome, but that's the style that a lot of producers and directors want. Thankfully plenty have more faith in the intelligence of their customers.

As I mentioned elsewhere, despite Eurosport being available to far more viewers in the UK than BT Sports the reality is that far more watch BT than Eurosport.. Here are the figures for September from BARB. The numbers relate to what percentage of TV viewers' total viewing in September were watching the service in the month. BBC1 for example gets 20% Eurosport 0.17% BT Sport 0.58% So the likelihood of the viewing figures rising in the UK is small, despite the service now being cheaper to the speedway viewer. It's only when Quest is counted that the potential for an increase is there. Quest gets 0.91 - despite being on Freeview its lead over BT is not that significant. Where Eurosport does offer expansion is in the overseas market but when reading the publicity for this deal the key point is to read through the hype. Hopefully we will get increased figures, all 18 meetings live, in full and on the set dates and times. Experience suggests otherwise.

Just a quick follow-up with some facts. The BARB audience share figures for certain stations were as follows in September. Eurosport 1&2 combined 0.17 BT Sport 1-3+ESPN 0.58 - despite being premium channels they attract nearly four times as many viewers as the cheaper Eurosport. It is only when Discovery's Freeview channels are involved that the switch looks in any way attractive: Quest 0.91 DMAX 0.37 All are penny numbers in the overall TV market. For comparison here are the shares for the top public sector channels: BBC 1 20.37 BBC 2 5.48 ITV 16.98 C4 6.00 C5 3.94 So even Quest fails to reach 99.09% of viewers. DMAX 99.63%, Eurosport fails to reach 99.83% of viewers. BT Sport fails to reach 99.42 %. Just to put this all hopefully into perspective. We'rev looking at tiny audiences even if small amount now ,may watch the sport for free on Freeview whenever it is used by Discovery.

"Marry in haste, repent at leisure" Well, five years anyway. ;-) Time will tell. I hope it works but 30 years' experience of this network suggests otherwise. Oh and by the way Quest and DMAX are indeed on Freeview. They are not dedicated sport channels and will probably only be used for overspill when the Eurosport channels are full of their priority sports. They're minor players, as the EFL is finding out with their highlights package even if they are available to more homes than Eurosport. I suspect only the diehard fans will go looking for speedway there or stumble across without switching channels because the viewer is on Quest or DMAX for their normal non-sports programming. But then, what would I know eh? Experience in the industry plus study of it for fifty years counts nothing against loudmouthed speedway fans out to make cheap shots ;-)

So, presented with a totally unacceptable situation, we're supposed to meekly change channels and keep quiet? No. It doesn't work that way. Anyway, this isn't about the TV audience, it's about those who were relieved of nearly £20 on the night to watch a fiasco. When something is deeply wrong you do the sport a disservice by simply ignoring it. Those responsible have to be told quite firmly that this is NOT acceptable. We've had too many people either 'switching off' - for good or giving up attending live matches while those who are driving them away go unchallenged. There are 22 days left in the speedway season. Plenty of time to run four meetings without imposing last night's rip-off on increasingly disillusioned customers. If you spend a whjole season hyping up the play-offs to the detriment of the main season you HAVE to deliver, even if it takes six postponements before you get a usable track. I've seen 49 speedway Octobers so far and while you do get the odd run of bad weather I've seen plenty of clear months. I've even happily paid my money to watch speedway in November, once even for a challenge match! Forcing a farce through for TV is far more damaging than calling it off. We have people constantly banging on about the sport being ruined by bad decision making yet we're supposed to just shrug our shoulders and turn away from last night? Forcing meetings through on unfit tracks was all very well when speedway was cheap. It isn't now.

So, all season long we're told to wait for the play-offs, it's all about qualifying for the play-offs, get your fixtures finished in time fpr the play-offs, risk your track's season finishing ridiculously early if you don't qualify for the play-offs, the play-offs are all, they're wonderful - and they're coming soon! Only two weeks to the play-offs. You change the team round, find new riders, and.....qualify for the PLAY-OFFS! Then you get tonight. And they expect you to pay nearly £20.......

My comment was only appropriate if an SEC win WAS to become a route to SGP qualification. Until that happens, if ever, European riders have one route, like anybody else.

Anyway, back to the speedway. I've just caught up with the relegation play-off. Given the huge difference in team-building standards between the top and middle tiers there was little chance of getting a competitive match. Despite this Klindt and Walasek made it interesting to see what points they could take off the mighty Gorzow. It does show what a great season Klindt has had. It was disappointing to see Sam Masters so far off the Ekstraliga pace. The fact that Poland have this fixture shows they don't always get it right over there, although the closer standards between middle and lower tiers do make their relegation play-offs rather more competitive. Still, it gave the Gorzow fans there a chance to welcome home their new World Champion. I've seen worse speedway meetings (*cough* One Sport Best Pairs *cough*)

No, you've had your opinion opposed by expert opinion. It happens. Just avoid watching Polish racing and leave the rest of us to enjoy it. Why spoil it for others? Yes, you have the right to an opinion but using that allows others to use their equal right to oppose you. R&R does exceptional work to keep this group fully informed on what is coming up in Poland, what matches are on TV and where and how to watch them. His efforts do not deserve your childish, petulant sarcasm. There is no requirement to TOE any party line and it is deeply insulting to suggest that we are so feeble in character not to have our own points of view. You have yours. We have the right to find it foolish and ill-informed. Given the quality of your opinion and response to criticism it might be best all round if you just kept it to yourself. Why try to spoil the enjoyment of others? Does it make you feel clever or important?

By entering two routes to qualification - an option open to all European riders.

They've got some up and coming riders, but not many. Oliver Berntzon and Phillip Hellstrom-Bangs are worth keeping an eye on though I'm not sure how young the former is. With Andreas Jonsson retired there's not much depth. With the exodus of expensive foreign talent seemingly set to grow next year it could give young talent some space to develop. Too many teams over there are crowded out by Poles, many of whom simply don't deliver in Sweden.

It was remarkable how he woke up in that final ride, as if he had only just realised the peril he was in - and then how, having set a target, his rivals all failed to better it in their final rides. His form in Poland and Sweden has been poor of late so there's obviously something wrong.

Thanks. Interesting to see Drabik as third-ranked Pole in Sweden as well as in his home country with CMAs of 7.88 and 8.54 in each. Obviously riding as a junior in Poland and getting a soft heat in 2 in most matches helped his domestic average but it does illustrate his progress, finishing well above Dudek in both cases. It does make you wonder if Dudek hadn't secured a place in the top 8 in his final ride in Torun whether he might have lost out to Drabik for the third Pole wildcard? I agree with the surprise about Lindback but perhaps it was inevitable that BSI would want a second (spare?) Swede in the lineup. Mind you, they're happy enough to have one Brit. So much for the Poles' allegations of BSI favouring British interests..... Hancock qualified comfortably for the 2019 series. Allowing him to delay a year while he helped his wife battle breast cancer is basic human decency, even if the obsessed may have some problem with it.