chunky

Rremember that it was the introduction of the entertainment tax that was at the root of the problem back then, not a lack of support. Plus, back then, there was no shortage of venues - and many potential venues - available. The Great British NIMBY has ensured that isn't the case now, as well as the demise of greyhound racing. Steve

I think you are misunderstanding me slightly... A lot of people on here think the racing was better back then, and that racing today is crap. I'm not one of them. While the sport WAS better (well, British speedway, anyway!), a lot of that was due to the crowds and the atmosphere. What I am saying is that today, even good races don't seem that good when you have a crowd of 47 people and two dogs, and you have a better atmosphere in a morgue... I won't necessarily say the racing was "closer", but it was a lot more unpredictable. If you watch some of the stuff on YouTube, you will see that riders hit grip and speed up, or hit a rut and slow down; the gaps between riders would change suddenly. Now, with ultra-fast machinery on ultra-slick tracks, that doesn't happen. Back then, a big part of the enjoyment was watching the riders fight with their bikes in the dirt! Steve

That backs up what was has been said on other threads. People are always arguing that the racing was a lot better back then than it is now, but even brilliant races today don't seem as good, and it's not just the racing itself; small crowds and non-existent atmospheres really affect our perception of things... Steve

Ah, I wondered! Yeah, they opened in 1976, won the league the following year, and then closed at the end of 78. My first time there was the GP Final in 76, and I was a frequent visitor for the next 2 1/2 years. Like cityrebel, I generally enjoyed the racing at Wood Lane, particularly under floodlights. Even big wins don't necessarily mean poor racing, and I can't say I was ever really disappointed there. I loved small tracks too , but it was nice to go to White City, West Ham, Belle Vue etc just for the variety. Steve

I was 4000 miles away when Craven Park opened, and I really don't know anything about the place. I only went to The Boulevard once (Royal Wedding Day in 1981), but you can see from vids on YouTube it wasn't the widest track! Yeah, I forgot about Workington. Only went there the once, but I was very impressed with the racing. Steve

You beat me to it! I always enjoyed my trips to Kingsmead, but as you say, it was a little on the narrow side. I don't know if ch958 was keeping it just to football (well, association football to be precise), but there were also tracks with rugby pitches, like Exeter and Hull (Boulevard). I think they would be very similar. Oh, and how about another rugger venue - Odsal? The one observation I can make is that some of these were pretty narrow, with Hull being one. One I never went to was Love Street, home of Paisley. Anyone here have any memories of that? Steve

Two very legitimate reasons to fall out of love with the sport. Of course, they were the main reasons I loved the sport. It was hard - very hard - losing my team, but I still love it as a neutral. Having said that, I can't deny that, had I still been attending as a "biased" team fan, I would certainly be disillusioned at the deterioration of the team aspect... Steve

I will admit that the use of guests now is ridiculous. Thing is, back in the day, riders riding in Britain weren't usually riding elsewhere several times a week. Of course, there is the situation of "priority", particularly when matches are rescheduled, but also, riders are getting injured more because they are riding more. Back in the day, the guest facility was used for heat leaders only (and only in certain circumstances) and I think it should still be that way. There is no reason at all to need a guest for a four-point second string... I know people complain about doubling-up, but of course, many BL teams had an association with an NL team. You would often get two or three riders who were part of your "squad", so you didn't have any need for guests for second-strings and reserves. Now, it really seems a case of the tail wagging the dog... Steve

BECAUSE PEOPLE WEREN'T WORRIED ABOUT IT! In the old days, there was no desire for "credibility". Or political correctness, equality, diversity, or whatever. I'm not just talking about speedway either... You either enjoyed something or you didnt. If you did, great. If you didn't, you went and did something else. If the latter, you didn't feel compelled to justify your opinions, or to ridicule those who didn't share your views. Look at the BSF... There are multitudes queuing up to tell you how bad, stupid, and worthless sports like football and F1 are. There are endless comparisons and false accusations in an effort to justify that opinion. Why? Speedway is - and always was - my favorite sport. I have have a lengthy and successful career in darts, but as much as I love darts, speedway was still Number One. I am a footy fan. I am an F1 fan. So? Does that make me stupid or inferior? As far as speedway, why is it that difficult to watch, and enjoy? Sure, it doesn't matter what you enjoy, there will always be things that you think are bad or stupid. Oh well... I went to speedway because : 1) I loved watching the racing. 2) I had a passion for my Wimbledon team. Is that not enough? Some nights, the fare was poor. And? Sh!t happens... Was rider control "credible"? Of course not. Did it drive the fans away? And you can't keep claiming that PC put "thousands" on the gate at Hyde Rd. Great rider, and great to watch. BUT, fans flocked to Hyde Rd in their thousands before PC. Fans flocked to speedway in their thousands before television coverage. Fans flocked to speedway in their thousands when we had guest riders in the 60's and 70's. There are many reasons why speedway - certainly British speedway - isn't as popular as it once was, but not every reason is speedway-related. More importantly, it has little or nothing to do with credibility... Steve

Sorry, but I have to disagree... League racing DID receive a lot of coverage back, just not live coverage on cable channels that a lot of people don't have. League results (with top scorers) were listed given in the national newspapers. There were regular articles (several times a week) about league racing featured in the national newspapers. The team lineups for meetings in London were published in the London Evening News. League matches were often shown on Regional TV stations (Anglia TV is the one that springs to mind). League results were given on several radio stations - LBC and Radio Luxembourg are the ones I remember... Okay, these may seem antiquated now, but it was all we had back then. And EVERYONE was exposed to speedway as a result. And EVERYONE knew what speedway was. And EVERYONE knew that they were driving past a "speedway" stadium. Today, the only way you will drive past a speedway stadium is if you are actually going there... Let's not forget that other sports only had the same coverage as speedway did. We didn't have multiple live football matches shown every day in the 60's and 70's, and crowds weren't any lower back then. Plus, I think it is ridiculous to claim that crowds "went to watch their local teams on the back of the sport being beamed into their living rooms"; if anything, it was the other way round. We had the fanbase long before ITV's World of Sport came along, and the television coverage was the result of having an exciting and successful sport already in place. TV coverage was a natural progression from successful domestic speedway, and not the other way round. Steve

You beat me to it, Knowle... I always check the Telegraph obituaries, but it seems that Rex passed away in April. Not sure why it took that long to get on the Telegraph site, but I did notice that there were several obituaries that were posted at the time. What's really sad is that he had been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years. Steve

I know there are still those who long for the "good old days" of the World Finals, but I'm pleased to see so many of you making several trips a year around Europe for the GP's. Of course, a lot of you make the most of it, and take in other meetings while you are there, which is fantastic. I am jealous of you all, and I really wish I'd had those opportunities while I was still in the UK. Of course, Eastern Europe opening up was a great thing - particularly for speedway fans - and travel is so much easier and cheaper now. Just wish I could join you, but maybe someday... Steve

To be honest, it really didn't look that bad, but crashes on the straight can be deceptive. It could actually have been a lot worse, but Laguta did well to control it after clipping Lampart's back wheel. It just proves how things can change in a split-second - and can affect a whole season... Steve

Still a long way to go, and if we have too many more stupid refereeing decisions like we did on Saturday, there is no telling what will happen... Steve

Hey, it wasn't meant as a criticism; as I said, you are 100% correct. Even though I can't go now, if I was still over there, I would. Even if I was just visiting, I would still try to get to different tracks. As you say, speedway isn't "cool" anymore, and even if the entertainment was better, and the facilities better, I'm not convinced that it would make a huge difference. Yes, that is very sad, but the saddest part is that I really don't know why, or what the answers are... Steve

God, I hate you! You are so bloody negative - and so bloody accurate in your assessments... Funny, people would complain how "meaningless" second-halves were - and now everybody wants more than fifteen heats! I've said it before, but one of the things I loved (and I assume others did too) was the variety in speedway. Sure, league was the backbone, but look at the other formats. At Plough Lane we were spoiled, but as far as individual meetings we had the Daily Express Spring Classic, Internationale, NLRC, and Laurels (plus other occasional events). There were 4-Team Tournaments, Best Pairs, and Test Matches. The variety in track shapes and sizes always intrigued us. We had a "choice" of meetings and venues seven days a week. One Saturday I would go to Swindon, and the next I would go to Canterbury. One Sunday I would go to Mildenhall, and the next I would go to Rye. The highlight of away coach trips on a Saturday was meeting up with other supporters' coaches at Watford Gap! Sigh... Steve

It is a clay dirt oval that was built last year for midget cars. The "real" speedway track is at the Marion County Fairgrounds south-east of the city (I-465 and I-74). Steve

You are W-A-Y overestimating the status of speedway in the US! Nothing close to baseball in the UK, because at least everyone knows what baseball is. Take a country this size, stick three or four tracks in California, one in Indiana, and one in upstate New York, and that is it. There are odd tracks that host sporadic events, but outside of the actual speedway community, NOBODY even know it exists - or ever existed. Yes, it is that bad here... Steve

Well, remember that in the US, the term "speedway" applies to most motorsports, in particular to the tracks. I mean, there is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (home of the Indy 500) which every American knows. Then there's is also a REAL speedway track in Indianapolis (Mid-America Speedway), which pretty much nobody knows! So, most of us "speedway" fans in the US have come to accept that as popular a word as "speedway" is, it invariably has bugger all to do with our sport! Steve

You didn't have to check; all you had to do was ask me! They are one of the "budget" stations, and we have one here in town, about 2 miles from the house, and there is another about 3 miles the other way. I don't usually use it for fuel, but I often stop there for a coffee... Steve

We were talking about respect? Now there is somebody for whom I had the greatest respect, as a rider and as a person - dear old Vaclav! Steve

That is very different. In a F1 GP, each driver has ONE race; a an SGP, each rider has 5-7 races. The F1 series is a simple points-accumulating effort, the same as the SGP series; Mark Loram won by gaining the most points without winning a GP. That is fine, and that is just as fine with F1. What people generally are having an issue with is that somebody is declared the winner of an SGP when he achieved a lot less than several riders above him. Madsen not only won fewer races, but scored fewer points than several others. Steve

I saw it yesterday, and I thought, "What tha...???!!!" I couldn't believe the speed he picked up on that last bend, and I'd love to know how he got his back wheel under the air fence without coming off! Emil even put Gollob to shame with that one... Steve

Personally, I would think that it's the mid-table qualifiers (and lower) who have the advantage, as they can choose who their opponents are, and where they are starting from. Being one of the fastest only really gives you the option of choosing the races and gates; you just have to wait and see what happens from there. Steve

But everyone says it was so much better back then!!! Seriously though, that's the thing; it is still great to watch, but the racing generally doesn't seem to be as good as we remember. Also, seeing how the riding style has changed, some of it looks pretty amateurish now. As far as the GP system, it is great to have a whole summer of action, and as I said in regard to last year, the interest and excitement was maintained all season. Throw in some fantastic reason, and it is difficult to see why so many still seem to yearn for the World Finals... Steve