chunky

I've been to many of these over the years; great fun!

Thanks again!

Yeah, I was reading about that a few weeks ago. It amazes me how much cool stuff gets neglected and/or forgotten...

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

I went to the athletics once, in 1976, with a couple of schoolmates. It was sponsored by Philips, and they had a hut with some TV's in. My mates went in, and they had the 1976 World Pairs Final on! They called me in, and I was the 100th person to go in, and I won a free radio!

Your know, as close as I lived to the park, I've never been there! Probably because I never had any historic information...

Just looking through some stuff... While we are used to speedway things happening during European summers, let's not forget that elsewhere, they race during our winter. Today, December 17, is the anniversary of no fewer than three speedway tragedies. 27-year old Stanley Box passed away in a Melbourne hospital after crashing at Maribyrnong Speedway on December 17, 1949. Ironically, that was also a Saturday. On Saturday, December 17, 1965, Peter Stirling (25), crashed heavily at Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide. He remained unconscious until December 28, when he passed. Des Noble, another 27-year-old, was killed at Perth's Claremont Speedway on Friday, December 17, 1971.

But only if the product improves and we provide value for money... Wouldn't matter if it was free if people aren't interested.

Of course 30,030 beats 33!!!

Then quit complaining... I am old enough to have followed it in the 1960's, and I can assure you that: 01 - It doesn't sound the same. 02 - It doesn't smell the same. 03 - The engines aren't the same. 04 - The gleaming chrome machinery isn't the same. 05 - The clothing and protective gear isn't the same. 06 - Track locations aren't the same. 07 - Stadiums aren't the same. 08 - Track surfaces aren't the same. 09 - Track preparation isn't the same. 10 - Racing formats aren't the same. 11 - Riders' loyalty isn't the same. 12 - The team aspect isn't the same. 13 - Team riding isn't the same. 14 - Crowds aren't the same. 15 - The atmosphere isn't the same 16 - Promotion isn't the same. 17 - Press coverage isn't the same. 18 - Opportunities for riders aren't the same. 19 - People's awareness and knowledge of the sport isn't the same. 20 - The world isn't the same. But... 21 - The racing is just the same, so items 1-20 aren't important!

I thought that was the BSF???

Including Wolves, who were without Norman Hunter for half of the season. Other than when they used a Div 2 rider, they used R/R. Let's not forget that Hedge, Luckhurst, Dugard, and Tebby were very much the basis of our team for years. From 1965 to 1968 they were joined by Olle Nygren, until Ronnie and Maido replaced him. A REAL team....

BECAUSE we were poor!

I spoke to him on Facebook a few days ago...

What makes it worse is that we only have a handful of teams, and we STILL don't have enough riders to fill them! I don't actually know the reason, but it appears to me that riders in the NDL are reluctant to move up. Again, expense may well be a part of this, as moving up would put a huge amount of pressure on the riders financially. However, i do have another theory. It may be not be a 100% accurate, but i think that a lot of the problem may simply be the attitude of riders. It has often been mentioned on here how everyone in speedway now wants to boast about their status as a "professional" rider. Now, it may seem strange, but I am aware of a similar situation in darts, particularly in the US. There are a lot of up-and-coming dart players over here, but they never develop into anything. Why? Because they think they are something special. Because they think they have "made it". Because they want the rewards without earning them; they don't want to put in the effort. Of course, darts isn't expensive, and there are basically unlimited opportunities at EVERY level. Speedway isn't like that, and opportunities are very limited. It seems that rather than throw their hat into the ring, and take risks (including financial), they are happy to sit in the NDL and just go through the motions. I know a lot of Brits resent how Lambert and Bewley took the chance, and tried their luck in Poland. It has certainly paid off for them, and they most definitely merit their rewards. Others can't - or won't - move up from their comfort level. Look at all the top British stars from yesteryear; not one of those sat at a lower level stagnating. Sure a few did start off in the lower tier, but moved up to (or at least started competing at) the highest level as soon as they could. Jessup, Louis, Collins, Lee, Carter, Havelock etc. Kids today don't want to put in that effort and dedication.

Right, but again, nobody complained. Yet everybody wants to do away with "doubling up" these days!

Absolutely. In the '70's, we had Colin Richardson and Richard Knight. Cradley had David Shields and John Hack. White City had Mike Sampson. Nope, nobody complained back then. We liked having regular and reliable stand-ins.

I was sure there were other teams as well... I'm talking about those "representing" Wimbledon, not guests. In those days, each team would have one or two main replacements, but of course, there were still odd teams who got through a bunch of riders. Thing is, people complain about riders doubling up these days, but the reality is that we've always had them. What we DIDN'T have was more guests than actual team members. The fact is, unless a rider was legitimately injured - he would ride for your team (unless he was Swedish)!

There were several other teams that ran them close that year. King's Lynn made just ONE change that season, when Geoff Penniket replaced Pete Bradshaw for a night, and Wimbledon and Poole only used nine riders.

And Leicester, who used the same seven riders all season in 1969...

Well, in Cardiff, they at least know what sheep are for!

Don't even need the latter - just hold it for a couple of hours...

That's the problem; they make things too complicated, not all the options are published, and nobody knows what's going on.

I know I'm a little late to all this, but wow!!! I know there's a long way to go, but it's looking a lot better than we expected. A lot better than we usually get...

Everything comes back to Dag, doesn't it? Did you have a man-crush on him?