chunky

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?

One thing I can add to the thread title is that it does appear that more and more of the "Negative Nancies" on here are finally beginning to realize that the IMPORTANT thing about speedway - the racing - really isn't as bad as they thought. Yes, there will always be duff meetings, sometimes because of the weather, and sometimes because of negligence and/or incompetence, but if people honest, they should admit that modern racing is no worse than it was forty or fity years ago, and in many cases, far better! The problem is the the "spectacle" of speedway has been dimmed by the generic riding styles, the too-busy race suits, the lack of dirt on tracks, the lack of gleaming chrome machinery etc, but the racing itself is more than passable.

We ALL know that live sport is better than televised, but tv coverage opens sport up to hundreds, thousnads, even millions, of people who otherwise be unable to attend. Therefore, the big problem must be one thing - speedway fans. True, there aren't many left, but that is a pretty damning statement, don't you think? The REASON it didn't happen was because the speedway authorities - and many of the clubs themselves - didn't make it happen...

That's the one thing I've never understood. Why is it that speedway is the ONLY sport (allegedly) hurt by live TV coverage???

Was he any better than before???

Trouble is, how often are they actually forwarded to the authorities as "serious" proposals? Discussing things amongst yourselves is one thing, although obviously, we have to rely on the authorities laying their egos to one side, and actually listening...

Anyone else notice that the British GP is being held 44 years to the day after the 1978 World Final at Wembley?

Another one I can't actually remember seeing - although I'm sure I did - but I know Dick was always one of my mum's favourites. Very sad news...

Yeah, I thought exactly the same thing...

Shut up, Steve!!! The eighties still seem like yesterday to me. It's THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS since the Dons and Cheetahs had that incredible pair of League Cup clashes on successive nights. I feel ancient...

Bob, there has been a thread on this for weeks. Go to "Speedway News and Discussions".

Obviously not post HISTORICAL information...