TonyMac

Not only is Arthur Payne still with us, he has just been interviewed by John Chaplin for our next issue of Classic Speedway magazine (issue 39)!

A great character and part of the speedway 'family'. It was a great pleasure meeting up with 'The Rat' on Tee Mill Tours trips to foreign venues in the late 70s and early 80s, when we'd indulge our passion for speedway and football. I recall him once dragging me off to a Dutch Division 3 football game at VVV. On another occasion in Holland (think indoor speedway was on at the AHOY Arena) we saw the derby, Sparta Rotterdam v Feyenoord, starring the veteran Johan Cruyff and young starlet Ruud Gullit. Dave had a great knowledge of football, as well as speedway, and travelled all over the world to watch the most obscure teams. He'd go to far flung grounds in Africa to watch African Cup of Nations matches. God knows how many grounds he visited over the years - it must have been well into four figures - and I remember once mentioning to him that he should have taken photos wherever he went and turned it into what would have been a great illustrative book. I think he had the good fortune some years back to win a substantial six-figure sum on the football pools, but he never boasted about it. I guess it helped him to get around the world and see places most of us can only dream about, and others we'd never even heard of! Of course, Dave handled sales of Speedway Mail back in the day, and for the past 14 years or so Backtrack and Classic Speedway as well as our various books. I'll always have this image of him munching on a bacon sarnie while chatting about 'The Wolves'. RIP, Dave.

ISSUE 83 (NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2017) - OUT NOW! BIG Moments Drama, controversy, thrills, spills, shocks, great racing, race fixing and mechanical disaster . . .the original World Championship had it all. Tony McDonald recalls key moments from the last 25 years of the individual title race as Backtrack readers knew it. Here come the . . . SWEDES In the latest of his series recalling the overseas imports that ventured to the British League, Martin Rogers runs his rule over the Swedes, included big box office attractions such as Anders Michanek, Soren Sjosten, Christer Lofqvist, Bernt Persson and Tommy Jansson, plus one of his personal long-serving favourites Richard Hellsen. Backtrack readers also recall their memories of Swedish riders who rode in the UK, including the late Leif Wahlmann, Per Jonsson, Jan Andersson, Hasse Holmqvist, Tony Olsson and Roland Danno. Double standards The farcical increase in riders who appear regularly for two different teams, ever-growing use of the Rider Replacement facility and the crazy proliferation of guests has reached epidemic proportions. Doug Nicolson examines the early history of doubling-up. THAT WAS THE YEAR: 1988 Andrew Skeels looks back on another year dominated by Danes, while Coventry and Hackney reigned supreme on the domestic front as British speedway celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. KING CINDER . . . 40 years on Speedway barely gets a mention in BBC Television circles these days but in 1977-78 our sport was central to the plot of a fictional children's TV series viewed by tens of thousands. Rob Peasley sets the scene and speaks to several ex-Rye House riders who took part in filming of King Cinder. CRAYFORD: 50 Memorable Moments Deft throttle control and a good racing brain were two vital ingredients riders needed to thrive in the tight confines of the tricky London Road track. ROB PEASLEY looks back at the Kent club's stop-start existence in the second tier and recalls the impact made by star riders such as Mick Handley, Geoff Ambrose, Tony Childs, Laurie Etheridge, Alan Sage, Les Rumsey, Paul Woods, Steve Naylor, Barry Thomas, Trevor Banks, etc. OPENING TIMES – Castleford 1979 Recalling the two-year Castleford experiment in 1979-80, Andrew Skeels talks to Kevin Clapham, the man who rode most laps at the short-lived West Yorkshire venue. Ex factor – the free passes debate continues In our last issue Tony Mac advocated free admission to UK tracks for all ex-riders who have ridden for at least one season in British speedway and readers, for and against the idea, had their say too. This time, Martin Rogers responds from a promoter's viewpoint. To buy this single issue or take out a subscription for just £22 per year (UK), go online at www.retro-speedway.com Thank you.

At last, some sense.

There probably are more than 101 things that need sorting but isn't it the averages - and manipulation of them - that are at the root of many of the shenanigans, relentless swathe of team changes in mid-season and other problems that currently beset the sport in the UK?

The minimum/maximum points limit should be scrapped and a much simpler A, B & C grading system introduced for SIX-MAN teams. As there is a shortage of riders, adopt a new race formula tailored to six-man teams (it was used before back in the 60s, I think). Put riders into three different categories, based on their final averages, and let promoters sign whoever they want but they must choose TWO riders from each grade. For example: GRADE A: 8.00-12.00 GRADE B: 6.00-7.99 GRADE C: 0.00-5.99 All foreign newcomers to be given a Grade B rating Cut out all this throwing races nonsense to lower averages and teams being ripped apart over tiny margins of team averages. Keep it simple.

We believe that Redcar will ride at Sheffield tomorrow night without ANY of their regular team members - so will have a full team of guests. Compare this farce to 1988, when ONLY FOUR guests were used throughout the ENTIRE National League season. The NL's director of operations, Alan Hodder, said at the time: “I think it proves we can get rid of them once and for all.”

HERE COMES THE . . . SWEDES In the next issue (83) of Backtrack, Martin Rogers will be looking back at the Swedish riders who competed in the British League in the 70s & 80s... Alongside the main piece will be a section of supporters' comments about the Swedes who raced in the UK during that era, so please either post your personal recollections, anecdotes, memories or opinions here or email us at: editorial@retro-speedway.com Remember the superstars: Olle Nygren (the veteran who was in his twilight years at the start of the Backtrack era), Anders Michanek, Soren Sjosten, Bengt Jansson, Bernt Persson, Christer Lofqvist, Hasse Holmqvist, Jan Andersson, Per Jonsson, Jimmy Nilsen, Henka Gustafsson and the late and much lamented Tommy Jansson, who was cruelly taken from us far too soon. B ut we are particularly keen to read your thoughts on their many fellow countrymen who perhaps didn't spend so much time in the spotlight . . . Christer Sjosten (another who was tragically killed), Tommy Johansson, Tommy Nilsson, long-serving Richard Hellsen, Bo Wirebrand, Soren Karlsson, Stefan Salomonsson, Bjorn Andersson, Anders Eriksson, Tony Olsson, Peter Nahlin. And not forgetting those who flickered only very briefly in the BL: Peter Smith, Bo Jansson, Uno Johansson, Hasse Danielsson, Bengt & Pierre Brannefors, Borge Ring, Conny Ivarsson, Erik Stenlund, Mikael Blixt and another fatal track victim, Leif Wahlmann, etc . . . We look forward to hearing from you ASAP - respond and you might well get your name in Backtrack! Thanks, Tony Mac

Thank you.

We'll happily give this a plug in the new issue of Classic Speedway mag. But how do our readers order/buy tickets if they are not online or don't read the BSF? Do you have contact phone number(s) or email addresses we can print in issue 38, which comes out in the next two weeks? The name and full postal address of the venue, along with start time, would also be handy!

Thanks for your kind comments about both books we published on the Carter brothers. Blimey, how come the Rye House shop still had a copy for sale? Crazy to think that Amazon are still selling copies for £50-plus. I found the one on Kenny particularly challenging to write, because we all knew the tragic ending. After two re-prints, there is no mileage in printing a third paperback edition but an updated and extended eBook of Tragedy can be bought from Amazon, for downloading to the Kindle e-reader, for just £4.99. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tragedy-Kenny-Carter-Love-Forget-ebook/dp/B0128VURS8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1505834052&sr=8-2&keywords=Kenny+Carter+Tragedy

The joke is that riders are being paid far too much in relation to the crowd levels they 'attract', and yet the Speedway Riders' Association is toothless and, as far as I can see, non-existent. Imagine how much tougher it could be for some promoters to survive now if the SRA still had a voice and wielded any sort of power to challenge the sport's UK governing bodies. I recently interviewed Colin Gear, who ran the SRA from 1982 until 1991, for the next issue of Backtrack and it reminded us of all the different upheavals and controversies the riders' union became embroiled in back in the day . . . new safety measures (and that's one thing that definitely HAS improved in modern times) after the Denny Pyeatt fatality...tyre disputes...minimum NL pay rates (to which a number of promoters paid only lip service and found a way around the rules)...unpaid or late paid riders...Kenny Carter's feud with the Yanks (SRA was asked to intervene)...introduction of drug-testing, etc, etc.

Utter madness that has only one outcome - unless the BSPA suddenly wake up, come to their senses and act fast.

If riders with an inflated view of their own value demand to be paid more that current crowd levels sensibly allow, promoters should respond by offering them an incentive based on attendances. 'You ride for X when crowd levels are less than 700, 'Y' if they are between 700 and 1,000, and your pay increases to 'Z' more if the figure exceeds 1,000. It's not widely known that King's Lynn had this amicable deal with Terry Betts throughout his Saddlebow Road heyday. When Bettsy first agreed to join Lynn in 1966 (when they first became BL1 members after a year on open licence), he had the foresight and belief in his ability to put a price on his worth by riding for standard points and start money PLUS bonuses based on the Lynn attendance. He might have been a flop and not benefited at all from this private arrangement with his employers. But as it turned out he literally became THE Super Star the fans and the management adored. Terry was rewarded accordingly for doing more than any other KL rider to attract good (profitable) crowds for Maury Littlechild & Cyril Crane over more than a decade. In turn, they were happy to reward him for his efforts and pulling power. A win-win arrangement. It's a very simple equation: promoters should only pay riders what the speedway club can afford. To pay over the odds when crowds are dwindling is a path to financial ruin. It's no good a rider, including current Premiership number ones, making unreasonable demands on promoters based on how good they THINK they are, and how they need to finance a team of mechanics, three bikes, fancy vans and what have you. Truth is, for all their admirable bravery, they are only as good as the number of people who pay to watch them. Around 100,000 fans come to watch Ronaldo play at Real Madrid. How many pay to watch the best in British speedway? (Oh, and Bettsy ran a successful garage business alongside his racing career as a British League No.1, England star, 2 x GB World Cup winner and World Pairs champion.)

Given British speedway's increasingly perilous position, most Premiership, Championship and National League riders should now be racing on an amateur basis and combining their track activity with a day job - just as it was for most in the early years of BL Division Two in the late 60s. How on earth can they demand to be paid as full-time professionals, with hefty guarantees and crazy points money, when they only 'perform' in front of a few hundred hardy souls and, in most cases, paltry crowds of little more than 1,000-1,500? Even average riders have been paid way too much for long enough. Now promoters must curb their rider expenditure and put them in their place. As you say, take it or leave it. Call their bluff. What are they going to do . . . quit speedway and become brain surgeons? If a number do retire, then come up with a league racing formula for six (or even five) man teams. That would help ease the doubling-up (if two main leagues were retained) and guests farce. Trouble is, it cannot happen until the BSPA speak and operate as one and abandon their individual vested interests. Is there a speedway-mad equivalent of Kerry Packer or Barry Hearn lurking in the shadows keen (foolish) enough to grab the sport by the throat and kick the useless members of the BSPA into touch and herald a new revolution . . .? Keep doing the Lottery, lads . .

Many thanks, Bob, that's very good of you. Will probably take you up on the offer next year, when we plan to run a piece in memory of Jack to mark the 40th anniversary of his death.

Good call, thanks - it was a poor oversight that has now been corrected. Have also added Bob Andrews.

I never doubted it! 'Millen the Villain' - what a character.

In the next issue (82) of Backtrack, Martin Rogers will be looking back at the New Zealand riders who competed in the British League and National League (BL 2) in the 70s & 80s... Alongside the main piece will be a section of supporters' comments about the Kiwis who raced in the UK during that era, so please either post your personal recollections, anecdotes, memories or opinions here or email us at: editorial@retro-speedway.com The Big Three of Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger dominated the headlines and virtually won all the top honours. There is little left to say about their greatness that hasn't already been well documented. But we are particularly keen to read your thoughts on their fellow countrymen . . . the likes of Mitch Shirra, Larry Ross, Bruce Cribb, David Bargh, Frank Shuter, Bill Andrew, Bob Andrews, Graeme Stapleton, Dave Gifford, Gary Peterson, Colin Tucker, Graeme Smith, Jack Millen, Mike Fullerton, Roger Wright, Colin Farquharson, John Goodall, etc, etc. We look forward to hearing from you ASAP - respond and you might well get your name in Backtrack! Thanks, Tony Mac

I believe Tony was the only rider to lose his life at Coventry.

Sorry, I thought there was a fourth victim. Thanks for putting me right.

Definitely agree that there was a greater risk of fatalities and serious injuries at track as such as Hackney, where metal lamp-posts were a lethal threat. Unlike Wolverhampton, where Gary Peterson was killed after striking a post in 1975, The Wick was a faster track, which only increased the danger factor. Leicester was another fast one, so it's surprising that no-one (as far as I know) was killed racing at Blackbird Road, although a number did suffered bad injuries there (inc Nigel Boocock, Mike Lanham, Tony Davey, Geoff Bouchard). Most would agree that King's Lynn - even in the solid wooden boards era - was one of the safest tracks around and yet it has one of, if not the worst, records for fatalities. Brett Alderton, Leif Wahlmann and David Nix all killed at Saddlebow Road.

Interesting. Presumably your analysis does NOT include those killed at training schools or in practice sessions? Not that I think they should.

ISSUE 81 (JULY-AUGUST 2017) IS OUT NOW AND INCLUDES . . . DEAN BARKER – Part of the Family Despite trying to escape the shadow of Martin Dugard and spells with Cradley and Oxford, Eastbourne legend Dean Barker will always be regarded as part of the Eagles family and, as ROB PEASLEY reveals in this exclusive in-depth interview, the former British No.2 and World Cup finalist still works for the Dugards. Here come the . . . POLES Continuing his new series looking back at foreign imports who ventured to Britain in search of fame and fortune, MARTIN ROGERS recall the Polish thrill-makers and his own trail-blazing role in bringing two of their greatest-ever riders to the attention of UK fans. Plus . . . Arnie Gibbons on why Reading were denied the use of two Poles, while other readers recall their favourite British League Polish recruits. THAT WAS THE YEAR: 1987 What! The World Final run over two days, three meetings to determine the world team champions and the BSPA blow the chance to appoint the man who could have guided British speedway into a brighter, more secure future . . . it all sounds a bit double Dutch as ANDREW SKEELS reflects on another year that largely belonged to the Danes, Coventry and Eastbourne. HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS (National League) After examining away performances of British League teams in our last issue, this time DOUG NICOLSON takes to the road at second tier level, where Birmingham, Eastbourne, Newcastle and Mildenhall were among the best travellers. TAFFY OWEN – exclusive interview RICHARD BOTT talks to the 'Welsh Wizard', who made history at Belle Vue, went on to become a big star at Workington but has since suffered a huge costly blow in retirement. Plus . . . a kind-hearted reader offers to buy hard-up Taffy a season ticket at Belle Vue and we reveal the long behind-the-scenes fight Peter Collins has been waging with his former club. STOKE: 50 Memorable Moments ROB PEASLEY goes pottering around Stoke to recall heroes of Hanley and Loomer Road, including Mike Broadbank, Les Collins, Steve Bastable, Ian Gledhill, Nigel Crabtree, Tom Owen, Paul Thorp and Eric Monaghan. OPENING TIMES - Milton Keynes (1978) British speedway welcomed a brand new venue into the sport in March 1978. ANDREW SKEELS talks to Tony Coupland and Kevin Hawkins about the disastrous opening night at The Groveway, while Andy Grahame looks back at his early days in the MK team. OBITS: Ila Teromaa and Bryan Seery To subscribe for a year in the UK for just £22 or order this single issue, please visit www.retro-speedway.com

TWO AUTOGRAPHS WANTED Can anyone please help out with a couple of autographs that our good friend, former Swindon and Oxford Speedway historian Glynn Shailes, needs to complete his collection? The two riders' signatures he is very keen to obtain are those of former Glasgow rider Nils Paulsen and ex-Halifax man Andy Cusworth. "Over the years, I managed to collect the autographs of all the visiting team who rode at Blunsdon but Glasgow (in 1965) and Halifax (1976) arrived without one of their regular riders, and neither of these men (Paulsen and Cusworth) ever rode on the Swindon track," explained Glynn, who is now back home recuperating after a spell in hospital suffering from sleep apnoea that put his life in grave danger. To finally secure those signatures – he is happy to meet any costs involved – would give dear, ol' Glynn a huge lift at this difficult time. If you can help, please get in touch with Tony Mac via direct message or email him at editorial@retro-speedway.com Thank you for your interest and help.