moxey63

Eastlands, Manchester. Not had it in on recent Thursdays. Will have to send off to SS for this week's, even think about subscribing.

History has shown speedway is no good with money. It is frustrating the sport hasn't received a cash injection but not surprising.

Perhaps British speedway should tell the govt it has links to the Tory party, has discovered a vaccine for this virus, found a shedfull of PPE (tear-offs), or a ferry company with no actual boats. Cut and paste terms and conditions from a takeaway website. They'll hand over cash like there's no tomorrow. No questions asked, nudge, nudge... wink, wink.

Here's me thinking it was silly rules, doubling up and the Golden Double.

Thank you for the praise, False Dawn. Of course I could write a similar piece on Arnie's time at the top, but I penned this on his final years in reply to a post by Garry1603 above it.

That was 1979. But, remember, Arnie arrived at Hyde Road with a back catalogue of recent injuries, his demise hastened by the fact he had completed just one full season - 1977 - of the last three. In 1976 he missed the entire season barring one league match with a broken arm. In 1978 a broken thigh, again after one league match, restricted him to the sidelines. He was an eight-point rider in 1975 before the setbacks. Arriving at Belle Vue in 1979, aged 36, considered old for a rider back then, it was a period of change in Belle Vue’s make-up. With Alan Wilkinson injured the year before, fans tried adjusting as riders arrived from rival clubs as the conveyor belt of training school talent was ending. Pekka Hautamaki came from Cradley and an unknown, Emil Sova, from Czechoslovakia. The side was terrible early on, especially to fans brought up on a diet of 1970s success, and for much of the season tried desperately to get out of the bottom three. Changes had to come. Haley lost his place when the club brought in Dave Allen in August. Manager Eric Boocock liked Haley and thrilled when he got him from Owlerton, revealing he looked fitter than he had ever done. But in hindsight, the signing didn’t prove good, and Haley struggled to cope, especially away. He totalled a meagre paid six in 12 league matches on the road - three of which came at old track Sheffield. He failed to open his account in nine of a dozen matches on his travels. Perhaps his saviour was his Hyde Road form, which may have bought him more time in the side. He scored a reserve league maximum in his penultimate match for Aces in August 1979, before adapting better to the National League when loaned to struggling Workington, where he completed the year. Four points (two at Belle Vue) from nine early 1981 matches in Cradley colours signalled the end of Arnie’s racing days. It was clear his dabbling with top league competition was behind him and he joined Oxford, then in the National League, in May, but rode only one match for them before calling time on his career.

A lot of threads go this way. Your attention span deteriorates as you age.

But there are people in society who hold up people with knives and demand money. Think that's what he meant.

Although I was not around at the time, the career of 1940s/50s rider Bruce Semmens - the safebreaker - reminds me a lot of Jason Garrity, and the way it ended.

I recall Barry Briggs writing in the 70s that there was a growth in riders taking drugs. Society has seen the use of drugs mushroom since then.

Speedway needs to be stricter with riders that spontaneously miss meetings after getting wind of a random test. Perhaps an obligatory sample within 24 hours of the original test taking place, otherwise it means admission of guilt. Speedway, as we all know, is a dangerous game. Testing for drug users must be watertight.

The one saving grace for the sport is that speedway didn’t get a mention in the reports as it being Garrity’s profession. Thought it would have been the headline, to be honest... and shows the irrelevance of speedway in today’s media world.

Nowt wrong with that. As long as the pills didn't help him score a 12-point maximum!

If his behaviour was so obvious, surely authorities should have made greater strides to test him. Especially, as some have said, he apparently broke down on the way to meetings when forewarned would have random drug tests. How deep is the drug problem in speedway, when this is allowed to happen and riders pull out of meetings (pretending to pull their back, unloading their bikes) when they arrive and know tests will take place?

Speedway would have been failing a duty of safety to allow a competitor to race under the influence. If Garrity was aware there'd be a random test at a meeting and he didn't show up, that weakness in the testing procedure is speedway's fault, surely?

I'm sure I stated I didn't condone what he'd done. I was also sure someone would take offence that I felt Garrity would have a fascinating story behind him. For starters, I always wondered where someone like Garrity had come across his thousands to purchase his speedway gear at a young age. It would also be worth seeing, how many that are criticising Garrity actually bought a book about Kenny Carter, who did far worse.

Although I don't condone his crimes, I find myself fascinated by Garrity's character. His life, I bet, has some tale to tell.

Jason Crump's return, at whatever age, is exciting. He was one of speedway's last superstars (in my eyes). Luckily for British speedway, the other - Nicki Pedersen - is also showing his face again. These names mean more with their presence than the points they will score. The sport just doesn't have bums-on-seaters anymore. I'd disregard their tallies and just be thankful they've chosen to bless these shores again. Your team winning isn't always as important as the sport itself. And British speedway has received a boost with these two returning. All the best to both.

The best books aren't on that list.

As someone who is distanced from current speedway, I was attracted by chance to Danny Ayres in last year's British Final. His efforts that night wouldn't have looked out of place in the 70s and 80s, he was fearless. His sad passing has hit me, as someone who didn't know him. So imagine how his family and people who did are feeling today. The loss of a speedway person is always hard, but somehow Danny's passing seems all the more tragic. There's a lot of love out there for him today. Sadly, that's tinged with grief.

What a character. Feel sad right now. Enjoyed the Roman Matousek Story which Aces On Video did on him in the 90s. Legend.

There was an Alec Hunter, who rode in Australia in 1930.

But we have had live speedway on TV for 25 years now and the crowds are what they are today. Where are the new fans from all those hours of free publicity?

They'll wear you down until you no longer care.

It may not be with the people who think it's not an issue. The people who have an issue with it might be part of the missing fans. Nobody has asked to find out.