lucifer sam

I think it will be much closer than that. All the best Rob

19-71 would be nice! All the best Rob

Gutted for Kyle Newman. Nice lad. All the best Rob

Home promoter can still exert a little influence, though. After all, he's the one left picking up the pieces afterwards. All the best Rob

I thought Onesport were the Polish company. Why would they be running a U21 meeting at King's Lynn? I would have thought it would have been either the FIM or BSI. All the best Rob

Persson's move on Briggs was disgraceful. The '72 and '73 finals had perhaps the worst-ever referee for World Finals (the starts were an utter joke). It beggers belief that Persson wasn't excluded from the re-run by George Transpurger. All the best Rob

On a slight parallel, West Ham had a crowd of 82,000 in 1933 for an England v Australia test match. I'm not sure if this was the highest-ever speedway attendance at Custom House or not. Over to you, Norbold! PS I'm also wondering what was the best crowd at the huge Odsal bowl in 1946. Could that have topped 80,000? All the best Rob

Yes, great to see a picture of BC. Not sure who that is below him, though. All the best Rob

The lock-out with 20,000 outside was the final match of the 1946 season, and it was actually Wembley v Wimbledon. There was also a 85,000 crowd reported for Wembley v West Ham earlier in the 1946 season. All the best Rob

As Norbold has already stated, that's true. It's also worth pointing out in addition that Farndon was holder of the British Individual Championship. It wasn't known as the British Match-Race Championship until post-war. So you could say that Farndon is the perpetual holder of the British Individual Championship. Of course, in 1931, it started off known as The World's Championship. But by the time Jack Parker defeated Vic Huxley at the end of the season, it had been renamed the British Open Championship. And from 1932 to 1935, it was then the British Individual Championship. Here's a little more information about the 1931 competition: Jack Parker claimed to have won the first-ever World Championship in 1931. The match-race competition was originally called ‘The World’s Championship’ and saw Vic Huxley nominated as holder on the basis of his 1930 form. Huxley saw off the initial challenge of Colin Watson. In the meantime, qualifiers took place around the country to decide the next challenger. Parker won both legs of the Southern Final against Tommy Croombs (West Ham 2-1, Southampton 2-0), and then faced Eric Langton in the National Challenge Final. Again, Parker won both legs (Belle Vue 2-0, Southampton 2-0), to earn the right to face Huxley. The first leg at Southampton on October 7 resulted in a 2-1 victory for Parker. Fog threatened to spoil the second leg at Wimbledon on October 12, but Huxley beat Parker 2.5-0.5, in an absorbing contest including a dead heat in the second race, with all three races breaking the old Plough Lane track record. The deciding leg was also contested at Wimbledon, a week later on October 19, and Parker won both races for a 2-0 victory in front of a crowd of 30,000. However, Parker’s claim to be World Champion was undermined by the fact that the name had been changed to the British Open Championship by this time. The title was subsequently re-named the British Individual Championship, before mutating post-war into the British Match-Race Championship and the Golden Helmet. All the best Rob

From the Harringay moments for Classic Speedway No 33: Vic Duggan won the 1947 London Riders’ Championship at New Cross on May 28 with a 15-point maximum. He also won the coveted British Match-Race Championship during the season, defeating holder Jack Parker. But Duggan and opponent Bill Kitchen were investigated for allegations of match-fixing during his successful first defence. Both riders were cleared, but the inquiry caused resentment, and Duggan resigned the title and made it known that he would not accept an invitation to take part in the competition again. All the best Rob

I would have thought there were a few in 1955... All the best Rob

It wasn't expected that you'd lose by as many as 21-56 though. What a night!!!!!!!!! Oxford went into the meeting needing just 21 points to clinch the bonus point to win the league. We never through for a minute that the Robins would finish the 13 races on 21 points. And that Per Sorensen would get a paid max on his return to the team who sacked him earlier that year. (Sorry Grachan, you seem to have set me off anyway ) Mine is Oxford 28 Coventry 64 from early 2007. Live on Sky. Utterly embarrassing. All the best Rob

That would make no sense. Stadia UK have a commitment to build a stadium in Swindon - how would leasing the dogs elsewhere release them from the commitment they have with the council in Swindon? Oxford and Swindon have both staged greyhounds independently - there's no more link between the greyhounds at the two tracks than the speedway. All the best Rob

You beat me to it :D All the best Rob

It's not Stadia UK who are looking to buy Oxford Stadium. If you read the article, it's a consortium of fans. All the best Rob

Oxford and Swindon speedway are completely independent, and there's a 45-minute journey between the two. The return of one does not affect the other. All the best Rob

Ivan Mauger rode in the actual SAL league competition as well. For Rye House in 1957. All the best Rob

People's opinions are subjective, so therefore, there can't be a definitive answer. I've given my opinion, in that I think Cradley Heath '83 were the strongest side from 1-to-7. All the best Rob

Grachan, a 49-29 away win at Blunsdon is nothing. I remember Oxford '86 winning 56-21 at Swindon (with Robins' reject Per Sorensen returning to score a paid maximum for Cheetahs). Cradley Heath 1983 were the strongest side from 1-to-7 - I remember doing a piece on that side for the Speedway Star and what struck me wasn't the fact that they won all but two of their BL fixtures, but the constant size of the victories. Belle Vue '72 had Mauger, but not quite the all-around strength of Heathens '83. Peter Ravn and Jan O Pedersen's reserve averages were remarkable. The 100% team was Oxford '86. That was a different type of side - the ultimate top heavy side and therefore so hard to beat over 13 heats. The BL averages for Nielsen (11.83) and Wigg (11.01) made it almost impossible to close out a win against that side - Marvyn Cox was in the form of his life for the last few months of the season as well. I remember Cheetahs used tactical subs at both Cradley and Reading and yet ended up winning both meetings with relative ease. On paper, the Oxford '86 looked slightly weaker than Oxford '85. On the track, I think a lot of the Oxford riders simply had their best-ever season. The likes of Per Sorensen and Nigel De'ath had seasons that they never repeated. Cradley '83 were a powerhouse team from 1-to-7. But arguably the 13-heat-formula suited top heavy teams. And that's why Cradley did lose twice in 1983, while Oxford had a 100% record in 1986. And let's not forget that Coventry - another team with a terrific top end - were unbeaten (with 3 draws) in 1987 as well. All the best Rob

Assuming no dropped points and no dead-heats: 1 rider takes 5 rides and scores 8 to win the meeting without a run-off 13 riders take 5 rides and score 7 2 riders turn up late for the meeting, miss their opening 2 outings and score 7 from their remaining 3 rides 1 reserve scores 4 points from 2 reserve rides 1 reserve scores 3 points from 2 reserve rides I make it 8. All the best Rob

Gustix: 1. I believe Wimbledon closed in 1991, not 1992. 2. The crowd for the first meeting in 2002 was massive. Unfortunately, the track was an abomination and many never returned. If Oxford comes back and it is run correctly, I can't see why it can't be successful. I think we have a bigger hardcore than Wimbledon in any case. When there was a Wimbledon v Oxford challenge meeting at Reading in 2008, there seemed to be no more than around 50 Wimbledon fans there, but a good 300-400 Oxford fans present. All the best Rob

A right ray of sunlight, you are. It would be the same as everywhere else - deprive people of speedway for a decade, and then bring it back, and you get bumper crowds. People realise what they've been missing, and tend to remember the good times rather than the bad. All the best Rob

I believe the value it was sold and bought last year (by the same people) was £1.4 million. All the best Rob

Ooooops - now corrected. All the best Rob