skydog

If it's so important that we dont have a situation where spectators get close to each other, why is it ok to play football, and have players coming into close contact with each other?

Blimey can you imagine what they would want for it?! We are however still searching for a suitable site somewhere else in the area in the hope of "doing a Somerset"...

We have indeed enquired about Speedway returning to Smallmead. The land has been sold and we were assured that we'll never get back in there.

Yeah they filmed scenes at Eastbourne in 2018. It has been publicised within Speedway since, although I had forgotten about it again

Of course the fact that there are still stadiums in both Coventry and Bradford may mean their returns are seen as more viable.

We have now been told we are not allowed to use the Reading name for challenges either.

Just to respectfully clarify a few things that people have questioned... Firstly the BSPA Management Committee are in charge of the Development Leagues, not the SCB. Yes the rules about proving that you are actively looking for a track have always been there and we at Reading are and we feel we have backed that up. We obviously have to omit certain details if asked by landowners but we sent copies of emails that we feel proved what we are doing. We certainly dont feel that we abused any privileges. I havent seen what any other team sent to the BSPA. If someone else appeared and said they had the capacity to run a team in Reading we would happily step aside and we wouldn't ever think we could stop them using the Reading Racers name. But the truth is nobody else is looking. As far as calling ourselves Swindon we feel certain this would completely detach the remaining Reading fans and they would quickly lose interest. We came into this to get Speedway back in Reading, it is important to this aim to keep the name alive otherwise racing in the league doesnt help our cause. Most of the nomadic teams pay their hosts to run at their stadiums and those that dont, know they are fortunate and are very grateful. Reading have never got any fans in the back gate under the guise of a mechanic or anything else, I dont know about any other team. Swindon want us to run there, as Reading so we cant be causing them too many problems. Yes some teams have used riders in their 40s, I cant deny that. If riders lining up for different teams each week, long gaps between races and not enough riders to complete a team is making Speedway look bad, maybe the PL, CL & NDL should eliminate these things happening first? Thats where most people are looking, not at us. I find it very interesting that the PL are going to run their own junior league this year, just when they decide we cant run. Mr Pairman you know more about the inner workings of Speedway than I ever will and you are always willing to educate the rest of us so thank you for taking an interest in this thread, but at the end of the day if they wanted to stop us because they dont think we are doing it properly I would rather they said so instead of saying it's to do with the name we use.

Me too! I soon learned that if Nick said something it was almost certainly right, or at least based on fact!

Dont be offended by people forgetting it... I think it's purely been overshadowed by the success that Rye House enjoyed since then, which can only be a good thing... kind of!

Hi Rob, it's nice to hear a little reminder of how a nomadic team turned out to be such a success for Rye House, I'd actually forgotten that. I would like to assure you that at Reading we are certainly not in this to make money, none of us have ever taken a penny, not in "wages", expenses or anything else. It's more a case of spending our own (we are not wealthy people), as an example last years pit board and website included 3 "sponsor's names" that were paid for by 2 of us out of our pockets. We take no gate receipts, and as you said, money comes in from sponsorship, fundraising and club members who donate a small amount each month. Also we have a land and property professional who is a Speedway enthusiast and is every bit as keen as we are, constantly looking for what he considers to be suitable land (he is obviously far more knowledgeable than we are) and speaking to land owners and planning departments. We all know this has all been done by various people in various locations across the country with varying results but our attitude is that nobody else is gonna do this in Reading so we'll keep trying for the foreseeable. I get what you mean when you say you can't be sure what peoples motives are or how serious they are, but I hope this reasures you that our intentions are honourable! I hope one day I can say our venture was as successful as yours...

All teams using a historic name have to prove each season that they are actively trying to resurrect the team with their own track. We at Reading are indeed trying. We have recently stated that we are in talks with a land owner about whether a track is feasible on their land. This is obviously the first step on a very long road. The ruling that prevents us from racing in the NDL is that nobody can promote in the top 3 leagues unless they have their own track. Reference Cradley, I think when they first started using Monmore, the fact that CVS was a promoter of both was seen as acceptable. It seems that now Cradley have ceased to operate the BSPA have decided they dont want the same situation again. That's fine, they're in charge, they make the rules and we accept that. We just thought we may be able to help when it looked like the NDL may collapse through lack of numbers. Thankfully the league has survived anyway.

Hi Mike, thanks for your time in compiling this, but you seem to have missed the Carmarthen v Reading match from September 7th.

Oh yeah I see what everyone means now...

How close did you get to the track? I walked it with the 2nd half riders after heat 12. Most tracks at that point are quite honestly frighteningly bad. in 3 years of getting that close, that was by far the best condition I've seen a track in. No ruts, no concrete, loads of material. I didnt see the whole of the Prem match but from what I did see that track was fine if you attacked it.

That's a shame, I remember him from when i was very young.

Hi Sings, I know you're very knowledgeable, and always speak sense, but I'm wondering when did Dan Gilkes "tread water for a long time on a 500"? He was only just over 15 (and therefore only just on a 500) when he appeared for Reading in 2017 in his first SDL match and scored 6 (I think), and the following season he was so good in both the SDL and the MDL that the NL promoters were queueing up for him part way through the season. To be honest he could have gone NL at the start of 2018, he was quick enough.

Pretty sure it was Anders Henriksson that Stoney punched... before grappling a raker to the ground in a headlock. No ban as far as I remember.

Per Jonsson

So unless they get a report from all matches, they dont cover any?

I have emailed a report on the Isle of Wight v Reading MSDL match on Thursday. I dont get the Star anymore, and probably wont be going anywhere that sells it, can anyone tell me if it appears please?

Excuse me for this one but we need to give as much exposure as possible to anyone good enough to support Reading Speedway... Reading Speedway are proud to announce a new sponsor in Lind Harley Davidson, who will sponsor the no. 1 race jacket for the remainder of the 2019 season. The family owned company have businesses in Reading, Guildford, Norwich and Newmarket. With the local branch at 660 Wokingham Rd, Reading, they are more than just a motorcycle store, offering repairs, servicing and mots, and can even sell your bike for you. They also organise social nights and exhibitions and offer a vast array of motorcycling accessories and merchandise. Visit their website at www.lind.co.uk, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter under Lind Harley-Davidson and Instagram at lindhduk. Reading Speedway are always grateful for any sponsorship we receive, we thank Lind and we hope that this is the start of a beautiful friendship!

Who did it used to be forthcoming from? The first time I sent a report to SS for a Reading match, a report by someone else who I had never heard of was used so I figured you had your own man on the job.

Am I the only person who remembers when we had the majority of top riders in the British League and people were saying "why should BSI be allowed to basically hijack Saturday nights... if it wasn't for league racing there would be no riders to race in the GP, and yet they steal the riders away in precedence to the leagues"...? now people are saying the Polish league should be told they are not allowed to run on the Friday as well as the Saturday...?

Wouldn't like to pm me too would you please..?

I'll take the blame for that... I put it on Facebook but unfortunately it didn't get put on the website. Probably my fault that the BSPA website didn't change it either. I will hide behind what you said about us doing it for the love of it and I'm afraid a 4 month old baby and a wedding in 3 weeks has distracted me somewhat! Incidentally although we originally intended to race tonight instead, we couldn't find a team to come to us so abandoned that idea. Swindon did know this though.