cityrebel

I said the same thing at Leicester on saturday. Calling it a morgue would have been an understatement. Most of the meetings i go to are full of pensioners and a few of their grandchildren, that are too young to know better. It's the teenagers and young adults that promoters should be targeting, not the Derby and Joan club.

I don't give a monkeys about the kevlars. I know i paid £16 at Leicester last night to watch the likes of Harris, Nicholls, Lawson & King. Only £1 more than Lennie will be charging this season.

Nail on the head.

The public view it as old hat and poor value for money. Can anyone change that perception, i doubt it. When you've got an experienced promoter like Len Silver charging £15 for NL racing, must mean the lunatics have finally taken over the asylum.

A decent meeting last night with some good racing on a sometimes tricky track. There was an excellent crowd for a challenge match, so a lot to be pleased with for the Lions management.

That's why i worry for the likes of Eastbourne and Birmingham that have moved up. The fans they need to balance their books don't exist anymore. There is no new blood coming into the sport and there is nothing that can be done to change that.

Len used to charge top dollar at the Wick when Hackney had a poor team, so it's nothing new. These days you need to hang on to your fan base, not drive them away.

I've got Ron's 1962 World Final race jacket in my collection I've also got Briggo's from 1959. Two wimbledon legends for sure.

Is Len going to guarantee we get to watch 15 heats every week for our 15 quid, somehow i don't think so.

It's only a pound more at some Championship clubs. Len has truly lost his marbles. The sport is heading one way, into oblivion.

You're going to need binoculars to see the racing from turns one and two, once the work is completed.

I remember him going through the card against Reading in a bank holiday morning meeting at Cowley. I also saw a few of his meetings in his short stint at Arena Essex.

I've got a mate that went to that. He reckons it was close to 20,000. Incredible really.

In the early 70's the internationale used to pull in 20,000. The test match you refer to was the 1980 series. The stadium was partly closed to speedway in the NL era.

So do i. I was lucky enough to attend 17 meetings at Custom House between 1970-72. I pleaded with my old man for two weeks to take me to the last ever, in the end he gave in and we went.

So was i, two race wins from memory. My first ever meeting at West Ham, 39-39 draw against Wimbledon.

Riders I've seen for the Dons in no particular order. O.Nygren, T.Hedge, R.Moore, T.Jansson, B.Briggs, E.Jancarz & one of Ross, Jessup or Simmo!

It's pretty hard for me to include riders I've never seen.

I see that Reading are now running their 'home' meetings at Swindon. It makes far more sense financially and geographically.

From a personal point of view. The biggest crowd I've ever seen for a league match, was the estimated 25,000 that turned up for Wembley's reopener against Hackney in 1970.

Pretty impressive. I went the the Lokeren memorial meeting on that sunny sunday all those years ago. Sometimes i wish you could bottle those moments in time and visit them again!

Everyone in speedways inner circle is beyond criticism. They are a protected species.

Sometimes people in power would be better off saying nothing, rather than coming out with crap statements. It's far better being a wise monkey.

Probably good by todays standards. In West Ham's last top flight season, attendances averaged 3000. A figure that was considered a disaster at the time.

Sounds like a good idea.