fatface

Absolutely. What a night that was. Too many glass half empty folks moaning. Drink up and get it refilled you miserable old gits or the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future will be with you imminently 😄 Personally, I’ve had great times in Manchester, Cardiff, Liverpool and yes, Coventry too.

Agree with a lot of that. Shouldn't have been on the calendar. BUT...what I strongly suspect is that organisers have to get the calendar out early and Cardiff was dependent upon funding from Welsh Govt. I expect that has been pulled, after all, if it's not attracting numbers and doing good business, then why would you invest tax payer money in it? Once that went, it's not viable. As for Poland, well, that's the reality of where the sport is. It's the only lucrative market for speedway on the planet. He who pays the piper calls the tune. Let's not forget there was a time when the World Final was held in the UK every year and riders qualified for that direct from the British Final. Same situation, different country. I think the best way to process this is to be grateful for the 20 odd years we had at Cardiff. Few of us imagined speedway ever getting back into a major UK stadium after Wembley. It did and it was a joyful experience - particularly 2007.

Woke has killed off the Cardiff Speedway GP? I've heard it all now 😄 It's a sad, but inevitable end. And there's loads of reasons for it. I suspect the event has been propped up beyond it's natural lifespan from public sector funding in Wales. And that's not sustainable. Cost of living is a factor in this....people simply have less disposable income over the last decade. High energy prices mean that running major facilities...even your local pool...has rocketed and these costs have to be passed on. But the biggest reason is that British Speedway as a whole is on its *rse. The fan base is shrinking, ageing and ultimately dying....and without that hardcore of supporters, any big event in the UK will struggle. It was always a fabulous day out, it's the end of era, but I will always have some great, great memories from Cardiff.

Speaketh a man with decades of experience of organising international sporting events. Or perhaps not?

Yep. There are some pretty dry speedway books out there. But I don't think you can go wrong with either the first John Berry book or the Kenny Carter one. Both very good.

Sorry to hear that. Let's hope for a full recovery with all his loved ones.

Sorry to read that. A life inextricably linked to the sport.

Quite right. It's PC gone mad...and I'm not talking about Peter Collins losing his rag... It's King's Lynn, not Queen's Lynn. Harrumph.

#BringBackMoley #MakeSpeedwayGreatAgain 😉

Me. I had a cheeky tenner on Keely Hodgkinson at 10-1 earlier in the summer. 😉

Yep. All makes sense. I went pretty much every year until about four years ago. It’s a great place to spend the weekend, brilliant stadium and great atmosphere around town. I’m just one of those that has drifted away. It’s very very difficult to imagine it getting back to 40k crowds. Multiple reasons for that, but the biggest for me is that British Speedway’s continued shrinkage, tracks closing and new audiences not being attracted to replace the ‘old farts’. The harsh reality is that a fair chunk of those 40k that used to go are now either dead or too elderly to manage a full day visit like that anymore. A feature of the day was meeting and chatting to loads of fans who followed the sport closely in the 60s and 70s…the reality is they are passing on. And there just isn’t enough younger people interested enough to fill their shoes. I used to go with my folks and one is too grumpy to go now (yes, father) and the other not too mobile (mother). We have said we might go again for ‘one last time’ next year. Honestly though, i don’t know anyone else my own age or younger that would have any interest at all in going.

Had a couple of trips there in the 80s as a kid. And of all the away visits, I have to say - as a kid - the area always felt like a bit of a rough and ready place. Much more so than other tracks. I went back there to the same area many years later with the intents to shoot a video of inner city kids doing Olympic sports as a legacy piece. The reality was it was very different, very gentrified and difficult to find the grit and grime I was looking for! The kids too were annoyingly brilliantly articulate....not the poor urchins we had planned on! In a roundabout way, what I am saying is, when an area gets the "regeneration" treatment, then speedway's days in that area are numbered. It's difficult to pick out exactly where it was now, I know Waterden Road is still there, but as I understand it, the roads have also changed. Is the Copper Box now sited on the old Hackney Stadium footprint?

Richard Green, Exeter It was a miserable start to the 1988 season at Exeter with a rag tag ensemble of riders who were either years past their best or misfits ie. Bruce Cribb, Dave Trownson, Paul Evitts etc. A couple of months into the season and they signed Richard Green, a second string left out of the Mildenhall team. Hardly inspiring. But he was a sensation. In his first meeting he took Gordon Kennett from the back. From that point on, he was the absolute darling of the crowd for several brilliantly entertaining years with his ‘win or crash’ approach. He would have won the NLRC one year if he hadn’t crashed (again!) in his last race. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rider make as many last bend overtakes as Greeny did. He was a real catalyst for turning the season round. Peter Jeffrey also emerged from the juniors as a real prospect, then Steve Regeling arrived and we had a proper no1. By the end of the season, we even started winning away matches!

1983, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992 1990 was probably the most entertaining. But it was great to see a British winner (Havelock) in Poland. 1983 and 1987 both pretty forgettable. The ride that stuck with me most though was Gundersen going round both Moran and King in 1985 in heat 20....the ride of a true champion.

Although they finished 2nd in the League, KO Cup, League Cup and Premiership I enjoyed 1984 at Hyde Road too. Although we hammered most teams, the team was an exciting one, the racing was great and we had the uniquely brilliant moment when PC and Mort won the World Pairs, plus Mort also won the BLRC. Down in Devon, I enjoyed following the 1989 Exeter Falcons. Steve Regeling became a class no1, Richard Green was thrill a minute, they actually won some matches on the road and had an epic cup tie with Berwick.