fatface

Exactly. Have they patented the design? If so, it's an an open and shut case. If not, why the hell not?

Yes, the pool of riders isn't what is should be. All self inflicted of course. allowing riders to race for multiple teams, halving opportunities a lack of development for yonks (although some work in now taking place) no real pathway from grass-track - hundreds of successful riders came from GT to 2nd halves to long careers. This happened more by luck than design. But should there not be a formal relationship between British Speedway and Grass Track providing a pathway through? Good for speedway and good for GT too Oh, and by the way....I always pulled a great pint

Yes. Of coursey ou are right. What I'm talking about is getting the customer experience right before speedway can even contemplate being a viable business. As MikeBV rightly points out, it is madness that the employee dictates to the employer when they can and can't work. What works for the customer comes first. I did a lot of hospitality work in my youth and of course this meant weekends, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve and the like. If I'd have told my boss I can't do weekends or busy times, but I can do Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I'd be out of work.

I see your point too. But I am not sure Belle Vue are representative of British Speedway as a whole. They are the only club who can actually deliver a modern sports facility experience (although I admit I haven't been to the revamped Glasgow?) and in a city centre location have a much bigger target market to aim at. I think we need to see Belle Vue as a lucky one-off...what other council in the UK can anyone ever imagine ploughing millions into a new speedway facility? Where I think there is a real lessons to be learned is in the Bank Holiday difference in crowds. I have long thought that British speedway needs to forget about working itself around Poland and Sweden and riders commitments and work itself around peak times that families are most likely to attend. This means weekends and bank holidays. Families with kids of primary ages just don't venture out on a school night. So, already you are cutting off a big chunk of your potential crowd.

In that case, you'd better getting digging. Most of them are dead. You know those failing tatty old pubs who pander to a hardcore group of ageing locals, refusing to change even as their clientele dwindle and die? That's British speedway.

Product-Price-Place-Promotion I have serious doubts these simple strategic considerations are ever given any time at the BSPA conference. A final point on looking back...it's dangerously rose-tinted and romanticised. I was at my most fanatical in the early 80s watching Belle Vue at Hyde Road. So, when I discovered someone had uploaded two meetings on YouTube of Aces v Halifax and Aces v Cradley from 1982, I was chuffed. Collins, Morton, Penhall, Gundersen, Carter...jumpers for starting tapes ...what could be better? The harsh truth is, through 21st century eyes, it was all a bit underwhelming. And if the video evidence wasn't there before my eyes, I would have swore blind that these meetings were thrill-a-minute with overtaking galore. They were not. What would have passed as great entertainment then, wouldn't be now.

The answers won't come from people on this forum, nor will they come from the pages of Speedway Star or any current promoters. Everyone is too damn close to the sport to see its fatal flaws. It needs fresh, independent authority given the latitude to make major strategic changes. I don't subscribe to the opinion that the racing was better in the 70s and 80s. I think some of the modern day racing in the GPs and at good race tracks like Belle Vue is as good as, if not better than any racing seen before. But, I'm a speedway fan. Like everyone else on here, I am biased. The unpalatable truth is the product is not good enough for the general public outside of the ageing speedway bubble. Doubling up, relegation/promotion, lay down engines etc....nobody outside the sport gives a monkeys toss. I've said it before and I'll say it again...speedway's problem is not that is has changed since the 1970s. It is that it has not changed enough. Every successful sport that attracts a good following is light years away from what it was 40-50 years ago. Speedway isn't. Football was a weekly ritual avoiding (or seeking?) a punch-up and the possibility of getting p*ssed on by some idiot who couldn't be arsed to go to the stinking bogs Rugby was watching 30 (or 26) roly-polys rolling around in the mud Cricket was 5 days of watching the likes of Geoff Boycott painfully make a century to draw Boxing was a night at a sticky York Hall where you risk being hit with a flying bottle or caught in a riot Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit...but all of the above have modernised their products massively to appeal to a wider audience...and if they served up a similar product to what they did in the 70s, they'd be in the sh*t like speedway. Yet, speedway looks back and thinks if it could only recreate the 70s, the crowds would come flocking back. Dream on.

Ha! You may well be right on Mauger. As for Mort. Whilst he was still competitive at Sheffield, he struggled badly on the away tracks. As above, I enjoyed his comeback. But I'm also glad it didn't extend beyond a year.

Yes, I see the point here. I suppose it's all in context. Mauger was helping out and Morton was doing it just for fun. If you know that and they still show the odd glimpse it makes it more acceptable. I also saw Eric Boocock's comeback and that was a less pretty sight. Pusey too was a guy with issues and I am sure that was a pretty sad sight too.

Two comeback stories...both Exeter related... We had a family holiday in Devon in 1984 and we headed along to the County Ground to see Mauger and the rest of the Falcons against Eastbourne. Granted Mauger wasn't at his best, but he got the better of Schwartz, it was brilliant to see one of the greatest on one of his famed stomping grounds and still able to race a bit. Without him, the night would have been a much poorer experience. Forward 10 years and now living in Devon. My all-time favourite Chris Morton visited with Sheffield on his mini-comeback. Of course, he was nowhere near the rider he had been. But he won a race..something I thought I'd never see again. Loved it! I think as fans, we can get a bit hung up on riders going on too long, being past their best and somehow tarnishing their reputation. But if they still enjoy it, the fans enjoy seeing them and they don't hurt themselves....why not? It doesn't remove the great careers they have behind them.

Maybe we can go Stateside instead then and go for Alan Christian?

It's the most wonderful time of the year. So, how about this for a Christmassy Speedway Team? 1 SPROUTS Elder 2 Bruce CRIBB 3 JOSEPH Screen 4 Simon CROSS 5 Lance KING 6 Jason KING 7 Danny KING (three Kings of course...) Team Manager: Mick BELL Sponsor: ELF Oil Let's see your suggestions...

Sorry...spoiler alert

Exeter's steel fence was built from unused air raid shelters. (I think I've got that right?)

Thanks Norman. Great. I have compared maps and it looks like I have "raced" there after all. Just wish I'd realised at the time

Quick question for you Norman... If anyone knows it will be you. What is the exact spot on the map where the first meeting took place? Reason I ask is that a few years ago, I took part in a cross country event around Epping Forest (Orion 15 - you get a glass of champagne at the finish!). I only became aware afterwards that it was either at the same - or very close to - the site of the first ever speedway meeting. Have I "raced" on the same hallowed turf?

Steve Gresham gives ladies manicures in Henley-upon-Thames Or I could have just completely made that up...

Thought you'd like that. Really decent quality for 1987 too. The bloke must have been carrying a two tonne camera around back then!

I think it's something like... Aces 1 Peter Ravn 2 Bernie Collier 3 Chris Morton 4 Richard Knight (G) 5 David Blackburn (G) 6 Glenn Hornby 7 Kenny McKinna Coventry 1 Tommy Knudsen 2 David Bargh 3 Kelvin Tatum 4 Rick Miller 5 John Jorgensen 6 Andy Hackett 7 David Clarke I think Paul Thorp and Andy Smith may have been Aussie bound when this League Cup Final replay was rearranged, so were missing from the Aces line up. Can't tell you what happened yesterday, but I can reel off this useless info no problem

Saw this pop up on Facebook yesterday. What a cracking piece of film, well worth half an hour of anyone's time. Really takes in the surroundings of a much loved iconic venue. I was there too, but couldn't quite spot myself! Others might see themselves here.

Wasn't Rob Grant Berwick captain for years, despite never being their no1?

Maybe. But it is comparing apples and pears. Different times, different priorities. Had there been year long GP series and bigger bucks to be earned in Poland and Sweden back in the 70s, I think Exeter and Hull fans would have been seeing a very different Ivan Mauger, if they would have even seen him at all. He was great presence for all his clubs. But he was also very well paid.

Always enjoy these debates. I caught the fag end of Mauger's career in person, so never saw the best of him in the flesh. But have absorbed all that is possible on film and in books. He redefined what it was to be a professional speedway rider. But if you pinned me down, I'd have to rate Tony Rickardsson as just above him. He was World Champion in a one off format, he was World Champion in a GP format. He could win from the front, win from the back, he could win under pressure and do it on all tracks. No-one can say he did it in an easier era either. Crump, Hancock, Pedersen all have claims to be in the world's top 10-15 ever. He was a notch above them all. Not to mention other truly quality riders like Gollob, Nielsen, Adams, Hamill, Loram...whose careers all overlapped Rickardsson. Of course they all got one or two over him, but he emerged as the clearly the best. He's the closest I've seen to a complete rider. That said, I'd like to have seen Ove Fundin in action too

Well done Zmarzlik - thoroughly deserved and clearly the world's best rider at the moment. Well done BSI. In a year where the international sporting calendar has been ravaged, they pulled together an excellent series in difficult circumstances. Finally, happy 25th anniversary. To those STILL banging on about a return to one-off World Finals. Here's to 25 more!

It will be interesting to see what transpires. I admire BSI's ambition with some of the more prestigious stadia, not always successfully. And it's perfectly understandable why they settled upon a strategy of "safe bets" in the core markets in Poland, Denmark, Sweden and the UK. Despite some of the above critiques, the SGP is well ahead of where it was in the late 90s, so BSI deserve credit for that. Having worked in sport, I understand a lot of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes and - more often than not - the bright ideas that come from outside have been investigated and are not viable. That said, I can't resist tossing my tuppence in! To expand they are going to have to take it into markets where there are deep pockets and no financial reliance upon gate receipts or take it to new, but lower risk markets close to their core markets. For the former, I am talking about places like Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Qatar where they happily pay through the nose to host F1, MotoGP, ATP Tennis, European Tour Golf. I spent a little time in Qatar and witnessed the odd spectacle of guys like Valentino Rossi, Andy Murray and Ernie Els performing in front of paltry crowds. Thing is, these series are global brands and get those countries "on the map" and good PR for what are effectively dictator regimes. Speedway cannot do this, it doesn't have the reach. The latter might involve getting the SGP into places like Spain, Ireland, Netherlands using stadiums that are quality, oval and (relatively) convertable. And all within an EasyJet/Ryan Air Flight from the UK, Sweden, Poland and Denmark. Admittedly, it would be a difficult sell to the locals. But what European speedway fans wouldn't fancy a weekend in Dublin, Majorca or Amsterdam? So there might also be interest from hosting tourist boards/local Govt for a Speedway GP too? Of course, this only works in a back to normal post-COVID context. One I can't understand is talk of Argentina. It's a tiny market for speedway and miles away from the majority of speedway fans. It all smacks of "a bloke Armando knows". I wish EE well, but it'll be no easy sell, that's for sure.