fatface

I see what you are doing. Then again, Stevie Wonder can see what you are doing. Dismissing others with extreme language like 'ridiculous!' and then scrabbling round for alternative arguments and seeing which one will stick. There were no bites for the Havelock-Rempala being better and now you're trying this one. Still no nibbles though. I was lucky enough to be at Torun for that GP - that was the best race of a cracking night. I was also lucky enough many years ago to see Les Collins go third to first on the last turn to win the opening race of the all-Scottish KO Cup Final...anyone else there for that one? But, I'll repeat, I have never seen a rider go from 4th to 1st on the last turn - I've yet to hear of anyone else who has either. And all preceded by passing and re-passing from the other three riders. Stunning stuff. If witnesses to the legendary Collins-Michanek KO Cup run-off in 1973 are saying this was even better than that, then that lends some hefty weight to the argument that it was the best race ever. Or if you want to pitch another Poole-related race into the mix, how's about this Chris Harris classic? ;-)

Commonplace?! I know we all tend to slip on the rose-tinted specs when we look back on the past, but I think that’s stretching it. I have never seen anything as good as that in 38 years of watching the sport. And I was spoiled growing up with PC and Mort at Hyde Road. A rider going from last to first on the last turn? I’ve certainly never seen that before. Bar Doyle in fourth, at some point in the race, every rider occupied every place. Nine overtakes? Let’s be honest, it was a once in a lifetime race - no matter whether your favourite era was the 50s, 70s or modern day. One word too for a guy who we all should be thankful that we are able to debate a race like this - Chris Morton. We wouldn’t have a track like this without his hard work and vision. The pity is he is not able to truly enjoy the fruits of his labour in person.

Just caught up with this and have to say that heat 13 is the best race I have ever seen on TV or in person in 38 years of watching the sport. Bar falls, exclusions and engine failures I have never, ever in all that time seen a rider go from last to first in the last half lap of a race. Absolutely superb.

I wish that were true. But if the message going out is that speedway no longer has guests, speedway no longer doubles up, speedway no longer has rider replacement, speedway no longer has the joker, then I am sorry to say that will sway very few people to spend their precious time and money on the sport. I hear you, credibility is an issue. But there are plenty of credible sports out there struggling to make that the sport's main priority. People do not go to speedway because the whole entertainment package does not offer good enough value. I've given my pitch on a previous page how it might go about this.

Guests are a problem. Doubling up is a problem. But if both those rules were wiped out overnight, does anyone honestly think the crowds would flood to speedway? The sport needs fundamental change, not fiddling around at the edges.

Watching this with semi-interest. Yes, that's where I am with the sport I once loved. We can all argue around the edges about guests, rider replacement, doubling up, play-offs, etc. Sadly, I think the promoters who run the sport have the same squabbles, rather than actually presenting a compelling vision. A few years ago I posted on here about how the sport in Britain needed to come together in one league with regional divisions and lose all GP riders in a bid to strip back costs, regain some credibility and focus on creating a better fan experience in the crumbling facilities. I now think we have gone well, well beyond that and it needs a much more radical overhaul. Beyond football (and even below the Premier League), how many professional team sports can now sustain themselves? Below the premiership, Rugby Union struggles. Rugby League clubs are under threat, County Cricket is (barely) propped up by Twenty20, Take That gigs and revenue from the international game. What hope has speedway really got? Looking back to the 70s and 80s is all well and good. But by and large pointless, it's a different era and what worked then, would not work now. My interest peaked around the early 80s going to Hyde Road. I was chuffed to recently see some YouTube videos of Belle Vue v Cradley and Belle Vue v Halifax from 1982 on YouTube - Penhall, Carter, Gundersen, Morton, Collins, jumpers for goalposts. But you know what? It was not as good as I remember it to be. Why? Back then there was much less choice and our expectations of an entertainment experience were lower - cinemas had sticky floors, football stadiums stank of p*** and live sport was not on tap 24 hours a day. Today, speedway's key market of young families has much wider choice of entertainment options and with the growth of technology, easier access to it. But they also have less disposable income and - in many cases - are up to their eyeballs in their mortgage. So, they are much more discerning and speedway has to compete harder for their share of the consumer's wallet. The key word in all this is "value." Does a typical outing to the speedway really offer value to a family of four? I don't believe it does. I think promoters have to be really creative in getting footprint into the facilities. It would require some hard work and coming together, but I think speedway's best shot is working with other sports (also struggling) and offering a full multi-sport experience to families. Let's imagine the following offering on a Saturday or Sunday or Bank Holiday Monday: 1pm - Greyhounds 2pm - Speedway 3pm - Flat Track 4pm - Sidecars 5pm - Bangers Get a hog roast, pizza oven, bouncy castle etc. and cross sell to a bigger crowd. £15 per adult, £5 per child. It is a different conversation with sponsors if you are drawing in a wider market to the site and getting much more eyeballs on their brand. Now, I am sure there are many arguments over the practical difficulties over this type of model over intricacies like track preparation, but surely none of this is impossible? British speedway has to think differently - radically differently - otherwise it will just fade away into irrelevance.

At the risk of being the latest review ever... I picked up this book at the Cardiff Fair and what an absolute gem it is. I have owned and read just about every book from the 70s and 80s, but never this one. I bought it just to pass some time on the train home and it’s probably the best book in the sport I’ve read alongside John Berry’s Confessions. Like Berry’s book, I found myself disagreeing with the author on more than one occasion, but it is never anything short of captivating. It’s also a real reminder of the sacrifices Mauger made in the early days in his drive to be the best. Fan or not, you can’t help but admire his determination to be the best, overcoming endless challenges in his rise. Kudos to Peter Oakes too - what a fine body of written work he has given to the sport for decades.

I like innovation and every sport needs a refresh every now and then. But this is just change for change sake. I think the current system works well. Each GP has its individual climax and ultimately the best rider across the year wins. I don't buy into the view that many in the pro-one off World Finals camp subscribe to that the GPs somehow miss out on the best riders that year because they have had to qualify the previous season. So often in speedway - and indeed wider sport - a competitor can seem an absolute world beater when outside of the harsh spotlight of a World Championship or Olympic Games. But when they do step into that spotlight, they are not quite as great as they seem. I like him, but harsh reality is something Craig Cook is going to have to swallow this year. There have been lots of others too...Chris Morton was my big hero and regularly he was in the top 3 of the averages across the season...an absolute giant of the British League, but on World Final night, he just wasn't at the races.

Bless. Thanks for the insight into the mind of the keyboard warrior anyway. You won’t watch a World Championship meeting he is in. But you will see what he’s up to on Instagram and thoroughly disapprove.

Again an almost identical experience to me. We must have crossed paths in those days. Beating Kenny at the Shay was a really big deal. I know my favourite - Mort - never managed it and I do recall PC getting the better of him once. The move to the Shay made sense for Larry Ross. He was past his best when he left the Aces, but he always went well at the Shay and I think he gave them 2-3 years of decent service. I have fond memories of the place, though it's probably quite rose-tinted as I don't think I rated the track at the time anywhere near Hyde Road and Sheffield for pure racing. But it was certainly a unique place. Other memories for me are Mort bouncing off the fence and shooting past Ian Cartwright, PC winning the Norther nRiders there on a sunny Sunday afternoon in 84 and a great end of season firework display with an illuminated elephant at the end of the 81 season.

Sad news indeed. As a late 80s regular at the County Ground, it was obvious that Vaclav Verner was the club’s ultimate cult hero. He had a huge reputation among Falcons fans who had been privileged to see him race in the 70s. So when he joined again in the 90s, it had all the potential hallmarks of an old hero tarnishing his reputation. But he still had enough dare and flair to be able to shock and surprise old and young supporters alike. It was like an old rock hero coming back for a farewell tour and still having it. RIP

Hi Barry, I will take you up on that. I like your pro-active approach :-) Email to follow.

Good: 1983 England v USA, Test Decider, Sheffield - glorious weather, glorious racing 1989 Exeter v Berwick KO Cup two legged epic that had to be replayed 1994 Edinburgh v Glasgow, KO Cup Final - Les Collins last bend win kicked off a great night's racing 2007 British GP, Chris Harris's unforgettable win 2011 Torun GP, just a brilliant meeting and a rare reminder that at its best, no other sport can match it Bad: around 2010 onwards, any league meeting I have been to has left me pretty underwhelmed 1982 - Cradley win KO Cup at Hyde Road, when you are 8, these things really, really matter Kenny Carter death...a huge, tragic shock Closure of Hyde Road Per Jonsson career-ending injury - I thought he was a huge talent and his best years were still to come

Thanks Terry. Just watched that. A real reminder of what a great figurehead he was for the speedway - even willing to take a gunking for the cause :-)

I don’t think it’s a case of being wrong or right. I think it’s a concern that people like me, who have great affection for the sport with a young family see other leisure activities as much better value and a better family experience. All the activities I list have upped their game and evolved since the 80s. British Speedway has not. I doubt I am alone in that opinion. Based on my last live experience of speedway, young families were massively outnumbered by 60 and overs. That’s a worrying trend. I’m sure some clubs - and a few on here make a good case for the Isle of Wight - deliver a better family experience than others. But broadly speaking, the sport isn’t providing a good enough package to entice young families through the turnstiles. I am sure when the time comes, I will take my children. But it will be more out of my own nostalgic fondness than any great optimism they will enjoy it.

1981 was the year I attended my first meeting. Right from the get-go, I absolutely loved it. I really hope there are other 7 year olds who have that same feeling I had in 2018 about the sport and are blissfully unaware of all the silly politics around it. I remember we bumped into my hero Chris Morton in a motorway service on the way back from a meeting. I was absolutely beside myself with excitement...happily the sport still has that down-to-earth accessibility other sports have lost. My fear is that the parents of these 7 year olds are not buying into it any more. The overall product is not strong enough to justify an outing for the whole family. Now, I have kids of my own and live in Devon. Can I see myself taking my 5 year old twins to Plymouth Speedway in a couple of years? Or will I prefer to spend my money on an outing to a climbing centre, the cinema, the Exeter Chiefs, the theatre, swimming? All similarly priced, all patently better leisure experiences, all much more likely to be enjoyed by the whole family. It's a no-brainer really. ps. on the 81 final, I think the collective joy was around the champion himself. Penhall had the looks, style, charisma that no other rider before or since could match and he won the title in such a brilliant fashion too. That's why we remember it so fondly. Plus, he was on Tiswas too.

Where did it go wrong? Probably in the golden 70s and 80s when crowds were notably better, we were on terrestrial TV with national sponsors and the promoters actually made money. That was the point to invest, take full ownership of and modernise the facilities and the experience. Instead British speedway sat back, promoters pocketed the cash and watched whilst the rest of the world went by. Our stadiums were sheds, that was okay then, because it was the norm for all sports. Today’s facilities for not just football, but rugby league, rugby union, cricket and horse racing - even the cinema - are a world away from what they were in the 70s and 80s. Ours, with a couple of exceptions, are the same standard. Now, largely as tenants and without a pot to pee in, British Speedway can’t do much about that. As a consequence, the product itself - certainly in the top league - has also suffered badly. What promoters need to do collectively, is really think what the product is they are actually selling to the public and give them value for money. I posted on here a few years ago that the sport needed to cut its cloth and have appropriate outgoings for the riders and associated costs to give them more financial freedom to make the overall entertainment package better. This included ditching GP riders, a regional league structure culminating in the Northern Champions facing the Southern Champions in a play-off final. The promoters needs to forget about the GP and it’s riders and treat that as the separate product it is. At the moment the sport is paying out top dollar for GP riders. For what purpose? Have the stadiums been rammed when Tai Woffinden or Jason Doyle visited? The use of top international riders is actually hindering British Speedway to provide a credible spectacle. We all get our knickers in a twist over guests and doubling up. These silly rules are only the result of clubs trying to be competitive because of the unnecessary high calibre of riders that do not bring in the crowds to league speedway. What good is it having a GP rider on show if it means teams requiring guests and double up riders, excessive costs, money pouring into the pockets of riders and tuners, whilst the fans watch uncompetitive racing, riders with other priorities, competition with no credibility and have to pee against a wall in the dark. It makes as much business sense as having lobster on the menu in Macdonald’s. It’s about value for money. League speedway needs to think about itself as Macdonald’s serving cheap, cheerful, reliable and consistent offerings. I went to two meetings last year, the Cardiff GP and an Elite League match between Somerset and Belle Vue. Cardiff was a premium product, great stadium, top riders, every rider gave it everything and the racing was good. It cost a fair whack, but I got value for money. I’ll be back. At Somerset, the Aces had 5 riders, including a guest and doubling up riders and also rider replacement, racing was reasonable and my mum fell over on the back straight grass terracing in the pitch black. It was about a fifth of the cost, but I didn’t feel I got value at all. You are being pitched something that is elite, but is patently not. Time to strip it back, remove the excessive costs flooding out to top riders and deliver a cheap and cheerful offering with affordable riders who are fully committed to British Speedway. Borrowing from another thread, I also wonder if speedway should explore going the extra mile and collaborate to deliver a multi-sport offering. Could we partner with other sports like stock car racing, sidecars, shorttrack, even greyhound racing and deliver a better all-round evening or afternoon’s entertainment for a broader range of punters? I’m sure there will be reasons why these are logistically difficult, but surely not impossible.

Tony Rickardsson for me. None bar Mauger has a World Championship record to rival it and I rate his all-round abilities as better than Mauger. He could do the lot. From the front or the back, on small tracks, big tracks, under pressure and was ultra professional. The others have now enjoyed decades and decades as legends and I think - in all sports - that can sometimes subconsciously elevate them above modern day greats. Tony Rickardsson was a true great in every sense of the word and also during an era than was not short of a few other absolute all-timers too. As for the suggestion that Jason Crump was better? Even Crump himself would disagree with that, he knew he was no2 whilst Rickardsson was around.

And Neil Collins had a 29 year career... Cards on the table. Im English and have been a supporter of Exeter and Belle Vue with an affection for Edinburgh from my student days. Neither Neimi or Kylmakorpi have ridden for any team I have any bias towards, not Teromaa for that matter. But I suppose I could declare an interest in Hautamaki, Ylinen and Laukennen. So I am completely neutral on the best Finn - no feelings either way to Niemi or Kylmakorpi. You?

I think the Scandinavia line is a bit of a red herring. Did Kai Niemi have an advantage over the Brits, Danes, Yanks, Aussies, Kiwis when racing in Sweden just because he was born in a neighbouring country? I dont think so. Was he riding in the Swedish League with regular access to Vetlanda? Dont think so. The route line also only really has some merit if its a one-off (like in 89 when fellow countryman Tyravainen qualified in an injury ravaged year for top riders) or if he had been clearly out of his depth when he reached the final (see Mr Ondrasik). Neither is the case. He reached four finals including finishing fourth and eighth in World Finals on neutral tracks. Again, fourth! Thats way, way above any other Finnish speedway achievement in the worlds most prestigious competition. That fact is inarguable. You could make all the conjecture you like about the respective merits of this rider or that. But you will not be able to produce facts like that about any other Finn.

Of course. Im not trying to paint Kai Niemi as some under rated world beater. He was not, but he was a very high level international racer for a good chunk of time. Facts are that he reached four World Finals and acquitted himself well when he got there. We are not talking a Petr Ondrasik-esque (try saying that after a few pints) situation here. We can speculate as to the abilities of each rider if they were in different eras. But as far as Finnish speedway riders go, none have a record that remotely compares with Niemis. Ps. Keeping the big issues of the day rumbling on...anyone know why iPhones lose the apostrophes when posting on this site?

Now there is a spirited case! Kylmakorpis record is certainly better than I thought. But...and it is Kardashian sized...I dont think the BL comparisons are valid. Niemi rode in the UK when it was unquestionably the worlds toughest league, Kylmakorpi rode when it was unquestionably not. Also whilst Joonas only got onto the sports premier stage via wild cards, Niemi fully earned his World Final appearances - and acquitted himself pretty well too. Admittedly it flatters him to say this, but he was one ride away from being World Champion in 85. There are better riders who you cannot say that of. So, yes still clearly Niemi for me. But Kylmakorpi comes closer to the likes of Teromaa than I initially thought.

Sorry to have riled you. I just couldn't resist - unfortunately you do make a rod for your own back at times. I simply cannot go beyond Kai Niemi on this, he's head and shoulders above the rest. Some might be able to make a spirited case for Ila Teromaa, but that's it. Furthermore, I cannot buy into long-track achievements being given equal consideration to speedway achievements. In whatever guise, the World Speedway Championship is the top priority for every participant, with the possible historical exception of a handful of West Germans. You cannot say - and never have been able to say - that the WLT is afforded the same prestige. The WLT's peak years were in the mid 70s to mid 80s when Mauger, Michanek, Olsen, Collins, Lee, Gundersen all gave the event a real go (even then Niemi was a regular finallist amongst truly stiff competition). Why? Because there was money to be made by racing on the German long-track and grass-track scene on Sundays and being a top long-tracker meant big bucks - and the welcome embrace of a Bavarian bosom - let's not pretend otherwise Once the doors opened to racing league speedway in Sweden and Poland, the WLT ceased to be a credible global competition featuring the world's top riders. Suddenly, Kelvin Tatum began winning it. Had he become a better rider? Nope, he was well past his peak, but the quality of competition had been seriously watered down. Long track is to Speedway what Rugby Sevens is to Rugby, an entertaining spectacle, but not the real deal. Anyway, best Italian anyone? I'm going for Giuseppe Marzotto

How about a playlist for speedways rules? I am thinking... Billy Bragg and Wilco - the unwelcome guest R Kelly - double up Steve Miller Band - the joker

If I didnt know you better, Id think you were deliberately naming obscure riders in a misguided attempt to appear you had far superior knowledge to other fans of the sport. But I know you not be that foolish. For me, its obviously Kai Niemi. A heat leader for a decade in the worlds toughest league, playing a key role in two league title wins. He was also a consistent performer on the world stage, four World Finals and nearly snuck under radar and won it in 1985. After that, Id probably go for Miko Baste.