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Ahh Lee, can't see Turkeys voting for Christmas eh! I am in the "What gets measured gets managed" camp so if Eurosport measured, this might lead to the very changes you speak of i.e. if you want us to come back to televise here next season, we want to see improvements? The only track I have experience of in 2024 is Oxford and I know when they started up again they did widen the track specifically to allow for more overtaking. My perception is that racing is now better than when I remember going pre the closure in 00s but perceptions are dangerous which is why I prefer real data!

Fingers crossed Mike that we see a Speedway miracle in the Wolverhampton area soon? I was amazed when Oxford was regenerated from a pretty derelict stadium rather than now being a housing estate. So miracles can happen!

Bit before my time! Reading Wikipedia like I guess you did, seems they rode for a few years from 1935 but weren't that well supported and there isn't any mention of racing from start of second world war until 1963. The era I remember as a youngster was a few years later when Len Silver took over, it is sad that he recently passed away after great service to Speedway. I also remember seeing him man the tractor to grade the track when promoting Rye House a few decades later. Good old Len.

@@speedwayuk I don't need wikipedia with 60+ years knowledge from following speedway. I also have the 1st Hackney meeting programme from 1935, framed on my wall. 😀👍

Fair point Frank as ultimately the sport needs to pay its way but there are a few other things I would point out 1) Vast areas of the country with large populations (e.g. London) have no nearby track so people can't support the sport. In this way critical mass has now been lost and Speedway really can't claim to be a national sport anymore. 2) Insufficient effort was made in 70s, 80s & 90s (in particular) to encourage younger supporters. Look around next time you attend a meeting and there are too many that are late middle age and above (me included!). The spectator base is literally dying off!!

@@speedwayuk Absolutely, and at 74 I'm definitely in the 'dying off' category...😂🤣 Agree what you say. No 'critical mass' and very thin fixture lists mean it's now difficult for many to get in 'the habit'. I first attended in '66 and the boast then was that the sport was very 'working class'. Therein lies much of the problem as the sport has failed utterly to widen its fan base when others eg football, cricket rugby etc have broadened their appeal to different socio economic groups and increased their income potential. I'm lucky that as a former Cradley Heath fan I still have a local track - Birmingham - to attend. But, when that goes as is likely, I face the prospect of the nearest track at fifty or so miles away. Like many I fear for the future of the sport which is now completely 'under the radar' for most sports fans and near non existent for the wider general public...🤔🤔

I don't recall the specifics you mention but agree that the time for action to preserve the sport was the 80s & 90s when the decline from the 70s heydays started. As the promotors are also the governing body, this rests at their door.

I would have hoped that with the inclusion of a curfew to not finish meetings too late, a little noise once a week wouldn't be too much of a problem especially for existing stadiums where often housing has been built nearby.

When you see the cost of top flight football, Speedway looks cheap. I think it is priced reasonably, comparable in my view with say Division 1 & 2 football costs. I agree that losing critical mass of teams reduces the interest, this is one of my arguments for combining the two professional leagues but the counterargument would be the drop in standard as actually there are insufficient riders coming through and many riders double up between the two leagues. Ultimately, if a few more teams drop out, the decision will be forced

True, I have seen far too many locations close, the only bright spark near me has been Oxford and for that the council deserve great credit for resisting an easy option for more housing.

Apologies, a lack of local midlands knowledge from this southerner

I hope Coventry can be regenerated, there is always hope when the site still exists. Far more difficult when a new site needs to be found.

Yes, you are a rare brighter spark in the Speedway landscape

Hopefully you can still get to a Speedway location? (more difficult for us down south)

Adrian, let us hope we can arrest the decline and maybe a couple of the closed locations can be reborn like has happened with Oxford and Workington

Brian, The definition I have used when producing these 2 videos is PROFESSIONAL Speedway which I believe has been the top two leagues (at the time of production of the video, it may change in future if my fears are right and we need to move to a single professional league). Any 3rd tier league over the years has been aimed at rider development in my opinion. I think the Weymouth last full professional season was in 1984 hence they were included in the video covering the period from 1980 to 2000. There are a few locations where some amateur racing still occurs (e.g. IOW springs to mind) but if professional speedway has stopped, I still call it a closed location.

Adrian, the answer to that is in the video, jump to Eastbourne! Remember, my definition is when professional speedway ended rather than considering amateur / rider development racing. Some locations I have called "closed to Professional racing" actually still exist and host amateur meetings, Isle of Wight springs to mind

Adrian, I too miss many of these old locations whether I had been a couple of times or was a regular (as was the case with Reading)

Adrian, as I said on a different video, let us hope we can arrest the decline and maybe a couple of the closed locations can be reborn like has happened with Oxford and Workington

John, like many sports, there can be Speedway meetings which are less exciting but there can be real gems in terms of heats where two riders battle for position trying different lines over 4 laps. How many F1 races have been settled in the first 30 seconds and that event then goes on for hours, rather than a minute or so with Speedway? Even when Speedway heats are settled in bends 1 & 2, at least you are seeing 15 starts and you can see the whole race, not just a very small portion of it. Give me Speedway over F1 every day! But you have a fair point about the need to encourage racing which I fully support and the best way to achieve this is by firstly having a well designed track and then the preparation needs to be good. Thirdly you need good "racers" such as Chris Harris for example. The new Belle Vue national stadium is a venue which seems to really encourage exciting racing.

It's my fear too in terms of professional level action. Hopefully we can keep it a bit longer than 5 years but I think that there will need to be more semi-professionals and a move to a single league

Sadly, I think we have lost too many venues, darts can be staged in many general arenas. I would have liked to see Eddie or his Dad get involved in the 80s or 90s before the decline got too bad

It just needs a spark , like the Luke Littler effect on darts . Peter Collins Mk2 maybe and some new promotional thinking and stadiums will open up . A must to keep Sky on board.

Never made it to Tilehurst myself but had a lot of good evenings at Smallmead!

@@speedwayuk yes i remember the final meeting at Smallmead, Anders was there! Now the site is a wasteland

I'm old enough to remember going to Custom House as a child which sparked my love of the sport!

It certainly seems that way with Peterborough although there is still a glimmer of hope; a headline from May 2024 reads "Peterborough Panthers Speedway team remain defiant and target a return to racing in 2025 despite plans for start Showground development within a year"

Paul, I am a little more cynical about these fires, it helps the case for redevelopment if the stadium is wrecked. In terms of a general trend of staying in, I think you are right but some other spectator sports are still surviving (lower league football) and some are thriving (top two football divisions, F1 etc). Speedway can be a great night out but the time to address the decline was in 80s and 90s, now we have lost critical mass so it is a one way direction. Try and enjoy it while you can even if it now probably means a longer journey

Agreed, It is a sad situation but the time to try and arrest the decline was in the 80s and 90s. I'm afraid we have now lost a critical mass of locations, it is crazy that for the huge population mass of London the nearest professional track running that I can think of is Oxford!!

@@speedwayuk Would it be possible to ressurect part of the racing track in Crystal Palce Park and turn that into a speedway track?

It's only really goin strong in Poland isn't it?

Actually, the reason I didn't include Leicester is that they went to a new stadium in 2011 (Beaumont Park Stadium) and are racing in 2024. Therefore they don't qualify as a town without professional Speedway in my mind. I suppose I shot myself in the foot when I included the old Workington stadium in the post 2000 closures when they are now riding professionally again, I made this exception to show a little bright spark as a "new" stadium was created post pandemic. Anyway, that is my crooked logic :)

Glad you enjoyed it although you can see the start of the decline was the 80s and it has continued pretty much since then. Such a shame.

No i agree my remark was more tongue in cheek. The Swindon one also rather strange ? Coventry is unbelievable especially the midlands was a real hot bed of speedway. Just seems to be moving more up north ? We just don’t seem to have the supporters. Definitely think it’s a age thing. Even some highlights on quest on at 11-00 12-00 at night like it’s hidden away. I don’t know how Swedish league is these days???

There are too many locations I miss to list :(

You can see Cradley now as I have a new video covering 1980 to 2000. I fear that within 5 years we will have one professional league only and some time in the 2030s it will just be amateur racing that I have found still goes on at a number of locations.

It would be interesting to hear why you think that?

Ahh a Dons fan, my new video will be of interest. I too think it is a great sport if the track supports some competitive action post bends 1 & 2

As I have seen in the video just released showing what old stadiums look like in 2024

True and insufficient new supporters being brought in to replace folk like you that leave but clearly still have some interest! Now, there are vast areas of the country where it is too far to travel to see Speedway

At least Glasgow still has professional Speedway in the city, the nearest track I can think of for Londoners is Oxford and that is a long way!!

I too enjoyed a few meetings down at Hackney. I've done a video on how sites look now for old tracks that closed 1980 to 2000 and Hackney is included

True but I don't think there is enough money in the sport for Speedway clubs to own. This is where councils can help by blocking plans for redevelopment as happened with Coventry, Oxford and a few others - but Oxford is the only bright spark I can think of where professional Speedway has returned in the same stadium when the owners wanted to redevelop!

Norwich is a very old location. From a quick bit of research.... The fight to save the track was finally lost in 1965 and the demolition moved in to clear the site off Holt Road to make way for housing.

From a promotional standpoint, the idea with a team is to get the loyalty aspect as individual riders come and go. From a racing standpoint when you see team riding, two riders riding side by side to stop a better rider behind from overtaking is a thing of beauty but it is quite rare to see!

That's a good shift as a fan but indicates that you, like me, are of a certain vintage and the ageing spectator base is yet another issue which Speedway didn't address in 80's & 90s

​@@speedwayuk I can remember buying a magazine in 1990 with an article entitled '' 10 sports that will cease to exist in the next 10 years ''. At least we are hanging on in there.i think there has been a Shift from grass roots entertainment to the popularity of '' top level only' 'in our society.

Speedway in Hull when in the 1970's when such as Briggs, Mauger and Moran rode for the Vikings was at the Boulevard, then the home stadium of Hull RLFC. When it returned after around a decade it was at the 'new' stadium of their local rivals Hull KR. Both versions of the Vikings were relatively successful.

Good point, I thought Wimbledon packed up in the 90s but you were right, the club was reborn in the 00s. Looking at the 3rd tier table for 2003 is quite depressing, not too many of these tracks remain; table (top down) was Mildenhall / Rye House / Oxford / Boston / Swindon / Buxton / Newcastle / Sheffield / Wimbledon / Wolverhampton / Carmarthen / Peterborough / Newport

That indicates you are of a similar vintage to me!! Sadly, one of this issues Speedway didn't handle well in 80s & 90s when the decline started was to keep sufficient younger supporters engaged

@speedwayuk In 1965, we moved away from the city, so speedway was no longer accessible.

Some reasonable points here. It is depressing how Speedway has gone from the second largest spectator sport to a minority sport that most general media ignores which in a viscous cycle just makes the decline greater especially as older spectators pack up and there aren't sufficient younger spectators being introduced to the sport

I never made it to Loomer Road but saw Stoke ride many times at other tracks. I fear that the time for action to arrest the decline should have been in the 80s and 90s, now Speedway is a minority sport and unlikely to be seen on free to air TV like it used to in heyday times.

@@speedwayuk Yes, very sad. I do watch it on TV now, highlights programmes on ITV 4 but there's nothing like the atmosphere of a speedway meeting, the noise, the smell of the engines and the excitement of close racing. Sorry, I'm getting all nostalgic for the smell of Castrol R!

True, I have ignored situations where a club moved stadium without much of a gap in riding. Workington is a notable exception as Speedway was lost for a number of seasons before being reborn. That's my thinking anyway!

True. However, without a stadium as such, the club could not compete with the bigger teams, and they duly folded after the 1930 season.

Yes, I don't know whether we will ever see a move from 500cc engines to electric motors!!

That's your opinion David but in it's heyday it was the second biggest spectator sport in UK which says that quite a few disagreed with you. I agree that you can have (what I consider as) bad meetings where each race is clearly decided by bends 1 & 2 but then again, I've been to some quite dull football matches and F1 has never interested me, surely as a spectator you want to see all the action??

Yes, I have enjoyed meetings on IoW and at Arena Essex. The track at Arena Essex was a bit too small for me but made a different challenge for riders than other tracks!

So true. The time for action to try and arrest the decline was really in the 80s and 90s, I'm afraid it is too late now

@@speedwayuk Which is really sad. It still seems huge in other countries.