"Liked the bit about Roger Wright. Saw him ride many times at Workington. Was great going round the fence and gave me lots of pleasure watching him."

"Good god, those pictures take you back! Only went once to Paisley. Good atmosphere not a big crowd but we all enjoyed it."

"Mike Fullerton the old dog, he hasn't changed much except for no trace of hair whatsoever. I know him well and even late into his career was a hard charger { vastly experienced }. He insists he is still the Paisley track record even now as the track sadly closed not long after. Mike raced in the first NZ over 40's championship a couple of years ago and was lightning quick from the tapes despite being well into his 50's."

"I agree entirely with the comment by "Anonymous" that perception is everything when it comes to the World Championship-trouble is, I genuinely feel the perception these days is that it is not a true World Championship because in essence not everybody is given the same opportunity to reach that status-as I think I suggested in my original article, it is perceived these days as an event run by a few people for effectively an elite group of riders, give or take a small number of qualifying rounds of sorts raced here and there, in which event while it certainly deserves some sort of an Elite status, by effectively excluding most of the practitioners of the sport it somehow is much less of a "World" event. I'm not arguing about the inclusion of the likes of Tai Woffinden, a very gifted rider and world class performer of the future, but if you were to look at the criteria for his inclusion I suspect you might find they were not quite the same as those by which other riders in the UK and abroad were effectively excluded from the chance to ride. "

"I've seen pictures of the inside of the pub in my speedway star collection! It had drawings of riders hanging up behind the bar! Collins, Wilkinson, Morton - I'll search it out!"

"It sure takes a man to ice race on a track like that. Where is the ice? I bet that's a rough ride. UNBELIEVABLE!!"

"Sorry but the new cover design for the bike shown in this week's edition may look wonderful but is fundamentally flawed and dangerous as it has been designed by someone who has never tried to push off a rider. The push handle bar immediately behind the seat is too far forward. The push bar above the rear spindle allows a safer push off with the pusher clear of the rear wheel. With the push bar behind the seat the pusher has to push at an angle and run beside the wheel. "

"A minor Point, Tony `the Tooth` Clarke, left the Hammers at the end of the 1970 season, going to Wembley, and as both they and the Hammers did not ride agin in 1972, Tony was no longer a West Ham second string!"

"To continue the Briggo 1972 discussion further, firstly thanks to Chris Stockwell but not my clip, I just pointed out where it was. Secondly, If you look again at the footage Briggo loses speed and straightens up. He's already off the white line and Bernt Persson is still going at full racing speed. Persson simply races into the gap that Briggs has left. If he causes Briggs to fall it's not because he somehow speeds up (surely as a racer he's already going as fast as he can) it's because Briggs slows. Barry Briggs was a pretty uncompromising rider himself, and often used the expression "leaving the door open". Have a look at this film from the 1958 final about a minute from the start - YouTube clip"

"A lot of very happy memories came flooding back when I saw Bill's photos. I was a 13 year old spotty youth when the Lions raced in my home town and my Dad took me down to Love Street as often as possible. Last year, 2009, I met up with former Lion Mike Fullerton when I was in New Zealand and I must say he was an absolute gentleman. We talked about the old days as we sat in my hotel at Auckland Airport and we laughed until the tears were just about streaming down. Considering we had never met and the fact that it was some 33 years since I had last seen him race in Paisley, we hit it off straight away. A great guy and a top bloke who I will be meeting up with again at the end of October this year, 2010, as I stop over in his home town of Auckland for a couple of days. "

"What a shame that speedway has left London. I think we should all get a petition going to bring back speedway to London after all we have lost major venues like New Cross, West Ham and Hackney to name a few. I miss them. RIP speedway, that will be the future if we don't do something."

"In the latest Speedway Plus Plus Points you have a photograph of Peter Craven in New Cross colours holding the Tom Farndon Trophy sent in by Robert J. Rogers. The caption underneath says "Craven won the trophy at New Cross in 1959 - hence him wearing the New Cross racejacket in this snap." While this is indeed the case, it should also be pointed out that in 1959 New Cross ran a short season of open meetings including a few challenge matches. The New Cross team was a scratch team which differed each week and was made up from riders from other teams. Peter Craven in fact rode at least three times for the Rangers that season, so he wore the orange and black at a number of meetings other than the Tom Farndon Trophy meeting."

"Is not the real point about the one off World Final that it was the focal point of the speedway year. All the arguments that a one off does not allow for the exceptions do not overide this. I also remember a comment on the commentary to the 1981 World Final DVD about Dave Jessup's machine failure to the effect that riders should have everything perfect for such a night, and, is anyone saying Bruce Penhall was not the "real" champion that year? Would Bruce or anyone else have been held in such high esteem if they won on the basis of GP points? The fact is that GP champion has the same status as the old one off champions and whilst that holds good there is little point in saying it should not be so. In our sport as in anything it is perception more than fact that is the final judgement."

"When the Danes do well it's 80cc two strokes, the Aussies we all should be on 125cc four strokes and the Americans in the 80's British Speedway should have gone out and built 3/4 scale 200cc or is it 250cc bikes. British speedway has every opportunity to create talent, truth is British speedway has the best system to bring up new talent it just abuses it instead of embracing it. You want to learn to powerslide a bike ride a grasstrack bike in the wet. A huge number of talented riders have come out of the ranks of junior grasstrack. Several times the whole English speedway team have been grasstrackers. Speedway teams should join forces with their local grasstrack clubs. British speedway should kick down some of that Sky money to help pay for field rental etc. What British speedway needs is a strong grasstrack scene closely aligned with good speedway training schools. The talent will rise to the top, it always does. A Ton of riders came out of the L.G.T.J.R. combo with Belle Vue Monday Nights, Ellesmere Saturday morning plus Crewe and Stoke training schools too. Malcolm Roe former 1970's L.G.T.J.R. member."

"What a scream, well written and surely the voice of most supporters, certainly mine. I reckon you could help fill these blank pages you speak of -please- Got me remembering an occasion when Tigers were at Coatbridge, many years ago (not being more specific) the metal pulley from the starting gate broke and required a welding repair. This happened about two hours before the meeting started. Jimmy Beaton, the promoter was doing 'handstands', Jimmy was well known for his antics, Alun Rossiter has no chance when compared to Jimmy and referees. Anyway I digress, I volunteered (as in the Army) to take the pulley to a friend, some ten miles away in Glasgow who had the necessary welding gear. I was driving a Morris minor (remember them!) at what then was breakneck speed. The reason that I can remember the incident so well was because during my return with repaired item the brakes on my car failed. No time for RAC, AA or any type of repair, so I drove to the stadium for about six miles traffic lights and all, using only the handbrake. Nothing else mattered. The meeting started on time leaving me with a lifelong experience of how speedway riders feel when grasping for non existing brakes. I now travel some 200 miles round trip to support 'The Tigers' hopefully in a car with working brakes. "

"This track was demolished a few years back. It was used between 1994-2006. It seems unlikely that a new track will be built at this point but who knows."

"I have great memories of Linlithgow training track. I used to race with Blair Scott, Barry Campbell and a few others at Shawfield and remember doing the Les Collins junior testimonial at Linlithgow in the 90's. I miss racing very much and got distracted with other things in life that were happening at the time and would love for a second chance to try it again. I remember having a bad crash that day in the race with Barry Campbell and Stuart Coleman and have been trying for years to source a video on this meeting, if there is one i would love to find it. I still return to Ashfield now and again but it brings back memories of what I could have been so tend not to go a lot."

My introduction to speedway was in 1948 when staying in London at a family friend's prefab (that was a thrill for a start!). My father had seen speedway pre-war, and took my brother and me to New Cross. The stadium was packed, and the match was against Bradford. I was convinced that the riders had overdone it as they hurtled into the first bend, and would all finish up on the ground! When I opened my eyes they were half way up the back straight! I loved the smell, the noise, the sight of those skeletal bikes with no mudguards, crash helmets (remember we never saw a motorcyclist on the road wearing one then), sparks flying from the steel shoes, and the plumes of black cinders from the back wheels. My brother and I demanded to be taken back the following week when Wimbledon were the opposition.

I've since realised that the film "Once a jolly swagman" was filmed at New Cross that very summer, and the first race shown on that film was shot from just about where we stood in the main stand, so it very much captures for me my first impressions. I must say though, that entry to the first bend looks much tamer now compared with modern day racers who throw the bikes in sideways with the throttle on. Returning home to Chelmsford we made a few visits to Rayleigh over the next two seasons, and in 1950 when Tippy and Arthur Atkinson took over at the Weir, we became regulars. My brother and I are still Rye House Rockets supporters and our children and grandchildren are also speedway fans."

"From the looks of your article Great Britain does not have a chance at ever competing with the likes of the Danes, Swedes, etc. once the only few British riders left retire. Everybody is too worried about making money than joining forces for the good of the sport. That article raps it up in a nutshell."

"Very informative comment from Tracy Holmes linking it to Briggo's crash in the 1972 World Final at Wembley where he lost a finger. Just one small correction. The bike that was launched over the fence was MINE, not Ronnie Moore's and it sustained quite a lot of damage. (but not as bad as Barry's hand!). That afternoon, my car, with my best Jawa strapped on the back, had been parked nehind the Wembley pits and, when I came back to the pits, I saw a couple of burly suspicious-looking characters removing my bike from the carrier. The Scottish-Russian translations didn't go too well but eventually I found out that the Russian bikes had been stolen and that they needed something to ride that night. I agreed that they could use my Jawa but unfortunatly that was the bike involved in costing Briggo his injuries that night. Sorry, Barry!"

"Thanks to Ian Harwood for his youtube clip, of Briggo's 1972 World Final crash. Watching it again after all these years you can see that Persson just kept on going and it seemed all he wanted to do was NAIL BRIGGO. The clip also shows the need for professonal referees, German ref that night, Ge orge Transpurger was a total amature, any ref worth his salt (ie Frank Ebdon, David Hughes, Tony Steel etc) would have Kicked Persson out. At least Ivan beat Persson in the run off and got Briggo some sort of revenge."

"My old mate Nick is famous! I met Nick way back in 1989 when he was an honourary "Pit Bend Loonie" and we have been mates ever since and attended many a meeting together over the years. He has some very good ideas about this great sport of ours, maybe more people should listen to him!"

"100% agree Roger Johns (Mr Wimbledon). Tommy Janssons appeal you just had to see the way he rode at plough lane and elsewhere to understand his ability and the reason why people felt he would have been World champion. Get the book Tommy Jansson (Legend who died young) by Magnus Nystrom. If nothing else it will explain his place in the hearts of all Dons supporters."

"I thought the response by Geoff Langley on this article was excellent however there are a couple more points that he could have touched on. The present GP system does allow fans in many parts of Europe to see some of the best riders in the world each year, under the old one off night this would not be the case. It also must generate a lot more money for the fortunate riders who have qualified, kissed the right backsides, or just got lucky.It might be worth mentioning that back around 1970 that Kings Lynn rider Howard Cole had a superb season capped off with a deserved place at a Wembley Final. I don't think he scored many, if any, points and all he got out of being one of the top sixteen riders in the world was his start money and travel money which didn't even cover the cost of the tyres he used! The old way was brilliant for the fans but it was not as rewarding for the riders as it should have been. I guess the bottom line is that there are just too many ways to look at this topic but until we come up with a system that allows every licenced rider in the world an even chance couldn't we just call it a Grand Prix Championship? "

"Addendum to Tracy Holmes comments. Tony Clarke (West Ham second string) got a 'free transfer' to Wandsworth (or some 'bird' centre) for his part in removing the Russian bikes."

"My misinformation regarding Chris Bailey's nationality came from a photo caption in the 1971 Webster's Speedway Mirror that says "Not many riders who compete in Division 2 can claim to have won a national title. Chris Bailey is one however taking the New Zealand Championship in 1969-1970". So I'd been under the impression since then that he was a New Zealander. Of course nationalities have never counted for a great deal in speedway. This was the era when Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs rode for Great Britain in the World Team Cup."

"I agree with my pal Ian Martin, it would be nice to see Scotland represented at international level once more. I well remember the two England v Scotland meetings at Sunderland in 1973 and 1974. Scotland were indeed captained by Doug Templeton, but the England captain was our old friend Bruce Forrester, not Russ Dent as Ian stated."

"Unfortunately due to the current growth in nimbys ie the residents in the area of the Long Eaton speedway circuit this great local institution remains closed as of this day. I do not know if plans are afoot to revive this once great addition to our local history and entertainment, one can only hope that someone has the money and the sense to re-open what would be a lucrative and enthralling attraction to the East Midlands."

"I first saw Mike Lee at Newcastle motordrone 1977 riding for England against Australia. He was 17 years old and he was great, I wanted to be a speeedway rider atfer seeing him race. I was 14 years old I did come to England to try my luck in 1990."

"All info about the 'old days' when I rode for the Chads, and other teams is interesting to me. Just wish I had kept more info of those days. Thanks."

"Track looks typical of the big fast flat Eastern European scene. It is a reasonably good stadium - is that a block of flats / offices holding up the ref's box?"

"Regarding the "mystery painting". There's a YouTube link here to the ITV coverage of Barry Briggs' crash at the 1972 World Final."

"I agree with most of the above points. I haven't been to speedway for 6 years now having been a fan for 32 years! Those running the sport have big problems. At the time I anticipated the effect the Grand Prix would have on the domestic scene and have been proved right. SKY TV have manipulated the sport for its own good. I don't agree with Play-Offs and daft rules (double points) and a points limit which means that riders no longer become automatic choices at the start of every season. Instead fans have to endure a system where they can no longer relate with their team and chosen favourites. Too many foreigners with no loyalty to their teams causes disruption and race nights altering to accomodate Grand Prix fixtures. Lack of continuity doesn't help and I fear for the sport. I grew up watching speedwau during the 70's, 80's and 90's and feel that those days have long gone. RIP"

"You look at these tracks that these poor countries produce and they are brilliant. It is a real shame that Great Britain can't produce the same quality. I know there are some good tracks in Britain but overall most of them don't compare to these poorer countries. Just look at that track it is fantastic. Shame on you Great Britain. It is no mystery that Speedway is dwindling in Britain due to no interest in making quality tracks like these other poorer countries produce."

"Interesting point in the Alf Common debate, in February 1905 he moved from Sunderland to Middlesborough for the then HUGE fee of £1,000 which was the first ever four figure transfer. We all know how daft football has gone with money since then. Aren't you glad speedway never got tainted with crazy transfers?"

"While the 'one off' World Final was fantastic, Speedway needed to move forward. Far too often our great sport hangs on to traditions or past glories. Those days are gone and I beleive without SGP the sport would be even smaller. As for saying a GP Champion who was seeded is not a real World Champion 'BOLLOCKS'. Crumpy was seeded last year because he qualified from '08 so is he not really the rightfull champ.......I THINK SO.......Hope you all had a great Xmas and maybe Santa brought the SGP organisers a big bag of dirt for the tracks......"

"I also agree. It is NOT a true World championship. I stopped buying the speedway star after 40+ years when it turned into the grand prix weekly! The only speedway magazine still worth a read is Classic Speedway magazine published by retro speedway, hardly a mention of the fake world championships. I also agree that on television it is good, but it should be billed only as the grand prix championship not the world as it plainly is not."

"Thanks for the wonderful memories here. Very similar to my own. My parents went to Belle Vue when Stanley stadium closed, I think money etc became an issue, and they tailed off going so we never went back to Stanley and I don't even recall it reopening. I was an avid Gunners fan for many years. The Aces were really the only other team I could follow ( when Thornton Road closed ) in close proximity but transport difficulties meant I didn't go often. Still go to an occasional match there however. Hoping to become a regular at Workington for 2010 season as I live nearer there now. "

"The "new or old" World Championship format all depends on whether you want to have a competition to find the best rider in the world or whether you just want a rider who can cause a bit of an upset on the night, but who is not necessarily a genuine World Champion. You also have to remember that times change. Speedway has always depended to some extent on gate positions and a slice of luck but from Jack Young down to Ole Olsen you could say that the winner of the single meeting World Final was generally accepted as one of the best, if not the best in the World, by reason of their season-long performances.

From 1973 onwards that was not necessarly true. It really came to a head with Egon Muller's win on home turf in 1983. Muller was basically a Longtrack racer, and although he was of international standard at speedway he was by no means a rider that could seriously be raked amongst the real cream. Apart from 1983 he never finished higher than 7th in a World Final. In 1983, with the World Final held in Germany he was given more practice time than the standard practice the others had and the track was prepared more as a longtrack which gave him a great advatage. That was really the final straw and the bottom of a slipery slope that was started by the Sczakiel episode.

In short the single meeting World Final was fantastic in its time but times have changed. Speedway has changed. The single meeting format has become unreliable. Furthermore nobody can seriously compete at international level without huge amounts of sponsorship and sponsors want season long exposure. There is another point that is missed by those who object to the lack of a "proper" qualifying system. Speedway is much bigger geographically now than 40 years ago. There are more countries involved and the qualifying rounds would not be equal. Poland for example would be more competitive than the British rounds. There is an enormous amount of talent in Denmark, many of whom would knock each other out in the preliminary rounds. Undoubtedly some riders would get a much easier qulifying route than others and this would demean the eventual Final.

I do agree that there should be more fairness about qualifying for the GP's. It is, for example appalling that a rider like Tai Woffinden should be gifted a place in the GP's next year just because he has a Britsh passport and a huge publicity machine despite fact he went out in the preliminary stages of qualifying, failing to even reach the GP Challenge at Coventry, let alone reach the top three. Nevertheless the powers that be have decided they want two British riders in so thats the end of it. Failure to qualify by the proper route becomes immaterial However it has to be accepted that there has to be a certain mount of seeding to the GP's and it is no longer realistically or logistically possible to go back to the single meeting World Final. Those old style finals were great in their time but their time is now gone."

"Who remembers the great training track in Linlithgow? The fantastic "Linlithgow Lightning" It brought through the likes of Blair scott, Barry campbell, William Lawson, Derek sneddon to name but a few. I spent the latter end of the nineties at the track helping out and had a bike myself "though was never any good" but enjoyed the thrill of being involved in it all. Scottish speedway is surely crying out for a training track to help the youngsters come through!! Not everyone can afford to travel down south every weekend for a good skid on the bike! At the time if it wasnt for the likes of the Alan Robertson's or the Jimmy Smith's of this world I wouldn't of had the great experience of riding a speedway bike. If anyone can relate to this or has a spare field (in Scotland) wanting to be turned into an oval shaped shale bedded track please let us know!! The old track in Berwick (Berrington lough) ( just over the border) came to mind, any thoughts on that one?"

"Great site! I came across it recently and have enjoyed reading the articles and recollections of the many fans. The memories of Custom House and the Wick came flooding back to my mind with great pleasure. I have a few stories to tell when I get the time that, hopefully,a lot of the older fans (including some who knew me back then) will get pleasure from remembering like I have."

"I agree totally with the sentiments expressed in this well constructed piece. I would love to see Scotland back on the International stage. I seem to remember many years ago (too many) watching an England .v. Scotland International at Sunderland. England were I believe captained by Russ Dent and Scotland by Dougie Templeton. It was a super occasion and a very hard fought Match as I recall. I know that this was at the old Second Division level but could something like this not be resurrected today at Premier League level. Even possibly involvement in an International Four Team Tournament. At least it would be start, as Bill Elliot puts it, towards 2029. "

"Just looked at your website and I found it very interesting as my father Lionel Watling used to ride in the Midlands and England. Lionel took the name Watling from his father who was Robert Watling Goldingay. I think he preferred Watling to Goldingay. Lionel died in December 1991 but always remembered his racing days."

"This painting really is a mystery, and one could go on for a while. I've been on the ASKJeeves web site and the only Alfred Common, played football for Sunderland and other Tyne side clubs in the late 1800's. Could the Artist be using a footballing hero's name instead of his own?"

"There was a footballer named Alfred Common with very strong North East connections. As he died in 1946 could this be a relation, as it is not a common name (Oops sorry!)"

"I have trawled my 1972 World Final file and yes, the painting could very well be heat 5. Bernt Persson in front, Briggo going down. The next rider on the inside is Grigori Chlinovski who came underneath Briggs, made contact but got by. The rider at the back is Valeri Gordeev who famously hit Briggs and was launched into space with the bike bouncing over the safety fence. The bike itself belonged to Ronnie Moore who had loaned it to Gordeev as the Russian bikes had been stolen from the Wembley workshops. Fellow Wimbledon Stars Bert Harkins and Graeme Stapleton also helped with bikes I believe. "

"I don't think Chris Bailey was born in New Zealand, he rode for England and made his debut at Belle Vue for the Colts in 1968."