Showered in Shale

Wonders of the Wonderwheel

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:49:00 +0000

28th April

The Sky cameras have chosen to show a clash of birds when the Swindon Robins take on the Eastbourne Eagles at Blunsdon. It’s a brave choice of fixture given that the Eagles in recent years have rarely performed well in Wiltshire. The Elite League table has an ominous look about it too though it is notionally a meeting that pits first against second. Something more than a casual glance soon reveals that Swindon have 13 points from seven meetings and Eastbourne nine points from eight. A mismatch seems in prospect but we all know that we’re completely unlikely to hear anything other than relentless optimism from any of the Sky pundits over the next couple of hours. The level of investigative reporting is so low that even when, arguably, the biggest scandal of the season is played out in front of their cameras at Foxhall Heath – the use by the Robins of Joel Parsons – we don’t even hear a peep about it*. Despite the fact that the last minute permission to use said rider looks at best dubious and, at worst, runs a coach and horses through another last vestige of credibility that our sport has for independent governance with the general print and broadcast sports media (aside from the commercially self-interested and legendary boosterism of Sky).

In place of thoughtfulness or insight, we get lumbered with Jonathan ‘attention span of a goldfish’ Green who welcomes us with the immortal words, “it’s a beautiful evening in Swindon!” It’s not a phrase that you hear on the telly that often but, at least, indicates the importance of the speedway club in raising the national awareness of the town as a business destination, if not a holiday one. Ever keen to be pointlessly cheerful, Jonathan makes an early request to Santa (or the tooth fairy), “an away win would do Eastbourne no harm at all”. Simultaneously overwhelmed by the perceptiveness of this insight and suddenly apparently hit by a blinding revelation, his partner in crime Kelvin Tatum replies, “of course, it’s three points for an away win this season”. Never! It’s a strange world where Kelvin out idiots the speedway idiot savant. Across the nation, the collective pulse of the watching thousands races, even though the likelihood of such a win is roughly on par with Blunsdon being struck by a meteor or Sarra asking a series of difficult/incisive pits interview questions. Desperately thumbing through his book of sports broadcasting clichés, instead Jonathan invents some fictional public opinion, “what’s interesting is everyone says it’s gonna be tight”. Almost immediately afterwards, Greeny then clutches the straw of recent past performances by the Eagles, “yeh, they’ve won away – we’ve seen it ourselves!”

No speedway league meeting is ever complete on Sky without Kelvin identifying the riders to watch from each side. This spurious veneer of insight and/or expertise is only window dressing and the verbal equivalent of a player walking slowly from the pitch when substituted in a football match. Essentially it’s just time wasting that adds nothing to the spectacle or enjoyment of the meeting. Tonight, the apparently important and influential riders turn out to be Scott Nicholls and Leigh Adams! Betcha by golly wow as Sam Ermolenko might exclaim. Kelvin is so keen to create an aura of collective authority that he even starts talking as though Jonathan has vaguely gained and retained some insights into the characteristics of the speedway riders, “you know what Scott’s like – he’s a racer, he’s a fighter!” Lurking close by the Sky booth is Robins returnee Lee Richardson who sets the expectations bar pretty low for his possible performance in this meeting when he says in the style of the speaking clock, “I’m with Eastbourne and I’ve got to try to come here and win for them.” Having read the runes and listened to the blather (of the riders rather than that of Jonathan), Kelvin bravely predicts – hold the front page - the likely winners, “I’m gonna go for the home side”.

In the commentary box is Nigel Pearson (who Jonathan, with a really witty play on words that he’s notorious for, side-splittingly called the “Bald Eagle” last season at Arlington) and David Norris. Though Hailsham based, Eastbourne’s record points scorer has been notable by his absence from Arlington this season but has made it to Blunsdon to see the Eagles ride. He’s always good value to listen to on the telly, whatever the meeting, and often goes off message sufficiently to speak ‘honestly’. Tonight he blows the gaff almost immediately with, “it is dusty…it maybe a tad processional!” Based on past experience and the evidence of our eyes during the first few heats with the riders strung out like a line of washing, this has to rank as masterly understatement. In these circumstances, Nigel’s professionalism dictates that he must often inject excitement into races that don’t merit the breathless hyperbole or, in the manner of a magician, he must distract the audience with discussions of various tangential factors vaguely related to the lack of spectacle before us. This is also the role of Kelvin and Jonathan in the Sky booth in between their ‘so tell us about riding your bike’ rider interviews. The usual topics are the weather, the track, the relative standing of the league table, the forthcoming GP, the previous GP, the enthusiasm and “love” of the home fans for whatever rider we’ve just seen win and so on. If Tony Millard were in the commentary box, mispronunciations and ready drafted cliché would be even more to the fore. Soon taking out one he prepared earlier, Nigel marvels at “the big crowd here tonight”. The impact of a live televised meeting is so deleterious on attendances that Swindon have sensibly run a BOGOF promotion to boost their local goodwill and fill the wide-open spaces of the stadium for good measure. Nigel soon praises the (sensible) initiative of the promotion in a manner that makes you feel they’ve invented the combustion engine or discovered the Internet.

On the track, the contest is pretty well over before it has begun with an initial Robins 4-2 followed by successive 5-1’s for the home riders. As early as Heat 2, David Norris is critical of the visitors, “maybe worrying signs for the Eagles early on – their pair did seem to struggle”. Heat 3 summed up the task ahead in one race as an out of sorts Lee Richardson suffered an engine failure and, despite Floppy telling us “bit of inside information – Cameron Woodward goes really well here”, the young Australian still finished in third for Eastbourne. Nigel tries to distract us with talk of Eagles team manager Trevor Geer (“former rider of some repute and very popular on the South Coast”) before even he has to concede, “Heat 4 it is – Swindon in complete control!” Only moments before he’d also obliquely acknowledged that Blunsdon is primarily a track the opposition always fare badly at, “they’re using their home advantage and finding bits of the track to give themselves extra drive.”

The fourth race finally has the singular excitement of a drawn heat and, with a score having already ballooned to 17-7, Eastbourne have Scott Nicholls don the black and white helmet colour. Saying whatever has just come into his head Jonathan asks, “as predicted a tactical ride – but will it work?” Using all his expertise gained as a rider and latterly as a commentator, Kelvin is in no doubt, “well, they certainly hope so!” Luckily for the ongoing pretence that this might still just about be an enjoyable spectacle for the neutral viewer on the sofa at home, Scott wins to narrow the points deficit to five points. Nigel enthusiastically salutes the temporary appearance of a possible contest, “and, boy, have we got a meeting on now!” With little or no further tactical options left, the situation still looks pretty desperate for the Eagles unless their riders suddenly get on the pace and start to excel. Sadly, an exclusion for Edward Kennett in the next race fatally stalls the outside chance of this recovery. There is a slight delay before referee Ronnie Allen confirms the exclusion (something that causes Floppy to observe, “speaks very quietly, doesn’t he?”)

As he walks back to the pits, Edward is clearly not happy and the replays show that his bike either lost traction or he lost control just prior to his fall. Keen to find something to talk about as well as someone or something to blame, back in the booth the boys blamestorm the track and, by extension, query the competence, dedication and professionalism of the Blunsdon track staff. There are a number of quickfire exchanges
[KT] “The track is quite difficult, it is a bit rutty!”
[JG] “Yeh, it does look that way”

[JG] “When they grade the track does it improve them?” [the ruts]
[KT] “Actually it disguises them!”

[KT] “They’re clearly not happy with the track, it is a bit choppy out there!”
[JG] “The weather has been on and off all day”
[KT] “There’s no blame…I’m sure that they’ve got the wonderwheel and that will start spinning round and the blade will come out…[sees wonderwheel] that will start spinning, unfortunately it’s not at the moment!”**

In fact a predictable combination of circumstances has created these track conditions and, if honesty and integrity were part of the programme remit, then Kelvin and Jonathan would acknowledge the part the arrival of the Sky cameras has played in helping to create the very conditions they agonise about. Fortunately, we have the wonderful Blunsdon blog written by the indefatigable Graham Cooke to set the record straight. To summarise briefly: Swindon usually stage their meetings on a Thursday night. When they stage a Sky meeting on a Monday, the access time to the track is limited by the fact that the Abbey Stadium is primarily a greyhound racing facility. Consequently, track staff can’t work in their usual manner since they’re denied access between 10am and 2pm. In order to prepare for all eventualities, particularly the threat of rain, they thoroughly packed down the shale of the track surface prior to 10am in case of rain. From 2pm onwards when they again had access to the track, the worry that rain might still arrive (and possibly waterlog the track) to possibly force the abandonment of the fixture, meant that they held off from any further watering until 6pm. This is much later than the track staff would choose or their professionalism dictate (and solely due to Sky considerations). There was agreement to water and fully grade the track after heat 4 but this was cancelled when the tractors were already out on the track by the meeting referee in the pits at the request of a Sky producer. Apparently, the adverts had finished and the show schedule dictates that the racing must immediately precede. Ignoring that Jonathan and Kelvin have a proven record of filling the time talking tosh, the condition of the track from this point onwards was a direct consequence of this intervention. Looked at from an Eastbourne perspective, this arguably contributed to Edward’s fall. So, in reality, the outside glimmer that this might be a contest was undermined by Sky - the very people who ostensibly wish for a close meeting and who subsequently complained about it for the remainder of the meeting. The wonderwheel wasn’t used because, contrary to Kelvin’s assertions, there was already more than enough dirt on the track. So when the Sky producer finally deigned to let the track staff do their jobs properly, a mesh was used. For a full account of the situation from a track staff perspective, click here and read the footnote below.***

Fortunately we go off for another commercial break. Where we see the 2008 version of the Cardiff GP advert that features a morose looking Chris Harris glumming around in a manner I expect was supposed to look either enigmatic or menacing. Even more weirdly, we have Kelvin plus the peculiar addition of a screaming Jonathan Green ostensibly commentating ‘live’ on the dramatic last bend pass by Bomber to win the 2007 Cardiff event. Jonathan simultaneously feigns the role of expert and commentator when he almost orgasmically screeches, “here comes Harris round the outside!” Ignoring it sounds unconvincingly false, this voiceover is in fact a post-hoc confection (polite word for a misrepresentation) specifically for these adverts since – please anyone correct me if I’m wrong (as I was there not listening at home during the 2007 Cardiff GP) – Jonathan doesn’t commentate on live meetings! Usually, this role would fall to Tony Millard or Nigel Pearson. Obviously to entertain and engage, this advert aims at some ersatz form of verisimilitude but isn’t what it pretends to be since Jonathan’s voice will have been over-dubbed on the footage. Perhaps, this retrospective re-voicing is indicative of the integrity and accuracy of the whole Sky approach to its representation of British speedway to the outside world?

Back in the booth, Jonathan trots out some time wasting platitudes, “they’re top of the league at the moment and want to stay there!” More in hope than expectation, with the scores less than poised at 24-15 he implores the Eagles riders to raise their collective game, “they have to get a 5-1 there or, at least, a 4-2” Kelvin doesn’t hold out much hope, “you can see the [Robins] riders are very confident indeed!” The respite of a drawn heat is quickly followed by the fourth 5-1 of the night in Heat 8. Floppy identifies the Eastbourne “Achilles heel” – namely, “the reserves aren’t up to much.” Back at the booth, Jonathan despairs that the British speedway authorities might have shot off their own feet before the season started, “you know they took out the bonus point at the start of the season and surprised us a little bit.” Until the televised fixture tonight, Kelvin reminds him, “so far, on the basis of the evidence, we haven’t missed it!”

Something that does entertain are the comments uttered by David Norris who treads a fine line between neutral observations and critical comment on the sub-optimal performance of the Eagles team on the night. His comments include the factual, “Eastbourne is a small track, Swindon is a big ‘un”, “unfortunately the Eagles number 8 didn’t show up tonight” or, “yeh, they’re a bunch of youngsters out there.” Arguably the rider who replaced Floppy in the team, Lee Richardson endures a night to forget (with five points from four rides) “see Lee Richardson looking down [at his engine], wonder what he’s saying to himself cos he blew it on that first corner!” But also ranges over his brief period of employment as mechanic for Lewis Bridger, “well, he got rid of me last year and his luck went there!” Nigel can’t let this pass (“would you care to elaborate on that?) but fails to get a response. Before Floppy goes on to use an almost lawyerly, carefully weighed choice of expression, “Scott Nicholls in English league racing always give you this sort of performance.” He’s also alliteratively scathing about the joint contribution of Cameron Woodward and Lee Richardson, “the disappointment for me is the power packed pair just haven’t shown up tonight!”

We soon also then learn that a picture paints a thousand words when Kelvin looks at the relative atmosphere of each side of the pits. With the Robins miles ahead, the relative ambiance of their side of the pits is extremely positive and verges on the hugely self-congratulatory. Rosco gurns away as the chief cheerleader – cajoling and motivating the team in a manner he conspicuously failed to do last season when the wheels fell off the Robins wagon in the Play-Off Final second leg at Brandon. This year things are very different – there are less Poles and flashing his teeth Rosco gleefully informs us, “we know where we’re going we’re going forward…they’re enjoying it, they’re responding to me…and they listen to me!” The Swindon team talk ends with an all-for-one-one-for-all team huddle in the style of an American football team after a bonding session or, possibly, the speedway equivalent of the Seven Musketeers. The camera immediately cuts away to the much more stately calm of the Eastbourne pits area – altogether more measured and ‘English’ - where everyone quietly and patiently gets on with the work at hand without fuss, flamboyance or grandstanding (and also, admittedly, without many points to celebrate). The mechanics are apparently all silently at work without the need for ostentatious camaraderie. Kelvin feigns shock, “two very different environments there isn’t it? Crikey!”. Judged by his own bombastic on-screen persona, Jonathan also believes in the school of thought that confuses loud, look-at-me behaviour with success, “poor old Trevor!”

We already knew that the Robins camp were feeling good about themselves and the world from a pits interview conducted by Johno with Seb Alden. The Aussie is a natural performer on the telly and gets his fellow riders to relax when interviewed. Probably too much if judged by Seb’s, “we had a 5-1, farking brilliant!” Jonathan is quick to apologise for the swearwords the viewers have just been subjected to, “we apologise – I think Seb was getting over exuberant in his language, he’s just learning the language!’ Clearly he’s quickly picked up some colloquial expressions, though you can’t help wondering when Greeny will apologise for the weekly use of over exuberant descriptions by the Sky Sports speedway team. Floppy makes light of the use of industrial language, “don’t worry mum, we’ll shove a bar of soap in Alden’s mouth after!”

The final score sees the home side triumph 56-37. Before the full glory of the humping had been revealed, at 36-21 Nigel noted, “we said during the winter the Elite League would become more unpredictable and, while this is predictable, no one could have predicted this scoreline!” As ever, Nigel also accentuates the life lessons ostensibly learnt, “Andrew Bargh off the pace but benefiting from the experience” or clutches at a variety of straws “and although the meeting is over as a contest – what a line up we have for the next one [Heat 13] – two GP stars and Edward Kennett and Mads Korneliussen!” Things get so dire, he even invites us to thrill on our sofas at the sight of Troy Batchelor in pursuit of Lee Richardson who apparently, “knows he’s got a tiger on his tail.” After the coin toss, an exasperated but still taciturn Trevor Geer speaks for the viewers and the Eagles management, “some of our riders need a rocket up their exhaust”. The programme closes with Kelvin celebrating something that wasn’t actually used to prepare the track, “yeh, the wonderwheel did its wonders!”

28th April Swindon v Eastbourne (Elite League A) 56-37

Ps. For me, the most touching aspect of the broadcast was the recognition by Nigel Pearson of Tim Stone’s sudden passing when he acknowledged that Tim gave Mads Korneliussen “his start” in speedway at Newport. Even more poignantly, when interviewed Mads sounds to have a slight Welsh twang to his English accent.

* On April 14th Ipswich lost the televised meeting with Swindon 43-50. For the Robins, guest Joel Parsons scored seven points (paid 11). There is a school of thought that says he shouldn’t have been allowed to ride but, luckily for Swindon, they got a (last minute bargain) special dispensation to ignore the rules of the sport only hours before the meeting went on air. Afterwards Ipswich promoter John Louis commented, “I am absolutely disgusted. The rules are crystal clear and were in use last season. I rang Shaun Tacey about getting a race jacket back and he told me that he had been asked to guest for Swindon on Monday afternoon. He was getting his kit ready when they rang back to say he was not needed. I am not accusing Swindon of any underhand dealing, but rules are rules. The BSPA appear to have made an oversight, but that does not alter the fact that Parsons’ average was too high for him to ride. Even if they didn’t know until Monday, Swindon still had enough time to track a legal rider.”

A glance at the 2008 rulebook is instructive:

SR 17.1.1.2: "Interim Green Sheet CMA will be issued to every Rider having completed 3 home & 3 away official fixtures to be used for Team Positioning purposes, including Facilities etc., being effective 7 days after the Meetings being completed."

The idea behind this rule appears to be to avoid someone who is performing vastly differently to their starting average remaining in an "inappropriate" position for a long time until the first set of green sheets take effect in June. Presumably this happened on the odd occasion so this clause was previously added to the rulebook to cover this eventuality.

SR 17.1.1.1 "Provided a Team has completed 6 home and 6 away fixtures Green Sheets will be produced taking into account all Fixtures up to and including 15th May, and thereafter on 15th of each month, becoming effective on the 1st day of the following month. NB. Provided a Team Green Sheet has been issued any Rider without an established CMA will be issued with a CMA after completing 12 fixtures which shall be effective seven days after that 12th fixture."

Parsons completed his 3+3 matches on 5 April so his new average of 6.77 should have taken effect from Saturday 12 April. However, the BSPA didn't issue formal notification of his new average until the afternoon of 14 April – mere hours before the start of the Sky meeting. It was reported that SCB "Manager" Graham Reeve contacted referee Chris Gay to advise that Parsons should be allowed to ride on his previous average of 5.96 – an average that was less than the 6.04 of the unavailable Swindon No.8 Cory Gathercole. Ipswich subsequently paid a £250 Protest fee and await the result.

Natural justice and the spirit of the rules of the sport surely dictates the result should be amended? Clearly, these three points gained by Swindon (or two points lost by Ipswich) could influence the final standings at the end of the season with regard to both relegation and the Play-Off meetings to determine the finalists.

Reports indicate Graham Reeve and Peter Toogood deem the decision has already been taken so the result should stand.

Comment from Sky during the meeting itself or afterwards in subsequent broadcasts, came there none!

** In fact, the “wonderwheel” is permanently attached to the Blunsdon tractor so appears every time this vehicle makes its way onto the track surface.

*** When I subsequently quizzed Graham Cooke about the track on that night he replied: “The racing was good when it happened. The real fact is that, the Kennett incident apart, when Eastbourne decided to really race we had great racing - Korneliussen and Batchelor produced some real top drawer passing.

I guess my real gripe is that I spent some time talking to Kelvin Tatum about the track beforehand - he knew the difficulties we'd had and he thought it would
be slick - I told him we don't do slick at Swindon and he acknowledged that to me. We don't do slick because the track won’t let us do slick - there's so much dirt that is needed to get the riders round the corners at the speed
that they're now going. On Thursday night it was so deep that Harris came within 0.1 of the track record.

I do get hacked off with the carping about the Swindon track - it's big and it's fast and it's banked. You need lots of dirt for grip otherwise everyone would end up in the fence. Ask Niels K Iversen about Blunsdon - he loved it when he came here - so much dirt and so many lines. The trouble is, when the opposition is so inept, as many of the
Eagles were, you only need one line because the racing inevitably gets so spread out.

And look at two recent televised tracks - Ipswich and Poole, the former a sad affair only brought to life when the riders tried to keep back wheels in the deep dirt that lurked a metre from the fence and the latter where the
inside resembled a motorway. There are times when we'd love to prepare a small, flat track but then when we get a real "balls out" race at Blunsdon we know that we'll miss its old ways when the stadium closes.”

Tim Stone

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:17:00 +0000

Tim Stone has sadly been prematurely snatched from his family and friends as well as the speedway community today. What you saw is what you got with Tim. Without his dedication and vision Newport Speedway wouldn't have survived. Like he helped so many youngsters, Tim quietly and without fuss always helped me too (albeit in a slightly schoolmasterly way leavened with a sharp wit). Unlike many other promoters of his generation and though he didn’t know me from Adam, he spent a couple of hours on the phone to go through in thorough and painstaking detail the nuances of my draft chapter on Newport in Showered in Shale prior to its publication ("do you have to say 'meagre crowd'? Can’t we say small or not mention it all?"). In my brief experience, Tim was an idiosyncratic, modest, strong minded and plainly spoken man who marched to his own tune and adhered to his own strong sense of values. In my view, he typifies why speedway remains community based and, despite attempts by commercial and vested interests, resolutely isn't corporate. He remembered his (working class) roots and was passionate about South Wales too. He will be sadly missed.

Below is a brief snapshot I caught of the man in 2005 doing the thing he loved – running Newport Speedway.

Perched on the steps of the predominantly red coloured grandstand with its six rows of red seating, I shelter in its welcome shade and ponder the superb view it offers of the start gate, the home straight and, for that matter, the rest of the track. A short while later Tim passes by, with the slightly harassed look he has now definitely perfected. It’s the look of a man concerned with the million and one complex details involved in “owning the stadium and running your own speedway club” as he has done for the “last nine years”. He’s finally found sufficient ‘spare’ time to talk with me, but is immediately preoccupied with thoughts of accidents in combination with the present weather conditions, particularly the warm sunshine and the slight breeze. He worries that “if there’s big accident” at the meeting they’ll inevitably “lose the track for 15 or 20 minutes” and, with all the available bowsers temporarily stuck in the pits, the track conditions will quickly descend to such an extent that dust storms will be created, and thereby ruin things for the riders and the fans. Tim worries about many things to do with the speedway club, but this is one that could happen this afternoon, despite everyone’s hard preparatory work earlier, since the track dries out so quickly when it’s not regularly dowsed with water.

Tim is keen to stress that he always tries to do the best for the club and simultaneously fulfil his duties as the stadium owner and the club’s promoter. However, this level of responsibility is a thankless task – and in recent years there has been even less praise than usual – that Tim has done now for some considerable time without complaint. This is, of course, the natural state of affairs and the usual experience of all promoters; but, in Tim’s case, the situation has been exacerbated in the last few years by the continued poor results. Very few people understand, and even fewer ask, about the efforts that Tim regularly puts in on behalf of the club. Needless to say, when you meet Tim, you quickly realise his wholehearted commitment to the club is absolute, “my motivation is running Newport speedway, it’s my business, I don’t go anywhere else except when we visit other clubs”. His strong, but thoughtful opinions go hand in hand with this undiminished enthusiasm. He echoes the overriding but universal theme at this club, and many other speedway clubs, that it’s “labour of love”, throughout the season and “in the close season”. Tim often goes to bed at the end of the week after he’s “done 70 hours’ work”, which breaks the EU working time directive and is definitely a huge regular commitment on its own. However, since he spent “five years to find the land” he won’t stint on the effort required to maintain the club successfully, particularly since it’s “our buildings and everything”. The winter months provide no real respite from his speedway commitments. He intends to continue to maximise [Footnote 3 there is a school of thought that Tim could also stage non-speedway activities at the stadium and, thereby, further maximise its usage. Though, obviously, this suggestion is made in ignorance of the restrictions that the local council may have contractually imposed upon the use of the stadium, even though it is already centrally located within an industrial area. The need for additional revenue streams is presently something that Tim is actively researching, particularly given that he owns a facility that is over seven acres in size.] the use of the Hayley Stadium and its facilities; not only with his famous “only outdoor close season Winter speedway meeting” on the first Sunday of each New Year, but also the training schools as well as all the usual maintenance and repairs. Throughout the summer, Tim regularly issues press releases to the media and, he believes, the club receives “good coverage” in the local papers, but not on the radio since “they never speak to me, unless I commit to advertising with them”. He also notes that among the Premier League promoters there’s a “far amount of camaraderie” but, overall, the continued survival of the club comes down to the hard work of Tim and his committed band of volunteers, a persistence that he views as a result of “desire not luck!” Rather modestly and incongruously, though, he still claims to be “learning the job”.

Apart from the day-to-day stresses involved in the management of the speedway club and both its teams throughout the season, Tim takes considerable pride in what he views as his key developmental role within the sport. He conceives his essential function, as a promoter, is “to find riders and bring them on” and to “try to give them a chance”. He achieves this by running Newport teams – the Wasps and the Mavericks – at the Premier and Conference League levels. It is the eighth season Newport have had a Conference League side and he endorses the belief that you “progress riders by riding them”; he doesn’t run either club as a charity, particularly the junior side where there’s “keen competition and not many wobblers”. He notes with interest that most of the junior riders come from the local area but some come from as far a field as “Bristol or further”. Always a Newport fan, Tim started going to Somerton Park in 1964 until it closed in 1977. During this time he worked as a mechanic to Phil Crump and Bob Coles besides “having a go at riding for a couple of years”, mostly for the Exeter Juniors. He has a number of good memories of his time riding, most notably the old track at Mildenhall, but most of all he’s pleased at the level of knowledge and understanding that his stint as a rider gave him and which he still brings to his job as a promoter. He was “hospitalised a couple of times” so has some personal insight into the difficulties and upset caused by the inevitable injuries that the sport inflicts on the riders. He also believes that until you’ve actually been on a speedway bike that “there’s a void of understanding, [and] until you’ve tried to race one you have no idea of the real power of the beast”. This lack of knowledge particularly prevails among the type of fan who complains about the lack of effort by the riders (“why didn’t he wind it on?”). The solution for this, Tim feels, is that “everyone should have had a go on one” before they’re entitled to criticise.

Tim’s diagnosis of the state of the sport is very economically based. He believes that “the sport has to reinvent itself every few years” and “just about manages to cope with every economic climate”, although things have been “difficult” since “Black Monday” when everything “flattened up”, and any talk of recovery is “all a lot of spin by the government”. Admittedly Monday 19th October 1987 saw the largest ever fall in stock market values throughout the world but, if Tim is correct, the reverberations of these events continue to echo in this part of South Wales. Nearly 10 years later, Tim himself would demonstrate his own sign of economic optimism within the area when decided to re-open the speedway club. Suddenly, just like an urban bush tracker, he invites me to “just listen and tell me what you hear?” Before I can reply, he answers his own question, “you can only hear the tractor today, everywhere else is silent, whereas, three or four years ago, you’d see the activity and hear the sound of the steelworks”. There’d be “lorries trundling up and down” but with the demise of this industry, “3,000 jobs have gone, plus 3,000 contractors”. With all those jobs gone and the “severe impact on their families” it all adds up to a nightmare; particularly if you assume “with only three people per family, that’s 18,000 people’s spending power gone”. Many people have gone hugely “in debt”, and the continual television adverts for “various money services” constitutes an “indictment of the economic climate”. It’s “the way of the world for everything to be in competition with everything”, particularly when it comes to “discretionary spending”. Added to that is the competition from television where, “you have the world at your fingertips with two AA batteries and a remote control”. This talk of television reminds Tim that Sky Sports has helped the sport become “far more glamorous” and the public’s “impression of it is being changed”. He enjoys watching the broadcasts with its “good production” values that highlight the intrinsic “gladiatorial” nature of the sport, “but it doesn’t get any more people into this stadium”. Tim feels that many tracks “suffer” from television’s impact, while Newport suffers “twice” since many “shared events [in Britain] are now on a Sunday” and so directly compete with Newport. In this climate where “people are more choosy with their money” Tim still views the position of the club as “robust really, considering the situation”. Another factor he believes is that very few clubs have the good fortune and control of their destiny afforded by the direct ownership of their facilities. “There’s me, Coventry and Eastbourne who own our own stadiums plus King’s Lynn, who’re here today”. But apart from that there’s “no one, though I don’t count Scunthorpe as – not being unkind – it’s not a stadium, it’s a track in a field”. Luckily for the sport, there are a lot of volunteers to help keep costs down and, fortunately, there’s no trouble “so speedway clubs don’t have to employ police” at considerable additional cost for their crowd control. Tim shrugs and phlegmatically observes, “I’m not Manchester United though, am I?”

Taken from Showered in Shale, Chapter 23 ‘The Club that Tim Built’

Tim Stone R.I.P.

Another Evening of Insight & Thrills

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:20:00 +0000

If you weren’t a speedway fan and had accidentally tuned into the Panthers versus Eagles meeting from the East of England Showground, you’d have been treated to an evening where the weather and consistency of the dirt on the track almost garnered as much discussion as the racing. Making him sound like a dog needing his bedtime constitutional walk, Jonathan Green hadn’t quite left Kirkmanshulme Lane where the spectacle of “Jason Crump doing his business with Charlie Gjedde” had, apparently, thrilled him. Kelvin isn’t happy with prospects for the night ahead so briefly pretends that he’s Coach from Hill Street Blues, “conditions are gunna be tricky out there!” he hastens to emphasize that this is an EXPERT opinion, “I walked the track earlier and the track was pretty dry before it started to rain!” The pressure of pretending he ‘enjoys’ working with Jonathan has caused Kelvin to involuntarily develop the hint of a worrying on-screen tourettes-like stutter (albeit without the expletives he’s so clearly really wanting to scream), “the trick, tri-tricky conditions”. Greeny reposts wittily, “that’s easy for you to say!”

After a rocky first week back on screen, in the interim, Kelvin and Jonathan have clearly been sent to the naughty step by the programme producers and asked to improve their notoriously fractious on-screen chemistry. Like many New Years resolutions, it doesn’t last that long but, taking the view that if you smile at the camera repeatedly no one will notice the rancorous tone of your exchanges, they trojan on. Jonathan tries out one of his simple, starter-for-ten questions, “what about Peterborough – how are they going this season?” Suppressing a scream, Kelvin harrumphs and bites back through metaphorically gritted teeth, “well, of course, we haven’t seen them perform this season!” Naturally, as this is speedway on Sky Sports, everything is brilliant, the prospects ahead are wonderful and the racing invariably so amazing that the majority of the commentary verges on the edge of an orgasm, even throughout the dullest race. Before everyone gets too carried away with the inevitable thrills ahead, Jonathan reminds us that Scott Nicholls is missing from the action (apparently Eastbourne have “lost” him). Kelvin affects some sympathy and combines it with some trademark unwarranted detail designed to subtly signify ‘I’m an ex-rider me not like the buffoonish show pony next to me’ as he comments on a replay of the incident. “Yes, such a shame….there you can see him trying to scrub the speed off and crash down he went – unfortunately, he broke bones”.

This season they’ve changed the emphasis (or I’m getting increasingly intolerant in my old age) on Sky to pretend that some blather from Kelvin will have to do for the viewers in the absence of serious analysis of the “brilliant” racing. Kelvin holds out big hopes for the soon-to-flower Danny King, “I expect him to blossom!” Though he adds the caveat, “he’s a confident chap”, thereby making Danny sound like he’s either horribly big headed or awful company in the bar. Luckily, Jonathan is on hand to help such banal pronouncements assume a profound status almost akin to a breakthrough scientific discovery that cures some awful disease. Talk soon then turns to the so-called “new faces” , those poor unfortunates invariably based at the other end of the spectrum occupied by the gloriously anointed ones traditionally known on Sky as “GP riders”. One of those so-called debutants that we’re going get to see tonight slither round the EoES, tonight is someone Jonathan calls, “Klaus Vy-SING” in a ridiculous pantomime German accent (perhaps, he’s already confused Ecclestone with Moseley and is in the throes of preparing some serious brown nosing for his rumoured new position covering Formula 1?). Greeny then effortlessly segues into further effortless idiocy, “Oh, let’s take a look at the English Leighton Eagles!” Surely, the producer has to scream “wtf!!!” in his earpiece as Greeny has one of his legendary ‘moments’ and briefly invents a brand new Elite League team. Fortunately, he can quickly start some further talk about the weather instead to try to hide his nonsense, “well I think, certainly from where I’m standing, it’s starting to clear.” We’ll just have to take his word for it as we cut away to Sam Ermolenko who’s on the track laughing at his own jokes before he’s told them, “but huh huh huh, it’s got a bit of Mother Nature on it.”

In the pits, Trevor Swales sports some eye-catching headgear that appears (in fashion terms) to be somewhere between what Hagar the Horrible or a Cossack would wear into battle. Ever avuncular, he reassures the armchair audience about the meeting ahead, “it’s the same for all seven riders – there’s no point whingeing about it, we’ll just have to get out there and get on with it!” Implicitly, he’s warning us that without the presence of the Sky cameras the meeting would have been written off as a bad lot earlier in the day. This probably also explains Jonathan’s earlier statement-cum-confession to Kelv, “we weren’t hopeful last night, yet we got one of the best meetings we’ve seen!” Given it was only the second televised meeting of the season, obviously, he fails to clarify the time period covered by his wild assertion of best-ness.

Everyone is keen to emphasize the difficulty supposed faced by the Panthers. Chris Louis worries that it’s a “tough first home meeting against a very strong side”, Kelvin claims, “I think the home side are vulnerable” and Sam advises on some revolutionary tactics, “yeh, it sure is [tricky], they’ll just have to make the start”. Sam soon sets a record for the speed of use of inappropriate language on a live television broadcast (easily beating the record held by Steve Johnston) when immediately after Heat 1 he chortles, “Lewis is bummed out he didn’t close the door on him [Anderson]”. The armchair audience don’t get treated to this wonderful description for the rest of the night. However, we do get “bummed out” by the return of Tony Millard to the commentary box. A winter away hasn’t slaked his desire or ability to get fundamental facts wrong, gloriously mispronounce names or sound like he’s trying to inject needless excitement into the reading of a last will and testament. One of his perennial favourites Kenneth Bear makes an immediate appearance in Heat 3 although he does, occasionally, also later become Kenneth Beer. Luckily, when Kenneth BJERRE takes an age to get to the tapes for the start of Heat 3, Sky have hired their usual coterie of experts to commentate and thrill the armchair audience with their perspicacity,
[Millard] “What’s happened there Sam?”
[Ermolenko] “It’s hard to say! He’s, obviously, not happy with something.”

Soon another theme develops, namely the age of Simon Gustafsson. Everyone mentions that he’s 17, though again Millard appears to have some sort of unofficial sponsorship that requires him to mention this ‘fact’ a couple of times every time we see him appear. When Gustafsson’s youth and composure are not amazing us, the Sky staff chatter about that other long standing topic of conversation, the weather. Jonathan squeals, “I’ve noticed it’s started to rain again from the corner of my eye.” Unaware that Sky will force any televised meeting to be run almost irrelevant of the weather conditions, he then turns to Kelvin with an enigmatic look on his face that I imagine is supposed to signify ‘here’s where I ask an investigative question masquerading as a banal platitude’, “you can ride speedway in the rain!” Kelvin glares back and continues the one-upmanship that is the cornerstone of their on screen relationship, “certainly! We don’t want it to rain all night!” Back in the commentary booth, Tony Millard also brushes up his credentials as an amateur weather forecaster, “the sunset is still showing in the West and, maybe, decent weather is to come?” As if to disprove this, when the next race starts the home straight camera struggles with visibility through the sheer volume of moisture on its lens. As the riders slither about and just about race processionally, Tony contradicts the evidence of our eyes, “great, great racing and the weather’s not too great!” A new heat brings a new and breathless update from Greeny, “the rain has stopped again but we’ve had various drizzles” as well as some faux enthusiasm and mystery from Kelv, “as you say, we’ve seen some super racing in difficult, in conditions.”

Things are so processional in the EoES sludge, Sam is reduced to idle daydreams about the Chris Harris/Kenneth Bear match up before it arrives in Heat 5, “a battle in the first corner I can’t wait to see!” We don’t have long to wait before the tapes rise and Tony Millard excitedly tells us, “Referee Mick Bates releases the buzz.” After the race, Sam confirms his expertise with the observation, “right now they’re at level points coming into Heat 6.” In the real world, the score is actually 14-16. Maybe they’ll level in the same way the racing is “great, great”? Sam then bigs up the clash of Hans Andersen with Edward Kennett. He knows Hans can “pull it off” on a track he knows well only to then approach ecstasy when he sees Edward temporarily take the lead, “I tell you, nothing gives me more excitement.” [!!] Tony is on top note too and informs us all how amazed we should be, “a fabulous meeting – exciting in commentary and, perhaps, exciting to you [at home]…real excitement at the East of England Showground – tremendous racing by tremendous riders!” Jonathan is in no doubt, “forget conditions, have Peterborough impressed you?” Kelvin is so thrilled he can barely speak, “well, er…” With Heat 7 nearly upon us, there’s still time for Greeny to trot out his fake German accent again for “Klaus Vize-sing”. Meanwhile Tony M employs his kettle analogies, “this meeting is really boiling up” The next race is so wonderful Kelvin gets confused about who is actually riding, “is that Henrik Moller [he wasn’t in the race], Klaus Vissing, Henrik Moller….oh, I do apologise, Morten Risager!”

Everyone with a microphone perpetually verges on sustained delight. Tony says, “there are five heats to come – I’m looking forward to each and every one of them”. The cycle of excitement and self-congratulation is broken by an interview that has Klaus Vissing towering like a giant over Chris Harris and talking like a character from the Addams Family. Not to be outdone in the fatuous stakes, Jonathan throws around more mysterious comments, “I’m pleased as a TV company, we allow them to do some research”. Still apparently on full strength anti-depressants, Tony waxes lyrical, “I tell you what if we’re gonna see racing of this standard, it’s gonna be worth watching!” Heat 12 is so bad as a spectacle that even the great Millard is forced to admit, “this race is a shade processional”. Jonathan thinks he knows why, “these conditions aren’t perfect.” Clairvoyant Sam Ermolenko reads the runes before Heat 13, “Chris Harris won’t be able to raise his game to beat Hans Andersen” and one lap later with the diminutive Bomber in the lead has to admit, [I’d better] eat my words!” Tony Millard is on hand to smooth things over with some trademark blather, “what we’re watching here tonight, it is fantastic speedway” that convinces no one with eyes in their head or previous experience of the sport. That said, Tony is never afraid to get things totally and utterly wrong. After Heat 14, Peterborough have an unassailable 45-39 lead on the night, so Tony excitedly tries to get us collectively on the edge of our seats by stating before the last race, “they [Peterborough] need to get a rider in the top two to win!”

To hide this snafu and temporarily cease the fallacious praise of the spectacle, we cut away to the real purpose of every televised Sky Sports meeting – the adverts! The one for Advance Hair Studio (“if you’re starting to thin or are balding”) catches my eye and, you have to imagine, is carefully targeted with exact knowledge of the demographic of the watching speedway audience (the hair loss generation). Once back to the meeting there is the thrill of the coin toss to witness where we’re introduced to the two team managers and “also Ben Wilson from Muscle Finesse” who turns out to be desperate for the oxygen of publicity provoked by the use of his coin and valued sponsorship of Peterborough speedway. Though meaningless, the last race will feature Lee Richardson who Kelvin informs us has “been slightly on fire”. The race does actually feature the spectacle of Hans Anderson bouncing off/riding on the safety fence. Tony nearly has a cardiac arrest (“what flair, what style, what speed”) before he pronounces, “Peterborough are won the meeting!” All that’s left from the hyperbole factory is a final interview with Hans Anderson who manages to sound like David Beckham would if he had the hint of a Danish accent. Another fantastic speedway night from Sky Sports.

8th April Peterborough v Eastbourne (Elite League) 48-42

Ongoing Scandal of GP Series Prize Money

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:16:00 +0000

What would it be like to live in world without inflation? Strangely enough, the riders who have competed in the Grand Prix series know this feeling well. They’ll know this again this year as the 2008 Grand Prix series starts tomorrow in Slovenia with exactly the same prize money on offer as in 2005!

Given how we repeatedly hear from the organisers and their media boosters just how wonderful and successful these events are at attracting increased (television) audiences and sponsors, it’s safe to assume that the rewards given to key BSI staff (now IMG) John Postlethwaite and Paul Bellamy - or to Ole Olsen - haven’t remained static during this period. But, then, they’re successful businessmen and not the raw talent.

What’s even worse for the riders is that the prize money is paid in a currency (the US dollar) that - unlike say the Swiss Franc (which the FIM often award prize money in) - has depreciated in value. Even worse the prize money is the only income the riders receive from the FIM for competing in the Grand Prix series. From that prize money they have to pay for all their own travel, accommodation, staffing costs and equipment. To compete at this level, clearly you require excellent equipment that has been tuned and maintained to the highest standard. Yet more bad news, from an expense point of view, is that the FIM require you to stay at one of their approved hotels so savings through a staying at a cheap B&B (or in your own deluxe motor home) aren’t available to any rider. Obviously, these earnings are all subject to taxation in whatever country the rider is domiciled or resident for tax purposes.

The pay scales for each Grand Prix are as follows:

Placing Prize money per meeting
1 $11,000 10 $3,700
2 $8,200 11 $3,650
3 $6,900 12 $3,600
4 $6,000 13 $3,550
5 $5,250 14 $3,500
6 $5,100 15 $3,450
7 $4,650 16 $3,400
8 $4,500 17 $2,100
9 $3,850 18 $2,100

Effectively, in motor sports terms, the reward for victory (even before costs are subtracted) is the square root of F all.

Based on the pay rates published on the FIM web site in 2007 the riders’ earnings from the GP were as follows:

Andreas Jonsson $143,350
Nicki Pedersen $88,150
Leigh Adams $76,500
Tomasz Gollob $61,050
Jason Crump $60,850
Greg Hancock $59,750
Hans Anderson $53,550
Chris Harris $51,400
Scott Nicholls $51,100
Rune Holta $50,750
Wieslaw Jagus $48,150
Bjarne Pedersen $44,650
Matej Zagar $39,000
Antonio Lindback $32,300
Jaroslaw Hampel $32,000

So, the ongoing scandal-cum-travesty that is the deleterious impact on British speedway of the BSI (latterly IMG) owned Speedway Grand Prix series - in terms of rider availability, attitude and the havoc it plays with the Elite League fixture list – is inflicted for an absolute pittance in prize money! These official/approved FIM pay rates lead the riders to effectively bastardise our enjoyment of top-level speedway in this country.

The conclusion must be that the rewards that drive the riders to sacrifice so much to compete for individual glory in the GP series must come from somewhere other than the prize money on offer. This elsewhere is likely to be the attraction the sponsors immediately feel about the regular television appearances riders emblazoned with their logos guarantee. The financial rewards will for riders will also come from the higher rates of guarantee, points money and signing-on fee they can negotiate/command from their club sides in Poland, Sweden, England and Russia as a consequence of the success or notoriety by competing in the GP! Clearly this isn’t a sustainable situation or one that has been set up for the long-term future or development of British speedway!

With thanks to Charles McKay without whose research, interest and diligence this posting wouldn’t have been possible. To read his article on the subject and many other matters please subscribe to the excellent publication –
the Voice: The Official Journal of the Friends of Speedway
Essential reading for all British Speedway fans
Published quarterly. To subscribe contact editor Stuart Towner on 0208 397 6599 or email stuart.towner@blueyonder.co.uk

Midget bikes and enhanced graphics herald dawn of a new era

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:59:00 +0000

31st March

Sky Sports choose to send their cameras to Brandon for the Coventry versus Eastbourne to open another season of live televised speedway coverage. I don’t know what package everyone else subscribes to but mine costs £35 per month and you have to ask does this represent good value or guaranteed entertainment? For the cost of this subscription you could almost buy a season ticket at many speedway tracks in the country. You’d get far more thrills for your money as well as truly support your local club.

That said, if you missed all the Elite League meetings served up on satellite you’d deprive yourself of any sight of behind the scenes along with all their ‘cutting edge’ visual innovations, the adverts for obscure or execrable products, the histrionic hyperbole and word play as well as the bickering between Jonathan and Kelvin. In the first meeting all this is provided and much, much more - things like wonky camera work and graphics from the renowned John Postlethwaite GP School of Innovative Visual Design. In fact, the opening sequence is a masterclass in combining clichéd graphics apparently stolen from the 1970’s - an era of heavy rock and experimentation apparently redone by the Sky creative team as a sort of poor man’s Yes meets Led Zep crossed with the Steve Gibbons Band art project – and Dad’s Army. The inspirational weird new red arrowed Sky speedway logo draws strongly on a map theme since it echoes the famous opening credits from this series – you know, the map where the Home Guard arrow slowly repels German invaders – and then rather wonderfully crosses it with a ‘You are Here’ graphic.

If the art department have got somewhat lost then, sadly, rumours of personnel changes on the programme haven’t extended to separating speedway’s bickering couple – Jonathan Green and Kelvin Tatum. Admittedly, they’re on screen less than previous seasons but still act like a couple permanently on the edge of a final, damning row that will lead to an expensive and acrimonious divorce. Apart from the cliché ridden opening segment, they repeat an endless pattern where to enliven proceedings Jonathan ‘Forrest’ Green says something banal, ill-informed and fatuous about what we’ve just seen, are about to see or (more post modernly) something wildly bonkers. This invariably causes Kelvin to immediately bite back to totally contradict, disagree with and/or correct this ‘observation’ with a factually based repost of his own that just about remains on this side of civil. It’s amazing that Sky Sports choose to entertain us with this on screen breakdown but it definitely breaks up the monotony between some of the processional races that are supposed to thrill and amaze us sat on the sofa at home.

For the second successive winter, the Sky Sports management have allegedly been less than impressed at another close season tinkering with the Elite League speedway product by the authorities in the form of the BSPA. With reduced averages now in force, the contentious abolition of the aggregate bonus point and the absence of the armchair audience draw card of the current speedway world champion Nicki Pedersen – from their point of view, Sky can’t be blamed for the worry that this compounds the effects of the tactical rider rule changes foisted on the sport in 2007. Even worse, they could be saddled with another season of predictable meetings and processional encounters where gripping contest and exciting passes were at a premium.

Though this might be uppermost in their minds, Jonathan has been instructed to engage the armchair audience with a winning combination of false hopes leavened with his trademark platitudes and piffle to disguise the anxiety that we’ll all suffer another DDSS season. Consequently, the live coverage is only moments old before we learn from Greenie that the Elite League is “wide open”. Of course, it is! This is the first meeting of the season and so, by definition, it can hardly have been decided! Although, if honesty entered the presentational equation, there should be some acknowledgement that some teams already look weaker than others without a wheel having been turned. We all know where this took us last season but, for now, Jonathan thrills us with news that the Coventry faithful have “come out in their throngs”. Personally, I’d have thought it was a bit cold for that this early in the season but, nonetheless, it’s an evocative image to conjure with.

While Jonathan gurgles about the “new look Eagles” going “wheel to wheel” with the [old look?] Bees, Kelvin feels sufficiently mardy to darkly hope for “a competitive league throughout this season!” Quite where he gets his information from is hard to tell but Jonathan confidently – and, for once, accurately – asserts that the Elite League this season is a “little bit harder to call”. Whereas Kelv feels in his bones the winners will come from “probably five teams”. I drift off momentarily at this point and return to consciousness just as Kelvin opines “they’ve got a very exciting top four!” I initially assume he must be referring to Coventry but then he continues, “the reserves will take some time to settle in”. Given you could say this about both the Bees and the Eagles – or almost every team – this is hardly a revelation. Luckily, we can move on to the love that dares speak its name, namely Simon Stead’s who allegedly “loves this track!” It’s the kind of healthy love that I expect us to hear a lot more about during the season and not just from Simon. Indeed, I think we’ll find that there are a large number of loved up riders besotted with their home speedway tracks.

If Nicki Pedersen has been banished from British Speedway for 2008 and, thereby, arguably weakened the overall quality of the product on display then, spookily, Sky have chosen to echo this change by eliminating Sophie Blake from their presentational team. Instead we have Sarra Elgin who, with her lilting Welsh accent and challenge free questions, springs into action to quiz Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris in the Coventry pits. You immediately get the sense that Chris must no longer be sponsored by “definitely” (who he used to mention in almost every other sentence) or “yeh” but also that he may have had media training over the close season to cope with questions about things like Scott Nicholls departure from the Bees team or his 2008 Grand Prix ambitions. Sarra tries to tempt him into an opinion on one of these topics but only learns, “yeh, it’ll be a bit different” in the team without Scott. It’s hardly a ringing endorsement for his previous contribution or a cry of anxiety about the future but, then, such is life and the practicalities of team sport. Though all the Sky Sports speedway experts last year specifically failed to tip him for any GP triumph and doubted his calibre in his first year at that level until he won in Cardiff, Chris has faith in himself and this year wants to “add on a few more GP’s” to his personal roll call of honour. With Chris Louis also in the pits, Greenie is confident of improved behind the scenes coverage (“we’ll be getting plenty from the pits tonight with two of them in there”). This completely ignores the fact that twice the volume of ‘how was it for you?’ style questioning won’t multiply our insight.

Kelvin puts on his profound face to straight facedly tell the camera that winning away could be important but stops short of telling us that bikes with an engine and two wheels will also be important. Not to be out done in the initial mini-competition to start the season with numerous statements of the obvious, Greenie informs us breathlessly, “the start here is so important!” Clearly, he’s failed to notice that during many Sky meetings over the years that the race is often almost over from the start. The coin toss has enabled the Eagles to gain choice of gates, news that Kelvin greets as though the atom has been split for the first time, “they’ll start off gates one and three – that could be VERY significant!” Sadly, a winter away from speedway hasn’t enabled the cameraman to practice so - by the start of the second lap of the first race of the season! - we’re treated to one of those superb shots of the medical staff on the centre green rather than the action on the track itself.

In the commentary box, Nigel Pearson has marked the Eagles fans down as either unbelievably fickle or easily influenced when he claims that Scott Nicholls (after only five competitive meetings) is “now a huge favourite with the Eastbourne fans!” Interestingly, the backroom graphics people have somehow converted the distinctive Eagles club badge into a dead ringer for the Barclays Bank logo. The Ipswich on tour theme started by the presence of Chris Louis in the pits continues with Steve ‘Johnno’ Johnston as colour man and foil to Nigel Pearson. Whatever Johnno has that makes him so cheerfully ebullient, he should either patent or bottle it since he immediately adds sparkle to the programme. Invariably, he comes across as a genuine man with an uncomplicated interest in people. As is traditional, Johnno mangles the pronunciation of a straightforward name (“James Brun-DELL”) before he spends the night repeatedly struck by the youth of Simon Gustafsson (“I think he’s only 17 years old! I may be wrong about that”). Suddenly unconsciously influenced by nearby Jonathan Green, Nigel insightfully lets us know, “and the reserves, you know, are just as important as the number one riders!” On a roll, Nigel then decides to stretch the credulity of even the most mild mannered viewer when he claims as though reading from a script hastily written out on the back of a cigarette packet by Peter Toogood, “it’s a very different Elite League this season to the one you saw last year!” Given we’ve only seen two races so far, this must rank as a prematurely bold prediction, even if we allow for the introduction of the ‘revolutionary idea’ of promotion and relegation.

The next race sees the Eagles pairing of Richardson and Woodward temporarily lead the strong Bees partnership of Harris and Janniro until Lee finds himself going backwards. Always keen to see things from a rider’s point of view, Johnno sympathises with Lee, “going from a paid win to last – you’d be gutted!” Back in the pits Chris Louis manfully tries to talk up the significance and tactical genius of the new slim line Cameron Woodward’s race win against GP star Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris. The air of mystery he’s tried to create about the psychological intensity and strategic planning needed to best the diminutive Cornishman is immediately punctured by the modest Australian, “oh, I didn’t look!” Always well-mannered Cameron wants to acknowledge those in the team who’ve helped him, “I wanna thank Ted [Edward Kennett] for giving me the correct gearing, I thought it was wrong but it was right.” Desperate to inject drama where none really exists, Louis persists with his ‘what was it like with the British bulldog behind you?’ line of questioning only for Cameron to again draw him up short, “yeh, well, I didn’t look!”

The early heats have so excited Kelvin that he finds himself almost overcome with the viewing pleasure of it all, “a triffick first four heats of the season!” His reading of the racecard for the next four races provokes an excitement and reverence usually reserved for announcements of a royal engagement. Kelvin is also pretty sure that the Eastbourne team manager won’t rest on his laurels and will also study the racecard in the programme with the intensity usually devoted to a sacred religious artefact, “I expect Trevor Geer to be studying things as the evening progresses.” The prospect of the “BIG ONE” - the Harris-Nicholls clash in the next race - has the Sky team collectively feel orgasmic. It’s left to Kelvin to articulate the sensation in what sounds like text speak, “this heat 5 we’re about 2C is gunna B really spectacular!” The poetry of Scott’s subsequent win on the track is matched off it in the commentary box by Nigel, “there’s no doubt Scottie is too hottie!” Later, as though we’ve suddenly got caught up in some weird Sky sponsored performance poetry contest, Greenie will rap, “it’s a case of the lean, mean Scottie machine.” In his interviews, Scott remains guarded and taciturn as though anything he says will be taken down and may be used in evidence against him at a later court date. Consequently, we only learn the “track is a bit slicker than usual” and the shock news, “that’s why we’ve come here – for the win!” Later Nigel reveals his admiration for and frustration with Scott’s sang-froid, “he’s very clever the way he talks to the press, the way he talks to us – he gives nothing away!”

The excitement of the racing slackens off sufficiently for Nigel to have to call upon his standby reserves of promotional profundity about the season ahead, “in the modern era of speedway, you can get promoted and relegated”. Though this only applies to between the Elite and Premier leagues, Nigel is moved to claim, “it’s a new era for the sport throughout the UK!” He’s easily discombobulated tonight, “who’d have thought there would be six races gone and Lee Richardson wouldn’t have scored a point?” and ignores that as Lee had only had one ride, there was a one in four chance of this outcome. Luckily there are other questions to be asked, “have they got the belief, have they got the power, have they got the passion?” With seven heats of the Elite League season gone, Eastbourne find themselves with a narrow two-point lead that has Greenie nearly christen them as possible 2008 Elite League champions. Kelvin likes what he sees too and talks about the Eagles as though they are a supermarket own brand whiskey, “there’s a good blend among them.” He also gawps authoritatively towards the camera, gives us a trademark gurn and tells us knowledgeably, “Henrik Gustafsson looks very impressive!” Johnno is keener on the Gustafsson of the Simon variety, “he’s a very good trapper for a 17 year old!”

Mechanical gremlins afflict the Bees side of the pits and force the lithe Billy Janniro to take to the track on a bike borrowed from Bomber. Using someone else’s equipment is difficult at the best of times but this is an extreme situation that immediately provokes Johnno’s sympathy, “Bomber’s bike is built for a midget!” Billy doesn’t handle the machine with his trademark smoothness, “either it’s a very, very savage clutch or may be Billy’s not used to it!” Edward Kennett wins the race and, in the post-race interview, breaks with tradition when it comes to his choice of headgear. Any GP rider worth their salt will invariably be caught by the cameras neurotically faffing with a peaked cap festooned in sponsors logos. They’re not trying to disguise the speedway equivalent of bed hair (helmet hair) but ensuring that their sponsors get the airtime their money has paid to command. In total and refreshing contrast, Edward eschews such a cap and wears what appears to be a tea cosy on his head! It’s a fairly large sized one too! More than sufficient to contain a set of Danny Warwick-esque dreadlocked hair extensions, should fancy or fashion sense take him. Like Cameron before him, Edward punctures the implied pretence of the Sky post-race questioning that he employs a complicated and nuanced set of tactics drawn up in painstaking detail by his sports psychologist, when he reveals the secret of his success is, “I kept looking straight!” Moments later we hear from Nigel about “a new look for a new season”, though turns out to be another reference to the introduction of the promotion and relegation that won’t really happen rather than advocacy of Edward’s brave fashion statement. Despite the evidence of our eyes, Nigel is so keen to tell us that, “you can’t take your eyes off this one – a triffic start to the season on Sky Sports” that you suspect he must have known that the armchair audience is either unexpectedly napping or already switching off in droves.

In a rare cut back to the trackside studio, Jonathan and Kelvin are clearly getting on each other’s tits. Forrest wonders aloud, “Belle Vue 28 Lakeside 32 are you surprised by that” only to get his head bitten off by Kelvin, “not really!” It’s the kind of engaging, cut and thrust live sports television that should rightly be award winning for speedway on Sky Sports, if there is any longer justice in the world. Heat 12 not only sees Gustafsson excluded but Johnno manages to comment upon him without reference to his age, “he was lucky not to be cleaned up by Buzzer [Burza] there!” The re-run has Johnno josh at the gating credentials held by the greatest living Cornish speedway rider on television tonight, “Chris Harris isn’t a particularly good gater and I’m putting that nicely!” Probably not put so nicely into Johnno’s earpiece by the producer is the news that political correctness has gone mad and that the two hard of hearing viewers with low attention spans and German parents the speedway coverage traditionally aims itself at on Sky in terms of level and content, requires that Bomber is always called Chris Harris in case the other sobriquet causes offence. On the subject of upsets, Nigel broaches the fact that Steve Johnston got the bums rush from Coventry over the close season - or, as modern parlance would have it, ‘learn he was no longer part of their plans’ – in a manner similar (but different) to Scott Nicholls who was also nixed. Taking an onion from his pocket on behalf of the Bees promotion, Nigel opines, “it really was the impossible choice…I know Scottie was as upset as you!” Johnno replies “……………” It’s a significant, diplomatic and studious silence from the Australian who’s usually not lost for a word or two and is apparently afflicted by the rare condition of St Vitas dance of the mouth.

The meeting is so brilliant and the racing sufficiently intense that Nigel has the time and inclination to tell us, “some of the IMG bigwigs are in the stadium tonight – Paul Bellamy.” The sensible reaction of the armchair audience will be ‘WTF is that?’ We’ve all heard of Paul Gascoigne and Paul Daniels, plus those of a certain age know that Paul Henry played Benny in Crossroads but who on earth is this Paul Bellamy? Also, although it’s technically correct to say IMG (since they bought out the speedway rights previously owned by BSI), surely if Sky Sports research has shown that the comparative intelligence level of the regular audience requires us to be told every week that “it’s three points for a win, two for second, one point for third and none for last place”, then all this talk of IMG will be philosophical Klingon. Back at the meeting, the inevitable conclusion is reached and the scores on the doors eventually record a creditable and occasionally entertaining away win for the Eagles. It’s a win gained so easily – despite a mid-meeting “closed doors team talk” for the home team - that Scott can crash into Bomber in the last race with impunity without any apparent care about the lost points. Nigel, Jonathan and Kelvin all confirm that “this season” Eastbourne will be awarded “three points for an away win” and that we have all seen live on satellite television that the canny, close season team building by the new Eastbourne promotional team of Martin Hagon and Bob Dugard has borne immediate fruit.

31st March Coventry v Eastbourne (Elite League A) 43-47

David McAllen Benefit Fund Draw

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:44:00 +0000

Danish Speedway GP 14 June 2008 Raffle

Click here to enter now!

As you may or may not be aware David (McAllan) will not be able to ride again due to the injuries he sustained at Glasgow in the PL meeting with Birmingham on 14 October 2007.

David broke his lower back (L1) and had emergency surgery to insert metal plates and rods into his back, the plates have to remain in his back for life. He also sustained severe nerve and spinal damage. David can walk, however, he is numb from his waist down.

Since then, there have been a number of fund-raising initiatives to create a benefit fund towards David's future well-being.

The following raffle, as with all events that have previously taken place, has the full support of David, his family and friends as well as his fellow Glasgow riders, past and present, and the Promotion.

The Prizes

1st prize: Entry for 2 persons to the Danish GP on 14 June 2008 including return economy flights from any UK airport to Copenhagen + 2 nights accommodation in a quality hotel in Copenhagen.

2nd Prize: A Mutsui DVD player + Bush CD Radio Cassette player.

3rd Prize: A Harley Davidson Lamp.

The price for a single ticket is £5.50 - this includes postage and PayPal fees. This means that the full £5.00 for each ticket goes directly to David's Benefit Fund.

Draw date 1 June 2008

If you enjoyed 'Shale Britannia'...

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:20:00 +0000

...then you might also enjoy my latest photo book Banter & Bustle

The Big Issue ,the Daily Telegraph, the Sunderland Echo, salut! Sunderland all liked it! They said:

“The ritualistic walk to and from the football ground is the subject of this quirky book of photographs. Filled with mundane images of the back end of footballing towns from Ipswich to Sunderland, collectively they provide an insight into the wider, communal pleasures of football.
The players, the pitch and the ball itself are studiously ignored over the far more interesting culture of the fans themselves. Interspersed with overheard snatches of conversation, this book captures the romance of one of the great British institutions – match day.” Daisy Greenwell, BIG ISSUE, March 30th 2008

“Scott's work is stranger, but will also one day fascinate football historians. He has photographed Sunderland fans, home and away, but the book should appeal beyond supporters of the Black Cats. He has a great knack for making the banal look compelling and a terrific designer who has cropped and arranged the pictures to great effect. In 100 years we will know what is was like to watch football in the early years of the 21st century.”
Andrew Baker, Daily Telegraph, 6th March 2008

“This book is a little gem in my opinion, capturing the essence of how mundane and ordinary matchday is and yet how magical, too. It may be the glory game, but these photographs show the other side of the coin – the fish and chips, the flagsellers, the queuing at turnstiles and train stations. Policemen, stewards, barbed wire, tarmac and turf.
There’s hardly a posed picture between the covers as fans and officials are captured in candid shots, just going about their business, while football grounds are shot from unflattering and awkward angles as opposed to the professional images we are normally fed. The book…provides a diverting and unusual addition to the growing Sunderland lexicon.”
Graeme Anderson, Sunderland Echo, 5th April 2008

“Jeff Scott's fascinating pictorial study of his fellow Sunderland fans and Sunderland locations, caught on camera on various matchdays around the country… Jeff's terrific portrayal of the grass roots of football support [depicts a] real club, real fans, real passion.”
Colin Randall, salut! sunderland, April 2008

For more information please go to www.corkstreetpress.com

'Wahoo...LOOK NO BRAKES' article riddled with inaccuracies

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:50:00 +0000

An almost immutable law of the Rupert Murdoch Empire is that one part of his media kingdom will invariably but spontaneously chose to promote the products of another, particularly if they hold exclusive rights. For example, it’s not unusual to find The Times, The Sun or the Sunday Times using the Sky Sports invented catchphrase “Super Sunday” when reporting on a day of Premier League fixtures that features Arsenal v Man U and Chelsea v Liverpool. Equally, the Sun football pages never seem happier than when criticising the BBC for their choice of FA Cup ties without revealing their vested interest or similarly critiquing the duff football matches that Sky so often show. You can safely bet that almost all sports events that air on Sky will get saturation coverage in the News International print outlets – just think of the recent
Ricky Hatton fight or one of the darts competitions.

Luckily to prove the so-called ‘independence’ of the various Murdoch companies, speedway has bucked this strategy since it benefits from pretty well zero cross-promotion and pollination in the rest of the Murdoch media empire. Obviously, this is due partly to the comparative ineptitude (if contrasted to the highly visible marketing of other Sky exclusively broadcast sports) of the respective BSPA, BSI (or whatever they're called nowadays) and Sky publicity departments who keep themselves busy preaching to the converted or looking for synergies with other motorcycle disciplines, despite the lessons of history that indicate that these respective codes don’t really mix. Even worse, given that every Murdoch owned UK newspaper (and all the other too) each produces a ‘Sports Calendar’ to giveaway to the readers, you’d think that the predictability of the need for news of major sports events to fill these pages would (surely) ensure that at least the blue riband event of the Cardiff GP in June might get a mention? Don’t bet on it in the hands of the BSPA & BSI media publicity gurus – cos there’s a long-standing track record of silent mystery to maintain. Things are so bad that the briefest, passing mention or bastardization of the sport into the two-wheeled equivalent of giant tractor racing is seen as cause for ecstatic celebration. Half the time, even the Sky magazine that subscribers to the epynonomous satellite channel get tortured with as junk mail every month barely mentions the sport it owns exclusive broadcast rights for beyond a miniscule nodding acquaintance towards the fixtures in the TV listings.

Set against this background, it was a delight to find that the Sky Sports Match magazine for March mentions speedway on the cover and actually includes some coverage inside on the start of the new season. In fact, wow, the sport is given a whole page and a third (in a 44 page magazine) with an article headed ‘Wahoo…LOOK NO BRAKES’

Even the most hard-hearted critic of our print and broadcast media coverage would have to admit that some phrases in the article elegantly sum up the sport and its appeal. For example, we learn the sport exists, is exciting to watch and still exists (this will be news to some people). However, in an article of 207 words (including the headline and subsequent strapline “The ‘people’s motorsport’ careers back to rude health at an exciting pace”), there are a truly astonishing number of inaccuracies or unproven claims that do the sport or its advocates no real credit in the harsh light of day. Lets have a look at some of these statements to reality check their veracity.

1.“The 2008 domestic speedway season will be the tenth on Sky Sports.” Not disputable, though with Jonathan ‘both teams really want to win this’ Green at the helm it often feels like the twentieth.

2.“During that period [1999-2008] the sport has enjoyed improved attendances at tracks, rising viewing figures and increased media interest” Well, attendance and viewing figures aren’t published. So which tracks can we all agree have consistently shown an upward trend in the last decade? Well, recently King’s Lynn and possibly a few others spring to mind but, excluding openings and closures, I always understood the long-term trend was downwards? Also when the Sky cameras arrive attendances usually plummet dramatically with exceptions only for the Play-offs or when Lakeside let everyone in for free. If you exclude Sky (the nature of whose exclusive ensures that it remains on a minority subscription channel and that the terrestrial channels – with many more viewers - ignore it), where on earth has this increased coverage been?

3.“A switch in 2001 from Brandon Stadium in Coventry to the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff helped attendance figures rise from 6,000 to over 41,000 at the British Grand Prix” This is just plain wrong (!) – bollocks, we technically call it in the trade - and hardly a like-for-like comparison. Based on the official (but suspiciously rounded) F.I.M. attendance figures, the attendances at Coventry were 25% higher than quoted at 8000 and 8500 respectively in 1999-2000. Whereas, the Cardiff GP had it’s best year in 2002 with an attendance of exactly 42000 before going on a four year decline until last year when attendances rose slightly but still failed to match 2002 levels. In anyone’s book, this is not a rise, let alone a continuous one! Indeed the median Cardiff GP attendance figure is 40000 and the average attendance from 2001 is 38,645. Perhaps, this poor grasp of mathematics was accidental? They do say if you repeat a lie often enough people believe it; I’m not sure what they say about persistent untruths.

4.“With a new generation of viewers enjoying the sport” Given the veracity and truthfulness of previous claims, we’ll give Sky a ‘mulligan’ when it comes to stories of increased viewing figures that they never corroborate by officially publishing. However, given the attendance success story at the tracks is similarly unclassified and unquantified, while the numbers at the Cardiff GP has mainly gone backwards, it’s hard to figure out where the “new generation” exists or actually goes to watch its speedway?

5.“Although primarily a local sport for local people” True enough, most fans only watch their team at home and speedway isn’t renowned for its travelling away support, except where local derbies really are relatively ‘local’.

6.“With pockets of support dotted round the UK in East Anglia, the South Coast and West Midlands.” This statement is a truly shocking display of ignorance, even if we assume (though the article implies otherwise) that we’re only talking Elite League here. Whoops – Belle Vue go missing and Lakeside, Swindon and Peterborough have to fit themselves into the limited number of geographic areas named. So, if we’ve now noticed that the Sky magazine article writer has a faulty calculator, then their map of the British Isles has definitely gone missing from their office! (Let alone we’ll have to ignore their ignorance of the reality of British speedway as a whole – namely that it covers every UK region except Ireland)

7.Peter Toogood is quoted as saying “Sky Sports has enhanced speedway to a level we simply couldn’t have envisaged” Leaving aside the examples of the dynamic growth in the popularity, coverage and advertising revenues enjoyed as a consequence of the continued growth of televised coverage of Premier League football or Twenty-Twenty Cricket or Rugby Union, then “enhanced” might just be an apposite choice of descriptive word. Like many others, I relish watching the Sky Speedway coverage every week because it invariably entertains me – and I really wouldn’t want to consider how bad things would be without weekly television coverage – but even a junior sports marketer wouldn’t claim the sport as a whole (or even just the Elite League) had really capitalised on the golden opportunity provided.

8.Peter Toogood continues, “it has encouraged promoters” The new breed of promoters like Mr. Sandhu, John Postlethwaite and Bob Brimson have arrived and fallen by the wayside in a short period with decidedly mixed fortunes. Club ownership by experienced promoters like Terry Russell and Colin Horton has reduced and, arguably, the treatment dished out to Mr. Sandhu creates a worrying impression of insularity for independent businessmen (outsiders) who wish to invest in the future in our sport.

9.We’re then told in the article Rosco’s “profile has never been higher”. Be still my beating heart will be the reaction of speedway fans everywhere and Rosco confirms, “you get recognised in the street now for a start! People talk about speedway in the town again.”

So, there we have it – an article that omits Swindon from its own map of speedway geography sounds the clarion call of resurgence for the sport primarily based on fallacious statements and the fact that some people recognise Rosco in Swindon! The real proof of the pudding surely remains that world champion Nicki Pedersen can still walk down practically any High Street completely unnoticed (including Stevenage). Undoubtedly speedway is friendly and local community based, never mind that it inspires dedication and passion in its loyal followers, but is this really a sign of “rude health” and the boosted national profile claimed?

Praise for 2008 Yearbook

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Robert Bamford's Yearbook remains an essential purchase..every conceivable fact and figure is covered
Allan Melville, Speedway Plus 14/02/08

The 2008 edition of the Speedway Yearbook has been given a welcome makeover...it's a good move as the dull-as-ditchwater presentation has been beefed up into an attractive package
Peter Oakes, Speedway Star 16/02/08

Chokka clubhouse greets New Dawn

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:57:00 +0000

26th January

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Eastbourne fans forum in the bar at Arlington Stadium on a January winter’s night. I knew that the new promotional team of Bob Dugard and Martin Hagon would be present along with the key post-season signings – the diminutive Lee Richardson and the affable British Number one, Scott Nicholls. Arriving just before the scheduled start time of 7pm I expected to be able to pick and choose my parking spot. Instead I was greeted by a line of cars (two or three deep in parts) that stretched all the way from the entrance gate to the edge of the junior track safety fence. There weren’t this many cars for some of the late season fixtures where you could actually see some speedway racing rather than just hear about it! Despite the surprise of this volume of parked motors - one of the reasons the environment isn’t what it was is because almost everyone is a solo driver nowadays – I fully expected to be able to waltz into the annexe of the bar to listen to the speeches and questions. Some hope! The bar itself was rammed and the doorway into the annexe was totally chokka. This being speedway, there wasn’t the usual pushing and shoving you’d usually associate with any big crowd facing the minor inconvenience of other people getting in the way. In fact, it was much more a case of ‘after you, no after you’ that left all late arrivals stuck either in or by the doorway. This wouldn’t have been too bad if you could have heard what was being said by anyone but, despite the amplification of the loudspeakers, the partition wall and the sea of bodies completely muffled the words of wisdom from Martin Hagon [MH], Bob Dugard [BD], main team sponsor Dennis Isaac [DI], team manager Trevor Geer [TG] and new signing Lee Richardson [LR]. Luckily I wasn’t missing anything Scott [SN] said because he had yet to arrive and, if he came down the A27, he’d probably have been as surprised by the volume of traffic heading in the direction of Eastbourne as I was.

By the time I’d squeezed into a space at the back, I’d missed the opening exchanges. Because of the volume of people inside the room, you’d have to say judged by the general enthusiasm to turn out to an event like this then the future for the club with its new (double underlined) British flavour team is bright. From my vantage, I couldn’t see anyone but Dennis Isaac who - the compere with the mostest, the inimitable Eagles M.C. Kevin Coombes [KC] – later accused of nodding off. I could also see a bright yellow and blue item of clothing hung on the back wall - what I believe we now have to refer to as ‘race suits’ rather than kevlars (or leathers). It was emblazoned with more mentions of the word Hagon than you’d have imagined possible on a garment of that size. I couldn’t see any of the speakers but, sometimes mumbled questions from the audience aside, I could mostly hear what everyone said. It was rather like listening to the radio or watching a television programme with a picture fault where all you can see is the test card (or, in this case, the opposite of subliminal advertising by a Hagon organisation proud to have taken on responsibilities at the Eastbourne club). A wide-ranging and frank discussion ensued and the following is based on the contemporaneous but inevitably selective (since I don’t have shorthand) notes I took at the event. Hopefully these are always attributed to the correct person even though I couldn’t see them and couldn’t always hear because of the talk around me (or the inaudible questions).

[LR] “There’s a family tradition of racing for Eastbourne… I’m looking forward to the new challenge!”

[BD] “It’s something I said I’d never do again but circumstances have forced it on me.”

[Fan] “Question for Trevor – how do you motivate the team apart from a kick up the backside?”
[TG] “Actually they don’t need that – they’re all different characters and need motivating differently….If you lot all turn up for the first meeting, the crowds’ll be up anyway – to see a good British team”

[MH] “Dennis [Isaac] has been asked by us the management committee to get a supporters club going”

[BD in reply to lengthy question from a fan – who called himself a ‘foot soldier’ - concerned about the exact mechanics of the supporters club] “I’d like to see a supporters club get off the ground in a decent way – good to know you’re a foot soldier, we need more of them
[Foot soldier] “the supporters club just used to put on disco’s”
[MH interrupts] “That’s not a bad thing is it?”
[DI] “I’ve got two young ladies who want to help”
Scott arrives in the room to loud cheers and ironic cries of “mornin”
[Fan] “This is the most exciting British speedway team I’ve witnessed and Scott, you are the most exciting rider in this country by far!’
[MH] “Any more questions? We’re getting warmed up now!” [as same fan tries to ask another] “Another one! Hold on, are they allowed more than one?” [fan tries to continue] “I’m gonna turn his mike off!’ {question on GP’s and impact on Eastbourne fixtures} “I personally hate the GP but can’t say that with Scott here! The fixture list is a nightmare – Martin and I have spent three weeks on that fixture list now – {GP} is here and here to stay, so we’re gonna have to work round it. When it comes to alternatives, Friday night is no good, Sunday night is Poland – we’ve got to be considerate of the riders and the public. We’ve 23 fixtures definite, possibly 26, if we progress to the Play-offs or in the cups. So a season ticket represents brilliant value and the forms are available. We will probably include a couple of fixtures against Premier League teams but we don’t know the details yet.” {same fan tries to ask about Pl teams} “ You’re only allowed two questions!”

[MH asked about testimonials for Dean & David] “We’re looking at one for Dean – he’s got more severe and serious injuries – career ending – he still talks about riding, he still talks about it but he would be crazy to do it in my opinion. Dean’s testimonial has been applied for and would be the first meeting of the season, if granted. David’s would have to be another year – you’re only allowed one a year – but we’ll apply for David too.”

[MH] “The captain will be Lee Richardson!” {gasps and applause}
[Fan] “Lee how does it feel to be captain and how will you encourage the youngsters?”
[LR] “I didn’t know that, so thanx! I’ve never been captain before!”
[MH] “You get paid less as well!”
[LR slightly nervously] “Ha! Ha! Well I’m older and wiser and I’ll pass on as much experience as I can to the guys. I think I learnt off one of the best team riders in the world Leigh Adams. That guy is worth two or three points a meeting just through his riding.”

[MH] “Scott’s come a long way tonight, let’s hear him speak.”
[SN] “I’m always excited about a new season and I’m looking forward to the new challenge at Eastbourne. I have great success at Coventry and I’m looking forward to carrying that one here. Obviously I was a bit late, which is unusual for me {laughter}. It was great to see a huge number of cars in the car park, which is part of the excitement and a lot of that comes from having a team of British riders. I’m excited to be here and looking forward to winning a few championships. Eastbourne has always been a close-knit club and I can’t wait to be part of that! I’ve got the World Championship as my individual sport but, unlike some other riders, I don’t just want to be part of the numbers but be part of a team. There’s nothing better than riding with my partner beside me.”

[MH asked about the junior track] “it’s something we believe in – they’ll be kids bikes…it’s something England needs! In the bar we have one of the bikes on display – a lot of thought and effort has gone into them – we’ll be building five of those bikes for the kids!”

[BD] “The tourist board have contacted us, obviously they have no money but they want to help. It’s something that’s been very lax for many years – ever since I started – we’re gonna get some fixture lists done for hotels, shops and that and possibly some vouchers. Also some posters – Martin has them designed - they’ll be attractive. Posters are for shops not for bedrooms, everyone takes them but you don’t see them. We want them to be where people can see them not bedrooms – they’re expensive, I know that sounds mean, but they’ve got to do a job

[BD on suggestion that junior races are at 6 before the main meeting] “I don’t think we’ll do that and I have to make sure that the track is right for different riders in different races – people accuse us of cheating but you’ve gotta take advantage of the facilities, oh, that is cheating. It’s gonna be pleasant this year cos I won’t have Nicki telling me how to prepare it all the time for him. This year it’s gonna be the same week in and week out so if they can’t ride it, it won’t be the tracks fault, it’ll be the riders!” [explains the track would be too high spec for the juniors before a blue line has been worn on the inside by 15 heats of senior action]
[LR] “I’m just happy Bob’s on my side cos he’s tried to run me over with the tractor a couple of times!”

[Kevin Coombes to BD] “There’s the enigma that is Lewis Bridger, oh and, people feel Lewis Bridger and Edward Kennett might not work on the track?”
[BD] “It’s only a generation thing, here’s been lots of others like that….Gordon Kennett and Malcolm Ballard used to be at knives drawn ……it’s a thing you live with and its good to have competition among themselves, brings them along. You just live with it – I’m not bothered, the competition will bring them on…Lewis Bridger is a brilliant motorcyclist – a rare talent – a bit of a nutter in other ways!”

[SN asked about why the Eagles] “I had a choice of a few but I weighed things up. I like the people, I like the track – there were a few factors involved – the location is good, Sophie has relatives down here and it’s easier for the airports.”

[Fan] “Are the toilets gonna be painted this year?”
[MH] “You don’t wanna know – are there any sensible questions?”
[BD] “We’ve got a load of brushes!”
[MH] “If you wanna paint it – it can be any colour you want!”

[LR] I had an operation in December – I had some tendons removed from me leg that had been bothering me. It’s well on the mend…I AM gonna qualify to get back in the GP, in the next few years, that’s my aim and I’m gonna give it a real go over the next couple of years as I’d like to do it again! If it doesn’t happen in that time, then I’ll call it a day and concentrate on league racing.”

[MH] “Any ideas on our number eight! We’re still sorting out number seven first!”

Prices for 2008 announced: £15 Adults £13 Concessions £6 Child 8 & over Free Child under 8

[MH] “You can’t all have come just to ask 12 questions – come on don’t be shy!”

[TG on pairings] “We’ll look at how they go in practice though, obviously, we have some ideas. We’ve got two riders who can ride the big tracks so we might get a few more away wins – they’re worth three points next season, so that’s something!”

[KC] “The bookies have us as third favourites”
[MH] “I don’t wanna talk about it really! {pause} I still think we’ve got a winning team, honestly.”

[BD] “People talk about the Dugard family and Eastbourne - I’d just like to point out that Martin [Hagon] is my son-in-law so that qualifies him….Martin is the better administrator and I’m much more of a hands on person. Martin will be the front man dealing with the BSPA, SCB and that – my reputation is not good with them anyway. It’s the first time ever I really have a partner who will put his nose to the grindstone!”{Confirms has absolutely no plans to relinquish tractor} “I will be surprised if we don’t do really well, I can’t see us losing!”

[BD on new EL points limit of 38.85] “I can’t see it going any lower. It did cos there were a number of clubs out there who’ve one or two hundred thousand pounds! Maybe we needed to lose one or two of the expensive riders out of speedway? Don’t forget that there’s still 90 points a meeting. I was amazed when the average came down as much as it was and it certainly worked to our purposes. With Nicki’s high average – Nicki wasn’t gonna be here even before we knew cos high average’s like that are hard to work with, Scott’s is only a little bit less but those points make all the difference – it was never gonna work. I’m sure it’ll go up again and this is lowest. Now we have promotion and relegation this season – it’s a terrifying thought, may be the tension speedway needs, if it works for football it should work for us to keep the interest going.”

[BD asked about Davey Watt] “Also the Davey situation, we wanted Edward back. We own his contract and Poole own Davey’s. Davey was a good servant for us! It’s a sad side of speedway that you have to break the team up.”
[MH] “Any questions for the riders? Cos Bob’s doing all the answers!”

[BD asked why not two Brit’s at reserve] “Easy answer cos there ain’t enough of them out there! That’s why we have a five year programme with the junior track and the second halves to help ourselves and to help British speedway.”

[Fan] “I have two questions in one…{lengthy observation}”
[MH] “That’s three!”

[MH] “Is that it then? You’re happy with all yer ansa’s?”

[Fan] “One or two of the riders don’t take any interest in the young lads, is that something that’s gonna change this season?”
[MH] “Well we’re gonna try but you have to look at it from all sides - being a Saturday night track the riders have to get away for their flights and that, so it’s not always possible.”

[KC] “Dennis, this is obviously your second time with Eastbourne [as a sponsor]”
[DI] “My third time!”
[KC] “What are you looking for as a return on your investment?”
[DI] “I used to come here with my daughters and hang over the fence. Later in life I’m lucky enough to be financially well off, so I’m putting my money where my mouth is and all I wanna do on that track is take a winning team round [on their victory parade in the Meridian Marquees truck afterwards].”
[BD describes the enthusiastic meeting to discuss 2008 sponsorship agreement] “I think he feels more confident now than he has in the past and we’ll promote his company name more!”

{Fan} “Martin, I love the new kevlars – but there’s a couple of blue bits on the sleeves you could have put ‘Hagon Shocks’ on!”

[BD] “We need more people through the gate this year really – it adds to the profitability of the club but is also needed for the long term future of the club. Tonight we’ve got three times the number of people as we expected and we’d like to see you regularly on a Saturday night!”

[MH] “Shout it out mate cos I’m never gonna get over there {question about Sky] Last year on Sky you only really saw Coventry, Swindon and Poole – the sides that we were winning all the time or at the top of the League. This year it’ll be more even and, with relegation, they’re gonna want to cover meetings they wouldn’t have before.”

[Fan] “Why don’t you have the second halves earlier – say at six o’clock before the meeting?”
[MH] “I think that’ll mess Bob up so I know the answer to that!”
[BD] The track’s prepared for the senior riders – for real hard attacking speedway – and later on it’s safer for them to ride cos the blue line has been worn on the inside. And I don’t want the distraction from getting the track right for the racing.”

[MH explains that Ricky Wells is the Eagles target to bring in to fill the 3.12 points that remain. Situation is complicated by Ricky’s application for a US passport} “if he comes in as a New Zealander he’s got an assessed average of three points but if he comes in on a US passport it’s four! Obviously we’re trying to persuade Ricky to stay on a New Zealand one for a while. He has all the credentials but the rules is stupidity on some people’s part but we’re putting our point of view. There’s the added complication that if he’s coming in on a New Zealand passport he needs to be a New Zealand champion but that’s raced over two legs and the second leg is after our season starts so I don’t see how that can happen.”

[MH] “Any questions for Scott cos he’s driven a long way?”
[SN asked about what was said after the GP qualification run off incident with Bomber in Germany] “It was more sign language really! Obviously some people weren’t happy about it….but that’s speedway and I have no regrets. What would anyone else have done in that position?”
[MH] “Any questions for Lee as he’s come all the way from Hastings and that by-pass can be murder?”

[MH to Scott] “Obviously the sponsors you had at Coventry aren’t too keen to carry on?”
[SN] “We’ve all got overheads like any job and every little helps.”
[BD] “I’ve seen one or two old sponsors here I haven’t seen for a while turn up here tonight – he’s a very generous man and when I saw him roll up, I thought ‘I’ll have a word with him!’”
[MH] “if we can’t get sponsors for this, it ain’t gonna happen!”

[SN] “What are my ambitions for the GP? Well, it speaks for itself. I just wanna stay injury free. The finances of it are – well, very expensive – and such that you need a sponsor. I’ve still not reached my peak and I have a lot to learn!”
[BD] “Speedway is very much a confidence sport and if he can get his confidence as high as Nicki’s. Scott is much more naturally talented than Nicki and I’m amazed, to be honest, he hasn’t gone further. The problem is he’s too much of a racer and goes where angels fear to tread – I know it worked for Nicki but he’s a bit of a nutter. [reminisces about when he first ever saw Scott race “did you get 16 or 17? And I saw him beating Donkey”]

[BD on World Cup] “This is very much a seasonal place and the World Cup falls right in our best attendance time so, well…we’re very proud {asked why not hold WTC at Arlington for the home side advantage it would give} That would make sense so that means it won’t happen. Scott says that would only happen in Poland, it seems to me that the powers that be do anything they can to stop a successful British team!”

[BD on track] No, our track is totally fair….I wouldn’t give them [visiting riders] anytime to practice…we’re in it to win it. We haven’t lost our home advantage. To be honest, there’s so many bloody good riders out there – even some of the reserves – the only real advantage is size. If it’s a good fair track – it’s entertainment – you don’t wanna win by 30 points do you?”

[MH] “I don’t want any more questions on Nicki Pedersen.”
[BD] “Yes you can! Cos whatever you say about Nicki Pedersen he was a fantastic servant of the club. He used to scare the hell out of me some of the things he did out there – he’s a born winner!”
[MH] “I was only joking, Bob.”
[SN] “Nicki’s a born racer and very determined – we’ve had our run ins – you’ve got to respect him. I’m sure he’ll be just as competitive this season.”

[BD] “The standard of refs has gone up but whenever it goes wrong, it always hurts you. If you just accept they’re all pretty useless.”

A brief interval was called and, afterwards, I didn’t return but lingered chatting in the bar. There was a real buzz and hubbub about the place and the overwhelming response to the fans forum was extremely positive. It was good to see many familiar faces including David Norris who briefly shared a few typically pithy thoughts with me about the Eagles as he left the clubhouse. When I left a few minutes later, a keen as mustard Dennis Isaac was excitedly leading Trevor Geer into the pitch darkness of the home side of the pits saying, “I have a few ideas about how the signs could be!”

For more information on the Eagles team and forthcoming fixtures visit the new website by clicking here

Publication of Speedway Yearbook 2008 - superbly edited by Robert Bamford

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:24:00 +0000

Methanol Press SPEEDWAY YEARBOOK 2008
Edited by Robert Bamford

£14.99 272 pages Paperback Just Published

The indispensable companion for the 2008 season for speedway fans everywhere - edited by respected speedway author and historian, Robert Bamford.

The Speedway Yearbook provides the definitive guide to and last word on everything you’ll need to know to enjoy your speedway in 2008!

It’s comprehensive, definitive and packed with useful information. The book covers all British Leagues – Elite, Premier and Conference – as well as all major meetings in Britain and Internationally along with complete coverage of the Speedway Grand Prix Series.

It also includes a review of the 2007 season along with a profile of every British League team, 74 black & white photographs, detailed track information as well as the ultimate speedway resource - the acclaimed and comprehensive Rider Index!

About the Author
Since attending his first meeting over 30 years ago and apart from being the most published speedway author of his generation, Robert Bamford currently combines the dual role of press officer/programme editor at both Reading and Swindon speedway clubs.

Order Information

Buy this book online at www.methanolpress.com or by post send a cheque for £17.99 (to cover postage and packing – UK only) made payable to “J. Scott” to Methanol Press, 2 Tidy Street, Brighton BN1 4EL

Also available at all good track shops and prior to the 2008 speedway season will be on sale at the Speedway & Grasstrack Show (Coventry, February 9th), High Beech (80th Anniversary meeting, February 17th) and at the 23rd Ice Speedway meeting (Telford, February 24th)

Wonderful Martin Parr comparison in Daily Telegraph

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:15:00 +0000

It is not an easy leap from Italian football to British speedway, but it has to be made to pay appropriate attention to Shale Britannia: A Sideways Glance at Speedway (Methanol Press, £15). The title barely does the work justice, for it is not so much a glance as a full-on stare. It is an almost entirely pictorial record of the quixotic sport, compiled by Jeff Scott, who is splendidly privileged to be Writer in Residence at Eastbourne Stadium.

There is more than a hint of the great, sly realist Martin Parr in Scott's photographs, which capture a scene that has barely changed in many respects since the Seventies. It is a very attractive volume, neatly designed by Rachael Adams, and anyone who has ever caught the whiff of Castrol R on the evening air will love it.

ANDREW BAKER, Daily Telegraph 24th January 2008

This is a lovely review and huge (unmerited) honour to feature in the same sentence as the totally excellent Martin Parr! To learn more and to see some of his wonderful work click here

GP official attendance figures 2.3% up in 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:30:00 +0000

The F.I.M. has just published the official attendance figures for the 2007 Grand Prix Series.

Total attendances improved by 2.3% overall from 147,392 to 150,913 though because many of the attendances have weirdly symmetrical numbers you have to assume that these are ‘rounded’ figures not specific ones. I gather that these figures refer to ‘paying customers’ but there still may well be discounted admissions (and/or comps)contained within these figures.

One thing that stands out is that the quality of the racing on offer isn’t necessarily a key variable since, for example, attendances at Bydgoszcz have declined whereas Cardiff has increased.

Some people have also (sensibly) highlighted that the use of indoor stadia means that fans know that the meeting will go ahead irrespective of the weather, though this might impact advance bookings it also doesn’t appear to be the key variable.

Looking through the figures venue by venue
Prague was 9% up on 2006 but is the third lowest attendance since 1999
Wroclaw was up 2% on 2006 and either flat over a four-year trend or substantially down on the 2000 figure
Bydgoszcz was down 11% on 2006 but equal fourth highest attendance since 1999
Cardiff finally showed an upward trend (up 3% on 2006 and not a ‘rounded’ figure) but still down on the 2002 high point
Krsko was up 14% on 2006 but down on the 2002 high figure
Copenhagen was the real success and up 22% on 2006
Eskilstuna was down 18% but the base is too small to make this significant
Malilla was down 15% on 2006
Lonigo was down 4% on the 2006 figure on 4500+1

Bill Brysonesque!

noreply@blogger.com (Methanol Press) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:39:00 +0000

“The book is a big read giving an insight into another angle on speedway in the UK. Shifting Shale is an amusing Bill Brysonesque view of the tracks and the tracks which we don’t really get from other writers. Jeff clearly loves his speedway and the people that are so much part of the sport. What speedway lacks in numbers on the terraces it by far makes up for in the richness of character of the fans and their willingness to help…there will be future social historians who will love this book but the good news is that you don’t have to wait for it. Dare I say it – this is an ideal way to while away an off-season hour or two (per night for a fair few weeks).”

JIM HENRY, Editor, The Speedway Researcher Volume 10 Number 3, December 2007

To buy this book (postage free until January 2008) click here

to subscribe to THE SPEEDWAY RESEARCHER: Promoting Research into the History of Speedway and Dirt Track racing click here