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GENERAL NEWS ANDREW JACKSON MEMORIAL - posted 3 February 2012 The plight of Sandwell cycle speedway has been brought into sharp focus again with the news that the club will not be able to field a team in the annual Andrew Jackson Memorial meeting. Instead the meeting, to be held at Ashmore Park on Saturday 14 April starting at 2.30pm will be a straight head-to-head between Drew's former clubs Wednesfield and Stockport. "Having spoken to Sandwell only this week, the club feel they cannot take part this year due to lack of riders" organiser Roger Ellis told Spokesman. "They are running on a very low key basis this season, so they will not be taking part in this year's event." SAD SIGHT - posted 29 January 2012 Inspired by our recent feature on redundant tracks, former racer Dave Wilson was out on his road bike this morning and took a ride out to what was one of the best tracks in the North - Broadhurst Park in Manchester. Armed with his camera, Dave took some shots of the sad looking circuit and told Spokesman: "As you can see, the track is overgrown. The six floodlight stanchions, complete with lights, are still in position as is the track fence although this is heavily corroded. The concrete base of the starting grid is still in situ. "The track is immediately adjacent to the site of the proposed FC United stadium for which planning approval has been granted on the existing Ronald Johnson playing fields after much local hostility towards the plans. An appeal against the planning decision is still pending." IMPROVEMENTS AT POOLE - posted 26 January 2012 One of the projects at Harbourside Park during the winter months is completion of the covered pits area which is being carried out by T&G Sheet Metal & Fabrication under the expert eye of company boss and former Bournemouth Viscount, Tony Clarke. The main beams are now in place and work is expected to be completed in three to four weeks. Editor's Note: Is you club undertaking any track improvements during the close season? Let us know and we'll share the good news with other Spokesman readers. TOP CYCLIST AT CONFERENCE - posted 25 January 2012 There was a surprise visitor at last weekend's cycle speedway Development Conference in Birmingham. Vic Haines pictured with cycling legend Francesco Moser In his prime, Vic Haines was one of the best known names in international cycling and one of the best tandem racers of his generation. He held two World's fastest times (including riding ten miles in 17 minutes!!), ten British records, won five British National Tandem Championships and has previously teamed-up with former professional cycling icon and directeur sportif of Team Sky, Sean Yates. Haines includes some of the biggest names in cycling as his friends including the legendary Italian Francesco Moser. Sean Yates and Vic Haines breaking British 30 mile record on the A12 Vic was also an accomplished mountain-bike racer, racing for two years for the famous Red Canyon pro team. In addition he won numerous veterans' criteriums. Perhaps one of his biggest achievements was when he won the Thurrock Sports Personality of the Year award, relegating Fatima Whitbread into second place! Haines was also the manager of legendary track cyclist Graeme Obree who shot to international fame after breaking the world one-hour record, held for nine years by the Italian, Francesco Moser, in Hamar, Norway in 1993. Obree built the bike 'Old Faithful' himself in his garage. It included parts from a broken washing machine. His obession with the one-hour record and his rivalry with Chris Boardman was legendary. Obree's career was imortalised in the film The Flying Scotsman which chartered the Scot's turbulent life. Leading from the front. Vic Haines heads Bristol's Geoff Patman in a race at Thurrock But Haines's glittering cycling career began on a cycle speedway track on Well Street Common in Hackney in the mid Sixties. He quickly established himself on the national scene, winning the national junior individual championship at Carrs Wood, Manchester in 1965. He went on to race in five national individual finals in the colours of Hackney and Thurrock finals between 1967 and 1976, finishing fourth in 1976. A successful businessman, Haines has rekindled interest in first first love, cycle speedway and has taken coaching sessions at Kesgrave in recent months. But his attendance at Sunday's national conference was a big surprise. "I've always been drawn back to cycle speedway" he told Spokesman-Online. "I learned a lot from the sport and now I am retired, I'd like to give something back. Ian Brown asked me if I would be prepared to help out coaching and motivation. Of course I would, so I'll be going along to the Junior Academy next weekend to share some of my experiences with today's up-and-coming riders." Haines's involvement may not end there. As former boss of a company with a 250 strong workforce, Haines has the knowledge, skills and contacts to help develop cycle speedway and may well become involved on the marketing and PR side of the sport in the future. NOSTALGIC JOURNEY - posted 20 January 2012 Three of Suffolk's all-time greats are reliving cycle speedway's glory days by visiting redundant tracks throughout East Anglia - and they are calling on other cycle speedway enthusiasts to follow their lead. Peter Ingram, Tim Snook and Dan Zagni have returned to their roots by making an emotional return to some of the circuits where they launched their glittering cycle speedway careers. Among their nostalgic ports-of-call were Grundisburgh (where Tim Snook first took up the sport), Rushmere Red Devils' Rushmere golf course track (where Peter Ingram started racing after school) and Woodbridge (which Dan Zagni was instrumental in reopening in the early Eighties). On their facebook page, the group are urging others to follow their lead. Their posting on the Lapse 4 2012 reads How many cycle speedway tracks are there still around? For 2012 go ride a track, take photo and upload it to this page. How many can we find? There must be hundreds of old cycle speedway tracks lying dormant. For this coming Olympic year go out find a track and take a picture of you riding it, post on our wall. How many can we find? Can you generate enough interest to run a meeting there? Could we re-open a track? PRE-SEASON TRAINING INVITE - posted 4 January 2012 Sheffield cycle speedway club have extended an open invitation to any riders wishing to join them for some pre-season training in the comfort of the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Sessions take place on Thursday nights between 8.30pm and 10pm. The circuit is carpet surface and is more suitable for outdoor tyres than indoor, so riders won't have to dig out the indoor tyres again to take part. "Any rider who is prepared to travel to Sheffield is welcome to come along and join in" said a club spokesman. "The facility, which has a 200 metre running track for us to use, plus the infield for setting up a speedway track, is situated on Coleridge Road (postcode S9 5DA) and is within five minutes of J34 of the M1 motorway. The evening sessions will cost £3 each rider" he added. So if you fancy blowing away the Christmas cobwebs, the sessions kick off this Thursday and will run every Thursday (except 9th of February) until March. More information is available from Rob Mawhood on 07790 325921. NIGHT WITH THE STARS - posted 30 November 2011 Sheffield Wosskow Brown Stars put their feet up after another long but successful season with the traditional Presentation Evening to be held at Walkley WMC on Friday 9th December. As usual, the coveted Harry Pearson Riders' Rider of the Year trophy will be presented to the top rider with other awards presented to the top junior, top female rider, top novice, most improved rider and club man or woman of the year. A couple of other awards have attracted interest this year, too. The Programme Columnist of the Year is a tough call between Chairman Brown, whose staunch editorial style is challenged this year by international contributions from the likes of Chuck Winkleburger, Yakomoto Honda, Solli Rivieri and Skol Trondheim, whist Funniest Moment of the Year sees nomination from Jono "Are you nervous? I'm not" Birks, Robert "I've left my Big Mac Burger Mean on my car roof" Mawhood and Dave Shoat, whose winning contribution last year, where he set off to Leicester, followed his sat-nav, and ended up back home forty minutes later, will take some beating! Tickets are £3 each or £10 for a family ticket, to include buffet and entertainment which this year introduces a family-oriented comedy act, plus games and maybe the odd surprise or two. See the Stars' website at www.sheffieldstars.co.uk for further details. MCLAUGHLIN PLEADS FOR PATIENCE - posted 30 November 2011 Joe McLaughlin has asked all those who have contacted him recently from within the sport seeking help, advice and sponsorship to bear with him. The Coventry promotional guru has been snowed under with requests for assistance in the past two months. He said "I have had many requests recently including from Ian Brown, Dave Murphy, Birmingham CSC, Speedway Star, East London and other clubs with major events next year, plus I do want to progress the tremendous opening with Sky that has been made, but I can`t do this all at once". The North Warwickshire based professional promoter continued "I hope to get around to all these requests eventually but I am very busy business wise, including the completion of one of the biggest sponsorships Speedway has seen for decades with a major household name agreeing to back the Birmingham Brummies, with whom I am delighted to be associated. This sponsorship will be announced shortly." On a wider point, McLaughlin commented "I will not be accepting any official position within Cycle Speedway but I am happy to help on certain projects, time permitting, from the end of a telephone. I judge there has been a recent positive outbreak of goodwill in many areas of the sport recently, that has to be welcomed by everyone. I am just pleased to play my part in trying to take the sport forward" he told Spokesman-Online. He finished "I suppose what is really needed is a number of papers and templates on how to aggressively promote major events, how to attract media coverage, sponsorship and advertising solicitation. It would be nice to one day (time permitting!) produce these for the Cycle Speedway Commission and the governing body to perhaps consider adopting as a resource for all clubs." WORLD-WIDE CYCLE SPEEDWAY COVERAGE REACHES 152 MILLION HOMES - posted 29 November 2011 The current Sky Sports TV exposure of Cycle Speedway is set to yield an amazing publicity bonus for the sport with confirmation today that the Wilco British Final will eventually have a world-wide reach of an astonishing 152 million homes. In figures released today to Joe Mclaughlin, the Coventry CSC member who contracted the coverage, the statistics make breath-taking reading, amounting to coverage of the sport never before seen. The final will be seen by people in all five continents, with broadcasts in as many as 25 different countries, including Poland and Australia, where the sport has firm roots. An incredible 60 million homes in Asia and the Middle East, projecting to 180 million people, will see the action from Eaton Park, Norwich. USA, where the latest World Final was held, will see the transmission in 20 million homes. Australian channel Foxsports will host coverage to 6 million houses down under, with 8 million Polish homes having access to Andy Angell`s triumph. Meanwhile, Central and South America will see output of the final to 60 million residences. SKY PROMISE MORE COVERAGE - posted 29 November 2011 As viewers of tonight's Sky Sports showing of the 2011 Wilco British Final may have heard right at the end of the broadcast, plans are afoot to bring further coverage of the sport onto TV screens next year. Following on the heels of the successful pitching, planning and delivery of the current TV output, Joe McLaughlin, representing the sport, last week approached Pro-Active TV, producers of Sports Unlimited, with a view for a meeting to best consider further broadcasts. The response was an immediate invitation to Pro-Active`s Gloucestershire production house to discuss matters further. McLaughlin, who has asked Poole PR boss Graham Sutton to accompany him to the meeting, was naturally delighted. The Coventry man said "This is fantastic news. The sport now has a very real prospect of more output across Sky. We (the sport) have now developed a very professional relationship with the broadcaster." Paying tribute to those that made it possible, McLaughlin added "Many thanks for all those people who supported my initial approach to Sky and made it happen. This shows what a force we can be when we work together. Special thanks for sponsorship must go to Archie Wilkinson and Ian Brown, whilst Rob Haywood, Simon Gamble and Graham Sutton have been brilliant on the production side." ANDY SCHOFIELD WINS SWORD AWARD - posted 29 November 2011 Andy Schofield is the worthy winner of the 2011 Wilkinson Sword Award. A surprised and delighted Andy received his award from Northern cycle speedway chairman Tony Mann at the national indoor championships in Manchester. Clearly, from the warm reception and long round of applause, it was a popular decision. Despite wide-spread public support, no one as more surprised than the hardworking Hull administrator. "It was quite a shock to win the Wilkinson Sword Award at the weekend" Andy told Spokesman-Online. "This is a fantastic honour, especially when you consider the list of previous winners that reads like a Who's Who from the world of cycle speedway. "It goes without saying that all the achievements at Hull wouldn't have been possible without the great group of volunteers we have had here over the past few years. Thanks for the nomination and the chance to be a small part of cycle speedway history" added Andy proudly. NEWCASTLE REVIVAL? - posted 11 November 2011 After more than 16 years without cycle speedway, once again the wheels have started to turn, albeit slowly, in the North East of England. Discussions started between ex-Newcastle and Fawdon Flyer Alan “Ashie” Patterson, Keith Dyer and former Sixties rider, Jimmy Graham. Before long they had persuaded ex-Newcastle supremo Terry Kirkup to get involved and along with another three or four over-50s, they started having a spin on a local grass park in a place six miles north of Newcastle called Cramlington. After a couple of weeks of grass tracking they were joined by Gavin Parr who as a member of Cramlington Cricket Club. Gavin pointed them in the direction of a piece of land next to the cricket pitch which is owned by the sporting club. The land is not used for any other sports and with a smooth dolomite surface it looked perfect for cycle speedway. After an inspection by Terry and Ashie it was decided that a 70 metre track could be fitted into the space, so a meeting was arranged with the Sport Centre management who quickly agreed to hire the area out on a Saturday afternoon for a small cost. The first get together was held last week (Saturday 5th November) on the surface. Using the cricket clubs trainin cones, a track was measured and laid out and the racing (in very loose terms) commenced. Joining Terry and Ashie were former riders from the 60s Dyer, Graham, Micky Hoult, Norman Carson along with Michael and Gavin Parr who retired in the 90s. The racing went smoothly with only a small tumble by Michael Parr spoiling a safe and productive first meeting. Other riders who have expressed an interest in making a comeback include Jason Keith who was working and John Wilson. Fred Mitchell also made an appearance, however whether he dons the racing bottoms again is still a cause for debate. With all of the riders over-40 maybe a Veterans team could be on the cards and maybe seen a track near you soon! RECORDS TUMBLE IN HALLAMSHIRE GO-RIDE LEAGUE - posted 7 November 2011 With over seventy riders in attendance for the seventh and final leg of the HGRL IV at the English Institute for Sport in Sheffield, records tumbled in terms of number of teams and riders competing over the season long competition. Participation from riders was up by 35% on 2010 with team/school participation up by around 18%. The event followed on from the hasily re-arranged Midland League Division Three fixture where the Sheffield Rockets hosted Bretford in what is believed to be the first time a Midland League fixture has been hosted indoors. Riders from Heckmondwike and Bretford attended the final session, swelling the numbers well beyond last year's record attendances. It was also pleasing to see riders from non-cycle speedway clubs such as Thurcroft CC, Wakefield Triathlon and North-Midlands Development CC trying their hand at indoor cycle speedway after attending the club's Saturday Morning Club sessions at the Graves and Cookson Park outdoor tracks. A club spokesman was delighted once again with the numbers and the spirit of the competition. "We were very happy with last year's numbers and we thought that 2010 was the peak but this year's numbers have caused us a major headache in terms of our development plans for the future." He went on: "However, this is a nice problem to have so we will spend much of the close season deciding how to build on something that it already a recognised cycling brand in South Yorkshire and the wider catchment area." The trick is to retain membership and the informal, local and participation elements of the HGRL undoubtedly are its attraction. Riders simply turn up, sign on, pay their £1 and, providing they are already members of the BCF or have a formal parental consent form for under-18s, they can start racing. "We would certainly like to consider the social aspect a little more and the odd Sunday event, where we don't have to rush through everything to get finished in two hours. We can raise money on refreshments, match magazines and raffles where we can use the time to promote the club." For the second year running, given the large and disproportionate number of "one off" riders who attended the final indoor round, the average number of matches within which each rider participates remains constant at over 2.3. Total number of rounds: 7 (In 2010 there were also 7) Total number of riders in competition: 114 (2010 = 84) Total number of schools/teams in competition: 40 (2010 = 34) Largest single attendance at any round: 68 at EIS on 05/11/11 (previously 45 at EIS on 06/11/10) Average rounds per rider: 2.32 (2010 = 2.33) Team Champions: Crookes 479 points (2010 = Parkwood Academy 354 points) 2012 FIXTURES PUBLISHED - posted 5 November 2011 British Cycling has published the provisional 2012 fixture list. In an effort to reduce travel costs, the various Veterans championships will be held over one weekend, the over-40s club taking place at Coventry on Saturday 2 June, with the over-40s and over-60s individuals hosted at Wolverhampton's East Park on Sunday. The over-50s and one-off regional veterans team leage match is scheduled for the following day, Bank Holiday Monday at a venue yet to be confirmed, presumably in the Midlands. In a move from tradition, the British team championship semi finals and final switch from its customary second weekend in September slot to Sunday 22 July at a venue yet to be agreed. As reported earlier, the South-East region will host the European championships and associated international matches between 30th July and 5th August culminating in the Euro Nations Cup and Euro Women's individual at Great Blakenham on Saturday 4th August, the Euro Junior Team at Ipswich also on Saturday 4th August (hopefully the matches will not clash) and the European open and junior individuals at East London on Sunday 5 August. Other notable dates include the Home International at Poole on Saturday 28 July while Leicester finally get their wish to stage the Women's Club championship which takes place on Sunday 23 September and will double-up with the Open Club fours. The full list of fixtures can be viewed on the Newsletter page on British Cycling's website. MAJOR BOOST FOR NORFOLK CYCLE SPEEDWAY - posted 31 October 2011 With the 2011 cycle speedway season almost over, the Norfolk Cycle Speedway Association has just received some terrific news regarding 2012. Due to the fact of the overwhelming success in staging this years British Finals weekend in Norfolk, the Cycle Speedway Commission have asked would the Norfolk CSA. be prepared to stage a three test match series against Poland before the European Championships start in early August. The dates of the test matches are 30th July at Harford Park, 31st July at Hethersett and the 1st August at Eaton Park. All three venues will stage a senior test, a junior test and a ladies test on the same day. MAYOR CONGRATULATES POOLE CLUB - posted 24 October 2011 The Mayor of Poole, Councillior Graham Wilson was full of praise for the achievements of Poole cycle speedway club when he met an invited selection of riders who had competed in the British Club and Team Championships in the Mayor's parlour recently. He was highly impressed by the magnificent BTC trophy and insisted that it took pride of place in the group photograph! left to right - Sam Hearn, Holly Morgan, Chris Roberts, Jay Briggs, Arron Morgan, Mayor of Poole Cllr. Graham Wilson, Leyton Glover, Aaron Smith, Caris Glover, Niall Instone, Wil Bristowe, Matt Mildon, Pete Barnes INSPIRATIONAL ADE REMEMBERED - posted 6 October 2011 The first thought on Pete Young's mind after Poole regained the coveted British Team trophy in Manchester three weeks ago was to dedicate the victory to his inspirational former team-mate Ade Gale who was such an important figure in many of the club's twelve previous successes. That thought became a reality on Sunday afternoon, when Ade's family joined the victorious Poole team for a special presentation during the interval of the Premier League match against East Newport. Pictured with the riders and team managers Colin Sutton and Pete Barnes are Ade's partner Paula and daughter Chloe together with Ade's parents Jim and Val. Jim was of course the very first recipient of the BTC trophy back in 1950 as captain of the Gem Pirates. Also in the shot is Poole legend and former British champion, Martin Gale plus his two children and also Darren Tarr from sponsors, Seaview Coaches who also appeared in a number of team finals for the club. NORWICH BLOW AS GRANGE STANDS DOWN - posted 5 October One of cycle speedway's most talented club officials is handing over the reigns. Architect of the much acclaimed British final and driving force behind the Norwich club, Ian Grange, has decided to relinquish his post as club secretary and drastically cut back on his cycle speedway commitments in order to concentrate on his own racing and spend more time with his family, although the popular 29-year-old, a coaching dvelopment manager with Active Norfolk, will continue his coaching work. Speaking exclusively to Spokesman-Online earlier today, Ian explained his decision. "I know that a few rumours were flying that I had stood down as secretary at Norwich and yes I can confirm its true. Rationale is simply to concentrate on myself and my family. My performance over the last few years has diminished due to the commitments I have behind the scenes at the club and I want to focus on myself. I hope people don't think I'm being selfish but for the first time in nine years, since I took over as secretary, I want to put myself and my family first. "Norwich CSC is in a really good position now. There are really high numbers of new riders and lots of parents are now involved. The future is really bright. I will still continue to work with the riders at the club as a coach because that's what I love doing, but that's as far as I will take my responsibilities. "The Harford Park project has been a massive success and the Colby and Wells families have done an awesome job along with the other volunteers, so the leadership of the club will definitely be strong and in the right direction with those people at the helm." ASTLEY CELEBRATE CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARD RECOGNITION FOR TRACK MANAGER - posted 5 October 2011 Astley & Tyldesley were well represented and honoured at the 11th annual Wigan Sports Awards Evening at Leigh Sports Village. Around 250 people attended, with a total of 77 nominations from all sports across the eight categories. Former Olympic gymnast Craig Heap was the guest speaker and presented the awards. Adam Phillips, Adam Turnbull and Max Evans were all nominated for the Sports Achiever category, but none made the final three. However, track manager Lee Phillips (pictured below) took second place in the Volunteer of the Year category. This was fully deserved recognition for his efforts and follows on from his Volunteer of the Year win (jointly with wife Angela) at Astley & Tyldesley's presentation evening last winter. Congratulations to Lee on this recognition. The Astley & Tyldesley cycle speedway club were delighted to win the Club of the Year Award, for the first time ever. This is a magnificent accolade for the club and testimony to the hard work put in over the past 22 years by all its members and supporters. A & T will now represent Wigan at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards at Lancashire County Cricket Ground, at Old Trafford, on Friday 11th November. Editor's Note - On behalf of all our readers, congratulations to everyone at Astley & Tyldesley on this magnificent achievement which is thoroughly deserved. MEMORABLE NIGHT IN PROSPECT AT WEDNESFIELD CELEBRATE GOLDEN JUBILEE - posted 5 October 2011 One of the most famous names in cycle speedway, Wednesfield Aces, celebrate their 50th Anniversary in 2012. To mark this milestone the club are hosting a Golden Anniversary Gala Dinner to be held at the five-star Village Hotel, situated of Junction 10 of the M6 motorway at Walsall. The event will take place on the 17th March 2012 at 7.30pm, 50 years to the very day when the club was formed in 1962. The evening will centre around a three-course meal followed by speeches and presentations. During the evening photographs from the club's history will be shown on a big screen. Club Chief Executive Paul Bodley told Spokesman that although the evening was mostly for ex club members, anyone from within the sport will be welcomed to what promises to be one of cycle speedway's memorable nights. The cost of the ticket is £14.95 per head which has been heavily subsidised by the club. In addition a special hotel room rate has been negotiated and all details can be obtained by emailing Paul at prbodley@hotmail.com or ringing 01952596791 but be quick! Tickets are selling fast and there is a limit of 180. INJURY FORCES MATCH TO BE ABANDONED - posted 29 September 2011 Cycle speedway's run of injuries shows no sign of abating. The recent South-East One match between East London v Great Blakenham meeting was abandoned after Blakenham rider Will Page crashed heavily in the first race. St Johns Ambulance staff, an ever present at SE matches at Canning Town, immediately attended Will and suggested that he be taken to Newham General where a badly dislocated finger was diagnosed. Only fielding five riders, Blakenham were further depleted, so the match was abandoned and has been rescheduled for Sunday 30 October. STUART HOWARTH HONOURED AT AWARDS CEREMONY - posted 19 September 2011 Bury cycle speedway club was well represented at Bury Council's Sports Awards Dinner at at the Radcliffe Civic Suites. A capacity audience, including the Lady Mayor of Bury Councillor Yvonne Cresswell as well as sporting dignataries from the town, heard Bury CSC receive three nominations. Young James Elston was nominated as "Achiever of the Year", John Burston was nominated as "Coach of the Year" and Stuart Howarth was nominated as "Unsung Hero in Sport" James and John were not successful, coming up against over 80 other nominees from every sport imaginable but, in an amazing double for the Bury club, long-serving chairman Stuart Howarth was named "Unsung Hero in Sport". "Stuart's award was thoroughly deserved as he is the ultimate volunteer turning his hand to any job required" said club spokesman Pete Ward. "What was surprising is that award was made to the Bury club secretary Tony Mann last year. For such a minor sport like cycle speedway to win two years running was amazing" added Pete. Unfortunately Stuart was unable to receive his award as he is abroad on holiday but it was a delighted Tony Mann who stepped up to receive the magnificent trophy and certitificate on Stuart's behalf. IPSWICH CHAMPIONS' LAP OF HONOUR - posted 12 September 2011 Ipswich Cycle Speedway's Gemma Hill and Jack Chaplin, the newly-crowned British under-10s Girls' and Boys' champions, have been invited to do a lap of honour at Ipswich Witches next home meeting on Thursday 15th September against Plymouth, at Foxhall Stadium. Start time (from the Ipswich Witches web site): gGates open at 6:50pm, parade starts at 7.30pm and first race starts at 7.45pm John Louis has seen the article in the Evening Star and was delighted to give Gemma and Jack the opportunity to do a lap around the stockcar track prior to the start of the meeting. Over the years all Suffolk clubs have had the chance to promote the sport and particular rider achievements thanks to John Louis and Ipswich Witches. Gemma and Jack doing a lap of honour at Hethersett Finals weekends SPEEDWAY BOSS PRAISES POOLE CLUB - posted 5 September 2011 England and Poole speedway manager Neil Middleditch has sung the praises of the Poole club and cycle speedway in general. Writing in tonight's Poole Speedway programme, Neil said ... "Finally, I had the pleasure of being asked to present some awards recently over at Baiter Park for the Poole Cycle Speedway club a couple of weeks ago. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon, there was a great crowd and the racing was competitive and compelling viewing. "What was so refreshing was to see so many young kids with their parents involved and wanting to be part of the cycle speedway team. "I donft want to get too political but after witnessing the recent riots around the country with youths being targeted as the main instigators of the vandalism and violence, it was a breath of fresh air to see the grealh kids being totally focused on cycle speedway. "I even spotted Smithy (my former team-mate Kevin Smith) involved in the organisation with his boys involved in the set up. "I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and would recommend a Sunday down at Baiter. But the racing is tough with no quarter given. Go see it for yourself!" TELEVISION PROMOTION - A GREAT OPPORTUNITY - posted 31 August 2011 Visitors to Monday's national finals at Eaton Park in Norwich could not have failed to notice the plethora of television and video cameras in attendance. Cameraman Rob Haywood takes a break from filming Monday's national finals Venture Video, in conjunction with Shift Studios, were shooting action for a future Sky Sports television programme, Cycle Sports World, which will be shown sometime in October. It is expected the footage will be edited down to a 12 minute slot which will form one half of the programme. The main filming was being done by Venture Video's Rob Haywood with commentary from Graham Sutton. Despite getting up at 5am in the morning to travel to Norwich, Graham was happy to discuss the project after the match. Here's what he told Spokesman-Online. Simon Gamble from Shift Studios has an eye for the best action "One of the eleventh-hour pieces to fit in to the Finals Weekend jigsaw followed the agreement by media giant IMG to take footage of the Open Championship for the Sky Sports weekly magazine "Cycle Sports World", a deal skillfully negotiated by Joe McLaughlin. But unlike the coverage of five or six years ago however, there was to be no professional TV film crew and thankfully no substantial four-figure bill to pay! "Instead, a deal was struck with Rob Haywood's Venture Video business who has agreed to provide edited material at a fraction of the cost. Quickly overcoming disappointment at the refusal by British Cycling to contribute, the green light for the project came thanks to well publicised donations from with our sport" said Graham. "Comparable cycling features were received from IMG and studied carefully so that a template could be drawn up to guide our filming on the day. Rob and myself have been filming at Poole Speedway for a number of years, so we just needed to bolt on some background cycle speedway info to our established filming routine and try to stick to the plan! "Ian Brown, Simon Gamble and the "Wosskow Crew" also turned up with loads of filming kit to grab material for various promotional projects and they agreed to make their footage available for the Sky programme. Hectic trackside briefings swiftly produced an action plan and filming was under way to highlight the history, techniques, equipment and other features of the sport including the runaway success of women and girls' racing over the past decade. Women's and girls' racing is expected to feature "As with all TV sport, there is no 'take-two' on days like this and now Rob has the unenviable task of sifting through hours of footage to come up with a twenty minute highlights first-cu package for Sky. If all goes well, the feature will be aired in late October - perhaps not the ideal time to recruit new members but nevertheless a golden opportunity to showcase the sport and maybe seek similar coverage of our great sport on a more regular basis" said Graham. We'll bring you more news of the broadcast date once it is known. SHEFFIELD DECLARED OPEN - posted 1 August 2011 The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Dr Sylvia Dunkley, officially opened the city's new look cycle speedway track at Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre at the weekend. The refurbished facility, including new safety fence, drainage, spectator areas and groundworks, was built at a cost of close on £50,000 and took three months to compete. The work was carried out by contractors, MSP Construction. The project was funded by a £42,000 grant from recycling company Biffa and a £4,200 contribution by British Cycling. British Cycling also funded the £3,000 planning costs. In declaring the modernised facility open, club chairman Ian Brown thanked Rob Mace who worked tirelessly in making sure the grant bid suceeded and that the work was completed within budget; everyone at British Cycling who helped the club achieve the project, especailly Facilities Manager Dave Cockram and Director of Coaching John Mills - and the staff of MSP Construction who not only completed the work to schedule but donated a pit fence when it became apparent this was missed off the original specification. The club has ambitious plan to further develop the site including building a clubhouse. £8,000 GRANT FOR WEDNESFIELD - posted 1 August 2011 The Wednesfield club has again been successful in obtaining funding in the form of a grant of £8,060 from "Awards For All". The project centres around youth development and transport and providing young people in the Wednesfield area with new transferable skills. Club spokesman and project leader Paul Bodley said "Once again, the excellent work done in our community by our club has been recognised and generously rewarded." The club has well established links with the local community in Wednesfield and Paul went on to say how important it was to maintain these links and for the club to be an inclusive part of the Community. He also thanked community leaders for their continued support as well as British Cycling's Regional Manager Nick Yarworth for his help. SKY SPORTS TO TELEVISE NATIONAL FINALS - posted 22 July 2011 Sky Sports are to show edited highlights from this year's Wilco British championships on its prestige sports slot, Cycle Sports World. Principal organiser Ian Grange confirmed that arrangements "...are at an advanced stage" and that "subject to putting together a financial package, the broadcast would definitely go ahead." The news follows an approach by independent professional promoter Joe McLaughlin who contacted IMG Group, owners of the rights to Cycle Sports World, who commission the programme for Sky. ProActive TV, who produce the series, have confirmed that they will run the cycle speedway coverage. It expected the national finals will be one of two featured events in the 30 minutes programme. Grange was clearly excited about the prospect of television coverage. "We are working on a financial package with our principal partners, including British Cycling and the production team. There is no up-front fee of several thousands of pounds, as in previous broadcasts. Joe McLaughlin has negotiated an arrangement whereby the sport just pays the production costs. The production is likely to be undertaken by Rob Haywood's Venture Video company" explained Ian. "We are indebted to Joe who has been instrumental in making this possible." "I am confident with our collective skills, not only will we come across to the TV people as committed and professional but may have potentially found partners and allies that could ultimately greatly promote our sport in the future" added Grange. We hope to bring you more news of this exciting development in the next few days. '50 YEARS' GOES DIGITAL - posted 22 July 2011 One of cycle speedway's most sought after publications is now available digitally. Published in 1996 to celebrate the sport's golden anniversary, the limited edition 50 Years of Cycle Speedway quickly sold out. It has since established itself as a something of a collector's item, selling at between £25 and £30 in ebay auctions. But now the publication is available electronically, thanks to the efforts of a former Poole rider. Today John Carry is an insurance accounting specialist working for a well-known firm of underwriters in the City but in the mid-Seventies John was a household name in cycle speedway circles. Now 54-years-old and a grandfather, John raced for Poole Comets from 1974 to 1984, making a brief return to the sport in 1988. John played a key role in Poole's British team championship winning team in 1982, the first of many successes for the Dorset club. But John's finest moment came in the 1984 BTC when he scored a brilliant 18+1 points in Poole's memorable 97-81 victory over arch rivals Wednesfield in the final at Bristol. John, pictured front left, was the "Man-of-the-Match" in the 1984 British Team Final at Bristol. "In my view that victory signalled a shift in the change in the power base in cycle speedway. We also won the English League and the English League Gold Cup that year. Doing the treble was a great achievement" John told Spokesman. "I fondly remember competing in Galley Pirates' Silver Jubilee All-England Fours at Sloughbottom Park, Norwich in 1977 where an unfancied Poole team finished third. The tours to Manchester in 1975 and 1983 were also memorable but my overall memories of cycle speedway was the great sense of comradeship that is an example to many other sports." It was that spirit of comradeship that inspired John to digitise the 50 Years book. "For ages I tried hard to get a copy but never managed to get one. So I approached the editor to see if it could be digitised and made available in pdf format. He readily agreed and my company kindly arranged the digital transfer which hopefully can soon be made available to anyone who wants it" he added. It is hoped that the electronic version can be incorporated in a cycle speedway website in the near future and be made widely available to the public.

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