Thetownend.com

Anyone coming up today?

Why? What's going on? Is Henry VIII in town?

it started at 4pm, so it may be a tad late now.

last speedway meet at the Abbey, into a new stadium next year (alegedly)

Still got the nippers out on track at the moment..

I wonder if the new stadium actually happens..

yeah, me too. bloody hope so. speedway isn't really my thing other than the occasional trip and checking the results, but Swindon without speedway would be a real shame

Really can't see how a new track stadium will be ready for next season, hope I'm wrong

Unfortunately, the greyhound mob who own the present stadium have a track record of promising new stadia and then just closing down and selling.

Reading, Bristol Eastville, Milton Keynes are 3 examples.

I understood the planning clause was the stadium had to be built before the 2nd tranche of housing could be built.

They've obviously bypassed that.  They're a bunch of fuckers.

Had heard the same thing from other sources, worrying times for the Robins

Only ever been to speedway once and loved it. The stadium was somewhat dated mind.

No doubt that the facilities needed to be updated, but it feels like the same situation when Brighton had the Goldstone Ground sold from underneath them. Can see the old track/stadium being knocked down with no replacement being built.

Well I went, what a great meeting we had.  Started at 4 pm with youth racing and finally finished with a firework display about 7-15 and all this for £17!  STFC could learn an awful lot from that meeting, slick presentation, good pa system and music being played that had a lot of people tapping their feet, unlike the crap we are served up at the CG!

Where will they ride next season. Would be disgraceful if they were left without a home. Used to love the speedway as a kid.

Are they the guys that ride round and round on motorbikes doing skids and stuff ?

And mostly forward with only a hint of sideways

Rumours of them moving to Oxford for a year have been poo-pooed.

That's a shame if that's true

Was certainly quite an odd feeling walking down the slope from the home straight grandstand to the car park for the very last time. My gramp went to the very first match there in 1949, he took my dad as a kid and my old man took me as a babe in arms and have been ever since.

There's plenty of twitchy fans worrying about the new stadium, with good reason, as has been pointed out already. the stadium owners have a track record of being total wankers when it comes to closing and rebuilding stadia over the years. the building work was supposed to begin in July. But nothing has seemingly happened except the houses looming ever closer.

Rosco and Terry Russell are adamant that the stadium will come though and seem to be committed assembling a good team for next season. So that's something I suppose, we will have to start the season late either way though.

Even if we do get the new stadium, it's a shame to have to leave the old track. It was one of the few big, fast and wide tracks left in the UK, as most are now pokey little polo mints, which is what our new one is going to have to be sadly. Although I'd take any speedway in Swindon than none at all.

That and Town's struggles have made this a bit of a glum weekend...bollocks.

I haven't been since the 70's as a kid, loved it. Still have speck marks on me from the gravel. Yeah thanks dad, get near the front you'll get a great view..

Hopefully a better one than this year! One that tries all the time and doesn't give up if the conditions are less than ideal or if they have a GP or more important meeting in the next couple of days!

IS YOUR HEARING OK?

Id be amazed if the new stadium is ready for next year. Why have they been given to close and build on the old stadium without work on the replacement being well under way? Have the Adver not already started asking questions about this to raise awareness?

There are still some outstanding planning issues apparently, like drainage and sound barriers - all that still to be agreed with the council.  Hope I am wrong but it is not looking hopeful!

Where is the new stadium suppose to be?

Where it is now, turned 180°.

Always seemed a no go to me. Who's going to buy a house next door to a speedway/greyhound track?

The same kind of folk that moved into the village of Castle Coombe and complain about the noise from the race track. Likewise those people that moved near to Mallory Park and managed to get their local council to put strict sound levels and limited track usage which has led to the circuit going under. These people are dickheads.

(http://i58.tinypic.com/z4uhc.jpg)

According to today's Adver (if you believe anything that they print!) they may start next season at the old stadium as Gaming International appear to accept that the new stadium will not be ready until June!  Still got outstanding planning issues and not likely to start for at least another month, if planning is approved.

Never saw that happen..

I wonder if they'll have a 'welcome back to our temporary/old home' 'one-off event', you know, just for sentimental purposes..

If it is staying on the same site but turning through 180 degrees, how are they going to use the existing whilst building the new?

The new stadium is on the same site, i.e Blunsdon but adjacent to the old stadium but turned 90 not 180° so, in theory, there should be very little changeover period.

Can remember going there and it kicked off,well there was a bit of handbags between the fans.
Mid 70s v Exeter . . Ivan Maujer(spolling) springs to mind.