Why did Britain fall out of love with speedway?

It’s classified by the government as an ‘elite’ sport but you’ll struggle to find it mentioned in the national press. The current European champion is a Briton — Robert Lambert — but I’d be surprised if many people reading this have ever heard of him. It was once reckoned to be Britain’s second most popular spectator sport but the weekly numbers attending this summer’s shortened league season will be in the low tens of thousands.

I’m talking about speedway, which has dropped out of national consciousness so much that it’s often necessary to explain what it actually is: motorbikes, four riders, racing four laps around an oval circuit at up to 70mph and, crucially, without any brakes. Catch it on a good day and it’s one of the most exciting sports there is. Each race — which lasts around a minute — is a roaring mix of noise, shale and mud. Riders display skill, quick-wittedness and bravery in equal measure. Go to YouTube and type in the names of the three best riders in the world — Tai Woffinden (Britain’s three-time world champion), BartoszZmarzlik and Fredrik Lindgren – and watch their race from October. The lead changes six times in just 19 seconds. Is there any other sport where this happens?

From immediately after the second world war up until 1981, meetings were often held in front of 90,000 spectators at Wembley. The Duke of Edinburgh was among those invited to present trophies. It’s difficult to imagine the Duchess of Cambridge popping along to King’s Lynn’s Saddlebow Road to do the same today. Backed by regular coverage on ITV’s World of Sport in the 1970s and 1980s, riders such as Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs were household names. BBC radio and newspapers carried league results giving towns such as Long Eaton, Weymouth and Ellesmere Port a rare moment in the national spotlight.