Description

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No Breaks: A Lost Season in British Speedway is a story of survival. Once the country's second most popular sport, filling Wembley Stadium for meetings, speedway now gets by on crowds numbered in the hundreds. It's been banished to industrial estates in towns like Redcar and Scunthorpe and generally forgotten by the mainstream media. And yet, going into 2020, things were looking up: several star riders were returning to race in Britain for the first time in years and a new, long-term TV contract was in place. Then the coronavirus lockdown happened, cancelling the league season and threatening the sport's very existence. Starting in September 2019, No Breaks hears from those who earn a living from speedway - the riders - and those who continue to keep it alive against the odds: the promoters and fans. Month by month, the book explores British speedway's current health - itself a reflection of wider society - while shining a much-needed light on many compelling and positive stories.

About the Author

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Roddy McDougall worked as a journalist for several national news broadcasters. A producer and reporter for BBC News and BBC TV Sport, he moved on to senior roles in news editing with TV-am, GMTV and ITN where he was Head of Home News. He's written for When Saturday Comes and has co-authored a forthcoming walking book on his birthplace, Edinburgh. He currently works in London as a media and presentation coach.