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Just continually trying to improve things , making it in such a way to enable us to enjoy exciting and thrilling speedway . The track was too one line last season , the aim is to have a track that riders of both sides can attack and give the paying public the type of speedway to do justice to it's surroundings . No point having Chris Harris and not giving him the track to entertain us .

Darcy Ward wins at 14/1 woo-hoo.

Lol! Poole team looks far superior to Swindons in every single department. You are kidding yourself if you think otherwise. Roll on our trip to Blunsdon.

Your sentiment is wrong. Clubs should do everything they can to encourage and keep British riders for the long term good of the sport in this country. Jacobs and Perks have both shown they can be good enough and it’s a travesty that neither has been signed.

Welcome home Chris. The usual trolling, bitterness about Chris and Poole, in general, is hilarious so keep it up, guys

I'l give it till end of May before hes gone. Signing s rider that doesn't want to be there. Can see another KK on the card. Surprised Ford has taken the risk. Nevertheless it' a GP rider in the league so well done for that

I'm trying to plan my life around it. Bit difficult when I don't know where it is, when it is, how many riders we need, how many events and how much $$$ I will need to raise to make up the shortfall!

I understand it isn't easy for those who have difficulty grasping facts but as Jacobs has said he needs to double up to continue racing it follows that Belle Vue couldn't have had him instead of Drozdz unless he was also offered a CL team slot. My opinion is that the culprits here are the BSPA who have abandoned the two Brits per team rule. They should've instead implemented it in both the PL and CL instead of encouraging teams to sign more foreign riders. That wouldn't necessarily guarantee Jacobs a team place but certainly helps British riders to get places and to progress.

Don't agree, usually when a track closes the majority of its fans are lost, when Sheffield closed I stopped going altogether as did most of the Sheffield fans I knew at the time All less tracks with less meetings will mean is less fans

Second week in June for the announcement,is leaving it very late!!!

Both are better than they used to be anyway . At one time you feared riders would disappear through the pits gate on bend 2 , and the third bend bump wasn't too much in evidence last season , nor was the bend as square . But you cant stand still and the track has plenty of improvement needed . The football club no longer calls the tune at Ashfield , so I imagine their pitch will be quite a bit narrower after the track work is complete .

Passing because away riders gate and don't ride in the right place on the track and the Wolves riders pass them. Better racing at Somerset and BV I suspect.

Lol Gavan you talk some real tripe sometimes. You've been making these nonsense analyses for years and you're never right. I've never known somebody so bitter before... I mean it's really weird. If Swindon has the better team, then Swindon will win. But that's not enough for you. You get some sort of weird satisfaction from making sure that you've shoved your opinion down everybody's throat. It's not about the sport for you, it's just about being right.

So why do the 3 main leagues in Europe(Poland, Sweden & Denmark) have rules in place for home grown riders. We had it in place & still riders like Jacobs & Nielsen could not get starting places in 2017, & now the rule has been thrown to one side. We, also, had the EDR system even though it was biased & flawed. But, we are not the only sport that dumps Brits for foreigners!

Just Another Vodka & Not A Role Model also in the line up - seems to be Darcy Ward themed race.

Holder is a steal on that average in my opinion. Lynn fans are bitter over his actions last season, but Buster was the person that bought cheap clay rather than shale, so must take part of the blame. Always found Holder very humble when I have been in his company, & with a good start, think he will end the season as number 1.

Josh G was one place below Musielek in the final averages last season having rode at number one all season in a struggling team compared to Musielak riding half the season as a second string for the title winners so fail to see how thats a no contest. Also Woryna over Ellis , you have to be joking surely. As I have already said, IF Shanes and someone like Sundstrom is the final signing this side will take some stopping IMO. Can you imagine Holder gets back to somewhere near his best, Sundstrom signs (he will average 8 in this league no question), Kurtz carries on improving, Woryna brings even half of his Polish form to Poole and the other Pole even just holds his average... lots of ifs but they look more than likely to happen. This Poole side is head and shoulders above the rest and anyone who thinks otherwise is either anti Poole, thick or both.

The trick in beating the points limit is getting a team of riders who can improve their averages. With the possible exception of Klindt, I can see the entire Workington team doing that. Having seen him ride many times last season and knowing just how good he is I suspect the biggest improvement will come from Bickley.

The track didn't seem to give him any problems when KL won at Wimborne Road last season!! ...and if all goes to plan with the final signings then Holder will start as a 2nd string!! Can't wait......

Chris Holder is back.......shocker that!

Sings is passionate about his speedway, I don't always agree with him but he does always make his points fairly and sensibly. And tbf to him, I would of had the same opinions as him 2 seasons ago. Since a family member joined the team in 2016 I have been more active around the pits and riders etc and have more of a feel for the work behind the scenes. I think because Chris and Len are not as active on social media as say Connor Dugard, or not as active on forums as say Jane Moss it's easy to assume all things outside central park are unknowns to the kent management but they are as proactive as anyone else. And riders like Rowe,Thomas,and even Shansie don't just fall into your lap. The problem is with youngsters is, that not only does the sport have to fit around thier schooling, but also around the parents employment. So riders will usually prefer thier local track or a track that races at weekends. Anyway looking ahead with the side we have so far. Luke Bowen - At this level as good a number 1 as is possible. And the last couple of seasons he really has grown into a proper skipper. If you stand back and watch him off track he knows which riders to put an arm round, and which riders who respond to a kick up the arse. Something pointed out to me at Stoke away at the end of the season was he was talking the the two riders as a pair before more or less every Heat. Always has Immaculate equipment. And interacts with the fans as if everyone is a lifelong friend. Jack Thomas - Having progressed so far in two seasons, Jack should be looking at this season as his final National League Campaign before jumping in with the big boys. To do this he will be needing to challenge Luke for the number 1 jacket. Comes on a bargain average really too, when you consider the number of mechanical failures in points positions he suffered . level headed, polite lad. And he interacts with the kids through to the pensioners so naturally and professionally. But with a joker in him as well. Nathan Stoneman - Mr excitement, you can never relax until all 4 laps are completed with Nath. 100 percent trier with bags of potential and the ability to go all the way. Needs an injury free season and could well make it a 3 way challenge for Lukes vest. Proper genuine likable joker, and him and Jack together are quite the double act. Came in last year with a bit of a rep for poor equipment but last year I don't recall any issues at all. Anders Rowe - Anders had a great first season and will hopefully continue his progression towards the business end of the speedway pyramid, it should not be forgotten that he will still only be 15 when the season starts at easter. Very quiet and shy lad and much like Jack comes with great, clued up, and level headed parents in the bits. Another with immaculate equipment, and hopefully will come back more physically developed. Taylor Hampshire - on a 4 point average this can only be a great signing. Came to kent towards the back end of 2017 with brum in a challenge match and scored a big double figure score and rode for us at Stoke at number 5 and gave a good account of himself. Most knockers of him say he has bad equipment but I can't see uncle Len allowing his equipment to be sun standard. Jacob Clouting - Somebody I ve heard has a good solid style but may lack a bit of speed initially but apparantly has good equipment. But to be honest I ve only seen pics and vids, so can't really judge fairly. So a proper number 1 and skipper, and 5 riders with potential to up thier averages, I think we look in good shape. Personally I d like to see James Laker given his shot at 7.

You could well be right and I don't think he helped himself having a year out a few seasons back but if a club invested some time and effort in him he may well be able to achieve more. He showed in 2016 at Belle Vue that in the right environment he could score decent points. Just doesn't sit right with me that there are British lads struggling to get a ride yet we seem happy to make is easy for foreign riders to get team spots, the Brits need to be put first.

The full 1-7 is in place, and will be announced shortly I believe. Mick Horton and my successor will be ‘The Promotion’.

I hope he ends up at Belle Vue the best racetrack we have in the Country, and Belle Vue are the biggest and most famous club in speedway.

The Problem with most of the riders in the NL is their matches are strung out over the season so riders don’t seem to get racing every week which I think they need to be racing every week to progress there were some teams that had no matches for 6 weeks then fitting them in at the end of the season on tracks that are not enjoyable

I’ve only seen Bewley at Monmore and while he was both fast and trying different lines, I don’t recognise the bull in a china shop description. He always looked completely in control of what he was doing — very impressive.

I don't particularly enjoy watching racing on the tight confines of Monmore Green but rarely is there a meeting staged at the venue which lacks passing.

Dan Bewley “all action”? I’ve only seen him on TV but he looked like a small, smooth Leigh Adams, rather than an erratic young Jason Doyle.

Well that's down to Jack, maybe he'll zip it a bit more now.

As other posters have already pointed out, Jack has said that Chris should be with him... not that Jack should be at Poole. More nonsense from PooleBolton as per usual. Jack Holder is more than happy to be at Somerset it seems, which Chris wanted too and was all set to join Doyle as the top 2 in the side until Matt Ford put the brakes on that move.

He says "he shoulda been with me".

How to endear yourself to Somerset supporters Jack Holder, he probably only signed because he thought Chris would be at Somerset.

It's common knowledge that Holder wanted to be at Somerset. I'm sure there was other clubs interested too, but Matt Ford demanded a transfer fee and was refusing to loan him out. No club in the current financial climate was going to buy him especially given his unpredictability and by process of elimination he has ended up back at Poole, rather than be clubless.

Potential? After 2 complete seasons, he has a 4.00 average in the third division of a second rate league structure. So how far do you think he'll go? With his shoddy attitude towards equipment maintenance, and a tenancy to get bored once the novelty value of a new environment has worn off, I doubt that he'll go as far as you think. If he peaks at a 6.00 NL average I think he'll have gone as far as he could. So the question is, how much effort do you put into producing 6.00 NL riders, and at what cost to those with better potential who won't be getting the time or resources as a result? http://www.speedwaygb.co/files/downloads/nl17_issue_33.pdf As for "very young" - he's 19. Bartosz Zmarzlik was winning SGP's at that age. Really, 19 is not "very young" at all these days. Maybe compared to Stoke Potters riders it will be, and maybe many fans have grand kids that age that make them think that they are young at 19, but in a competitive sporting world, it's not. He's 4 years older than Leon Flint, and I wouldn't mind betting that in 4 years time Leon will be in a far more developed stage of his career than Cupitt is or will ever be at.

While I agree with you.Much depends on the wage demands of these riders IMO .

People missing the point entirely. Joe Jacobs needed to do 2 leagues not one so Belle Vue didnt take him on its as simple as that!! As for Shovlar talking about loyalty do us a favour and keep your mouth closed, Howarth, Newman, Ellis to name but 3 and now have an asset inPerks they dont wnat and would rather get in a Pole.........but thats ok beacuse its Poole hypocrite

Delusional or trolling? Kurtz v Morris.................Morris has shown himself to be the better rider in the UK but lets say equal Holder v Batch..............Again nothing in it 2 riders on the downgrade Josh v Musielek...........no contest Musielek every time ? v Bellego............so we dont know who the Poole rider is yet but it will have to be someone pretty good to be better than Bellego did last year Woryna v Ellis...................on Uk tracks you would have Ellis every time Saucepan v Zach..................abroad saucepan, over here who knows but im prepared to vote saucepan Shanes v Davey.................no contest Shanes every time Cant see for the life of me how Poole are superior in every department......................bit like last season then lol

Joe Jacobs achieved a 5.14 average , The argument that he wasn't good enough surely ends there ?, well to any normal thinking person . Sure he was exceptional at NSS ,and struggled away at smaller tracks, but the point is at 24 yrs old Surely there was room for improvement ?,

Irrespective of whether his name is Joe Jacobs or Mr X, it is sad to see a young British rider, who has potentially ten years in the sport ahead of him, retire. The sport needs as many young British riders coming through as possible for the future.

Even if they are good enough they have been shoved down the order by foreigners on bargain averages now.

Tbf Rowe wasn’t a ‘find’ in that everyone knew he would be good when he turned 15. Riders like BWD and Brooks have been a bit more random signings.

Skidder1 Kim Nillson has decided that he will not be riding in the UK at the start of the season as now has a regular place in Poland and wants to try progress his career on the continent. I would not be surprised to see him back in the UK later in the year though

Gavan is right. He has been forced into it. A 5.14 average IS good enough. So yours and Shovlar's point of view has already been shown up to be nonsense. He had a 4.35 average riding for Wolves in 2014. 4.36 at home 4.34 away. Given a regular team place it could be different story. Sadly his career has been so stop start we will never know how he might have progressed. Another Brit forced into retirement due to the ridiculous 5.20 average given to new foreigners in the Championship and the even more pathetic so called reassessing for some and not others in the top flight. Some have already got a leg up due it this season. And NO, it's not a personal attack on Poole. I'd say the same if ANY clubs signed riders on OLD averages that are no longer valid.

The whole post was meant to be tongue in cheek....Obviously lost in translation... I'm obviously younger than you and have a different sense of humour. My apologies to anyone old or anyone else that may have found it not to their sense of humour.

After the ventriloquist and before the meat raffle.

So one minute You're saying its nothing to do with Jacob's average , then you're agreeing with a post saying riders like Grieves , Perks and Jacob's are stuck with their old averages ?

One of the most pathetic comments I have seen on here and thats saying something. Seems to me the older generation have stuck by the sport through thick and thin and have been responsible for introducing newbies (Grandchildren) along the way. As for the last part of the comment re Funeral services...is that funny?

For me this should be a watershed moment for people who ru(i)n our great sport. When a young British talent who 2 seasons ago could be seen whacking round the NSS beating all manor of genuine international level riders on sky sports, who ups his average and is able to compete at Elite level has to miss a season due to his high average, punishing the lad for developing and improving. And a season later faced with the same fate decides to hang up his boots. Something is seriously amiss with the way the sport is being run.

Certainly is a misconception thinking that half the price, means twice the attendance and that's only to stand still income wise. It 'would' give a better atmosphere and 'may; lead to even greater numbers, but would and may doesn't make it work. It has been tried many times before and failed. I remember years ago, a bus company I think in either Nottingham or Leicester halved the fares, and saw no rise in numbers using the buses, and quickly reverted back to the original fare before they hit financial ruin.

To keep both competitions alive in alternate years seems to be the sensible solution to this. It would be highly unpopular to replace the SWC with the Pairs of Nations, but if we can have the pairs and 4-Team events every other year, I would be happy. Variety is alway good. To have the World Cup tournament only every second year is not a bad thing. But the inaugural Pairs Speedway of Nations should not be staged in Poland this year. The Poles already had the SWC (Leszno) and the World Games Best Pairs (Wroclaw) in 2017 and they will get another Speedway World Cup Final (Gorzow) in Poland in 2019. By the way, are You aware that we already have an annual European Pairs Championship, which is nearly the same competition as a World Pairs, only without the Aussies and Americans. Winners of the European Pairs Championship at Lonigo, Italy, in 2017 were Poland, ahead of Russia. France finished third, ahead of Denmark, Italy, Great Britain, and Latvia. Great Britain was represented by Steven Worrall and Ellis Perks !