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THIS week's Speedway Star is its usual 48 pages plus a 24 page section from Travel Plus. How are you losing out?

I think BT coverage is far better especially with the after meeting interviews and chit chat much better than the rushed finishes with sky . Natalie is quality and whilst I admit Nigel and Kevin are too shouty, you can’t knock the enthusiasm. we should start a petition to get Floppy back I thought he was really good.

Phil you have nothing that needs defending , like you state you need the extra revenue these days to exist every publication does really can’t see where Semion is coming from as like you say the 24 page ad is an extra that doesn’t cost the customer any more! I actually find the brochure quite good toilet material once I’ve read the actual magazine content lol Despite social media and the internet in general I still enjoy my fix of my speedway star as does my son...as you know! Keep it going more of us appreciate it than those that do not

Bit of a generalisation SCB, there's plenty of pensioners on basic pension and maybe a small personal pension .....

...trouble is SCB has a fixation about ageism and raises the issue over and over again. Gets a bit tiresome after awhile.

This is the uk not poland seen it all before with polish riders!!

BUT 33% of the usual 48 pages are not devoted to adverts. It is hard enough making SS viable these days without turning away what little advertising is available.

Easy to say that but I doubt anyone would have expected KK to be so pathetic. Looking at the lineups Swindon are nowhere near strong enough to retain next season. No big improvers and no big hitting reserves. Looks like last year was a blip and its back to mediocrity for the Robins. While normal service resumed for Pirates? Looking possible.

Lakeside wanted him (and Kennett) Dont feel too sorry for them though as they simply gamzumped Berwick and Sheffield for Morris and Lawson instead and have brought in 2 reserves on out of date low averages....

I doubt that there are many rich pensioners that include speedway as an interest.. The OAP concession should remain

Here you go again SCB. You really must be a very bitter person. You are right when you say that a hell of a lot of Pensioners are well of, some of them very well off. However the obverse is also true. There are also a hell of a lot of Pensioners who are not very well off, are indeed very, very poor. Some can afford Speedway every week, but others will inevitably not be able to, and it seems that you want to make them even worse off. I doubt if there are many very well off Pensioners who attend Speedway that often so you are actually having a go at the poorer ones. Shame on you!!! You are either very bitter, very jealous or very selfish or maybe a combination of all three. Shame on you!!!

Below are Brady's scores in the Aussie Championship you claim he should be dominating, while insinuating he isn't... r1 = 3 3 DNF 3 3 FEX r2 = 3 3 3 3 3 FEX r3 = 3 3 3 3 3 2 So, he's only been beaten once in three rounds when he has completed the race. Your post on this subject is EXACTLY why people hate you on here Gavan. You are a troll and t*sser.

It's free for him to watch the Colts. A good way to get him and his mates interested.

Time to get some long trousers then !

First of all we are discussing a CL club here and no one is advocating that the NL should allow overseas riders to participate in their league. At Edinburgh, the supporters have had very few problems with the overseas guys recruited in terms of commitment. Indeed in 2016 when we ran our final home match, due to previous postponements, on 21st October , a break of 3 weeks since our last actual race meeting, our 3 Germans traveled back to honour their commitment. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of a certain English team member who threw a sickie, but was well enough to attend a social function at his EL club on the same night! Unlike the overseas riders who are prepared to commute here, we have great difficulty in attracting decent English prospects to sign on for us, usually citing our base as being too far for them to travel. So what are we supposed to do, just employ any Brit who is willing to come, irrespective of their ability? Well current & potential local supporters up here would soon lose interest if we were compelled to track cannon fodder in the name of keeping all British riders in a job. Oh and btw, our foreign guys do socialise after the meeting and our promising Aussie, Josh Pickering, stayed within a couple hundred yards of the Stadium with a local family.

A very sad and touching film that many of us ex fans of defunct clubs can relate to.

This thread is ok until gavan comes back on it then it goes into lets dig at every poole rider,you don't see any poole fans go on the Ipswich thread bleating on about how he's got beatan by him,he shudnt be beat by him hes a no1 and the other guy is a 2nd string blah blah blah why dont you focus ur attention on how ipswich are going to massive chumps again next season and win nothing again LMAO

Makes a change from you being reported eh Gavan. Considering all the abusive language and name calling you have used in the past, you really don't have a leg to stand on.

Along with his sons runs a very successful electrical business despite the awful injuries he suffered during his brilliant career which very nearly crippled him.

but he usually doesn't come back to you.

I don't think parents would be shocked at that for a one off night out. Getting them to pay it every week, however, is a different matter. But if my son was taken somewhere by his friends' parents and I was told it was 20 quid to see a live sporting event I'd pretty much expect it. I don't see why people factor food into the cost though. Just eat before you go. What's the issue? And you don't need to get a programme for every one either.

As many said, a tad dear for families, else nail hit on head. Put on more races, juniors, anything, after main 15ht match....

I see that Brady went through the card again in the latest round of the Aussie Championship. He really is a cut above the opposition in this event. Got pipped by a fast gating Holder in the final but virtually unbeatable. In fact Holder is the first rider to beat him over 4 laps this championship. The only points Brady has dropped is for an exclusion and EF. Let’s hope he comes into the speedway season over here in similar devastating form and battles to retain his number one berth.

The speedway star in my opinion is excellent value look at the prices of other sporting magazines or papers the Racing post as a example for me it should be more than 3 pound.Also the 2018 teams line up edition is a terrific read great value that certainly should be a higher price.

Sadly the same can be said about everything leisure costs a fortune these days.A few years later as an apprentice my take home pay was £10.06 a week a pint of beer was 10p so I could(not that I did) buy 100 pints with my wage.Now a pint is approx £3.00 how many apprentices take home £300.00 pounds a week. Again a few years later on full money married buying a house etc I went to football on Saturday afternoon and speedway at night and could afford both no problem.As the years have passed and my money became worthless I could not afford to do both so I had to choose I picked speedway it would seem most others stayed with football. And there lies the problem people can't afford to spend as much on leisure because it and everything else cost so bloody much and your wage goes nowhere these days.As with me a lot of people cannot do everything they want to do and have to pick and choose and it would seem speedway is lower down on peoples list than other things and in my opinion is a big reason why speedway is struggling these days.

Have you finished wiping that egg off your face from last season, Steve?

What on earth are you expecting for £3 a Book! I find the SS excellent value for money!!!

Please, please, please say it's Bridger

Because if the Brits don’t come first and we lose our British riders the national team with disappear, the profile of the sport will sink even lower, the sport won’t be able to afford the extra costs of flying in riders, our league will be at the beck and call of the foreign leagues, just like last season with Poland dictating where riders should ride, there will be less interaction between riders and potential local supporters because they will rarely be in the country, there will be less interest in a sport in which only foreigners participate, all us families who support NL riders and give our time to clubs for free will be lost to the sport ....

I think they do a good job myself.

Brings back some happy memories of when I was a kid supporting Oxford "speedway star, speedway mail"

Thing is, Pirates Bleeding Blue called Gavan out for slagging off Kurtz in the Aussie Championship. Gavan denies he did but it was clear he was having a dig at Kurtz. We all read it on here. But he had to back track and deny he was slagging Kurtz off and ‘we all read it wrong’, after Kurtz has hardly dropped a point all championship. Gavan wasn’t slagging him off after all, even though it looked to everyone else that he was, and that being beaten by a second string etc should never happen, even though it happens in virtually every meeting with any top rider. Pirate Bleeds Blue smack on the money.

A lot of fans took the pee out of the Somerset ones not just me! The Poole ones looks like a bit of effort went into it, which is a good sign as they don't tend to put too much into social media.

Many forget how far Fricke has come in the sport for one of only 21. He has won the Aussie U21 a few times - was World U21 Champ and has also been in teams that won their respective leagues in DK/SWE & POL (Nice1), the season before last. For me just as with Brady Kurtz, people expect big things so early in their Speedway careers, sometimes using Dacy Ward as the example which for me is completely unfair as Darcy was a rare talent we many never see the likes of again. Speedway riders develop at different rates. You had one extreme with young Darcy and at the other extreme was a late developing Jason Doyle. Would anyone say 5/6/7 years ago have thought this guy would ever really be a WC (should have been twice but for injury cruelly robbing him in 2016). It doesn't mean that just because you arrive on the scene and hit the big time so young that you will in those early years be a World beater. Some riders take time to mature, and with Fricke having achieved so much at such a young age, he needs to find consistency now riding regular against the Worlds top riders. That will surely come as he rides more against them in the major leagues i.e POL/SWE/UK. Similar situation with Brady. He is kind or thrown in at the deep end at 21 as number one and personally I wish he had been just short of 8 points and a recognised heat leader like a Pawlicki (himself only 23) had been number one. The new one over 8 rule put paid to that so he is there due to circumstances. I don't expect Brady to put too much on his av this year with the addl pressures of now being regular in POL and his new venture into SWE. This is a year of hopeful improvement but more about consolidating himself against the top riders in Europe. He now has to get used to a situ like POL SUN - Poss UK meeting MON - SWE Tue - Poole,or another UK meeting WED. That in itself brings pressure so for me from a Poole perspective it is up to the other riders in 2018 to pull their weight so it doesn't all fall on his head when he has those odd difficult/bad rides which all young riders have now and then.

I can't wait to quote all these posts back to you in the future. Anybody (well... clearly not quite) can see that Kurtz has heaps of talent under his belt, he's just developing his groove. Darcy Ward was another rider who was very up and down, and he went on to be the best rider to grace a speedway bike in decades. Stop slagging the lad off and just wait and see. So boring to see you determined to bring everybody down a peg. Does your wife wear the trousers or something?

Or run a junior meeting like the Northern Junior League, and the MDL meeting, after the main meeting in meaningful matches with 4 junior riders in 6 extra heats.

I can splash some paint about on canvas. My work starts at £5million if you want to make an investment. Perhaps after we have both gone your family will see a return. They say all artist die poor lol

Jason yes, Morris no.

You wouldn't need to replace Hans because he wouldn't underperform, Sundstrom is much more of a risk and starts on a lower average so would have less to play with to replace on a one for one basis.

I refuse to be critical of the Speedway Star as I have it on subscription and find it a great read. I would however request that your Matchday Programme reviewer takes on board your own comments above about not 'turning away what little advertising is available' when doing their critique of each club's programme efforts. In fact your reviewer will always mark down the score of any programme that in his opinion has 'too much advertising'!!! With the finances of most clubs teetering on the brink (or so we are told?!) then surely every attempt at maximizing revenue through a matchday programme should be just as applauded as the amount and quality of any editiorial/pictorial content!! rant over.

You are so cock sure of yourself after last year you would of thought you would of taken a low profile.All the other Poole fans Ray C, Foreverblue (ect) are all pretty grounded people they are hopeful of course but they know it will be tough nothing in speedway is a gimme.As for your take on the Robins total rubbish the top four dont need to improve and Adam and Zach will put a point ( minimum) on there averages i predict Zach will be very solid at home before his spleen injury he was very impressive a rider who has a big future Ellis is the key he could put 1.5 on his average.

...remember talking to the late Bernard Crapper about the times he would appear to 'rant and rave' at the referee whilst on the phone at the starting gate. He explained to me that often he was just passing the time of day with the referee but felt the need to liven up proceedings just to get the crowd excitable.

Graham - Using Swindon as an ax ample as that is your team, then Swindon would be in the one big league along with all other tracks, so hopefully 18 home and 18 away meetings from late March to mid September. As the teams would be the same strength at Swindon as it is at Redcar or Peterbourough etc then as an example only, Swindon could be a team something like Nick Morris, Tobias Musielak, Justin Sedgeman, Adam Ellis, Zach Wajtknecht, Mitchell Davey and a 2.00 NL draft. Then as they want to also compete in the Super Cup league of 6/7 home and the same away, they would name FOUR squad riders of which one must be lower ranked than the number one in the other team and these could be riders doubling up from a track not operating in the Super Cup. So Robins could name Jason Doyle, Niels K Iversen, Peter Kildemand and David Bellego and would name any two in the SC meetings while Kildemand and Bellego could cover for Morris if injured or missing and Bellego also for Tobiasz The team in the big league isn't a great deal less that what you have now and with 17/18 home meetings (should be a bit cheaper than now) I'm sure they would get the support as this is the regular action and could be one of the pace setters. Then for just 6/7 meetings through the season, you would use the top five of that team along with any two of your squad riders so it could be Doyle, Iversen, Morris, Musielak, Sedgeman, Ellis and Zach W which as its only once a month and against a top line opposition, then maybe £20 would be acceptable to many to see such a meeting and crowds should be good at both levels. If they wear a Robin are you going to turn your back on one level even though five are in the other level ?

Good stuff First meeting Cradley v Swindon 1970 Second Meeting Cradley v Hackney the following week. Heathens' fans stoning Garry Middleton's Mercedes when he tried to leave early First meeting at Perry Barr 1971 Arthur Browning's max in his first meeting for Brum in 1972 Mal Corradine riding in a plaster cast 1972 Mick Hines in 1973 The double in 1974, Just the team, fantastic bunch, brilliant times NNL champs in 75, sponsored walk (pub crawl) for Keith White 1978, Czech touring team at Stoke, utterly bonkers! First time I saw Zdenek Kudrna race. 1980, Zdenek joins Brum, fantastic. My ultimate sporting hero 1981 KOC final, ran Ipswich close with a rag tag and bobtail team Last World Final at Wembley, a great occasion, even though Penhall won (joking) 1982 Zdenek returns to Brummies. The sheer joy of watching Jason Lyons in action Bad times The debacle of Brum's debut year in GOBL 1976. Chris Morton fencing Alan Grahame. We knew. Losing Zdenek in 1982, a real low point both personally and for the club Finishing at the Ladbroke in 1983 The reality of the Wheels stadium, not good. Decent racing in 85, but in 86, well........ Seeing Joey Owen seriously injured 1985

So even no hoper British riders should be guaranteed a place?

sounds to me like he was told he could leave but would be a full transfer as he was part of the planned team and he didnt want to risk no one offering to buy his contract.. bit like Matt Ford telling holder he could leave if someone paid for him.

Skidder, are you just trying to wind Stevebrum up??? Cos it has worked!!

Won't be anything other than an 8 or 9. Anything else is pure manipulation and bias.

Simply because there are riders out there who seem to be Flying Machines at 16 years of age does not mean that a 19 year old should be considered as "past it". History tells us that every young Whizz Kid does not go on to become a top international star. It also tells us that many riders have achieved the top level of the sport in spite of beginning at an advanced age. I still think that Cupitt, at 19 years old is as good a prospect as most.

Really enjoyed the Speedway Mail and still have a huge collection wish it was still around today.