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Chill out Dave , championships and cups are won with on track performances , not on what peoples opinions are as Ipswich and Peterborough fans found out in the 2017 k/o cup final.

Personally any decision that effectively stops British riders from riding in a British league is fundamentally wrong, especially when these riders don’t ride abroad. it will be interesting this year to see how many Championship riders doubling up miss meetings in the UK because of riding commitments abroad. As has been said before if they don’t want riders over 6 in the Premiership riding in the Championship then they should make the rule across the board and stop everyone over that average, the fact that they haven’t just highlights the complete inconsistencies of the BSPA.

There is but people keep going on and on and on about the whole VFM thing, we've had three months of it. The promotion can't put anything right until the season starts and meetings take place, so how about a bit of positivity until then? This thread has had far too much negativity on it. And just to say I am not somebody who can't see any wrong in what the club does, if the racing is crap and meetings drag on until 10pm I won't be going much either. But the constant whinging is wearing a little thin.

I think the BSPA have actually made two very bold and correct decisions recently (Nicholls/Kennett and Byron Becker). Their problem is not properly explaining their decision-making process and logic to the public.

Probably because they were laughing so much (like the rest of us) when bringing in the ringer for the playoffs spectacularly backfired

Only in Shovlers dreams

ah but is Kurtz better than Morris

1.Leicester 2.Belle Vue 3.Somerset 4.Rye House 5.Poole 6.Wolverhampton 7.Kings Lynn 8.Swindon

Their problem is making 'knee-jerk' decisions and not communicating them to the people it directly affects - as well as the fans. Nothing wrong with the decisions - just wrong in the timing and implementation. Anything affecting a rider's livelyhood should give suitable notice.

They're there with their opinions.

I agree rider fitness and bonding is very important - the bit the promotion seem to ignor is they have major bridge building job with fans who walked away including me last season - so far they’ve done nothing to make me want to return. Probably the oppersit by the £1 increase in admission. But as you say over the first month or so of the season will see how things go .

Yep, not interested

I’ll be off to this year’s Celebration of Speedway as it is an enjoyable day out. But I do have reservations over the price that has increased to £10 per person this year. If I am correct the event was originally free if you produced a copy of the Speedway Star advert. Then I recall it became a voluntary donation, then it was £5 and now it’s up to a tenner. Prices for drinks and food aren’t exactly cheap either and I’m sure they would still make money by charging less. I fully except the admission price to walk around the Wildlife Park is considerably more but not everyone wants to walk around the park as nice as it is and especially if the weather is inclement! I’m sure there are people who take advantage of the cheap price on the day to use all the facilities on site but as I say not everyone want to use them. Surely the Speedway Star idea should still be used? I do think the event is now becoming a money earner for the park. Does money on the day go to the World Speedway Riders Association, to the park, the speedway museum [is that part of the World Speedway Riders Association?] or do they all benefit? Maybe as an olden these days on a pension I expect too much. High Beach the spiritual home of the first meeting did outgrow its self but it would have been an idea perhaps to have something there this year as after all it is speedways 90th anniversary.

That's SCB as in the forum member

Although they have terracing planned either side the big gap in the middle is a bit of a waste, but clearly the planners only have dogs in mind, not speedway.

It will be. I took it from a stats file which gave his average average for that year. I thought it would be quite a bit bigger possible 6.5, but in any case I am sure he will be in Poland on Sundays. I think we need to pull aa rabbit out of the hat here. UPDATE Just checked SCB's Stats file and he has his KL average as 5.52 for the 6 meetings he had for KL. If you add in his other rides that year, it equates to the 4.30 that I Quoted

Didn't he say on the Claire Balding show that he wasn't riding here because of the poor standard of the PL or have I imagined it?

Boomerang must know with his vast knowledge of the sport. More hot dinners and all that!!!

Surely if that was the case he would be riding here too

Ex Junior rider that Newcastle Speedway brought over from South Africa in the early 00's. Rode for Berwick, Buxton, Scunny, Belle Vue Colts as well before returning home and winning the state championship a number of times. Hasn't been retired that long. Has a cousin who also rode in SA.

No comment !!!

13.40 according to Eric in the Speedway Star

So if we find another potential world champion Dane like Nikki P on 5.2 we have 8.31 for a number 1. Sounds like a plan.

Rubbish. If he had wanted to return there’s no way cvs would have chosen Thorsel over Woffinden. Woffinden is not interested in supporting either the league that taught him to ride, or his country. Only interest he has is money all the way. No loyalty whatsoever to anything to do with the UK. I really hope the BSPA only conider British riders who are riding in the Premier league when making their choices for the world pairs this season.

I think he's signed for Opole

Martin Vaculik and ANO for Slovakia

Hungary were traditionally a better team than anyone else,but not sure of their current strength.They didn't even enter the Euro pairs,so maybe have few riders or no money

I wasn't saying that you are one if the whingers, merely following on your point with one of my own. There is a difference between constructive criticism and moaning, and over this winter it's been easy to pick the moaning out as the same points have been made several times over three months. There is positive stuff going on at the club yet people would rather make the same negative points ad nauseum. Would be interesting to know if anybody has approached the club directly concerning the VFM issue.

That wasn't the mighty Wolves, it was a Wolves Select side

Perhaps their a double act Dave...

That is certainly the case - we will see, after say four meetings how many of the "majority" of fans are happy. Happy enough to keep on turning up or demonstrate their feelings by walking away. Much, yet to be done by the promotion in terms of responding to the VFM question.

Made no difference whatsoever ............... Lindback was missing even when he was riding

Never have so few got it so wrong so often to the detriment of so many

I think you’re missing the point. We’re not complaining at the propect of a new stadium. If it were clearly a legitimate venture , swindon fans and hopefully the town in general would be bouncing about with anticipation of it being completed. But there’s been so much smoke and mirrors over the last 12(?!) years of this supposed plan (of which remember, didn’t even include the new stadium at all at the start. Osbourne has clearly never had any interest in the stadium being there), you can’t see it ever being a realistic success. The revised plans should be bringing reassurance that this is all going ahead, however, the history of the project, Osbourne being the slimiest, slug of a man over many years now and numerous plot holes in the logic of how the site has been redeveloped, the plans just look like another delaying tactic to enable more land around the site to be swallowed up by houses. The actual plans for the stadium whilst looking nice and modern at a quick glance, are so light on detail and seemingly less than ideal for speedway, you can’t help but feel that even if the council force Osbourne into creating the stadium, it’s going to designed to fail, straight off the bat. A couple of years of complaints from residents and apathy from the public, Osbourne is left with exactly what he wanted in the first place. A stadium that no one really wants on a prime piece of land for house development.

Keeping a tab on riders fitness must be a plus ? ,including a bit more banter and bonding. Healthy body, healthy mind and all that.I know you want the above.It's not going to happen every week..It seems an effort is being made at some cost no doubt.Lets see how things work out over the first month or so.

The SWC was very predictable, and will remain that way, while Poland have huge strength in depth. There 2nd team could probably beat most other finailists. At least 2 man teams will allow many countries to compete on a more level playing field. Poland may still win it but it will not be as easy for them. That must make better viewing for fans and TV.

Phillip Rising has explained, the tyres are simply optional. If riders wish to use others they can. It's up to them to test them and decide if they are going to get benefit from them.

Well rightly or wrongly I have recontracted for BT sport again I am a BT phone and Broadband customer so get it for £7.50 a month to receive it on Sky. If they do show the League I may consider upgrading to HD. OK it seems a lot a month but then BT sport do at last show other motor-cycling and motor racing as well as speedway. I may consider even ditching Sky Sports as they are just ball crazy and dumped speedway last year and did not even bother to update their website and no longer even mention speedway at all http://www.skysports.com/speedway/news

that scoring system favours sitting in 2nd/3rd and blocking the 4th rider. BORING

hats off to Anthony and his team for the last 10 yrs . his tractor skills will be missed .a loyal and reliable track team . welcome to S!teveie lawson . . big boots to fill there kidda ! but your the guy to wear the boots .

Well, the Speedway star was a good this week. I must say I always thought Peter Oakes was good but this was brilliant ! Puts a few questions out there and someone has given out far too much information, A good job that the committee seem to be on the ball and the hours of work behind the scenes are starting to come out. keep up the great work and I wouldn't be surprised if they have another ace or two to play yet.

Exciting news with a speedway flag only means one thing. The BSPA have buckled.

From Bjerre being injured costing us against Coventry to more recent events one fact these events cant hide is over the past two seasons we have choked twice in the away leg at Monmore.

Yes it was good Steve, even for the short period i stayed for because im still not fit enough to do a full evening. Thats good to hear the diggers are coming in. But for me i have 2 observations, 1, turn one wants taking up and relaying, and left completely dolled off, 2, we need to continue with proper red shale, it binds betterthan anything else. Otherwise the track just needs smoothing out hoeing and cabering., so any substantial rain get into the track and drains to the inside.

I have to agree with some others that Jason Doyle is a great marketing addition to the Benevolent Fund meeting and my admiration for him has grown over the last few years, especially to come back from the horrific injuries of 2016, when he surely would have been World Champion without them. He now reminds me, to a degree, of the great Ivan Mauger, who came to the UK as a young man and didn't make it, so he went home and practised and came back a few years later with the determination to succeed at the highest level. Doyle has shown those characteristics since his move away from Poole and the Party Scene, realising the need to put in the hard graft. What I think is very commendable is that he rode for a few months with a broken right foot, not just in the Grand Prix and World Cup but also for his league clubs in different countries, this again reminded me of Ivan Mauger, who rode for virtually a whole season with a broken scaphoid in each hand and still fulfilled all his commitments. Ask any speedway rider how hard it is to ride with one broken scaphoid, let alone two! So, Hat Off to Jason Doyle his commitment to UK speedway and hope he has a very successful year in 2018.

But if the championship had implemented 2 reserves must be English it would surely help? It’s no good teams giving riders a few meetings then getting rid of them that’s not going to help them at all. You have people like Todd Kurtz and Mason Campton have they ever averaged more than 6 in the whole time they’ve been here? Joe Jacobs his average rises every season and Ellis Perks was outstanding for the best part of last season but both don’t have clubs why is that? You can’t say it’s because there not as good as the two aussies why not give Perks & jacobs half the chance both of the aussies have had.

The great majority of riders racing in the UK are not earning big bucks in Poland and riding in the top league in Sweden. The UK is their only option to earn a living but Doyle is one of the few exceptions still prepared to commit to the UK when he can earn a very good living abroad, that's what you're missing. Most riders racing in the UK aren't in the GP's and most of those racing abroad who are in the GP's won't entertain racing in the UK but Doyle not only does but regards it as a priority, that's what you're missing. Doyle is the World Champion which makes him different to every other rider racing in the UK, that's what you're missing.

And I thought you were numerate and understood statistical distributions. A very poor attempt to justify your wildly inaccurate statement.

My only (sad) experience of this sort of problem was in the early 2000's. I was in my late 40's and decided, before it was too late, I'd better start training to be the next speedway world champion. Don't laugh, this is serious. As a result, I used to go up to Owlerton, Sheffield, most Saturdays and practice on their training track. I even had a half share in a bike for a while. I'd been to Owlerton many times over the years to regular speedway matches and never knew they even had a training track, which was situated behind the main track, out of sight. Well I never made WC (despite what my profile picture seems to indicate!). I did go on to have an 8 year "career" as a sidecar passenger and raced on grass as well as half the speedways in England and Wales (nowt against Scotland, but the nearest I got was Berwick). Anyway the point of the story was that a few years after I stopped going to the Sheffield training track, the SCB closed it down on safety grounds. And this was before bouncy castles were the thing. So what was a great facility, for new riders (Ben Wilson was starting out when I was there) and professionals who needed a place to shake down equipment etc. (Simon Stead used to ride there) was lost forever. A great shame and not in the spirit of getting new amateurs on track for not a lot of money. We have to consider carefully where our sport is heading. The strength of the amateur scene is set to become even more important in the future. There is a move in the lower end of the sport towards semi professionalism and as we move away from the heady days of a few years ago, training tracks will start to emerge. Think on SCB, embrace this side of the sport or risk killing the whole concept of a new breed of riders for whatever future the sport has to look forward to.

Hey that's me with added intelligence