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The decision was not only made at the AGM, it was subsequently confirmed on 1 February 2018 - despite the fact that Peterborough challenged it. As such, they did test the decision and were refused. Three weeks (BCD has stated it was less) later - apparently after solicitors were contacted - the BSPA backed down completely. According to Phil Rising, the SCB were fully aware that the Nicholls decision was illegal and refused to ratify it. I am therefore asking myself whether the decision to retain the rule after review in early February and then reverse it a matter of weeks later was a matter of incompetence, viciousness or both. I don't regard Rathbone as the peoples champion - and I suspect those that do are motivated by their own prejudices - but I do regard him as someone who stood up to a ruling in the interests of his promotion, his team, his fans and his sponsors. That is very hard to condemn. The problem with a closed shop is that no-one is allowed to challenge it. That means however illegal, corrupt or biased their rulings are they must be adhered to. That surely cannot be right, and the answer must be not to punish dissent or dissension but not make such rulings in the first place. Decisions that are fair, open, justifiable, subject to precedent and legal are far harder to challenge. There are those who bash the BSPA at every opportunity - again, almost certainly as a result of their own prejudices. The thing is though is that the BSPA themselves have, to a degree, created such an attitude. Personally, I take pleasure that an illegal ruling has been struck down and I doubt very much that I am the only one with that view. I have made no secret of my respect and admiration for the promotion at Isle Of Wight and its clear Barry Bishop and Martin Widman have put a huge amount of time, money, effort and enthusiasm into ensuring that the Warriors are a paying success. Yet last season, time after time, rulings went against them, be that because they were turned down (despite precedents) or that others received ludicrously beneficial judgements. That undoubtedly contributed to their final league position and no doubt there were times that they would have felt utterly disillusioned by events around them. The thing is I - and I would stand on my own reputation for fairness and impartiality - can well believe that they were denied their share of discretion through simple jealousy, provoked by the remarkable (and totally justified)amount of credit and praise they have received from speedway fans across the country. Ged Rathbone was heavily fined and had his promoters licence suspended as a result of allowing Holder to ride in Poland. Two seasons ago, I went to a meeting where a promoter took part in a sit on the track during that meeting. He, one of his riders and a number of the home support sat on the track on one side of the tapes while on the other side were riders ready to race. I thought that was a grossly irresponsible act and an awful breach of health and safety regulations. To my knowledge, that promoter was never fined, punished or disciplined in anyway and, in my view, there is no question about what was the more serious offence. Any organisation that treats its members with such appalling inconsistency - and, seemingly, favouritism - can also make decisions in precisely the same way and therefore deserves at least some of the odium and criticism it gets.

I managed to to get to the NSS 3 times last season. Meeting 1 was v Swindon in the KO Cup Semi Final. Fabulous meeting that had everything in atrocious conditions. Great racing.Anywhere else, I am convinced it would have been rained off. Meeting 2 was the following night, Colts v Eastbourne. After the night before I wasnt expecting anything special at all. Incredibly, it was again superb entertainment. Track was superbly prepared, passing in almost every race . Inside, outside, through the middle, the young lads could race confidently anywhere at any time,despite the changeable weather. Meeting 3 was a about a month later as the Colts won the NL title v Eastbourne. Once again tremendous racing. An absolute credit to NL racing.The NSS has a superb circuit. I managed to get to Poole 7 times last season. Well, to be honest, I think I saw more full blooded racing in any ONE of those NSS meetings than I saw in any at Poole. Riders were literally bouncing across the track and you could clearly see hestistation. Dont get me wrong, I am Poole through and through and have been since 1955.That wont change. I welcome the track being ripped up and hopefully will produce some better and safer racing. Only time will tell. Fingers crossed, eh?

Great post from a true honest Poole fan.

Must take issue with Richard Weston who thinks Len Silver is too old and past it.."LIving on past glories". On what does he base that allegation ? For the past 5 years he has been in charge at Kent, a track that I attend several times in a season alongside Arlington. So far as my eyes tell me, the attendances generally are very good, each meeting runs absolutely to the tight schedule that the Town Planners have imposed, the racing is as good as any in the league, youngsters are very well catered for, as are the disabled, and the team, after a shaky start, is always in the top section. What else would Richard Weston expect.? For a Octegenarian Silver seems to have his finger on the pulse. I wish him well though I don't always agree with his public utterances.

If I were to watch a match that was live on TV, I'd record it and then watch it afterwards, I'd fast-forward the gaps between the races which are only there for filling time. I'd watch the races and not much else. It is like most things now - record, watch later, cut out the ads etc. So, isn't it just as good to give whichever TV company is interested a one-hour highlights' package? I am sure there are enough avenues to do this, all the companies that cover meetings at tracks for small profit every week and are good enough standard and picture quality to show on TV for, after all, mainly speedway fans? They often show these companies' footage during live meetings don't they? Buy a speedway meeting on DVD and you get all the action within the hour, no boring experts telling us what they think will happen or what we've just seen happen during 10 minutes before the next heat, and then for another 10 minutes after the next one. Live Tv has been done.

If the new World competition, which seems like a Pairs event, is the only thing on the World stage, who on earth would want to take a franchise on the British title. I certainly agree with those that do not like "Team GB" stupid IMO. Bring back "Great Britain" or, even better, "England". Didn't "England" win the World Team Cup ( or whatever it might have been called then) 3 times in succession ? Can anyone confirm that ? Would be nice to see some of the old Test Matches that used to be regular features a few years ago , England v Sweden, England v Australia. Hugely popular at the time...why not now ?

Im a Swindon fan who goes every week and the racing has been poo most weeks for the last few years.

Whilst that is true the BBC still have excellent viewing figures for 'Match Of The Day'. Speedway would benefit massively with a similar format on a free channel or online. I would bet anyone that an highlights package would get far more viewers than any live meeting on free to air channel than a paying Sports network.

Over the Easter weekend we will have the usual 'bumper crowds' press releases from various promotions around the country.. Sadly a 'bumper crowd' for many is now 1500 - 1800 whereas even just ten years or so ago, it was around 2500 - 3000.. And of that 1500 - 1800, how many actually attend again that season? Or perhaps more significantly, what is exactly done on the day to entice them back again?

No it wouldn't. We genuinely perfect people wouldn't have anything to be pretentious about.

When Tungate is at his best, he is simply magic at NSS. Must be in with a shout.

scunny look decent and wont lose many home matches.

This is the article...... FOLLOWING a meeting at the SCB on Tuesday (January 9), Coventry’s participation in the 2018 National League was ratified. Home matches are to take place at Leicester’s Beaumont Park, which is described as a ‘temporary’ home whilst efforts continue to bring the club back to its rightful venue. Members of the Campaign Group then held a meeting with promoter Mick Horton in order to clarify the aspirations of both parties going forward. We have always been clear throughout the Campaign process that our intention is not to go back over old ground, and that our complete focus is on fighting the proposals to redevelop the stadium with the objective of facilitating a return to Coventry. Notwithstanding the disputes which eventually put paid to the 2017 season – when the stadium owners eventually elected to take their own course of action – it must be stressed that the reason why Coventry are unable to race at Brandon in 2018 is not down to Mick Horton. That is entirely a matter for Brandon Estates and John Downer. We needed to be satisfied that the National League venture at Leicester is not being supported financially by Brandon Estates. We have been given a categorical assurance by Mick Horton that there is no financial input from the developers. That being the case, we are satisfied that having a Bees team racing 30 miles away is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on efforts to restore speedway and stock car racing to Coventry. The move to Leicester is a personal/business gamble being taken by Mick Horton and at this stage nobody can be certain of whether or not it will prove to be a success. We know there are obvious reasons why some supporters will choose not to attend – including the practicalities of travel, and the fact that they will race in the lowest tier – but by the same token, it must be accepted that there are also supporters who simply wish to see a Coventry team on track, and this move provides them with that option when there is no available venue locally. The worst thing that can happen at this point is for the fan-base to be split by arguments amongst themselves over whether they should be attending, or personal attacks on those involved. We are unified by our desire to get back to Coventry as soon as possible, and in the meantime people should be free to make their own choice without receiving criticism from within. The activities of the Campaign Group and the speedway promotion are separate, but we are not working against each other. We fully accept that to get speedway and stock car racing back is going to require co-operation from all parties. For the Campaign Group it is most important to maintain the momentum which was built up during 2017, where there is huge opposition to the proposed redevelopment. Whilst the developers maintain a wall of silence – their Autumn planning application has yet to materialise, as has any response to the public exhibition feedback, which was promised to all who replied – the stadium itself continues to fall into disrepair. Events since the turn of the New Year have been particularly upsetting, and all of the questions at this stage should be directed at John Downer, Brandon Estates and Howell & Co Solicitors (James Crocker). WHY have they continually failed with their security measures when the previous owners managed to maintain a safe environment for all over many years? WHY have they allowed the stadium to continually deteriorate in comparison to its ‘tidy’ state of December 2016? WHY have they allowed local residents to be put at risk due to the criminal activities over recent days? WHY has it been left to the vigilance of locals and the intervention of the Leader of the Council to protect the site from even more damage? WHAT are they actually doing now to ensure that whilst the latest set of travellers have now left, more do not follow shortly after? We know that having a Coventry team racing in the National League away from Coventry will not be to everyone’s taste, and we also know this in no way helps the stock car fraternity who have similarly lost their sport. But please don’t use that as a stick to beat the riders who will be representing the club and doing their best to progress in the sport. The decision to race at Leicester does not alter or affect in any way the focus or aspirations of the Campaign Group, and we wish the team well for the season ahead. Finally, despite the shocking state of the stadium, please do not write off a return to Brandon in the future – we believe it still offers the best chance of both sports returning to the area. We will communicate further Campaign updates in due course.

Have a look at Belle Vue on Google Maps starman and compare it to Swindon and Berwick and almost any other big track apart from Peterborough, it's much rounder and has bends which are far longer and more sweeping. It really doesn't need shortening.

The relationship between The EOES and Speedway is completely irrelevant to most supporters. The confirmed 2pm kick off, with this line up, would have seen the biggest Ben Fund attendance for years. If the venue date and time wasn’t guaranteed and now a driving school takes precedence over an essential fund raiser - it should never have been awarded.

You'll be toast when I meet you.

I take it from this post that you do have an understanding which is fine. However, it is quite irrelevant to me and quite clearly the event should never have been given to Peterborough.

26..... unless you can get the Z on a triple letter score.

Won't wind my neck in cheers, it's a forum to give opinions As for the West Brom players, every book available should have been thrown at them for that.

Did anyone see what Woofy was doing on twitter?

Whilst your situation invokes sympathy again like many others you have no idea or understanding of the relationship between EOES and Speedway

Thank goodness for that. We can't have our supermen suffocating on a plastic bag can we.

With less and less riders available to ride on a Sunday and Monday's allotted to the Premiership (even if they were viable as a race night for Newcastle) is National League speedway the only future option for the Diamonds? Having said that I'm almost certain that once a number of the riders who think they're riding in Poland find out that they're just squad members there desire to ride in the Championship will improve somewhat....

dont fall into the fake fans traps scaramanga .... they dont like the truth !

Nailed on for scunny then

Kids have been sitting on sledges and sliding down hills. But based on past experiences you do have to wonder whether Bates' version of sledging would be the same as the kids or a little more extreme.

You have to feel for these speedway boys. They have a bit of a prang and it bins a whole season. If you are Rossi or some other Moto GP wallah, you get operated on and you are racing again within days. But as Friend Fozzie says, the Colts are probably a tad stronger now. Get well soon, Lee.

Made the Colts stronger

Lewis signed a polish contract way before xmas. In the same squad as Hancock.

The argument for live TV surely gets defeated. A prospective new fan surely won't be that interested to sit through all the pointless waffle and still be tuned for the next race. A highlights package, like the olden days of World Of Sport, shows one race after another. Kids of today don't want to be sat there listening to chitter-chatter. It's action they want. Never mind kids, an old-fogey like me would prefer race after race. I used to sit through all the padding SKY gave us during 15 races crammed into over three hours, but I wouldn't like to do it now. It is pointless. Indeed, transferring my old videos over to dvd, I cut out all the studio stuff. The importing thing is racing, a glance in the pits now and again, at the terraces (if you can find a fan). A live meeting is like watching the two years it takes to make a feature film... you can see it all in usually 90 minutes if you wait for the full edit.

And he too is riding Poland next season which effectively rules him out.

Yes it's getting a bit worrying. Although I think there's still decent riders out there it depends what sort of budget we have. Either way we have got to be pleased we will get our weekly speedway fix soon

Lots of points there Chris, some of which I will challenge. Others I will either PM you or discuss them when we next meet. The ruling might have been passed at the AGM but would have been known weeks before at the PreAGM meeting, so the decision could have been pre-empted. The decision would have been made with the best intentions of clarifying who could drop down, but unfortunately for Kennett and Nicholls they had no Championship average to fall back on, like say Harris. Presumably the ruling was for genuine stabilisation between the two leagues and that was the AGM decision. That's the way an organisation operates cos it is the ruling body for the sport. To say a member in a 'closed shop' can't challenge things is rather ignoring reality. All matters are discussed, voted for and a decision arrived at, and in many cases by a majority vote as few things are unanimous. That's how all committees generally operate. The difference in this case is the legality of that decision. The BSPA, obviously having made the decision, thought it was legal and enforceable, and therefore would have tried to uphold it. When faced by objections from the SCB and a legal challenge, they had no alternative to overturn their own decision. That is not as you say "incompetence, viciousness or both" unless you are preprogrammed to the mantra that the organisation "deserves at least some of the odium and criticism it gets". I have no information to what you allude to with the IOW matters, but I would have thought that generally within the BSPA ranks and other fans that Barry and Martin, their efforts have been applauded and are in the vest interest of the continuance of our sport. The fact that Barry has just won an award just recently would suggest your 'jealousy' tag may be a bit offline. You say Ged was 'fined heavily'. Hmmm. Yes he was by the BSPA to the tune of £28K, which coincided with the amount of what he received by breaking rules of the organisation, which he signed before the season started as agreeing to uphold the rules of he organisation. Everyone seemed to think that was rather relevant and justified. In the subsequent review by the SCB, that fine was cancelled and replaced to about £1k and scrubbed the free meeting I believe. Who thinks that the SCB decision was better or more appropriate than the original one from the BSPA. I think the BSPA got it spot on and I am disappointed in the level of the SCB revised fine. So we have rules that get broken and Ged makes a profit of about £26k is a punishment ? Not right. Rob, who you have championed before for his style and achievements with the Scunny track, was stupid to do what he did. No argument with that. It is not unprecedented but cannot be accepted under any circumstances. There has to have been some review of his actions and maybe his warning or punishment has not been published, I don't know. But what I do now is that that meeting was under the control of the referee acting for the SCB, and it is them not the BSPA to take any appropriate action. if you accept the SCB acted according regarding the reversing of an illegal decision with the over 6 rule, I would hope you will also hold a similar view regarding the view that the SCB with Rob's actions. As I said earlier, there are things I can't put on here as you will understand. Will be in touch.

What does a Snowman and a Speedway meeting have in common? They both disappear when it rains

Swindon after Ashby, Kilb,Keen did quite well with young British local riders the second halves are greatly missed in my opinion.Holloway,Rosco,Hewlett(,Bless him), Smart brothers,Chessell's, all turned out good the grounding in second halves for me was very tough brutal at times but really brought riders on some often novices.

Speaking as an outsider I've been to Poole and Swindon many times and always enjoy my visits but there's no way you can compare the racing to the NSS . Or Somerset and Scunny which are my top 3 tracks

Remember Kevin Pope very well he was a main rival to Malc Holloway along with Kevin Young,Richard Evans in the Junior jaunt races.Before that in the early 70s i can remember Billy Wall, Bobo Valentine, Martin Hitch all being regular second halfers going back to Wellie I never in my wildest dreams believed he would of had the career he did as you mentioned SNR Hawkins turned out good as well.

...some names there Sid! Remember them well. Remember Kevin Pope? Paul Tapp and Kevin Hawkins regularly rode during second halves (sadly missed in my opinion) at Cowley. Recall Gary Spencer turning out at Pete Jarman's Training Schools that were held at Oxford during the winter of 75/76.

Dave Patten rode second halves at Swindon in 1975 with the likes of Melvin Soffe,Paul Tapp, Kevin Hawkins, Glyn Facey, Gary Spencer Barry Dukey Duke( did a few in 75) Dave rode 1 meeting for the Robins.

For a start hopefully everything that Woffinden says that they should be doing and currently are not. Make it a much more professional set up with proper training schedules and a progression path right through to the first team with regular meetings on the continent.

Oops!

His opinion...It's like arse***s,everyone has one.Maybe he's on a wind up, or he might think Pooles Poles might flop.Each to their own.

Not sure but last time I looked we had never left the Eu .

What's the matter? Is he holed up in "The Jungle" in Calais, or something? I thought that the the NL was supposed to be about British riders, not foreigners. Are Birmingham now going down the rule bending route that Poole & co get accused of? For Christs sake, it's going to be a 3 point average, 7th best rider in a 3rd division team in a 2nd rate league in the speedway's equivalent of the Third World. I wish they'd just cut through the crap and get on with it.

O no the Scotsman and Jenga joined forces that's it for me both on ignore

Thank goodness for that

Draw info: RACE OFF 1 (Teterow, Germany): Germany, Denmark, Russia, Slovakia, USA, Slovenia and Latvia. RACE OFF 2 (Manchester, Great Britain): Great Britain, Sweden, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Australia and Finland. FINAL 1 and 2 (Wroclaw, Poland): Poland, top three Race Off 1, top three Race Off 2.

Well said, and totally agree. The change in start-time is far from ideal for some people, but the last thing that anyone wants to see is the Ben Fund miss out as a result. If you were planning to go, but now can't, there's still a chance for you to contribute here, by simply clicking on the 'Make A Donation' button: http://srbf.co.uk/

I've not made it yet, but from tv and videos I've seen looks the perfect track. Wish we had it at Poole.

Steve, as well as that I had to start paying to get in (ah ah). I often think what many would feel are minor changes - the change in bikes, handlebars, rider styles, race jackets and ditching leathers have made speedway, to me, not as arty as years ago. I only have to get a glimpse of an old photo and I realise, to me, speedway isn't the same sport when you look at modern pictures. I am living in the past.