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The most progressive development in UK speedway in recent years was the building of the NSS, which took more effort and determination than anything Matt Ford has achieved and if you're looking for promotions who have raised their game you may want to consider Glasgow, Isle of Wight, the present Belle Vue promotion and maybe others as well. They have managed it without creating the controversy that always seems to surround Poole and are trying to move the sport forward in ways that benefit not just themselves but the sport at large. Matt Ford has done an excellent job for Poole but little to benefit UK speedway.

This is completely the problem and why many speedway supporters dislike Poole. The attitude that as long as Poole win, hammering the sport as a whole into the ground is an acceptable cost.

Spot on.... Watch any of the PDC darts streams from the 'floor tournaments' that take place almost weekly around the country as qualifiers for other TV tournaments. Many have no commentary at all.... Many are played in sports halls in front of 'one man and his dog' and sometimes played out in front of no public whatsoever. If a stream has any commentary it is often just someone detailing the scores.. It can very often be therefore mind numbingly dull, with the only sound heard being the match score announcer and the 'thud' of a dart going into the board. There's no way on earth watching that would get you 'into the darts'... Then equate that to watching darts on Sky and ITV... The SAME 'sport'. The SAME players, MVG, Anderson, Cross, Wright, Lewis, Wade etc etc have to play these 'floor tournaments' but its millions and millions of miles away from exactly the same thing played out on a Thursday night in the PL, in front of huge 10,000 crowds with commentators shouting out loudly what's happening above the ear splitting crowd noise. .. Tatum and Pearson bring their passion to the Sport, and as it's a high adrenaline, high octane Sport, there is nothing wrong with trying to impart how exciting it can actually be to a (often ignorant of Speedway) watching nation.. More power to their elbows (and vocal chords)...

When I saw the title of the thread I feared Philip Rising had fallen on hard times.

And reading the last few posts you wonder why Poole fans get defensive about our club. Say enough rubbish enough times and people actually start to believe it! Here’s a fact for you. Poole use the same rules as every other club. The problem is, the majority of the other clubs are owned by promoters who just don’t have the same savvy/money/ability/dedicated time to compete and that’s why over the last 20 years Poole have become the most successful club. Nothing will change because there’s currently not another promoter out there as dedicated to the sport as Matt Ford. It’s a fact. It’s his full time job and he demands success. As Middlo said at P&P, many clubs would see making the playoffs a successful season, but to Poole it was abject failure to bomb out in the semis. It’s up to other promotions to raise their game. If they were all of the same ilk as Ford the sport would be in a healthy state in the UK.

Just joined this forum as I’m sick of reading the dross people keep posting. Newcastle have signed 7 riders willing to try their best for the club and as a supporter that’s all we can hope for, a rider going to try their best in every heat they ride. It’s time people get behind the club instead of keep stating how much they are going to struggle, stay positive as paper teams never win the league anyway and get behind the lads and support the diamonds.

If Ford had his way the league would end up with Poole A,Poole B,Poole C,Poole D,Poole E,Poole F,Poole G,Poole H and Poole J.... He must be the most diss loyal promoter in speedway.Win at any cost.Sign as many agents as he can.The rules are there to be (broken) manipulated..In his book. The worst bit is 90% of their fans don't want to,can't see it,or don't care.

The PR side over the winter has been terrible truth be told. This promotion have been getting away with it far too long because they are 'new.' They're not new anymore though but people are still cutting them slack. I actually think the club has regressed on the communication side since Len Silver left and I never thought that was possible. Press and practice is a good way to get fans excited for the season. Not much happens granted but as it is free you get floating fans in attendance. The sound and smell, the new riders etc. can convince someone who may not be thinking of attending many/any meetings otherwise. Have been falling out of love with the sport for some time now, it's a real shame as I'm a stone's throw from the track. Don't feel like I'm being offered anything from the club to make me even consider attending at the moment. And for anyone who wants to wheel out the 'if you don't use it you'll lose it' argument then save your breath.

IT is that time of the year again ... Speedway Star's "big issue'" it's pre-season special, is available from Thursday at no extra cost despite being almost three times as big as the usual weekly format. It will be available at tracks over the Easter period and from all the usual outlets ... newsagents, supermarkets, etc. And, of course, via a subscription. The digital version, online at 12.01 am on Thursday, can be purchased with the Speedway Star app for just £2.49 from the Apple or Android stores. Or you can call Dave on 020-8335 1113 and have it delivered to your door.

As we celebrate 70 years to this day that the club rode its first ever match, they have also announced that we now have a team sponsor for the season in staggs bar in Musselburgh.

Shush! That means Shovlar is accusing Matt of smoke and mirrors.

Unfortunately, we only have other promoters and at least one rider's word against My Pairman's. There is also symantics at play here, there may not be a "GP Rider Rule" but that doesn't mean riders haven't been re-assessed. As I said, it is the lack of transparency which annoys me more than anything. It just seems to often go in Poole's favour.

How are Somerset going to hammer us then? No chance of that happening unless there are catastrophic crashes. Poole are a far superior team this season.

Talking of drips, another cracking contribution

TBF it looked quite a bad injury. He couldn't even walk on it. So fair play to him for riding on for Somerset. Would have been easier to duck today. Shows his commitment to British speedway

Personally, I don't see that Matt Ford or Poole do a lot wrong. In many ways Ford reminds me of the late Ian Thomas as both tend(ed) to upset people (but not worry about it) due to: pushing rules (which are the same for everyone) to the limit, signing the best riders available to them and wishing to do the very best they can in order to promote their club(s) and make them successful....

So basically the usual cash flow issue which kills many companies. Their fault.

Used to have the odd lunch with Stewart a while back and saw first hand how much the club meant to him , the man bled red & white this must be a really difficult decision for Stewart to make. All the best in whatever you do Stewart and hope you can still attend he will be a big miss.

Wow...... All the best to Stewart, always said hello even tho’ I’m a “beast from the East”

That has come out of the blue , i hope it's not health issues resurfacing .

You don`t think you are replying to he of the multi usernames.

It was indeed a great shame that PC, for whatever reason, was not at the meeting on Saturday. He and the club should get together and settle their differences and end this silly disagreement, as every single BV and indeed speedway fan would have liked to see Peter involved with the sport that he has served so well during his illustrious career as Britain's most successful ever speedway rider. Speedway is the poorer without PC involved.

Is it though? Why are Zagar, Woffinden and P Pawlicki a 9, but Kildemand returns on his old average? Why are the riders above re-assessed but other non-GP riders, who just happened to have sign for Poole, not re-assessed? I agree it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but without any transparency from the BSPA about how rules are applied, I can understand how some fans think it looks like favouritism.

Didn't a couple of teams try and 'up their game' not so long ago. How did that end up for the speedway family?

If someone tries to take the corner at Peterborough like they do at Lakeside they will be in big trouble lol.

Bit of a rip off to pay to watch someone so far off the pace that the only question is which 3 pointless rides they take. That's not Bowtell's fault, it has applied and will apply to plenty of other riders (Panthers included). It's the structure that allows it that's wrong.

hence being a new dad

I HAVE been a vocal and vociferous critic of many things in speedway for over 50 years and could come up with a long list of things that are wrong with the sport today. Nigel just screams, sounds like a monkey, doesn't use any words. Do you actually read what you write? Of course, he is not everyone's cup of tea, no one is, but your comments are so ludicrous that no one will take them seriously.

Nothing wrong with Pearson and Tatum on TV. Much prefer there exuberance.

He'll say he's in But then pull out In out in out mucking teams about He does as mummy says and let's you down and fans they get a clout Oh Robert Lambert Oh Robert Lambert Oh Robert Lambert Knees bent, arms stretched loading a van van van

THINK you are on a different planet to most of us ... planet of the apes by the sound of it.

Came across as a passionate bloke, when seen on TV and, a decent bloke when exchanging pleasantries at Brough last year. Hope things turn out ok.

The theory put forward was that that CVS and Ford put out the rumour when in actual fact it was lack of funds. Wolves plight is well known and with the unaffordabilty of the team suits it seems money is also short at Poole. I know we can have some strong banter but I don’t want to see Poole fold. Signs aren’t good. I’m going to make the effort to visit in a couple of weeks as the opportunity to do this is slipping away.

can you hear the results from there ???,,, the updates site might be better.

Depends who you believe. I see no reason why any promoter would lie. Why did Zagar and Woffy say that were coming back but said that 9 point reassessed average meant they couldn't. Riders lying as well I suppose.

The daytime bank holiday fixture v Coventry in 2016 was probably one of the best league meetings I've ever seen Hoping to get to this on Friday, just hoping the weather behaves.

" There`s only one Paul Clement " !!!! flown in to save our season

Exactly. It's easy to select the correct line when riding solo but not so when there are 3 others trying to do the same. Thought Neil Machin's response to a question concerning the new starting gate procedures was interesting. He said that something had to be done and if things did not improve he would like to see a line drawn on the track to prevent riders moving forward until the race was due to start.

I hope predicted weather forecast of continual rain for the next two weeks is incorrect or this meeting plus those over easter will not happen.

I do not like knocking young riders but I have to say from what I saw of young Dicken on Saturday night at this stage of his development he looks nowhere near ready for the National league yet. I really do hope he proves me wrong.I will be there for every home meeting encouraging him to do so.

It's not how you start the meeting that counts... it's where you are at the finish!

Sometimes you just have to think back about what's happened over the last couple of months, then looks at some scores, then just have a little grin on your face.

And so it starts.

Probably the worst team on paper in the last few years, in my opinion. Luckily, they ride on shale, so they have a chance to prove me wrong. Sincerely hope they do, because I don't like to see any team struggle.

Agreed it’s a bit lit like not paying for team Kevlar I suppose, promoters choice though I doubt the Kevlars have anything to do with the lousy weather forecasts around Hoddesdon in the coming 10 days

Probably a bit of the green eyed monster mate, especially from certain fans of a club renown for not bringing through young british talent.

Thoroughly enjoyed the meeting last night. Despite the rain there were many brilliant races. Highlights for me were Bewley showing the talent he has, it's difficult to remember that this is only the start of his third season of racing a speedway bike, Doyle showing his class as the meeting progressed, Nicholls at last getting to grips with the NSS track, Worrall showing he is ready to move up another step this year, Bjerre getting on the podium, even though he was riding his brothers bike and Jakobsen putting in an impressive performance in his first UK meeting. Non racing highlights were seeing Chris Morton back at the NSS and getting a deserved good reception, Brenda Craven presenting the trophy to Doyle and a good size crowd creating lots of atmosphere and clearly enjoying themselves. All in all a worthy memorial meeting for the best ever English rider and a fitting 90th anniversary celebration for the only club in the world to have raced every single year since 1928.

Completely agree Bagpuss, & I think Dan Bewley would agree with you too, judging by his comments airing his frustration when interviewed by Hayley last night. Both last night & at the home Swindon match there were times when he dropped the clutch & the bike didn't react. I'm sure Dan & Steve Lawson will be working on that. For when he does get it right, it was clear for all to see last night what he is capable of, even at this early stage in his speedway career.

I am sure it would be helpful and appreciated if you could explain your caveat of "in most instances". It presumably means that there are exceptions where some riders with an existing CMA wouldn't return on that CMA. What are the criteria for those exceptions? SImilarly, you also say that there is no 9 point GP rider rule. Is there any GP rider point rule? I am sure that you can understand the confusion being created for the fans when we are told that Zagar, Woffinden and Pawlicki have been reassessed but apparently Kildemand and Iversen haven't and that Vaculik is assessed at 8 but other GP riders at 9. Credibility is a serious problem for speedway in the UK and one of the major reasons why fans have walked away and why the media refuses to take it seriously. It is the far too often lack of openness and clarity by the BSPA which leaves fans bewildered and disillusioned and inevitably leads to the sort of disparaging comments and conjecture seen on this and many other threads. If the BSPA wishes to gain respect and move the sport forward it must be open and transparent and ensure that rules are clear, concise, published and interpreted consistently and fairly.

Some good news from BT Sport. They struck a deal with Dorna for Moto GP TV rights until end 2021, thats a 3 year extension to the contract that would have ended at end of 2018. Also for Moto GP fans that dont know yet, Valentino Rossi has agreed a 2 year extension to his Yamaha contract so he will be riding until end of 2020 at least - that will make him 41, which is pretty good going for a Moto GP rider at the top end if the field. I think the BT-Moto GP deal till end of 2021 is good for Speedway GP. It keeps BT well and truly into top line motor cycle racing and therefore its my opinion makes them want a Speedway GP deal stronger. editted the date Rossi will be in Yamaha contract from 2010 to 2020