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June 1st tomorrow and we've had 2 league fixtures at home at Sheffield.The total imbalance of fixtures is a joke.Teams who have rode the most fixtures are able to use the new averages to their advantage to swap riders.( good luck to them) The premier league fixtures have been more even .The one home one away has killed my interest this season through lack of continuity along with many other supporters.Speedway fans are creatures of habit and this new idea could be another nail in the speedway coffin.I think the championship has been sacrificed to save the premier league.Does anyone else feel the same ?

I pay £17 at Swindon, didn't realise Poole was £18. I'm unsure why you've decided to be an arse to me, haven't done so to you or been rude, I'll put it down to a bad day.

Maybe on twitter having a live show off “@hornygirlf**k”?

Yes he's better than average with averages.

I was in Poole overnight. No rain at 11pm. Car and roads not even damp at 7am. No rain between 7am and 6.30pm when it was called off. I was at my Fathers, whose house backs onto the school and Stadium. You can watch the riders go along the back straight from the pits into bend 3 Unless the rules have changed, I believe the home promoter can call off a meeting right up to 2 hours before the meeting. After that, only the referee can call it off. I am with SS on this. A massive balls up and one which will have a profound affect. Embarrassed to say the least.

I know I am not Steve but, personally, have to say I really enjoyed the Stewkesbury era ...... 1985 onwards from memory ..... after the Chandler promotion collapse aided by Mike Lee's ban. Not being able to see Sam Ermolenko progress was outweighed by return of Martin Gates, retention of Kevin Smith & Stan Bear, and progression of a host of youngsters ..... raw Aussies & my fave Dave Biles. Cost in terms of my wallet was not an issue in those days given quality of entertainment ..... thus would have no issue watching Championship as opposed to Premiership provided racing was exciting ..... and there ain't much to beat ATM. I guess most will have same view.

Ridiculous! We have started the season in BL2/NL/PL/Championship in April since 1969 (1968 was a late start due to the lack of teams in the initial year). I don't remember the second tier having gaps like this. Perhaps the problem lies in having the shortest league schedule since 1968? 10 home league matches is a disgraceful offer to the public, even allowing for the limited additional Championship Shield meetings that in the south add a paltry two extra fixtures making a grand total of 12! So, just what ARE we supposed to do? Start the season in June then move on to the play-offs in September? Trying to defend this year's schedule is ridiculous. The second tier has foolishly followed the top tier into a fragmented season and will pay the same price if it's not careful. Perhaps the promoters can only afford top stage a dozen meetings? If so the least they could do is be honest and inform their remaining fans.

Does Glyn ask you to be his spokesman on here, as you seem to talk on his behalf a heck of a lot ? I'm guessing not - personally if i was him, i'd be asking you to stop doing that as you're probably damaging any reputation he has left. (Btw i'm not a fan of Glyns anyway as he beat Todd about 30 years ago, it just makes me cringe seeing you type about his movements and actions all the time)

Yet you’ve spent all morning replying and adding to it.

Perhaps if more fans attend that would help......surely you can spare £17 a week.

They would have developed into the same riders.It's just Poole signed them at the right time..

Jon Armstrong never goes well around Perry barr for some reason so that performance was expected to be fair and he has been scoring well in most he's meetings. Getting a replacement at number 7 is always difficult for all national league clubs as it has to be an unattached 3.00 rider and I feel whoever was selected you would be saying the same thing . I was very impressed with Luke ruddick he has come on a lot in the last year which is great to see ...

It was madness. Even if Cook had a doctor's note for 7 days it obviously didn't cover the meeting, which would mean we couldn't replace him. So why limit your chances by sacking Cook and leaving us with a 2 man team when Lambert as a reserve can be used at any time. You do have to wonder about Rosco.

Been said a few times so I won't Labour the point but if Britain wants flexible race nights and/or weekend racing then it has to be a semi pro or amateur league(s), as rider availability just isn't there. No bad thing imo as the sport would be more affordable and go back to basics. A kind of hybrid of National League and Championship would work well I think.

Complete shambles! Mr Rossiter, that's a great way of totally undermining one of your riders just prior to the Speedway Of Nations.

and by extension a more manageable/affordable div 2 with fewer non GB riders. Fine by me.

I've noticed a few on these threads that suggest robbo should go , apart from being injured almost as soon as the season got going he's been one of the diamonds top riders for many season's and can and does beat anyone round Brough park when he's fully fit .

What covers do you want then? There are countless sports that can cover tracks, surfaces within minutes. Once again, speedway seems to exist in it's own bubble where every problem is insurmountable.

Given that the bees have a promoter who is considered by many many bees fans to have aided & abetted Brandon Estates in their attempts to gain planning permission for Brandon it's extremely unlikely that they will be handing over any of their " hard earned" to support the guy . IMO

Thought as much. I don't think that gives you the knowledge to criticise people who saw the sport in the 70s. They only wish the sport could return to half what it was then. It is frustrating. I saw it back then, and the 80s and 90s. Do you know what, it was about the time you began attending that it started to decline at the rate it is? People who saw the 70s have the experience of what it was then... compared to now when we hand-clap a stadium staging a British GP as a "success" when only a half sell-out. That's with all the marketing and no chance of a rain-off. Wembley attracted almost 100,000 for World Finals. Speedway, I'm afraid, is no longer a team sport. It has lost the tribal feeling that football has, as so many of your riders fight the following night with another gang of lads in another team. They are merely agency workers, self-employed, who will take any booking to earn a few bob. I wish you could have experienced from what we had in the 70s to what we have now. I don't think marketing alone will rewind the age of time.

Two reasons 1 the fence at most tracks is not strong enough to hold a rolled up wet cover. 2 the dog people, who have the main say in the stadium, will not allow anything left on the fence or infield after the speedway meeting. This has been discussed many times.

we had this at Kings Lynn a few weeks ago too ...

At over £100 for seats for me ,the Mrs and our son I think I will give it a miss, if anybody thinks that’s a bargain there is a place on the british speedway management comitee waiting for you

And you wonder why speedway is seen as a sport followed by anoraks.

As a speedway fan really feel for the Bears at the minute nothing is going there wsy at the minute , hoping Ben and JPB are back on a bike soon we as supporters don’t realise the sacrifices the riders put in for our entertainment , get well soon you two

I've followed the sport since the mid 50's and I prefer team suits. They present a more professional image and a team identity. It's not by any means the most important issue facing speedway now but if you were starting afresh and intending to present a modern image team suits would be a part of it.

Thought we were ok under Merv and Pete's stewardship.

http://www.fim-live.com/en/library/download/65665/no_cache/1/ Page 64 et seq details the ISLB weekly slot system

Don't remember him being on the boil!

At least there’s a realistic Bees assessment on here. The lads have done well overall this season considering the unique limitations there are in this league.

The thing is as Whisperer says that rule was brought in not for the benefit of the Poles but to protect speedway in this country. We can't then simply break it. As for referring to the 'demands of a Polish club', Harris signed contracts both with them and Glasgow in the full knowledge that there could be a clash. Glasgow knew it too. Why shouldn't the Polish team insist that he rides for them given that he has a contract and the agreement between speedway countries states that they have precedence ? I really do think you are pointing fingers in the wrong direction here. It is Glasgow, Harris and the BSPA that are at fault, not his Polish team. If this was the other way around - for example, Damian Drozdz riding for a Polish club on a Monday when he had a commitment for Belle Vue - we'd be screaming blue murder.

I started supporting Speedway back in 1964. 54 years ago. I am 100% with moxy63 on this one. If I thought that race suits had brought anything positive to the Sport I would agree with najjer. To my mind it hasn't, what it has done is remove a sense of colour from the Sport. There is no 'Little Boy Blue', 'The White Ghost', The' Red Devil' these days - they all look the bloody same. Change to suits has done nothing but remove a sense of identification with Riders. It has sanitised the Sport in a way that has removed any sense of individuality. You ask why there are no characters in Speedway like there was in the past - I am not saying that Race Suits caused lack of characters, but they are a contributory factor. The Riders are no longer allowed to show any individuality. Individuality was how the Characters emerged. By the way - Speedway WAS better in our day and that is without rose tinted spectacles.

Doesn't look like its only Workington being affected , Sheffield fans weren't happy last week when we were down , they had only had 2 home meetings too..crazy really through no fault of the Promotion/riders/fans .. another 3 weeks after this Saturday without a home meeting . I'm sure with the visitiors being Glasgow on Saturday and if we win we progress to the next round of the Shield, Laura should get a good crowd...lets pray for this weather to stay

No holes just the base beginning to show through where they come in and turn on the fastest line into the bends the leaders always hit that part every lap then when they hit the shale again the bike picks up but some riders can use it to there advantage but if you try to miss it you could end up going from first to last pretty quickly they have been working on both corners now for weeks but with the weather being too good and still they don't seem to be able to get the track to settle ,doc Bridgett was in this week and abvised them to use a clay mix rather than just packing in shale as it would bind better with the base so here's hoping for a better meeting this Friday ,having it in the evening will also help

No he is right, it doesn't work like that. First of all the weight of the water causes the sheets to bow slightly in the middle. The water then collects in the bows rather than running straight off of the sheet. The water will then (due to wind, the weight of the water, bowing in other areas, etc) move around the sheet and go down the gaps between the sheets and on to the track. The only way to avoid this would be to have either one big oval sheet, or several sheets that can be zipped together (in a completely watertight manner, you couldn't just use regular zips) and then rigidly ratchet strapped top and bottom around the track, a meter or two apart at most, to keep the sheet tight enough to avoid bowing. For Poole this would mean a good 500 odd strapping points I'd imagine. The points they are strapped to would also need to be very strong. Strong enough to withstand strong wind, which when exerted on a piece of fabric that big can be quite a force and could easily pull out the strapping points if not strong enough. Even if you had one big water tight sheet strapped at dozens of points around the track, then the water still has to go somewhere. You'd need a large oval drain on the inside of the track that is wide enough to catch all the water running off and also with a wide enough exit pipe to keep up with the speed of the rainfall. A bunch of tarpaulins strapped from the fence to the inner field won't help at all. All you'll have is a track that is just as wet, and a sh*t load of wet tarpaulins to put away. Long story short: It won't work. You need a roof.

So we maintain the product as it is ?? How long can British Speedway continue in its current format before some teams say enough. Clubs like Rye I can see dropping out of Prem if it continues as is and if the Poole lack of finance continues then can Matt continue in the current format. No money for Kevlars this year. For sure highly unlikely a fairy godmother will appear next year with mega sponsorship. Thousands being lost in revenue for rained off meetings and all the costs flying these guys in and out. Maybe one big league is the answer with more use of these youngsters in N/L where for sure wont cost as much as a lot of these so called top foreign riders who perform in and out so inconsistently. By foreign I mean those not resident here who cost fortunes to bring over. Especially with our climate from March through to end May.

Because is just about the most professional sport going and this is what just about any sport with serious ambition will strive to be as professional as. I disagree about your point on it not being a team sport. I'm not naive enough to think riders don't see the Grand Prix as being the holy grail of the sport but team speedway is the best form their is in every country. I refer back to marketing again, it amazes me how inept speedway promotor's are at marketing. They have to get the basics right first. The first part of any brand or image that you are trying to sell is the associated colour and then in speedway terms, the team nickname. I've said many times before it amazes me aswell that teams haven't adopted what Kings Lynn done a few seasons ago where every rider all had matching fork covers with the team colour and main sponsor on. In any photo of a speedway rider the one place every time you can pick out a sponsor is on the fork covers... Why do you think in every grand prix that's where the main sponsor is? Because their marketing is actually good!

Well done Peterborough, obviously a club with ambition (there aren't that many in the Championship).

well that's the "ironic post of the year" sorted

Sorry Phil, you'll need a better one than that. The only two day events in the olympics (that I can think of) don't end with a sudden death race off. If the best athlete is way ahead then he/she only has to do "ok" in the final event.

For once I'm gonna defend the club!!! Those roadworks in one shape of another have been going on for months, most fans have seen them on their way to and from meetings. I would have thought anyone living within 20 miles would routinely check the AA or Council Highways site . Its very simple to do.

Whilst the only team to push Brum at home this season (Mildenhall) was cut the short the rest of the visitors have not yet managed to better 38 as a total and that was Kent who Coventry are on par with / slightly below IMO. Its certainly hard to see where changes could be made as dropping the legendary Jon Armstrong is like shooting the school rabbit and is a rider who is worth 3-4 points a meeting with his off track work as well as on it. Harris & Ruddick are scoring well and the additional heatleaders are not in abundance. There is also not a Flint style reserve sat around waiting for a team spot and its a 10 point plus swing that would have been required to get something from this meeting. There will be highs and lows for the Cov side this year but entertainment should be abundant throughout and solid building blocks put in place ahead of next season. Brum have had the worst low this year so long may their rise continue and good luck to them.

Eh? Rules are different in the NL, you can't just get the likes of Drew Kemp to guest for MacDonald, they have to be an unattahed 3 pointer. Riders do have poor meetings occasionally, Jon Armstrong has upped his average by almost a point and you won't see many sides getting 37 points at Birmingham. They are very strong in the heat leader department and of course they have Leon Flint. It must also be stressed that Coventry were only able to start their team building once we were fully accepted in the league way after other sides start putting there's together. It was always going to be difficult competing at the very top this season and crowd sizes will dictate some of that also. That's not to say there won't be future changes when averages allow in a month or two.

Talking of clubs improving riders ,It's a well known fact that Peter Craven Ivan Mauger, Ove Fundin, Peter Collins, and Jason Crump only became world champions because they signed for Belle Vue.They would have got nowhere otherwise lol.

If you're referring to the events on Monday it was nothing to do with pulling out without notice. What happened was that Craig's flight from Prague was delayed. Determined to get to the NSS for the 12 noon start on Monday he drove into Germany to catch a flight to Stansted, where his van had been left following the meeting at Somerset. He landed and then drove to Manchester, arriving about an hour or so before start time. He had no sleep but took his first ride and then took ill in the pits. He was seen by the paramedic and was apparently suffering from exhaustion and dehydration and withdrew from the meeting. I suspect that most of us wouldn't even have contemplated going to work after such a journey.

Poole got Magic and Ward young and on the way up. They would of improved anywhere. Class is class.

If you parked in the stadium car-park tonight, keep your ticket, produce it next time for FREE parking.... a small victory I know... but this season it could well be one of the highlights!

Are you a natural pr1ck or do you have to practice? If no practice then I just can’t believe how out of 3,000,000 sperm you were the fastest!

To me it confirms that we say goodbye to riders who are not committed to GB,even if the weakens Teams by bringing in youngsters and riders who are gaurenteed to turn up every week,it's p#ssing a lot of fans off IMO .Guests and R/r should only be for injured riders.

Posters trying to have decent debate and along comes you with your usual rubbish