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Unless anybody knows exactly what Wright did or said then how can they say that the club have done the wrong thing? As good as he has been on track there is always a line which an employee / contractor cannot cross and IF he has done that people can't complain.

Peterborough do have two ambulances in attendance, however it is a medical decision whether to call and transfer to a County ambulance. Cost does not enter the equation where our medical cover is concerned.

Not for the first time, the voice of reason. Good post. I think the biggest issue is not that Wright has gone, it's more what he's been replaced with.

Interesting action by Gary May - sack your most popular & exciting rider! this is a move obviously to "attempt to" improve results on track, BUT could have serious implications on attendance figures. Promoters have to learn fans do not like unnecessary chopping of teams from season to season & certainly not during the season. Loyalty & commitment must be rediscovered in Speedway. The only problem I've seen with the Rebels this year is that Jason Doyle is not performing as we all know can...

If it’s true that Charles was sacked via text that is disgraceful behaviour to an employee who has given the club 6 years loyal service.

best thread in the championship section i’ve seen in a while I have to say! Sheff fan realising his team isn’t anywhere near as good as he thought and unhappy that they was knocked out of a competition even though everything was followed by the rules...

You fail to take any account for the 2 defeats that Sheffield had whilst Peterborough only had 1 Pboro won half their away meetings and Sheff a third - when I went to school a half was larger than a third Even 1 losing point in either of those wouldve given the Tigers a better match point average and they didnt manage it You talk of mathmatical advantage of a smaller group when the larger group had the advantage of an extra chance to gain an all important losing point That team didnt even have to win or draw to gain an advantage only lose by less!

Nothing broken for Ulle which is good news.

Years ago British riders tried to make their way into speed way via the second half reserve and rider of the night races, these have long gone now but it was interesting spotting future talent. Nowadays we don't even give them a chance at no 8 when rider replacement is used.

Some very good points made and the best one If you don’t run any sport with credibility and intergrity, you simply cannot complain when you struggle to generate decent crowds every week.

Usually once or twice a year Stoke comes in for a hammering due to an iffy track and the occasional comedy generator failure but things have now gone far beyond a joke. Its just one disastrous meeting after another. Multiple fallers and second halves abandoned consistently. Its difficult to work out who i feel most sorry for the loyal paying supporters, the riders who fear their seasons may be over if they ride there or the Development league lads who turn up every week, watch a terrible meeting then load up and go home out of pocket time and time again.

I am relay sick of Championship teams using foreign riders at reserve,for god sake how are we ever going to ever get more British riders coming through. There are enough riders in the National League to cover those positions.It worked in 2014 to a extent in the Elite league but should then have been tried in the second tier. Anyone got any opinions on this

While we may have all the cover we need it does not seem to speed things up that much.IMO It is more important for the rider to have the proper attention though.

Well said Gav.

It's still there. Still basically the same old echo chamber with the same old three or four moaners making the same old blah-de- blah complaints about meetings they never go and see. Still moaning because it's not like Hackney where the team was full of "characters" , and every race was packed with excitement, every match went down to the wire, and everyone went home poisoned by fumes from the Boake Roberts chemical works next door.

You hope that May will regret this move and you call yourself a Somerset supporter. I don't think any fan would wish their club would take a downward turn for one rider. While I agree Wright has been a good servant and a popular rider if he made his position untenable then no rider is bigger than the club. I'm as big a fan of Wright as anyone but if he is arguing in the pits and demanding money to attend the end of season presentation night then the club is right. I don't think Vissing is the answer though.

What did your promoter say then. But if Sheffield had gained one more point away then they would have qualified, and they had one more chance than Peterborough.

Yes and 2.25 trumps 2.167 and that’s the one that matters so stop acting like such a child.

The bit I don't get is when and why it became necessary to transfer to a County ambulance. Fortunately I wasn't at this so not affected but I have spent plenty of time sitting waiting on other occasions. I remember when, if there was a big crash, the ambulance would either drive round to the medical room at the back of the stand if my recollection is correct, or you'd see it driving out with blue lights flashing on its way to A&E. Surely the priority for injured riders in pain is to get them to hospital asap. Waiting for another ambulance is silly in such circumstances if that has to be the procedure. If we have two ambulances then logic dictates that one could go to A&E without delay. That's not a go at the club who do their bit if what you say is correct. What does need a bit more explanation is the reason for the convoluted procedure.

Cracking meeting. Of the visiting riders this season I would love to watch Covatti and Pickering every eeek (hint hint)

The reality check is that if we hope for speedway to survive in the UK in a league racing structure , we have no option except to go that way. Do without riders involved in the Polish leagues ( whoever they are ) and hard sell weekend racing all over the country. That is the only idea that will work, as the first step to building up crowds and interest in the sport. The world has moved on and speedway has not,

so the alleged non payment of workington riders is not a new thing . but other fans seem to think its just workington that had a cash flow problem . i was told by a dearly departed ex promoter that the home side payed their riders and also an agreed level of pay to the visiting team . the home promotion payed all the travel costs ( i think ) for both teams . workington have only had a handful of meetings at home ( if you dont count your thumb ) from march up until now . dont know how you are supposed to pay money out , when you are not getting any money in . perhaps the team that does the fixture list will be more thoughtful in the 2019 season and start the season in late may, early june or it may be curtains for some teams . 11 teams in the league is not working as i see it .

Peterborough's qualification to the Championship Shield Semi-Finals on the basis of them being the "best second place" team is completely unfair. Their claim is based solely on their being part of a smaller group, which gives them a mathematical advantage: 9 points from 4 matches gives them an average points-per-match of 2.25. Sheffield, on the other hand, have 13 points from 6 matches, giving them a points per match average of 2.167, but this lower rating is simply because they have been part of a larger group and have ridden more matches. The second-placed team in the Southern Group - regardless of who it was - was always going to have a mathematical advantage over the second-placed teams in the Northern or Borders Groups. Peterborough have a 100% home record, plus a 3-point away victory, giving them a points difference of +10. Sheffield also have a 100% home record, plus a 4-point away win and a points difference of +39. This must surely mean that Sheffield have the better record in the competition. To give the semi-final to Peterborough, based solely on their intrinsic mathematical advantage, is a travesty. Sheffield have the better record and should qualify. The ruling is shambolic.

I stand by the tapes. From that position I would estimate that the crowd was about 20% down on normal, just a guess though. No result was announced for the England match, which was good because I went straight home to watch the recording.

With the number of Home fixtures Workington still have to run be lucky if they can fit it in this season

Charles Wright now gone from Somerset. The sort of rider we could do with. Our top five so inconsistent away from home and for example our new No1 picks up 2 points away at Lynn. But you get what you pay for I suppose and in our case over the last three years not very much

Good ones though

100% agree, mate. You can't spout off at an employer and expect to keep your job. Onlookers will always believe what they want to, but if they weren't there when it happened they should shut up and move on.

There are times when you can be upset about being replaced, but when the manager replaces you with the world champion, that's just good tactics.

Haha. This is a legendary thread.

Congratulations to Tom Perry being crowned British 350 cc Grass Track Champion Well done Tom

And had they done so I would have applauded their achievements and wished them well in the semis.... but of course they didn't. Which leaves the present conundrum of a team having been undeservedly awarded a place in the semis whilst the team with a better overall performance is excluded on a mathematical technicality.

Nobody has ever mentioned silence in that respect and nobody is asking for a running commentary. When the ambulance has moved off track and is sitting well behind the pits then I doubt that that is the case at the EoES anyway. Of course life is more important than entertainment and thankfully life threatening and/or very serious injuries are rare, so for the most part it is entertainment with paying customers to keep happy as well as ensuring that injured riders get treated promptly.

I’m sure with the northern bias in clubs the Bspa always wanted two southern and two northern sides in the semis .If in Sheffields group take out either Scunthorpe or Newcastle’s results in the group to make it a three team then you would have Example A 2 Sheffield home wins = 6 pts 1 Sheffield away win = 4pts Total 10 pts so it would be the same tally as Peterborough 2.25 PST per meeting so it would go on PST difference and I’m sure Sheffield’s would be higher so I can see why ther aggrieved and in real terms the Shield should have been two groups one of 5 teams and the other with 6 teams with the top two teams qualifying. This would have given teams more fixtures each as this season unless your successful clubs fixture lists are well down on past seasons only my opinion folks

If they sacked riders for moaning about the state of tracks a lot of the riders would get sacked every week, I rather suspect it was a little more than that, to be fair I have always found Garry May to be very easy to get on with.

Covatti goes well at the OTA. I’m assuming he will be at reserve. If that is the case then he would form a pretty strong partnership there with Jake Allen. The other change appears to weaken the engine room in my opinion. Charles Wright has always been a 100% rider for the Rebels and his never say die attitude will definitely be missed. He was a hugely popular figure at the OTA and has some decent sponsorship tied up in the area. With the thrill a minute speedway that he always dished up came some tantrums though. It appears this time he has pushed it a touch too far.

MPT will be riding for Panthers at Redcar and Kerr will be riding for Glasgow Thursday night

Perhaps if the teams had a minimum average for the top 5 riders and then any 2 British riders below a certain premier or championship average and any national league rider. I'm sure this would have helped Bickley this year.

Matej kus? He might want to show Redcar they were wrong to sack him if he got the guest booking.

try telling the British Goverment that !

I don’t think there are many more pessimistic Rockets fans than me, but even I find it difficult to imagine you’ll score 60 points. England 2-1

Yours and Ipswich then bring Scott back to where he belongs. One last hurrah with Ipswich having Scott , Chris Harris and Rory leading the team they could then look at some up and coming NL riders who the old timers could train and educate? At least it might be entertaining and building for the future with the NL riders learning from racers rather than gate and go merchants. Then again the the idea of entertainment is of no interest to those who run speedway and the trainees think they are better than they really are so back where it started with no team racing and over inflated egos.

Looking at his scores, it may have been a season too early for him, but I'm sure he will make it.

Now at Cambridge service and guess who is ordering at McDonald’s

It doesn't matter what you do or how good the product is you simply won't get the crowd on a Monday that you would on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. People have a limited amount of money to spend on sport, entertainment or leisure activities and most of it is spent at the weekend. It's common sense that people are more likely to go out when they have no work or school for their children the next day.

Cam needs to go total crap just going backwards

It's a real shame. I don't know what is wrong with the track but for some reason, it just doesn't produce consistently decent racing. It always looks very slick to me. Perhaps shortening the straights and making it more circular might work.

When was the last time stoke ran a meeting which ran without any track, generater or curfew problems. No one wants to see a track close but the safety of the riders must be the prime concern. I think the time has come for the promotion to be suspended until the SCB are happy for it to resume or it’s sold or leased out to a fit and proper promotion.

Having watched the British Final at the NSS I wonder why the 4'S final isn't being held there? Neutral venue, great racing track, - seems like the logical choice. I'm saying that as a Redcar fan too.

We need to get to a point where sponsorship pays the bills so the admission money becomes a bonus and therefor we can £10 to get in, I keep hearing people say that there is no sponsorship around and that’s just not true it’s just they won’t put it in too speedway and that’s where we should be looking, why won’t they ?