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Not sure I'd have Ludde back. His performances have dropped right off (even at home on occasions) since he moved back to Sweden. Also his late withdrawal from the last away match at Workington let the supporters, management, and team mates down disgracefully, when he knew, several hours before he informed George, that he wouldn't be there. Final straw for me.

Not just the promoters - some of the fans who post on here should be avoided at all costs too

And don't forget my nan, she's a excellent trapper and dead cert she won't be taken from behind.

You are wrong on 2 counts !! firstly 2 Extraleague matches have always been shown live on Sunday’s - and in 2019 that doesn’t change plus 2 Nice Polska have also been shown live - the Uk times have been 12pm and 1.45pm for the Nice Polska and 4pm and 6.30pm for the Extraleague. the Extraleague no 8’s in 2019 can now guest for LOWER league clubs. There are NO guests in the Extraleague. If there is one thing i know about it’s Polish speedway !!

Judging from the numbers blocked by Speedway GB on Twitter, Unless they change their attitude to negative comments it's a fruitless exercise.

Sounds good. But all you will have to do is give some constructive criticism and you will be banned from attending again All they want is a yes men to give there egos a message

Racing can be good at any level when the majority of the riders are evenly matched...........

Warriors named Community Club of the Year at last night’s WSRA annual awards. Massive achievement for everyone who work so hard under the guidance of Barry and Martin. Very well deserved.

Probably the most sensible post you've ever made :-)

Its time to tell these 2nd raters where to go,if they are going to miss UK fixtures for the odd meeting Poland let them sit in the house waiting for the Polish telephone call.

This seems to be the case although a large number of Speedway fans I know are not attached to any particular club (often because a club they once followed has long since folded) but they regularly attend a number of different tracks.

If Drew Kemp turns out in the Kings Lynn line up Id say there would be a significant number of Witches fans that would boycott Foxhall in protest as it would be obvious that the new set up is skewed and corrupt

Having read last weeks Speedway Star devoting a whole issue to 'speedway in crisis' you read the statement from the BSPA after the AGM and it seems they don't think there is that much wrong and a few tweaks will suffice. To have only 7 teams in the top division is embarrassing, particularly when the top 4 will contest the play offs .I look at a club like Belle Vue, I can't see how they can improve their financial position when they are still riding on a Monday night. The fixed race nights didn't work for some clubs last year and they won't work this. Unfortunately until the promoters admit to themselves that the core product at most tracks is not good enough, often enough, the sport is a busted flush . You can promote all you want, improve your presentation, but if the stuff on the track is not exciting enough people will continue to stay away. I can't believe that Peter Oakes whose column I like reading thinks the racing is better than ever. In the top division Belle Vue being the obvious exception I am just not seeing it, at my local track or on TV. Over the years there have been rules that I probably didn't like, riders have come and gone, 2 leagues, 1 big league, double points , tactical subs etc etc etc but never has any of the rules provoked me to stop going every week for 30 years because the at the core speedway was still good. I no longer attend solely because the core product I deem is not good enough, Looking at the terraces these days I am presuming many others may think the same.

Well, Blueherb777. One thing you never hear from Kent is what we are hearing from all over the country at higher levels. Tracks up for sale because they cannot make it pay. Glasgow , with all the money at their disposal are now suggesting that 2019 will be their final year and the Kings Lynn promoter buying up all the tracks around him to keep the top league afloat. I have never heard any comments from the Kent management which suggest they might want to move upwards, so by staying where they are, and keeping the track alive, they are not going back on any promises. Anyway, for me it's great and NL is best.

NL racing at the NSS is very good (but then again most matches there are).. However, it only costs £10 for me and my 15 yr old son for us both so is fantastic value for money. Just a shame it isn't advertised better (or should that be 'at all') as the crowds they get (whilst good for NL), don't do justice to the entertainment value on offer or the admission cost...

bankrupt by may day too

Of course there have never been any complaints about riders not getting paid in the UK?

Well apparently Morris is owed £28000 and Hancock I think was said to be £300 000 it's a joke. Surely common sense says ride in England for two clubs and get paid I have no sympathy for any rider riding for a promise in this day and age when they know the likelihood of getting no money.

Why? Not one person's opinion is of more value than another's. Just because the opinion may not be to your liking, doesn't make theirs wrong. Even the most stupid person can come up with an ingenious idea. If the BSPA wants to be open, every opinion should be shared, zero cherry picking.

I agree Aces51, Team Speedway will carry on for a good time yet... It sadly will need to be the cobbled together variety rather than 'proper teams' but maybe changes will be made to sort this.. The possible light at the end of the enormous tunnel is that there does seem to be a recognition that sharing riders between leagues simply adds too much pressure to the fixture list, and generates guest riders, which do nothing to aid the sports standing in the wider sporting fan base, so steps seem to have been taken.. They also have recognised the need to have aspirational improvements so making the three leagues clearly of differing levels can only be a positive thing... The Sport has effectively tried to kill itself by self administrating a 1000 cuts, so finding plasters to stem the flow of blood for all of them in one go won't be achievable.. Tentatively, it does look like they may actually have some ideas on how to undo some of the self inflicted nonsense that has been allowed to pass itself off, for far too long, as a 'proper team sport'.. A long, long way to go but let's hope it works... It seems to be a long term plan at least, which is more than we have had for some time,..

The Sheffield promotion stated on Thursday that will not sign any rider who has a contract to ride in Poland, so none of them will be riding for us Would be good if the only facility for a rider missing a meeting in England was a NL guest as well

Good luck to any rider who wants to ride in Poland, but its time for our BSPA to stand firm and rule that no facility will be given when the inevitable fixture clash comes along. For most riders Poland will always be first choice but there`s a number of riders who find out the hard way that its not always sweetness and light.

Jack Holder would be the first name on my list, closely followed by Jake Allen...

With the extra team the reduction is not as dramatic as first seems From the same pool of riders the average team total reduces from the 42.5 to around 40 anyway

Some of that fault is speedway's and the people who run it. Speedway is such low profile, the average man in the street just thinks oily motorbikes making a noise. The sport i.e. the 'promoters' don't bother to try and raise it's profile to the locals or try and raise speedway's general profile.

On the unofficial Lakeside Twitter account it also said J Cook will be Promotor at Eastbourne

Shareholder in a private limited company have to be invited to join. Who are the actual shareholders?

From the outside looking in I think Louis was happy to continue in the championship had that stayed at the same level as the last couple of seasons. Once it became clear that I was going to weaken he was concerned that the Ipswich public would not support that. However didn't want to take the financial risk of top flight racing. Chapman needed Ipswich to move up to save the premiership and so the value of the club increased & Louis cashed in. Can't say I blame Louis for selling as in a few years the way speedway is going it would have been worth bugger all. The cleaver part is that Louis has a clause to buy the club back in the future if he wishes so if the sport has an amazing recovery he can take back control. That for Louis is a win win situation.

Unless people like you are prepared to put the covers out and take them up when the rain stops forget that idea.

Just listened to Cook on the radio who said they are still fighting to stay on the Arena Essex site due to half of the land not being suitable for houses anyway, he also said the cost of moving to Rye House cost him and Stuart a fortune and if any third party wants to help it would purely be as a fan as they would lose lots of money just to keep the hammers name going. He did say the BSPA wouldn’t let them run at Rye even if they could due to the way they fell out regarding Rye House closing. He didn’t say where but said him and Stuart will be moving onto other projects but there is two people dedicated to continuing the fight to get Lakeside back on track. Iam pretty sure he also said there is no chance of the club running for at least the next two seasons. Lastly he said what happened with Swindon was a big positive and the local Thurrock MP is good friends with the Swindon MP so hopefully that can be a big help to the hammers.

Leicester dropped down also with Somerset.

2 up to premiership and 2 down to championship cancel each other out.2 new from national league minus arena essex surely means only 1 extra in championship (minus us at Berwick might end up same as last year yet)

Good that the BSPA see the value of a five year plan. Anybody have any idea what it is? Would be good to see a vision statement made public that reflects the 5 year plan and who knows may help the BSPA customers (fans &supporters who are the ones who collectively pump the most money into keeping speedway going) understand the progress being made of the 5 year plan

As long as he ain’t at scunny

Making a profit and publicly admitting to it are two very different things - unless you are trying to sell the club!

And unlike burgers at almost every other track they actually have the taste and consistency of meat. And don't forget there is also lots of choice with hot meals in the bar too. And proper coffee. I tend to avoid speedway catering but this is yet another way in which Warriors put their 'bigger' rivals to shame.

Not really!

Fridays would suit me more than saturdays. No clash with Eastie, football or the GP's.

Well I do not get the private mails from Len Silver, but do get letters from Swale Council advising me of planning applications from the Speedway, having previously written to the council supporting Kent Speedway planning application. There has been a further planning application to allow speedway on Fridays. At present they they can only race on Mondays , with a curfew I believe at 8.30pm. Without the ability to race on a Friday Kent cannot run in the Championship. With the planning application still to be heard, surely Roger Cearns would not pre empt the councils decision by declaring to race in the Championship?

Sadly now team won't be paying big money for heat leaders.. They will be paying the same big money for very average 4 to 5 pointers as they are in short supply

contracted meetings for the full season, with DU a possibility or the chance of the odd match in Poland. If they were forced to make the choice I know which they would choose.

"We're all doomed Cap'n Mainwaring, we're all doomed'!! FFS people get a grip!!

It,s typical end up with a treble winning team,then go to the AGM and get blown right out of the water to return with the same team to defend the titles

Just came across this post and feel compelled to write in and correct this situation. Firstly I am Rob Homer and have nothing to do with this post till now. Robert 1972, lol indeed I was born in 1972 but my name is Rob. My father was Robert. Secondly thanks to some of the comments made here I am grateful for my friendships made during my time racing and have kept friendships since I left the uk in 95 to pursue a career in car design. Lastly I am happy if someone judges ,trolls whatever, an incredible feat to polarize people to dislike you without knowing you , awesome... after a quarter of a century, go for it , waste your pathetic comments and time,,, feel free to look me up on Facebook friends, or continue being a petty small minded fool/ doctor. Facebook Rob Homer linkedin Rob Homer location California

Until there is any action that suggests otherwise I'm happy to take the positives from the situation We have all 3 teams in the same league and at the current highest level - 2019 could be a great year and one to remember for all the right reasons

Of course that won't happen because Lynn will be 4th at the time thing to really be concerned about is when all three make the play offs....although bloody Poole would still probably win.

Buster so desperate for the top title he's had to buy Panthers.

Got to be positive ....panthers have a top class track and the best riders in the country should be riding it

Got to get Buzz back

Finally managed to catch up with Blair`s appearance and my thoughts are this, firstly I hope Blair gets and completes the treatment he was off to start at the end of the show which helps to heal at least some of the rifts that clearly remain within his family and sees him remain clean. Unfortunately I have zero sympathy for him, he has put himself in the situation he is in, and dragged his family down with him, he has lied to and stolen from his close family and split his family asunder right up to the point where his mother has lied to her husband. Whether he can be reconciled with all of his family remains to be seen but hopefully his appearance on tv the other day is his turning point in his life.