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Diggers are removing the shale banking on bends 1 and 2

Scott Nicholls has been signed as the injury replacement

Diggers digging out the shale on bends 1&2 today, picture on Swindon Stadium in the News and Discussion section and on twitter.

Of course Lambert ( R ) will be off like a shot when vastly better financial pastures firmly beckon! As would any of us in respect of our work prospects. Naturally Riss hopes to do much the same. Natural process of ambition. the same goes for Holder J. and Kurtz B. I am amazed that someone of the ability of Doyle still rides here. It is not misplaced loyalty I am sure as he is an astute businessman who knows his worth! The UK is nowadays no more than a stepping stone.

Sheffield Speedway are urging speedway fans everywhere to back brave young Jack Lacey to give the terminally ill toddler the send-off he deserves. Jack, three, has a rare type of brain tumour called a Diffuse Pontine Glioma and has been given six months to a year to live. The aim of raising money is so Jack can enjoy day trips, holidays, meals out, his first trip to the cinema a new dog and - hopefully - his first trip to speedway. According to The Brain Tumour Charity, DIPG affects between 20 to 30 children in the UK every year and there is no effective treatment. So come on, dig deep and donate to a worthwhile non-speedway cause.To donate to Jack’s GoFundMe page visit: https://tinyurl.com/y56tt56y

With the new 'kerb stones' already in place. At least this should shut up all the 'it'll never happen' protagonists.

Just a couple of paragraphs then.

Gutted to hear about the injury to Jacob and Scott is the most predictable and obvious replacement. shame it wasn’t someone like Woffy, Piotr, Niels or Kildemand but I doubt they were even considered. Scott is a fairly decent replacement however others have commented that he is a track specialist at Monmore, he WAS but hasn’t been a force at Monmore for a good couple of seasons now. Get well soon Jacob!

It's a false argument though really. Once one incident/moment is changed, everything thereafter changes so there is no guarantee that he would have won the subsequent titles, likewise he may have won more. It's the same in football when a team wins 2-0 and people say it should have been more, for example if a penalty was given early on.. if that penalty was given, the rest of the game as you saw it doesn't happen. Different events unfold. Not having a pop at you, we all do it!

Just checked and it was 29th March v Wolves, and I was right for once, Leigh Adams guested,but TRick was all over the programme.Front and back cover and inside receiving the rider of the night trophy etc

7 riders announced so far Doyle Bjerre Batchelor Riss Howarth Garrity Lawson Assume the other 5 aces riders will be in it leaving 4 riders to be named. Dont think bewley is quite ready yet so not included him

IF!!! IF!!! I think Penhall would have won more, but we will never know because he didn't hang around. How do we know he would have kept Lee motivated? Yes, it's fun to speculate, but opinions mean absolutely nothing. Particularly with this era, there are more "if's" than ever, and for every "if" leading to one possible conclusion, there is at least one countering any argument. Think about it. If Penhall... If Carter... If Lee... If Sigalos... Even throw in : If Collins... If Sanders... Steve

Always reckoned that if Billy (and everyone else that day) had not met Muller at Norden in 1983 he'd prob have been Champ that year, he was 2nd with Lee 3rd. And I also wish Penhall had stuck around a few more years to hopefully give Gundersen & Nielsen a run for their money. It's fun to compare rider & eras, but conditions are always different (bikes, tracks, competitions WF v GPs) so one ends up with 'if only's' & 'maybes'....

Not sure about the kerb stones as it was stated that the track was being shortened by about 10 mtrs and that is only a couple. They are possibly for the lighting cables or drainage between the speedway and dog track.

Just come along to the fans forum next week Rodders with a list of questions

Maybe he's going to buy that next

All the club's claim to be making efforts. This isn't a new stipulation, we have to do this every year.

They aren't prevented. I don't know why Rob said that in the SS article. The fact is that each club have to show sufficient evidence that they are attempting to find land to bring Speedway back to the area they are representing. If they cannot do that to the satisfaction of the BSPA they won't be allowed to continue using the defunct club's name. There is some question as to what satisfies the BSPA, but going by what Rob claimed he is doing, he shouldn't have a problem. Whether this "rule" is viewed as fair or not, it certainly isn't as Rob suggested.

Can't be far off Sid. There were a few big crowds when we were champions 2017..2500-3000 plus. They said 3200 for the Lynn match, and that doesn't include a few hundred guests, sponsors, volunteers, freeloaders, ne'er do wells ! etc., It seemed 2004-10 there were much bigger crowds when Leigh was riding. Certainly for the 2007 and 2009 Grand Finals, the club gave figures of 5000 plus, but the 2012 and 2017 finals were about half that.. Can remember Gary Patchett saying they had 2700 for the 2012 Final win against Poole, which he said was the same as the league match that year! Wolves brought very few fans in 2017 compared to hundreds in 2009. When Darcy rode for a while the crowds picked up.I remember the big crowds for the Bob Kilby Memorial meetings, World Team Cup, and Leigh Adams Farewell meeting. The cost of admission seemed to increase every year, but the standard decreased with fans staying away. If the new stadium and track was in place there would be far more there this season. With the cost of admission as well now can't really see crowds increasing, especially looking at the top div team strengths now compared to pre 2010.

All that hard graft and dedication he put in coming over here from the age of 16 wasted.I loved watching him ride Steve and that is coming from a avid Crump snr fan.

I think in his last year up until his death he was averaging around 11.50 ish and in the World Pairs at Gothenburg excluding the fall he was outstanding ironic that Guglielmi was his partner.

For all its faults and mismanagement, and lets face it they are legion, glad to see logic has at least prevailed in the M+SDL with Reading racing at Swindon, Weymouth at Poole and Exeter at Plymouth. My fragile faith in the speedway gods is at least partly restored.

Indeed, thanks all for your replies, I am going to decide on Redcar. Looks like a tidy team with potential, and the fact that the've got Ben Barker riding for them, someone i've always wanted to see at Lakeside. A shout-out to to Alfie Bowtell for the season, been great to watch his progress, the last couple of years.

Tony Rickardsson got booted out of the team two weeks early and was replaced by Todd Wiltshire. The first meeting with Todd was a home win over Coventry, with the team spirit completely transformed. To be fair, I think Rickardsson had already lost interest in speedway – with hindsight, he should have retired on top of the podium in 2005.

Definitely. Likewise a Swindon fan having Maciej Janowski or Jason Crump. 1. Barry Briggs 2. Leigh Adams 3. Phil Crump 4. Jason Doyle 5. Martin Ashby Reserves! Jimmy Nilsen and Bob Kilby

But it would be a bit daft for e.g. an Oxford fan to pick Tony Rickardsson, just because he did a handful of appearances for the club. I'm sticking with what they've done for the club.

Dont think even Polish cars move forward for under 20 cents a kilometer if you really do the math. It’s still just a hobby.

I've got a mate that went to that. He reckons it was close to 20,000. Incredible really.

All times UK times Round 1 Zielona Gora v Torun Friday April 5th 5pm Czestochowa v Gorzow Friday April 5th 7.30pm Leszno v Wroclaw Sunday April 7th 3pm Lublin v Grudziadz Sunday April 7th 6pm Round 2 Gorzow v Lublin Friday April 12th 5pm Grudziadz v Czestochowa Friday April 12th 7.30pm Torun v Leszno Sunday April 14th 3pm Wroclaw v Zielona Gora Sunday April 14th 6pm

I would definitely get Scott Nicholls, usually good value at Monmore and would want to prove a point having been left without a team place in the Premiership.

should have been @ workington for the 3 semis and the 3 finals . those meetings will take some beating for entertainment .

Can't think of anywhere close by or I'd have been parking there last season. 4 hours limit in the shopping centre one will be enough time though won't it?

Better than S.Nicholls.I dont think so.

That is easy Josh Auty he recentley moved to Stalybridge and is the best rider not to have a place in the Premiership and i am gob smacked he is not snapped up

Leigh Adams retiring was a major issue. His replacement (Scott Nicholls) was a disaster too. He needed to pull up some trees to win over the Blunsdon crowd in the first place, especially being a former Coventry Bee and fierce rival of Adams himself. But he didn’t really do himself justice on a track that he admitted has never been his favourite. Goodness me that was an awful season. I noticed the gaps in the crowd that season for the first time since 2016.

Scott Nicholls maybe ? Terrible luck for Jacob ....

At least three world finals in the 80's and 90's were won by riders using 'big' engines, fortunately that sort of thing can't happen now.

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday! While speculation can be fun, people get so focused on the "what ifs?, which mean absolutely nothing. History and fact is based on what DID happen, not what COULD have happened. Sure : 1)What if Peter Craven, Kenny Carter, Billy Sanders, Tommy Jansson, and Erik Gundersen hadn't had their careers ended so abruptly? 2) What if Peter Collins, Sverre Harrfeldt, Ronnie Moore, and Torbjorn Harrysson hadn't suffered their serious injuries? 3) What if Dave Jessup (throw in Gundersen and Carter in 1981 too) had been able to keep his bikes going for five World Final races? The answer to all of those is, "WE DON'T KNOW! Itt is all conjecture. Let's try to answer some of those, though... Craven and Moore carry on through the 1960's - maybe Mauger wouldn't have been World Champion from 1968 to 1970. Collins didn't break his leg in 1977, and Mauger would lose another title. Let's look at some other "what ifs?", and far from me being flippant, change just one small historical fact, and it can throw the future into total chaos. 1) What if Edward Jancarz had come to England a few years earlier? 2) What if Bruce Penhall hadn't retired? 3) What if Freddie Williams hadn't ridden for Wembley? 4) What if Ronnie Moore hadn't quit speedway for a while in order to race on four wheels? 5) What if Ivan Mauger had broken his arm when he fell in the run-off against Szczakiel? 6) What if David Biles and David Tyler hadn't decided to walk out on speedway? Could they have been World Champions? Conjecture, and it is what it is... Steve

have you not made your mind up yet as to what team to support from a distance ? will it be a Brexit decision and be made at the last hurdle or will it be made at the end of the 2019 season . just that its dragging on a bit and time is short to the start of the new season . maybe Brexit will be decided before you do . but good lick with her final outcome . LOL

I heard they tried to avoid problems by having 17 going one way round and 18 in other.

At no time did Buster want to take over Belle Vue. Instead, as chairman, he brought two interested parties to the table and it was down to them to satisfy the Council and BSPA which one was the most suitable. You need to be extremely careful in how you are labelling individuals on here, especially when you clearly don't know the facts.

I've always looked back on speedway with such affection. It seems to be an enjoyment that was always there. In my late teens a gang of us would first go to the meeting before hitting the drinks and dance floor, we use to plan our holiday around fixtures away, we even interrupted our honeymoon not to miss a meeting. When our 2 kiddies came along they joined in and went to most meetings, it just seemed the natural thing to do. Time moved on and your circumstances change, your children get married and the grand children arrive. They in turn are doctored into our beliefs in the hope they will continue our love for the sport. Its a wonderful experience seeing the complete family of 3 generations at places Cardiff and other big meetings. but it is unfortunate that the younger element don't appear to have the same enthusiasm as us old ones do. Please to report our son accompanies his ole man regularly, and both can be seen at most of the Stars meetings, Our grandson picks and chooses his meetings, but it gets harder to persuade the others to attend.... It appears the best days of the sport have long gone. The spectacle of seeing 4 men racing bike with no brakes is still the same but the environment has completely changed. Where once the terraces were packed enjoying a full nights entertainment, now there are just a few die-hard fans watching processional races that are over in no time at all.. I look back with envy of those wonderful times and am so pleased I was privileged to have been there...….

I wouldn't necessarily say Tai is the best British rider ever... But I'd definitely put him in the Top One... (Apologies to Brian Clough)...

You've not driven past too recently then?

If Barry Bishop makes that Curry down at the IOW then there is nowt wrong with it, its the best curry i have ever tasted at a Speedway Track, indeed its almost worth the journey for the curry alone , I would go so far as to say it puts a lot of well known Takeaway establishments to shame.

There was was always a strong connection between Speedway and Ice Hockey going back pre war

You couldn't be more wrong, especially in the North where there isn't a NL team. (Belle Vue is Midlands to us.). The southern teams have the combined Sdl/Mdl as well as the NL.