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Everyone in the stadium , bar Michael Breckon , saw that too . As many have said , cracking meeting tonight . Didn't think we were going to get anything like a defendable lead for most of the meeting , but we upped our game after the interval as the Somerset heat leaders faded . Some ropey looking starts , from both sides , were allowed to go unpunished before he pulled Chris Harris , of all people , back late on . I thought the Somerset bottom end would struggle , and the reserves did , but Anders Rowe did anything but struggle . Those saying Kyle Bickley should have had more rides , I can sort of see your point , but although he outscored Bailey , Bailey was the more aggressive of the pair as Bickley was easily passed by Rowe in heat 8 . And we could only replace Andersen the once . Will a twelve point lead be enough ? Very possibly the way Rasser and Cookie go down there , but it's play off speedway and anything can happen .

Huge congratulations to the Tigers. A thoroughly deserved win. After the shock of Cookie losing out to Bomber and Rowe in Ht1,it was never an easy ride for Somerset after that. Razzers Ht13 ride to go round Bomber and inside Morris was fabulous. Both Kelvin and Nigel would have had a heart attack with the blistering speed. of it. Sensational ride. Despite 3 Tigers getting more warnings for starting than the local weather forecast, they never let the Rebels get away from them First time Ive seen Sam Jensen, very impressed. Now go finish the job and win the title.

No, if that happens you could still decide it's 42.5 for the League so Ippo could decide to keep their seven or use the extra points available... If though another team over 42.5 wins the league they should be allowed to keep their seven too if they so wish, and that figure becomes the maximum figure.. It's ridiculous that fans become attached to riders who win leagues (especially younger fans who you want to engage more than ever) only for them to be often left out the year after... That simply doesn't equate to a sensible business model... You also have the nonsense of TV mentioning that a meeting involves "last year's Champions" when maybe only four of them are actually in attendance... British Speedway desperately needs some aspirational attainments, and dumbing down the leagues means no team has to aspire to "beat the best" because "the best" invariably gets diluted...

Wilson’s last meeting as he is retiring and he will be a big loss to the sport great role model for the younger lads.

Bar last year August has had more rain fall than October in recent years ...no one can judge when the rain is going to hit in the uk

The sadly missed speedway historian, Keith Farman, who was an absolutely devoted Ove Fundin fan, made a comprehensive study of all Ove's races. He found that although Fundin beat all his main rivals more times than they beat him, Craven was the one who beat him the most times.

To reiterate a previous post, I don't get why we are running our play offs in October. We could have had the season done & dusted by the end of August with the Play offs in the first two weeks of September. Between April & the end of August there were 22 weeks.

So if Ipswich win this year every team bar P/borough have to aspire to drop there team limit to 41.43 for next season ?.

dont like that falcon why on your list are poole the only club without a no1 !!??

Why have season ticket holders been short changed, and why make this statement as a non Aces fan who clearly has no idea what value Aces season tickets are? To put you straight I have a season ticket and I have got every single match that was stated my ticket included this season. Please think before you post ridiculous and quite frankly slanderous, factually incorrect comments.

You can’t rule out Kinsley, he’s very fast round the EWR and beaten some good names.

Last night's meeting just got better and better, some immense (and tense) racing to savour. Feel a little sorry for the Rebels reserves who seem to have been dismissed entirely when, in my view, they were certainly in the thick of the action last night - yes, just 1 point amassed between them in the end, but the effort was there (Connor only scored 3 and look at the effort he put in). Anyway, a 12 point advantage is more than I'd hoped for/expected, fingers crossed we can hang on to that tonight - this season's efforts certainly deserve one last hurrah before the long close season.

Take a look at the photograph plus all the GH and SH winners over time.

Another second division rider, Bob Leverenz, also qualified for the 1951 final, finishing 8th, while Geoff Mardon, a third division rider, qualified as reserve.

Same tripe from the Hog's mouth you don't know me very well ........do you really think I give a sh** who likes me on here this Forum is like a toy to entertain me when I'm bored Advantage Glasgow , Somerset's reserves cost them dearly

I don't think he beat Jack Parker. He won it from Ronnie Moore in 1952 and then held it against Moore, Freddie Williams and Split Waterman. He later won it again in 1955 when he won by default against Ronnie Moore, who was injured. He was then injured himself and didn't defend it.

Even this evening during BTs Champions league matches they showed an advert for the Speedway play offs and the final GP i do have to admit that they promote the sport well even better than Sky did. Although Eurosport may be a pan Europe broadcaster I am unsure that the big Polish sponsors will want to have banners and boards at British tracks or get involved in club sponsorship even if the racing is shown live in Poland. It has to be remembered that people will only spend so much time watching Speedway on TV and with all Polish Extraliga meetings broadcast along with lots of other meetings I’m unsure how many will watch UK racing. I know Orange sport in Poland found this when they took the Swedish league that they didn’t get the viewers they expected.

1st of April

Presumably because they don't want lose money running meaningless meetings

So we repeat the error of earning the money then handing it straight over to riders to have glorified practice sessions while their best efforts and bikes are elsewhere? Of course with Eurosport NOT being a premium sports channel it has far more subscribers, mainly those getting it as part of a basic pay-TV package but I suspect BT get higher viewing figures. Many people receive Eurosport without ever bothering to watch it. A five year deal is fine so long as it's a benefit and not blocking better options over the five years. If, somehow the sport were to see an upturn it would be locked-into a bargain deal. Regarding potential sponsors, I take it you're referring to the claim that we may tap into Polish sponsors. Why would Polish brands like Nice, Get Well, Mr Garden, Fogo want to advertise to the UK? Eurosport's inability to maintain a stable schedule, which has been the case for 30 years, plus its lack of channels and contracts like the Olympics to be taken care of in high season it threatens to be a highly disjointed service, although hopefully not lamentable enough to start live coverage at heat 19! There is one aspect of the BT deal that is overlooked. BT take speedway seriously in its channel promotions. One moment you can be watching a top football premiership match, the next it's the next speedway event being mentioned. There were regular promotions for speedway during their Champions League coverage including the final. You see a constant flow of promos for major sports, and speedway's right in there. I wouldn't liike to even try to estimate the cost of having to pay for that publicity.

Well done Tigers, they never give up, was nerve wracking watching updates. Lets make it our year.

Aye, seems like that,,, according to the updates, it seems your lot had more rollers than Hilda Ogden.

They have booked 2 ambulances & meeting starts at 5.30 , so hopefully should be ok this time. Fingers crossed.

I can’t see Glasgow moving up and losing the “local” derbies with Edinburgh, Berwick, Newcastle etc

Cos Somerset vs Glasgow is tonight. I have no idea is Weds night is even an option for Swindon, stadium availability wise.

Wow... we could have guests and r/r.... just like real League speedway

Not significantly. Aussie GPs were held 2015-2017 and the overall dates were: 2013 - 7/10 and 15/10 2014 - 17/10 and 20/10 2015 - 28/9 and 30/9 2016 - 3/10 and 5/10 2017 - 2/10 and 4/10 2018 - 8/10 and 10/10 2019 - ??? 2014 was very late, 2015 early, but the rest of the dates are pretty close

Chris Harris now at 1 for the rebels and Rory at 3. Based on last night the rebels top 5 likely to outscore tigers top 5 so again the reserves will have a crucial role. They might have only got 1 point last night but they tried there heart out and I'm sure they will be in the points tonight. So rebels to win but hopefully cookie and rasser can do the business in heats 13 and 15 and we sneak a win on aggregate. Fingers and everything else crossed. Just a pity that the winners will have to wait 2 weeks for the final with Leicester being allowed to prioritise NL fixtures over the championship

My point is we shouldn’t be going into October for play offs....look at the forecast for the next 10-15 days, where can we fit 1, let alone 4 matches in!

Belle Vue's season hasn't finished. Still potentially 3 home matches left. The first of which is tomorrow. Would be a bit stupid trying to pencil in open meetings when the dates are needed for play-offs and cup finals. if you want some meaningless open meetings, why not do as suggested above and ask Sheffield? They've had every day free since Sept 11. As a second division club they'd probably draw a massive crowd if they invited all these top liners who you believe are free and desperate for meetings.

In fairness for several years i was frustrated by the riders who stuck at the same level in NL and got team places year on year but there is a fresher feel to the league the past couple of seasons and many of those mentioned will be moving on/frozen out next year (if there is a Nl of course)

There was a time when referee Lew Stripp and Len Silver were not exactly the best of friends. One programme accidentally named him as Lew Stiff. I am certain it was just a typo.....

Thank you. I'm sure they'll both be fascinated by UK opportunities being opened up. Of course they would be looking for any sponsorship to be seen by their Polish audience but I fear that an inferior version of league speedway is unlikely to see them rushing in, cheque books in hand. No it's not a matter of being unfairly cynical but if Polish sponsorship IS being considered as a key aspect of a deal with Eurosport then someone is advising the BSPA very poorly. Still, we will see what we see and as usual in speedway you have to stand back and let them diug their corporate grave - and try not to become totally taken over by morbid fascination. It's about four guys having a race and two teams having a match. Shame about the rest - oh and the monumental egos.....

He sure did,I never criticised him was just pointing out the facts in reply to another Post. IMO

I believe that is one of the biggest marketing mistakes the sport has made!! Nowadays how many leisure/entertainment/sporting activities do whole families do together - especially families with teenagers - where often the venue facilities don't support anything of the kind?!

Yes, me relying on faulty memory instead of checking before I posted. He did beat Jack Parker 2-0 in a match race meeting in Edinburgh but it was a non title event in 1950, presumably an “extra” to keep the crown entertained. In his first season with West Ham, 1952 he scored something like 19 maximums in 38 matches.

Went home regrouped worked hard and the rest is history it took real character that.Would many youngsters with a young family have the chararacter to do that today.?

World Champ in 1951 and 52, first and only second division rider to win the World Title ( which shows how competitive the second division was in those days). I am pretty sure he beat Jack Parker in the British Match Race Championship when still in the second division with Edinburgh. He still has a street named after him on the site of the old West Ham Stadium.

I think you’ll find that’s what time Neil started it last Saturday...

Should be table toppers in to final. 2nd and 3rd play off over 2 legs to see who gets the final spot.

The owner of the club is the BSPA !!!!!!

One is a successful and professionally run organisation that understands and respects it’s players, sponsors and supporters.......the other seems to be the complete opposite, and doesn’t appear to care what anyone thinks either.

It does have a roof which covers 80% of the track.

Excellent news.

four months of constant speedway , week in , week out . that what i want . get it all done in the summer. then they can concentrate on all the other stuff like pairs,fours champ riders final and all the other stuff that couldnt give a chuff about .. good luck to Glasgow tonight, hope they have not used up all their excuses not to run .better luck to the revels/wyverns .buckets and spades are welcome , but bring yer wellies just in case ... long live the comedy show that is speedway !

I was parked directly outside the gates ion Saturday at 5.30 and saw people walking in. I got out of my car and as I went to pay the news broke. 5 mins later I saw a Somerset family getting back into their car. .I felt for them..

I was at The Shay that saturday evening with two other Hawks fans. Infact we were discussing that very meeting a few weeks back on route to Kent Kings. Zenon Plech was superb that night. Pretty sure it was Thommo,Chalky and Sean Wilmott who were scoreless. That victory made up for all the Northern Trip hammerings that we normally witnessed. They were good days, Dons on thursday routing for the opposition, Hackney friday of course and more often than not Coventry saturday as my mate was Ole Olsen drunk. Back on topic pleased for the Witches who I have now adopted since Lakeside closed down and have been a regular all season,only missing a couple of meetings. Looking forward to the final whenever the weather will permit.

Poole are doing a 2 for 1 offer, you have Brady, you get Jack for free. With some Nurofren thrown in for Lemo

CHRIS HOLDER - in a Buster owned team - I THINK NOT!!!!

He was on about Wolves, not Swindon