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So we save a whopping £1 on last years prices for second division speedway? Terrible. A more realistic price would be £14.

i often think skids is living in some fantasy,ford wonderland,at the risk of being reprimanded i will be missing meetings nxt yr as always take youngest grandchildren on caravan holiday in devon may half term or school summer hols

You're not staying in this country then! it is almost impossible for the majority of fans to go to every match even if they could work round holidays , there is sickness, family matters , bereavement, loads of things that could stop you going especially as most fans are not youngsters.

Wow a can feel the burn... Ow Ow Ow... break out the Germolene E45 and Sudocrem... is that the best you have got... Oh and if I can put you straight I have never bought any rides? (Illiterate numpty) friendship as this is how it has worked in the past Newcastle want to sign a rider (and Workington for that matter) Darryl Illingworth Allan Headly and Steve Whitehead all came to me and said we are trying to sign X; Y; or Z; and they will only sign if we can come up with extra sponsorship would you be prepared to help by stumping up XXX pounds to sweeten the deal and I have never refused and to be fair to the three mentioned they were always genuine and courteous and kept me in the loop and told me what they were trying to achieve... Now the current Balloon who built this team used to hand my name and number to riders and say go to this bloke he will sponsor you "but don''t tell him who you got his number from" now that is taking the urine big style... However anyone sent to me for sponsorship who has ridden for one of the clubs I follow(ed) got something and even down to injured riders who got help whilst they were out. In fact when I won the money draw at Newcastle once I gave that to an injured rider.. by the way all of the riders grassed up the provider of the name and number... Every one... Why do I do it... well here is the rub; its not to ingratiate myself with any rider and certainly not to benefit my business as I have never had one lead come from sponsoring any club or rider... its because I want Newcastle to do well and whether that is in Speedway Football Rugby Ice Hockey Basket Ball Table Tennis or Bar Billiards as a Geordie and son a of Newcastle I want my home town club(s) to do well in everything they do... If giving a rider a few hundred quid to get an engine tuned or buy a new crash helmet or support their travel in and out of the country and it makes them a happier and more contented rider which has the knock on effect that they ride that little bit better for my club then so be it... Honestly you have no idea... just another one of Mr Speedways gay little incubuses Regards THJ

Wasn't going to join in until all teams announced but only a couple of riders for the Pirates left to be announced and have two days of work to get through. Berwick. - Look solid enough, hopefully some improvement from youngsters Flint & Bickley, but I don't think Summers, Etheridge or NBJ are going to improve and will be found wanting in heats 13 & 15 especially away from home. Birmingham. - League entertainers take 1. I like this team as it always looks ike it'll always have a strong reserve (Castagna/Shanes/Morris) but unless THJ has a stellar season (and who knows what to expect) I don't see much improvement at the top end and no doubt Harris & Garrity wil lmiss the gate critically at the wrong time in heats 13 & 15. Surprised Hume wasn't signed at reserve Eastbourne. - There is room for improvement from the youngsters at the lower end and the top end is solid enough, will be strong at home and may surprise a few away. Edinburgh. - Masters could push Cook for Championship #1, Worrall & Pickering are decent heat leadlers. Can't see there is much more to come from either Lawson or Sarjeant and the other two riders are complete unknowns. Glasgow. - Strong top two, both regular top scorers at Championship level. Bailey, Jensen & Nicol should all improve but one will always be in the team so may struggle then, the other two signings are a little uninspiring. Kent. - League entertainers take 2. Solid top 4 but like Brummies all are capable of missing the gate at cruical times, Heeps does blow hot & cold and needs to be more consistent. Two youngsters who should improve but the signing of Ledwith is a little odd. Leicester. - There top 5 will blow teams away at times when they're on their game, all are capable of having better 2020's than 2019's with the exception of Proctor. If the Thompson twins are competitive they could have another good year. Newcastle. - I'm glad the Diamonds are on track but unless Smetana & Skorja settle quickly they are going to struggle unless Wright recaptures is form of around a decade ago. Mountain is an improver but could struggle as he could be in the 1-5 quicker than he might have expected to be. Poole. - Strong top 3, Ellis is also an improver less convinced there is more to come from King or Worrall. Neilsen has been a promising reserve for too long now for whatever reason, just don't think it's going to happen for him. Redcar. - Look the strongest team to me. Riss & Wright are the best spearhead, both could push Cook for Champiosnhip #1 if they can stay free of injuries. Potential improvement from all the others in the line-up which is what wins titles. Scunthorpe. - League entertainers take 3. Like Berwick, solid but lacking in top end strength. Palin & Ayres could improve. Somerset. - Decent top 4, it's looking unlikely Bates will ever reach the potential he showed a few years ago sadly. Don't think there is any room for improvement from any of them however, but the youngsters at reserve could go either way. Play-off certainties: Redcar, Poole, Leicester. Play-off maybe's: Glasgow, Eastbourne, Birmingham. Also rans: Edinburgh, Somerset, Berwick, Scunthorpe, Kent. Woodspoons: Newcastle.

Birmingham have introduced a brilliant new offer .10 ticket season book for £145 +50p off the programme. This gets you into any 10 fixtures of your choice at Birmingham.

http://www.savecoventryspeedway.com/news.php?extend.4172 There could be a sign of better news to come here.

Get the riders and a bike or two into schools, offer some free tickets out to the kids. It's not like the tracks have not to the space to fill. I'm not sure of attendances nowadays up and down the country but surely if each promotion pick out 3 or 4 schools each week and gave them even 200 tickets between them to include a few adults to chaperone them, the increase in Programme sales, food sales and maybe a souvenier or 2 would help. If for every 50 tickets they give away, it peaks the interest of a kid who persuades a parent to bring them along in future, it has to be worth it. There has to be a "cub" or an asset, even a former rider who could be at the track and let the kids sit on a bike and help sell speedway..

It was the thing to do on a Saturday (or whenever) night when there was only three TV channels and no Netflix, no games consoles, fewer gastropubs and nightclubs etc etc. Every top rider in the world rode here and the sport had household names through terrestrial TV and newspaper coverage.

I actually think that if you get the track right, then racing today is better than it used to be. Old shaped tracks don't seem to work so well with the modern bikes. Swindon is a good example of how reshaping and shortening a track can improve things. Belle Vue, as an example of a modern track, can provide better racing than I remember in the past. That race where Fricke was in last place for much of the race then went round everyone on the final lap, for example. You never saw races like that in the 1970s.

Anyone would think Redcar have been flooded with trophys the last 15 years!!!!!

Newcastle fans have got their Xmas wishes ... a team to support in the 2020 season. many other fans out there that can only dream of being in their position .. Workington. Coventry, Oxford, Rye House , Lakeside, Reading, Bradford Good luck to the Diamonds for 2020. Can't afford another team lost to the History books.

That sounds like my breakfast at Cardiff for the gp weekend

They should ask the riders who likes pairing up with him 39 years old next season and still hasn’t a clue how to team ride should be no where near team

It seems some Promotions are starting to do some 'out of the box' thinking.. Maybe some actually do come on here after all and we should charge a consultation fee? The next stage for me is a loyalty ticket for those who attend 'now and again'.. Say attend five matches and you get the sixth half price? Five more and you get the next free? Something tangible that you feel rewards you.. "Keep 'em coming regularly" has to be the output of any promotional venture... And when you have punters attending events through habit you are a long way down the road of being successful.. My team have, I would suggest, circa 3000 fans who attend over a season with various degrees of attendance levels, ranging from the die hards to the Easter Bank Holiday one offs, resulting in a huge disparate number from their best attendance to their worst.. Enticing those who attend once or twice to attend five or six times, and those who attend five or six times to attend ten or eleven is the key to overall success.. And easier to get them to do that I would suggest than get 'newbies' to become regulars..

Why had Gater1 stopped supporting Poole? On to his third team in a few years! Strange lad.

As I've posted before I don't really know much about dog racing so I can't comment about the animals welfare but what I will say if anyone who jumps on the animal rights bandwagon and claims that horse racing is cruel and barbaric are very naive and easily led or they have absolutely no knowledge of how the horses are trained and looked after. They are probably treated better than humans. Their stables are immaculate and are the equine equivalent of the Savoy with prices to match. Everyone is entitles to their opinion but what folk must understand is a thoroughbred racehorse is a trained athlete. They are ultra competitive. They are individuals and have their own temperament. They have a jockey on board to guide and encourage them but they are not forced to race. Surely you have seen a race where a horse has refused to start? A loose horse will continue running not because it is a stupid beast and it has been trained to do so. It will continue because it wants to beat the others (even though there's no jockey on board). Unfortunately though horses do get fatally injured. It is horrible to witness and no racing fan enjoys seeing it. When it happens it is usually instant (broken neck), but if a horse incurs a leg break, etc, the care they receive is immediate and the the horse is "put to sleep" within minutes. It's horrible yes, but if a speedway rider suffered a fatal crash or a driver is killed in motor racing do we say their respective sports are inhumane and should be banned? Of cause not. Someone posted on this subject that horses are killed every year in the Grand National. This is highly inaccurate. One unfortunately died this year but prior to that the last fatality in the race was 2012.

wrong person

Bad news is that Leon Flint hasnt been re-signed by Belle Vue Colts for their NL team, good news is that Kyle Bickley has. IMO its very important for Leon to race at NL level, maybe there`s a NL home track just up the road for him.

He's still only 16/17, plenty of time for him to "crack" racing abroad!

Why wouldn't committed fans go to absolutely every home match? Surely committed fans arrange their holidays outside of the season's fixtures or if there is a gap in fixtures mid-season? The Southern away meeting discount is a good new incentive alongside the existing10% discount off club merchandise and the invite to the club P&P day at Poole. I've sorted my 3 passes and booked my holidays in early March and end-October!!

I’m sure speedway seemed better back in the day because the crowds were bigger and the atmosphere better.

I'm not going to miss this. Will be my first speedway race after being a devoted fan on youtube etc. for the last seven years. Also my first trip to Europe. I would appreciate any advice on where to sit (going that far for a race I'm not going to worry about cost of seating) and hotel accommodations. Transportation etc. Really very excited about this! Looking forward to any recommendations.

As a team one trophy last season. Hardly a flood.

Obviously you're new to this game of signing riders. With your great depth of knowledge, which riders did we miss out on.

Lets get a few facts straight... Birmingham is run by a Labour council, whose decision it was to demolish the flyover in Perry Barr. The driving force were Councillors from wards far away from Perry Barr, who paid no regard to the Liberal Councillors of Perry Barr or to the people of Perry Barr, nor to the objections of Walsall or Sandwell Councils. Such is democracy in a Socialist controlled City. Andy Street is a Tory Mayor of the WEST MIDLANDS, i.e. NOT Birmingham, He has no jurisdiction over Birmingham as was shown by the fact that his opposition to the demolition of the flyover counted for nothing. Labour policy is one of "the motorist is the enemy" and people need to be coerced into using more public transport in order to save the world, or at least to improve the air quality in the inner city where most Labour voters live. As has been said, it's going to be 25 months of hell in Perry Barr, the price that has to be paid for a better future.

If you look at the styles of both riders in some of their clips they can certainly ride big tracks. In most of their rides they are last, but only just and the opposition are usually world class and sometimes GP quality. The Czech rides the big tracks very tight which is a good sign, and George Stancl, who I believe will be in the pits with his fellow countryman, has said he can ride tight tracks very well. OIven where they are now, and who they regularly ride with, I don't see them being on 5 very long. Same goes for James W, who still rides grass tracks very well, and once he gets back to regular riding will not be at reserve for very long. That would be good news, but it would also use Rider of the Year Max to go down to reserve again and that will makes us about the strongest team in depth, with heats 13 ad 15 being our only weakness. It's great, and our history to bring on foreign riders bring them on for eventually to the world stage. As Fromafar has said above, we could've been stuck with riders getting on season after season, but it's more exciting that you know you are developing riders and watch them grow as riders. We already have that success with the Gems team, so why not for the DIamonds as well again. Breeding 4 World Champions has been very satisfying in the past, so let's see what we can do with our two latest riders. Great night tonight, the PTE was packed out with several new fans amongst us, along with a nearly sober team manager and owner who also supplied the buffet on offer. Things are looking good, and there is currently a great anticipation with the return of the DIamonds and everything that is happening at the moment. I thing most people would just like the season to start now. How things change Eh.

Me! Thankyou so much to all who voted, genuinely shocked to have won.

But there are over 20 Premiership riders from last year riding in the Championship.. Same riders, therefore same standard, therefore similar price surely? It could be seen as your getting a bargain...

Mine are!!!!

Did you not see the emoticons?? I hope the grandkids enjoy the caravan in Devon with grandad!

Consider yourself hereby crucified, Sidney. Just two words - Tom Farndon!

Was it a liquid lunch?

Nice tribute by Mike Hunter to Doug in Edinburgh Evening News.Definitely one of the “greats” of Scottish speedway.

That’s exactly what I thought (although I wouldn’t call them misfits). Workington had a core of five experienced CL riders. Newcastle have just two, plus two youngish Brits, two new continentals with no CL experience at all and Wright returning to the sport after several years out. A better comparison might be Glasgow, who have three experienced, but rather dull, riders who could go either way, number one who might drop his average, and three youngsters on their way up. Or, better still, Birmingham who have bags of experience and bags of injury, reliability and form question marks, but a chance that they could click.

Yes they were by many and I still have the Speedway star with the prediction in and they were in everyone's bottom 3... The year Sheffield had a thrown together team was when Rob Godfrey got involved and that team done quite well if I remember correctly... or not as badly as everyone predicted... Thank you... You will get wrong mind and stuck on the naughty step... and with me already on there.... Honestly there ain't much room alongside my fat "A"... Well Said Regards THJ

Honestly Can we put this myth that this is a bad team (even before the season starts) well and truly to bed I will relay a true story and take from it what you will... This team started the 2018 season as nominated "wooden spoonists" and "worst team in the league" "favourites" expected "to be bottom" by many... Season starting averages are in the first column and finishing averages in the second Start End 1 Rene Bach 7.53 7.19 2 Nicolai Klindt 7.51 6.94 3 Ty Proctor 7.15 6.96 4 Rasmus Jensen 6.14 6.59 5 Dan Bewley 5.80 6.79 6 Mason Campton 5.73 6.32 7 Kyle Bickley 2.00 2.00 Total: 41.86 42.79 How many started the season on 8 plus averages... None (spelled out just for the idiots) How many finished the season with 8 plus averages... None How many averages went down... Three How many averages stayed the same... One How many went up... Three How many went up over a full point... One (and he was injured most of the season) How many ended up in the reserve berth... 5 out of 7 (only Ty and Dan didn't have at least one month in the reserve spot) One injury when Mason was out for about 6 weeks and BWD filled in... How many heat leaders did they start with... Steve Park has hit the nail right on the head (and Tsunami in a later post) this team can do it given a chance; who knows they may end up Rubbish(e) (added the "e" for the illiterate numbskull) and they may end up bottom; however it doesn't take much to be a top team, you do not need the massive swings in averages people seem to be expecting to win something and again as he rightly states there are a few ifs and buts; and one of the big ones for me are injuries; this can rip the heart out of a team but there is always the chance to strengthen up; I would love to see the new guys stick half a point to a full point on their starting averages and we will shock a few people... if they don't it wont be for the lack of effort on their behalf that's for sure Another team that seems to be getting a bashing on here is Berwick but all they need is for Danny Gappmaier to start scoring a similar amount of points away from home as he does at Shielfield Park and they will be surprising a few as well. Believe me it doesn't take much to take what looks like a mediocre team and make them into History makers... Worky did it with a "Crepe" team on paper... Give these guys a chance ffs they will be trying Honest Regards THJ

It is pretty much this from a starting point.. Many races at Hyde Rd when I started following the sport saw Ivan Mauger, and then Peter Collins, often 'miles in front' of opponents.. But the crowds were huge so all was good... Cardiff delivers 'ok' racing, often close but not massively exciting.. The NSS delivers close, and often, very exciting racing.. Cardiff delivers massive crowds and fantastic atmosphere which means repeat visits are highly likely.. The NSS delivers around 1000-1400, with not too much atmosphere generated by a two thirds empty stadium, which will struggle to engage the less regular attendee to make it a 'must do' each week. It isn't going to change anytime soon, (if at all ever), for me, so it's probably best to accept its the way it is and enjoy/tolerate (delete as applicable) what there is on offer.. Rider costs mean minimal chance of admission reduction which may stimulate interest, and a lack of mainstream media attention means no crowd attracting 'superstars' anymore which the wider non speedway regular sporting community could identify with and go along and watch when they came to their local tracks.. Collins, Mauger, and Olsen often gave the tracks they visited their biggest attendances of the Season.. Nicki P's 'cameo' for example will I am sure register many extra clicks at the turnstile in the early weeks of the season, (until the novelty wears off at least), and maybe that's what the sport over here needs to deliver those extra bums on seats? ie Investing the TV money into a few 'names' but, unlike with the Sky money when they did the same with no long term benefit, they this time have a marketing and publicity plan on the back of it to generate longer term growth..

Agreed. Also teams can build a side with the same grades as another team and have a side worth up to 2/3.00 higher averages!

Bailey is british.

I disagree with sides bringing others down because they cant afford top riders. people can say what they like but crowds have been dropping ever since the product has been severely weakened. Remember 2004 when they brought the grading system in? How did that go? If a top tier club can afford two number ones then let them, they shouldnt have to split their top end up because other teams cant sign a number one.

It's not about the winning, it's the taking part that counts.

Copied and Pasted off the Berwick Rangers website: The Bandits made a formal request to widen the straights by 1 metre, which of course means narrowing the width of the Shielfield pitch. Currently 64 metres wide, the pitch would reduce to 62 metres, two metres wider than that required for Bronze Club Licence and six metres wider than Entry Licence.

Mildenhall to announce final 2 riders tomorrow eve.

George Stancl brought him across mid season to see how he did and he did OK. George says he is good on small tracks and I notice he rides big tracks with the tight on small track style so I am not really concerned about him. He'll do OK.

Well, congratulations. I didn't see that on this thread, and I'm not going looking for it as quite frankly I don't give a toss. If scoring points in this one-upmanship fashion makes you feel big, or "da man" then fill your boots. I'm sure everyone else is in awe and admiration of your extra-worldly wisdom. I'm outta here.

My side has not got enough definite heat winners? So you don’t think Doyle, Jensen, Ellis and Musielak would win heats or Proctor/Pickering and Stewart at reserve? You do say some daft things.

I watch a lot of 'old league Speedway' on YouTube, mainly from the eighties, and a hell of a lot of it is pretty garbage to be honest. Even allowing for the one camera, independent, straight to video coverage of the time.. The main differences to today when it's garbage is that back then the crowds were bigger so the atmosphere was there, and riders were mainly part time and hadn't spent fortunes on machinery to take part, so didn't expect/need big money to compete.. Nowadays you get pretty mediocre racing, interspersed with the odd great race.. Just the same as happened back then.. Definitely worth watching a few YouTube League meetings from the eighties and nineties if you have an hour to kill.. Pretty poor fair in the main and definitely not too dissimilar to what we get today at most tracks..

What you will note is, although those things have regained popularity, it isn't branded or marketed in the same way as when it was popular previously. Gin has regained popularity by targeting young drinkers, selling itself as a premium drink and coupled with exotic mixers. This is the problem with speedway. The world has moved on but the sport hasn't. Promoters idea of marketing hasn't changed since the 70s and still involves going into schools and down the local village fete. The other problem speedway faces is that is it a premium price for a spit and sawdust product. That is a hard sell in anyone's book. I think too many promoters are sitting around thinking "speedway will be next" - however, they've been doing that for the last twenty years.