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Evening All, I don't have as much to say about the team as some (good afternoon, @TotallyHonestJohn ;-)) but I will say that I'm sure the boys will do us proud in 2020. I'm also sure that the Club is in very good hands. Have a cracking Christmas, everyone...we'll be at the tapes in March before we know it!

Merry Christmas and all the best for 2020 to all my speedway friends and the party-pooper,,, 'IF THE MONSTERS HEEL'

But the Poole thread(s) are where everyone from every other team in the league(s) goes to aren't they?

The experience they will get in OZ will stand them in good stead, both have got good mentors Down Under in Tai for Leon and Jason for Kyle, lets hope they take good advantage of this

Great idea. Maybe start a seperate thread rather than have it 'hidden away' on a less well-read Poole thread!!??

I think bombers biggest problem is that he doesn’t employ a mechanic and drives himself to meetings seems to me to be a false economy as he isn’t mechanical minded and must be tired with all the driving especially doing two leagues grasstrack longtrack and many guest bookings. He did confirm in the speedway star his poor home form was due to the track being different every week !!!!!!! Glad it wasn’t his fault. He will certainly be better suited at Peterborough and will gain more points at home but the Bomber who rode for Coventry has long gone. I wish him well and thank him for his efforts for the witches. He certainly gave it his all.

Have a great Christmas Sid and the same goes to all my fellow Robins fans (even that miserable sod DC!)

Good luck Wrighty , he was great in his prime, hope he can re gain some of that form from years ago.

Hope everyone has a Happy Christmas and a prosperous new year and special greeting's to all the budgie fans.

Has to be Freddie now or they have made a massive cock up. Im going for massive cock up!!

I think a season round a track like Armadale will do Leon good, he should be able to win races at that level and on a track that is a polar opposite to Berwick.

Hard to understand why you wouldn't want Flint back?

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..

You know how to spot a talent !! Keep it up

Iris, don't believe everything you read in the papers. Especially when it comes from the animal rights brigade. I've been a part-owner of a greyhound, which was treated very well by the trainer and then looked after he retired by one of the other families involved. Plus there's a whole Greyhound Trust in the UK which doesn't exist in e.g. Ireland.

Captain Ben Morley is back again with the Warriors,,,,,,,Sadly not as yet a Championship place,,Kent will surely be kicking themselves later for signing Rob Ledwith instead of Ben who would have been a much bigger scorer on a similar average...Their loss..!

Yeah there is nothing to be afraid of when you look at other teams. If the top 4 ride to form then we only need a bit of improvement from the other 3 and we will be ok. Hopefully they are patient with Rowe.

Totally agree Norbold and you have a solid case also how many riders became World Champion over the years when they were not recognised as the best .? Farndon,Duggan,Warren,Adams,Jessup, Sigalos, Jansson are all riders that i believe were good anough to be world champion but fate intervened.

Nah, not seeing anything there,,, but a get the resemblance with Les Dawson

The thing is, Sidney, that there was no World Championship prior to 1936, so you can't just dismiss everyone who rode before then. You have to take into account what the big events were at the time and how well the riders did in them. And certainly, the Star Riders' Championship was the equivalent to the World Championship. Essentially, it's purpose was to find the best rider in the World and was run on very similar lines with qualifying rounds and a final. As a secondary "big" event, the London Riders' Championship brought together all the top riders in the world apart from those who unfortunately rode for Belle Vue (!) Also, the Golden Helmet was a very significant competition between the world's elite, which Farndon absolutely dominated. The fact that Tom Farndon was a dominant force in all these competitions means you can't just dismiss him because he died a year before the World Championship started.

Harris on that average is a steal for the Panthers, if they go back to how the track used to be.

25 years ago greyhounds we’re put down frequently . now it’s very rare a greyhound would be put to sleep . A lot of this propoganda bu11 rubbish about greyhounds comes from nw caged Rita James her name and lets just say she’s a unsavoury person who don’t give a monkeys what lies she tells as long as she keeps getting donations in pot

Luke Becker confirmed by Wolves this morning.

I am kinda interested to who THJ is now... Other than a poster on this forum... Seems to do a lot for the riders at least... Even if he does keep... Ummm... Cropping up on here with some rubbishe

Ray Stadia, on your point of "rent a protest" At Shawfield ther is usually about a dozen protesters with dogs, one night there was twenty odds. low and behold aTV news crew turned up to interview them. We have had to supply water for the dogs on a very hot summer night, so much for caring for the dogs. I was in a shop and a woman with a retired hound, she was a member of Greyhound Awareness, was telling a gob smacked assistant how a dog with one eye had run into the track wall and was hit on the head with a hammer. I assured the assistant that it was completely untrue. In fact we did have dogs who were blind in one eye and raced well.

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.

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.

Blimey all this talk of cruelty to animals, they will be wanting to ban bullfighting next!

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

Pottery bank Is to upper class for a numpty from Wiltshire

Fair play you are not a Olsen lover Steve yet you still had the integrity to include him that is a skill to be impartial.

Philipsnr ,your entitled to your opinion ,but down here and around Kent there is no question who is the considerably better rider... ..?

You are very misguided

Holder if no Visa issues ....covatti.....and the last edition is a fairly local boy....and good luck to him....a good looking team..... Merry christmas Well done ipswich

Just think of what could of been with that team but with Ryan Douglas instead of Scott Nicholls

I would be careful what you wish for KK isn't always the most reliable.

Yes, I think they were Steve. Saw them start in the 60's when their uncles were riding for the Monarchs.

Many thanks for you update Joe much appreciated. Yes we really struggled at the start with, Don Wilkinson was our top rider when he had done very little before that. He rose to the challenge and did in fact become a decent rider and captain. Due to the rise in the number of new clubs in 1960 and 61 in the new Provincial League, we struggled to get anybody of decent quality, and had to rely on riders like Gordie Mitchell, Jonny Green, before drawing on the London based riders like Pete Sampson, Pat Flanaghan, and of course my favourite rider the Late Gil Goldfinch. The later 2 used to travel up by train on the Monday and stay over night before returning home on the Tuesday. Happy days for me as a 19 year old getting my own Newcastle team to follow, following on from my first visit in 1949 as a 6 year old.

Merry Christmas peeps if you see someone wearing this around Old Town give me a shout Ho Ho Ho

Interesting interview with Sam in the speedway star a few weeks ago saying he was hoping to have a PL club as he is giving up on Sweden. Seems like Sam was always the back up if we couldn’t tempt a number one. I’m assuming he will be the final announcement, unless of course the management have been bluffing all along. Time will tell I guess.

A real disaster?????? Kent have two teams next season,so a full fixture list.Kent will...and have plenty of young talent in their NDL team. Personally looking forward to the Championship....top riders to watch and ex kings coming back. The only disaster is no Lakeside,stoke,workington,buxton,rye house etc etc

But it wasn't just a "what if?" for Tom Farndon. He did enough in his short life to be counted amongst the greats without the need for a what might have been. He held every National League track record simultaneously. He won the 1933 Star Riders' Championship and was favourite for the 1935 Final which, of course, he never competed in due to his fatal accident the night before. He was also unbeatable in the British Indivdual Match Race Championship and made the title his own beating off challenges from the likes of Vic Huxley, Dick Case, Max Grosskreutz and Ron Johnson. So much so that after his death the title was suspended until after the War. He also won the London Riders' Championship twice at a time when the title was second only to the Star Riders. He was also a regular for the England Test team.

Santa Claus?

You will have to give me more than that as I can't think of a 5 letter word that starts "blank S H blank blank" that means poor or not very good... and I thought I used to be good at blankety blank... Ruffdiamond is the guy for that... As for your argument that the team isn't very good... well it certainly doesn't stack up now... how can it... you will only find that out when the season starts and as pointed out Worky in Speedway Leicester in Football were both deemed to be poor teams yet went on to great things... So currently the holes in your arguement are there for everyone to see... like I said it's your opinion that I hope is wrong as I would like to see them do well and I think they will... at least at this point of the season I think they will... hopefully I am proved right and you are wrong... but only time will tell... On the word that is being auto corrected it shows your intelligence when it has been pointed out to your good self several times even before I picked up on it that it is incorrect... do you not have the vocabulary to use another word that means not very good... try this type in moron and see what that is auto corrected to... or stop using the word that comes out as Rubbishe and then your education levels will not come into question... and that's from a bloke who went to Longbenton High School... The bloke is fine thanks... are you really from Swindon or do you live down Pottery Bank? Regards THJ

One big difference in Poland is that they haven't fallen down the trap of training up every other nations best riders to the detriment of their own... They have learned I would suggest from what the BSPA did and now protect places in teams for Polish lads only.. They know that a strong national team delivers TV coverage, mainstream media coverage and blue chip sponsors.. The BSPA had all that once and threw it away training up American, Danish and Swedish riders.. A few of which were 'world class', but many of which were 'journeymen' seen as a short term fix, but ultimately blocked the potential progress of many a young GB rider.. And the rest, as they say, is history..

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...

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.

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.

You seem to know an awful lot about Robert Lambert. Or think you do.

Looked back Flagrag JOE beat Gilkes (3). Palin, Clegg, Ledwith, Rowe, Jenkins, Flint, Bickley in 2019. DAN beat Wilson (2). Clegg, Rowe, Jenkins, Palin (2) Stoneman, Bickley not bad for a debut season.Both lads also look real racers Joe loves the outside run and Dan really works the line well both exciting to watch in there own right.My wife got me the Belle Vue v Leicester two legs on DVD for a Christmas present a brilliant watch and both the twins clashes with Bickley,Flint, Bailey, Palin, were superb.If they could average near on three that would be terrific the real plus is they both ride the difficult Leicester track well so against there level and weaker second strings will hold there own at home.