Leaderboard

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

Is it sh!te!! Once woke up to a ford Escort wedged 8ft up between 2 trees when i was staying Clarkies ( Lee) and the gluesniffers used to play on the noisy seesaw all effin night!!. Eee arr eeee arrr...

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

Naa,,, Tidal Wave Dave might

As Gordon's previous post highlighted it was the original home of 'The Aces" and therefore of historical relevance however I would agree that doesn't hold any water as many stadiums of historical importance have been lost down the years (Wimbledon and White City to quote just two of many) for differing reasons. Still wish I had seen some action at the original home of Belle Vue...a name synonymous around the world within the speedway fraternity.

Ah! The Beano with Biffo the Bear on the front, Lord Snooty and his Pals, Bash Street Kids. The Dandy with Korky the cat and on the back Desperate Dan who used to eat cow pie with two horns sticking out of the crust. Always thought The Eagle was a bit posh-but liked Dan Dare and his arch enemy "The Mekon"

We must read different social media then. Dont get me wrong I still think it’s a decent side that’s been suggested if Masters signs however it’s plain crazy to waste 2 points in team building.

Personally i would say Hans must be nailed especially on his current average, be a major shock if he doesn't return,also Oostergaard would be a good reserve especially at home and i would expect Tungate also. The makings of a good solid team with no weak links.

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

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

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Bandits fans, and all Speedway fans out there.

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.

Speak for yourself, I'm chuffed that Bomber is back, id have him over someone like KK any day of the week, proper team man, proper racer and British speedway through n through..also happy with the other 2 and we would be stupid not to take Hans and Scott on their ultra low averages...IMO.

Not sure why the first post mentions policeman, but of course Sprouts Elder did. join the Californian highway patrol when his career ended. Long before Bruce Penhall became an actor and portrayed one

That is why on my first post to the figure of a 1,000 dogs being killed etc I asked if it was the whole story on the Oxford thread. Of course people just reading a news article are going to take it as the truth and be horrified

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

Been watching a lot of racing from ten or so years ago on YouTube and Berwick have plenty of matches on there... Some of the racing is fantastic, especially when the track was 'damp' and a bit heavy. . Lee Complin seemed to pass riders for fun.. Lots of very good racing from others too as they went up the banking and rounded their opponents... Seen a lot worse racing in lots of places. .

You have video, I have memories but his first heat was racing, others more like riding after his R. Barrett was a bummer both times. He’s a lovely gent who was (and probably is) full of enthusiasm for the sport and he really did have mechanical problems both -19 and -18. Maybe they were avoidable ones, but in motorsport you have mechanical problems more often than not. So to come that far to have some, thats bad luck.

Great idea and great post . I agree that is a great plan.

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.

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.