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The health of the nation is far more important than a few speedway meetings. When this crisis is over, the sport will have to regroup and start again.

Such a move will impact enormously on the volunteering sector.. Many good people of retirement age and above freely contribute to the good of their local communities.

I genuinely believe this will kill British Speedway stone cold dead. As said, most attending are over 60 & have been going for their lifetime. Once the habits are broken the majority will not come back to Speedway. This virus may not kill as many of the elderly as first expected but it most certainly will kill this sport.

That would be discrimination, a lot of us oldies are fitter and take more care with our health than youngsters. I daresay they would be doing it to try to protect us from the Virus and relieve the burden on the NHS but surely us oldies are capable of using common sense, I'd rather be at a speedway meeting than being stuck in doors "waiting for God"

Depends who's asking. Are you a potential sponsor or the taxman?

Not much chance of many riders being behind on last season’s evidence. Can’t see this year being much different tbh

and THIS is precisely the problem. "We are not safe". Give it a rest.

However, Italy is the country that traditionally 'stays inside' the most at this time of year. And they have the highest death rate from flu every year.. And the same with Covid-19.

Too many read a headline and not the detail behind it. Hancock HAS said it is a measure that will be bought in. He has also said...it WILL be bought in if and when required at a time when it will have most impact. Politics (nothing to do with Party Politics) prepare people for the worst case scenario. In so doing you look good when you don't have to use that scenario but can also say you have a contingency in place. Also some over 70's and 80's will no doubt voluntarily listen to it now, they may not isolate but what they may do is go out once a week instead of 4 or 5 times. It suits the doom mongers to spread doom. Sells papers, empties shelves. The reality is somewhere in between.

They may do that but not this week, next week but at near peak POSSIBLY it's a contingency measure. Government are preparing and filtering out a "worst case scenario" so that when it doesn't happen they can say (a) we handled this better than expected (b) we had contingency in place. Why are people so gullible! As for isolating over 70's, are they going to arrest any over 70 who is seen out and about... good assessment when you read it without prejudice and blind panic some seem to have fallen for.

Found on Twitter from Professor Ian Donald. 1. The govt strategy on #Coronavirus is more refined than those used in other countries and potentially very effective. But it is also riskier and based on a number of assumptions. They need to be correct, and the measures they introduce need to work when they are supposed to. 2. This all assumes I'm correct in what I think the govt are doing and why. I could be wrong - and wouldn't be surprised. But it looks to me like. . . 3. A UK starting assumption is that a high number of the population will inevitably get infected whatever is done – up to 80%. As you can’t stop it, so it is best to manage it. There are limited health resources so the aim is to manage the flow of the seriously ill to these. 4. The Italian model the aims to stop infection. The UKs wants infection BUT of particular categories of people. The aim of the UK is to have as many lower risk people infected as possible. Immune people cannot infect others; the more there are the lower the risk of infection 5. That's herd immunity. Based on this idea, at the moment the govt wants people to get infected, up until hospitals begin to reach capacity. At that they want to reduce, but not stop infection rate. Ideally they balance it so the numbers entering hospital = the number leaving. 6. That balance is the big risk. All the time people are being treated, other mildly ill people are recovering and the population grows a higher percent of immune people who can’t infect. They can also return to work and keep things going normally - and go to the pubs. 7.The risk is being able to accurately manage infection flow relative to health case resources. Data on infection rates needs to be accurate, the measures they introduce need to work and at the time they want them to and to the degree they want, or the system is overwhelmed. 8. Schools: Kids generally won’t get very ill, so the govt can use them as a tool to infect others when you want to increase infection. When you need to slow infection, that tap can be turned off – at that point they close the schools. Politically risky for them to say this. 9. The same for large scale events - stop them when you want to slow infection rates; turn another tap off. This means schools etc are closed for a shorter period and disruption generally is therefore for a shorter period, AND with a growing immune population. This is sustainable 10. After a while most of the population is immune, the seriously ill have all received treatment and the country is resistant. The more vulnerable are then less at risk. This is the end state the govt is aiming for and could achieve. 11. BUT a key issue during this process is protection of those for whom the virus is fatal. It's not clear the full measures there are to protect those people. It assumes they can measure infection, that their behavioural expectations are met - people do what they think they will 12. The Italian (and others) strategy is to stop as much infection as possible - or all infection. This is appealing, but then what? The restrictions are not sustainable for months. So the will need to be relaxed. But that will lead to reemergence of infections. 13. Then rates will then start to climb again. So they will have to reintroduce the restrictions each time infection rates rise. That is not a sustainable model and takes much longer to achieve the goal of a largely immune population with low risk of infection of the vulnerable 14. As the government tries to achieve equilibrium between hospitalisations and infections, more interventions will appear. It's perhaps why there are at the moment few public information films on staying at home. They are treading a tight path, but possibly a sensible one. 15. This is probably the best strategy, but they should explain it more clearly. It relies on a lot of assumptions, so it would be good to know what they are - especially behavioural. Most encouraging, it's way too clever for #BorisJohnson to have had any role in developing.

Top meeting on a top track, racing was phenomenal.. who says you need world class stars for a great meeting.. well done all 17 riders and rob godfrey

Well of course he has but you can say that about the vast majority of riders of his age and experience. What people are saying is that the signs are there that one day in the future he will be of GP standard.

I'm saying your attitude to people in the way you reply is appalling and frankly unnecessary.

A ridiculously high death rate compared to most of the rest of the world. They also get a far higher death rate for normal flu as well. South Korea appear to have it right. The major key though is more testing... The more people are tested, the more the death rate goes down... the less scary figures can be used by the media... the less panic.

We go back to the old efficient days of it being delivered by horse drawn van, same way as they delivered beer and pop in my youth. And you even get free manure for your gardens if you follow the horse for long enough.

Goolie slicer.

Cheers Tap.I managed to find one. Agree, it does look dangerous. Apart from the point aspect, I can see elbows getting tangled up in it as well .

If the season goes ahead, it’ll be a massive year for Rasmus. Riding as a bonafied heat leader will put a pressure on him he didn’t have last season. I agree about Ellis perks. He kicked on last season and if I were to pick a rider in the Swindon team who I thought would deliver the most growth it would be him. 2 very different teams BV and Swindon, but imo the 2 strongest.

You've never had the media screaming about it either. And that's the point.. it's not the virus that is scary... its the panic caused by the media.. that panic causes places organisations to act.. Then politics comes into play and the opposition in countries uses it to their advantage and whips up people and criticises governments for inaction... so they're forced to act. The UK has actually been the strongest government in trying not to bow to this pressure... but as organisations around them such as the Premier League cave in, it leaves them out on their own and will soon be forced to do the same. The collateral damage from all of this panic is going to be massive... the damage from the virus, very very minor indeed (on a world scale).

I think we will have a very short season if any racing takes place at all. The Premiership and Championship are going to have massive problems with riders who race in other countries not being available due to fixture congestion everywhere. The only league that has a chance of running a meaningful short season is the NDL which the two top leagues seem to want to kill by next year so I fear they will say that if the top two can't run then the NDL is not allowed to.

And are these oldies the same oldies who are expected to care for grand-kids when the government closes the schools?

Will people be expected to prove their age if 'caught out and about'?

All sports have their own fans be it large followings or small. I follow speedway and want to continue, if it has to delay for a time be it long or short I'll be back. Promoters and riders have a tough time ahead and hopefully there will be light at the end of the tunnel. As a supporter I will do all I can to help, every meeting for my team I have to miss through cancellation I will put the admission money to one side so it's there for when they restart. I know the virus situation is depressing and the months ahead look bleak but for goodness sake all the depressing talk is not helping matters it's time to show support for Speedway and get behind the Promoters whatever hard decisions they have to make and let's hope stadium owners, sponsors etc do the same because they are running businesses as well.

Do many speedway clubs in the UK actually get 500 fans through the gates on a regular basis? Non league football gates increased yesterday as fans looked for a football "fix" Best thing to do .... quit social media and looking at the news as it's all doom and gloom. Remember those Chinese hospitals that had to be built in record time? Yesterday the final one was closed as there are not enough new cases of the virus to support them. The Chinese are now sending help to Italy. Italy have the biggest problem as they have the oldest population in Europe. The average age of deaths is 81 and of those that have died only 2% didn't have any existing medical conditions!

Speedway was in serious terminal decline well before the Coronavirus struck and I fear that the consequences of the virus could be the final nail in the speedway coffin. The sport does not have the vast financial reserves to weather this catastrophe out. The clowns in Rugby have spent any rainy day money they held on a hair brained engine scheme. The way the pay structure of speedway is, i.e. riders only get paid when they race and score points, this will mean the majority of riders will have to go away from the sport to earn a living to pay their bills...clubs have rent and fixed costs to pay and with no income will rapidly become insolvent and go to the wall. Will the government help, I very much doubt it as they will have far bigger problems to deal with than spending tax payers money to save what is a minor (bankrupt) sport such as speedway.

Interested to read that on 23rd January it was stated that half a million people had contracted the flu in Italy..... in one week. Now that is a virus that spreads quickly... It could also be another reason for higher death rates in Italy.. if elderly people have been hit with the flu.. followed by this in a short space, they're going to be weaker. It continues to be the lack of testing that means a true clear picture is extremely difficult to form. It will be interesting how the US testing goes as they're offering it free to all. A larger sample may provide a better picture. Germany continues to test to a higher degree than most countries... death rate 0.19% at the moment.

Excellent performance from James Wright this afternoon at Scunny. Far better than I was expecting I have to admit.

Just read the BSF; EVERYBODY is an expert on here...

Could it have something to do with the fact that some expertise in medical matters are needed at these large gatherings, and they could be better utilised elsewhere within the NHS - staff shortages

Of course, it's tough, and a lot of people are going to be affected. I am not saying sport SHOULD continue, but whatever happens, life goes on, and people will still want to do things, either as a participant or as a spectator. Don't forget that, even though we are talking about "sport", sport/entertainment provides a livelihood for thousands - probably millions - of people around the world. From participants to bar/restaurant staff, from cleaners to maintenance staff, from ticket agencies to journalists. I'm sure you wouldn't want to lose your job for weeks (even months), and of course, the way things will be if everything shuts down, it is more than just simple damage to the economy. Does a flu-like (and no, I'm not attempting to trivialise it) virus necessitate the whole world shutting down everything that someone may consider "non-essential"? Think about it...

I had two women literally fighting over the last packet of paracetamol in my shop last night.. One woman picked it up and another snatched it from her as she had gone for it at virtually the same time.. They kicked off an argument and the one who got there seconds late wouldn't give it to the other woman so the one who had got there first gave the other a proper good right hander to the head, knocking her clean over and she landed like a snotty heap on the floor.. I would suggest she needed the paracetamol after all.. A certain irony. .

Because this thing has barely hit. We are talking months worth of damage. For a number of people I am coming across this virus and it's upcoming implications still hasn't landed with them. The severity for British speedway is that there will not be a season. Full stop. That's how I see it at the moment.

Have to say Sid he was a great exponent of the lost art of team riding a colleague home (certainly what I saw of him whilst riding for Oxford) unlike some others that I could mention...Rickardsson in particular!

Yes the 73 team was the best Sheffield team I have seen, but won nothing Should have had a cup and league double in 74 but ended up just being the cup, unbeaten home and away in the cup to win it was a great achievement

and if that were the case would the 500 limit include people in the pits as that would be 70+ people down on the 500 paying straight off

Lovely looking bike..... shame we wont see much of it this season!

He is obviously different. He hasn't worked since he was 30-40 because of his problem and when I first got to know him used to spend hours mucking around with electronic stuff. Building little units with no real purpose just to have blinking lights etc or he'd make lights that went on when you opened the wardrobe. Then when computers got going he was right into them. So I guess it was right up his street to get into home shopping I certainly wish you both all the best in these difficult times

For many Iris, they wouldn't have any other choice. What's the point of closing schools, then just sticking the children in another location, all together still anyway? Not an attack, just wondering what the rationale is.

Phil, I wouldn’t hold out any hope of financial help for speedway. Trillions will be wanted by airlines, business, hospitals, social services, football etc etc...speedway will be well well down the list, if it’s even on it. Many Clubs and the sport were already in financial mess before Coronavirus and all riders are self employed and sadly won’t be helped. This is now a worldwide disaster of epic proportions and the ruin of speedway is just a very minor consequence.

This virus is a bit more serious than the common cold. I'm a big football and speedway fan, if both sports are stopped, we just have to accept it. I went to Maidenhead for football yesterday. A big crowd turned out, which suggests to me that the public will continue to go, until they are forced to stay indoors.

He's said it on Facebook: This is what he said (copied and pasted from his status): "Not the best start to a day, but life moves on and there’s more serious things going on in the world right now, to dwell too much on the news I’ve received this morning. Today I have been released from my duties as Newcastle Speedway Team Manager. May I wish the club and the riders all the best for the season ahead and beyond. There’s been no falling out. Just sometimes decisions have to be made, even if it’s ones we don’t like!"

Trouble is that is how many people follow the news and the media play on it.

You’ve been a fan for 64 years and you’ve only just realised you don’t matter? Speedway fans stopped being important years ago!

The stand was closed

Is it something to do with covering themselves legally from say the tv contract? If they call things off then they have to pay out. If it is a government call they don’t ? Same as if I have a hotel booked or concert ticket and don’t turn up out of fear I am liable and get no refund. If the concert or hotel calls off, I do

I am sure they have looked at it carefully and decided that UK speedway is grinding to a halt here for at least three months. With No income ( or very little ) it will be chaeaper to live "at home" - even with the cost of flying back again IF the season gets underway later in the summer.

You're actually impossible on nearly every thread you contribute to now.

Whatever people think about Neil,,, at least he had his name out there,,,.

Maybe the Aces diehards can have an input they know more than you and i on Lidsey and his talent and development as a rider.I have followed Lidsey ever since he was riding against the likes of Leigh Adams son ( Declyn) ) and Mathew Gilmore and have always felt there is a real rider there only time will tell i suppose.