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Isolation from Poland is sadly inevitable for both Britain and Sweden. Rather than be at the mercy of PZM's bulying both have to accept that it is not possible to use riders who race in the Polish Leagues and resource their leagues from those who don't. Already the needs of Poland, and BSI have crippled British speedway. It can only get worse. It's time to rebuild employing riders who will be allowed to race freely here. Let the Poles do their thing, even if it means having to say goodbye to some of our own riders. We cannot go on this way. Poland isn't going to change as long as the money's flowing in. We have to.

JAMES Easter has been a mate for more years than I can remember and both he and TPT have made a tremendous contribution (s) to speedway over the years. Unlike some of his predecessors, when thousands travelled to World Finals, James has remained loyal to speedway and puts his heart, sole and considerable reputation into his tours. No one is forced to go with them but hundreds who do come back every year because they like the itineraries, know that the hotels and travel arrangements will be perfect and that everything is taken care of. I make no apology for any favourable references to TPT.

He was very popular at Newport too, remember him riding as a heatleader when he really should of been second string and he quite often used to pull big races out the bag. get well soon mate

Another great read this week.. Best two compliments I can pay it are, one, I now buy it every week and, two, I still have things to read about well into the week after, such are the diverse articles that are in there and the detail that they are covering.. An outstanding magazine, especially given the current situation..

I just found a brilliant article and stats from the immortal Brian Seery on the Fundin v Briggs record in World Finals amazing stats. OVE. Final appearances 1954- 1969. World Finals 15 rides 75. 1sts 44. 2nds 17. 3rds. 7. Unplaced 7 Total Points 173. Winner 5 times. Runner up 3 times. 3rd. 3 times BARRY. Final appearances 1954- 72 ( missed out 1971) World Finals 18 rides.87 1sts.47. 2nds 22. 3rds 16. unplaced 2 ( including 1 fall in 1972.). Total points 201 Winner 4 times. Runner up 3 times 3rd. 3 times A great article by Brian both these two riders have to be in the TOP 8 GREATEST riders of alltime with Ove edging it have to be proud of Barry's record as well though only unplaced twice including a fall.

2020 Season Update is pretty much done, will share it with instructions very soon.. Took some doing trawling through the searching for Foreign, Retired and Unattached riders to use with all the current teams riders plus their age, averages and nationalities to add but once I started needed to finish it! 353 new riders now added to the game, there's a few small limitations i.e. the Doubling up situation, a couple of missing nationalities and the Game requires 24 AI teams, meaning I had to improvise and add a few recently defunct clubs and National League Clubs in the 'Premier League' (Championship) League lineup now looks like; Elite League Clubs (10) Belle Vue Aces Ipswich Witches King's Lynn Stars Lakeside Hammers Peterborough Panthers Poole Pirates Somerset Rebels Sheffield Tigers Swindon Robins Wolverhampton Wolves Premier League Clubs (15 including your team) Berwick Bandits Birmingham Brummies Eastbourne Eagles Edinburgh Monarchs Glasgow Tigers Isle of Wight Warriors Kent Kings Leicester Lions Mildenhall Fen Tigers Newcastle Diamonds Plymouth Gladiators Redcar Bears Scunthorpe Scorpions Workington Comets *YOUR TEAM* Screenshots; Season starts in March 2020 A few examples of the 'Retired' Rider lists; Premier League Transfer lists; Unattached Lists; Premier League End of Season averages/honours; A 2020 Team I managed to build; @MassMarauder @Cj69 @Sp33dy89 @daveallan81 @Welwyn @Chillman

Ron Preston had it all. He could gate, inside, outside he was a complete rider. He signed for Eastbourne and I didn't expect too much from him, he had a slow start and went back to America for a knee brace. After that he was virtually unbeatable for Eastbourne, pushing both Gordon Kennett and Kelly Moran for the number one spot. I remember going up to Reading, we never did well there, Ron dominated the meeting getting 14 for an unexpected away win. He never rode in Europe after the season he had with Eastbourne, I think he was a world champion in waiting, that knee injury stopped it.

Hi sid The only thing I would argue within your post is the fact that 'Briggo' did NOT fall in 1972. He was T-Boned by Bernt Persson in what I thought to be a very questionable move. I was at that Final at Wembley and I may be wrong but it would take a lot to convince me otherwise. Both great Riders, but I reckon that 'Briggo' would have gone on to win the title in 1972, remember - he had already beaten Mauger the eventual winner, had he been able to continue to ride in the Meeting. Of course, none of this can be proved and is mere conjecture - but in all the years since 1972 I have believed 'Briggo' was robbed of a fifth World Title.

And hopefully he'll have many more-he's probably still in better shape than most of us (certainly me)!!

It is Ove Fundin's 87th birthday today.

Honestly What a real shame Chris is a great lad; His dad was a nice fella so was Tom his other "Spanner Man" and little Doreen who lives in the borders must be past herself as she supported Chis for years... Hope things sort themselves out sooner rather than later and he gets back on his feet... Get well soon "Big Boy"... Regards John Oh and on a lighter note a couple of laughs about Chris that I will never forget... His waxing escapade in the bar at Brough to raise money for the air fence (I think) when a flock of women led by Gillian set about him with waxing strips and a razor (I believe) and if you had seen him stripped to the waist it looked like he was wearing a mohair jumper tucked in at the waist and when he came back looking like a plucked pheasant; pink wasn't the word he was actually bleeding... and still with that beaming smile... and the time he decided to take a short cut across the centre green when avoiding a fallen rider and we asked in the bar what he was thinking about and he said he hadn't seen the fallen rider he was going for a gap but forgot he had to go round the 3rd and 4th bends... he said "I though I had cracked it and found a fast way around Brough" and again never stopped smiling... Great kid; some good laughs and always came in the bar for a chat and a pint (usually because (Pepsi) Tom was driving) it was a pleasure to be associated with the Guy... a genuinely nice bloke... Get well soon pal from the BFG; Leah; George; Doug; Kyle and Emily... Regards THJ

I think the GP series is EASIER to win if you are the best rider in the world (maybe even top 2) because it reduces elements of luck, or the impact of one bad ride. For anyone else, the one off world final was easier to win, as it required doing just enough to get through qualifying rounds, then 5 good rides on the big night.

Thought it was a vodka bottle?

My friend in Italy would like to know the results of this meeting....if anyone can help I'd appreciate it. This track only ran in 1949 I think.

Worrying times I would think... Councils will be under huge pressure across the country post Covid 19 as budgets from central govt. will no doubt have to be slashed to pay for the billions of pounds of borrowing it has done to pay for the current crisis.. And from what I remember of my visits to Poole, you could get a good many apartments not too far from the waterfront in a 'nice' (and quite expensive) area of the country..

It's only ceased until they can reopen with a public crowd. - "Poole Greyhound Stadium closed until further notice, until public is allowed to attend" They can't run at Poole behind closed doors due to the financial loss involved.

In all of those remarkable Nielsen seasons it has to be remembered that he never just chased the win and would team rider whenever he had the opportunity. Not only a the best no.1 in the 80s but also the best team man. He made very average riders look like world beaters.

I wish i did.

No don't disagree WK , this night has wrangled me for years he should of won a fifth world title.

Exeter did put Ivan at number two for tactical reasons as well.

I was there too and can't disagree with anything you have stated.

Hope you are well WK, yes my take on things were that Barry would of scored 14 points and maybe Ole would of beaten him.Persson was a rider I liked so never hated him Briggoe's biggest mistake was leaving that hole on the inside Persson was way over zealous though.

I remember watching the highlights later that evening on ITV (main stream TV...imagine that now?) and thought that the meeting had everything and couldn't have been more dramatic in its content and conclusion. Strange that Briggo's ride against Ivan was not featured however?

I certainly hope so...just hope TPT can remain solvent during these troubled times without obviously knowing their business infrastructure.

I do think from 1972, Briggo was not the force of old he was still good and to average well over nine was some feat.The one thing with Briggs was was he a good gater or not? i could not quite make my mind up to be honest.My uncle who first took me said oh not to worry Briggs will pick them off after a few laps for me his gating seemed pretty good.His son Tony who was talented again his gating was terrible sure that contributed to him having to override at times.

No way the Government can say what can happen in August without knowing the R rate in July. Its vital.

...and was favourite to win the World Championship that season after dominating both the domestic and international scene. However a pointless first ride proved costly but if GPs had been in place during that period he may well have been given a second chance which is why winning a one-off World Final was not as straight forward, or indeed easier, as some would have us believe. However both disciplines require different approaches and therefore very difficult comparing one with the other in my view.

yes but 14 days.

The UK based riders could still earn some extra money by riding in the Swedish or Danish leagues (equally affected by the Polish demands of one rider one club) and would be more than welcome to race speedway and long-track here in Germany, as did nearly all of the top British League speedway riders back in the 1970s and '80s. Some co-operation between the UK, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, would strenghten our position against the Polish threat.

Well there is a piece in this weeks edition from one bloke that is worth reading

I think I can help you with some informations about the longtrack/speedway in Homburg. They are taken from a club chronicle published in 1993. The longtrack was opened on May 25th 1952 and had a track length of 750 meters. A crowd of 20.000 people had been there for the first races. The 9th longtrack meeting (on August 15th 1957) was staged as a speedway event with a 4 Team Tournament. The riders did represent winner Germany (40 points), Austria (28), Finnland (28) and Sweden (21). The next meeting (on May 1st 1958) was also run as a speedway meeting. Germany (34) was the winner again with Austria (32), Netherlands (31) and England (17) following. The last ever longtrack meeting at this track (in Homburg district named Erbach) was on May 14th 1961. The track was then declared as a building site. The club later did stage grasstrack meetings from 1962 until 1965. If someone is interested I can send you copies of the 5 pages from the chronicle (in german) which tell about the longtrack/speedway/grasstrack history of the Homburg club.

Terrific entertainment last night for the Wolves match from 2017. Great all round performance from the team.

Would it be worth sticking a couple of points on the average of a couple of those high-quality GP-caliber riders (Tai, Hancock? etc.) because they are above the level of their average when they were last in the EL as British league speedway has dropped. I mean, what would Tai's last average be? 7 or something?

Remember Arnie Haley beating him from the back in the silver sash match race at Hyde Road that year

With the situation as it is at the moment there a reason now to ensure riders like Kinsley, Hume, get places at Championship clubs.Also these riders should be guaranteed prolonged run's in a team not just replaced when the averages allow.Stoneman for me is a prime example a rider i like he is a racer popular with the fans yet if he averages well under three he could get replaced.Bickley at Worky could not buy a point yet they persevered with him and he has made unspectacular progress ever since. Winning should be placed alongside producing English riders now is a chance to stop mediocre foreign talent getting team spots will that ever happen probably not.For me out of all our young talent out there Brennan, Kemp, Palin are the ones that i think can push on.Young Kemp riding in the top five at Sheffield showed that he can mix it and with this investment in equipment could make real progress.

JJ they are more now but we did sign a couple of Danes last season when may be better options at the time available in the UK now snapped up elsewhere.

The riders always love the track because its smooth, cambered, and usually prepared well. But that doesn't guarantee good racing. Obviously with the rain stopping racing usually, having lots of covering is not essential. But being a soft southerner I feel the place would certainly benefit from some extra shelter from the wind. I find it like Buxton, you can get sun burnt and hypothermia in the same afternoon....

Who no doubt will be going the same way as Shearings?