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Blame the poles? More like blame the UK authorities who have mismanaged the sport over the past 30 years the result being the frail sport you see in the UK today.

no i think they should be allowed however there is a lack of riders if supporters want the same level of rider that are already competing. if they weaken the product slightly and allow good standard NL riders in more than enough to go round. personally think they should stop doubling up or down for any rider over say 23 and no doubling up for any non british passport holder . hopefully that would give more team places and stop young british riders drifting away from the sport as there are the lack of oppertunities

Its a fair bit better than Daugavpils. If that doesn't win the forum understatement post of the year i'll be shocked

I was about to say more or less the same. I think the Star has done a first class job in the absence of domestic speedway this year. The content has been excellent and a cover to cover read for me.

THE column by Tomas Lorek has been a great addition. He is a very respected writer and broadcaster.

Anders Rowe has signed on for Rawicz on loan from Leszno again for 2021 in the Polish Division 2

If you go to the Save Oxford Stadium YouTube channel a recording of the interview has been posted. I tried to copy the link but cant get it to paste, maybe some copyright issue, or me not doing it right

I think the current format is great.. Race results and meeting details are available on the net instantaneously in several places so a weekly magazine doesn't really need to cover these off in any great detail for me.. A report on major meetings and a lot of 'behind the scenes' stories are perfect.. 'The story behind the story' is often far more interesting... A great read every week..

I was at the meeting at Ipswich which ended Hans' career. As has probably been mentioned on here before it was the most innocuous looking gentle slide into the fence but his back hit one of the small wooden supports that held up the collapsible safety fence. The fans on the terraces were wondering what was going on, shouting 'get up' as they usually do when it looks like a rider's making a meal of it but that soon changed when the ambulance was called on. Still considered as the accident with the worst outcome at Ipswich on the 'new' track inside the old one.

100% agree !

What a great Photo, Dougie was an absolute lovely man who I had the pleasure of knowing for years and classed his as a top friend. Funniest man you could meet at times and the fact that all the top riders in the world respected him and always went to speak to him when they came to Reading showed a lot about him.

I will try Each team in div 1 and 2 must have 2 Polish riders in top 5 and a U24 rider as well(any nationality but if Polish does not count towards the 2 minimum) Each team at 6 and 7 (14/15) must be Polish U21 NB for the 2 German teams in Div 2 substitute Germany for Poland above. No 8 and 16 can be any nationality but must be U23 and can replace any rides in the 1 to 5. If Polish and U21 they also can replace 6 and 7 Div 2 teams are allowed to name a " guest rider" in 2021 which can be from a higher league but must be U23

I liked full meeting journalism on British meetings to include heat details and times. I also found myself reading a small portion of the mag as opposed to cover to cover reading that I used to do. Stopping the Speedway star was more to do with a mammoth reduction in meetings that I now attend. Having averaged 55 meetings a year over 56 years , 2020 would have seen me attend no more than 12 meetings... so The Bspa website was sufficient for my needs

From todays Oxford Mail https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18871464.developer-sets-plan-regenerate-oxford-stadium-cowley/

The seats are all heated at the NSS. Flick the button under the seat.

BBC South reported it again on the late bulletin, but can’t find anything anywhere else. They mentioned that the stadium would need more than just speedway and greyhounds

https://www.eurosport.com/speedway/fim-and-eurosport-events-agree-new-partnership-to-promote-speedway-globally-for-10-years_sto7917825/story.shtml

Superb talent and remember him bursting onto the scene well. I think it would be fair to say with his talent at a young age , he should of ended up with a world championship medal. was arguably the most exciting rider in the world around 2004/5/6ish.

If the Prem and Championship clubs are in a free for all for racenights, that will cause problems for those riders doubling up. Also lets not forget Denmark on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Jeremy Doncaster works at RAF Wattisham which started with electrics many years ago but has widened a lot since then. He's also a machine examiner at Ipswich. Backtrack magazine is a good source of articles such as this thread, well worth a subscription.

Duncan Chapman, who spent virtually his whole career (1989-95) as a reserve or second string at Middlesbrough, is retailer principal at Ray Chapman (his father, I've always assumed) Motors' York branch. Judging by the pic on the firm's website, Duncan is ageing pretty well!

That’s the problem with speedway in a nutshell.

Some riders never quite achieved what they could have done. The bar was so high with Michael though. The fact that Michael Lee became world champion and, in most people's opinion, was an amazing talent, but still we think of "what might have been" shows to me that he could have been one of the greatest riders ever instead of a one off world speedway champion. I'm sure that he's thought that himself many times. I support Belle Vue and can't pretend that I liked the guy for his off the track troubles and the bad publicity it brought he sport, but I was never in doubt when I saw him ride that I was watching a unique talent.

behave - there's a list of British riders clubs may wish to consider if some non UK riders can't come. Surely there's enough Brexiters on here to understand that

couldn't agree more THJ, total over reaction

To be fair to the guy (Rob Godfrey (RG)) he's not saying here are 16 riders you must use these guy's that's it; the way I read it is; here are 16 Brits who are without team places it would be nice if you could consider these guy's before bringing in some foreign rider. You would think he is telling teams to put 3 point riders in as heat leader's. Also have Glasgow not declared the same 7 already for next season as it was mooted that all clubs had agreed that they would try and start with the same teams as announced at the start of 2020 season so what's the problem. If Newcastle manage to get all 7 back they will be around 2 points under the team build level but that's their choice. If either of Nick Skorja or Ondrej Smetana cant make it next season I would like to see a British 7 point rider replace one of these 5 pointers and if there is someone available on the list fine; if not Ludvig Lindgren (foreign rider) fits the bill; its not mandatory to pick one of the 16... If neither make it then again a 9 point rider with a 3 pointer off the list of 16 would be fine by me... (we are about 2 points under the limit) Obviously there will be the odd rider who changes his plans; especially foreign riders I would suggest; (or the rider retires (prematurely) because they have a proper job now and are earning regular cash for a change) and the odd rider who is spending the next 3 to 4 years at Her Majesty's pleasure who wont be available (ever hopefully) and also I have heard that THJ (no the other one) may not be back at this level next year so teams will by default require new riders. However RG has a list of 16 brits who are available and should be given consideration first; but if that's not viable for the team re-building and if all that's available are riders with averages from 3 to 5 points then they wont be filling in for heat leaders (will they?); They should do this every season by the end of November and float riders names around the clubs nationally and if one brit rider gets picked up over a foreign import then great; furthermore it would make all the clubs aware as to who is available to fill in for injured riders as well... There has been many a daft scheme to push riders on to clubs to promote young British riders but this isn't one of them I think people are making a bit of a mountain out of a mole-hill on this... Regards THJ

You're on your Jack Jones here, mate!!!

It's only mildly related to TV coverage but this gif needs to be seen by everybody, turn the sound on...