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I did, it cost me a fortune over 20 years but I didn’t care, I just wanted to race speedway and being in a team was fantastic, I had some really crap deals financially like at Berwick but I didn’t care I loved every minute, to me there are things in life that money can’t buy and winning races for your team is one of them, I came into speedway with nothing, left with even less but those memories are worth a million

Shouldn't be needed The vaccine will (at least should) be voluntary and if someone chooses not to have it they should not be discriminated against If someone attending has been vaccinated then they should have no fear of another that isnt after all they are protected If someone attending hasn't been vaccinated (through choice) then they do so at their own risk along with any other in that position Exclusion on the grounds of non vaccination should be illegal

When they finally realise that many outside their 'speedway bubble' dont take the comps they run seriously, they may then start to move on and concentrate their energies and money on what is actually important, and that is the collective growth of the sport.. Paying out hundreds of thousands each year to employees when very few potential customers in your area, never mind nationally, even know what you do, what you provide, or even know you exist, is simply crazy from a business perspective. Yet clubs do this year in year out and seem to then annually scratch their heads working out why it isnt delivering success, and then come up with other random ideas to solve their problems that in no way ever sort the main issue, but instead, sometimes even alienate their hard core customer base. If ever an entity required clear, independent leadership then Speedway in the UK fits that bill perfectly.. Even to just save it from itself..

So opinions are more valid than the truth? I also know my two-penneth is safe Lewy and my box is very warm and cosy, thank you

I respect Dean’s opinion but I would pay to watch speedway at Belle Vue whether it was Toruń mark two or a track in a field. As it is the NSS is a pretty good stadium anyway and I have always found the view and atmosphere excellent on either straight. British speedway has had little to enthuse about in recent years but the NSS really is. One of the best tracks in the world without a doubt.

I was part of consortium that nearly did. In 1996 we were contacted because other tracks knew that we were track hunting and an offer was put to us. It would have been at a lower level to the "Big League", which started in 1995 and too expensive, and at first there was going to be 6 teams as starters. WE were going to be affiliated to the ACU direct with a new name for the sport, and have our own operating committee. We held covert meetings, with one existing BL team being represented, added to us as new starters and other NL type of teams. WE agreed how we would run and expecially the pay rate. Unfortunately. someone found out, and the BSPA were told, and they invited us to join a new league that they were planning with the similar standard and pay rates. WE were persuaded to join the Premier League, but at the very first meeting we were told the pay rate was £3 higher than the rate we had agreed, but we had gone that far down the road that we agreed and had to revise our spending plans. So even with a breakaway that was feasible and affordable, we were shafted by the BSPA so the independent league never got started.

My moneys on Womble.

NO.

Agree,that type of situation is not an isolated incident.I know of a few examples where the Promoters with the most “influence “ on BSPA have tried to “pull a fast one” regarding use of riders and rules.

WE actually agree on something. Used to attend most soccer matches at Wembley (internationals, etc) in World Soccer days and it was a dump. But it did have an aura. The two dressing rooms had huge baths rather than showers... more like a swimming pool. Practice for speedway World Finals were always held on a Thursday. Media were allowed in and we used to stage a mock soccer game for a few minutes to say "we played at Wembley." Actually did the same at Ullevi in Gothenburg one year. Happy days ...

Which was a bit of dump to be honest - even after various attempts to upgrade it with modern facilities. No doubt that's why it got demolished and replaced with a much better, albeit less iconic stadium.

I think even the 6th tier of English football - i.e. National League North/South - gets better average attendances than anything in British speedway. There's even some teams down in the 8th tier that have attendances that speedway would die for.

Yes that's my point. The rules shoud be decided by those who have a financial input in the sport but then an independant authority administers same. The point I was making with Bamforth's action was that there was a blatant 'conflict of interest' and 'wearing of hats'. I agree that Crapper as promoter should have known the rules but the point wasn't made known to him until the day of the meeting. Bamforth as Chairman presumeably was aware of the anomaly but with his Belle Vue 'hat' waited until just before the meeting before declaring his hand therefore attempting to gain an advantage...however all was made good. The "Cheetahs" beat the "Aces" thus progressing to the next round of the cup!

Just as well lockdown has ended - you can get yourself down to the barbers to sort out those split hairs you seem to have accumulated

It's their ball because they put up the money and carry the losses. You can't realistically expect people without any financial stake in the sport to ultimately be calling the shots - no matter how badly it's being run - because there's no guarantee that them spending the money of others will actually do any better. The sad reality is that speedway has such a poor demographic and has fallen so far in public consciousness that no serious administrator, marketer or financier would want to have anything to do with it, even if the sport could afford them. The sport has dug itself into a hole - partly although not totally of its own making - and it's very difficult to see how it can dig itself out. What should happen though, is that the promoters set the framework and underlying conditions for running the sport each year (or ideally over a longer period), and then an independent Commissioner or Commission is responsible for implementing that. It's the way most serious sports have gone in recent years, and ideally a commission would also include independent directors with marketing, finance and legal skills. However, speedway is too impoverished and sadly Mickey Mouse for that to happen in any serious way.

Granted but if he does ride in England i m sure it will for Kings Lynn.

CCFC actually play at the Trillion Trophy Stadium, or St Andrews to give it it's former name.

So what is the new planning applications (that’s in the local domain) actual purpose? Especially considering it is actually worded incorrectly according to you to say that the main racenight will actually be Friday with Wednesdays used as an alternative. That just seems a little backwards to me to apply for something they can already do, yet not alter the wording? Im not sure when the new Oak Tree business park is due for completion but you’d anticipate that would bring in a nice income. No idea on the Henry Atkins front and where that rumour has come from, but it’s been posted by two separate people now so there must be some legs in it somewhere. Either way, Atkins or not I’m very surprised that the team hasn’t/isn’t changing. Will take your word on that also until we see that actually officially confirmed. All speculation as you say... but isn’t that what a forum is for to discuss??

That's an interesting insight and highlights the problems trying to alter things in the UK.

As a neutral, i enjoyed both the Shay and Odsal. It will need a brave man with deep pockets to bring professional speedway back to Bradford. It's an iconic venue for sure, but i can't see it being financially viable.

I’m all for the pointless posts, this forum is getting very bitter lately

21 Heats of awesome speedway action is planned for Thursday 3rd December @ 7pm as we Premiere the Isle of Wight's Handicap Individual Round 2 meeting held at Smallbrook on 07/08/2018. With 4 riders starting from the gate, 4 riders 15 metres back and 4 riders 30 metres back this was one of the most thrilling meetings to be held on the Island to date. Featuring riders such as Ellis Perks, Alfie Bowtell and Ben Morley, with passing in every heat. PLUS Wightlink Wizards vs Weymouth Wildcats SDL meeting interspersed into the main meeting! Don't Miss it.

I've had the pleasure of seeing it after the film maker got in touch with the Speedway Researcher. It's well worth watching and would highly recommend it.

Well done to Jake Allen in winning the Darcy Ward Invitational Meeting at the weekend beating Josh G, Ryan D & Josh P in the final.

I haven't looked in on here for a while now but I find some of the post on this thread, in particular the last few pages, are nothing more than speculative & presumptuous. I also know for a fact that those post are totally inaccurate to say the least. Obviously Lockdown is affecting some people more than others So let's put a few FACTS on the table............... 1. The 2021 One to Seven is exactly the same as the 2020 One to Seven, so NO CHANGES there. 2. Henry Atkins is a Club asset but has NOT signed for the Rebels 2021 line up (See Number 1 for clarification) 3. Race nights are NOT changing from Wednesday. If you read the previous planning application, which is referenced in this latest one, you'll find that the wording is exactly the same as that one (From Pete Toogood's time as promoter), I'm led to believe that as long as the club doesn't exceed the 30 race day restriction, the wording of the application is not relevant to the actual race night, as the club can use any night as an alternative from Wednesday, subject to the 30 day rule. The Oaktree needs to use Friday nights for functions to offset the economic problems most businesses have suffered this year, so the last thing they would want is to use up a night that put's the hospitality side of the Oaktree business back on an even keel. To finish off, just a personal observation from the last few pages, this is a Somerset thread but it appears to have been transported to Plymouth for some reason, although I shouldn't be surprised with Lewy throwing in his two-penneth worth all over the place .

Now is the time for the uk to go it’s own way, take a step back, change the sport, appeal again to its working man’s audience again, stop trying to be something it isn’t, it’s apeal has always been its rawness it’s connection to its fans , change the engines, stop lining the pockets of the tuners, nothing is gained by the pursuit of speed in our sport, there was a quote in the polish section of the SS a couple of weeks ago where a guy said polish speedway has lost its soul and as much as I love polish speedway it’s true it has, the balance has tipped in favour of business, when we finally get through this covid crap, the world will have changed and if people think speedway will just pick up and carry on as normal then they are in for a shock, now is the time to change the sport for the better, I honestly believe poland won’t be far behind us

I hate Polish stadiums, just cold and concrete, the racing feels so far away, no close contact with the riders, no hanging over the pit area or chatting with those standing in the riders stand for Polish fans, nah not for me. Can't bloody wait to get back supporting King's Lynn Stars, absence has made the heart grow fonder. Yes the racing needs to be great at every stadium, no fan wants to watch follow the leader, equally I don't want to watch riders just making mistakes for the passes to happen, lots of racing lines is the way to go for our sport .........

100% unfortunately. Rye House speedway much the same as Coventry speedway and Newport speedway in recent years were facilities that had more scope for practice sessions than most other speedway tracks in the Country. Like has been much said over the years and Peter Oakes said as much in the star the other week, one of British speedways big issues in recent decades has been not owning most of the stadiums speedway takes place in which leaves it at the peril of owners who often grasp the opportunity to have their retirement pot being hansomely supplemented by selling the stadiums. Rye House, Coventry and Newport speedway tracks along with others could of been part of a National training programme along with the likes Scunthorpe, Lydd, Northside and Sittingbourne as well as continuing to host League racing.

Wightlink Warriors and Wizards 2020 Season Report. Firstly, I hope this update finds you and yours in good health and good spirits. Like yours, our 2020 was like no other and the knock-on effect for the clubs and sport has been traumatic, frustrating along with many other expressions that spring to mind. For us, and many others, 2020 was a non-starter for the Wightlink Warriors and Wightlink Wizards on our track due to government restrictions for the use of stadiums preventing the publics attendance, which culminated in the sport’s governing body, the BSPL/SCB, abandoning any form of league racing. But that’s not the end of our 2020 story……… Did we actually get to go racing? Amazingly, yes we did. The Warriors got to go racing at Plymouth for a 3 Team Tournament involving Plymouth, Eastbourne and the Isle of Wight. The Warriors management team worked extremely closely with Plymouth to ensure that fans were safe in a Covid secure environment before the meeting which proved to be a huge success. This kind of meeting involves 4 riders representing each team and our quartet of Ben Morley, Tom Woolley, Connor Coles and Chad Wirtzfeld did a superb job missing out by just a single point for the top spot on the night. The result being Eastbourne 31, Isle of Wight 30 and Plymouth 28. It was a great meeting in front of 400 spectators and streamed live to a wider audience and while this wasn’t on the Island we can rightly feel proud that we helped enable this meeting to happen and we were able to represent you all with pride. In addition to the team efforts Chad Wirtfeld continued to ride on the grass in the few meetings available winning all in his class – so congratulations to him. What else did we do? BDO Darts Sponsorship Working with our partner ASGUK we managed to arrange for a super opportunity for the Warriors logo to appear on stage at the BDO Darts. This raised huge interest in the club and also excellent marketing with speedway fan and professional dart player Scott Mitchel ensuring our logo was not only on Eurosport but also around the world on his twitter and FB pages. GB Young Lions U21 Training Camp The Warriors provided 3 days of intense on and off track training with Neil Vatcher for the GB Young Lions. The camp offered the cream of Britain’s young riders the chance to develop their on track knowledge with expert riders Steve Worral and Paul Hurry as well as media, nutrition, and fitness classes. My First Skid With the relaxation to allow training and amateur sports events without spectators, we reintroduced My First Skid. Unfortunately, we could not allow the use of hire bikes and places were limited to 15 riders who owned all their own equipment and had to follow a strict Covid guide. This proved to be a great success allowing us to ensure that our track equipment remained functional and our island-based riders more time to further develop their skills. Re-run of Meetings via Speedway Portal We have worked since the start with Speedway Portal and its owner Andy Hague. Andy has established a full history of the Wightlink Warriors from our very first fans forum, when we nervously announced our plans to return speedway to Smallbrook. Andy and his team have recorded almost every home meeting since 2016 and the quality and ingenuity is clear to see – so much so Andy is now invited to film at other stadiums across the UK. Andy asked Martin and I if we would like to stream our meetings for free to fans to ensure we keep them engaged with the Warriors and the sport in general. Of course, and we didn’t need to be asked twice because for us not only did we engage with our fans but by watching re-runs we can see where we can improve on race day as well as afford our sponsors more airtime which is always a great thing. Our re-runs were so popular that it encouraged our governing body and other clubs to do the same. Moving forward with Speedway Portal, we shall continue to stream our meetings for our fans throughout the winter period up until press day and should there be a delay to the season start we will continue to spread the Warrior Way using this forum. Hot Heats Unannounced spectacular races from across our seasons to keep the Warriors in the minds of fans across the nation and beyond. Rob Dyers Speedway Quiz From the start of the 1st lockdown our track announcer Rob Dyer produced a weekly quiz for fans to participate in. This proved extremely popular and indeed encouraged our own governing body and other clubs to produce their own. Virtual Skid Virtual Skid came about as a way to create a real meeting using historic footage. Working with Speedway Portal we invented an algorithm that would take 4 meetings, (60 races) and jumble them all up so to give 15 race choices of A, B, C or D. We invited two celebrity team managers, selected from ex-riders, referees, sponsors and super fans to try and guide their team to victory by selecting each race. So far, we have produced 15 meetings, all available on YouTube including one which raised over £1000 for the Ben Fund. Face Masks. The club has raised well over £1000 for charity from the sale of Warrior branded face masks. We employed two methods for the face masks. Firstly, key workers, no matter what they did could request one for free while anyone who was not a key worker we requested a donation and anything over the cost price we gave to charity. We gave £605 to Capt Tom, £261 to Mountbatten Hospice (IOW) and £250 Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund to injured Speedway Riders. And there is more. Even today, volunteers are giving their time and effort to ensure that Smallbrook Stadium is on point and ready to go and ready to serve the community in every way. We have refurbished rooms, improved areas and much more. We know it is a long continuous process but without your support nothing our volunteers do would be possible and Martin and I thank you so much for it. Our drive and enthusiasm is as strong as ever as we look to continue to win awards, trophies but most of all provide the best night out in Speedway in the UK. With 2021 just around the corner, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support this year, to assure you that we have continued to do our bit for club, community, and sport and together we look forward to a fabulous 2021. May we also take the opportunity, early to be safe, to wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas time and a brilliant New Year. All the best Barry

Maybe it would be possible for either just you or a combined effort by people who video meetings around the country to compile a programme of races with Danny in. He was such a showman I am sure it would be popular and could maybe raise some funds for Danny's family who I am sure would also welcome the video as a memory of Danny at his best.

Danny truly was a great guy. Always stopped, made his way over to shake my hand and always had time to stop and chat before and after meetings etc, and not always for the camera either. Very much missed greatly. Regarding the 2019 Belle Vue meeting Chris, it is scheduled, but not for a short while. We are continuing with the remainder of the 2018 season, and will look to either run with the remaining 2019 season meetings at that point or go back to 2017. Either way, it will be shown. Thanks for your continued support Chris.

Damian is a Leszno junior, aged 15- he turns 16 next May( 23rd). This is a video of Tuesday`s Zielona Gora staged junior match in which he rides. He needs to work on his gating but seems to have a great racing brain for someone so young. Anyone else impressed ?

A friend of mine was at the stadium today. Machines are preparing the ground to lay an all weather football pitch.