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What a glum day. On one hand it’s no surprise to learn of teams struggling to make plans for ‘21 with everything so uncertain still and deciding not to risk it. On the other it is somewhat of a surprise to me that Swindon have taken the decision themselves with the rest of the league still hoping to run this year. The stadium situation has been nearly 15 years in the making now though. All the false hopes of each previous announcement only make you more certain that the new stadium will never appear. I’ve said for a while that I thought the best hope of keeping speedway at Blunsdon is for crowds to keep turning up in good numbers, keeping the club in the local eye and as a tangible asset to the town and its people, rather than it just withering away and the community seeing it as something that should be put out of its misery. COVID has given Osbourne the perfect scenario to quietly shake the club off the site. Even if no building work on the site happens in the next 12 months, you can easily imagine the stadium being written off as unsuitable for use at scale after being sat empty for two years. Gives Osbourne the chance to show he’s not the the ghoulish, deceitful, slimebag some of us might think of him as based on previous form though, if a new stadium were to somehow emerge. I won’t be putting much money on it myself though. Even if against the odds, the robins do take to track in 2022, you wonder just what will be left of other clubs by then. Hard to feel much positivity about the sport at the moment.

Should have been tried long ago. Would it hurt to give it a go for one season?

And on Friday nights!

Godfreys solution will be that ALL FIXTURES next season should be run at Scunthorpe.

With the "top six" qualifying for the play offs??

And building houses on where speedway tracks once were

I notice construction of new stadiums doesn't appear among his many talents.....

At least it's a plan

It will take the majority of the promoters most of the day just to work out how the use zoom.

I think it's in the same storage unit as the roof for the Odsal superdome

why not run a league on a 4TT basis, with 4 riders + reserve, 4 teams in each meeting .. is this how Denmark ran/run their league?

Poole have stated that they are committed to the Championship. With all the Polish interference I am happy with that decision!!

Most likely outcome will be Lynn re-signing Batchelor

modesty not a strong point

What has he lost ? How does he prove his loss ? How can he prove he wouldn’t have crashed on the first bend and been out for the season ? The three essential parts of a contract are offer acceptance and consideration (ie paymement). But whichever way you break it down the season ends on 31st October all contracts lapse. Speedway has been around long enough that even the thickest of promoters (ie Rob Godfrey) have all these things tied up in standard contracts.

He was. I have programmes from Bristol and his photo is in them.

The Championship are not the problem when and if the season gets the go ahead.IMO Once again the BIG league are the problem.One of these days !!!!

To be fair I don’t think TR would be fobbed off to easily, he a is smart promoter who knows the score.

This Thursday. Stand by for another postponement as officially one less premiership team and now two other clubs with dog tracks being told no crowds this year. If there’s to be a season, and it’s a big IF, they have to have a premiership to comply with the TV contract so they will be pressing the likes of Poole and Somerset to step up with a promise of a bigger slice of the TV money and using Doyle as the no.1 in which ever team will step up, as he’s ridden for both of them in the past.

I know how you feel.

clarke osborne has kept terry russell in the dark all along matt,i doubt even the senior managers at stadia uk know any details,i believe matt ford has at times found it impossible to even make contact with osborne let alone get any information from him.There may be other reasons as well but i believe the total and continous frustration and despair with the stadium situation has contributed to terry russels decision.

There’s more to this than just the stadium and the real truth about what’s gone on at Swindon will seep out over time. After all the smoke and mirrors excuses by all concerned you can bet it’s mainly about money!

I don't believe that. As tenants, I think the speedway club are fully aware of what is going on and have been all along. If they are not aware, then Rossiter and Kilby are negligent in their roles.

Nothing says deluded like them thinking they are going to start in May!! Absolutely no chance. July at the absolute earliest I'd say.

Laughable reading that back now!!!

Swindon Robins Speedway Official Website: NEW STADIUM LATEST (swindon-speedway.com) Flash back for everyone .

Co-Promoters Rosco and Kilby have both stated that Robins will definitely be back in 2022.

Well that would mean Buster has a 50% chance of winning the league lol. No wonder he wants it to go ahead.

Jason Doyle should tell the Robins management to get stuffed going forward. They've turned Doyley right over after he committed to them by dropping Sweden.

I did think this was a possible solution a while back so all teams come to the table, and ensure enough riders to go round, however.. My only negative to it was paying for 16 riders per meeting... Although I do think by grading riders and altering race formats that may be affordable? ie. 4 grades, A to D (with D level being riders 4 AND 5)., and (radical elert), the grades just race against each other 4 times from each gate position so the disparate level of riders on show shouldn't impact the closeness of the racing, as every race takes place with those of similar ability.. Stick down a maximum mean average for the team and that would mean no team could use the "best" of each grade.. Standard from Prem HL to Champ Reserve/NL Heat Leader., 96 points over 16 heats @ £75 a point average, (actual individual deals based on ability obviously), would mean an outlay of £7200 on average for each team to cover all four matches.. Eg per point, No 1 = £100, No 2 = £80, No 3 = £70 and No 4 = £50. (No. 5 same as 4 if he rides).. With no crowds nothing happens obviously, but if we do get fans in again, maybe doing 4 teams per match (one league) would mean lots of Speedway for the riders, and different teams visiting for the fans? (And four lots of Speedway starved fan bases to try and attract per meeting). Maybe even North and South Conference the league so you ride against more local teams more often than those at the opposite end of the Country, with a North v South playoff (similar to the way the NFL does it).. The NL could possibly still run the traditional format of two teams, 7 per team, to ensure lots of rides for those still progressing through, or, if enough teams are interested, also run 4 team tournaments meaning 16/20 developing riders get track time each night.. I am sure riders would prefer to ride four times per week (16 heats to earn money), in smaller team numbers, than run twice a week (and sometimes just once) in a seven man team

less riders needed, mixes things up a bit, something different for punters .. IF there's going to be any speedway in 2021 drastic changes need to be made

Denmark run 5 man team v team matches but then move to a 4 team format semi and final

Just what I was thinking! With Robert Lambert gone, and a huge pair of boots to fill, who could be better but Jason Doyle now that Swindon have stated they won't be running in 2021? What's even better is he lives on the outskirts of Norwich near the A47, so only 45 minutes from his front door to Saddlebow Road. I would love to see him at Lynn always been one of my favourites for his 100% effort style of riding.

I thought plan B was to hope plan A works?