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Better meeting than the score suggests. What has happened to Cookie? Hugely disappointing. Never looked like winning a race. Didnt understand him getting the TS, when at that point Nicol was far better. I said previously that I was impressed with Nicol when he guested here earlier. Same again tonight. Always in the thick of things. Unlucky to get excluded for tapes, when 2 others moved as well, including Cook. Winning Ht15 by a good 30 meters or so, when he shed a chain or similar going into bend 3 last lap and crashed heavily. Hope he is ok? Thank you to the Tigers fans who stopped us by the start after the meeting. They congratulated us on our victory and wished us well in the play offs. Safe journey to Leicester and then home to all of them. Gracious in defeat.

Dick keeps us all updated about what's happening at all clubs bar Berwick on here though.

Interesting comment but what do you actually mean and how often have you actually seen him ride this year? For example, do you mean he's not the same as when he was in the GPs when he got stick from so called British fans because he wasn't apparently good enough? Or do you mean compared to when he started out? Perhaps you say this just because his Championship green sheet average has fallen from a starting point of 9.93 to 9.32 in 2021? Yet funnily enough despite being 'nowhere near the rider he used to be' he's still performed better, average wise, over the current season than all of the Poole team and respected riders such as Richard Lawson, Nick Morris and Chris Harris. Ignoring assessed averages he is currently 4th in the league, behind Scott Nichols by 0.01, 0.05 behind Sam Masters and 0.12 behind Bjarne Pedersen (ironically another rider that for some reason attracts stick from some fans). As he has grown older he has become even more of a family man, his family comes first, end off. If this means he won't take risks on dodgy tracks - blame the promoters, not him. If he decides it is better to score a bonus point when in third place rather than go flat out to try and win - blame the promoters who brought in the rule that bonus points don't count in your green sheet averages. If he starts to think about next year and feels his family would be better off financially if he does ensure he has an 'attractive' average that will get him a team place AND lots of guest bookings like many other riders allegedly do - again blame the promoters. Just so you know what he can still do on a proper speedway track https://fb.watch/7NZibVvAUj/

You may need to lend him a calculator on the journey as a fully fledged witches fan hes not used to counting over 40 these days so the high numbers that the Panthers have been achieving may be a bit much for him at first but given a bit of tutorial he will be fine .

I've decided to become a Panthers fan for the play offs

Maybe instead of trying to standardise the engines just handicap the riders like in horse racing? Bike and rider weighed before the meeting and ballast added to the bike so that they’re all on a level playing field. Simple and effective, no flyweight will spend thousands on tuning if he has to have 10kg or more to his bike

Just looking at Isle of Wight Masters Championship. www.dirthub.co.uk/island-masters-shale-track-championship-schedule-entry-list/ You have to applaud the promoters for taking on meetings of this format. There's no reason why stadium racing of this type can't be run with both speedway and grasstrack bikes dependent on the size and condition of the track. I think individuals on this forum are too quick to dismiss this type of event ultimately who cares at least it gives UK riders an opportunity to race instead of applauding Wolverhampton with their plethora of imports.

I think that Sheffield have been unfairly treated by fans of other clubs re the inclusion of Bates as an RS.. I bet no one was more surprised than them to find out that within virtually every one of the criteria needed, Josh got in by the skin if his teeth... Wasnt their doing that this was the criteria used I am sure.. A complete coincidence, and, in keeping with so much of British Speedway, beyond reproach integrity and credibility wise... I wonder (for next year), as the riders will be a year older, and will have actual averages, if the age levels change alongside the qualifying average needed to be an RS..? And if so.... More 'coincidences' maybe to look forward to?

I used to love going to Sheffield Speedway… really enjoyed the racing. I went 8 to 10 times a year for many years. in recent years there has been a serious drop in the quality of the racing culminating in only going once a year…. Then a decision to not bother going at all. sad times

There was an MDSL match on after so plenty of options for a number 8 not taken by Poole

In 2018 I was involved in the purchase of waste land, probably big enough to build a speedway track on, from North Tyneside Council. It's in between a rubbish tip a motorway and a railway line and cost £1m. With all councils struggling for cash and planning for housing developments much easier I just can't see any public authority making a significant plot of land available for leisure, especially motorsports. There's plenty of grant funding out there to stimulate the construction industry but you've got to prove that your investment will benefit the local economy. They obviously did that in Manchester with the promise of National and World Finals attracting visitors to the city. Something like that would be great for an authority like North or South Tyneside or even Gateshead, to have world class sport staged in their area but the promise of attracting up to at best 1,000 people once a week for 20 weeks of the year for a noisy motorsport is a tough sell.

Jim Mcmonarch made sure that wouldn't happen.

The die was cast the moment that the professional league promoters, but particularly the British ones, failed to grasp the opportunities offered by the SGP and allowed the FIM to sell it off to a private promoter with basically no benefit accruing to them. The SGP affects the Polish and Swedish leagues much less - if at all - but even so it's ridiculous that they allowed a prime asset that basically utilises their assets for free to escape them. Very poor vision and even poorer politicking in the FIM corridors of power. Once the SGP got a foothold, the British leagues were screwed either way as the speedway-going public were used to seeing the top riders in Britain, so any stand against using GP riders would cost fans, yet by trying to accommodate the SGP they found they had to run on off-nights and/or not on prime summer weekends, and lost fans anyway. The GP riders dropped Britain once the wages dried up, not least because the fans stopped coming. I'm quite sure they'd still be turning up if the British leagues paid Polish wages, whatever other excuses they may have given. But the whole issue of insufficient riders is a wider one, and is another thing that wasn't well addressed over the years. Doubling-up is fine as a development pathway through the league structure, but ridiculous when it's just a way to make up the numbers. It just becomes the thin end of the wedge - reduce opportunities and you ultimately reduce the number of riders competing for those places.

Just a pity Lions chose such a rubbish guest

has he transferred to Peterborough then

Rising Stars should be kept as reserves even if their averages are preventing it. Like the Polish under 21s,

The official site really is very poor, twenty four hours before a meeting no preview, no team news, very poor. On the positive side for those interested you can still but a 2021 season pass.

He posted this in 2019 when the Stars visited Poole.

Sorry Bruv had to put a laughing like to this post,although being a Lynn fan I'm not use to counting over 35. If Peterborough happen to be at home in the play offs on Mondays then I will be there too.Don't worry though I will bring my abacus

Which song will you be belting out at your initiation , you will also need to kiss the badge and prove in a picture that you have completed this task

Your being ironic again!

We’ve got Poole riders so we can use their rule book. Simple !!!

He's getting a hair cut

One other thing I want to mention that I've noticed about other tracks is that the average age seems to be a lot older at Newcastle (and Birmingham) both tracks who seem to be struggling for crowd numbers, seems to be a lot older than some other tracks, such as Poole, Ipswich etc... Something to look at perhaps? There's an awful lot of young people seems to go to them tracks, which are the types who need to be attracted... What's so attractive about Ipswich and Poole that isn't about Newcastle?

If Scunthorpe are still unbeaten at home after tonight they'll have done very well indeed

Hopefully he will give it one more season. He has just started up links with 2 football teams, he will have season ticket money next year, and hopefully more sponsors will come on board. I just hope with the early statement it does not hinder the attendances for last 3 matches as we really need the fans to turn out in force.

Already in the play offs and Batch taking his chance to lower his average in the meetings that count towards it. Come the playoffs where the scores don't count I think you will see a different outcome..... Ben Cook can't replace Neilsen - Stefan is a 3 point rider and Cook would be 4. I know yoy struggle with these concepts but I don't think even Sheffield could get away with that one

There will of course be legitimate cases. But some of the sick notes used in speedway are laughable! What I'm saying is it's open to manipulation. "Overnight" in a foreign hospital can be written be anyone with a blurry business card pretending to be a doctor!

I think we should ride against Berwick instead

Part and parcel of the sport I’m afraid , all teams are affected by injuries during a season.

This Glasgow team has had the guts ripped out of it with Oystercard crashing out for the season and Cook being nowhere near his usual standard for whatever reason. Add to that no new Pole or Sedgmen and they look a very ordinary team which is a great shame as they would have been in the thick of the Play Offs. Ulrich arguably the signing of the season before his smash. Can't see it being anything other than a two horse race for the title really but you never know.

I would have thought R/R would have been better, everyone could have taken a ride, would have thought Andersen, Douglas ,Howarth & 1 other would score more than Summers, who's been very average this season. I know going with 6 riders is a risk, but on this occasion seems a better choice. Lambert at reserve should be a trump card for Scunthorpe.

Thanks ,Don’t don’t get that information from Berwick Website,just how good we are!

Great for moto Cross #wavy

Welcome bruv, always a space in the car for you…

Thank you

Arrange the fixtures so there is a spare week every month so teams can re-arrange cancelled fixtures, weather permitting of course.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him back either,,, same issue though for Ipswich,,, same old same old that's failed time after time. We should be trying fresh new riders that could improve drastically over the next couple of years. And I will say it again,, it's where we should put on an individual,, invite these new riders and put them up against what we know are middle order riders at Foxhall and see how they go

And Mountain scored 10+1 for Newcastle. With 8 out of 11 teams riding tonight and some riders turning down bookings, it's horses for courses and both teams have picked a rider who scored well at the EWR earlier this season. Intriguing meeting, with neither side at full strength. We'll see how it goes.

Indeed but scoring well in the play offs will be win win for him. He will increase his income , he will not increase his average and it will encourage potential employers he is worth offering a place next year.....

And Sunday

Leicester bang up to date with their press as usual... have previewed the match this morning with Ben Barker announced in the team

Yes indeed always a concern when certain riders are programmed and the track is not perfect!

Derek Timms once told me about a rider who gave his engine to someone claiming to be a tuner. It was a set up by some of his team mates as he was constantly moaning about his bike. The "tuner" did nothing more than polish the casings, cylinder and barrel so the engine had a mirror finish. The guy fell for it and claimed it was a lot faster than it was before!

No.

He is the encyclopaedia of information on here he/she must be getting numerous calls per day from the Championship clubs to relay to us minions on here. Or maybe not.

A good watch and correct analysis. The main mitigating factor for me, (beside the above video), is no promoting of the sport in the towns and cities where it is staged, period.

ISSUE 87 (JULY - AUGUST, 2018) of Backtrack is out now and here's a flavour of what to expect . . . TONY LOMAS – Exclusive interview Third in the British Final, a maximum for England and just a point away from reaching the World Final, Tony Lomas held down a full-time job and started a new business while scaling the heights in a brilliant 1971 campaign that put him on the speedway map. Tony McDonald tracked him down in the Yorkshire Dales to find out why his career with home-town club Coventry ended acrimoniously and how a protracted move led to title-winning glory with Exeter. Tony Lomas quotes: "I was naive and overawed. I led in every race for a couple of races but then let people pass me because I didn't think I was good enough to be in front. It sounds silly but that was how I felt in the big meetings at that time. I wanted to do well but didn't think I was capable." "Being a local lad, I hadn't cost Coventry a penny in transfer fees, I never received any signing-on money or guarantees and my travelling expenses to Brandon were 25p per meeting." "It was an honour to ride in the same team as him but, at the same time, I was in awe of him because he was so good. Ivan was in his own bubble but, all credit to him, he was fantastic." "The Exeter promoters treated me well. They paid me £750 for signing-on at the start of the championship year but Wally came on the following winter and said they didn't want to pay as much as that in '75. I was disappointed – they'd just won the league and were getting tremendous crowds – but I told him that if he had to lose a rider (through Rider Control), I was prepared to consider going." Here come the . . . AMERICANS Martin Rogers, editor of Bruce Penhall's Stars and Bikes book in 1980, recalls the all-American heroes whose unique brand of showmanship brought colour and razzmatazz to the British League scene . . . plus how British fans remember the Californians. SCOTT AUTREY – Trailblazer Steve Luxton reports from California, where former team-mates and friends gathered to see Scott Autrey honoured by his peers. COLIN GOODDY – Exclusive interview An unlikely move to Poole revitalised the near veteran Colin Gooddy's career. Phil Chard catches up with one of the sport's great characters whose much-travelled career also included spells in the Backtrack era with Oxford, Cradley Heath and Crayford. BRETT'S BATTLE Martin Neal talks to the former Berwick, Edinburgh and Aussie favourite Brett Saunders who admits he's lucky to be alive after suffering a serious stoke last December. IAN MACDONALD – man who delivered the Mail In the first of a new series of interviews, we turn the tables on those who have written countless words on speedway. Tony McDonald has a long chat with the founding editor of Speedway Mail. THAT WAS THE YEAR: 1971 Andrew Skeels reflects on a season which heralded a world title for the speedway's first Great Dane, a British history-maker in Poland, domestic bliss for Belle Vue, Hackney, Eastbourne and Ipswich, the return of league racing to Birmingham and the end for Romford and Wembley. COLIN GEAR interview (part 3) In this third and final part, we bring you more behind-the-scenes revelations from former riders' union boss, including a riders' revolt against referee Frank Ebdon, the SRA's battle to keep foreign riders out of the second division, Colin's disgust when the Lee Richardson Memorial meeting was scrapped and more. ON TWO MINUTES WITH . . . LAWRIE BLOOMFIELD Martin Neal catches up with the former Ipswich, Newcastle, Peterborough, Canterbury and Arena-Essex rider now enjoying family life in Brisbane, Australia. MILTON KEYNES: 50 Memorable Moments It's 40 years since speedway came to the Buckinghamshire new town famous for its concrete cows and network of roundabouts. Rob Peasley looks back at the most happy and gloomy times for Knights whose star riders included Bob Humphreys, Andy Grahame, Bert Harkins, Nigel Sparshott, Keith White, Steve Payne, Trevor Banks, Troy Butler and Gordon Kennett. Brett Alderton and Craig Featherby, both killed in the early 80s, are also remembered. To order this single issue or to subscribe for the year for as little as £22 (UK), please visit www.retro-speedway.com