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I was at Newcastle for the Poole & Plymouth double header and sincerely hope Newcastle is saved. One thing I don't understand is how negative all the media is surrounding this meeting and the future of Newcastle speedway. Just look at the headline in speedway star, Diamonds not Forever. There's not even a question mark at the end of the headline which I think is bang out of order! Talk about kick a club when it's down!

It's on a night like this that I really miss the input from the late, Great Philip Rising. Offering a blanket defence of BSI and Castagna's every move to 'improve' international Speedway by abandoning the SWC for this bastardised hogwash.

I surprised nobody had thought to combine the PLRC & CLRC using (where possible) all teams No1’s as a one-off for this season Possible line up:- Dan Bewley - Belle Vue Danny King - Ipswich Richard Lawson - King’s Lynn Michael Palm Toft - Peterborough Jack Holder - Sheffield Sam Masters - Wolverhampton N Busk Jakobsen - Berwick Chris Harris - Birmingham Richard Worrell - Edinburgh Craig Cook - Glasgow Scott Nicholls - Kent Nick Morris - Leicester Rory Schlein - Poole Bjarne Pedersen - Plymouth Charles Wright - Redcar Adam Ellis - Scunthorpe You would have a Rider’s Championship where all teams (& supporters of those teams) would have a representative. Riders would be in team body colours of the team they are representing. The fans from all teams would have a reason to attend, the CLRC at Sheffield is always well attended, combine that with supporters from Premier League teams and hold it at the National Stadium, it would have the makings for a bumper crowd, ideally on a Saturday Night/Sunday Afternoon (if Pos). The only team to miss-out would be Newcastle, by virtue of their Number 1 having the lowest average.

Whist , Bingo and WI ???

Watched this on the live stream an it was a very enjoyable match. Riders missing on both sides but those there gave 100% effort. Kent more affected by missing riders but this was evened up by George Rothery's machine problems all night until he finally came out on borrowed machinery to win his last heat. There was heavy rain early on but these NDL lads just got on with it. For the Devils Danny and Tom were rock solid but I've been very impressed with the improvement in both the Millar boys this season - especially Gregor. This is exactly what this league is supposed to do. For Kent, Alex Spooner and Vinnie Foord caught the eye with battling and skilful performances.

Shame USA arnt in the 2nd semi, would do them good to be at Belle Vue

If this meeting does go ahead because the forecast now doesn't look great... but if it does I am hoping to have a beer in the top bar to talk to anyone interested and maybe update a few folk on where we are at... Regards THJ

To find out why so many fans of the sport don't go to UK Speedway anymore, the Promoters would first have had to notice that their crowd levels had dropped... And I can only presume they haven't quite noticed this yet as otherwise they would have stopped doing what has driven so many away and started doing something that would entice them back.... Although there could also be a sneaking suspicion of course (given their penchant for doing the 'same old, same old, ad infinitum) that they don't see anything wrong at all with the way the sport is ran.. And it's the many missing fans (who still closely follow the sport), who are just delusional...

A bit like what happened to your team this season.

Maybe so but if you want a future ......always look on the bright side of life? Any club/business, given the right management, can be transformed. So I'd like to think that someone will come in there & get things back on track

Just watched that without actually knowing the result, described on the BSPA website as 'sensational' and after 2 laps I'm thinking they must have made a mistake! Outstanding ride from Harris.

I think people are right when it comes down to crowds and atmosphere... Racing wise matches up well in a lot of meetings but it was the atmosphere back in the day that really helped.. Turned a dull meeting into a pretty exciting one..... My favourite race was Rob Maxfield being team rode to a 5-1 by Peter Collins over Ole Olsen who was by far the best visitor around Belle Vue at the time.. there was no passing and probably if you saw it on tape it would look ordinary but at the time the roof nearly came off the stadium and the atmosphere was incredible.

Sheffield have been badly let down by Batchelor…Holder and Ellis have done their jobs and so have Howarth and Pickering but you cannot win when the rider you signed as number 1 scores like Batchelor has and you have no real reserve strength.

There’s more chance of my hair growing back than that happening again.

Nora licensing only works for amateur events. If the National Development League did what it ought, and returned to amateur status, then that whole league could run under Nora 92. In my view, this is something that could work at Eastbourne, Newcastle and Birmingham, though maybe not under the current promoters. It is also my view that BSPL would then be mad to threaten those riders riding in a Nora 92 NDL with exclusion, as has happened this year, as they’d then struggle with rider shortages.

First time I have tried streaming and thought it good value @ £9.99 - I know Glasgow and Edinburgh do this also but more expensive - If this is the way forward for those living away from the track then I would be happy to pay for 3 meetings each week @ £9.99 a pop - Maybe others have ideas about the whole issue? - Getting back to the meeting Leicester much quicker out of the blocks for the first half but a good comeback from Redcar and really good close racing throughout - Pleased that home teams can use a tactical substitute as it made this meeting more exciting for this neutral individual and also in the event of a draw the away team gets a bonus point - Thank you Redcar

To fart?

The prime object of SON is not can fans predict the top three correctly, is to give smaller speedway nations a chance to join a competition. Like it or lump it, that’s what it is about. Someone, or some committee at FIM need sacking. The track was not fit for a world championship event. It was dangerous, riders could have got seriously injured, even contenders in the individual world championship could have got seriously injured meaning they could have missed the last two rounds. Heads should role. It’s no excuse saying they want smaller countries to hold world championship finals, it was dangerous. The track the GPChallenge was held this year was not dangerous but it was a useless racing track not fit for such an important meeting. Very possibly the same person or committee making the decisions.

Poland Denmark Australia Sweden and Britain should be seeded straight to the final let the other nations contest the semi with the top 2 going into the final are is that too simple lol

Hopefully they will announce that they will be scrapping the SoN & this crappy SGP points system.

For anyone who wants to watch paint dry I ve just painted the underneath of my caravan lol

Don't expect those that end up in any "assistance pot" would hang around for the odd booking, so how would they earn more? Likewise how would 6 man teams reduce doubling up/down unless you capped the number per team. If this was introduced would also reduce earnings potential of some of those who rode in both PL & CL, but no longer able to do so.

Could be damp though, all those tears on the night

That can be interpreted in so many ways… He’s not in anyway connected to the federation, but he basically calls the shots at the Kaanaa track and with an impressive catalog of spares and bikes on sale, he has in the past couple of years really become one of the few people that actively push things forward.

Pearson and Tatum will be now saying they have been the best team in the league after spending a few weeks bigging up Wolves,

Would prefer Nicholls at reserve if we can get to the final and face Wolves

Yeah,,, something like that, but think its bridges not necessarily trains. Think I had O D'd on cider last night and was heading off into a different dimension.

We can but we won't. We'll let Wolves take care of Belle Vue.

https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/sport/motorcycling/eastbourne-eagles-covid-saved-us-but-government-help-amounted-to-diddly-squat-3377741

Thought it was a cracking meeting and would have said the same even if the Lazarus Bears hadn’t pulled off another miraculous comeback. Leicester were electric out of the starts early on and stormed into a 12 point lead after 8 heats.Thought Ht 14 had scuppered our chances but 5-1 in Heat 15 squared it all up. Wrighty back to his best and Kerr fantastic. MPT had a rare off night and Allen struggled more than usual (not through lack of effort). Great last ride from Jenkins too. For Leicester - Howarth, Morris, Kennedy, Douglas all showed they like the Redcar track and contributed to some good races. Bears continue to struggle early in meetings and it will be their downfall in the playoffs but it was another good, entertaining speedway meeting in front of a large crowd. A good night out.

Track reminded me of a GP at Gothenburg when the track was so badly rutted after only a few heats. They postponed and ran the next day but it was still far from ideal.

Good point put money on them at 16/1 Then found out Emil and laguta are not riding lol

Wow! Shock! Horror! Who'd have thought it? Poland, Sweden and Denmark qualify. Surely no-one could have predicted that before the meeting….

How has the previous promotion took the p@ss out of the supporters for years?

It definitely helps if you watch a rider regularly. Nothing will ever convince me that Ray Wilson was better than Martin Ashby!

Workington 2018. Won League, KO Cup & Shield with a team picked late. (thought Neila or Geoff100 would have posted this but probably do not come to the Premiership section too often. )

Madness for any club to run on a night when folk wont come. Remember Rye House?

Or afternoon

Not for any of the Friday night tracks involved. Edinburgh are the ones likely to stick to Fridays and even they have the capacity to run on a Saturday, if needed. I don't think the other three tracks have restrictions to race-nights at all.

It would be shameful if Newcastle closed… Hopefully, there will be some good news

It's often been debated on here who is the best rider never to win the world title, and I don't think Mort is a genuine contender for that "title." But best rider never to finish on the podium (and i exclude riders who rode in years where there was no world championship) - Mort would be one of the very top in that category, maybe along with Darcy Ward, who would have a very different kind of claim.

I think that the track is actually better suited to slower racing. As has been stated earlier the modern bikes haven't improved the entertainment at Brough. However, the NL as it stands wouldn't be viable for a stand alone track. If the CL was more sensibly structured so that teams were made up of predominantly British based riders Newcastle might stand a chance of fielding a competitive team. As it stands operating on a Sunday rules out a whole host of riders who fancy themselves as being international class riders but still want to ride in two British leagues, just not on a Sunday. If teams were allowed one experienced rider (so the likes of Wethers, Wright and Roynon would be No.1 riders) one foreign U24(?) rider (mostly UK based Aussies, Americans etc) plus/or any UK U24(?) who've previously averaged over 8 in the NL or 5 or the CL (i.e. Clegg, Mountain, Flint, Kemp Palin etc) to make up the heat leader trio. Two young British reserves (who average less than 4.00 in the CL and have less than 30(?) NL meetings, i.e. lads progressing from the NL or BYC, Freeman, Smith, Embleton, McGurks, Hagon) with the two 2nd strings filled by anyone who isn't classed as a heat leader or reserve (i.e. Danny Phillips types). Allowing only the U24 UK riders to double up in the PL. That should allow teams all CL teams to field affordable competitive teams. Maybe the likes of Poole, Leicester and Glasgow would move up to improve the PL but with a more affordable team structure in the CL perhaps Eastbourne could return, Mildenhall and IOW might step up, Oxford return, Birmingham also survive. I think with a competitive team at that sort of level big enough crowds could be attracted to cover the costs. I don't think you can under estimate how important a competitive team is at Newcastle. More so than the level of racing. If a team sponsor could be found how much would been needed to keep the club afloat? Are we talking tens of thousands or under £10k?? Does anyone know?

Jesus, they must be desperate Absolutely useless, have had the misfortune of watching him too often this season.

IDK but Thurs night is a no-go for a fair few Poole fans.

He never really seems to ride well away from the AFA.

Kudos to the Panthers,,, I can't see anyone stopping them over 1 leg at the moment,, let alone 2. Can't believe Sheffield didn't off load Batch weeks and weeks ago

Archibald Leach (Leitch?) was the real name of the old time actor Cary Grant. Maybe the stadium designer went on to make a career for himself in Hollywood under an assumed name

As far as I recall Custom House was designed by Archibald Leitch who was the foremost Stadium designer of the day. Responsible for stands at grounds such as Ibrox, Roker Park and Goodison amongst many others. The trademark lattice design of the metalwork on the double decker stands at West Ham was similar to the ones at the other stadiums mentioned.

If you didn't attend, how do you know what are 'facts'? If you don't attend, why are you always boring the rest of us with your stupid comments?

Yeah... I'd make 'em go over the fences too...