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Well I've waited and waited to do my Championship predictions, waiting for 11 full 1-7s and it's the end of March and it's still yet to happen. So I am just going to go ahead and do it now anyway, sick of waiting!! 1. Leicester - In my opinion the team that looks the strongest for a full season. Easily unbeatable at home with home specialists throughout the team and the second strongest heat leader trio in the league, particularly at home. Connor and the Thompson twins also know Beaumont Park like the back of their hands and Anders will only get better I'm sure, he's a good prospect down at reserve. I think over the course of the full season they will be the strongest team and will take some beating. 2. Glasgow - Have a solid team through 1 to 7, have decent enough reserves and a very good number 1. Ben Basso and Ulrich should provide endless amount of entertainment and Broc is a very decent number 2 alongside Cookie. Don't think they're quite as strong as Leicester, but they will probably go unbeaten at home and get many points on the road also. 3. Poole - THE strongest heat leader trio bar none in the league, the only thing that lets them down is their second strings might struggle on the road, they're not the strongest and don't have the most experience of other tracks. Nathan Ablitt is also a bit of a question mark for me, I think he should do alright at home on a track he's riding week in week out, but away on tracks like Shielfield and Brough, he may struggle, is it a year too early for him? Time will tell. Poole however are my favourites for the end of season tournament we all refer to as the playoffs (vs Leicester). 4. Redcar - Very solid heat leader trio and two decent second strings, I was gutted when Adam didn't resign with my beloved Diamonds. Kasper Andersen will surprise a few this season I think and the two lads at reserve, particularly Jordan, should fly at home this season. I predict a very good season for the Bears this year and I wish them all the luck in the world, being our nearest and dearest, should comfortably make the playoffs imo and all four of the top 4 I have named are a class above everyone else. 5. Oxford - Have named a solid enough team for their return season, Scotty and Troy should be able to beat anyone in this league and provide all the experience needed for the younger riders in the team. Kyle and Cameron is a decent 3/4 partnership and I am interested to see how Jack Thomas kicks on this year after coming on so well last year. Josh MacDonald and Dillon Ruml is also an impressive reserve partnership, I think Oxford should make the playoffs this year. 6. Plymouth - Quite hard to tell without them having a complete septet however, based on the six they have named so far if they can add even an average rider as their final rider they should be a pretty strong outfit. I think Dan Gilkes and Henry Atkins will be 2 of the most overlooked reserves in the league this season and I feel they will both be pushing for a position in the 1-5 (oh well, just means Alfie Bowtell at reserve instead!!) Ben Barker and MPT will provide years of experience and plenty entertainment and Hans should be a solid enough number 1. I expect Plymouth to be the underrated dark horses of the league this year. Would love to see young Ben Trigger getting a couple opportunities at reserve if the chance arises also, think he's one of Britain's biggest talents coming through and looked just as good, if not better, than Henry at the P&P already. 7. Berwick - Yes yes, Jye and Kyle is the best reserve partnership in the league as every Berwick fan likes to keep reminding me and I do agree. However, they do have a couple of ageing riders and a couple who have a lot to make up for after disappointing season last year. Ricky Wells is not a number 5 and whoever the hell Chris Allen is?? He's not a number 1 either In all seriousness, other than Leon and Chris (Harris ) all the 1-5 need a downgrade in the team really (Ricky 5 --> 3, Theo 3 --> 4, Ty 4 --> 2 etc...) Berwick look ok, and maybe they will push for the playoffs, but I don't see them quite making them. 8. Edinburgh - Another brilliant top 2 by the Monarchs, Sam Masters and Josh Pickering is brilliant for this league. Joshie Pickering is probably the most entertaining rider in the league. However beyond this, the Monarchs offer very little for me. There will be a lot of pressure on Kye and Paco to help along the team, taking pressure off the 2 new lads (Lasse and Jacob) and heaven forbid either of them two turn out to be terrible for this level, Edinburgh could find themselves even further down the table imo. Sam and Josh basically need to go unbeaten in even meeting just to take pressure of the incredibly long tail that Edinburgh have almost become famous for. I do generally like the Monarchs, so I hope I'm wrong. 9. Scunthorpe - Scunthorpe have gone for a very familiar team, they've got decent reserves and Ryan Douglas should be a brilliant number 1. Hopefully Jordan Palin can carry on how he finished last year, another pretty average team for the Scorpions who do admittedly have the potential to finish higher if all the riders click. 10. Birmingham - Pretty bad looking side by the Brummies, although who can blame them due to their circumstances, it could have been an awful lot worse for them. There's a lot of pressure on Ashley and James (Shanes) to perform as second strings most of the year, although I feel Stefan will probably want one of they spaces sooner rather than later. James Pearson looks like a good prospect, but there should hopefully not be too much pressure on him while he finds his feet over here. Adam Ellis and Claus Vissing is a very good top 2 considering what it could have been at one point. All of this being said however, I don't see them finishing any better off than the teams above them in this list. 11. Newcastle - I'll always be as positive as possible and as optimistic as I can be about my Newcastle Diamonds, however in this list I have tried to be as honest as I can be. We are so far under the limit once again and our team is pretty disappointing tbh. Yes, we have had some difficult situations over the winter and I am as delighted as anyone about actually having a team to support again when it wasn't looking likely at one point, however we haven't constructed a team as good as we could have done imo and for that reason, I see the same situation planning out next winter too. I'm sorry but BWD as number 1 doesn't impress me at all. Positive point about the team however is James, Matty and Max are always pretty decent value for money at home and Paul Starke is a solid rider also (yet not really a number 5) Will be interesting to see how Lee Complin returns, he should be fairly entertaining and hopefully George can ride well at reserve, although early signs at Redcar don't look as promising as I thought they could be. I predict another bottom of the table finish unfortunately I seriously hope I'm wrong... I have tried to be as open and honest as I could be with this list, please let me know what yous think, what yous agree/disagree with. Will be an interesting discussion Thanks for reading my post, the length of which @TotallyHonestJohn would be proud of.

Putting the juniors on at the end is rubbish as all they get is a crap second hand track. More was learned today by sticking them on when track was good and watching them cope with it and make the required changes .

Correct ,very strong Team then, Leicester just got lucky.

Amazingly coincidental how when a No1 is not available, it is an away match they miss... Always seem to make the home meetings though... Why bother running such meetings? The home team may want to as they have an advantage, but all it does is devalue the very competition they want to get an advantage in, (to the point of the competition having no real value at all), and the away team may want to run it as they actually save money not having their most expensive rider there.. Either way, the fans lose out, but ultimately, long term so does the sport, as such nonsense finally erodes the support of even the die hards...

On the subject of the Stream… Can I pay a huge tribute to Andy Hague and his brother Paul of Speedway Portal. I can’t begin to tell you of the hours and hours of dedication and commitment from these guys. They have put so much planning, preparation and thought into the project setting the highest goals for quality. They have overcome countless technical obstacles and spent,literally, days on the infrastructure and studio set up. The result is a product that is highly professional and should shine amongst it’s rivals. WELL DONE GUYS. you have an equally committed team alongside you, going forward, and you should ALL be proud heading into Pirates TV’s inaugural season. Wishing you every success, much deserved!

Andy and his brother have done so much good work at Somerset, Newcastle, IOW, Eastbourne, Plymouth and Poole over recent years. Credit to the Sport and to Clubs and Promotions who have used them.

Based on the fact that we're told that it takes a couple of heats for the track to bed in, it makes complete sense that all the riders are offered the opportunity of practice laps pre meeting. You could even make it part of the pre match and it would likely improve the on track action. Won't happen because it would give the away team a better chance of winning and as we all know the home team must win at all costs.

Think we'll need more than bobble hats! BBC weather currently showing 3 degrees at 8pm, 2 degrees by 10pm. Sleet and rain in the day, although looks dry by the evening. If it goes ahead we'll need 10 pairs of socks and six coats each to stay vaguely warm. Could be ice speedway at Foxhole. Hopefully stars will turn up with spikes in their tyres to help them get round....

I think Mr guest will be Brummies best rider this season, absolute farce imo.

Speedway fans are a weird bunch

It's not all bad news for the Brum. Morris did really well, Ellis is coming in, Pearson will improve and Auty and Nielsen are better than that normally.

15 surely?

Poland get it right with their sparring matches.

IF he moves up… Although you can’t judge too well on their own, Ty wasn’t hanging around! Theo seemed to have bike issues but last night was the night to have them! Ricky was like lightning from the gate.. Leon looked so so classy.. what a style entering bends 3&4 (ala Ricky Ashworth to help you imagine). I left happy with what I seen

Chris Allen didn’t show so Chris Harris said he’d fill in the now

Brilliant! Thank you very much.

No bud it's a brick built building now but the craic was fierce to be fair... Brilliant night out and a good time was had by all. Regards THJ

But lets be fair it is easy to make a typing mistske now isn't it? Regards THJ

Wasn't helped by the extended tractor racing each time either... you'd think with the price of diesel these days we wouldn't have seen so much of it

Still cannot understand why the intro is so poor. Why not get riders at the start introduce them interview them with a couple of practise laps.. been going for years but unless I need my eyes testing the lighting is so poor now days. Also what is going on with the purchasing of tickets why is the bottom bar in car park no longer open to have a quick beer and purchase your tickets. Any way moan over here to a safe and successful season up the lions.

Oh, I'm sure Vissing rode last night..........

Who cares! It's practice!

Wolves website: WOLVERHAMPTON: Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Nick Morris, Ryan Douglas, Steve Worrall, Drew Kemp, Leon Flint, Joe Thompson (No.8).BIRMINGHAM: Chris Harris, Ashley Morris, Claus Vissing, Josh Auty, Ben Barker, James Shanes, James Pearson.

Doomed, we re all doomed. Its best not to bother getting out of bed, you only have to get back in again later.

Berwick do the same a few practice laps ,starts etc after the parade

Reminiscent {Similar } to the 2014 team that made the playoffs with a strong number 6 always available. 2014 we had Steen Jensen, Matej Kus & Matty Wethers occupying that position. This year we have Jye if he moves up could be Theo or Ty keeping Kyle company

I don't think there's much to choose between the other five after Sheffield. On paper we look better with Puk at 1 and Pickering at 3 rather than Pickering at 1 and Kildemand at 3, gives a better balance. Be interesting to see what happens once Kildemand is fit. Worrall should be scoring hatfuls from reserve really.

Adults £20 Concession £18 Kids 10-16 years £8 Kids under 10 years FREE Programme £4

Ellis could only score 18 points but while it wouldn't have altered the result on the night it may have given the Brummies a chance in the second leg. The second leg is now a dead rubber for which only the hardiest of fans will turn up to.

Whatever replacements they have, they had to be equal. Kyle has been in the Poole team for a few years in the past and Bjarne was with Bowtell at Plymouth last year. I don't see a problem with it. Don't forget he has got the British youngsters there as well. Tbh you are really going to say goodbye to Bjarne more than anything. Considering how much he has given to Poole in the past, he deserves a big crowd.

As good as Adam is, I don't think him being there last night would have changed the result much... It would have just been a 20 point deficit instead...

Keep up to date, it's Allen at no1

Meeting link here: https://youtu.be/gHDkrKLxYjM Live updates here: https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/132235/memorial-henryka-yto-w-gdansku Teams: Instal-Klima 1. Adrian Gała 2. Wiktor Trofimow Schmith Polska 3. Daniel Kaczmarek 4. Francis Gusts Reserve: Marcel Krzykowski Percuro Stomatologia 5. Jakub Jamróg 6. Piotr Gryszpiński Mimarkt Polska 7. Peter Ljung 8. Norbert Kościuch Reserve: Theo Bergqvist 3p Logistics 9. Rasmus Jensen 10. Nicolai Klindt Lotto 11. René Bach 12. Sam Jensen Drukarnia Piramida 13. Thomas Jørgensen 14. Karol Żupiński Reserve: Krzysztof Lewandowski

Thank you. That's filled the gap.

As I said he is capable of better than his current average and he is a decent rider but he will have to improve a lot from last season at Ipswich where he was pretty awful although I think he has a fairly good record at Belle Vue and will want to impress so time will tell.

Card and Cash I am told

Brundle?

She's got more sense to go there big man

RIP Jim. Such sad news, did so much for the diamonds over the years. Thoughts to Julie and the family

In the case of Roynon I think it is form a queue... Unfortunately there is a lot of baggage and a back story that could keep a soap running for quite a few episodes... not quite on the Ken and Deidre scale with Mike Baldwin but up there Regards THJ

Still no need to possibly injure Adam . Might be old fashioned but keep your off-track problems off the track.

Apparently so Obviously I was referring to Chris Harris' victory at the British Mathletics Championships in which he won gold in the multiplication category. Fr!ggIng predictive text.

Gutted, sleep well Jim mate.

1 55.6 /2 56.1 /3 55.1 /4 55.4 /5 55.5 /6 55.3 /7 55.9 /8 57.0 /9 55.4 /10 56.3 /11 56.7/12 57.4 /13 56.0 /14 57.1. Did not get heat 15.

Be fair now, Berwick's actual new no 1 is relatively unheard of having only had a 20 years career and being a multiply British Champion and Cardiff GP winner.... ooohh what's his name again? it's on the tip of my tongue..... Absolutely shocking really. Ironic really that a sport which is suffering because mostly all the riders are full time professional that the administration is so amateur.

Positives from last night - 6 Diamonds riders got some laps in. Negatives from last night (apart from the obvious) - 2 min warning light off bend 4 needs a bulb in it. The Programme was full of mistakes (eg Peter Complin, Stewart Robson, but there was many others). Not a fan of having an interval, just as the temperature starts to drop, especially for those who like to stay behind to watch the Juniors. Fine in the middle of summer, but not while still in March! Still have to give riders (especially Brad, Matty and Lee who are all coming back from injury/retirement) time to settle in. George hasn't seen, let alone rode, any of the tracks (apart from Leicester), so must be given a little leeway, but it will be interesting to see how he does when he starts making the gate. A race win will give his confidence a massive boost. Get well soon Paul Starke.

Didn't Dan state in September that he was giving UK a miss?

Now that Adam Ellis has signed for Birmingham, will he still ride for Poole in Bjarnes meeting, being that Birmingham are riding the same night

Yes he was.

EPISODE SEVEN IS OUT The trio are back, and so is speedway to the UK. Tonight we focus on the upcoming meetings for British Speedway as well as a run down on recent news. Anchor : https://anchor.fm/roundtheboardspodcast Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/4DuoFwGF6DrgcWWGbgrGzgl Check out all of our other episodes and let us know what you think