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The opening night of the season at sunny Armadale saw beautiful weather (as always) and the biggest win by any Berwick side at the Cardiffesque Caldron. The Devils appeared to be doing their bit for the environment by not going too fast, while the Bullets ignored this brainwashing narrative and shot past their opponents as and when necessary, the tone set as early as heat one with Kyle Bickley going very quickly in a last to first dash. However, even he was overshadowed by the exploits of young Ace Pijper, the only rider to lower the 60 seconds barrier and thus become the fastest rider of 2022 so far. Sam Masters et al, it's over to you to beat it. At the end of the night, the visitors celebrated like they'd won the SoN. And why not? For riders such as Luke Crang and Greg Blair, they'll look back on this as the pinnacle of their careers, winning handsomely at such a plush venue. Friday coming sees the other Berwick mob descend (or, geographically speaking, ascend) on the What The Fork Wastelands. I'm gonna say, right here, right now, they won't score 52. They might get 53 though...

So there's my predicted crowd down 25% already

The GP's are definitely on Eurosport 2 it's been advertised at least 6 times today during the coverage of the Superbike racing

I visted both the Shay & Odsal, in days before & after Hull's 1995 return, and enjoyed both. As at Hull, Craven Park, the view from the main stand at Odsal was great but of the two I preferred The Shay though, reasons of smaller stadium so better atmos and in pre-2m safety barrier days (which must be said was defo needed at The Shay !) one could literally get more than up close and personal with the racing and great pits viewing too. Racing was mostly brilliant at the Shay, unless it was a hot, dry day and then it got pretty slick, otherwise it was great. Both sadly missed venues still, Odsal has a shale track once more so looking good for poss speedway return.....

Thanks, for the advice. I did actually work that difference out during the lengthy phone call. They guaranteed I would get The Speedway GP’s with the year 1 year offer. I, like you, wasn’t so sure. However now it’s been confirmed all GP’s and a selection of PL meetings will be screened on both Discovery+ Entertainment & Sports and Eurosport I see no need for Discovery +, what is the point.

Fast time of night in reserves race too!

Thought Riss would have been excluded in the Gilkes clash. Ref got it wong. Thought Harris beat Ker to the line line but it was difficult to see from the head on camera angle. Not sure. Harris clearly took Gilkes off on turn one. The Redcar riders weren't involved so shouldn't have been punished. The ref could have took the easy option with first bend bunching but it wasn't the Redcar riders fault. Ref got it right.

Too true... Loved seeing riders learning to ride the Shay... and having pre & post beer in the 'Three Pigeons' is one of the greatest ticks on a shale lovers 'Bucket List'.

It had everything going for it thats for sure and was a major part of the fabric of the Town! The subsequent fortunes of speedway in West Yorkshire and Shay owners Halifax Town football club after the 1985 finish of speedway there gives a firm indication of how successful Halifax Dukes speedway was!

Ace Pijper what a fantastic NL debut!

You really are a barrel of laughs ain't you pal.....no need to take sarcasm or cynical pills for you is there

This Saturday has Berwick Bullets taking centre stage in their first stand-alone match of the new season. Hopefully the Berwick public -- very enthusiastic at Bullets' matches last term -- will continue to support the NDL side. The line-ups (not in riding order) are expected to be: GHT Bullets: Kyle Bickley, Luke Crang, Greg Blair, Ben Rathbone, Ace Pijper, Mason Watson & Kieran Douglas. Chargers: Ben Hopwood, Jordan Jenkins, Sam Hagon, Luke Killeen, Arran Butcher, Nathan Stoneman & Jacob Clouting. In addition to cash at the turnstiles, the usual e-tickets are on sale -- £10 across the board -- from the usual site: https://www.berwickspeedway.com/tickets/

I can only judge on tonights performance but based on that, the Diamonds are two very good heat leaders short of being a competetive team. I doubt if too many fans would continue to watch that team. Fair enough Leicester are very good at home but that was woeful, and sadly some fans did not go tonight because they knew it would be a no contest

Yeah I get what your saying on BWD on the wipe out but the less said about that the better on social media... What we need to do is support the promotion & the riders & hope we get a good run of results asp

I’d estimate 200-300. It was freezing and there’s a double header next week.

If bwd is on a guarantee then rob grant needs to purchase him a one way ticket back to NZ and save the club some money ,

I would NOT get rid of Lee... But I would get rid of the 2 New Zealanders, as horrible as it sounds... BWD has never impressed me and George looks far too raw and inexperienced yet, maybe invite him back next year... But our team this year can't afford to carry passengers. Personally I would try and make changes to get James back at reserve, Lee and James would make a very good partnership both home and away imo. Dropping BWD means Matty will probably go to number 1, so we would need a strong number 2 (at least at home) to partner him (Max) I'd leave Starkey at 5 and I would bring in a new 3/4 partnership. No way would I want Josh Bates anywhere near my team, or Zane Keleher for that matter, Sedgemen possibly, but definitely not at 3 or 4. If I was Granty, I would be begging Tommy Jorgensen, Rene Bach, Lasse Bjerre (I know, I know), Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen (to reconsider dropping the uk, as he still rides in Denmark, but nowhere else that I'm aware of??) or Jonas B Andersen to come in as the 3rd (or number 1 in Rene's/NBJ case) heatleader. 1. Matthew Wethers 2. Max Clegg 3. Tommy, Rene, Lasse, NBJ? 4. JBA, Sedgemen? 5. Paul Starke 6. Lee Complin 7. James Wright I know someone is going to tell me why every one of these riders can't sign for us, whether it be money, rules, situation, personal preference, but I don't know each and every one of these rider's situations... Basically, we need to 'break the bank' to get a decent 3rd heatleader in... Because Brad will NOT be cheap... I know it's always a bad idea in speedway, but if we are going to struggle on every season, I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper... Maybe tomorrow, after the pain of tonight's result has worn off, I'll snap back to reality and think more sensibly... But this, in a dream world, is what I'd like to see happen. BUT, this is just all a hypothetical scenario, because I know it isn't going to happen, so we've just got to get behind the lads we've got now and hope BWD and George improve week on week and we can at least finish 10th

I disagree. Your reserves will be on at least a 3pt guarantee just to cover costs,bwd has very high pay demands which the Diamonds must of met,even if he's on £100 per point he would be struggling to cover costs.

Bwd must be on a guarantee 9pts in 3 meetings won't pay the bills.

Clegg is like Lindgren mark 2 great at brough but useless away. Less said about BWD the better.

He was terrible last Sunday at Brough... I do hope he manages to pull through and at least becomes a competitive number 2...

While bwd was never going to maintain average he's been giving at least thought he'd be competitive. Hopefully something clicks quickly for him and diamonds

Track looks good. On the second bend near the pits with the missus...she's been converted to a speedway fan so good news! Come if you fancy a chat anyone !

With so much confusion over this, my plan is to wait until the first GP and see if its on Eurosport 2 which is included in my Sky package. I downloaded the 12 month free offer of Discovery+ app to my Sky Q box, unaware at the time that "live sport" was a cost extra. Like others I see no point in paying £6-99 a month extra, when I can get almost identical coverage for free. Whether this proves to be the case, I'll find out soon!

Lodz v Rybnik now POSTPONED every chance that Canal + Sport 5 will now show Gdansk v Krosno at 3.30pm UK time.- links as above

I think Berwick will score more than they did at Armadale

You can make the numbers look any way you want though. The number 3 and 5's combined points were 25 for Edinburgh (14 & 11) whereas the Berwick total was 12 (8 & 4). Need your seven riders to score more than the other teams seven (no matter who scored the points).

The numbers do tell a tale i.e. Devils 4,6 & 7 = Paid 4 pts Bullets 4,6 & 7 = Paid 32 pts.

Tom Wooley at 7 for Redcar

Wait til next Friday!

NO 10?

I would concur with that. I was stood next to you, 2 foot past the line Bomber was in front. I would have been very disappointed, if Kerr had not got the verdict.

Wrap up well. It's going to be cold tonight!

Arrogance personified that's Skidder1

Yesterday`s matches Czestochowa v Leszno https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E95Y8e0ymg4 Gorzow v Lublin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vogfLsfTLno

Round 3 matches finalised Friday 22nd April Lublin v Grudziadz start time 5pm UK time Eleven Sport 1 Friday 22nd April Wroclaw v Leszno start time 7.30pm UK time Eleven Sport 1 Sunday 24th April Ostrow v Czestochowa start time 3.30pm UK time Canal + Sport 5 Sunday 24th April Gorzow v Torun start time 6.15pm UK time Canal + Sport 5

Only need to ask Workington fans that one.

Seen some great racing at Redcar but that was a bore fest. as for BSN why no replays and why pick Glasgow v Newcastle next week, that is going to be mid sixties for Glasgow

Great riding from Cierniak given the pressure he was under. Controlled the race brilliantly...

No it’s a club that’s realistic with its budget

Looks like Eurosport 2

So roughly half the away tracks Scunny riders can’t ride , doesn’t bode well then, I always find it a bit strange when the Scunny side is always set up to win most home meetings and to get hammered away because it is pointless making the playoffs as they are decided on a home and away match which Scunny has no chance to win on aggregate.

The "Chronicle" newspapers are a collection of free papers distributed by the Wolverhampton Express and Star Group. There are the "Dudley Chronicle" the "Halesowen Chronicle" and the "Stourbridge Chronicle" that I know of, and there may be a couple more distributed in other parts of the Black Country. Usually, they are almost identical in content, apart from having different front page stories, but I don't know of an edition that appears in any parts of Birmingham. (The border between Birmingham and Halesowen being somewhere mid-way along Mucklow Hill probably means that households on the Birmingham side will get the Halesowen version.) The Chronicles do feature the occasional Speedway story - usually Wolverhampton focussed, but on rare occasions, the Brummies do get a mention. The Birmingham Mail also get in on the free paper act by issuing a Dudley News, Stourbridge News and a Halesowen News for free. Living in Brierley Hill, I get both the Stourbridge Chronicle and the Stourbridge News - but I can't recall ever seeing a Speedway feature in the latter paper. In the late 1970's, the Express and Star did make a determined effort to push into Birmingham Mail territory by opening a branch office in Perry Barr and for a short time producing a "Birmingham Express and Star" but this failed to take off and the experiment was soon abandoned. Further back in the 1950's, there was a plethora of newspapers produced in Birmingham, including two evening papers in the Birmingham Mail and the Evening Despatch, two morning papers in the Birmingham Post and the Birmingham Gazette, plus the Birmingham Weekly Post, the Sporting Buff, Birmingham Planet, and two Saturday Sports papers the Sports Argus and the Sports Final (the latter, better known locally as the Blue Mail) and the Sunday Mercury. In about 1955, the Birmingham Mail and the Evening Despatch merged and became the Evening Mail. The Birmingham Gazette, the Blue Mail, the Birmingham Weekly Post, and the Sporting Buff were all scrapped. The Birmingham Planet which was an early full colour newspaper, died a natural death at around the same time, and the Sports Argus died when football stopped playing all of their matches on Saturday afternoons. These days, the Evening Mail has reverted to it's original title of the Birmingham Mail and has become all all-day newspaper which can be purchased from early morning onwards, and has been acquired by the Mirror Group along with the Birmingham Post and the Sunday Mercury which all now resemble the Daily Mirror both in content and style. This hasn't the slightest connection to Birmingham Speedway, but possibly some people will find it a bit more interesting than a few of the very juvenile postings which seem to be plaguing the site!!!!

That makes 2 of us paranoid

I know, I was just replying to the poster who 'thinks' he will see the GP's by signing up to Sky's 12 month Discovery+ free offer.

The GP's are on Discovery+ Entertainment & Sport package, NOT just the Entertainment package Sky are offering for free for 12 months. Therefore if you've only accepted the free offer you WON'T be seeing the GP's on Discovery+. See link for the two Discovery+ packages which are available; Choose Your Plan | Sign Up, Sign In, Manage Your Account | discovery+ (discoveryplus.com)

I was in the same boat but didn't renew BT Sport. I downloaded a free VPN then logged on to the official Moto GP live stream on their web site to watch the race. You can do this as long as the web site thinks you are in a country that isn't showing the Moto GP races live. Naughty I know, but times are hard for this old pensioner and I can't afford BT sports prices for just the odd live stream!

The Northern Junior League (established 2010) will continue and will be overseen this year by Jim McGregor who takes over from Jamie Swales as co-ordinator. This season there will be 6 teams competing: Armadale Angels, Berwick Speedway Academy, Newcastle JCM Sapphires Gems, Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs, Teesside FIP Consulting Tigers and West Lothian Wildcats. The season will start at Redcar on 22nd April. 22-Apr Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs v Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers 29-Apr Armadale Angels v West Lothian Wildcats 29-Apr Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers v Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs 30-Apr Berwick Speedway Academy v Newcastle JCM Sapphires 01-May Newcastle JCM Sapphires v Berwick Speedway Academy 13-May Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers v Berwick Speedway Academy 14-May Berwick Speedway Academy v Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs 20-May Armadale Angels v Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs 22-May Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs v West Lothian Wildcats 05-Jun Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs v Armadale Angels 10-Jun Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers v Armadale Angels 10-Jun West Lothian Wildcats v Newcastle JCM Sapphires 11-Jun Berwick Speedway Academy v West Lothian Wildcats 12-Jun Newcastle JCM Sapphires v Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers 24-Jun Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs v Newcastle JCM Sapphires 01-Jul West Lothian Wildcats v Berwick Speedway Academy 02-Jul Berwick Speedway Academy v Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers 08-Jul Armadale Angels v Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers 08-Jul Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs v Berwick Speedway Academy 10-Jul Newcastle JCM Sapphires v West Lothian Wildcats 15-Jul Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers v Newcastle JCM Sapphires 17-Jul Newcastle JCM Sapphires v Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs 22-Jul Armadale Angels v Berwick Speedway Academy 23-Jul Berwick Speedway Academy v Armadale Angels 24-Jul Newcastle JCM Sapphires v Armadale Angels 29-Jul West Lothian Wildcats v Armadale Angels 05-Aug Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers v West Lothian Wildcats 26-Aug West Lothian Wildcats v Redcar Erimus Insurance Cubs 02-Sep Armadale Angels v Newcastle JCM Sapphires 23-Sep West Lothian Wildcats v Teeside FIP Consulting Tigers

Thanks for letting me know, I can now adjust my listing accordingly So glad you do what you do keeping us all informed.

Viktor Trofimov jr. (alias Wiktor Trofimow in Polish writing) has optained a Polish passport. He was one of the most promising Junior speedway riders at Rivne in the Ukraine, but was signed by one of the big Polish League clubs who organised for him to get a Polish passport, so that he could ride for them as a Polish junior. Similar story as what Sparta Wroclaw did this year with the Russian junior rider Gleb Chugunov. His grandfather Viktor Trofimov sr. rode as a Soviet Union (USSR) rider. His father Vladimir Trofimov also rode as a Soviet/USSR rider until 1991 and then after the break-up of the USSR as an Ukrainian. Viktor Trofimov jr. first rode as an Ukrainian until about two or three years ago, when he obtained a Polish passport and since then rides as Wiktor Trofimow jr. for Poland.