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You didn’t have to love him to be able to show respect for the fact he’s died and the pain that will cause to his loved ones. You perhaps ought to show some respect yourself.

You'd do best to say nothing if that's all you have to offer. Rest in Peace Nigel.

Stop being a complete pr!ck ffs

Very sad news for the sport. A real enthusiast and ambassador. I thought he was an excellent commentator. In what is an incredibly difficult job, he was knowledgeable, engaging and with a tempo that often perfectly complimented the action. He also had an obvious chemistry with Kelvin Tatum that worked brilliantly. He should rightly be remembered as the voice of speedway, particularly in the GP era. Condolences to those closest to him.

I am in total shock... Nigel was a good friend, and a lovely, lovely guy. Of course, he covered darts as well as speedway, but speedway was his main love. It's not often you are lucky enough to get a true fan as a great commentator, but we were very fortunate. R.I.P. mate...

Shocking and very sad news. Speedway loses one of its best announcers and promoter of our sport. Huge commiserations to his loved ones.

I know not everyone liked his shouting, but it was a big part of why I liked him. Speedway races are quick and loud, so it matched the sport and carried that energy across on TV. Watching anyone else commentating felt flat and I missed that atmosphere he created. I am not interested in darts or soccer, but I assume he had a different style with those sports to suit them. And though it did get a little annoying at times, his relationship with Kelvin worked really well too. They had built up a rapport over the years that they were a proper double act that brought the best, and worst, out of each other. He was not the first commentator I heard, nor the only one, but for me, and I expect a lot of people who only got into the sport in the past two decades, he was the voice of speedway. This year and more to come will not be the same. R.I.P. Nigel

Rest in peace Nigel a real ambassador for the sport and an enthusiastic and positive a person. played the deference card to kelvin about things technical but he knew more than he made out. a lovely man gone far too soon nigel speedway will miss you

Totally agree....A much loved / entertaining speedway ambassador has just died ....and some complete numpties come out of the woodwork trying to get some headlines!!!! Not impressed........ RIP Nigel!

Should be a rule, where you have to put two riders in (assuming they're not injured). That being said, why would you need a rule "forcing" a club into trying their best to score points / entertain the public - they should already be doing that!

Think he would have had to take last ride as if not mistaken tapes exclusion don't count in compulsory 3 rides

Heard the dreadful news at Armadale this evening. Shocked and saddened indeed. Condolences to all his family and friends. Nigel did so much over the years to help promote British Speedway at every opportunity along with Kelvin in their TV broadcasts. Speedway in general owes him a debt of gratitude for the cheerful and enthusiastic way he managed to get all the positive messages across over many years. He will be greatly missed.

So sad... One of the very best promoters of the sport you could wish for... Condolences to his family and friends... He will be sorely missed and leaves a huge void to be filled... RIP....

What relevance does it have whether he’s been slagged for years by some or not though? The man has died today, nothing else matters.

They are going to use "ex Rider Replacement" for him all season... One for the historians there....

That was a chap called Stuart Bamforth in 1987, long before I had any involvement with speedway promotion. That was a dark time for the Aces for sure. I think Bamforth was really a stock car guy and he seemed to do well financially from the sale. From what I can make out, he was in his late 30s when he sold Hyde Road. He died in 2004 at the age of 55. He and I were born around the same year but our paths were very different.

I’ve just spotted this. I will leave others to decide whether they categorise me as a spiv, a wide boy or both (!) but you are wide of the mark on the three names you quote. Rick Frost sold out of Peterborough but remained in the sport as the main sponsor of Poole. He has now sold out of ReadyPower but is still a welcome friend at Wimborne Road. Sandhu was only ever interested in what he could get for Brandon as development land. To my mind, the vandalism at the site pre-sale to Brandon Estates bears that out. I think Ged Rathbone only managed to make decent money at Peterborough when he received a substantial payment from Toruń so they could use Jack Holder even though he was committed to ride in England, and he was roundly condemned for doing so. I suspect it was that action rather than anything to do with BSPL which made him sell up.

CL level is substainable at Eastbourne, one man run it into the ground and I have no idea where that article source came from..

I stopped using this forum some time ago. I looked here with just disbelief that Nigel Pearson had died. Then I was reminded why I left. Some of you are disgusting. Nigel will be a massive loss, not only to his family but the Speedway community. He loved Speedway, he was one of the biggest advocates of our sport. A totally decent bloke. RIP Nigel

You got tomorrows lottery numbers .

Terrible news,great ambassador for the sport over the years.Condolences to his family and friends.R.I.P.

Awful, awful news, a very sad day.

official announcement on BSPA site. Regardless of whether you loved or disliked him, his passion for Speedway was second to none. RIP

Probably the most surprising result of the season so far, that is until Berwick win at Edinburgh later on.

Not sure this sort of comment is approriate today of all days

Hope the story about Nigel Pearson passing that I've seen on FB not true. If so, people moaned about his screaming fits with Kelv but the guy loved speedway and promoted it superbly.

Your team manager is not up to the job, unfortunately. Time to hire Mr Rossiter

Any truth in the rumour that Heeps missed heat 8 as he was stuck in the queue for chips ???

Cheap 'away-day' for the Diamonds then?

Jack Thomas having an excellent debut for Oxford this evening.

Maybe. I think the Butcher and the Painter & Decorator are being taken for a ride. Got to commend these guys for putting their money where their mouth is as I sure wouldn't. But they really should have been looking for assurances that they wouldn't be left in the same situation as last season. Ironically the team they put together for 2020 had way more potential than anything that's been served up since. BSPL seem to have bent the rules for Birmingham to track Pearson maybe they could have done the same for Skorja and Smetana. That said I did put them in contact with a multi national business I work with for what appeared to be an open goal sponsorship deal and nothing came of it. Anyway I hear the catering is fantastic so I'm sure the crowd levels will hold up.

Shocking news regarding Nigel Pearson. He will be very much missed by the Speedway Community as a whole. My sincere condolences to his family and his many friends. R.I.P. + Nigel.

Condolences to Nigel's family and friends.

This has to be the worst Diamonds team ever, bloody shambles.

Considering Bickley only rode at armadale last week he looks so tentative getting around, and Proctor looks very poor.

Poole will fancy there chances after Leicester's rubbish performance tonight....

It made me laugh out loud, fair play to the boys for allowing us to see them having fun

If the league set up is the same next year, we won't run NDL only..

We live 90 minutes drive, on a good day, from Eastbourne. We managed to get to nearly all their Championship home matches, either driving there and back and on many occasions making a weekend of it. If Eastbourne run only in the NDL I'm afraid we would only be very occasional visitors, it has to be at least Championship to make the long journey worthwhile for us. Hoping they are back next year as really missing our speedway already and it's only April.

Ha, I like the Glasgow 'music video' !! Very interesting dancing there!

For me, the lack of standalone teams lessens the appeal. When Eastbourne were last in the NDL it was a 10 team league with only Belle Vue being a "junior" side. I have fond memories of watching Eastbourne in the NDL, and seeing Brennan go from the start of his career to representing GB last year has been special. Now it's a 10 team league that consists almost entirely of "junior" sides, with the exception of Mildenhall and Kent. It makes it seem like a league that's been cobbled together to give youngsters somewhere to ride, rather than a genuine competition. That said, if it was a choice between seeing Eastbourne in the current NDL or not seeing Eastbourne at all, I'd take NDL.

Neil is one of a number of Curtis Sports journalists from around these parts in the West Midlands. There seems to be an increasing debate including on these Forums that the current 3 tier model has to change because if it doesn't there aren't enough riders to expand the CL as a middle tier much above 10 Clubs. It would seem the fans favourite would nne be a top tier of 8 or 10 clubs and a second tier of 10 clubs. If Swindon, Eastbourne, Workington came back and you add Mildenhall and who knows IOW there coukd be a 10 10 Club top tier and a 12 Club second tier. A top tier including some second tier rising stars and a second tier possibly the strength of the 2017 and 2018 NDL. With the current problems finding enough riders to staff the current CL something has to give. Hopefully all Clubs who want to join can join at a level they can make work consistently for their own budgets.

Against the mighty Scunthorpe who have the Panthers number 7 at 3 and the skipper not far off going through the card. Despite many disagreeing the gulf between the leagues is huge

10 years of living down south has turned you soft

I read on FB only a few minutes ago that he is hopng to visit in september

Tbh it hasn't been too bad recently. The traffic has moved pretty well on the contra flow considering. But you are right Good Friday could be very busy, depends on how many escapees from Ringwood there are at the time!! But I would have thought most the traffic will be going through in the morning and early afternoon. Shouldn't be too bad when you get to the evening.

Sunday’s matches line-ups Gniezno v Lodz Gniezno 9 Koza 10 Szlauderbach 11 O Fajfer 12 Kildemand 13 MJJ 14 Czapla 15 Studzinski 16 Hellstrom-Bangs Lodz 1 Becker 2 Kosciuch 3 Sroka 4 Nowak 5 Kurtz 6 Grygolec 7 Dul 8 Bydgoszcz v Gdansk- Canal + online only Bydgoszcz 9 Bjerre 10 Mihailovs 11 Zagar 12 Jeleniewski 13 Miedzinski 14 Przyjemski 15 Konieczny 16 Gdansk 1 Trofymov 2 Gala 3 Jensen 4 RR(ZZ) 5 Jamrog 6 Marciniec 7 Krzykowski 8

Well, your Brummies certainly won't

I think he’s a favourite because of the way he attacks the track at Foxhall (bar last year). He’s never been particularly good away, but at home he’s often been a match winner and entertains with his outside blasts. Covatti was also popular on the terraces, for the same reasons.