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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

Shocked at the news, I’ve known Nigel for a lot of years,I first met him when I went to his parents pub, he did a few talk ins there, he sponged lifts off me to a few meetings I was riding in and I lent him my Kevlars when he had a skid on a 125 at Sheffield training track, we would often see each other around speedway and often saw each other in Poland at GPs,, in the last couple of years he also became a customer of mine(delivering for him), I often saw him on the school run on my way to one of my customers, reading all the tributes to him shows just how much he was a good bloke and how big a loss he will be to the speedway world, he has connections to the media which speedway could only dream of, devastating news RIP nige

I was genuinely shocked by the news when I heard it announced on TalkSport last night while travelling back from Scunny. While obviously tragic for his family and friends, it's a pretty dark day for Speedway also. Nigel Pearson had Speedway running through his veins, fan, announcer, presenter, journalist, promoter and most notably commentator and press officer/agent, he'd pretty much done it all on "our side of the fence". He never passed up an opportunity to promote our sport... I was listening to one of his latest projects the other day, the British Speedway podcast and it was coverage of him compering the British Speedway season launch at Belle Vue and he was so positive and I was thinking to myself why are you so bloody positive all the time! But of course that was his job, he knew not everything in the sport was rosy but never really dwelt on it too much. You only have to do a scroll through Twitter to see how highly thought of he was throughout sport in general with some pretty high profile people and organisations expressing their shock and sadness, not so many from the Speedway fraternity I notice, hopefully that'll change when people get to hear this tragic news. The Darts community seem to have been hit pretty hard by it. Obviously most of us on here will remember Nigel for his Speedway commentary, while not everybody's cup of tea, I absolutely loved his commentary style and the "double act" he built with Kelvin Tatum. He was able to inject some enthusiasm and entertainment into even the dullest of races and meetings and let's face it there were a lot of them. He was the modern day "voice of Speedway" with his modern day commentary style and the natural successor to Dave Lanning. For me he'd done the most to promote and elevate our sport in the last 20 years, is irreplaceable and will be deeply missed. RIP Nige https://talksport.com/football/1087140/nigel-pearson-talksport-passes-away/ https://twitter.com/adam_ellis299/status/1301242626230890496

The main thing for us is the "Poland problem." Most riders above 8 want to do Poland, which rules us out of the equation before we start.

They'll need to tell him he's getting the sack before every meeting to get anything out of him!

Thanks for posting that, nice tribute from Dants, he mentioned the 2007 GP and Harris's win, so I just rewatched it, I had my moans about the shoutys on a good few occasions but just watching that brought a tear to my eye, such a sad loss for his family and the sporting world in general. I suffered a brain aneurysm myself back in 2010, was lucky enough to survive intact following 7hrs of surgery at North Staffs Hospital, such a shame that nothing similar could be done for Nigel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exRye_TtgTs&ab_channel=SpeedwayGP

While mismatches like this do the sport no good , I have a long enough memory to remember being away supporting Glasgow on nights like that . Hopefully Newcastle can win enough of their home meetings to keep supporter interest , but with that team I can see a repeat of Mildenhall around 2008 . As for my lot , can't really judge on last night . Cook will never score an easier 15 point maximum , great debuts for Basso and Hume , solid scoring from Ostergaard , Brennan and Bailey . Broc Nicol was the only one who looked below par , and a drop to reserve beckons and might be the answer . I honestly don't see us losing at home this season , and three or four away wins will be enough to clinch a play off place . Be interesting to see how this team performs on their travels with an away baptism of fire at Leicester next week .

Horrible, horrible news. We may have made light of his commentary in recent years but speedway will never have a bigger promoter. So sad had so much of his life ahead of him

Like Jacques don’t come on the forum anymore , but this news is shocking really makes you think.Never to take things for granted and make the most of our precious time we have with our loved ones.Nigel was a real speedway nut but my main memory of him was his commentary on football with Talksport he was excellent at that .For me his main strength was his sheer enthusiasm for speedway GENIUNE he made speedway exciting like the great Dave Lanning but in a different way. RIP Nigel.

This team is far worse than last years at least in barker we had a genuine heat leader who would win races given all of his faults tonight was just a glimpse of the rest of the season if something is not done and fast or we will have the bowl out again and people won’t be anywhere near as generous as last time, it’s a huge shame given the great history of a team I’ve supported for over 40 years it just makes me sad

Unnecessary and prolonged delays only succeed in irritating the paying public. If the rule is 2 minutes and they got 2 minutes whats the problem?

But Brum dont ride on Sunday's... A massive disadvantage when trying to negotiate with "decent riders" I would suggest... If the "UK only" DU's are already signed up, (and they will be in great demand), you have to go down the foreign rider front who invariably will have a place in Polands Div 2 and 3.. Maybe they should have just signed a rider who couldn't turn up most weeks and ran with Guests..? Seem to remember Robert Lambert filling that particular role a few years ago... A very small pool of riders of sufficient standard to pick from when you race on Sundays, regardless of what budget you have.... As, invariably, even the biggest budgets wont out do what Poland would pay..

Absolutely terrible news. Having lost someone very close to me with an aneurysm I have some idea of the shock Nigel's family and friends must be feeling. RIP mate, I somehow feel that I know you after a couple of talk-ins and all those commentaries. PS It's not for me to moderate these boards but a couple of the appalling comments earlier on this thread would warrant a ban in my book... these boards are generally a place of good humour and common sense and we can do without that sort of embarrassing idiocy...

People saying we didn’t know we were running etc and started team building late, we actually knew we were staying open on 24th September when some teams were still racing last season. Teams like Birmingham actually did start building their team late, we didn’t. We actually had 4 or 5 signed by end of October / start of November.

An incredible shock to hear this news Whatever your opinion of Nigel as a commentator it makes no odds - this primarily is about a man , a husband and a father gone too soon Less importantly but worth acknowledgement is that Speedway has also lost a passionate advocate and one that had connections in places that Speedway needs to regain influence and one who will be sadly missed RIP Nigel

Nice to see fitting tributes in national press.

Well said Sir. I for one will miss his double act with Kelvin. Irreplaceable. Difficult act to follow. I met him once at Somerset with Jason Doyle . A true gent. RIP and sincere condolences to his family.

I purchased the stream and was very impressed with the first broadcast. great racing in front of a very healthy crowd. I expected Leicester to win easily but Scunthorpe rode very well indeed. And deserved the emphatic win.

Absolutely horrible news. he was absolutely superb at his job - his passion for the sport was unrivalled. Watching live speedway on tv will never be the same again. RIP

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.

From my view half way down the back straight, the Ref got both exclusions correct, Worrall the first time though Lawson pulled the same move on Howarth previously but Kyle backed off & King did not. In heat 15 King just didn’t turn into bend 3 and went straight on into Richie. Some good hard fought battles on a track a little rougher than usual. Kemp managed to up his game and got dialled in after 2 rides which always kept Poole in the hunt, overall I’d say it was a fair enough score line.

Some great tributes and kind words on this thread. There are real parallels in Nigel's passing and that of a successful cycling journalist I knew who also recently passed away far too early. 52 is certainly no age. But in that short time, he is someone who got his head above the parapet, crammed a lot into a short life, achieved a great deal and leaves behind a body of work to be proud of. That's something we can all draw inspiration from.

Sad news indeed. He was the modern day Mr speedway. forgetting that though what comes across most is that he was just a fabulous human being. I diddnt know him personally but you can tell by the amount of tributes what type of guys he was. Such a genuine bloke. RIP Nigel

Two points, unrelated... first, does anyone know if this is a season ticket match (if not I needd to get to a cashpoint!), and second and more seriously, is it worth considering a minute's applause for Nigel Pearson tomorrow? I'm not sure if the promotion would consider it but it might be a nice touch.

Couldnt believe my eyes watching ht2 when congreves bike conked out. Looked like he had no mechanic on stand by, not one team mate legged it down to help, no management. Dont know if thats due to the ramp at glasgow? Looks like he has one bike. I feel he must have been a part of the bwd deal otherwise jack smith or ben morley wouod be better shouts. More experience and better machinery for starters. Anyway drawn a line under away matches newcastle. At home is where you need to do your best work. Clegg, starke and wethers can all beat opposing heat leaders. Wright possibpy complin are mixing it with the 2nd string and reserves. Time to magic up anither number 1 if bwd is not staying around. How about brady kurtz at 1?

Good point, the track had dried out and slickened off by that point, probably more to do with it than any handbags

Leicester seemed to be doing alright til this apparently happened: 'Worrall just punched Aernio at end of last race, it was only a tap to the helmet but ref coming down to pits now' - from a fan attending who posted on SM. I'm assuming that was the 'incident' referred to on updates? 'Last race- being Richie's second race. But how does that change the whole meeting unless track changed as well and Leicester riders not riding on right part of the track?

I was just thinking where this late team building rhetoric for Newcastle came from. As I remember had 5 signed pretty quickly and were slow to fill last 2 slots. That's a totally different thing

Think we were all a bit numb once the rumours surrounding Nigel Pearson were sadly confirmed last night . A good friend of Glasgow speedway , rest in peace Nigel , the sport will miss you , 52 is really no age .

What terrible news! Was a fantastic advocate for the sport. A sport that will miss him terribly. Thoughts with family and friends. RIP.

Why not? Poole did it twice last season!!

Just home and would like to suggest some improvements for the home management to consider, fully accepting the unusually large size of today’s crowd: 1. Make it clear on your website and other relevant publicity that card admission on the night is only available at the new grandstand entrance unless of course you have imminent plans to offer this at the old grandstand turnstile. 2. Make it clear with permanent signage at every entrance point, which queue (cash only or card only) spectators should join and employ/brief sufficient staff on how to guide ‘punters’ to the appropriate areas for speed of admission. 3. Please consider reintroducing spectators having pit access until say 7.00 pm Thank you and congratulations to your Pirates on an impressive performance. Edited to add a suggestion that opening the gates earlier may well have eased the congestion.

But could get a winners medal.... And a runners up one too...

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

Statement from the Extraleague(Google translated) The Ruling Committee of the League made decisions in connection with the match of the 1st round of PGE Ekstraliga BETARD SPARTA Wrocław - FOR NATURE SOLUTIONS APATOR Toruń (10/04/2022). The Disciplinary Body dealt with the behavior of the visiting supporters during the match, as well as the attitude of the hosts' player, Gleb Chugunov. - We have analyzed all available video materials: the continuous recording of the match and TV broadcast, as well as recordings widely available on the Internet - said Zbigniew Owsiany, Chairman of the League Adjudication Committee. - We found out beyond any doubt the facts: fans of the visiting team were shouting indescribably at the competitor, they were also throwing dangerous objects towards the park of machines and the track. This is unacceptable behavior, violating specific provisions of the disciplinary regulations, which should always be condemned and assessed negatively. In turn, the player Gleb Chugunov behaved provocatively, and his gestures were arrogant, which also violates the disciplinary regulations. KOL cannot imagine that a competitor of this class, taking into account the current international situation, would be carried away by such negative emotions, the escalation of which could lead to much worse consequences. At the same time, during the analysis of the case, KOL emphasized that athletes are a special example for the audience, they are very often role models and idols for young people, so they should take care of their role models - added Owsiany. KOL decided to impose a financial penalty on KS Toruń in connection with the behavior of this club's fans during the match, and financially punished Gleb Chugunov in connection with his behavior. Information on the amount of the penalties has been preserved for the parties to the proceedings.

Exactly and that's not going away anytime soon. I know the Diamonds have no other option at Brough but Sunday is a prime day for leisure activity and we're the only team in the top two divisions who operate on a Sunday. Crazy. It's one of the reasons I keep banging on about the standard of the 2nd division reducing so that the majority of riders are UK based and able to race every night of the week. There'll then be the opportunity for more tracks to operate on Sunday or whatever their optimal race day might be. But that won't suit the riders who want to ride 1st and 2nd division over here and whatever league in Poland/Denmark/Sweden etc. Some of them don't even get picked every week by their polish clubs. There's more to it than just a Sunday though as I don't think many riders like the shape of the track and if you've always got the begging bowl out I guess riders will wonder if the club will last the season. Of course one simple way of making No1's available to all this season would have been to restrict each team to one rider over an 8 point average. But that wouldn't suit those more desperate to win than see the sport prosper. Even if the Newcastle promoters find someone suitable to improve the team they'll have them over a barrel when it comes to negotiating terms. Every successful sporting series/league is all about product and brand. Some like Premier League football can do without restrictions as the top teams generate most of the international interest. Most motor sports have to have restrictions in place to make sure their product is competitive and exciting to watch. Sorry Poole fans but nobody outside of Poole is interested in you winning the title. But they might be interested if it was exciting to watch them win it.

Discovered where all those holes at Poole ended up! First and second bend at Leicester. Plus a jump ramp at the starting gate where riders bounce in the air !!

I agree with you. For once

Indeed less teams and six is too few but on paper at least the Prem looks far more competitive than the Champs thos year, big gulf between the top and bottom and you could guess four or five Play Off teams right now.

Exactly this. Even if Newcastle drop out and Eastbourne replaced them there aren't enough riders to go around. Demand for riders exceeds supply yet the promoters are figurative turkeys voting for Christmas by not creating a structure in which supply of riders exceeds demand. Saving themselves a couple of quid at the same time. Equally the current NDL product isn't of a sufficient standard to attract the required crowd levels and based on this years CL line ups hasn't produced any riders worthy of a CL place. So why would any team want to join it, unless they're genuinely youth speedway enthusiasts. The fact that there are only two stand alone teams backs this up. The conclusion is that the much heralded 3 tier structure doesn't work. The solution? Reduce the standard of the CL so that young riders have an opportunity and career path to progress by learning from more experienced riders. For the transition year the team structure could be defined by categories to ensure there are enough riders to go around and to provide a clear progression path for young riders. Top 4 made up of any combinations of any rider aged over 24 with a previous CL average over 3.50 (not allowed to double up in the PL), any British rider aged 24 and under with a CL average over 3.50 (allowed to double up in the PL) and any Foreign rider aged under 24. The 5th rider would be any British rider with a previous CL average under 3.50 or aged over 24. And the reserves would be any British rider aged 24 and under with no previous CL average. The categories would be reviewed each season so young riders could spend more than one year at reserve but not indefinitely, i.e. after 50 matches at the level you're no longer eligible for a reserve birth from the start of the following season regardless of average. Other young riders will progress through the categories based on performance. The key point is to provide a career path so each young rider has goals to progress while creating new opportunities for the next generation of young riders. Based on 2021 averages and ages Eastbourne could have tracked a team like Newman, Brennan, Kemp, Gilkes, Knight, Ablitt and Foord. Importantly it would be 2nd tier speedway with minimised doubling up so both the PL and CL could operate on their preferred race night with some co-ordination. There would be enough riders to support a 14 team CL without having rider supply exceeding demand. The barriers would be the top 2 or 3 clubs in the current CL not wanting to lower the standard but not wanting to move up to the PL either. And of course the lack of doubling up opportunities for the PL riders other than those U25 British riders. But unless the structure is changed I don't see how the CL can allow new entrants. Without them (or one or more of the existing CL clubs) fielding an under strength team. The buzz of returning to the league will only last so long if the team is constantly being hammered. Plus this should reduce costs which could, dare I say it, be passed on to the paying public in reduced admission at a time when lots of people are struggling with increased costs. There are no salient arguments for continuing as is but that is exactly what will happen.

Idiot no1

That was my view of the alleged 'punch' too!

The track was perfect as skidder said just poor opposition .I think there will quite a few meetings with those sort of scores this season .not good for speedway as a whole though

When he gets to Batchelor's level its a concern for Peterborough but not until then Championship is the haves and have nots league now run by 2 or maybe 3 clubs the rest are there to make up the numbers so the league can run !!!!

It will be interesting to see what the team is like with a genuine no 1

Yes Google maps showed plenty of delays in the morning but most had disappeared or reduced by the time I set off and all of them had evaporated by the time I reached them.

Should be room in the premiership….

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

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.

Iainb doesn't deserve a response imo! He sounds very bitter to me. Cud do without his bullsh#t!