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Yip they are popping up more often than Chris Harris does as a guest.

I’d say he has a few concerns about Sophie Blake his ex partner and mum to Scott’s daughter - I’d say that could well be playing on his mind - he might have to make the same decision as Greg Hancock did when his wife wasn’t well - who could blame Scott if he decided to concentrate on media commentary ?

You continually miss the point that is the 2nd tier hasn’t gotten stronger the top tier has gotten weaker Why should 2nd tier clubs/fans suffer for this, your way of thinking would be a constant race to the bottom with clubs that have no ambition dictating to those that do. I will not disagree for 1 second that the British league structure works in its current form but for me the blame on that lies purely at the top table and they should be the ones making the changes and taking the risks. Watering down the second tier to make the top tier look stronger achieves nothing on that front.

Hello Geoff Dan Bewley has had a spin round trying a new bike/engine out but that was before any fence posts went in and there have been visits from several other riders for a look see!!! however the first rider to go round the track will be Steve Lawson as he wants to set the official track record (even if that is only for one heat) Regards THJ

Surely it's all about entertainment and getting a crowd in,, so I read a few times on other threads,,, so instead of rr for Starke,, let's use BZ for the evening,, cos its all about bums on seats. Or maybe we could go local and see if Ed Sheeran fancies a spin

I was always a bit puzzled when some people thought speedway fans were weird.......it is all becoming clearer now though

most people hate poole because their great at what they do what ever league they are in they have a great manager backed by a great promotion who builds great teams every year a club with a good stadium and good home track advantage because it’s set out how their riders like it

I bet every rider in the PL and CL is on a guaranteed income otherwise they could afford to do it. Just as example James Shanes would be out of pocket after having to purchase two new helmets to continue racing after his helmets got damaged beyond use at Edinburgh on Friday. I imagine he wouldn't have much change out of £400 so without a guaranteed income riders wouldn't be racing I doubt

That statement is incorrect. Until May 24th, when PZM announced the date as Saturday 4th, it could have been either day. This is always how Polish fixtures work. And Edinburgh know that.

Berwick's 2nd season in the NDL and you have mentioned Leon & Kyle. But watching the progress of local lad Mason Watson and 15 years old Ace Pijper, they could feature in the Bandits team in the future.

Sad trophy hunter

Nothing personal on Bomber as like you say gives his all,but is it helping his own Team when helping winning matches for their challengers for play off places.I personally don’t care as results mean nothing to me nowadays,a decent match means more.The sport is still in a mess with no sign of it being credible.

Fair play to Bomber shows how well he is riding and always gives his all. This is why he is such a popular choice to guest don’t see a problem with it.

The sport would be far worse off if there was no 'Poole' speedway! The title of the topic may be better worded if it read 'Why are a lot of forum members envious of Poole Speedway' ? Personally, I don't do 'Envy'!

Paul Starke according to the Ipswitch website has aggravated an old wrist injury. It's worth remembering he suffered two broken wrist in a crash at the British Final at Belle Vue a few years back. I'm sure Paul, being the consumate professional, is missing for a legitimate reason as any "withholding services" would affect his Ipswich contract too.

Rob should have stood to his guns and walked at the end of last season. He is a butcher by trade not a promoter. He got giddy with the takings from the wake and thought it’s okay. BWD on a high guarantee and scoring zilch is not good business. Not the first time it’s happened but Newcastle will have to build trust with the rider population as they talk among themselves and the current rumours will not help. If true good on Starkey for holding firm. I think Newcastle need a winning team to attract fans and they are 4 riders away from being competitive. Very dark clouds and less attractive for someone to step in than it was in November last year.

Huge huge HUGE! Meeting for us. As I said on a previous thread I think our best chance of winning a meeting this season is against Ipswich & Wolves at Home. I think this is where we finally put some points on the board this season. Panthers to sneak a close one due to Ben Basso taking 6/7 rides. Panthers by 2-4 points imo. What do you think?

Good signing and we now have a wonderful set of youthful riders who have great promise for the future. Watching the Colts develop and climb the ladder of success gives me great pleasure

One minute you talk about clubs 'cutting their cloth accordingly' and then clubs 'taking the risk' and bringing top level riders over?! Yet if a couple of clubs are financially sound enough to employ 'top' riders but the others in that league aren't then how does that solve any of speedway's problems. You also compare British Speedway unfavourably with Sweden and Denmark as if they have no problems at all - wrong!!

Put ya readin specs on FFS man... KKH... same Polish team as Tero and Tero manages to ride owa here... Jesus... it's like teaching a remedial class... Regards T HJ

Cleared off, I think you will find although out of the country he still has his finger firmly on the pulse and his puppet on the BSPL board of directors.

Comes out of both ends of Jenga

most riders just hope they get paid and on time lol no guarantees now

Indeed... There is a reason Poland don't follow the operating model of UK Speedway... And that is they would lose all credibility, and with it, the fans, the major TV and other media coverage, and (critically), the big ticket sponsors.. The UK could very easily run a similar operating model "Poland Lite", (like Sweden and Denmark do), but steadfastly seem to refuse to do so.. A few teams trying to win the 2nd Division, using Division One Heat Leaders, is obviously more important than the sport itself becoming popular it would appear...

I bet it did when Poole came from 16pts down to win the Ko Cup at Brandon

It isnt really two tiers though is it? More like 1.25..... The glaring issue (continually unresolved) is that if you want to run without relegation and promotion (like some other sports do so its not unique), then you need to ensure every team is competitive, and that they only compete in the league which suits there true level.... Otherwise it becomes brand damaging..

Another thing that is hard to sell to a wider fan base, sponsors etc is the lack of any promotion / relegation between championship and premiership. Been asked about that a few times and I cant give a good explanation on why a club seems to be able to choose to stay down a level. If it better for the club to stay in the championship for number of fixtures and income, cant blame them for doing that, but, along with riders doubling up it does make the idea of having two tiers of senior level speedway a bit of a farce

You pretty much always get your money's worth with Bomber, so the more he is in action, the more the entertainment value.. However, in a broader context.. It does render the competitions somewhat "Mickey Mouse", which must be extremely hard to sell to a wider fan base, sponsors, and media... Since Rory retired, and Scott seems to have reduced his activity to focus on his media career (within which he is doing a great job for me), it has left only Bomber from the regular go to "Three Guestketeers" of the past few seasons.. Meaning that out of the three, only "Harramis" is left...

Yep it's not Bomber himself that's the problem it's the system.

I do not hate Poole in fact Poole were one of my favourite clubs as my Favourite rider of all time Brian Crutcher came from there. The dislike some people have for them comes from the perceived antics of latter day management

Not being nasty but I think everyone associated with Ipswich hope Starke doesn't ride. No disrespect to Starkey because he's a solid rider when fit but R/R with Batchelor & Riss being allowed to take a ride is a huge difference imo.

Every rider in the pits was of the same thought train as you. Unfortunately for them, someone else figured that if Peterborough last week didn't need a grade for the whole meeting, then no need at Lynn last night. It just meant there was a 6 inch wide berm of material that everyone wanted to be on and if you missed it you went backwards. Hans showed his class last night, how to stay ahead whilst not being the quickest guy out there.

You always know when r&r starts a thread it means missing riders

Should this be 01.06?

60.35, 60.85, 61.06, 60.37, 60.69, 60.50, 61.59, 61.41, 61.34, 61.38, 61.47, 62.25, 61.94, 61.82 & 62.44

I would be surprised if any club would hand out a guaranteed wage, if Newcastle have then that's a poor bit of business IMO.

Poole are still winning trophies

Of course.... Must be a whole couple of nights since Bomber rode... We must be close to his "Platinum Jubilee" meeting of the season .... Bomber...

Gotta be Bruce Penhall. With respect to the previous book on him, there's a more expansive story or two there to be told.

Has the fact that reserves are now considered part of a team a problem compared to the 'old days' when a team's reserve had to ride for his place week in week out against the other novices/juniors at their chosen track. Certainly reserves back then wouldn't have been trying to make a full time living from the sport but it kept young riders on their toes looking to break into a team

Well that was an entertaining match, well done all the riders and the stream was excellent, thank you

1.25 tiers about sums it up. I came back to watching speedway mid way through last season after a few years break, and previous to that only got to watch occasional matches on visits back home as I was based outside of the UK. This is the first time I have really tried to understand the rules and structure of the sport, or assess it from a sponsorship perspective. There are a lot of things that don't really make sense to me and make it a hard sell to anyone who does not have that hook in of remembering really enjoying watching speedway in the past.

Going by your logic, and going down the budgeting route, then it would business sense to have the entire team on guaranteed wages.

The lad Thomson at Edinburgh looks very consistent tbf.

That would be correct. Brexit is the bad apple here, not any lack of ambition on the part of the clubs who desperately need to find riders.

Personally thought the track needed grading at least another couple of times.The dirt line was so wide if you were on it you weren't caught.Our Mr entertainment Pickering couldn't do anything in his last 2 races as the ones in front was on that line and the inside gave you nothing,as he said afterwards.Having said that though there was some tough,hard racing but all fair imo Although the ref kept his fingers on the button,there was that many re-runs we actually finished at the same time as normal. As with Kerr lets hope this is the turning point in his season,as up until now he has been pretty poor.He was good for Redcar at the weekend with some quick times.Be nice for another max at Ipswich Thursday

Jealousy... Success brings a lot of that from opposition fans and promoters... Every sport needs a "Manchester United" though as it means as many loath them that love them.. So it's good for business having a "pantomime villian"... And I always believe that if you cant beat another team then dont moan about them.. Instead, find a way to beat them at their own game... When Poole were at the NSS and Kirky Lane, I would go, with it sometimes being my only visit of the season.. Good for Speedways brand are Poole, let's hope they can still be around for a good few seasons yet...

They attempted something in the second tier in 2006, British reserves stayed at reserve no matter their average during the season. Steve Boxall (Rye House) and Jon Armstrong (Mildenhall) averaged 7 at one stage which some promoters didn’t like, so that idea was dropped mid season

Forgive me for adding fuel to the fire but the negativity from the moment I walked into the stadium until the moment I left was palpable. At times I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Clearly the Diamonds fans I spoke with, and some of them are very long-standing ones as well, have had enough. They already appear to be voting with their feet as the attendance yesterday was poor and without the Redcar fans it would have been dreadful. Someone said there was no atmosphere. There was from the Redcar fans but even they by the end were not as loud as they had been as they seemed somewhat embarrassed at how easy it was. Lest not anyone forget that they were excellent, really attacked the track and looked like a team that has been racing consistently and were on their metal. Newcastle on the other hand were completely the opposite. Very, very rusty indeed apart from Howarth and again he's racing consistently. Losing Starke before the meeting was a huge blow. It may even get bigger if the rumours about him are true. Not my rumours BTW but rumours none-the-less. The Diamonds need a decision on BWD. Either get him fit and see what he's got to offer or cut him loose. Wethers may well have a broken foot and be out for some time. The experiment of Congreve and Complin has been a disaster. One clearly is not ready for the show and whilst it's commendable that he spent so much of his own money, took the gamble to try and make it over here and can be applauded for doing so it's clear he's not good enough and the Management need to remember they are running a business. The other reserve may or may not have suffered some poor refereeing decisions but in six rides he failed to score a point on his own track and when you weigh up that against what younger, fitter, hungrier reserves did in opposition again it begs the question that will he ever be good enough? Clegg was clearly upset during the meeting and afterwards and his head just doesn't appear to be in it. Around Brough he's great, usually, but he needs more rides elsewhere if possible as he's another suffering from lack of track time. He has it within himself but his confidence and will seems lost at the moment. Don't disagree within the current crop of riders of having Wright as captain but it's hard when he hardly sets his own track alight to see how he can inspire and help anyone around him. He's another clearly struggling for form and direction and until he finds that or indeed if he finds that can not be expected to be able to help others around him. It does perhaps seem a bit harsh to say that Heat 2 was the killer yesterday but it was. The feeling in both sets of camps when that race was completed and the riders returned to the pits was insane. One team already looked beaten and the other knew their opposition was there for the taking. Have I any ideas where Newcastle can improve? No! But I'll tell you this, they do need to do so and quickly as it could be another track walk in September to remember what used to be. I do believe that Rob, Dave, Steve and those behind them are doing everything they can to change things around and are working night and day to try and change things. They are not stupid, they are realists and they can see themselves just as the fans can that things need to change. Questions are 1.) have the will to do it? 2.) have they the money to do it? and 3.) if the answers to 1 & 2 are yes, have the riders they approach have the belief that they can do it? From the outside looking in it's a mess. Leicester and Poole are the next two home meetings. Hardly a sobering thought for an administration and Club clearly out of sorts and battling against the odds. No BWD, no Starke and losing Wethers about two solid rides are all things that need to be taken into consideration. This is a side that is about to go into June and haven't had a chance, sometimes not of their own doing, to gel and become consistent. They may never get that. I could urge patience. I could implore fans not to lose faith but it's very difficult to see that happening given the current situation. The terraces are just as shorn of regular committed fans as they are of new faces coming to watch. Speedway is a sport that is a spectacular and worthy one to support but it's very difficult to do so when the team you're watching week-in, week-out are so ineffective. I also say that with the greatest respect to the guys going out there. They are trying their best but it's obvious they are not feeling it whether it's with themselves, with their machinery, with the promotion and management or just speedway life in general and that's hard to see and accept as fans. One thing I would like to say and in some ways it might be another negative from a positive was the track. Without doubt the best I've seen it in years and seemed very smooth and fast reflected in the race times given out. Perhaps then that's one problem solved and now the Promotion and Management can move on to the next? Let's hope so as when I drove away from Brough Park last night I was seriously wondering how many, including myself, can continue to turn up and watch a famous, historic part of British Speedway slowly and painfully slip away.