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A few weeks ago a friend of mine stated that as well as promoters fans are also contributing to the decline of British speedway......at the time I disagreed, however after reading all the negativity and nastiness on here and social media both last Thursday after the SoN semi and last night I think he is spot on. So many speedway supporters are utterly embarrassing, fawning over their favourite riders and unable to take a step back and look at situations objectively. Name calling, unpleasantness, bickering....its like the school playground. The farting about while it poured last night was typical BSPL and unacceptable for the poor buggers there watching, but they eventually came to the least unsatisfactory decision.

Absolutely shocked at the vilification of Adam Ellis , and to refer to him as a scumbag is disgraceful. He has done nothing wrong. All Adam has done is turn up to NSS to defend his title and surprisingly he's had a poor first three heats, but as we know that's speedway. He might not be in the form of his life but who knows how things can suddenly change with form. Ludicrous when people say he should relinquish his position as champion when he won it fairly and squarely last year, and his successor could not be crowned last night. As we know with 40% of the meeting still to be run, misfortune could have hit Bewley, Harris, Brennan and any of the others. That is speedway on an evening of crappy weather. As has been proved just lately , a contingency plan is necessary for big title deciding events. The shocking mismanagement of teamGB not being able to replace Woffinden in the SON final and Flint in the U19s are prime examples. There should have been a second reserve date this week to resolve the British final issue. If businesses were run the way this country and British speedway are run we wouldn't have an economy. As far as I know Adam is a decent lad who gets on with his job, and its time for people to get behind him for the Grand Prix in Cardiff. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he won it

Was going to say I was surprised at the reaction here but maybe I shouldn't have been! That seemed the sensible decision to me, to go with a winner on race times would have been a complete farce. Clearly it was unfortunate for Harris and Brennan especially but someone was going to miss out whatever they decided. Let's not forget the whole Cardiff wildcard thing is a bonus anyway, the main focus should be on the British champion and the fairest way of doing that was obviously a restaging. Some of the comments about Ellis on this thread have been disgraceful. He's done nothing wrong. He unluckily missed out last year but got fortunate this time around, that's the way it goes. Good luck to Adam at Cardiff.

What a ridiculous comment, that Ellis is a "scumbag" for accepting the wild card. Is Bewley a "scumbag" for accepting a GB spot ahead of Kolodziej, Smolinski or Lebadevs who scored more in the GP Challenge? Is Celina Liebmann a "scumbag" for accepting a SON2 wild card despite scoring less points than THIRTEEN other non-qualifiers in the qualifying rounds? Is Tom Brennan a "scumbag" for accepting a SON squad position despite having a lower average in both the Prem & Champ than Charles Wright, Richard Lawson, Richie Worrall, Kyle Howarth, Danny King & Steve Worrall?

I 100% disagree. How do you know when the injured riders are going to be fit? Good chance some will be out all season and others may not be fit for 2-3 weeks at least. How long do you wait? Weathers set fair, better than even chance that end of August , September / October could be a complete wash out. Plymouth had a weakened team the other week v Poole at home, kept scores respectable and a big crowd apparently. They had a weak team v Oxford last week, somehow got a draw and another good crowd. They've played PR brilliantly and called on the "in the trenches spirit" very well. Poole raced an incredibly weak Brummies Team last week. Had a very good crowd and some entertaining racing. Both Plymouth and Poole will get good "walk up" holiday crowds. They wont understand Guests and R/R and nuances, they just want to be entertained. It's not like they've advertised top stars or full teams. Anyone going who has bothered to look will know the make up of the teams. Hopefully its a good match, good crowd, entertaining and NO ONE gets injured. Most there outside of the hardcore simply won't figure that Michael Palm Toft and Ben Barker arent there but Lewi Kerr and Richie Worrall are... It's 15 heats of Speedway. Enjoy it while its there and moan when it's not.

correct decision made with Ellis, shame it took so long though

Well 2 fingers up the jacksey for the keyboard warriors trolls and moaners. Stupendous outstanding exciting speedway great racing passes thrills and spills. Brummies 11 being fight back to 39 39 and heats 14 and 15 probably two of the best heats of the season.. All 4 side by side... We'll done Plymouth lovely people great banter and atmosphere... Proud to be a Brummie. But the stream if u still can. Restored the faith. Who needs teams Group of riders, jumpers for goalposts stuff.. Split the riders and put on a SHOW...

They never overturned the rule book. 011.1.32 "Match Procedure: Ties in Individual Meetings" says that if count back and head to head "cannot be used the order shall be determined by a ballot" 015.1.3 "British Championship Final: Racing Regulations" says that "The method for deciding the hierarchy will be as per these Regulations. This system will also be used if a meeting is abandoned after the completion of heat 12, and the meeting is not re-staged, the results will stand at the last point when all riders had taken the same number of rides." The regulations allow restaging the meeting, and that is what they chose to do. They do not say anything about Cardiff wildcards because that is an FIM issue. http://www.scbgb.co.uk/regulations

The biggest complaint from me was the total unpreparedness of the BPSL to have plans B, C & D in place before the meeting started. Everyone in the stadium knew that rain was due to arrive between 8 & 9pm depending which forecast you favour. The BPSL should have known exactly what to do as soon as rain stopped play. Added to that us fans waiting in the rain were the last to find out what was going on. Pathetic !!

Let face it no foresight and lack of Plan B was the major problem.Sums up those in charge of the Sport.

He doesn’t deserve it and is not a genuine competitor …. yet 8 days previously he rode to a 4 ride maximum in the European pairs semi final while Chris Harris only scored 4, being replaced in two of his rides. You really have some serious issues to bring up school sports days and parenting. I don’t make up the rules, I flew over to watch my son race. Nothing more, nothing less. if speedway isn’t considered a serious sport , maybe look at the kind of people that follow it and how unreasonable they can be when things don’t go their way. ( clue, you’ll find him in the mirror) I’d love to discuss it more but you seem so angry and looking to blame Adam / me / anyone it would be a waste of time. I’ve met some great people in speedway. I’ve also me some idiots who spend so much time being so angry with everything it’s a waste of energy trying to engage. guess which ones I don’t waste time on.

None of that makes sense..why was it a impossible win ? If it had not rained the meeting would have finished and we would have got a wildcard ..in what world is that impossible.. You might not like it but no result was called last night so it means next to nothing how the riders were getting on. it's null and void and just an unlucky for thou's involved the Bottom line is the Current British Champion who was robbed of his chance last year will take his place. I can't understand what all the hate is about ..

Not the ideal outcome , but probably the best that could be done in the circumstances. Scandalous to have go at Ellis hardly his fault.

Can't see that surely wanting to be British Champion comes 1st? Even lawson said he wasn't overly keen on Cardiff if he was to get it

First of all. We all knew the rain was coming. Without the breaks after every 4 races we could have got to heat 16 I bet. Would have been less of a problem. they had less breaks for the son final because of the weather. Why not for the British final. leaving us standing there for 1 hour with no news what so ever is UNACCEPTABLE. We were all getting wet. regarding Ellis I kinda agree with the reason. But someone is going to miss out now whatever they do. lastly surely there is protocol for every situation so decisions can be made in quick sufficient time. But not. Not at BSPL. they will never learn. Shambolic organisation. quicker we get an independent body the better. first bit of rain we had this season. Bloody typical it was British final night.

Don't say things like that, we'll get the blame for it!

Just got back. Really a good meeting in front of a very good crowd. Far more there than I expected but that’s the pulling power of the Pirates, who had a good hundred plus fans on the third bend making lots of noise. The meeting was close throughout but I noticed gates 1and 3 have a big, big advantage just like the meeting I attended early this season. Poole were the better of the two teams but Oxford struck back with a couple of unlikely 5-1’s at the wrong time. Heat 13 Steve Worrall popped out again off two to brilliantly hold off Batchelor, and in heat 14 Ben Cook held of the two Oxford riders climbing all over him. Heat 15 and with Oxford off 1 and 3, Summers gated and was joined by Batchelor. They thought it all over but Danny King had other ideas. He cranked it wide open around the outside for two laps before getting Batchelor up the inside of the back straight of lap for and holding onto second by half a bike. Worrall almost got through as well. All the crowd left happy. Good meeting, big crowd, balmy weather. What’s not to like?

Got to be, especially if Bomber wasn’t one of them!

This seems the opposite of logical to me. You say Harris never beat any of the other two, but at the same time he was also unbeaten by the other two riders. To make a decision based on Hierarchy would have been a impossible and an awful idea. I don't agree with Ellis being given the wildcard, but I do understand the logic in a situation where there was no ideal solution. GPs are supposed to showcase the very best riders in the world, with the wildcard being the best rider from the staging country who is not already in the GPs. The solution of giving it to Ellis was fair to him, but as a paying punter I want to see the best rider on this years form, not the best from last year. This all comes down to poor planning. Why was an event like this held so close to the GP with no plan B? A conversation in the changing rooms after the very likely event of a rain off isn't good enough!

Doesn't matter who is playing. It's competitive speedway. Ask how many Plymouth fans who'll go to support their patched up team or Brummies fans like me who've booked holiday around the fixture if we care?

It's a typical grey speedway rule. States the % of premiership matches that are completed before changes can be made but makes no reference to if window closes before the season starts or after the league cup group meetings have been completed. Bend the rule to fit your own agenda, like Belle Vue with Zager! Although you could argue Lynn have done the same with Iversen sign a rider and keep him even when you know you can't use him because of the regulations, then when you can't sign anyone else have a facility granted. Welcome to speedway you couldn't make it up!

From the BSPA statement: BSP Chairman Rob Godfrey said: “There was a procedure in the rulebook by which after Heat 12 a result could be called. “But after consultation between the riders and the SCB, the riders weren’t particularly happy, so myself and Damien (Bates – vice chairman) intervened and factored in a good solution. So if they can overturn procedures in the rule book the floodgates have just been opened and team managers will now argue that results for league and cup matches cannot be declared if the meeting doesn't go the full distance. Speedway has become a total joke now run by a shower of imbeciles with their own interests at heart. Damien Bates should not have been involved in any decisions as Adam Ellis is one of his riders.

The thing that astounds me is that there was no provision put in place for any possibility weather wise BEFORE the meeting. Manchester is hardly noted for being sunny and dry all year round. If rain forecast no parade. Just possibly could have got to each rider having his four programmed rides. You could argue Ellis didn’t get a chance to ride at Cardiff last year. If he was in the mix there would have been less of an outcry. Perhaps people need to take off their (insert colour of team) tinted glasses and say what would have been a fair decision. Don’t call out Ellis. What rider would turn it down? Call out the powers that be who had no provision in place.

it worked for several national and world leaders and even trickles down to the workplace where bullhitters and self promoters get on through hype. Making people believe things is a piece of cake

British speedway is a circus,very unprofessional

I blame Poole

Yes brilliant , nothing against Ellis but personally I do not agree with the decision, just call me an idiot , thanks.

Some of the reactions on here are just brilliant!!! Imagine thinking Harris deserves another go at a GP!! Kelvin and Crump were making me want to throw up in heat 1 with the Harris love in!! He wouldn't score a point at Cardiff! Brennan can feel a little hard done by but his time will come and he will surely be No17 Good decision on Ellis and really the only logical choice despite some idiots on here.. people calling him a scumbag need to take a long look in the mirror

The Biggest crime was 40 odd minutes poncing about and telling the paying public beggar all while it was siling it down with no possible chance of a conclusion

Why? Ellis actually won a completed meeting and didn't get the chance he earned because Cardiff didn't happen. It's the best outcome of a crap situation for me, and I don't have a preference towards any of them particularly.

Lot of kids here and a great mascot. I'm sure many will be back. I agree they need hero's to worship though. We all know the product can be very exciting, the current concept is stale. Needs vision to revitalise the concept. The product, 4 bikes, no brakes, 4 laps is brilliant when done properly.

Thanks pal that’s very helpful. I’ll be a neutral so I’m just looking for a good meeting it’s been 3 years since I’ve been to Poole, I couldn’t get there last year as my lad wasn’t well. I’m looking forward to a good safe meeting for all involved.

Prepare it slicker and that's the kind of racing you get.....load it with grip and its follow the leader garbage like recent weeks. Wonder what we'll get Thursday......

Very Good Post Sir..let's be honest no matter who they gave the wildcard to someone was going to be upset and fans banging the van so to speak. As you put it the poor post planning has left themselves get into this mess.

Funny you should say that, handwritten in my programme from the 1982 meeting vs Kings Lynn is "L Carr destroyed Lee" after a ht8 (I think) victory. And that is a cracking photo, I have memories of Lee that season being unbelievably quick on occasion. Larry and Louis were a great 1-2 pairing for the Aces. As for the Andy Campbell signing, I think that was the worst of the Bamford era (ahead of Crang and Ingels - of all the Americans to sign, why the one who couldn't ride big tracks! - who were both in the same season)

Great post Tuesday night is speedway night and I can’t wait .

Should have postponed this, must be a record for the number of guests in a meeting.

Absolutely spot on. I couldn’t have put it better myself. I went to bed last night feeling that maybe I’ve watched my last speedway meeting. I don’t know. Maybe some of the feeing will come back, Im not .sure. I went to Paradise Park a few weeks ago and just watching Sverre Harrfeldt warm up an immaculately restored JAP sent shivers down my spine but last night brought it all back to an all time low. I like Adam Ellis and wish him well Cardiff, and it wasn’t just last nights fiasco , but more the way the sport struggles from one crisis to the next. Like you I feel worn worn down, or perhaps worn out with it. And Godfrey is worse than useless. Always has been always will be.

We've been here before - Tungate will end up at Peterborough and Bomber will go to Ipswich

So... how many guests? I genuinely don't know who rides for who anymore these days!

British Speedway has never been very good at dispelling the theory that its all organised on the back of a fag packet

What’s the betting they don’t show the re arranged british final.! As it won’t be in their schedule.

How many times were they in and out of that media room? Can somebody clip it up and put it to the Benny Hill music?

The decision was a perfectly pragmatic one , and better than many made by sporting bodies (consider F1 earlier this year and football's assorted arbitrary points deductions under financial fair play rules) What WAS shocking was the length of time it took to reach and communicate the decision. (One I came up with before the meeting even started).

Whether it's the correct or logical decision it' was dragged out far to long with people stood in the rain and makes the sport look utterly ridiculous

That's the farce, if someone had 9 that would've been it, champion crowned no re-run and they would be off to Cardiff. Because they've not thought of a rule should this situation occur they've come up with some total cop and begged the FIM for help

A sensible call The place is for the reigning British Champion which is Adam as there was no result tonight Plus he didn't get his deserved chance last year

Restaging British final Adam Ellis 21 Champ who never had SGP chance gets wildcard Fair play I thinks both counts right

The BSPA had the very large chunk of Dosh, during the early sky years...... sadly no vision. The sport just makes me so cross should be one of the best sports out there.