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Speedway in the U.K. has been broken for years, decades in fact, every year I think it can’t get any worse and it always does. Expectations need to be dramatically lowered, Speedway in the U.K. needs to be semi professional/amateur racing to survive as a sport instead of putting a sticking plaster on it every November.

About time someone had the decency to take back a negative comment when the facts emerge, hopefully you've set an example for the other consistently negative posters to follow, we'll done.

Shouldn't the title of this thread be changed to "Everybody prepares their starts - get over it"

Will the sun rise tomorrow ? Of course there will be !!

Riders should be available for every race night in their league(s) from March to October inclusive. By all means book something last minute but I'm afraid this situation just isn't good enough.

It rained hard practically all day yesterday, more later today and overnight and a shocking weather forecast for Monday. I would guess the racetrack is a quagmire.

If speedway is a franchise business it needs to be run like one. Someone sets the direction and the franchise owners buy into that model. At the moment, everyone having a say just defeats the object of leadership and direction.

I’m 400 metres from the track it has rained continuously from 11pm Sunday until about midday today. It chucked it down again at 4pm for over an hour. Given it rained all day on Saturday as well, I would say the correct decision was made.

I can see this being staged at Leicester!

Sheffield & the BSPL have really boxed themselves into a corner now, Wolves were forced into this date (against their wishes) because it was the "only date available" so how are Sheffield going to re-arrange this fixture? Whatever date is given Wolves can rightly say "so why wasn't this date offered instead of July 24th"

You can’t see the issue? Take your rose tinted specs off for once and then you might. what would of happened if let’s say Adam Ellis either couldn’t ride in the SWC or wasn’t picked and Worrall was next in line being a squad rider - would he still be on holiday? Same goes for Douglas. Joke situation. I’ll also add, when was this fixture put into the fixture list? You can often move holidays for no additional costs quite close to the actual date of departure.

Does the league really have an "integrity" to be harmed though?

I'm not a Tai hater, but I can't condone that. In the Johnny Bairstow incident, the protester was carried from the field of play and dropped into the grass beyond the boundary. He was fully aware of what was going on throughout, and would have been able to prepare himself for the short drop onto the grass. Sneaking up behind someone and upending them onto a hard surface in that manner was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. The fan was an idiot but the situation didn't warrant it in my opinion. The victim was a big old unit and would have landed heavily, with little time to react to the situation before hitting the deck. It looked more an act of aggression on Tai's part than containment to me.

Though I suspect the profitable speedway clubs in the UK can be counted up on one hand.

There’s none so blind as those that can’t see. Sadly.

Amsterdam it is then..

There are roughly 21 weeks from the start of April until the end of August. If a team happens to be in contention for every competition they race in they will have a maximum of 16 home meetings. That’s assuming both cup competitions are completed by the end of August and that the play-offs (another three home meetings potentially) will be staged in September/October. There is plenty of time to race a full season. The play-offs are needlessly convoluted with over half the league competing these days too. They could be cut back to the traditional format or, even better, scrapped altogether. The team that finishes top wins the league. That would give even more time to get all the meetings completed at all tracks with no issues. It’s not hard.

It's just a shame Tai can't attack his opponents from behind on the track in such an effective manner anymore

I enjoyed the last Farewell meeting, I'm assuming it's going to be made and annual event now.

I work 12 months a year. They know the industry they’re getting into and what it entails. We also bend over backwards for riders here letting them double up so they don’t have to get proper jobs to subsidise their racing, to the detriment of the product. The least they can do is take their holidays in the off season. They take the P enough as it is arguably.

So, do Sheffield now forfeit the points as there are ‘allegedly’ no more available dates at Owlerton?

Oxford dictionary Definition of a forum "an event or medium where people can exchange opinions and ideas on a particular issue;" Even Shovelar can post his crap, we just have to remind him,that it's crap.

Why would you book a holiday in the middle of the season when you know you could be racing, don't understand this at all

I'm gonna try my hardest like I always have done,,, and if all goes well I am hoping to have a good season,, which will hopefully see my average improve slightly,, which will benefit the team.

A WOLF "SUMMER HOLIDAY": (Please hum the tune!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are riders' goin' on a... 'Summer Holiday', No more Monmore for a week or two, We are goin' where the tracks are wider We are goin' where the lines aren't blue. Everybody has Summer Holiday, And us Roo Boys; sure need a Polska trip too.. No more gate hinge worries; that's what we want 'blue' ! We will truly say G'Day mate, As Bomber, Danny, & Stefan ride for you!

It is not a profitable business and anyone capable of producing a business plan and cash flow would recognise the weaknesses in not least for the dependency on income outside the control of the the promoter running the club. It requires wealthy sponsors, a minimum number of punters through the gate and riders who recognise that their contribution to the entertainment will reflect their value to the overall presentation and earn accordingly. At the moment you have riders trying to screw as much as possible out of a bankrupt product and club owners who simply refuse to say no to the demands of riders and fail to recognise the state the sport is in. As has been said in earlier posts at best this is now an amateur sport and if you need confirmation of how dire it has got look at the World Cup and it’s screening. It use to be on Sky or BT and promoted but now it is no longer On a fully accessible t v channel but some app and the final eventually is on Eurosport. Who in the U.K. other than the anoraks knows that team GB are competing and someone explain what home publicity the sport derives from what should a major event. It is dead in the water as a sport and no matter what the annual November get together comes up with, you can be assured they will not know how to deal with the decline. Those in charge need to be dynamic and try something drastic to revive speedways fortunes in the U.K. but it will not happen. Perhaps the sport should take time out in 2024 and abandon league meetings and try something completely different.

I bet Chris Louis doesn't lose money running Ipswich! - He wouldn't do it if it lost money!

Trouble is he crumbles under pressure. He has conceded 5x 5-1s at home this season. Also for Redcar he never seems to perform in the big heats. also has a habit of racing his own teammates and can’t team ride or even look for his partner. Over the years he has been a tremendous asset to the club but the time has come to move on for both parties.

He’s using same equipment as last year & May have off track problems

Could be,he’s not good at pressure.

Stichauer replaces the injured Krcmar

And of course the same man will be paying 14 riders had the meeting gone ahead tonight and took a big financial hit on the attendance- so makes perfect common sense financially to call it off .

Regarding masters, so his mrs is on a holiday visa, so needs to leave the country and come back to gain the new visa. That’s fine but Sam won’t be on that visa so he didn’t need to go on holiday with her, so why was he allowed a facility yet Douglas and worrall wasn’t. can someone make sense of that

he made the ref come down to the gates stewart’s no that daft lol

It’s a shame but King has become the fall guy for years of failure at Foxhall. He’s been a great servant and the failure to win anything as a team certainly hasn’t been his fault, but the groans on the terraces have grown louder the last couple of years so I think it’s best for all concerned if they both have a fresh break. Probably won’t happen though..

Haha. I like the Saints shirt but a bit controversial with some Saints fans! He is very welcome to support Poole, he'll have a team in the playoffs that way

It was Phil who made the call to force wolves to do this.Where was he when Sheffield conveniently did not run when Tobi was injured. Phil should have been all over that.

Bing bong, the bugger has just dropped through the letterbox

An excellent new piece on the Dirt Extra by that journalist fella for anyone who’s interested. No actual meaningful speedway content mind you but a good read none the less. Good job nobody within the club reads what the ‘forum fannies’ are saying I reckon.

But this was the only possible date this fixture could be ran…. Apparently.

Is it because last year he was classed as a 'Monarch', but this year he's a 'Cheetah'?

Absolute shambles. Not as if riders have almost five months off a year to go on holiday.

Because too many people have been complaining about inadequate notice of a rain off. When the predicted risk of rain increases from 88% to 90% to 93% then 96% in 12 hours following 2 days of rain already it's almost a foregone conclusion. A post on another thread is asking why they have left it so late! I'm pleased you enjoy wet meetings at Edinburgh when they manage to keep it on

OWLERTON SOCIAL CLUB. Due to forseen circumstances tonights gig ft. 'Sammy Masters & The Wolfpack' has been changed. The famous music manager 'Colonel PA' has got a replacement lineup of:- * Danny 'The King' (Recca & The Bears + The Tractor Boys). * 'Bomber' Harris, currently with Scottish Power Group 'The Faccenas', whose hits include: I'm Gonna Drive (500 miles)... to guest at your track & Letter From The Doctor. * Stef 'Harry' Nielsen * J 'Promised Land' Allen. Together with Wolfpack regulars: Walt' Becker (Nearly Dan?), Ringo Cook on drums & Leon 'McGuinness' Flint. Normal admission prices apply, but you might need a new biro to keep the proggy up to date!

Thought of a new initiative this morning - ‘The Holiday KO Cup’ Riders who work so hard for our entertainment should be granted at least 3 riders to go on holiday for these matches for some time off and be replaced by guests during the season. I can really see this one catching on.

It’s great to have guys if that calibre in the team, watching how they go about business inspires you to push yourself and be the best you can be to back them up. something like that rather than “I’m going to push them for the no.1 jacket”

Is this the last season of “results not going out way?” Last year with Bomber was good, but proved that one man can’t carry a team. A team built to a budget may keep the promotion going but isn’t taking the club anywhere. It’s sad that Newcastle and other closed clubs are being held up as comparison, and almost threatening. No posters in shops, no interviews on Radio Borders, no mention on TV, - are the Promoters promoting, or as was talked about on Saturday, is Jamie going to call it a day at Berwick.

It just proves what Mickey mouse sport we watch

Agree and there was just no need!! Im no Tai hater but he seems to revel in proving what a “tough” guy he is like he constantly has to prove it

Okay, let's take Steve for example. He rode for his Polish team today and apparently he is riding for Poole on Weds as that was always down in the fixture list. So a 2 day holiday, which unless it is at home both days would be travelling. Dougy more understandable as he not riding again til Friday. Or maybe not, he could still have a 3 day holiday after riding for Wolves on Mon! I'm prob bring mean but they do have Nov, Dec,Jan, Feb to have any holidays!!