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it shouldnt have been announced with a fanfare if it wasnt watertight the correct outcome has been reached as they shouldnt be in it but it makes the sport look amateur hour yet again

I would say the opposite really Personally I think Poole should be hammered for this, why even accept the invitation (or if never formally done so say you would) allowing press releases and fixture planning etc to be carried out then pull out, it is a nonsense! The viability of accepting the meetings should have been looked into prior to doing so rather than months later once everything else was in place as you now have another club and fans in Sheffield impacted also. I’ve never understood the Poole bashing before as I’ve thought of them as the gold standard, a tidy and full stadium every week and levels of success that would be the envy of most clubs in any sport let alone speedway but I can now see the self interest and quite frankly f you attitude to everyone else in the sport others talk about.

Poole probably couldn't find any riders not racing in the UK who were prepared to risk getting injured on the Owleton wall of death...🤪

Why is it a shambles Poole were asked and declined And I'm no Poole fan

I think most would accept an increase but not to those levels. So a business decision has been reached and those that criticized Poole for contemplating entering a Premiership knock out competition can stop although they wont because we will now get criticized for not accepting.

To be fair their ambition was huge. They wanted to bring in some big names to enable to compete but I guess that either they were too expensive or they didn’t want to do it or Poland wouldn’t let them. Poole didn’t want to use guest riders already riding for premiership clubs.

If the Fords feel it wouldn't be a financial gain then we have to respect that, if it's right or wrong. Some Poole fans want us in the Premiership some want Championship and that is the way it is. I won't hide the fact I feel we should be back at the top table, where we spent 19 years but that's my opinion. The club lost money in 2019 for the first time in that period, down to a race night change, a main sponsor that never paid (maybe more checks should have been done on the business and I'm sure that would happen now) and the fact for the first time we could not attract top riders to the UK to ride for Poole, we ended up with a very young Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz at 1 & 5 which was too much pressure on young shoulders, against a team like Swindon who had Doyle, Batch, Jensen, Musielak. That would of had an effect on the gates as people support winning teams and that applies in every sport sadly, your winning everyone wants to get involved! I know Matt at the time was trying to get a top GP rider in but they wouldn't come for the money offered and that may of got the fringe supporters to make the effort to go and watch the side then. I would say when Matt first took the club on in 1999, it was all about getting the club back to winning and doing all he could to do that as well as making money like every business should ! the last 5 years it's more making sure we/they make money and a decent profit based on riding in a lower league, as he isn't willing to put his own money into the club to rescue it if it got into trouble. Personally if it was me I would look back at the past 24 years and the life style the club has given him and maybe look at not willing to help if required. I know the club was up for sale 5 years ago, no one come forward hence why Danny got more involved, reasons why? valuation of the club maybe? But if some people want Premiership then I feel that won't be with the Fords in charge now, it would need to come from a new person getting involved and the club being valued at a 'realistic' value to take it on to make that happen. End of the day it's Matt Fords business, he can do what he see's fit to make money and run it how he wants. Supporters and potential sponsors also have that choice to invest or watch the team weekly based on what's being put in front of them or they choose not to invest or go on a regular basis.

Maybe a simple typo? As we start Fri 18th April at home against Berwick

Great fixture planning home opener 18th April (Good Friday), then no home fixtures until 9th May 🤬

First speedway shambles of 2025 with season still weeks away.

Because they weren't allowed to bring their own food?

Why would anybody involved in speedway be given a nationally recognised award for a sport thats been going down the toilet for years ? Whilst certain individuals have given their all within the sport, the likes of Woffinden , not only with 3 world titles but also his charity efforts , Harris, Nicholls etc, they get large financial rewards for it and , lets face it, no one outside of speedway has ever heard of any of them .

No disrespect to Chris but Steve Lawson should have been honoured years ago.

Shambles because it was announced Poole were in. Now they pull out. Don’t care who is right or wrong or who said what and when. The fact is this is a huge stinking pile of cow muck. Not surprised it’s gone like this.

Really? You want to go back and have a look at some of the Aussie laden Glasgow teams of the early 00s 🤣

The management have looked into this matter and as of next season, free carrots are to be handed out to all spectators.

But the press release DOES clearly say Poole were invited and they accepted. So to then back out 2 months later is poor form from Poole. “It’s good to have all the teams in the KO Cup, including Oxford this time, and we felt it would be great to have eight clubs competing with no byes, so Poole were invited in as Championship champions, and they accepted. “They will be given a concession to build to Premiership level whilst keeping the majority of their team, and should there be any rider clash, the Premiership team would take priority.”

Agreed. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t.

As I said in an earlier post when it was said that riders should be unattached, I thought this would be very expensive and difficult also some had criticized them for getting Sheffield as their first k o cup meeting. As you have alluded to Poole did not say at any stage they had accepted the invitation and in my opinion the right decision reached. You could have a one off meeting between teams from different leagues but not in a cup competition.

It was always announced as provisional when they listed the KOC quarter finals. Even when the fixtures were posted Sheffield vs Poole was still listed as provisional. Can't blame Poole imo. Perhaps the BSPL should have given them a month to declare either way, so it would have been sorted sooner, but if they let Poole take their time, can you really blame Poole? I'm disappointed I'm Poole's lack of ambition, I know it'll cost more, but I honestly expected a massive crowd for the Premiership fixtures. But at the same time, it's their business & if they want to look after number one, that's their choice.

There are track working gangs starting this week with a large number of tasks needing to be done for the 2025 season, I am sure your help would be appreciated. One thing you can be assured won’t be replaced is the track lighting , that is because the whole stadium had brand new floodlights installed for the start of last season so they are only 12 months old. There has never been any complaints from riders about visibility due to the lack of light .

That doesn't make a difference, the averages have always been based on 4 rides, so amount of heats per match shouldn't change anything. 6 or 8 man teams would.

Uppa Witches 😁

Hopefully most people (who experience similar delivery problems and frustration with other mail) understand that the people at Speedway Star are not to blame and have no control over the delivery process.

Surely it would be appropriate for Chris Harris to feel the touch of steel upon his shoulders? The man exudes all that is great about the best Britains and Cornishmen, qualities sadly lacking in today's spoiled snowflakes

Having attended the play off final, I did notice that there were some clear 'darker spots' on the track between the lighting... Nothing dramatic, but clearly not all "evenly well lit" around the bends on 3 and 4.. (We were stood on bend one) . Although,to be fair, it might have been simply that the Leicester lads were so far behind it just looked like they "disappeared from view"...😁

I don’t think so just through the fixture on the monarchs site.

Pretty sure the discounted average becomes the riders average until the first main greensheet

That's Hagon's team building average. His official average is 4.85, which I believe is what counts for the riding positions.

Eh Bastian 4.84 Hagon 4.73

It seems nobody wants to put their head above the parapet and take on the chairman's job, including your Promotor. I think you will find current chairman runs a speedway club that does not go beyond its financial commitments. He also runs a thriving garage business. Lastly the back end of Lincolnshire must be over the border, since the EWR is in a completely different county of North Lincolnshire.

I didn't agree with you coming to join the Prem party. But once you were invited, i thought that Ford would of wanted to give his many loyal fans a treat, with the chance of seeing some top riders. I guess calculator said no..

Wow. Its all got a bit deep hasn't it?! Judging by Poole's trophy cabinet it looks very much like the ambition is still to win every competition Poole are in - whether it be Matt's or Danny's ambition? Or both?! As well as to make a profit. Trophy-winning teams, very decent sponsorship and continued strong attendances on your chosen preferred racenight are a great business model. So why change it......?

He's a Poole supporter, they don't make mistakes.

I have been spectating at ovals all my life, 4 wheels more than 2, and have seen some terrible lighting over the years. However, having been fortunate enough to spend a few years on the dangerous side of the fence, I can assure you that the riders won't be having the same issues as spectators as the visibility is far better on track than looking in from the outside. Worst track I raced at was Crewe which literally had light and dark patches on the straights and very little (if any) lighting on the bends.

Struggling to see an angle to cheat so pulled out, classic Paul.

Thank you Mr Morris!!!

Keynan’s gating has largely been what’s held his progress back in his two years at Foxhall tbh, but back end of season and in playoffs it has markedly improved for sure, keep that up and he’ll be looking for some big scalps this year

Well, as long as the riders are happy, bugger the fans that pay to watch and can't really see what's happening at the other end of the track!

Those people saying it would have been a big crowd are assuming normal admission prices. Wrong!!! Imo adult tickets would have to be around £25-£30 to cover costs. And then what effect might that have on normal attendances when money is tight?

They didn't confirm at the time they were definitely going to do it

I think people were saying it was a shambles them actually riding in it

That should shut a few up

Bristol and Newport didn't share. The Newport promotion moved the British League team and licence to Bristol in 1977 and ran the Newport Dragons at Somerton Park in the National League. Bristol kept the Friday race night with Newport running on Wednesday. Crowds were already declining at Newport, the change of race night and lower league didn't help, although the few times I went I thought the racing was entertaining.

Stockport town centre is 15 mins away in a taxi, or 30 mins by Bus, and have lots of hotel rooms, and plenty of bars post meetings... South Manchester eg Didsbury, Chorlton, Stretford all have tram links to Manchester and hotels, with the Curry Mile about a mile from the track... Oldham not too far further, and you can get a tram into Manchester from there..... Plenty of hotel rooms available at places not too far from the NSS, but far enough to not be hiked in price... And, also, plenty of AirBnB's..

There, that's corrected it! 😇

Let's hope whoever this steering committee consists of they've got enough finance or sponsorship lined up to underwrite the costs of running a team Wishing them every success

I also think that keynan may find other teams aren’t as professional and regular paymasters as some other clubs. he only knows the Ipswich way of doing things and I think he may be surprised at how some teams are run in comparison. undoubtably keynan is a great prospect but he attained his average from reserve and it took him 3 months to oust Dan Thompson from the team. I think he will have a year away and return to foxhall next season.

it hasnt people are speculating as part of the discussion do keep up and stop patrolling the thread like a security guard

Isnt that the point of this league ? rather than having J.Thompson in the side it should be for the NDL second strings, reserves and newbies.