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Are you being serious here? I can’t tell. “Michael Oliver isn’t sure it’s a penalty at Old Trafford, VAR video angle is inconclusive after reviewing the screen and no penalty given.” Hang on, Dave from the 2nd row of the Stretford end has a good angle on his iPhone, he’s going to send it to the referee on WhatsApp.” Announcement pending.. “After video review on Dave’s iPhone a Penalty is awarded for a foul on Manchester United’s number 9”.

Some shocking posts about Tate and using him to have a weak pop at the club as a whole lacks class. This lad was showing bags of promise before his awful crash, a crash that saw his bike dismantled whilst he was still impaled on it. There’s a few posters on here who delight in sticking the knife in with comments like “sick note” and “turd” for riders still working through the after effects for racing injuries. It’s a special kind of scum that gets their kicks that way.

Speedway Forum, with all due respect a lot of dinosaurs , like all social media, full of negativity. I wasn't at Plymouth last night, I never watch BSN, I am occasional Speedway attender these days. I went to Plymouth earlier in the eason VIBRANT . PACKED , FULL OF NEW FANS... Now go and take a look at Plymouth Gladiators Social Media. Excellent non Speedway Fans media Team started last season, combined with and overseen by the always excellent Andy Hague. Bumper Crowd again last night Did they moan about "no passing" "long air fence delays" " three hours to finish a meeting" "queues to get in"?? Well if the did nO ONE seems to have moaned "Brilliant" "Exciting" "First Time i'll be back" "Great Atmosphere" "Fantastic spectacle" "Great night thanks to the electrician who found my childs earbud under the NHS Stand" Massive positivit from NEW fans, returning fans , curious to have a look at what its all about fans. No extinction level event in Devon Dinosaurs face extinction. Plymouth, as i've banged on about for 12 months , bucking the trend , MAKING EACH RACE NIGHT A ONE OFF EVENT! The Score doesn't matter The Delays don't matter It's like a one off Concert / Theatre / Circus / type Event. Speedway as E N T E R T A I N M E N T not as a Sport! Gloaters can gloat, moaners can moan, Plymouth seem to have found a magic elexir! (No disrespect meant to any poster, just trying to open up minds !)

I was a Somerset Rebels fan throughout their existence (plus a speedway fan before too) and like so many around the country lost my local team to support. Post covid I made the odd trip down to Plymouth as I thought this would be better than nothing and the kids still loved going, now we are getting down there as often as we can and have made the 160 odd mile round trip for all three meetings this season. The improvements the promotion have make are amazing over the years and the track is wider and although not much passing last night the opportunities are there to explore much more than they were 5/6 years back. I have never watched a BSN stream from Plymouth as I prefer to be there and am lucky enough to be able to do that regularly. My 18 year old daughter is now part of the previously mentioned Plymouth Media team which has really stepped up in the past two seasons with Andy Hague and Sam Whitfield leading the way on this giving the youngsters a chance to deliver this as they now do. We even had to with for my daughter to interview Garry May afterwards before we could leave for home last night. Yes the air bags do take a while to swop out but it needs to happen for rider safety. Mark Phillips, the Promoter/owner/track curator amongst many other roles he undertakes, was front and centre getting this sorted again last night. With the first one complete I spotted him putting his 'Promoters' tie back on after completing the task! Rob Doran (clerk of the course) actually was interviewed and explained the issues they to deal with in making the changes. Both times the air bags were popped were straight after track grades and watering so the track dried out during the delays meaning it needed more work. soon after. Ok it took a while but it happens sometimes at speedway, will it stop me going again? - definitely not! I got home at 11.35pm but was in work at 6.50am to do an 11 hour shift in the pro shop at the golf club. The golf club members know I'm more likely to know the speedway results around the country than who won the latest professional golf tournament! My sister, brother in law and niece all came along to the Coliseum for the first time last night and my niece is already asking when she can go again. I know a lot of you moan about the kids race but it is brilliant to see so many wanting to take part each week. I was stood near Scott and Danny at the pit gate whilst waiting for my son and niece to return and overheard them saying how good it is to see so many out there. Long may it continue and maybe one week the dog will follow the whole track rather than cutting across the top bend! I enjoyed last night, as did those with me, and the atmosphere is growing meeting by meeting down in Devon. See you all you Gladiators again in a couple of weeks when Scunny are down.

i prefer to just go and enjoy the racing which is absolutely fantastic at Glasgow. If we win something then its a bonus but the whole package at Glasgow entertainment and viewing wise is first class , there are some minor irritants that others have highlighted but nothing to tarnish the standard of the racing.

Check out the Trailor and consider giving their new YouTube channel a subscription. 👌

Been asked to post this by Greg Blair Hello everyone, Greg Blair here I’ve not got an account on this forum as I don’t usually come on this page but it’s been brought to my attention I’ve been getting some heat on it, just want to clear this up. I didn’t go up to the box to show the ref any footage, I’m often up in the box changing batteries or getting coffee and sometimes just making sure everything is running well, Steve the announcer is a good friend of mine and I went up when I heard the ref was away to view the footage in the commentary box just to ask him what was going on so I could relay any info I had. All in all I had no influence on what the ref did, I’ve seen decisions reversed before so it wasn’t anything new! Of course I’m going to get comments about my performances at Berwick or on BSN and it even made me laugh that this person said I wasn’t a very good rider. Hey I had a go and I loved racing bikes (not being very good at it) I love what I do in speedway, I’m happy to entertain and get a laugh but honestly if you want to have a go I welcome you to try it. Things happen in the moment, I’m passionate about my sport and Berwick speedway which I hold very close to my heart, I won’t say sorry for my passion! The only time I’ll ever say sorry is if I offend someone and in this case I haven’t so I’m blowing everyone who dislikes me kisses and the ones who do support me you’re getting bigger kisses! Enjoy your speedway folks x PS if you want to come and chat to me in person you can usually find me in the black and gold ... that's if you’re comfortable having a dig at me without hiding behind the username

Erm...there fact that there are kids at these meetings that see riders as role models? Hardly setting a great example. Throw the book at both of them instead of trying to glorify this sickening behaviour

There was certainly plenty of "incident" last night to keep folk interested even if the "racing" (passing) wasn't up to much. If it hadn't had taken them around 20 minutes per pop to replace the airbags there was nothing much else to complain about... they're certainly not going to get a job in an F1 pit crew with the amount of time it took them to replace the bags, they really need to be addressing that, I remember seeing the Birmingham track staff replacing an airbag in a matter of minutes a couple of years back, literally 2 or 3 minutes! Proving that it can be done. When you've had a 20 minute delay to replace an airbag, a 52 second race and then follow that up with a 10 minute track grade it's not really "fan friendly". Due to the tight, confined nature of the Plymouth track they really need to get on top of this issue.

Buxton have now released an official statement. Connor Coles was airlifted to hospital after extensive medical treatment at the track. This involved medics administering pain relief before placing him into a medically induced coma due to a head injury. He has been slowly making slight improvements but the current state of his brain injury is unknown. Let's keep Connor in our thoughts and pray for a full recovery. 🙏

It's because it's not the racing which attracts the numbers, nor is it cost alone. People need to feel they get value for money and have a good time when there. Not stand around disengaged - it's engagement which is key.

Witches would have won if it wasn’t for Kurtz and Bewley

They'll be warmly welcomed alongside all of the other crap tracks 👍🏻😂

Fantastic meeting today, just shows what a fab racetrack it is. Unbelievable compared to what was dished up yesterday Healthy crowd, great racing, loads of passing, a freshly cut centre green, what’s not to like 😂

Not sure if Cami moaned but the kids running in the kids race did say it was a bit on the slick side and were concerned about a couple off ruts on the second bend

Plymouth are going to be doing a behind the scenes documentary that on the face of the preview looks really good and likely to give a real good insight to speedway both with Plymouth and the wider British speedway. could be a game changer for the sport if used and marketed correctly from people other than just Plymouth.

this clown could of been in a wheel chair, but he is still helping to prop up British speedway.

"Technical" tracks, if you don't mind....

Investigation underway for who was impersonating Mitch Cluff today.

Surely the result doesn't matter as long as the racing was exciting?😉 Whether it was or wasn't I bet the large crowd will be back for the next home meeting. Well done Plymouth.....

Sadly, these kind of meetings show how little the competitions mean in the eyes of the promoters... Why run such meetings knowing FIM meetings are taking place? By definition the riders missing will be the "better ones" too.... If an independent body existed then this meeting wouldn't have happened or RR would have been the only facility... If the riders qualify then there will be even more clashes .. The UK has to stop "making up Speedway" as it does it no favours... There will be, I am sure, promoters out there wondering again how the local ice hockey team can get double their crowds.. And a if a track needs to bring in an overseas rider due to not having enough UK riders of the required level, then that is squarely down to their lack of focus on UK rider development over the past few decades... The vicious circle will continue unless UK rider development becomes the No1 priority for tier two in particular.... You need fans to take the sport seriously if you want it to be successful... I presume those who run it as a hobby don't feel the need to run it that way...

I heard an advert on Greatest Hits Radio that covers Northants,Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire last week for Northampton Foxes and there has been a couple of mentions on the news as well. I would imagine that they may up the output more once they know they are open and any gremlins are sorted out so on opening night will just be happy to Speedway fans in and then will target others which may work as Football season will be finished and Rugby Union not far behind

Ben Barker posted on Facebook yesterday evening that he still hasn’t heard from Rob Godfrey and if he doesn’t hear back in the next few days he will be whistleblowing and lifting the lid on other issues.

Great interview with Ipswich’s new owner. You can tell he’s of the mentality to make the necessary changes to save British speedway. Let him and the Facenna’s run the BSPL. We’ll be prime time next season.

It will be up to Connor/his family to decide if and when anything is released not the club. The club asking people to be patient and not speculate seems very reasonable to me.

In fairness.... Dave does have an iPhone 17.... With "ultra zoom"..... Considering it is UK Speedway I am quite impressed that phone footage was used ... I see the sport more in line to use a "sketch artist" like they use in Crown Courts for the TV News... "Give us half and hour and I will have it drawn up. What colour was Cookie again?"...

You are aware of the state of British Speedway, right? Lol

Great post,anyone who judges a speedway match by the number of passes is clearly deluded.

He's only gone and bloody done it... and well done to him for speaking out... he's not telling us anything we don't already know that the BSPL chairman is rotten to the core (Quelle surprise) and desperately needs replacing, it's just a shame that it's taken this to get any rider to speak out about it... and the mind boggles as to the other goings on that we have never heard about... the BSPL makes Fifa look like the Salvation Army!

From Ben Barker Firstly, I want to make it absolutely clear that I have no problem with the Speedway Control Bureau and Auto Cycle Union. They have done nothing untoward. In the close season, the riders were told they had to pay an extra £28 for their ACU licence. That was, we were told, to cover for an extra insurance policy. From the research I have done, this is what I believe has happened. When that was suggested by the ACU, BSPL chairman Rob Godfrey decided the riders don’t need to be insured by the clubs. Therefore it saved the clubs a load of money per season. I’m not sure of the exact amount, but around £4,000 per club. When this issue was first raised by me at Poole on Good Friday, Mr Godfrey stated in Speedway Star on April 11 that “Ben Barker has caused a panic for nothing. The insurance policy has not been withdrawn, it has been replaced”. Subsequently, it’s been clear that ACU insurance was inferior to the old Race Insurance. This had led to the clubs covering their own riders to quell any fears, Ipswich and Redcar have announced this publicly, while a couple of other clubs have done so privately. Just over a week ago, the BSPL issued a new insurance policy which is inferior to the previous Race Insurance we had with the BSPL. The old cover for an injured rider was £225 a week, 14-day excess period and up to 52 weeks of payments. The new cover is now £150 a week, 14-day excess period and only up to 26 weeks of payments. It is nowhere near good enough to what we had previously. But it was a clear admission of wrongdoing by the BSPL that they had to re-issue a new insurance despite claiming I had caused “panic for nothing”. That wasn’t true. There has been no apology or explanation to how the season was started with riders not having appropriate insurance. Four riders were injured during that period; Niels-Kristian Iversen, Charles Wright, Tobias Thomsen and Vinnie Foord. That is clear negligence from the BSPL. That needs to be explained and who made those decisions which have cost the injured riders dearly. We need transparency about the people who made the decisions and whether we need changes in the people running the BSPL. Someone has to take responsibility for the mistakes that have been made. This is such a serious issue. The riders’ welfare has been overlooked in a terrible way. There are even more serious issues regarding this insurance issue. I will go into them at a later point. If it get 1000 likes 500 shares ill give a £50 voucher of the winners choice

You are so far off the mark with this statement it beggars belief,stinks of envy of a club on the up in these challenging times rather than a club in decline like the majority of teams,crowds and positivity. Plymouth bucking the trend long may it continue.

Great race and great confrontation! Didn't see a huge amount wrong with Howarth's move, it was hard but didn't look dirty from that angle.

Based on my 2025 world rankings (which include both his Torun and Pardubice high points) I had him at number 37 in the under 19 rider rankings just above Luke Harrison and Jody Scott (who are both a year younger). He's no Mitch McDiarmid (17th in under 19s), and he's not even the highest rated German (Tyler Haupt and Janek Konczak are the names to watch out for). On that basis I think a 4.00 average is a reasonable aspiration for Hausl, and given the need to settle in to a strange environment even that may be a challenge.

i do worry for my club this season though, the activity on my belle vue facebook page is down by more than double in interactions, im guessing a winter of delays have made people just give up on the sport

So pleased a decent crowd turned up to see that! Now that is proper Speedway! Great racing from both sides, whether Berwick fans admit it or not it’s irrelevant that was what we all go to see. We’re lucky to have that as our home track. Well done the Comets and thanks to the guests, the Comets won and Speedway won today.

Blobby is driving Cluff down in a bridge building exercise helping him unload his kit. Going by inside intel he is going to wait until Cluff goes for a piss and abandon him in Cumbria in the hope he spits the dummy and chucks it. So I have heard.

Good idea will pass this never thought off before notion to the recruitment team. Always the ever helpful Edinburgh fan that you are that never and I mean never comes across as bitter.

i agree, if people who were there enjoyed their evening, thats excellent.

I've managed to have a shower, do my ironing, cut the lawn and made a meal during all the delays.

We need more races like this! (It's insane to go and try and punch someone who has a crash helmet on however1)

Clouds of dust and a blue groove just aren't acceptable, any track serving that up (however good the racing) needs to do better I'm afraid.

As much as I agree it was very good racing, you can't just gloss over the fact the levels of dust were totally unacceptable. I love Oxford and it's not going to stop me going, but any new fans attending that and getting literally covered from head to toe in dirt, aren't going to be coming back. I was standing on the fourth bend and knew it was going to be a long night when the dust was being kicked up in the warm up before the first heat had even started. By about heat 10, I literally couldn't see through the levels of dust to know what was happening on the first and second bends, and spent most of the races looking away as it was bordering on painful to the eyes.

Mario is not even close to one of the hottest prospects on the international stage. He's a decent rider and if he's hitting 5-points regularly at the end of the year, he's doing his job. The level of expectation here is bonkers.

Thanks for the update and for being so open. From that it sounds like you received no explicit guidance about the change in insurance levels, and only as a result of the annual licence application - and because Luke hadn't previously had a specific deduction to cover insurance you didn't know what the difference was between the insurance cost in 2025 and the extra licence cost in 2026 - I've seen a figure of £28 mentioned. On the face of it, and unless Luke has had an uplift in his points money to reflect it, then it seems like the club is making a saving ( if it is no longer making insurance premium payments), and Luke has incurred an extra cost as he has had to take out an additional policy to provide a level of income protection against loss of income if he is unable to do his scaffolding job. I of course do appreciate that you can only comment on Luke's position and not on others, but if we assume a lot of riders are in the same position then it is understandable that Ben Barker is really pushing this. By the same token, were I a rider, I would not ride without taking out a personal policy as Luke has done, because the risk is too great. I very much hope that BSPL / SCB issues a much more transparent statement, with a chronology of events which can be substantiated with evidence - and that this dispute can be brought to a conclusion that sees riders in a comparable position to previous seasons without any significant cost issue. Thanks again for taking the time to provide some clarity, albeit as you rightly say, with the caveat that this is how it applies to Luke

We informed the insurance company that Luke races a speedway bike . The insurance we have covers his loss of earnings from his actual job as a scaffolder which he does everyday except for the day he is racing or if he has a busy schedule when bikes need to be prepped. Not sure if the cover would be the same if speedway was the only source of income

Pretty much it... Add in almost zero atmosphere due to hardly any (if any at all), away fans, and it certainly isn't an "event" that stirs the blood... The Play Offs are similar to when a small football team get to Wembley... All their "followers" turn out, yet the week later, the usual "fans" are in the ground with the "followers" sat at home, (maybe), checking the score now and again.... The sport needs root and branch radical change if it wants to carry on.. Having to charge £25 to stand and watch, so you can pay riders what they want to ride for you, riders who will put hardly one extra person through the turnstile, meaning you have minimal budget for marketing, or enhancing "the match day experience" is truly barmy from a business perspective... Yet they continue to slavishly follow the same business and unfit for purpose operating model... Amazing...

Not the first time he's done that, I commented on it when he used to ride for Leicester. You get the feeling that if he took the sport seriously (difficult I know) is that he could be a far far better performer than he already is, a Floppy Norris/Jason Doyle type, maybe not to Doyley standards but certainly Floppy. He seems happier to be a better than average journeyman than and clean up in the CL to supplement his bread and butter of being a plasterer. I think one of the main reasons may be, as you've mentioned many times, the lack of jeopardy... Ippo are in town! Come and see them! What's at stake? Well, nothing much really, it's just a qualifier But they may not qualify! It's almost impossible for them not to qualify They're the current league champions! But there's only 3 of those riders are in the team this year Okay come and see Tom Brennan & Tobias Musielak then! I'll catch them next time Ippo are in town, for the B fixture, a KO Cup tie or a play off tie... or any number of times over the course of this season as a guest rider Oh don't bother then! Okay 👍

Sacrifice entertainment for silverware , win at all costs and all that ? Fair enough, each to their own, but when fan numbers drop you'll have the answer to why already. For Berwicks 1st meeting of the season and fair weather the crowd was less than great, I'd be more concerned about how to get more fans back rather than how to bore off your current remaining fans.