Halifaxtiger

is it definitely the showground that have called it off ? I stayed over another night to go to this match and am not impressed in the slightest. What really sticks in my crawl is this 'due to a health and safety issue' rubbish. No explanations, no clarification, no specific reason, nothing. That's simply not good enough. Coming hard on the heels of that fiasco at Kent yesterday I am genuinely wondering why I bother.

My understanding is that the referee was hampered by the very poor organisation - and that is something I can readily believe. My concern was over the ambulance being able to access the track - as has been said, if that was not possible the meeting should have been abandoned - but apparently the blue gates on the second turn could be opened for that purpose. It is a matter of individual choice, but if meetings are as poor as that I know where they will go - and it won't be Kent Speedway. I am a big NL fan but a three hour meeting, a shocking track and dreadful organisation would make me think twice about going again. Even if you do intend to keep going every week, you should still be concerned what matches like that will do to your fan base. Then you are missing the opportunity to give reasonable explanation for that farce yesterday and respond to the strong, almost unanimous but totally fair (and completely decent) criticism stated here. Some of us are not on facebook and regard official pages or forums with a degree of contempt where criticism of the club (however valid) is scarcely tolerated and people who are critical find themselves shown the door very quickly. Give me an 'unregulated' forum (with all its wind up merchants, trolls and verbal thugs) over one that is controlled by people with links to the promotion any day. The really sad bit is the criticism of the promotion has meant that there has been little said about the performance of the riders. Morley was never really troubled and Kingston and Coles were impressive, the way young Connor held his line to beat Lambert especially so.

I hate to say it, but that is just about bang on.

That's very fair comment They did grade to start , though, and I wondered why they stopped.

Difficult to argue with a single word of that We were questioning why the track was watered but not graded.

That really is good news Fingers crossed it stays that way - if it does, I am sure I will see you there. I can imagine one or two are choking on their own venom with that comment....................

Very entertaining meeting despite the score line. Ipswich were awful.............but don't take any credit away from Somerset, they were pretty much flawless. Best performance I have ever seen from Starke, and very impressed with young Kurtz as well. Big thanks to Pirate Nick

Looking forward to this one. Leaving now,should just make the start.

With friends like you lot.............. By the way, WK, don't humour that one. One minute all batting eyelashes and Miss Jean Brodie accent, the next breathing fire and spitting venom..

Speaking solely for myself, I agree. I would certainly go to both when I am on a southern tour but can usually only do one (Somerset this Friday) although I try to fix it that I attend when they race against each other. They are 100 miles or so apart, though so I don't see too many of the locals taking in both meetings. It used to be worse as Weymouth rode on Fridays too !

At the end of the day, speedway is an entertainment business. It is for the promotion to put out a product that paying customers want and, if they don't, then if the business fails its at least partly their fault. Speedway, in my experience, doesn't attract the level of loyalty that (for example) football does. Having said that, I think you are wrong about what the promotion at Plymouth has (or hasn't) done. Everyone wanted Barker: you got him. There were loud complaints about Lemon being re-signed and Jensen left out; that was reversed. Katajisto has been a huge success and Newman was just starting to put it all together. Reade has been disappointing but I don't blame the promotion giving him another shot, and Benko was worth more than he got at Scunthorpe. You have , in my opinion, one of the best racing tracks in the country down there with a terrific little stadium (again, largely down to the current promotion) with some of the best viewing around. It would be fair to suggest that the team hasn't performed as expected, so I think that on the whole the promotion deserve to be cut a bit of slack. Finally, I am wondering just what you want. 10 points down against Somerset to 10 points up with some top racing thrown in, apparently. To me, it doesn't get better than that..............unless all you are bothered about is the team winning and not really interested in how they do it.

I don't think that's true. What would make my mind up for me was whether I liked it, not whether it was popular with others.

Fans aren't fooled by cheap teams - ask Sheffield about that one. I can say that their 2012 team done on the cheap in the end cost them very dearly. I don't think they put out 'any old mob'. Remember when Lemon was dropped ? That was a response - unquestionably a very good one - to fans reaction. Barker was the rider everyone down there wanted and they got him, Katajisto has been an excellent signing, and Newman has been riding as well as ever. Jensen has been a bit disappointing but Benko has shown some promise. I think that one change - sadly, it will be Reade - and Plymouth could be a very decent side.

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/plymouthdevils This isn't good. I agree with Paulco, though. Plymouth have a good stadium, one of the best racing tracks around, a young attractive team and a promotion who have restored the club's reputation. That's better than most. Its clear that Reade is struggling and while I don't blame the promotion for giving him another shot a change is needed. We'll see. Edit : Look at the match against Somerset. 10 points behind to 10 points in front with some cracking racing thrown in. Precisely what do you want ?

I never had a problem at all, even with my hybrid London/Yorkshire accent. I was genuinely surprised when I was told how bad it could be.

The point is even if you pay base rates you are going to get poleaxed financially. As I have said, King's Lynn will be looking at a bill of £1600 for two meetings against Scunthorpe. Because they have the KO Cup too, that's an astonishing £3,200 they are going to have to find from two NL meetings, which never get big attendances at NA. Heaven only knows how much they will lose and that is a financial burden that no NL club (however wealthy) needs. On the other hand, Scunny will pay out about £1,200 to their riders for all 4 meetings. If 500 people attend home meetings for the double headers, that's £3,000 extra they will make (I think it is £3 more for a doubler header) from running the NL matches. There will be extra expenses for running a double header, but will they be £900 per match more ? I stand corrected; yesterday was the first time I heard that was the case. When are you (and others) going to grasp the fact that unless NL clubs are viable (or reasonably so) there is no bigger picture. And it isn't a single meeting, its every one that the Stags have been in (home and away). I think my figures are reasonably fair. How do you think Buster Chapman is going to react to a £3,200 bill for four matches knowing that has to be met from two NL meetings at NA ? Even if all the other clubs are paying standard rates (and we all know ( just like Scunthorpe when they were a stand alone club) they aren't) they will cost the other teams around £15k over the season while they themselves will probably make money. I had no difficulty with what Scunny were doing until I learnt of the way riders were paid; I most certainly do now. One final point: I stayed to the end yesterday, because I was doing the texting and having a very interesting discussion about all matters speedway. There were very, very few left in the stadium at that time.

Until yesterday, I'd have agreed with you (almost) completely. What has changed my mind is the funding of the clubs. In the EL & PL, the away team receives payment from the home team for each match based upon a standard amount. If a club pays over that, they meet it from their own gate receipts. In the NL, the clubs meet their own costs from home gate receipts alone. Lets say that Scunthorpe & King's Lynn pay standard NL pay rates of £10/10p. Yesterday would have cost Scunny about £300, King's Lynn around £800. The home meeting for the Stars will have cost the same. Given that Scunthorpe run double headers charging £2 or £3 more than normal they will be making money out of the arrangement; I doubt very much that the Stars can afford £1,600 in rider costs from one home meeting. As such, I could make a fair case that Scunthorpe's policy of fielding young riders is being paid for not by them but by every other club in the NL. For that reason, I'll be astonished if they (or anyone else) is allowed to do something similar next season unless funding arrangements change. That's brilliant and it just shows how far a small bit of customer care can go. I can think of one or two promotions who could learn a lesson from that.

Usual good quality EWR meeting which would have been much closer if Newman had ridden. Douglas impressive again, Benko deserved more, Birks and Jorgensen a concern.

Scunny will be making a change this week.

When I first went to Newcastle in 2004 I used to go in the Fosse every time, usually to watch the football. The beer was good, the company as good and on occasion I was asked to help finish off a buffet (and didn't need to be asked twice). When I told a few pals at Brough, they were horrified. It is, apparently, one of the roughest pubs in Newcastle. That's staying, Paul, not drinking You might recall I have experience of drinking with you two

He was very, very impressive indeed. I think you make a very fair point there. I learnt something today : NL tracks pay their own costs. As such, Scunthorpe will give King's Lynn nothing towards their rider expenses today, so the Stars (who I think its fair to say aren't a win at all cost team) must be looking at about £1,000.

That's the chap. It would help if he cracked a smile once or twice but I can't fault his pub. Excellent real ale, big breakfast and spotless rooms for a reasonable price - and you can walk to the track. I can recommend a few other places to stay if anyone is interested.

Stayed at the Heart in Hand a couple of times. Landlord's a bit of a misery guts but he makes a top breakfast, serves a very good pint of real ale and his rooms are spotless. The speedway pub used to be The Gunners at Ellesmere Port. Its still there, but I don't think its called that any more, nor does it have the speedway memorabilia.

I'd forgotten about that. The view from the back straight terracing is superb. The ones at Weymouth were two portabogs on the third/fourth bends. I was once sitting down and getting on with it when a child yanked the door open, to my horror and the crowds amusement. I am surprised no-one has mentioned the infamous back straight toilets at Workington. They have been knocked down now, and where they were is a sign saying that anyone caught urinating there will be ejected from the stadium.

On current circuits, best track (for racing): Scunthorpe, by a short head from Mildenhall, Plymouth & Peterborough. Worst (for racing): Buxton. I avoid speedway food if at all possible with one exception - and there I deliberately eat at the track: Berwick. Mr Anderson's burgers are quite superb and am I told that the pies are even better. The best stadium is Kent. One or two other positives: Tracks that have stepped up their game in the last few seasons: Berwick, Lakeside & Workington. Belle Vue's track has improved considerably, too. Best fans: Plymouth.