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If I understand you correctly these 'businessmen' can't come to an agreement with Dave Coventry, so what the hell is the point the BSPA looking at their proposal until they do. Even if the BSPA were all in favour, they'd have nowhere to run their meetings. It is down to Dave who promotes at West Row but it should not be forgotten that it is, at least to a degree, in his interests to have speedway at Mildenhall. After all, he can have someone there paying rent and people eating and drinking on a Sunday afternoon or he can have it empty.

Dead right, agree with every word Some people say NL speedway is better than nothing. They are wrong, because it is frequently more exciting that than either the EL or PL - anyone who watches all three levels will tell you that. Peterborough is one of the best tracks in Britain so every supporter will want it to stay in business. If that is NL (and it seems that EL and Pl are ruled out)so be it.

To be honest I didn't check his website - I just based it on my experiences of being there early on Sunday morning. I really do believe (and always try to be realistic rather than optimistic or pessimistic) that it is Dave's interests to have speedway at West Row but it comes down to how much he is prepared to accept in rent before it no longer becomes in his interests, if you see what I mean. I thought £1,200 was excessive and sustainable for a club that does not often pull in 500 fans. One thing, though. Dave has made a lot of favourable noises regarding the speedway and he has never struck me as someone who is likely to give anyone a pile of crap with the intention of doing precisely the opposite.

Not so sure on that one, postie. While they do pull 10 times the speedway attendances, banger meetings are still held on alternate weekends as Dave Coventry promotes at Dover every fortnight as well as at Mildenhall. With speedway running on the off Saturday for bangers, it means he gets rent and food takings every week so it makes financial sense for him to have speedway there. It just comes down to a compromise between what he wants and what a speedway promotion would be prepared to pay. I got told he accepted a rent of £800pw last year, only for the bid to fail because of the court action. Having had dealings with him, with only one exception I have found him to a be a reasonable and pragmatic man who says it how he sees it. I don't rule out Dave being named as promoter himself with volunteers running it on match days. I am very optimistic that speedway will not only return, but that it may stay for seasons to come.

I think Damon is right. Whoever the BSPA might consider to be appropriate for Mildenhall Dave Coventry is the stadium owner and if he doesn't want them that's it.

I have said all along that that is the reason why Plymouth are not allowed in - I sincerely believe that any other reasons are merely window dressing. Distance is rubbish. As Bob C has accurately said, Trelawny had no problems, and that is about 50 miles or so further. I doubt if Exeter would have had, either. The track is small and the facilities somewhat basic, but the track at Mildenhall is not much bigger (if at all)and the facilities at Somerset (certainly on their elevation to the PL) no better. I have to say that the astonishing scenes that I witnessed in my one trip to Plymouth (against Weymouth at the back end of the season)which were almost entirely created by members of the promoters family and the opinions I heard that day would make me think twice about allowing Plymouth to join the PL, and that is a huge shame for their terrific supporters.

Gone on a bit maybe, but talked a lot of sense Someone else has mentioned the bolt from the blue nature of this announcement being a cause of the anger and its a fair point. When Mildenhall dropped down,we all knew it was coming and that PL speedway was unsustainable at West Row. Those who let their head rule their heart (like Malcolm)knew it was always beyond their remit. Its why we were all delighted when the club dropped down to a level we believed it could afford and that speedway would continue. Sadly, that wasn't to be, but if Dave Tattum had been a little more straight it might have made a little difference. You are dead right about the lack of a competitive team;if you haven't got the finances you can't put the team out, so supporters stay away and this just continues in a downward spiral.The thing is (and this is crucial)is that the lower costs in the NL might just mean that Stoke can put out a side capable of challenging for the league and (and I very much appreciate your honesty) you will be there every week - and you won't be alone. Those who choose to stay away will be doing little else other than cutting their noses off to spite their faces, and it will be extremely hard to do so if the struggling team you have supported through many years suddenly become successful. To my mind, its as simple as that: a successful team will make Stoke a success in the NL. In my view, Stoke is the best shaped track in Britain, but sometimes the preparation hasn't matched that. The quality of the racing in the NL is no different to that of the higher leagues, so get that right and, in combination with a winning team, things will pick up. I think you are right, too, about passions calming a bit by next March. We'll see how many still refuse to go if the NL gets up to about 10 teams or so (three bidders at Mildenhall, possible rescue at Weymouth)and they look like being in with a shout.

Absolutely right and that's precisely the point that matters. Easy to complain, not so easy to propose workable solutions. The very best of luck to Dave Tattum, Malcolm Vasey & Stoke Potters for next season.

Ok, if its not NL speedway, what precisely do you want or expect of Dave Tattum ? And its no good saying he should promote more without defining precisely what you mean by that word.

I'd say that makes your reaction even harder to understand - a passionate supporter who doesn't just attend matches but but helps out both on match days and before hand and organises trips. I cannot believe that someone like that cannot accept the reality of the situation, embrace the fact that the team that he has supported for so long will continue to ride and look forward to the new season. I say that because that's exactly how I felt when Mildenhall dropped into the NL in 2009, and I'd say my commitment to them at that time matched yours. There's no reason why they can't have both - in actual fact, that's the way most NL teams run. It'll be interesting to see whether Malcolm continues to support a 34 or 36pt limit now that he is at a stand alone club

At the end of the day its your choice. My two points are a/I don't blame Dave Tattum for dropping down if PL speedway is not sustainable and b/ the standard of entertainment (if not rider)will be exactly the same, just cheaper. I just don't see why every single Stoke fan who is taking him to the cleaners can't see either of those, and the stated viewpoints here and on the PL contrast starkly with those from Ipswich who recognise that there downward move is in the best interests of the team they support. f you will go to Buxton instead, you are doing nothing other than cutting your nose off to spite your face. As I say, though, that's your choice.

Perhaps you'd like to make that statement to every other club in British Speedway with the exception of the handful that actually make money. It also accuses not just Dave Tattum of failing to promote his track but all the others as well. As I stated in my post, there are many who constantly go on about promoting their tracks and, indeed, offer many suggestions about how to do so and seem to believe that those suggestions would have hundreds flocking back. All of those ideas involve spending money, but not one of those who crow about poor promotion have any intention whatsoever of risking their money but are perfectly happy to tell others to do so. As is undoubtedly the case, many tracks have wealthy benefactors who pour money in hand over fist to keep the track going and provide more competitive line ups. If Dave Tattum isn't prepared to do that (or, more likely, simply can't afford to do so) why should he ? Its fair to suggest that Stoke's sides haven't been top of the table contenders (nor even looked like it)for several seasons. The fact is that the lower costs in the NL might just enable him to put out a very decent side indeed and its better to have a chance of being top dog in the NL than perpetually at the bottom in the PL. As to the BMW, do you expect him to also sell his house and all possessions as well to keep the track going ?

Taken from the Mildenhall website: 'Mildenhall will begin to learn their fate for next season after the sport’s annual meeting a week today. The BSPA, who now hold the promoting licence for speedway at West Row, will then be able to further advise stadium boss Dave Coventry, who has begun talks with two interested parties. The legal battle involving the stadium and noise complaints has been put back to January 24th when a two-week trial will commence at the High Court.

Can't argue with the comments about the stadium or the supporters, but otherwise I think you are being very unfair indeed and your post smacks of the snobbery that PL supporters object so much to when it is dished out by EL fans yet hand it out themselves where the NL is concerned. Its the easiest thing in the world to tell others how to spend their money when you are taking no financial risk yourself. There are many who have miracle cures to raise money or supporter levels but I have never met one yet who will put forward a single penny of their own money to achieve that. The simple fact is the supporter base at Stoke isn't big and Dave Tattum does not have a bottomless pit of funds to use on riders or promotion. He's faced with three choices : sell up, close the track or cut costs. Potential buyers for speedway tracks aren't exactly queueing up - Weymouth couldn't be sold for £1 - so he has definitely taken the next best option. The fact is the standard of entertainment at Stoke will remain the same because the level makes no difference to the quality of the racing. To all intents and purposes, little will change other than the fact that the reduced costs might allow the Potters to put out a team capable of challenging for the league. Your highlighted remark is arrogant. Read the distraught comments on the Weymouth for sale thread and you will see why I think that.Speaking personally, I was absolutely delighted when I found that Mildenhall would continue after 2008 because I still had a team to support and I had far more reason to be gutted when it closed last season.

I think this might just be true I think its clear that Bournemouth will pull out, but Mildenhall, Weymouth & Bristol look more positive than before and I got told at Plymouth that Bodmin have found a new site. In addition, I have also heard a rumour that the success of Dudley might prompt others to go the same way. Fingers crossed.

You're a better man than me, then. Personally, if my team had been the best in the league and had then lost out on the league title due to what seems to me to be nothing less than poor organisation, I'd have been bloody furious.

I don't think that many of us like the play offs, Malcolm, as I suspect that most fans believe that the league winners should be champions. Having said that, I fully accept the play off system for precisely the reasons you have stated, in particular the increased gates that the matches create. What is undoubtedly true is that the abandonment of the 4TT, the initial postponement of the NLRC and its reinstatement (and I don't rule out the angry reaction of fans on here as a possible reason for that reinstatement) and the fact the final was reduced to one leg does absolutely nothing for the credibility of the NL and indeed will make it a matter for ridicule. You may have more information than I have but from my point of view that looks like poor organisation and that alone.That is a huge shame given the fact that I believe that the competition itself was a qualified success, with the reintroduction of Dudley, several challengers for the title and, in particular, the development of a large number of young British riders. I cannot help but wonder whether you would have expressed the same thoughts if Newport had won on Friday and todays match been called off, and the team that I believe deserve the title (ie Buxton)had to have been content with runners up. Whichever way this is looked at, it diminishes their success and that cannot be allowed to happen again.

Indeed And all those who have been banned or have stayed away to go along. This is not about Phil Bartlett any more, its about Weymouth Speedway and the possibility of its continued existence. Its a terrific little set up down there and fingers crossed that somrthing comes up.

Bournemouth are 99% certain to close, Plymouth have applied to go PL (although whether they are accepted is anyones guess - I have never heard a good word about their promotion). An informed source told me that the closure of Bournemouth is more about will than money. I remain optimistic about Mildenhall for the simple reason that it is in the stadium owners interests to have speedway there, especially if he can get a few hard core fans to run it for him. I think his rental demands (£1,300pw) are totally unrealistic given the current economic situation but, bearing in mind that he receives the lucrative profits from the catering and bar at the track, it is better to have it open and make £200 pw than shut and nothing. All that is dependant upon the court case regarding the closure of the stadium, but I simply refuse to accept that the will of a few individuals who moved in next to the place will prevail over that of the large numbers (for stock cares if not speedway)who regularly attend. I think Weymouth will run. Gary May deserves a great deal of credit for coming forward to make a bid and seems to accept that the track will run at a loss, although I suspect gates will increase simply because the previous promotion are no longer involved. The asking price of £40k is still way too high, because you get virtually nothing for it. The chances of another Dudley are slim. League entry(in a different league), a very attractive team, a stadium close to the place and a side that has not been out of action for that long all count in their favour and I am not sure that there is anywhere else like that. At the risk of jumping the gun, there was a lot of talk when I was down at Plymouth recently about a prospective new track in Cornwall. One thing I would like to see is northern clubs banding together to put a side in, maybe running at Redcar.

I'd say that a small donation would be very reasonable, John, but its not going to happen. According to the texter at the Belle Vue match the crowd was 'Crowd is pretty poor which is a shame', despite low entry prices and being billed as a tribute to Kelly Moran. The match at Ipswich featured Danny King, Ryan Fisher, Ricky Wells, Kozza Smith amongst others so it was hardly NL standard. I can't see anything to suggest what the gate was like and it would be interesting to find out. My experience is that perhaps with exception of the PL 4's neutral venues don't work and I'd say holding a meeting at a neutral venue, with a far lower standard of rider mid week and a huge distance away from most NL circuits would be asking for a financial disaster. Read more: http://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=inter&action=display&thread=7152&page=1#ixzz12OzkZWTJ Either (although as a personal preference I'd say Wolverhampton). Dudley have some of the biggest gates in British Speedway and if it could be arranged for a weekend I suspect many would travel. The question is why have the BSPA cancelled this meeting ? I think it is very easy to blame them when at this stage I can't see any other reason than fixture congestion at Rye House. Would be very interesting to find out the exact cause. 'Shambles' is a very good description indeed.

Its sensible, John, but its impractical. For a start, there's no way the BSPA would subsidise a meeting. Secondly, the gate wouldn't be down at Belle Vue (or maybe even Ipswich), it would be practically non existent. You only have to read some of the posts on here to see the contempt that some EL fans have for the PL, never mind the NL, so they just wouldn't go. Allied to the fact that only Buxton is within 100 miles of Belle Vue supporters just aren't going to travel that far. It would have to be a weekend and to my mind the best neutral place would be Swindon. Otherwise, I'd use Dudley. Superb track (people I know will not go to Rye House for that reason alone) superb stadium, big crowd, reachable by everyone.

Complete rubbish. Rye House made the commitment to run the NLRC in the full knowledge that there could be a fixture pile up and, at least according to their website, they haven't had a rain off since that made that commitment. If there was a danger that they could not fit the meeting in (and, even without the benefit of hindsight, there clearly was) why agree to hold it ? I fail to appreciate how the blame for the cancellation of this meeting can be laid at the door of the NL. It maybe that the BSPA directed it, but I have no doubt that that is when the problem was raised by Rye House so its their fault and theirs alone.

Stick to the commitment that they made in the first place instead of cancelling it at short notice (and thus limiting any chance of a staging elsewhere), particularly bearing in mind that they were fully aware of a possible fixture pile up at the time that that commitment was made. As Derek says, why not hold their other meetings during the week ? The NL is no more a poorly run league nor do its rules change more often (and for subjective reasons)than either of the other two. Its just that it doesn't seem to be given the credence that it undoubtedly deserves and episodes like this merely reinforce that view. Dead right and, sadly, absolutely typical.

Scunthorpe is my favourite track and in polls on this forum it is usually a runaway winner for that accolade. Superb location if you come prepared Its not so much that I don't like the track as the quality of racing that you see there. Yesterday, I can only recall one decent race with the rest almost always being decided after the second corner andd that's somewhat been my experience over 12 or 13 visits to Hi Edge. The sadness is it is a little over an hour from my home and I'd visit a lot more often if the the racing were better. As I have said, I have profound respect for Jayne & Richard Moss. I don't think anyone fools themselves that the place is run on anything but a shoestring with huge amount of effort going in and that deserves a lot of credit. In addition, I rarely disagree with Jayne's honest and objective comments on here. Floating supporters like myself (at the moment, anyway) need an incentive to go to a track and, aside from the fact that Barrie Evans might be riding, at least as far as I am concerned there isn't much to go to Buxton.

I have said elsewhere on this forum that I have the greatest respect for Jayne & Richard Moss and what they achieve at Buxton but just don't like the track there and yesterdays meeting was a classic example. Although the meeting was exciting thanks to the closeness of the scores and the way that the Heathens came back from the dead, virtually every race was decided by the second bend. Good to see Barrie back among the points (and a smile on his face and being cheeky to boot ). The absence of Cook and Morris made that easier (although on his last visit there he beat both of them) but the way things are going he was having trouble beating anyone as witnessed by recent displays. Just goes to show that on reasonable equipment he is a force to reckoned with. What everyone might not be aware of was that in warming up his first choice bike he noticed filings in the oil, which apparently is a sign of a big end blow up. He switched to his other machine, not a good start for a rider already low on confidence. Nice couple of touches during the meeting: Barrie asking Jack Lee if he was replacing Adam Allott as Jason Garrity was wearing the wrong helmet colour, Garrity's genuine enquiry after Ashley Morris had fallen, and Gary Patchett's recognition of his teams battling display.