Halifaxtiger

I doubt if any Mildenhall fan will be worrying about how riders ride together - something that could be questioned about almost every other pairing at every other club in the NL. What they see is a superbly talented young team with a huge amount of potential headed by two riders of proven quality at this level. The only thing I can see stopping them is injury.

I am pretty sure the Aces biggest crowd of the league season last year was against Wolverhampton, and that was televised. When Berwick had a couple of TV meetings a few seasons ago they attracted big attendances. Do it cheap and promote it well and it can be the case that live coverage won't make any difference - indeed, it can actually make a meeting more viable. I find that difficult to believe or quantify. Its hard to accept that a Comets fan would walk away from watching their team simply because they can watch Rye House or Somerset on the TV and do so about 8 times a year. It must be a matter of GP speedway and running directly against it. I stand to be corrected but having attended almost half of Workington's home meetings last season I didn't see any noticeable difference when there was a clash with a GP broadcast. You might be right - although as I say I didn't notice that at Workington, and it will be interesting to see if their gates increase this year when most of their mid summer meetings are on a Friday. Definitely. I was told that when Leicester got that deal with a solicitors a few years ago they did so simply because of the television coverage. No TV, no sponsorship. The only thing is that will apply only to Premiership clubs - no Championship team will be getting anything extra (or losing something) because of BT broadcasting. I think speedway may have lost fans because of SKY/BT coverage but they will be minimal and the factors Phil has stated are far more relevant. Rarely does a fan say that they have finished going to meetings because they can watch the (pretty minimal) coverage of league speedway that is available - its usually far more about poor value. Quite simply, most recognise that being there is and always will be better.

With the named team, I can't see past Mildenhall to win. Every single rider can improve his average and one or two will do so big time. Eastbourne, Kent & Coventry to make the play offs.

Questioning the suitability of Redcar to hold a shared event is not unreasonable. Calling it a 'dump' (in my view at least) is.

I think you are dead right here. It might be suggested that Leicester Stadium is better located for speedway use but it is most certainly not better located for Coventry Speedway because it is 27 miles away. To me, to use the argument that Brandon can be demolished because the speedway team have found a new home can be easily rebutted : that home has not be tried or tested, it involves supporters travelling for a considerable distance - way, way more than most - and they have a one year term only. That's hardly convincing as an argument that a new and entirely satisfactory location has been found. However, I'd accept that it is a difficult situation for Coventry fans because if the new venture is a success it does add weight to the case for Brandon not being needed for speedway at least.

I'm not sure that's true. The account I got of the visa/immigration issue was that the BSPA had been breaking the rules over the eligibility of foreign riders for years and without any regard for the actual legal position. Make no mistake, this was probably the most serious threat to speedway in this country for years and why it is treated with such care now. Fortunately, the UKVI took a very (more than very) tolerant and reasonable attitude, stating what the rules were and drawing a line in the sand over past misdemeanours. They made it clear in no uncertain terms what would happen if those rules were broken again (one promoter tried to do so a matter of weeks later and then attempted to offload the blame on to the UKVI - the incident you have mentioned). Scotchopper doesn't post very often but when he does he is usually spot on. Now that this issue has been clarified, it seems to me that both he and Cyclone are absolutely correct : this is a matter of a failure to delete a rule from the rulebook and a failure to make the actual position absolutely clear at the outset (or at least at a much earlier point). Its the second time - Lakeside are the others - that poor administration from the BSPA has led to difficulties for a team and a rider.

I think I can be blamed for 'inviting' you Absolutely correct, though Its why my first two matches pencilled in this season were Redcar v Newcastle. Although I have made clear that I think Peterborough - after the huge success of the past two seasons - would be a better option, some of the comments about Redcar are simply not fair. Its way better than a 'dump' and although there were few visible signs it was clearly a different place last season after the departure of Havelock. I don't doubt it will step up again this season and, with a bit of luck, the track will get back to something near what it was like at the outset. It was one of the best then.

Not even arguably. Problem is neutral venues - as good as they sound - rarely attract the attendances that these sort of meetings need, nor do they match those drawn at a Championship clubs home track. I reiterate my point : why move a shared event if a track does a good job year in, year out ?

There's only one biased opinion here and it isn't mine

These are some of the comments made about the 2017 Fours at Peterborough : One of, if not the best 4TT's I've seen. Well organised, minimal delays and lovely weather. IMHO the presentation was good, the organisation was good and some of the racing was bloody brilliant. There was some awesome racing in the final so anyone who decided to stay away missed a great meeting. The last 9 heats in the final was some of the best/tightest racing you will see for a while Probably because some of the racing - particularly in the final - was just superb. That final was some of the best Ravi g I have ever seen. Just bloody brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed another entertaining fours featuring some brilliant races, especially in the final, and must congratulate the majority of riders for putting on such a show When's the last time you read similar comments about a meeting at Redcar ? The really interesting bit is that 2016 was even better.

Each to his own, I think. I have usually considered Superbikes (along with other motor cycle and motor car racing) to be tedious. Cardiff costs twice as much as any other meeting and the quality of the speedway is no better than one of our average circuits. The racing at Belle Vue is twice as good for half the price. Do it. Make it a day on the Island if you can and go to the racing in the evening. You won't regret it. Most promoters regard the BSF as a haven for stupid, ignorant, abusive trolls and treat it with contempt and derision . This one spends 5 minutes engaging with us (costing him absolutely nothing) treats us as paying fans and could get £1,300 as a result.

Its not my view that Redcar can't stage the meeting or indeed make a reasonable success of it - I just don't think that the facilities at STMP match EOES in any way at all. To me, the last two seasons Fours have been a fantastic advert for speedway so I simply wouldn't have changed it and would have gone a long way to ensuring that this years event was staged at Peterborough. It seems rather pathetic to me - and indicative (apparently) of the way that certain members of the BSPA put their own private grievances above the wishes of the paying fan - that it is not. I have seen some good racing at Redcar - indeed, it used to be one of my favourite tracks until Havelock got hold of it. Things improved in 2017 but the quality of the speedway there is still light years away from that at Peterborough. My own view is that shared events should be allocated on the basis of all round success, nothing more. That is about both the financial rewards off track and feedback from fans about the meeting itself. Do a good job, get it back. Don't and lose it.

Literally everything. I am struggling to think of one single aspect of STMP that makes it a better stadium to hold a national event than EOES. This isn't a criticism of Redcar because it is a most unfair comparison - there are few that can match Peterborough. Speaking personally, what counts is the quality of the racing. I stand to be corrected, but what I have seen at Redcar over the last few seasons leads me to believe that it is likely that this years Fours won't hold a candle to the superb speedway seen in 2016 & 2017.

I am surprised but I am also naïve. If an event is a huge success on and off track you'd think you would do everything not to change it. No disrespect to Redcar, but in almost every aspect it is inferior to Peterborough for holding an event of this nature.

As good as Peterborough ? Not in my recent experience. Redcar have something serious to match here. The Fours meetings over the last two seasons at the Showground have been nothing less than brilliant and I am genuinely surprised that this meeting has been moved.

Of course they should. To me, its a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

If you buy a day ticket for the main racing only, its £28 (or £34 on the gate). That's not quite so good. You're right, though - just because something isn't comparatively expensive doesn't mean it is value for money and, in many cases, speedway does fall down there. I went to the Belle Vue/Wolverhampton TV match last season and, basically, everything was just bang on. A reasonably close result, some fantastic racing, an Aces win - we even had Chase the Ace doing a 'Staying Alive' dance. I paid £10 but even at the usual £17 it would easily have been worth every penny. All too often, though, we have crap tracks, ridiculous, unnecessary delays, poor presentation and riders who can't be bothered. All that has to be addressed, and soon.

According to the Office for National Statistics, that's not true. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/nowcastinghouseholdincomeintheuk/financialyearending2017 They say that the median retired household's income is £22,400, that of a non retired household is £29,300 (the equivalent mean is £26,347 and £34,363). That's about 30% lower. Having said that, the gap in the last 10 years has narrowed significantly. While non retired household incomes have remained the same, retired households have increased by almost 25% . To me, that means you have a point and don't deserve the abuse thrown in your direction simply for raising this issue. Until, however, those two figures match each other then I think the case for the discount is justified, quite aside from the fact that certainly some of my retired friends would stop going if speedway did away with that reduction and that's regardless of the income they receive. There are a lot of retired people that go to speedway - although the proportion is nothing like what you have made it out to be - and the sport simply can't afford to risk losing them.

At Belle Vue he will see at least 4 of the World's top riders, including the World Champion. I suppose he could go to Crewe Alexandra instead to watch league 2 football. £9.50 entrance. Speedway isn't expensive compared to other sports.

I really don't see why it can't be an extreme sport and a family one. The two aren't incompatible. I see no reason why a family wouldn't go to something 'mad, bad and dangerous' (brilliant description, by the way). I might be the odd one out but other motor sport leaves me cold.

I agree. Yes, he's complained a bit but its hardly new and probably represents what most riders think. Its hardly damning stuff.

When Belle Vue dropped the piece to £10 for the TV match against Wolverhampton last year they got one of their biggest attendance of the season - the grandstand was packed. However, that doesn't mean it would happen every week and experience suggests that you are absolutely right - the price drop isn't compensated for by the increase in attendances.

Aces High is about bang on. Bickley is very smooth - looks like he's riding an armchair. Bewley looks less controlled, more bull in a china shop.

The trick in beating the points limit is getting a team of riders who can improve their averages. With the possible exception of Klindt, I can see the entire Workington team doing that. Having seen him ride many times last season and knowing just how good he is I suspect the biggest improvement will come from Bickley.

Of course we do can something about them. Whether they need work permits or not, no club is forced to sign them instead of a British rider. Cameron Heeps requires a work permit and does not have British parents. The only reason he got a 3.00 average was one of the NL's notorious bent deals involving the BSPA, Mildenhall, Ipswich & Rye House. I completely agree about putting British lads first. The question is why is it the case that so many clubs do not do that (and I genuinely don't know the answer) ? I can see why Workington are keeping Campton this season but if you had asked me at the beginning of 2017 you might have got a very different answer.