gazzac

Shame Workington weren't a bit further down the line with the track / organisation, would have created a lot of interest there I imagine.

fingers crossed then.

That's not good news, if the stock cars struggle, going to be hard for speedway there again. I know the Dugards are speedway/motorsport through and through, just hope it doesn't get to a point where the only viable option is planning/houses.

The No Development League is now such a poor product, if attendance is not mandatory at any meeting it needs a name change as none of the N,D or L apply now really.

I thought if the funds for a comeback were successful they were aiming for CL?

What's wrong with a sagging sausage roll, better than no sausage roll at all. Ok take your point ,not all but more often than not because they came top and had the choice, but if it was open to choice seemed to remember them choosing the last Weds in October taking a chance on the weather to get the last leg.

Poole will have the last leg, always do in any league, any competition.....

Good news if it does, if Eastie come back were always capable of losing by 20 away and winning by a similar amount at home like a lot of teams, always nice to have the second ' leg' at home, saw many an exiting outcome win or lose the bonus point back in the day.

He got banned for taking coke....

As you say couldn't see the progression coming JD made, but he was at a far higher base level than Drew in the era when heat leaders were Pedersens, Adams, Rickardsson, Loram etc in a proper Elite league, most second strings were of the current day heat leader level or above.

Definitely better than r/r and no dought if he instantly feels at home/wanted from the get go will do his usual and raise his game, at least until the end of the season.

Otherwise known as the Poole rule......

Unfortunately had the chance to embrace the NL a few seasons ago, but was becoming too successful and basically shut it down, can't see a lot of change now, still at least we have the Premiership junior league.....

It was a fantastic year, unfortunately a badly broken leg ( catapulted over the air fence onto the concrete stock car track nearly hitting the tractor ) concussion injuries , and a badly burnt arm being caught under the rear guard dragged along by Troy Batchelor if I remember ( before they had to hug the wheel) really put paid to those endeavours which was a shame.

Such a character and funny too. Need more of his like now, but he did come from a different simpler era ( like me) . We ( Eastbourne) voted him the all time ultimate Eagle a few years ago, bear in mind that included Nicki P, Martin Dugard, Gordon Kennet, Mark Loram, Kelly Moran etc etc , he was the all time highest points scorer for Eastie but shows the high regard he was held as a rider and perhaps more so a character.

Think it's ideal especially for NL, main proviso is the track, keeping dust down especially, if thats all sorted with a good track man certainly worth trying.

But overall a far cheaper option than Championship, the likes of Buxton haven't returned to the current NL cheaper option I suppose. As you say some teams will always lose out, but looking forward more teams would do a NL + or disappear like Buxton/Newcastle etc.

And we (Eastbourne) have lost them all, always envisaged Brennen and Edward's being heat leaders in a couple of years ( or sooner) bringing back the feeling we had in the Dugard /Norris era ....

Spot on, bad decisions for speedway.

I'll put my old record on again ( sorry for the umpteenth time ) but we had the perfect NL back in 2015/18 and was some where near the true level of middling British speedway, certainly for the likes of Birmingham and Eastbourne, ideal for Newcastle/Workington/ IOW etc as well, need to get back to that level, whether it's current NL+ or Championship lite.

Think it was the British League Cup, won't say who won it.....

I thought that would be the case, imagine with all the increases in costs, electricity, insurance etc and probably charging under the going rate previously, it probably costs double to open the gates now than in 2019/20.

So about the level of the NL back in 2015/18 that was so successful, cheaper, brought on the youngsters.......

Used to get great racing in the past at both tracks even though tight. Track prep at both was fantastic and the riders skill level back the days of Elite league was so superior to now, don't remember Crump, Pedersen(s) Peter Karlson, Mark Loram, plus many others having difficulty providing good races on both. Current day bikes have been a big factor as well only right for big wide open tracks really, seemed to get dramatically worse when the silencers were brought in.

Have you a seen NL meeting THJ ? Sure it'll be tested by a few. Saying that the track and fence look amazing.