Hackett

So even a statement is full of confusion !!! Lunatics have taken over the asylum.

They were never planning to race this weekend as they were due to be on the Northern Tour - so I would imagine that it was never an option.

That's my Northern Tour hotels all cancelled. Next speedway for me will be SoN in Oct at this rate.

surely that should be sat on the airfence

EASTBOURNE FIXTURE UPDATE The upcoming fixture on Friday 27th August will now be the rescheduled Championship match against Poole Pirates, allowing Eastbourne Eagles time to resolve their current difficulties. From the Edinburgh Monarchs website .... those who have the Northern Tour hotels booked - the 1st leg is definately off the schdule.

The only rumours I have seen are Lawson refused to ride at Leicester in ht 15, the size of the debt with the stadium owners and that EK and RL have left ?? Hopefully they can resolve the situation and speedway can continue at Arlington. Time will tell .... "Fingers Crossed"

I would imagine that supporters of Speedway in Sweden and Denmark would say exactly the same. Undoubtedly in the 60's ,70's and 80's the riders were of a higher ranking on the World stage but those times have gone. Times have changed !! I would state that the quality of racing and the field is higher than when Tai Woffinden won his hat-trick of titles. Then you knew it was the semi final and final were the only seriously competitive races. Getting back to UK speedway now - the issue is the sport and the fan base is dying. Continually the sport is preaching to the converted - it needs to target a new demographic. I am no great fan of Eddie Hearn but it needs somebody of his sports business and promotion skills to drive the sport forward. Speedway is 15 mins / 22 mins of adrenalin fuelled entertainment in 1 min bites. Perfect for the younger generations attention span - the sport needs to be pushed via social media even more - instagram, tik-tok etc Get you-tubers at the meeting and on a bike with a rider for viewings on you tube - Glasgow Tigers one of the better promoted teams and have only 1300 subscribers - Speedway Great Britain has 6920 subscribers - Hashtag FC a football team driven by social media and social media content has 567,000 subscribers - this is where the new opportunity of support is !!! If speedway keeps reaching out to the support it already has it will always be in decline and meet the same continual problems. It needs a drastic change - the sport itself can be enthralling, exciting and entertaining but too many people are not aware of it. All sports are suffering in atttracting the younger generation and tearing them away from phones, tablets and computer screens - The issue is that the sport is methanol fuelled excitement , perfect in 1 min short bites of excitement - the potential is there ... it just needs somebody with the right forward thinking mindset.

Say nowt ..... To be Continued ....... 24th Aug

"Son of God" to Glasgow ????

British Final at NSS is always an excellent spectacle. The riders obviously like the track and for the fan the action is fast and furious. Ellis was excellent last night and has been riding well in both PL and CL so fully deserved taking the titke + looked very quick. Seemed like a decent bet at 8/1 !!! Bewley was short favourite but as Crumpie said on the microphone he needs to sharpen up his gating but can't doubt his speed when he gets to the front. Impressed with Howarth who gave it a right go on the night + Charles Wright who seemed much quicker and competitive in comparison to the meetings on the TV. Nicholls and Harris both had their moments which was good to see. Disappointments on the night was Danny King who had an off night and as an Eagles fan Lawson and Kerr just a little short on the night.

Eastbourne have always said needs over 1000 to break even - so 1200+ best case scenario. Last couple of meetings to the eye; numbers have been down on the start of the season. Potentially may look better as still limited numbers in grandstand so people scattered around other parts of stadium bends 3+4 .... Shall await statement - all have better idea then.

As much as I dislike him - Speedway needs somebody like Eddie Hearn to promote it. The sport's demographic is dying so needs to attract they younger fan. 15 minutes of racing in 1min bursts should appeal to their attention span. However most stadia is knackered and dated + few promoters will invest in stadia or PA systems to any degree. The sport is a short sharp entertainment so should be easy to package on social media feeds.

Invested ??? They have put gravel in the carpark. Stadium facilities are no different apart from a couple of new sponsors and as for the toilets there are new cubes in the urinal ....

Living in Surrey that would certainly be the case for my family. No more speedway except the SGP Cardiff + SoN.

Expected the meeting to be a lot closer with the Scorpions at the top of the table and the Eagles without Brennan + Newman. The latter has been excellent of late although Keheler did well as a guest considering it was only his second visit to Arlington and when he was riding for Poole he struggled taking a couple of soil samples. Undoubtedly both Ellis + Brennan would of scored more than rider replacement but a decent win for the Eagles and hopefully a confidence building result for the likes of Kennett and Kerr. Although the Scorpions were pretty much a one man team in Jorgensen. The track looked good and a number of riders complimented it in interviews with Kevin Coombes ..... Adam Ellis R/R (TA R) (JS 1') (TJ 3) (SL 0) = 4+1 Tom Brennan R/R (ZK 0) (JE 0) (DK 1) (LK 3) = 4 Hopefully much of the same next week vs Plymouth.

Perhaps the new manager is hoping he can get a few short term letting deals with riders.

Backed Janowski for GP1 which worked out and then went for Sayfutdinov for GP2 close but no cigar. Also wondered what KK would turn up so at 50/1 thought an e/w shout as he has been going ok in Poland. Should of learnt my lesson - never trust KK ...

Was expecting an Eagles victory tonight but Kings booked a decent guest in Howarth. It would seem the reserves and Lewi Kerr not taking a liking to the Kent track. Good to see Edward Kennett with a couple of race wins though. Hopefully Newman's shoulder is ok for Sat vs Scorpions.

Leicester were excellent value yesterday and Dan Thompson at reserve was the difference. Also must applaud the team riding of Dan Thompson by Scott Nicholls in heat 11 . shepherded him for all 4 laps. Many riders would of disappeared into the distance which may of allowed Lewi Kerr to get past but Nicholls was sublime in riding the inside line. Nigel Pearson would of approved hopefully re-run or British Speedway put this up on social media because it was excellent. AS for the track preperation that has been an artform for years at Arlington , I don't see it changing any.

A number of teams are going to struggle with replacing riders this season with the travel limitations. When Len Silver was interviewed at Eastbourne he was quite strong on the fact that Kent Kings would be loyal to riders. Starke and Nicholls was impressive at Arlington but the Kings were always going to be one of the weaker teams in the Championship and Poole one of the stronger as long as the Cooks were up to speed.

The old rolling average conundrum. Hopefully a run of fixtures will help him find some form.

Checking the Speedway Star and it has averages listed as : Lawson 9.63 Lewi Kerr 8.67 Tom Brennan 7.00 Drew Kemp 6.67 Kyle Newman 6.67 Edward Kennett 5.60 Jason Edwards 4.94 Poole are making changes with Zane Keleher heading around the South Coast to Plymouth to take advantage of his higher average. Could Kennett ride at reserve or is that not possible with new reserve system. Did read that only 7 riders in Premiership are not doubling up ; so for any club considering changes due to injury or loss of form there is not a great deal of option.

Could Eagles have used Jake Knight at reserve ????

Such sad news. Condolences to family + friends. An opinionated + passionate Promoter for speedway across the South. RIP Jon Cook

Considering the loyal following that speedway has and the tendency of the supporters to be keen on stats and statistics I am surprised a game like football manager has never really taken off. I appreciate that the sport will never have the following of Moto GP or FIFA on various consoles but I believe a Speedway game in the Football Manager format could of worked and be well received. The mobile game Speedway Challenge has a lot of the graphics and ideas right. Purchase bikes, equipment, vans etc but if you could train and develop the riders that would be an excellent improvement.