Baldy

I don't know what the fuss is about.. Any sport needs compeitive sides going against each other regardless of age, which unfortuately for me speedway no longer has but thats my loss not theirs. This league should be full of youngsters of the same ability but we haven't got them hence the sides we see put out because i would not go to watch hammerings every week, either from a giving or taking side. No fun at all. Do we think we will ever get similar stand riders riding against each other or the lobsided teams we see on show today.

What are the crowds like at tracks now? My mother who used to be mad about speedway but at 90 is no able to go anymore has photos of the old Sun street at Stoke with 20,000 plus there for a meeting. Good to see Plymouth still providing speedway for the public, long may it continue.

Would of gone to this but thought it would be a premier match as I remembered when I used to go that Tatum had a five year plan to be back in the Premier. How far along the road is that?

Quite right Ben I wasn't there, so where do i base my comments on?. Certainly a lopsided score is no indicator of the closeness of the racing,but having called into Kings Lynn quite a few times in my 38 years of watching speedway on my way to a caravan at Overstrand (how i miss that caravan) I know that even to the most experienced rider who does not ride the track on a regular basis it can be hard, to those less of a standard it can be a nightmare. There were a few of the Stoke team that would struggle with the "motor killer" and not be competative for four laps, that along with the comments on updates of "Well strung out" and "Easy win" i again suppose that the racing was not always close. Someone...and I cannot recall who, won by a length of a straight. Not good. If only 5 or so of the races were decent, (rough check of comments on updates for that),then I call that not good speedway. I could be completely wrong of course but I suspect not, unless you like your speedway "Well strung out". Not for me thanks.

Feel sorry for supporters when you get this sort of result. The supporters of the winners just watch their riders miles in front most of the time and the losing supporters just demoralized. Sorry speedway got to do better than this to get me back.

Whilst understanding to a degree what you say that the lad needs to be riding higher speedway to progress, you could say that riding against "lesser" riders holds him back; therefore should not be in NL. I don't have to get used to it, I work too hard to spend it on anything that is not worth it and at present speedway isn't,. After watching since 1978 I packed in 4 years ago as the scales fell from my eyes to the poor fair on show. Others enjoy and that's great for them but saw a quote further up that it was processional after bend 2......not good enough to me.......first match of the season I hear people cry....then do not charge for admission until they are ready or mark as a challenge. I check in now and again to see it rules have changed that might bring me back, like seven equal standard riders against each other but as of yet it has not happened.

They are trying to get people back to watch speedway and Belle Vue cannot get the track ready for two meetings and first match the best rider from Brummies is elsewhere!!!. People want to see the best riders available. Good luck on that speedway.

I only pop in now and again to see if there has been an improvement in the way speedway is help and quite excited by the title but alas no. How about equally talented riders racing against each other?. Not been for few years now to any speedway as 80% of races were either won from gate or riders that far strung out i had neck ache watching them. Just as a small aside. How to we get Cradley in North and Stoke in South when Stoke is further up M6?.

Unfortunately the sort of bills that need to be cleared are not the sort that can be cleared with a hat going around. Poor crowds everywhere in speedway now and especially at Stoke means that crowd collections are not going to bring much.Jon by the looks of it has had problem after problem with machinery. Married with kids riding in a league that does not pay well is a recipe for bad times if things go against you. If I am wrong and I hope I am, thanks for all your efforts for speedway and all those you have entertained and helped over the years.

Happiness is 40-38......old saying from years back but as true now as ever. I had a chat years ago with a chap at Kings Lynn that watching your teams riders finishing by a country mile and racking up massive wins ( as they were at the time) was not good speedway. He disagreed; which he was perfectly right to do but not for me thanks.

An awful lot of sense spoken there. Is there still that hole coming into bend three?. One of the top tracks abroad was designed on the shape of Stoke I think and when correctly prepared it is a great race track. I remember Tom Owen and Tony Lomas riding it like they were in an armchair.

Thanks for sorting. Tablet trouble.....not enough of them I think

I agree with you on the football and F1....then we depart. The reason I spend time on the speedway site is the same as the people banging on my door for a vote; wanting to change what we have in government. I want to change speedway into something I want to watch. I too have no idea or wish to understand polo but having watched speedway from 1978 to 2012 ish, I think....no know I have a very good understanding of speedway but you seem to regard me as someone who has never understood speedway I know all about "heat leaders" and "reserves" al all those in between. I must admit that watching a heat leader shepherding a reserve around is very entertaining Wonder why they are called "heat leaders" , perhaps because they win the heats??... would be great if each team had 7 "possible heat leaders" per team.... I am a qualified supporter in a sport I am familiar with. These are my views on getting the speedway back into my life and maybe getting enough others back to Stoke to conclude the five year plan you spoke about. My views were in support of why it will not work as most people I know.....no all the people I know who used to go to speedway find it as you would put it "as dull dishwater" because nothing has changed. You seem happy with the set-up of racing. You carry on and hope there is enough of similar minds to sustain it. Just because you do not agree with me I do not accuse you of not understand speedway and really hope that you do not make the same mistake with other posters who disagree with you. Anyway....which way to that polo forum

Why would you end up with no riders?. The post say's equal standard riders" if you have riders that go around the track in 60 secs or thereabouts, you have a set, just as if you have riders that go around the track in 66 secs. Do not agree with this "unique" tag that some people give speedway. In football, all attack and all defend,(team sport); rugby (my choice of sport) does have very well defined roles but is very much an all attack and all defend where you try to get miss matches of size and mobility of players on the pitch. Seems the people who watch speedway now enjoy it the way that it is and that's great for them; just that it can be so much more if every rider that goes to the tapes has a chance of beating all the others.I even tried to fill a programme in a few years ago with the rider positions before races run and only had 6 incorrect excluding bike breakdowns all meeting. Its an entertainment game for peoples time and by talking to the people that I used to go to speedway with agree that it is not doing that. Perhaps speedway is unique after all.

of course you would need a very wide track to get everyone lined up and the bends would get a bit congested. Or how about 7 of the riders in one team and the other 7 on the visting team; then 2 from each side go to the tapes and race, followed by another set of two and we could workout the finer details if it's a goer. Crazy idea, I realise that we have riders of same standard or as close as can be determined by their current form racing against each other.Think the most sensible way would be to get lads who have never riden in leagues but in practice are very fast (lets give them a average of, just a guess here but 3) racing against people who because they rode well years ago and averaged 9 then but now probably averaging 6, no let us still give them 8 because we like using outdated figures. Can't stop progress or forward thinking........way to go speedway.

Strange reply as I would struggle to find any other sporting event where that wasn't the case. You set two sides up and if someone shows that they are better than those around them then they move up a level and also, someone not cutting the mustard, then they drop down a level...not so in speedway where it seems that it is compulsory to have as much a mishmash of riders of differing standard in a team; someone even pointed that that is ok,as some of the riders don't ride against each other...what a ridiculous situation to have in a team event. I got fed up with speedway on having maybe 3-4 good races a meeting and some riders winning races by as much of a back straight; and that is watching since 1978, so quite a few meetings. Seen many posts about "why the decline in people watching", get real speedway, it's because it just is not good enough. The Heathens get a good crowd, probably one of the best in speedway of 1500-2000 people or thereabouts. That's a super low attendance compared to most other sports. Unfortunately too many races are FTG and the number of teams cutting costs and going NL will increase. Stoke will never go back to Premier level because the support will not return as people have found other things to do. A customer once won and lost is very rarely won back.

Any chance of fourteen equal standard riders riding against each other?(apart from individual meetings)..........thought not, and until it does, then no speedway for me. Certainly not one for any speedway is better than none brigade. Put the product there and I will watch.

A possible saving of £64 pounds. Like you said, good value.Of course the world could end and all that spent money is down the drain. Pull the drawbridge up it's not worth carrying on.

I thought that too. Way too cheap. Excellent value for those watching speedway.

Interesting that he was with Jon Armstrong at Stoke and never had "advice from a senior rider"? Erm.... Are Stoke not a top club??.

Thank you. I remember him going head to head with Ben Reade for the number 7 slot at try out for Stoke a few years ago and thought he had talent. Strange I have gone from going to practice to not going at all in such a short time. Hope James gets the all clear and a run of good fitness so he can continue the talent build he has already shown.

Some very interesting comments about Stoke and their issues and problems. Whilst not able to go back as far as Boozer at 1973; I can take 1978 as my start and I must admit I for very many years enjoyed my time watching the team; the fact, for the majority of the time we were not the strongest team in the league helped the racing for me as we always seemed to be close to winning or losing in loads of meetings. I used to have a jacket with happiness is 40-38 (old scoring for the younger ones) and to have a team romping meetings "loads" to "not many" would not of attracted me, and we have to be honest that with our local football teams, we have not been used to winning silverware in the city. Speedway and not Stoke in particular stopped me going for the last couple of years but with the financial issues throughout the sport, it is going to be hard for quite a few promotions to keep the sport alive in their cites; let alone Stoke. It is sad to see the Potters (and speedway in general) in such a state and they obviously need people in through the gate to put back into the "show" but this is just not going to happen at present. I only pop on here now and again, so someone may have posted this elsewhere, but my question is "how is James Mcbain" as he got injured in the season, will he be riding next year?

Good response Halifax. It's plain to see that you love your speedway through and through and watch it at all levels and always will but I hope you can see that others can see what is being served up is not to every ones taste. In most if not all sports you do not mix levels in the way that speedway does.To earn your right in a team, the manager at least has to view you as good enough to go out and perform with the others. In speedway, we are forced to pick and as spectators to watch the riders that fall within a poorly set-up and executed average system. Poor example but if Man Utd were forced to play a few Port Vale young players in their side just to conform to rules, I'm not so sure that the crowds would flood in. Although knowing quite a few Utd supporters they would.I know that Speedway is different in that the 6-7's ride against each other and 2-7 etc so in the most part the big boys and the reserves are kept apart but that to me just shows that we have junior racing slipped in as though we do not notice and we both agree that people will not pay to watch junior racing. TMW makes a good point on the ringer 7 which again to me is the biggest mockery of the sport as though we don't know it as a problem.....apart from the teams that have them.!! Quite right that this has gone on since the year dot and may be my glasses are extremely rose tinted in watching it in the past but now I have woken up and smelt those roses and the smell has put me off.