Arch Stanton

😂 You’ll see what I mean this morning when the pictures come through from today’s press day. You’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference between this years to last years so just seems a bit daft to me to fork out for brand new kevlars when last years are still ok. Especially when all we hear from riders is the moaning about spiralling costs of riding! I’m still stuck in the past anyway and prefer the old race jackets but that’s another story. I do understand the need for matching team suits though for the professional look.

I noticed that too. Emil had his own Kevlars on but both Emil and Doyle had the new Tru bike livery. You’re right about the kevlars being similar every year under the current sponsor, there’s only so much you can do with a black/Green combo. Just a few small tweaks on the Green placement is about it. They’re not cheap either so makes you wonder if it’s worth some of them even getting a new set if their last season’s ones are still in good nick? None of them would look out of place either way.

Guess that puts to bed any concerns that he wouldn’t return the same rider, or at least would take him a while to get going 😁 Shouldn’t have doubted him really, he’s just ridiculously good and a class act. Iron man!

Time for it to change of course, but forecast for Sunday looks chilly, but thankfully dry.

Don’t expect us to win here either but we have to make a better fist of things around here. Other less strong teams have faired better than us in recent years here so it’s a bit of a head scratcher. Ben Cook was consistently good around here last year I think? Not sure what Zach’s record is like around the NSS but I suspect it’s not quite as good. That and Brennan now being in the Witches side might help us to close the gap but we’ll see. On the flip side, Ben Cook is absolutely terrible around Foxhall but Zach quite the opposite so where the overall Tie is concerned, what Belle Vue might lose around the NSS, they should make up for at Foxhall so that evens itself out really. Expecting it to be tight on aggregate.

What’s your prediction AceBelle? 75-15 to the Aces? 😉

Agree. Quite sad isn’t it? The forum has died a death. Maybe a few more should try and spark it in to life? 😉 Appreciate its off season and there’s no team building or meetings to discuss, but back in the day this forum would still have been pretty active. Sign of the times I guess.

Ah the old “SUPERFAN” Stay till the end even when the team you love has lost. I’d argue that makes me MORE of a fan to be honest. Never been one to hang around watching the opposition riders that have tore you a new one doing celebratory wheelies around your home track. If you’re happy to do that, knock yourself out. We’re quite clearly very different. Nothing wrong with that, just like those who support Two tier Kier and those that don’t! 😉

Of course they do. The overwhelming majority that go through the turnstiles are supporters of that particular club. Every single one of those wants their team to be successful and win silverware. That surely goes without saying? There is a small percentage of course, that are just fans of the sport that maybe either haven’t a club to support anymore, or who support a club elsewhere that just turn up as a neutral and don’t care about the result and just want to watch a meeting. But they’re a very small percentage. I can’t my head around someone who is a die hard fan of a particular club, turning up to their local track and not care whether they won or lost or win trophies or not. That makes zero sense to me.

Pipe down fella. You’re claiming to be a fan of Birmingham Speedway for 54 years, you’re the most prolific Birmingham poster on here, clearly passionate about your club (nothing wrong with that btw), are the first to have hissy fits on here when things are going wrong for Birmingham on this forum, and yet you’re trying to tell me and everyone else on here that you couldn’t “give two shiny sh!tes about trophies/titles”??? Yeah, nobody is buying that utter boll0cks. It’s YOU who make ME laugh, and again I’ll include Mike the “Belle Vue fan” (sorry can’t remember your exact username otherwise I’d tag you in) in this, who when leading up to crucial play off tie’s will give it the “the title is meaningless, I’m just gonna go with my friends for a beer and enjoy the racing, not bothered by the result” who then proceeds to give it the big un when his team takes the trophy. Why do people do this? Of course it’s not meaningless, of course it idiot!ng matters!! Otherwise what’s the whole point? There are those out there that no longer have their teams running who still enjoy watching because they’re fans of the sport, who don’t really care one way or another who wins but just enjoy watching speedway in general, no problem that’s fair enough. But you’re clearly not one of those are you? Stop pretending that success for Birmingham means absolutely nothing to you, because it blatantly does. Sorry but I refuse to believe that someone as passionate about their club as you clearly are, doesn’t care whether that club wins or loses.

I do get it, some are obsessed with the sport and will watch all sorts, even meetings in Poland. I’m definitely not one of those.

Have to admit I’ve walked out when a result has been confirmed when we’ve lost. Rather go to the pub and get a decent pint.

Then you’re not a true fan are you? You sound like Mike the Belle Vue “fan”. I’m sorry but this point of view utterly baffles me. Any kind of sport is about winning and trying to win. All this “it’s the entertainment and taking part” b0llocks has never sat well with me. I’ve seen some on here say their team lost but they walked out of the stadium “happy” because the racing was excellent and it was a good meeting. I can honestly say I’ve never ever walked out of Foxhall “happy” if the Witches have lost, regardless of how good the racing was. Maybe I’m in the minority, but give me a Witches thrashing of the opposition in a dull meeting over the Witches losing and it being thrill a minute.

I see this a lot and to be honest, it annoys me. Absolutely it does and not just the supporters either. At the end of the day, this is sport, it’s win or lose and it’s competitive. Ask Chris Louis off record if he’s bothered if Ipswich finally win the title or not..

The only odds that look remotely interesting to me there is Birmingham. I know a lot don’t fancy them, but I think they look interesting. All it takes is 4th spot, then anything can happen injury wise to the favourites by then as we’ve seen last season. No real value in going for any of the top three. Lynn possibly a decent bet.

So Doyle is confirmed to ride in the NKI testimonial Sunday week in the season’s curtain raiser. He’s also set to ride in the Peter Craven memorial a day later, Douglas’ testimonial on the 22nd, and the Ben Fund on Sunday 23rd, the day before the first competitive fixture at Belle Vue in the KOC. Busy pre-season for him and after 10 months on the sidelines, very welcome. He should in theory be up to speed when it’s needed at Belle Vue.

Really dragged hasn’t it? Looking forward to this.

Fair play to Belle Vue that’s an absolutely stonking lineup.

Indeed. Or a frost off!

Definitely 3, possibly 4. Including a very helpful one at Belle Vue a week before this fixture 😉 We should be winning this over 2 legs really.

Half expected Doyley to be there but Emil is a bit of a surprise. Doesn’t normally do the pre-season stuff over here. Very handy from a Witches point of view that they can both get some laps in there a week before the KOC meeting.

3 weeks tomorrow. Nearly there 😁

Thanks for that GM. I didn’t have the offer but just went on their live chat and asked for it and they’ve given it to me 👍🏻 7 months so takes me right through the Speedway season. Added bonus of watching some live Footie for the last few months of the season.

I’ve done Security for many years but no longer do retail security. I still have friends that I keep in touch with though who do still do retail security, and they tell me the rules changed a couple of years ago. When I was doing it, we were allowed to use what we called “reasonable force” in dealing with thieves who weren’t playing ball. Now, you’re no longer allowed to touch anybody even if they’re raiding the whole shop. The guards now are simply a “visual deterrent”. Now I’m not sure if that’s the case across the board or just certain businesses, but that’s definitely the case with people I know who are currently still in the trade.