old bob at herne bay

Like the Titanic, UK speedway hit the iceberg a while ago, and is slowly sinking, with multiple holes below the waterline. The band keeps playing, but one by one the lifeboats with clubs aboard, leave the sinking ship with just a hard core of clubs clinging to the wreckage. The present bunch of promoters are trying to keep it afloat anfpd it might make it to its centenary in 2028. 😂

Lady Luck rides with the pirates. Again racing a side full of gusts. Not the most attractive of fixtures for the neutral and so not really surprised that the crowd was reportedly low. Poole will clearly win the p.offs against another side laden with gusts. Some years you get the rub of the green .

and will do sod all about. Mr Morris was there too and equally will do sod all about it. Probably lodge a complaint that the countdown clock was in the wrong place, or something equally important. On a completely unrelated topic, I read that betting was allowed on the result of the P.Off semi final.

Do speedway referees get marked on their performances by league official in attendance at these P.Off meetings? Putting the result to one side, referee Turnbull had a really poor meeting , making some blatant errors. She is clearly not of a standard to referee these prestige meetings. Maybe a more experienced referee ought to be selected for these high pressure meetings.

Mmmm... but MANAGE them they do ....... I dont think the riders get away with much under the command of Middlo and to a much lesser extent Havelock. So many riders at Poole seem to blossom and run into form under the command of Middlo.... who offer s them a bike workshop and accommodation at Baillie House.

Oxford completely banjaxed by losing 2 in form riders. Scunthorpe should be able to keep this closed in the Cowley leg, and take the aggregate win overall, then lose to Poole in the P.Off final. Unlucky Oxford at the business end of the season, who at full strength would have beaten Poole on aggregate.

Poole's on a plate tonight , with Workington turning up with 3 gusts. Must be a 20 point plus victory. Poole on the other hand unaffected with Hagon out, can be another rabbit to score 1 or 2 points. UNLESS the track is wet (forecast showers Poole Dorset 80% at 1800 and 60% at 1900 on Met office website ) We all know Poole riders dont like it wet.

everyone gets so excited about the P. offs . This year we have a semi final with a gale of gusts AND Reidar Replacement. Must be some kind of record ? Is there a case "for commercial reasons" to allow a free choice of gusts in the P. offs.

Boy I can remember that as though it were yesterday. Must be a record - 21 point max on debut.

With "The Undertaker" in control every site will have houses on it. We need somewhere to rehouse the illegal immigrants on our beaches down here in Kent.

Chris Harris - for services to every team in both leagues 🙂

I think you only have to quote Poole Speedway to prove that an ex-rider TM works. Trophy cabinet overflowing. Not saying that this always the case - there are and have been some inept TM's both ex riders and non riders. Another ex rider from the past is Tommy Price of West Ham 1965 fame. Won the lot .... BL , KO cup and London Cup. Did it for one year then retired.

So many I have visited sadly are no more.... got to say the atmosphere and facilities at most of the "modern Stadia" are pretty poor with few having a fully enclosed stadium. Few have seating /standing spectator facilities around the entire track . The recently closed Sittingbourne at Central Park (not the Iwade training track) gets my vote mainly based on the luxurious spectator facilites and excellent viewing. Free car parking. The track was a technical one, not of the modern day throttle jockey style where the guy with the fastest engine wins.

Is Poole's 2024 season over ? Looking at the thread seems everyone is talking about the team for 2025. Fixture list just gives Poole vs TBC as the next meeting, so are they having trouble finding an opposing team to visit the Wimborne Road ?

Like him or loathe him P Morris has an untenable job. Bottom line has been and always will be, there aren’t enough bums on seats at speedway meetings in the UK. Not helped by loss of venues resulting in a distorted spread of tracks throughout the UK, and the ageing profile of the supporter base. Uk speedway is now entirely dependent on TV money, whether through Eurosport or BSN. They call the shots. Cricket reinvented itself through the one day game. Purists hate it , but it brought in much needed revenue and saved cricket in England and Wales. They now have a problem of too much cricket, and players saying they are overworked. Oh, if only speedway was in that position. Speedway however hasn’t changed, save for the ever growing SGP series of individual events at all age group levels. This seems to “capture the imagination “ of the masses, and captures the ambitions of riders who place this ahead of team speedway in their priorities. There needs to be a seismic change to UK speedway to survive. IOW and Kent have experimented with novel events to proved a full afternoons entertainment to attract a newer crowd to their tracks, unhindered by the shackles of BSPL and SCB bureaucracy and red tape. The BSPL run clubs have distanced themselves from these tracks , foolishly IMO, as there surely must be a change in direction if Uk league speedway is to attract a new audience.