old bob at herne bay

Sadly my interest hasnt been rekindled.... after a year "off" from speedway I had a few meetings pencilled in ... as always the British weather intervened and advance purchase of tickets is not something I am going to do with dodgy weather forecasts. Set my mind on going to see Jason Crump at Kent ... but sadly he was injured. The Championship speedway team at Kent has been decimated by retiring riders , injuries and even absent youngsters in championship qualifier meetings. Just Scott Nicholls as a heat leader. AS for the NDL thats now a training league, and overpriced at Kent. The little TV coverage I have seen on Discovery + has been appalling ......still the delayed starts and restarts ...... interspersed with so many adverts. Looking at a tasty encounter EB vs Glasgow , but the silly so and so's at EB have made it a DAYTIME meeting. Never seen a good one yet. Think I am back to where I was last year with little enthusiasm to visit my local tracks at least until I can turn up and buy a ticket, choose where I want to sit/stand and not have to wear a mask for 2 plus hours.

Wish Rob Ledwith all the best for the future ...... think he has a decent job outside of speedway. The National league is slowly fizzling out . IOW gone, Newcastle gone ....... you have to wonder how Mildenhall will keep running with the scarcity of fixtures.

Good Article in this weeks star for KL fans .... Edwin Overland's dream team ....... KL have certainly had some world class riders over the years, and Edwin has only been allowed to pick a team of 8. None of the present group feature ..........

Something seriously wrong in the KL management ….nearly half the side has left deserted or been sacked . Is Chapman paying them ? Hello ld the track prep so poor that the home riders have no confidence ?

Sensible to delay home meetings until after covid restrictions end IMO.

Yup, Would all potential promoters for Oxford Speedway please form an orderly queue , socially distanced outside th stadium, with a big wadge of cash, and the signed contracts for their choice of 7 riders. According to BSPL things are a bit tight this season, the leagues are all full but the BSPL may consider applications to join the PL in 2022.

Like others, one I would have made the effort to book tickets for had Jason been riding. Got to agree Kent will struggle to do very much this season in the CL with the current 6 man team line up.

Think you are dreaming if you believe that is true. So if Poole asked everyone to show a negative covid test on entry they would be allowed to operate with a higher attendance ??? Or show proof of 2 covid vaccinations ? Maybe you should ask Dan and Matt Ford if it would make any difference ?

OK if you are a football fan a tennis fan a cricket fan or a Formula 1 fan. Attendance to those sports in your tens of thousadnds gives you a "Covid Shield" and not a risk to a thrid wave of infections overloading our NHS. 1,000 peaople at a speedway meeting however is a grave risk to overloading the NHS and causing a spike in infections and a dangerous third wave surge. What a load of BS from Blonde Boris the BS king.

Will 1 month be enough ......... can you believe anything that comes from the government ? Another variant will be appear and another and another ....... still as long as everyone can watch the football tennis cricket who gives a toss about speedway?

Indian variant has blown it. I dont dispute the numbers. BUT still dont understand how 18000 football hooligans can watch football with no masks no social distancing in a test event and yet speedway fans have to jump through hoops to watch soccially iidstanced wearing a mask in some tracks. Now Wimbledon Tennis are "discussing" how to fiddle the rules to allow loads of people to watch the tennis.

Brave decision by your promoter releasing Craig Cook "by mutual consent" Neither Cook nor KL have looked back since that decision.

Not sure TBH why this is still a thread on this forum. (Still i suppose it is titled Swindon 2020 and not 2022 ) Once the housing is complete, there wil lbe hundreds of homewoners in their lovely new houses signing objections to having a speedway track in thier back yard. "Terribly sorry" but the planning has been revised for noise complaints. The "sports facility" wil become a gym for local residents,

Agree with you Marko …. Never thought a track so close to Lakeside shopping centre would last long……. Especially a temporary track with sticks marking the outside and just a tin shack for spectators … in the end housing not shops finished it off .

Sounds like EB fans were treated to a close (score line) meeting. “Plenty of heats from the gate and well spread out” appeared on the excellent “ speedway updates” website ......When the opposition are gating not good at Arlo. Loss of Kemp proving the straw that broke the camels back, with gust Alf Bowtell failing to land a blow on any of the Monarchs. You have to wonder about Ed Kennett. Seems unable to ride ( and not fall off ) a track he rode from age 8 ( maybe younger) Not sure his Grasstrack exploits are helping his speedway career ? Still, don’t see too many other sides coming close at Arlo this season so a P. off place is virtually guaranteed.

Sensitive souls the lot of you ….. if you took a look at the line up for Gustrow it beggars belief that the League of Nations of riders in the meeting , including one from Argentina will be able to travel to Germany.Do you not agree.? Incidentally I would applaud any young rider who puts club before personal ambition .Would be a refreshing change , although in this instance apparently not the case. There are far too many of these under “something or other” meetings in ridiculously difficult locations. Could have been worse I suppose if they were drawn in the Daugavpils round. Enjoy your meeting against the Monarchs, wherever your R/R rides sure you will register a good home win.

Mmmm....... putting club before individual ambition ? Gustrow is in Northern Germany just east of Hamburg. How many other riders have not manged to travel there I wonder ?? Is the meeting still going ahead. ?

Yes missed those 2

Yes agreed, BUT there are very few Premiership ONLY riders . I make it 4 (Batchelor Bewlay Becker H Andersen) Of those they woudl probably complan about extra meetings in the UK due to extra travelling to Europe. The vast majority rely on racing in at least 2 UK leagues, They would take a reduction in meetings.

As I have posted elsewhere , the idea of one big league of the present teams has long since sailed into the sunset. Doubling up/doubling down has seen that one off. Just list the number of riders available to race . We already have a galaxy of rising stars allegedly to give young UK riders more track time. (or to save money?) It's only remotely possible witha much reduced number of teams. Then how many riders would find it financially worthwhile to race in a league of perhaps 12 teams ?

One has to ask - where is the the governing body the "BSPL " or whatever ? Heads stuck in the sand I guess ? They are noticeable by their absence

After over a year of preparation during enforced lockdowns , and all the positive messages in the speedway press stating everyone was ready to go for 2021 in May, sadly for the fans this has been proven once again to be just propaganda . Birmingham couldn’t have opened in a more disastrous fashion, failing to have a rideable track prepared for their opening meeting, failing to complete a fixture in front of a reduced capacity sell out crowd. Poole beset by problems with their landlords, “discovered “ their grandstand was being used as a covid 19 test site! and their car park was being used to run a profitable business. Wolves seem to have just got their calculators out yesterday and discovered that they are either paying their riders too much or not charging enough for admission into what must be a very small stadium. All the BS about stadium capacity , ( and we still aren’t told what the stadium max capacities are) and surprise surprise one by one tracks are now finding their sums just don’t add up. Where was all the planning that they made when deciding to re open? All the talk of being prepared to reopen and raring to go...... sadly preparation and planning has been shown to be inadequate. Should restrictions not be lifted on 21 June the entire season will likely be suspended. Even if they are lifted - withe the current product being offered I can see a few clubs still struggling to complete 2021.

Thought it was Vera :-)

Well its mentioned on the BSF Wolves page, and also noted on the Ippo thread. Seems Tom has had enough of being injured. Kent now down to 5 riders. No Heeps , no Bacon.

Sorry " Ringitsneck", but history has shown that UK speedway administrators have repeatedly failed to change the sport to attract and entertain new spectators to the sport, failed to attract new investment into the sport and failed to provide a fair, transparent and democratic leadership structure. Any attempts of new ideas brought in by "others" have always been debunked. They are still marketing the same old 15 heat 4 laps a race clutch start 7 man team format for every meeting , all riders messing around endlessly before every heat. TIRED is one word that sums up the entertainment offer. They have sensibly made their group a Limited company, in anticipation of the day when they have to wind up. You would have thought that the admin. would bend over backwards to ensure as many clubs line up to tapes every season ...... but we see a steady loss of venues and the remaining "clique" of promoters just shrug their shoulders. Will the Premier League complete the 2021 season ? We started with only 6 and might only have 5. The lack of action on the top table to promote and market the sport in the UK is reprehensible. Speedway will survive IMO, but run by a disparate group of promoters who will rent a venue on an occasional basis for individual invitation meetings, with token prize money offered (just like UK grasstrack). This perhaps is not dissimilar to the ideas of the IoW promotion .... but this is where the sport is heading, and what the public will pay to watch in numbers. People want an afternoon/evening out, to be entertained, with plenty of track action, and not be be subjected to 15 drawn out heats of tyre warming , 2 minute warnings, separated every 3/4 heats by tractor racing.