Hawk127

Set realistic deadlines and not have it hanging on in the dying embers of the season. Fix deadlines for various rounds and stick to them of forfeit the fixture. It is down to the powers that be to run the sport and not allow things to drag on. I really don't get the excuses if on the basis of what you are saying it is rider availability. That excuse applies earlier in the season as it does now, so we can agree differ. Just a shame for the supporters to watch a good team look so poor because they cannot put out the best 1 to 7

Totally agree. It has become a farce with an unrecognisable Wolves team. Creditably no longer exists as far as speedway is concerned and those whose hands the sport is in should hang their heads in shame. You have failed the supporters and the sport.

Well done to the witches. Still hope of a trophy afterall. Look forward to the final and glory.

You are not alone, it has become farcical and the tale is now wagging the dog. What would happen if the fans protested by deciding not to attend a particular meeting simply to make the point that we have had enough. It seems in Poland that some riders get a fixed amount plus points money but team places are more competitive and they have to go out ride. Here in the U.K. Quite a few stick two fingers up at the punters without so much a by or leave and still expect people to turn up,week in week out. Time the fans said enough is enough. Without money on the turnstiles most clubs would be in trouble if fans boycotted a meeting or two. Perhaps that is what is needed to get the message across.

Is it televised next Monday or can we all rely on updates while watching something more interesting, such as the adverts.

Every team to have a R/R from the start of the season to make sure enough riders to around. No point in waiting start as they mean to go on. Ten Heat meetings with five bonus races to follow when the points are 4,3,2,1. No jokers apart from the referee. It could work, one never knows ✌️✌️

A genuine question, is it the riding order rather than a superior team. Heeps, King and Newman when riding for Ipswich at Sheffield do not seem as competitive. The void may not be as great other than for the riding order. Perhaps I am wrong but just an observation.

This is dire. Let us hope that those who are Ipswich riders can repeat the performance later this week in the KO cup. Probably not but one can only live in hope.

Too late to change the format now but why not have qualifying races before the meeting (say the afternoon on the day of the meeting) for those outside the top eight. Throw in a couple of local riders as well and then hopefully the main meeting will be a competitive affair. The track can then be prepared for the evening meeting. This also makes it better for the fans as an event to attend.

League meetings held only between April and August. Any team that fails to complete its fixtures by the end of August loses two league points for each meeting not completed by the cut off date. Play offs first two weeks in September. Pre April and post September the British Invidual championship with at least one meeting held at every track. Grand final at the end of September. Then knock out cup or World Cup style meetings on a knock out basis. Three teams progress To the next round then the top two and then the final. Might want some work but it should guarantee regularly weekly speedway during the summer months for most teams. Oh a no excuses re rain offs etc in the league. Use the off race night or lose the league points. Bring back some discipline to running fixtures and stick to it no is or buts.

If a rider falls and it is evident that he seen where his team partner is in the race and as a result deliberately stays down to give his partner a second chance (assumes partner is in 2nd or 3rd) then the faller should be excluded and the partner penalised by having to go off 15mtrs in the restart. Last night at Swindon was an example of this tactic.

Well done to Wolves and a good team effort. Disappointed that both managers do not seem to give each other the time of day and while Wolves seem magnanimous and still do not under esmiate the task ahead the Swindon management leave a lot to be desired in walking away without a bye or leave.Accept with grace the result, shake hands and onward and upward to Wednesday. Rosco simply walking away after the interview is sadly lacking in manners or diplomacy. Good luck to both teams on Wednesday.

Thanks to all for the feedback. Can now book some flights.

I think it will be close and with Scott riding 'at home' it might make it difficult for the witches on aggregate but they may sneak a win. If any of the rumours etc are true about the set up next season, let us hope that Scott is back in the fold and home where he truly belongs. Good luck to all the riders and a hopefuly a clean/competitive meeting and safe nights riding for all.

It is all,about money and why would he not line up for the opposition? If he has no chance of coming back to Ipswich next year, the guy wants to ride and earn as much as is possible and despite the connections you could not blame him for taking up an offer having been shafted really the Panthers recent fixture. None of this would be an issue if the powers that be could run the sport so that riders could earn a decent living even allowing for fixed fees which tend to be in addition to basic points money. Time that the powers that be learned that all most fans want is competitive racing and where possible evenly matched/balanced teams. Not too much to ask for is it ? All the riders want is weekly racing as a minimum. What is it that the BSPA do not get about this? An end of season fixture shambles and why? As many have said, weeks without meetings etc.. Time that the BSPA put the house of Speedway UK in order and insisted that riders carefully chose what leagues that want to ride in and stop keeping UK supporters dangling. It is predominantly a summer sport but the fixture shambles does throw up issues. To the BSPA, the fans want answers and not bull sh.t. Are you up to teplying?

Might be a big ask now but one has to have hope. Still could go either way. A real shame it is not a close score and may affect the attendance on Saturday but as has been said on other threads, this is Speedway. Another day another opportunity. Good luck to both teams on Saturday

Hopefully not game over but the witches seem to be struggling. Shame really but hopefully they can turn it around in the second half.

Does anyone know or have the dates for the Gladiators meetings for 2017/2018?

Good news that Freesport/ Premier Sport are saying that they will be showing speedway in 2018 and in my opinion it will be interesting to hear what is happening in terms of the UK coverage. Thank you for the excellent coverage. My next hope is for someone to cover the Ice Speedway meetings this winter. As to the UK. in 2018 BSPA and alll those self centred individuals remember it is us fans that keep your businesses going. Please act and think and put your brains in gear before messing up the sport any further sending it into oblivion. You are just custodians, temeber that.

Is that possibly the problem. The top riders are pricing themselves out of a job as fewer and fewer clubs can meet the salary expectations and surely the sport is bigger than the individuals. The clubs have to cut their cloth accordingly and one can only hope that British speedway does not shoot itself in the foot by offering silly money to attract the top names given the fallen attendances. Not so sure that a big name would put enough on the gate to make it worth while unless external sponsors are prepared to throw some cash into the pot. One can only hope that common sense will prevail.

A good meeting and a joy not to see the joker. Perhaps the use of a tactical substitute but overall the riders went out and did what they had to do without the comfort/fallback of double points. Good luck to both teams in the next leg.

It fast and furious, dangerous, exciting, average lap times of a minute or less, fifteen heats of mad men prepared to ride at super speeds with no brakes so why does it take two hours to run a meeting. The image created does not match the reality and to me some of the lost interest is a result of the poor way in which meetings are run. I appreciate that you can have hold ups for falls etc. But the delays with restarts, gardening at the gate and rarely the same team riders week in week out does test the patience of many. No new fans can get their head around two hours for fifteen minutes of racing let alone the long gaps in between races. The older fans despair at the rules, close racing at league level is a thing of the past and for real cut and thrust of the sport you need to record it and forward wind. I like a number of two wheeled sports but speedway takes some beating if you look at it in its simplest form. I use to regularly go to tracks in Essex and around London in the 70's to get a fix, was a regular at Rye House when the rockets first moved in in 73 and again at Arena Essex when that first started. Moved slightly North and Ipswich and Mildenhall were the local teams with the occasional visit to Kings Lynn and Peterborough and attended one of the tracks most weeks up until a couple of years back. Now just the odd meeting. Not lost to the sport but certainly not the avid attendee that I use to be. One day the interest might return but until,then I will just be selective about the live meetings.

Totally agree. Where has it all gone so wrong? So many good memories of Thursday night''s with the likes of Mark Loram, Chris, Jeremy, Jarek, Tony R and many more. We probably did not realise how lucky we were at the time and today is just a mere shadow of what still can be a fantastic sport with two evenly matched teams and local riders who wore the Witches race jacket with pride. Add to this the away support that travelled around the country. As a supporter of another team in the 70's, fond memories of the bus loads who descended on Rayleigh on Saturday and occupied the stand on the back back straight. Who knows, one day the good times may return.

It was more case of they did not slag off The UK and using the names was simply to highlight the different approach and so what if they deserted for the money. Did they slag off all and sundry? If the current crop believe that things are that bad simply move on but don''t bite the hand that fed you. No one is making these guys ride here. However be careful because as you pass these people on the way up and think you are too good, life has a habit of biting you on the proverbial and you never know when you might need them in the future. As far as I am aware most of the league clubs in this country guarantee you a weekly ride and in the majority of cases the riders can rely on getting paid. If you fail in Poland or the club over stretches itself what then? The current crop of Aussies are just not particularly diplomatic in the way they go about their business and it is the attitude which shows just how standards have fallen.They have no class otherwise they would deal with the issues differently and probably find it would work out in their favour.

Anyone running a book on how many of the whingers will return to the UK next year? Can I get odds on Jason Crump making a return to racing and showing these upstarts how to be professional and explaining the art of good manners and some common courtesy to the hosts. If not can these unhappy chaps leave the UK in peace and ply their trade elsewhere. That will allow U.K. Speedway to regroup which is badly needed and hopefully the punters will get to watch riders who want to ride week in week out and entertain. I will not hold my breath on any of these counts but one can only live in hope.