Pinny

No I wasn't there, were you? You'd of been about 2 years old when it happened. I'm not going down the road of what I was told or by who, it happened nearly 15 years ago but for you to suggest Barker was totally innocent is way off the mark. As said not the time or place for such a discussion.

Barker was well involved with what went on that night .

Leverington was far from a bad signing really - I always remember him as a solid middle order rider. I do remember there being a big debate on whether he would be on an assessed 7.00 or 3.00 average though. Glasgow have had way worse signings from overseas ... Mitchel Davey was a far worse signing than Leverington.

Hard to imagine Zagar averaging less than 7 to be honest. Knows the tracks well and will settle down at Birmingham pretty quickly. Always liked him, thought he would go all the way to the very top after seeing his debut season with Trelawny where he was even better than Iversen who Newport signed. From memory averaged nearly 10 in his debut season. Was a class act for Reading too. Hopefully the ambition being showed by Brum works out. Signing Nilsson, Zagar, Thorsell and Tobi as well as Rew wont come cheap but if they do all click then they could be quite a top side.

There was huge talk of a track opening just down the road from Newport in Magor but haven't heard anything about that for a long time now. Must be dead in the water. In a time where the sport is absolutely on its knees, I can't see it returning to Wales any time soon.

Pearson certainly was a plus for Glasgow , to up his average by 1.5 in such a poor team is decent.

Be a struggle for them to sign a number 1, they only seem to get one meeting per year. Can't be an attractive contract for any rider.

I'd imagine most retired Aussies go into construction here in Australia as construction in Australia is booming and pays extremely well, plenty more than it does in the UK! I know Craig Watson is a chippy in Sydney and Frankie Smart is a rigger in Perth.

Very similar to Tim Stone at Newport, done a fantastic job to bring the sport back and put his money where his mouth was. Stoney wasn't everyone's cup of tea (myself included) but put his life into the place. Granted, Len didn't let things get as bad as Stoney did at Newport but you'll see what I mean. Stoney brought the sport back and built it up very high very fast, and the memories he brought to Newport fans will never be forgotten. Post 2003, Newport fans prayed Stoney would sell up and move over for someone else and the family everyone wanted to take over eventually did and we all seen what happened pretty quickly once they did. Len brought speedway back to Rye when nobody else could or would and within a couple of seasons they were a Premier League mega force. The 05 and 07 teams Len built were superb and you'd actually enjoy and admire seeing them come to Newport, especially Robbo who was pure box office. The sport could certainly do with a lot more promoters in the mold of Len Silver now that's for sure.

Rob Grant junior was not wired right in the head, I remember something happening with Scott Smith (Aussie one) at Newcastle and Smith saying Grant was a nutcase - for Scott Smith to say that about someone else then something must of been off! That style he had as well is undoubtedly the worst style I have ever seen on a bike. Stuck his left leg out as far as he could, could never work out whether it was to block anyone trying to go underneath him or just a horrible style or both.

In all fairness, he had the talent to go all the way and suffered from plenty of horrendous injuries that most wouldn't come back from. Can't knock him for that. The crash at Lynn in particular, to actually come back from that and score as well as he did in the following years is insane.

RIP. a great servant to the sport. Had his knockers towards the end of his spell at Rye but made Rye a force for a number of years in mid 00's with some legendary sides.

I seen Elkins have plenty of engine failures at Reading and Newport, some well whist clear at the front some when well back. Very odd rider though. Allott came to mind as well.

Exactly. its mental how anyone can come to the conclusion that Scott was at fault for that and not Foord. I've been watching speedway for 25 years and its one of the most clear cut exclusions I have ever seen. The more you watch it , the worse it looks. Some of the people defending it are the same people who defended Holder in 2012(?) when Holder wiped Pedersen out on turn 1 when he lost control in the semis of the final GP of the season. Mainly Poole fans. Claimed Holder had nowhere to go that time too. Deluded.

He should of been, IMO riding on track like that with zero confidence is nearly as dangerous as riding like an absolute fruitcake like Foord.