Pinny

Awesome. Even better after his ban than before too.

The gap has got smaller year on year and is now closer than ever and until the top boys get enticed to come back, the gap will only close more.

At least they are trying something. Heeps has been absolutely pathetic all season.

Just read the other day that 10k kept them going for a couple of meetings, surely cant be doing that all season ?? In all honesty when back at home i never had near enough money to even help save Newport but dont think many did, crowds were appalling . And yeah grumpy AF as we have just entered lockdown 6.0 because of 8 cases.

Pathetic to be asking this of their fans in all honesty.

Ps who is Freddie? Or did you mean Frank Smart ha

I only loved the middle tier cos thats what I was brought up on and only ever seen every week as well as the Mavericks in the conference but for me those Premier League days with the likes of giedde stoney carr wilson wato cunningham Coles. Pickering etc were brilliant days even when we lost most weeks, a long long way ahead of what we are seeing these days.

Most passes at Edin are done by away riders moving off the line and being passed by the home rider. Its how the sport works. If all away riders stayed on the right line then it would be rare the home riders got by them. most racing is produced from away riders gating , getting in front then hitting the wrong line then the home riders getting through.

Can see Poole winning the league to be fair be interesting to see Shovvys thoughts on the second tier now , he seems well into it given his input on here .

You set yourself up for that Blobby, most passes wouldnt happen if the rider being passed rode a better line. What a ridiculous comment from you

Isnt HGould a Birmingham fan? He will be used to seeing concrete soon if the rumours about Birmingham are correct .

I find it baffling how the Birmingham and Newcastle promotions have got the begging bowls out and expect it to work. I remember the Mallett's done it at Newport and were slaughtered for it. I never agreed with it and always thought there were other ways to try and get fans through the gate. I read somewhere that Newcastle raised 10000 quid which kept them afloat for a couple of meetings. Surely the promotion there would of known the costs involved before committing to the venture? In a time where the whole world has been rocked financially, demanding fans turn up and threatening with closure if not is appalling. Especially with the prices still the same.

Plus , the 4tt qualifiers brought in three sets of away fans to a home venue instead of just one. Always good crowds.

Bring back the 4TT qualifiers and the Golden/Silver/Bronze helmet races too. Another thing gone that has aligned with a major decline.

The thing is even a lot of the current speedway fans can't accept the world is moving forward to. Mainly the older fans refuse to use social media (and love to make a point of stating it) and therefore demand that club websites should be the first place exclusive news appears. Social media is the place to be these days and youngsters are glued to it and this is why clubs announce a lot of news on social media rather than websites first. The whole product needs dragging into the 21st century there is no doubt about it.

Another thing that struck me as lunacy is that some people reckon that 12 quid was a good price for a middle tier live stream. I find that baffling when you compare that to what you pay for streaming services such as Netflix, I pay I think $14 a month for Netflix which is about 7-8 pounds sterling. That is what you call good value. As people have been stating on various threads I have been viewing, two adults to attend a Premiership meeting with a couple of drinks each and some food is in excess of 50 quid. You cannot be demanding these prices when none of the worlds top riders ride here anymore.

With up to date, fashionable merchandise. Get with the times, as someone said make tracksuits, gym wear, snapback hats etc. Your not going to see youngsters walking round in Wulfsport jackets anymore.

In my opinion promoters in general are just as much to blame for the sport going on such a huge decline as anyone. Its their product to sell each week and very few do a good enough job. Admittedly I have never been a speedway promoter and never will be, but I wouldn't invest in a speedway club and expect handouts to keep the club going. What I have seen recently is a couple of Championship clubs having the begging bowl out for money to help them through the season as well as threatening to close down because the fans aren't packing into the stadiums. And those clubs are clubs with new promoters over the last couple of years who have never promoted before. The value for money just isn't there. On average around two hours stood around watching 15 heats of speedway, overpriced food and drink, barely anything going on between the heats and more often than not being stood in freezing cold conditions listening to completely out dated music. Add that with poor stadiums that look older than the average pensioner and processional racing on track and its clear to see why there are no fans coming through the gate. I absolutely love speedway, admittedly no where near as much as when I attended Newport regular before we shut down and I moved to Aus, so I am not one that wants to see the sport fail and cease to exist. But I really do think that the sport has been driven that far into the ground (in Britain) that it is beyond a state of repair. It would take a miracle of epic proportions to revive the sport in the UK, IMO. I remember the beginning of the end being when Rickardsson quit Poole after a few meetings one season, I think it was the season they brought the grading system into the Elite League. Ever since, the quality has got weaker and weaker, prices have gone up and up and ultimately, crowds have gone down and down.

Sums up whats wrong with the sport IMO. Watch him race into form now.

You have a good point. I just find it wrong that so many races will now be worthless where as before every point was crucial. Also your point about seeing two GPs in one weekend is definitely understandable, I just preferred it with a bigger variation of tracks and countries but I suppose with COVID that isn't possible. You would hope, though, things will return to usual when and if this virus blows over.

The points system is an absolute farce and I have no idea why they changed it on what it was before. Why do the powers that be constantly tinker with things that need not be changed? That said, I agree with all the comments about the racing. The last few years have IMO seen the best racing for a long time, any newcomers watching that would surely "come back for more" to use a Tony Millardism. Its just a shame they keep tinkering with the point system. Not sure I like the two GPs at one track over a weekend either.

Woffinden certainly doesn't look the rider he was and it is hard to see him reaching those heights again but all top riders have their day. It just makes you appreciate just how good the likes of Crump were - was it ten successive seasons in the top 3 of the world standings including three world titles for Crump?

I would suggest the likes of Brennan, Palin, Flint etc would of been used as 3.00 reserves regardless of the rising star system. Just seems farcical to call such a set up "Rising Star's" and then include riders in their late twenties in it. How Josh Bates was ever included in such a list is beyond me. They would of been far better off just insisting each side had to have two British riders at reserve, regardless of their age and save the embarrassment this system has seen so far.

Think we just need to accept that most rules and common sense has completely gone out of the window now. The rising star scheme had potential to be one of the best things to happen to UK speedway for some time but was poorly written and certain riders were allowed in when they shouldn't have been. It reminds me of the last time the grading system was brought in and then certain riders, some of who shouldn't of even been graded in the first place, were stopped from riding at reserve.

A 30 year old rising star, you couldn't make it up.