crescent girl

Fair post. Really? And your alternative signing would have been........?

From Banditmail: MEET MATIC! Following ongoing concerns over the situation of a work permit visa for Australian teenager Jake Allen, your Bandits this morning changed their plans and finalised our 2015 line-up with the acquisition of 26-year-old Slovenian international Matic Voldrih. Matic has not ridden in the British leagues before and comes to Shielfield Park on the recommendation of his fellow countryman, Grand Prix star Matej Zagar. Zagar has been acting on Voldrih’s behalf in the dealings with Bandits' co-promoter Dennis McCleary, who says "We have had good reports about him from Matej who is very keen to get his fellow-countryman into UK racing and over the past 10 days or so, more or less since the Australian visa thing erupted, discussions have been going back and forth” “Matic will be based in Tweedmouth all season. His bikes and equipment will come over -- it is quite a long trip -- by road before the middle of March" "We appreciate British speedway, and indeed the whole UK set up, will be new to him -- he currently speaks very little English -- but he certainly should adapt to our big circuit. Fans like to see new faces, and of course he will join the club's list of rider-assets after completing a set number of matches" Matic Voldrih comes from the picturesque ski-resort of Kranjska Gora, a town on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region of northwestern Slovenia, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. He has already raced in the FIM GP Challenge qualifiers, European Championship rounds, Italian Championships as well as in his own country and in open events in Slovakia, Latvia, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic. George Hepburn welcomed the signing, saying Matic would quickly learn of the warmth and good feeling of the Berwick public. "It is such a shame that for the third time in four years, we've 'lost' a rider from our declared 1-7 before the season has even begun" he said today. "But Matic Voldrih will be an able replacement for Jake Allen, and I'm sure the fans who stand on the third bend will already be at work, creating a big Slovenian flag!" The signing, which of course remains subject to BSPA ratification, leaves the new-look Berwick septet (in no particular order) as: Ben Barker and Luke Crang (England), Thomas Jorgensen and Claus Vissing (Denmark), Kevin Doolan (Australia), Matic Voldih (Slovenia) and Alex Edberg (Sweden).

Expect Ben to arrive at press day with a large bunch of flowers, then!

I suspect Theo's parent club might be hanging on to him right now -- just in case their own duo don't make it! As was posted on the Edinburgh thread, the one single really good thing to come out of this visa business is that Mr Blobby has clearly been told by their management to totally shut himself down. Peace, perfect peace!

I don't disagree with any of that (shock!) and feel having such an out-and-out No 1 will attract people, put bums on seats, even if the club aren't top of the table. It's all about excitement and entertainment, innit? On another tack, hugely encouraging to see in newsletter that Associate Sponsors are signing up "pretty well" and the VIP Club is building membership as well. The future is black-and gold!

By happy coincidence, there's a full-page article on Luke Crang in this week's issue of Speedway Star. He praises Coventry, but feels he didn't fit in at Redcar and wasn't given a chance. Seems level-headed and will be a positive addition to the black and gold.

Spud is like guys such as Kevin Doolan, Christian Henry and probably Rusty Harrison, who have lived in Britain for a number of years, have residency approval. The often-quoted "British wife" isn't a guarantee of escaping visa requirements, having your primary residence in the UK for a number of years is the real silver bullet.

E-Newsletter reports: BANDITS LOOK TO LUKE:Moving quickly to reorganise their 2015 squad in the aftermatch of the confusion caused by yesterday's shock decision by the UKVI agency, Bandits have tonight recruited 23-year-old former moto-cross rider Luke Crang to fill the number 7 slot in their 2015 team. Luke comes from Darlington, and arrives on loan from Coventry where he will be ride as number 1 and captain of the Coventry Storm NL side. He had a spell in the PL with Redcar until a shoulder injury forced his season short in the 2014 campaign. John Anderson said “ Luke has been riding motorcycles since he was 6 years old but it was only in 2013 he took up speedway in the National League. He likes bigger tracks but in fairness until his injury he was also starting to pick up decent points at Redcar. He will be yet another moto-crosser coming into speedway, joining the likes of Richard Lawson, Craig Cook and the Worrall twins". "He is back to full fitness, training in the gym, doing lots of cycling and heading across to Cumbria to do speedway practice on Steve Lawson’s little purpose-built track.” Luke's uncle is Mark Crang, who raced during the 1980s, both for Middlesbrough and in the top league for a while with the famous Belle Vue Aces at their Hyde Road stadium. His signing leaves us with 5.66 points to complete the 2015 team. It is hopeful that the last piece of their jigsaw will be revealed shortly, with John Anderson playing his cards close to his chest -- although the club are hopeful of pulling 'a bit of a surprise' out of the woodwork to finalise the black-and-gold line-up.

What about Elite League ice-hockey? At least two-thirds of the players currently playing in Britain are Canadian or American?

The promotion were represented at the Supporters Club party on Saturday by Dennis McCleary, who was deservedly honoured on the night.

....and you probably think Nick Morris was correctly disqualified in the Pairs Final, too? Absolutely correct. Jake Allen was in the UK all last September, staying in Southport. Berwick were well aware of his potential.

On the Saturdays he isn't on Italian national or European duties, you mean? A disgusting comment.

Small print has no surprises, and I'd heard whispers there will be even more benefits announced shortly. C'mon lad, you've fathered a new wee Bandit and are on this thread so much more than Rye's, we know whose side you're on these days!

Would love to hear your mathematics on that one, Twaffy.

Should the club -- perish the thought -- sign Jason Bunyan, the drift of spectators away from Shielfield speedway-watching would be quite awful. Better have Benny Johansson back -- he's only two years older, and must have a better attitude,

Absolutely. Good post!

I'm a little surprised that this item, recently on website and latest e-Newsletter, which seems progressive and a good idea for those with the black-and-gold in their hearts, hasn't attracted the scorn and bile we expect from the usual suspects: Your Bandits are launching a new VIP Club for the coming season, offering members privileged access to pits, infield and other benefits. For an annual membership fee of £20, VIP supporters will be afforded the opportunity to make a pits visit for a few heats during a meeting, and then spend a further couple of races viewing proceedings from the centre-green. Members will also be invited to make the presentation of a VIP award to the night's most-entertaining rider one week, and -- if they have kids who attend matches -- can nominate their young 'uns to be mascots. Further, VIPs will receive a 50% discount of tickets for dances, etc organised by the promotion, on certain nights they will receive a generous discount on merchandise from the Club Shop and on booking hospitality will be granted 10% discount if a full party (30+ visitors) is booked in. To join the VIP Club, contact Lani Rae on 07779-227535.

You sure about that?

Eddie was right. Berwick issued e-newsletters on Dec 1, Dec 6, Dec 23 and Jan 11, every one carrying caveats concerning Jake Allen's signing. These warned: "we are awaiting the outcome of meetings between UK Visas and Immigration and the BSPA", "as we have been careful to highlight, our signing of Jake is subject to approval by the necessary authorities", "while the signing of any non-EU citizen is subject to his getting a visa", "so hopefully this (the visa question) all goes to plan" and "Jake Allen's immigration situation is clouded, with discussions ongoing"

....and we're still here. Proper class!

A formula you spent most of the year slagging off.... Jake Allen is currently the 'best of the rest' -- the leading scorer amoug those Aussie Title contesetants who have yet to race overseas. He is worth the punt, given the alternative would be to use other people's ageing assets. Hopefully on five, but even on seven.

Bollocks! Anyone can receive Berwick's e-Newsletter. Go to their website, enter your e-mail address and click. You go on their list, and receive every issue of the Newsletter from there on in, absolutely free. Quiet in close season, maybe only two or three issues per month, but up to three or four every week of the season. Secretive my pretty backside.........

If Matej Kus is worth £21K, and the asking-price for Aaron Summers is rumoured to be £25K, what would Monarchs expect to get for Cookie?

If he lived in Alnwick instead of France, and wasn't already signed up to ride in the other two leagues, you mean? But the fans are being updated regularly by the Black and Gold Bulletin. If they have the capability of looking at the website, they have the capability of receiving the e-mails. Websites will remain useful tools for fixture-listing, standard info on getting to the stadium and the like, but are really outdated by media such as Facebook and e-newsletters.

Golf clubs?