Ommer Mon

The Heathens could be in trouble today with Paul Starke, Stevie Worrall and Danny Phillips all missing (get well soon Danny). PS I hear a load of trainee Cricket Scorers are attending the second half of the double header to get some practice in! Fingers crossed for a safe afternoon's racing for all concerned.

I think you have overlooked the value that this type of rider can bring to the development of the youngsters. Armo was brilliant with the likes of Ash and Tom at Dudley and now Cleggy, Greavesie, Matt and Dan are learning from Paul Starke and Steve Worrall. I'm not advocating filling a team with veterans but to have one or two with the right attributes is very valuable indeed. You have to have a role model on track. If not you end up with what we have at Scunthorpe. And to Lucifer Sam I would just say that it is possible to get a four point average whilst finishing half a lap behind the opposition.

I hope the Scunny lads have improved and can put on a show tonight but I suspect a run away home win is on the cards. I know we're used to high scores at Cradley but at least some of the races have been competitive. With the exception of Moggo junior and a generous race declaration by the Ref it would have been a clean sweep at Cradley and my overriding concern remains that this is doing nothing to develop the lads in the Scunny team. I know Montie and Lucifer Sam will probably disagree but this extreme approach to team building has to be prevented next year by the introduction of a minimum points limit to prevent such fixtures. Hope Scunny prove me wrong and as I've said before this is nothing againt the lads in the team. I just feel the promotion have let them down by simply throwing them out there on track to see what happens. As someone pointed out earlier Scunny have produced the current World Champion, and I give them full credit for that and the other riders they have produced, but that was not in a set up like this.

Very good news. I hope this is the start of better things to come.

If found guilty and he is banned from all forms of competitive racing, would that mean that he could still race in the Elite League?

Terrible news for Mildenhall, Speedway and any other motor sport or other venue that creates noise. My sincere sympathy to all involved in Mildenhall Stadium and the Fen Tigers. Hard to see how any Club or Promoter could carry a cost like this. How can the views of two people be taken above the enjoyment of hundreds / thousands. The law is an ass!

I have no doubts that the Storm are the second best Team in the National League by some distance but without the excellent efforts of Stefan Nielsen (boo!)it would have been a very one sided affair once again. Have to say that Starkie and Steve Worrall are looking more like Hamill and Hancock every meeting. They have developed a superb understanding and are both excellent team riders. Congratulations to Starkie on lowering his NL track record. Shame about the tannoy last night. Porky did explain the problem but the back up system was bordering on painful when the music was played. Still that's a minor issue - we're proud to have the best team in the League (and a great bunch of lads to boot!) and fingers crossed we can steer clear of injuries for the rest of the season.

It should be a good meeting with plenty of competitive racing. Weather is really good, bright sunshine and 27 degrees but I'll make no further comment after learning my lesson last time. (I'm no weather forecaster!) Heathens to win by 16 and get some revenge for that beating at Brandon. Looking forward to it.

Thanks Eddie. Not sure of the context of the rest of whatever the para says but I didn't think Ben had lost his PL place this year. Once upon a time I knew the rules but after 15 years out of the sport, I've got a bit rusty to say the least. Why is life so complicated nowadays? It just seems very unfair on Stoke who gave the lad a chance and are prevented from realising the benefit from the gamble they took.

I think it's a great shame that Stoke are robbed of such a talented rider when their season was looking so promising. So what exactly is stopping him from doubling up with Sheffield? It seems that we have double ups and treble ups all over the place, what is so unusual about this one?

Thanks SCB. That's good to know but, in a way, it indicates all that's wrong with the promotion of the sport these days because I didn't even know about it and if I didn't then there are plenty more who don't either and that is preventing the Clubs getting a bit of additional revenue! Crazy.

I see both Cradley and Wolves have offered Birmingham Season Ticket Holders free admission to Heathens and Wolves home meetings for the rest of the season. A great gesture by all concerned and I'm sure nobody will begrudge them that after what they have been through. It got me thinking. With the sport in the state it is in with dwindling crowds during the current recession (in spite of the good news the Govt keep pouring out) how about offering a concession to away season ticket holders. Gate prices these days are one of the things keeping the crowds (especially families) away. Once you factor in petrol and food, travelling a long distance must put many off, especially if the weather is dodgy. How about it? Half price admission for away season ticket holders? They are the ones who support the sport by paying up front so why not give a bit back and encourage more of them to travel and support their team. It would certainly improve the atmosphere if a few more away fans turned up. Everybody wins. What do you thinkl?

Who do you think was the best ever pairing? Three Cradley entries for starters. Penhall and Schwartz - telepathy and hand signals whilst constantly switching lines inside and outside. The first few matches of the 1980 season were a joy to behold as they piled up the 5-1s before Bobby left for Reading. Hamill and Hancock - Sheer reliability especially at Monmore Green when it mattered. Must have driven Sam and Ronnie mad! Phil Collins and Alan Grahame - The engine room of many a successful Heathens team with Al on the white line and Phil blasting round the boards. How about PC and Mort at Hyde Road? Never seemed to matter that they couldn't gate. The outcome was nearly always assured. I have to stick with the Heathens though and go for Penhall and Schwartz.

Monmore Green. Heat 15. Hamill and Hancock. 5-1 to the Heathens!

Yep. Sure did!

Oh Dear! I've just heard that it's rained off!

Devon are in town tonight. I think another 60+ could be on the cards tonight but Josh Bates is guesting and is sure to give our top end plenty to think about. A few grey skies at the moment but nothing about to threaten the meeting from what I can see. Fingers crossed for a good and safe night's racing.

One thing at Cradley that is good for the Under 12s is the 'Ollie the Ommer' Club, christened after our Club Mascot. They have events for the kids before racing and fun days back in the Cradley Heath area. Some of the kids get to wave flags as the riders come out of the pits on the parade. It all helps to get them involved and keeps them interested. In addition, the riders walk out on the dog track and high five the kids at the front of the terraces on the parade. We also have interviews at the end af the meeting with the riders on the dog track again and they will stop to chat and sign autographs on their way back to the pits. All very minor things but they do all add up to get the kids more involved and that must help. I recall a photo of Erik Gundersen at Dudley Wood Primary School surrounded by cheering kids. That involvement is something that appears lost to the sport today. If I were a Promoter I would distribute some free tickets to schools and then hopefully any kids interested would bring a paying adult with them. Simple idea but is it actually done? I know this is only targeted at Under 12s and I accept the need to get teenagers more involved. I've got a couple of my own and it is very difficult with all the counter attractions these days. X Box has taken over the world! They do go but I know it's only to 'keep Dad happy!'. Sad but the simple message is that Promoters need to promote and apart from articles in the Sports pages you don't see much evidence of that at a local level generally though the Heathens do more than most with their social evenings.

We need to be exploring any avenue to make the sport more attractive to the kids. I'm into my 50s now and I find some of the stuff being played old hat. I noticed at Coventry recently that some of the music was from the 1950s. As you look around the terraces these days (including Cradley) you will see a significant proportion of silver haired fans. I think the lack of full paying 'adults' was one of the reasons for Birmingham's problems. The Promoters really do need to wake up and do more to target the younger brigade or the sport could well be on the way out in 10 years (or sooner!).

I agree totally with John Leslie. It's an absolute tragedy for the fans and Brian Buck in particular. He and Tony Mole put in an enormous amount of effort to see the Brummies get back on track including the massive planning battle against the University. I really feel for all the Brummies (having gone through it at Cradley) and I hope it gets sorted out successfully.

The Park and Ride we usually use is down by the International Swimming Centre / White Water Centre / Toys R Us. Its £10 for the whole carload - 5 of us. They drop you in Callaghan Square and pick up from there near the Brains Bridge - about a mile from the Stadium. It can take a while to get on a bus after the meeeting due to the queues but overall we have been very happy with the service and its dual carriageway all the way back to the Motorway.

Shame it's off I was looking forward to it in spite of the three absences. I was lucky that I could get the time off on this occasion but it was very short notice to try and make arrangements.

The difference between Buxton and Scunny was the distance we were beating them by - simple as that. The Hitmen also had the disadvantage that it was their first meeting of the season when some of our lads had ridden over a dozen matches. I still believe having someone out on track is more of a help than just standing and watching from the pits. Let's face it that approach hasn't achieved much this year. Vog's example of Armo is a very good one. He was brilliant with the likes of Ashley Morris and Tom Perry and they learnt a lot from hiim. Scunthorpe have a lot of experience in developing very good British youngsters and a number have been listed in this thread. They have done an excellent job in the past so why did they decide to try to do it this way this season? Was it the fact that they joined the League late and there were no experienced riders left? There has to be more to it than waking up one morning and deciding that having seven 3 point riders is the best way to develop them!

Well done to the Heathens on making it through and thanks to Joe Jacobs, Josh Bates, Dan Halsey and Connor Coles in producing some excellent racing. A good antidote to what happened earlier in the first part of the double header.

In answer to Montie - no I don't think that Buxton and Kent belong in the MDL. They are bringing the kids through in a far more sensible way by providing them with role models on the track who they can ride with and learn from. What did throwing seven 3 point riders into the meeting actually achieve in terms of their own development? Yes they have ridden a new track but in terms of racing and competition, apart from Arron, there was not a great deal. Trailing round half a lap behind is not going to do a great deal for their confidence I wouldn't have thought. I appreciate that last night was an extreme example but they have struggled consistently at this level. Best of luck to them all though. I could not fault the effort that they put in and when they came off they were very quick to get the bike off the track. It served as a reminder of just how difficult it is to throw a Speedway bike round a track. I thought the Cradley fans were superb in applauding them at every opportunity and it was good of Richard Hollingworth to recognise that in his comments..............and before Montie asks the question - yes I was one of the ones applauding them. I still believe that the NL needs to learn from this and introduce a minimum points limit. This would only have to be high enough to ensure that a couple of experienced riders would be included in a team to ensure that the kids get the necessary role models where it matters most and that is on the track in a race.