PE7Panther

I'm the same as Wealdstone; I never have it. I always pack a flask of tea and a sarnie or pie. The food at the EoES was very decent when we had the Grasmere Farms van. Top quality meat - and at least they used to test the temperature with a food thermometer, so it was always cooked properly. Their big drawback was that they were as slooooow as ar5eholes! Some of the staff were gormless and were totally clueless when it came to serving supposedly "fast food". But I s'pose we've got more important things to worry about than flippin' burger vans

Despite being in the 'old fart' age group I'm blessed with fairly good health, and although l'm starting to dislike stairs I don't have any mobility problems. So this Blue Badge issue doesn't affect me personally, but I've been following it with increasing dismay. And the whole thing stinks! The same as everything does with Panthers - and, come to that, with speedway in general. For what it's worth, here's my two penn'orth: It seems to me that there's been more and more cars parking in the inner stadium areas, and they can't all be blue-badge (BB) people. The club seems to be saying that some BB fans have somehow been abusing the parking privilege; maybe by parking in the "wrong" places? I tend to rock up a few minutes before the first heat, and by then 99.9% of cars are already there and parked up. But I hadn't noticed any particular orderliness as I walk briskly from the Arena doors to the stand. Cars seem to park willy-nilly, and it's a different configuration each home meeting. So I can't help wondering if it might not be BB holders alone who are causing whatever the problem is. Or maybe it's a money issue? Are some BB holders somehow sneaking other occupants of their car into the meetings for free, when they should be paying full whack? Have there been problems at the gate along those lines, and staff feeling miffed at having to deal with unpleasant situations? I'm not pointing any fingers; just wondering if that's what lies being Bluster's decision. One things for sure, we don't have the full story :-/ Whatever, it's f*****g disgraceful that a blanket ban has been imposed on all disabled people. You'd have to be a complete **** to think otherwise. The main car park is way too far to walk if you have reduced mobility. If there has been a problem - whatever it is - surely the best way to resolve it is to organise the entrances and inner parking areas better. All it needs is a few well-placed signs for BB cars to follow, and a clearly marked/fenced off parking area for BB holders, preferably quite close to the rear of the stand. There's plenty of space there ffs! Would it be too difficult to issue special EoES/Panthers disabled permits rather than just go by the standard blue badge permits. If anybody flouts the new system, and provided it's been made clear from the outset, there can be no complaints if that individual gets his/her parking privilege withdrawn. How many BB cars are we talking about anyway? It can only be in the dozens surely, and not in the hundreds. How about BB cars keep to the left at that first entrance, and signposted accordingly with a couple of staff to supervise it. And all the other vehicles - vans, sponsors, chums of Bluster, et al - keep to the right. It’s not rocket science – but I suspect that the Club Bluster simply lacks the will to resolve it in a decent and compassionate way.

and it's supposed to be a Peterborough Panthers thread........

But what does that matter? And everybody in Panthers-land knows the score as regards the Showground's priorities. It's just other fans who keep banging on about it, as if it's somehow the Club's fault.

If it is 'peanuts' why were Bluster & Co so desperate to get the contractual minimum 7 teams into the top league, no matter what it took? Anyway, I'd be surprised if BT Sport are as keen next time around.

As long at the dosh from BT Sport comes rolling in, the coterie of spivs who control speedway in this country are happy.

and they would have known what was going on behind the scenes, for sure.

you make a good point there.

Was he? Evidence please.

You can doubt it all you like. But trying to claim that Panthers wouldn't be alive it weren't for 'Bluster' coming in is just guesswork. There's only one reason he got involved at the EoES - and it wasn't anything to do with helping Panthers to do well. Or even "saving" speedway. It was the BT Sport dosh, and he needed to make sure that the top league had the minimum 7 teams - one way or another. Anybody who can't see that must be either blind or very naieve. I blame Ged - not for the usual reasons that get spouted on here, but for allowing himself to be taken in by Bluster. I hear he regrets it now.

re. buster isn’t making any money running Peterborough speedway. He is if you take the BT Sport dosh into account re. Could see them closing the grandstand Not a cat in hell's chance of that happening. But you're spot on with that first bit.

Or , depending on your agenda, half full. And that'd make it 1,100 plus a couple of hundred or so on the bends and back straight. So not exactly a pi55poor crowd, and I'm guessing loads of other clubs would be happy with it.

Thank feck for that!

Cracking agenda, but it sounds like the A14 could figure quite a lot in your travel plans . Hope you're aware of the massive long-term roadworks; if not check it out beforehand. The A14 was bad enough before it all started; it's horrendous at the mo.

Let's be honest, any rider could end up at any club and it wouldn't be all that much of a surprise.

Oh but you are! And despite the fact that several other Panthers fans have tried to set you straight, you're still banging on. It's not Panthers' stadium - so they can't just go changing anything to the infrastructure, especially under the current EoES management. Anyway, you'd find it hard to find many Panthers fans complaining about the configuration of the track. The surface - yes (sometimes). The riders - often! Management - again often! But the stadium, track configuration and facilities? Nope. And the vast majority of visiting fans seem to enjoy their visits to our place too. By the way, if, as I suspect, your fingers are poised over your keyboard to dash off a reply with something about how all speedway clubs need to look forward and try to make improvements blah blah blah; maybe so, but that's a general speedway thing. This is a Peterborough Panthers (v Poole) thread.

Yep, but it's not just fans who have a season ticket at Posh. What about the people who have bought 'ordinary' tickets for this game. It's v Sunderland, probably the biggest home game of the season, so it's bound to have attracted more non-STHs than usual - especially with it being on a bank holiday afternoon.

You'd like to think so - but this is speedway we're talking about I'm a STH at London Road and would always pick Posh ahead of Panthers even if I didn't have a season ticket. That said, I rarely miss a Panthers home meeting (and go to a few aways too). I've never had a Panthers season ticket but I had been thinking about buying one for this season - but that's gone out of the window now. And I'd be mightily pi55ed off if I'd already bought one. No wonder Panthers sell only a handful of season tickets every year.

Yep, not good. I wonder what/who was behind it. It was - and still is - an avoidable clash. But I guess Buster & co don't give a flying one as a good few K/Lynn fans will be there to compensate for some Panthers fans opting for the Posh game. Another one to file away under "Speedway shoots itself in the foot".

That's me out then. Even though Posh have been cr4p this season I'll be at London Road on Easter Monday afternoon. My enthusiasm for Panthers has been slowly dying - and this is another nail in the coffin.

with the TBalfe sponsorship money it could well be that Ged felt that the team he'd signed was within budget....

nail on head.

Surely every speedway fan knows that all bar Chas Wright are ex-Panthers - especially Hans Andersen & Bomber. And BW-D was even in last season's team ffs! She's either a complete ****, or a troll on a wind-up mission. Either way, put her on ignore mate.

This Peterborough Panthers thread has now become infested with fans of other clubs banging on and on about the merits or otherwise of BV's and Swindon's teams. Take it elsewhere ffs!

Yeah, seems we get the 'same old, same old' whichever league we're in. And to continue with the back on topic theme: Good point/s, and I wonder if Bratters is still open to the idea of being involved.....