Chris Brown

They of course managed to have enough people to take the money in the first place I have given up on the sport over recent years but this one really sums up everything that is so wrong 1. Failed to take any responsibility 2. Blamed contractors but I suspect had the meeting been a success would have gloried in the credit and not mentioned the contractors at that point 3. Failed to process refunds 4. Still want to blame everyone apart from themselves Its a pitiful position to take and really is about time them took bleeding responsibility.

So unless I have ridden my opinion does not count ? The only disrespect is choosing not to ride for your country and then suddenly changing your mind and expecting to be brought back. Correct me if I am wrong but the issue was sponsors names on the racesuit and for me that is no reason to decide not to ride for your country I stand by the fact he should be told he is not required. Just my view

With you 100% on Nicholls. While his nation was struggling he was sat at home (well actually taking money to commentate on them) sulking. Maybe I am in a minority but I would go with just about anyone else to be honest Drives me nuts to see riders deciding not to ride for their country...................unless its on their terms On the flip side I disagree with you 100% on Woffinden

Just to let people know that Lukas and Theresa had a new addition to their family yesterday with the birth of baby Ales. Clearly named after Grandfather and Uncle and a brother for their first born, also Theresa

Wondered if it was you Steve, good to see you are back in circulation. I have only been to 4 meetings in the UK (all in the IOW) since Oxford closed in 2007 so fair to say I also have really been lost to the sport. Used to go to 4 a week !!! As for Oxford, while Swindon seem miles away and do not have planning permission, the silence in Oxford where there is a ready made stadium suggests there is no chance. Hope I am wrong but we all thought last December when the planning consent was chucked out and then the Conversation Order put on the stadium was the catalyst. Seems the owners have deeper pockets and less business sense than anyone gave them credit for. The campaign has been completely silent for months now Time in my mind to accept we have seen the last speedway in Oxford. Not sure I personally have the appetite any more, I think people move on and find other things to do

Problem is Tsumani I suspect there are very few who actually believed when the 'End of an Era' meeting was held was really going to be that. Given that the Swindon promotion knew that no planning permission had been sought then to kid people that the stadium would be ready for March is surely treating people as fools. As the article from March demonstrates its not exactly moving at a pace that suggests its achievable I admire their optimism if they ever thought for one minute it would really happen

Is he ? Did they move with the previous promotion ?

And when they gave him a 1 in 10 of survival so did I. But like many riders even that was not enough to say that enough was enough. These guys are junkies when it comes to riding bikes fast and despite anything that id done they will continue to want to go faster I remember Steve Purchase saying to me when he was running Oxford that he believed that at the time if you gave the riders the choice of an air fence or £5 a point they would pretty much all have gone for £5 a point. They do not think they will crash or to be honest you would not do it would you ? The sport is surely on one hand safer now than ever with the protection from helmets and racewear that has developed immensely over the years and air fences that have surely saved many horrendous injuries but the strive for speed will always mean that the riders are ahead of anything that is being done to improve safety. Has air fences generally led to riders doing things they would not have done without an air fence ? Possibly, only they can tell you but whatever is done to make it safer, the riders will by their nature continue to push the boundaries of their performances which will surely counteract the safety improvements to some degree Not sure what the answer is really

Saw that picture in the Speedway Star and thought they looked like a couple of stroppy kids. Since when has it been OK for a promoter to lead that sort of protest. Doesn't seem right to me whatever he may think

Dreadful news and so sad to hear RIP Shaz and thoughts to your family at this awful time

I apologise, no negativity intended, I was using it to make a point

You are missing the point I am making. Its not about finding someone who could do better, if the team is badged as a GB team (which it was) then the riders representing GB should be bleedin British. I really couldn't care less whether they would score more points than Rory Schlein or not I say it again, there is no criticism of Schlein, he at least had the passion to ride in a meeting but it shouldn't happen. And people can talk about cricket and how we have overseas riders, well that's doing well for the national team isn't it. And what happened 40 or 50 years ago in Speedway is completely irrelevant British speedway is in a mess and being unable/not bothering to find a GB rider to represent GB is pathetic at every level. Of course we could argue that the meeting should not be allowed to use country names for meetings like this as well So for the World Cup who are we looking at, lets wait and see who the Aussies, Poles, Swedes and Danes leave out of their squads. As long as they have had a holiday in the UK that surely qualifies them Its pathetic

Can somebody administer the injection for British Speedway and put it out of its misery. Its frankly embarrassing to accept an invite to a competition and then have an Aussie representing us Fair play to Rory Schlein for doing it. Good job Robert Lambert decided to be a Brit after all or it would be an Aussie and a German. British Speedway really is a shambles Frankly ANY British rider would be a better bet than Rory Schlein (again no disrespect to him) as he is not even qualified to ride for GB

Great post. Problem is that FIM sold out to the greedy gits who continue ruin our sport. Get the World Championship on speedway tracks. Can you imagine the FIFA World Cup being played on park pitches

We just seem to be missing the point. If GP's are raced on speedway tracks rather than a compressed beach put together at the last minute then none of this would happen These problems are driven entirely by greed to take the sport to places that make the most money and sod the consequences to the riders, supporters and frankly anyone else

Not sure I agree with this to be honest. The Speedway World Championship is about speedway primarily and I am being old fashioned in thinking that to run a speedway meeting you need to have a speedway track, If the stadium that track happens to be in can wine and dine the sponsors and looks pretty on TV then great but for me the track surface comes first Yes you can argue the TV likes to show speedway in plush stadiums but that didn't work last night did it and TV stations will surely at some point run out of patience. At that BSI (or whatever they call themselves) will walk away from speedway with its reputation in tatters and people who care about speedway left to pick up the pieces If the tracks can be sorted then I am all for decent venues but the speedway track HAS to come first. This is the Speedway World Championship not a bloody circus So the organisers do not lose on the night. Its brilliant isn't it Good job they managed to get that 12th heat in

Anyone know the re-admission policy ?

Just take speedway meetings to speedway tracks rather than the stadiums where the organisers can make the most money. These people continue to rip the heart out of our sport and they will not stop because I genuinely do not believe they care one little bit for the people who will have spent a fortune on travel, accommodation, time off work and tickets only to see another unacceptable shambles But look on the bright side the speedway press will have enjoyed brilliant hospitality so they won't criticise them This is 100% caused by going to a stadium without a natural speedway track, don't blame the Polish, don't blame the poor people who worked their socks off to put the track down, don't blame the riders blame the greed of the SGP rights holders, no-one else

But as was reported was OK to practice for 3 days in the week before. Didn't sound like a particularly good reason to be honest. Having said that the fund is there to help all riders and if he needs help this should not be held against him Now whether he feels comfortable asking is another thing

Is there a time when the sport is trying to tell you something. He is incredibly unlucky but sometimes it just might be worth calling it a day when fate is seemingly conspiring against you so often

Speedway Star in critising Middeditch shock !!! Actually a pretty decent article Philip, you recognise that he should have kept his mouth shut but didn't see anything to suggest is his full page article that he thought he done anything wrong

Philip Have to say I was disappointed, not with he way that the Star reported the facts because as you said the FIM was saying nothing but some of the stuff that was printed quoting Middleditch was frankly ridiculous and I am really surprised it was given print space. There was a stage where his insaner ramblings were on Page 2 or 3 for 2/3 weeks and personal view is that it did the SS no favours giving space to the garbage he was spouting Just my view

I meant lets hope he does not decide to take up the chance of an appeal

I think that is the good thing, so he knows where he stands and although its in reality a 4 month ban during the season it sufficiently messes up his season so it will hopefully act as a deterent for him and others After the ban is over he should then be left to get on with his career as he will have served his ban. Only time will tell whether its been enough to teach him a lesson Lets hope there is no appeal eh ?

But do they not realise this is Poole they are dealing with, the self proclaimed Man Utd of speedway Middleditch has showed his real colours here though hasn't he, a whole bundle of people saw him as a clown and he has performed that act brilliantly, breaking the rules of his own governing body, factually being wrong over and over again, seemingly speaking for others in say 'everyone' wants Ward to be allowed to ride I suspect his ridiculous antics have done nothing to help Ward's position in terms of whether speedway fans want to be allowed to ride. I reckon the best thing Ward can do is fine somewhere else to live and cut himself off from this bloke who is dragging him down Certainly glad that Ward's memory is coming back though, fancy forgetting that there was a 45 day rule, wonder if he told his muddled mouthpiece ? They all look like a bunch of idiots to be honest What do I want, I want Ward to be punished properly and that means seeing out a 12 month ban for me, I would then think he should distance himself from those who are hampering him (both so called mates who seem to lead or at least stop him going astray) and get back to doing what he is good at because as it stands in terms of a wasted career, he is on the road to being the biggest waster in history