E I Addio

If Poole had suffered an injury to their key EDR rider, as has befallen three of the bottom four clubs, then the chances are that they would be the lowest common denominator this year. especially if coupled with injuries to one of the heatleaders. With the exception of Swindon, whose season was partially rescued by Darcy, all the play -off contenders got a decent EDR draw and had a reasonably injury free season, although even Coventry fell at the last hurdle when they lost first Kylmakorpi, then , more importantly Garrity. I wont go too far off topic on my fast track hobby horse, but unless there is a drastic change in the set up that will be the way things will go in future with the league being largely decided by the luck of the EDR draw and reserves staying fit because adequate replacements will be almost non existent.

Which shows he is great compared to previous Poole promoters. Among the advantages he has are an accessible town centre stadium with decent facilities ( at least as Speedwáy stadiums go) and a relatively modest rent, thus he has something to offer sponsors. That doesn't mean it's handed to him on a plate. Of course he has to work at it, but the stadium and the facilities give him a head start over a lot of clubs..

I think that is excacrly the point. He is undoubtedly the most successful. I don't think you can apply an objective test to "great". He has. a number of built in advantages at Poole, and of course he makes the best of them, which is fair enough. I don't think you can compare him on a like for like basis with promoters who managed to keep their clubs afloat financially in difficult circumstances with stadiums in remote locations with poor facilities. If for example , you were to put Rick Frost as main promoter at Poole and Ford as promoter ar Peterborough would we see Boro winning the EL play offs in front of healthy crowds and Poole dropping to PL with diminishing support ? I doubt it Nor coukd you equate what Ford has done at Poole with what David Gordon has done at Belle Vue. All you can say is Ford knows his job and does it well, as his championship record

Agreed. He made a valuable contribution to the sport in the past but he is well past his sell by date and seems to cause trouble and dissent wherever he goes these days. Time to retire gracefully.

Dead right. There is an old but very true saying that goes "slow justice is no justice". The longer these sorts of decisions are left hanging in the air, especially the simple ones, the less chance there is of people accepting them as fair, even if they are. I am not one of those who criticise the sports governing body at every turn but the dilatory decision making process does a lot of damage to the sport. Special congratulations to Craig Cook. He has been knocking at the door for so long, and written off as a "nearly man" so many times that it's good to see him finally make the break through to be the best rider over two legs and certainly the one that kept Belle Vue in the fight.. Hope to see him continue to kick on next year.

No point at all on getting new people through the turnstiles if you can't keep them. There is a compny in Amertca that sells tinned food . They spend nothing on advertising which keeps the price down and rely entirely on word of mouth.. They have a very successful balance sheet. The lesson for Speedwáy is that if the product is good word of mouth will bring more in, and keep them coming back. If they don't enjoy it then however good the advertising that gets them there, they won't be back. It's bad enough trying to keep the existing fans without trying to ha hang on to new ones. While we have things like the fast track fiasco in its present form where you can often fill your programming before the race starts you won't be having the tense matches that attract people. I recently acquired a copy of Speedwáy News dated April 1939 , that has an excellent Ediorial stressing the importance of well balanced teams providing close racing. They seemed to understand that then and big crowds came. Somewhere along the line the lesson has been lost.

No. Once again you are reading something that isn't there. Doctor / patient cnfidentiality is not the issue . Even if a doctors certificate were produced it makes no difference the ithe bone of contention here. We all know how little doctors certificates mean in Speedwáy and we have all seen occasions for example when a rider rides in Poland on Sunday, then has a doctors certificate to say he is unfit to ride In GB on Monday then remarkably becomes fit to ride in Sweden on Tuaesday. We have all seen many variarions on the same theme, not just for Poole but various other clubs so most fans take a doctors certificate with a massive pinch of salt. Thes basic facts that are relevant to the discussion are these : 1. North appears to be in a run of poor form. For example when he came to Lakeside in Msy he finished in two races and won them both. When he came at the end of Augusr he had three rides , all he beat was a PL reserve and an N L rider, then refused to come out for his last ride. 2.At Coventry in the Semi he fails to score. The Speedwáy updates site reports that he was involved with one races with Lindgren described as "top drawer Speedwáy" . Not what you would expect from an rider whose head is in the wrong place but we are told its due to an accident to his father. 3. Not disputed that Mr North senior had a serious accident ant if Dak received the news that day or the night before it might be on his mind , and quite possibly affected his racing. 4. The issue really arises because of Matt Fords past reputation. Hardly anybody outside of Poole and some from Poole would dispute the fact Ford is more than capable of moanipulating the situation to his advantage if it suited him. we don't know what the injury to Daks father was so we really don't know whether the compassionate leave was genuine or just a ploy to get an in form replacement in. The Joe Screen episode in 2009 is a classic example of this's. 5 Nobody is demanding doctors notes but it is very strange that we are fed the line that it was a 12 hour operation but no details of the injury. Far better that no details at all should be given.... The real root of the problem is Fords past behaviour. People now regard his every move as suspicious, . Whatever you say or however you twist it blue tint brigade will take one view, others will take another view. Calling people Poole haters and other names is not going to change anything. Very few fans hate Poole or any other club, but most fans who have concerns about falling attendance and the future of the sport can see the damage that this sort of cloak and dagger stuff does. I can't put it any more succinctly than that.. We will have to agree to disagree but don't blind yourself to the damage these things do to the sport.

So they both had a facility for the same reason but they were different reasons ????? Another classic for the Stevebrum Hall of Fame

I wonder if was the same medic that signed Joe Screen as unfit to ride at Swindon the night before he got an 18 point maximum in Denmark.?

Now we have another one that wants to exaggerate and twist words. There were not "at least one or two" , there was just the one, namely Ouch. If you read his post he was not apologising for an "anti - Poole stance, he was apologising for the colourful language that he used to express himself . Fair enough, it's understandable that someone who loves the sport gets s a bit OTT at times. We all understand that. As for your claims about "anti-Poole/Dak " posts I don't think there is a single post on this thread that attacks Poole as a club, or Dak as a person. It is the promoter who is the subject of discussion. The simple issue that everyone has been raising is whether Matt Ford has been pulling the strings in the background to take advantage of the situation, bearing in mind his past record of manipulation. That is a point that cannot be proven neither can it be disproven but a question fans are entitled to discuss in the light of Fords past behavour . Those are the simple facts and however much the Poole mafia try to twist words or put a spin on it , the questions remain. That is not being Poole haters, it is legitimate concern by genuine tans.

Now you are changing your point. My reply was purely and simply to your claim that people were DEMANDING information, which they weren't.it all kicked off becsuse a Poole supporter threw down the challenge to as Dak direct on Twitter or Facebook and somebody called his bluff.. Now you are shifting your ground and saying how can any of us judge what is stress related,mind bringing Josh into it, which is a totally different set of circumstances as others have already pointed out. The problem is that like everyone that is on dodgy ground you start exaggerating. First you say people were demanding information, now you are trying to tell us that people were praising Josh when he missed a meeting which is quite untrue. From what has been posted on this thread, it's clear that fans understand and have sympathy with Josh but that is not the same as showering him with praise. Not only in a coma but the riders life was literally saved on track by a medic and Josh had the trauma of waiting for perhaps 20 minutes while his fellow riders life literally y hung in the balance while the medics were attending. That is enough to cause anyone to need a few days off.

Nobody has demanded any answer. That is your incorrect choice of words.. As has already been said throughout the thread if nothing at all had been said fair enough, but that is not quite the case. A statement has been put out , not by the North family but apparently by a promoter with a long history of shady dealings, namely Matt. Ford telling the world and his wife that the operation lasted 12 hours, but giving no details of what the injury was. A poster who is not normally given to making wild or extravagant claims says he has information from a well placed source that it was a hand injury.. A serious injury no doubt but whether it would be enough to cause a rider to miss a key meeting if he was not out of form is really what the debate is about. Nobody is demanding anything, but the absence of firm information, especially after being told that it was a 12 hour operation will invariably give rise to debate on a debating forum particularly when set against Fords past record as SCB pointed out in his post at the top of the page.

Have you not been reading the thread ?

Difficult to see what your input ro this discussion has been then. You know no more than the rest of us, namely some sort of non -life threatening injury is claimed which appears to have required a12 hour operaration and apart from that, complete secrecy.. Nobody is forcing you to take part in the debate if you don't like it..

Absolutely spot on .Look t at Silvers track at Rye House and look at Silvers track at look at the track at Sittingbourne. Elite league racing on either track would be so gate and go it would make even Leicester seem like a racers track.Sittingbourne is not a bad looking track but needs ripping up and relaying if there iss to be EL rides there. The trouble is Len is not interested in anyone's opinion but his own and still thinks it's it's the 1980's. You only have to look at the behind the scenes bickering and in fighting at Rye House over the last few years and the divisions he has caused in his short time at Kent. Both clubs apparently suffering falling crowds.. Neither club has really been a happy ship. Hardly the best base from which to make the huge jump from NL to EL and build an EL team from scratch. You only have to look at how hard it has been for some established PL clubs like Leicester and Brum to make the step up and put a decent team together. . Len has been a top promoter in the past,, no doubt about it but the world has moved on while he hasn't. Completely lost the plot as he has got older.

Yet another Poolite that back pedals when he is caught out. Nobody has asked for photos and no nobody has asked for surgeons notes. It was your challenge that someone should ask Dak, you didn't expect anyone to but someone called your bluff and it has only deepened the mystery. By reason of the lack of response. It only took a simple answer that the operation was to his hand head or whatever, and that would have ended this line of discussion. Hoisted by your own petard I am afraid, now you try to wriggle out of it by banging on about surgeons notes and photos. So all we really know is that the injury took a 12 hour operation but we are not even supposed to know what the injury was. . Very strange.

Because it goes against the basic ethos and basic characteristics of sport and goes against the spirit of fair competition that makes for an attractive form of entertainment that the public pay to watch. Every time there is cheating or even a sniff of cheating, especially in the play offs, there is another nail in the coffin, and this is one of the reasons why crowds are dropping..

As always, the Poole mafia try to introduce red herrings and spurious claims to try to deflect attention from the real issues. Just to be clear, nobody has claimed Coventry would have won, that is irrelevant. Cheating is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage, totally against the spirit of the sport and the fact that it may not have affected the result is neither here nor there. Nobody has said a son shouldn't have concern for his father,, but as yet the severity or otherwise of the injury is unconfirmed so we don't know how justified the "compassionate leave is, but integrity is important and it would be wrong for this to be done for relatively flippant reasons .Tai and Emil are two riders that carried on riding through the terminal illnesses of their fathers, others have carried on through divorces and all kinds of difficult and traumatic personal situations. Put all that against Fords past record and fans are entitied to show concern and discuss. As for keeping the thread going I can only refer you to the headline comments on Middleditch 's Twiiter which reads These opinions are my own , if you don't like them don't read them.

How would you know ? Even other Poole fans have said you are an embarrassment with the drivel you post.

I think that post pretty much proves my point. Unable to deal with the merits of the discussion he can only call other people thick. A certain irony there perhaps.

That cuts both ways Tsunami . Severall Poole posters have been stretching the flimsiest of arguments to justify the situation. It all boils down to two basic points .The first, as has been said several times already is that Ford has such a poor reputation amongst fans because of his past record that people are now understandably suspicious of his every move. Certain questions are bound to be left hanging in the air, and the more a handful from Poole try to justify it the more others will voice the same suspicions. . Some including yourself have been quite offensive. The second point is I don't think anyone is a Poole hater. They are simply suspicious of Ford and his sidekick Middleditch based on past record..fans in general are loyal to their own clubs and don't begrudge other clubs success when achieved fairly . There is rarely a large groundswell of resentment towards whichever clubs win the play off except Poole and that is down to the attitude of its promoter, the stupid comments of its team manager on social media, and some of the garbage people like Starman post. There is no equivalent in any other club because there is no promotional equivalent of Ford, no team manager rants off the way Middleditch does , and nobody else posts the sort of self righteous stuff that Sarman and a few others post. It he best thing the Poole posters can do is to stop their attempts to justify things, and I doubt that anyone else wil pursue the matter until more is known but by constantly banging on they won't change anyone's mind, only make matters worse.

How do you know the reason why his performance at Coventry was poor ? A couple of weeks earlier he rode at Lakeside and all he mbeat was an NL rider and a PL reserve. That was before his father was injured. On his previous visit tto Lakeside he scored Exc, 3,3,R. Therefore the scores suggest he was running into a spell of poor form. Of course the scores never tell the whole story, I accept that but as we all know when a rider hits bad form he looks for reasons and the reasons in his mind are not necessarily the actual reasons, not just with Dak but with every rider until they work through it. He was replaced by Ed Kennett who had spent almost the whole season as a Heatleader whose average had temporarily dropped as they all do in the present format , but at the time he replaced North w as scoring well again for Lakeside and had been banging in 15 and 18 point maximums for Rye House so there is no way he can be said to be an inferior rider at the time he guested at Poole.

That's a good point. He would presumably be going home I a couple of weeks anyway. The only reason for not going would be for the possibly. once in a lifetime chance of riding in the play-offs.

Why is it double standards ? If you want to attack my posts specifically , as opposed to quoting sectioned parts them out of context I am quite happy to defend them. The fact that no complaint was made ar the time speaks for itself It doesn't alter to fact that the three posts I quoted of yours and two others were not quoted out of context and were nothing more than abuse, with no attempt to deal with the merits of the discussion.

I wouldn't dream of attacking you, only attacking your posts. I have asked you to name the posters you describe as idiots but you refuse to be specific so we can only guess who you may or may not be referring to and they are unable to defend the allegation. As to your posts generally the point you have conststenty chosen to ignore and which I and others have pointed out perfectly civilly is that there is no way to prove specifically whether Ford was cheating but whether he was taking advantage of an the situation to bring in a more in form rider is open to debate. Your posts have consistently missed the point by trying to narrow it down to the black and white question of whether Ford fabricated or lied about the alleged injuries to Daks father, when what several posters have pointed out with perfect clarity is that the issue is that Ford has such a shady history that nobody out side of Poolem knows what to believe . Most fans regard everything that comes out of Fords mouth with the same suspicion. Now you can call me a tool if you like but you are wasting your time because it is like water off a ducks back. my posts on this thread have attracted quite a few "likes" so a number of others agree with them . Severall other posters have, as I said posted on very similar lines to myself so there is quite a unified opinion which you seem only to be able to deal with by abuse.. Call me whatever names you like but that won't change anything, and won't alter people's opinion of Ford, or for that matter, of yourself. ,