DC2

Do you mind, that’s “The Champions” to you.

Why on earth would any rider want to make a downward career move to a club in trouble and up for sale?

What has Garrity done?

Why?

Goodbye, Jenga, it is.

It will be interesting to see whether Poole can exercise first refusal over any of their assets or whether they effectively have to start from scratch and get in quick to pinch riders from other clubs before they agree to stay put. Ellis Perks, Charles Wright and Kyle Newman, for example. Has Kyle already signed for Eastbourne and is Ellis not likely to stay put at the champions and Charles up north at Redcar?

Were Peter Collins, Michael Lee, Chris Holder, Tai Woffinden, Darcy Ward or Robert Lambert protected reserves? Talented riders don’t need protecting. Sure, if you want some sort of nursery to take priority over openly competitive team places, protect them, but most people have said on here “if you’re good enough you’re old enough”. Enough said. My concern is that one season in the NL and a growing body at 16 are reasons to keep a rider “protected” in the NL for another season.

Definitely not, it would give those teams with the best NDL reserves a big advantage.

In the Macari years Swindon FC used to run onto the pitch to Fanfare For The Common Man. That’s the sort of thing you need to build the atmosphere and create a bit of excitement. Dim the lights and play that loud as the riders come onto the track, not Rockin Robin and Pom Pom girls.

Yes, there’s no way your average speedway fan wants to suffer two hours’ rapping, just to attract a few twenty year olds, but it shouldn’t be hard to have a playlist of upbeat anthems that would appeal to all generations. Smoke On The Water, Gimme Shelter, Sympathy For The Devil, Don’t Fear The Reaper, Bat Out Of Hell, Champagne Supernova, Bitter Sweet Symphony, I Predict A Riot, What’s That Coming Over The Hill ..... and whatever the modern ones are! That sort of thing.

You can win at tennis and a general election without getting the majority of the points. It seems wrong that someone who scrapes into the final after scoring 8 in his five rides and a second in his semi will come away with 10 more points than someone who scored a 15 point maximum but missed the gate in his semi. 21 for the winner and merely points scored for the rest would have been right.

Quite right, nothing to do with the Scots, this is a world final we are talking about!

Can you? Isn’t it the cases that losses can be discounted against profits only if they are from the same business?

Good point, well made. Quite the charmer.

Really? Any buyer should say they want to run in the NL then, to get the cheapest price! In terms of valuation, I’d guess there might be: a premium to pay for the remaining years of any lease of the stadium, although that would be minimal unless there is a clear more lucrative use, the value of any equipment, a sum for the rider assets, calculated against their likely loan fees or cost to acquire a similar rider, a sum for the “goodwill” (the fan base that Poole have built up), calculated as a percentage of the average attendance for the last three years or as a multiple of the average profit for the last three years (and I would not want to pay more than one times the average profit if it is falling).

Chris Holder stayed down an extra season with the IOW before moving up to Poole. He seemed convinced that the extra experience, even in a league he had already mastered, was better for him. Very few riders master a league and are ready to move up in just one season.

You best change your name to Spinner1! It seems clear that the Fords have lost interest, whether that be due to moving elsewhere or to failing to replace the sponsors who have left. To lose one sponsor might be unfortunate but to lose three sounds careless! And it gives a terrible message to potential buyers of Poole Speedway: we’ve run it and been successful for years but we’re getting out now because it’s no longer viable. This decision alone has probably made the club valueless. It’s clear that anyone coming in will have to start from scratch so why would they pay for no sponsorships, a fan base that can’t sustain the club and an asset base that can’t be used in the CL?

Possibly. But then again there’s older young riders who have found it too much: Jack Smith, Parkinson-Blackburn, Wajtknecht, Jacobs, Bailey, Knight, Thomas, Wood and Atkins. Something has gone wrong for these lads and I’d hate to see Palin get the stuffing knocked out of him and disappear. Is one year’s NL experience really enough?

It’s pretty alarming that a 15 year old lad who turns 16 next February and who has completed just one season in the NL has been signed for Scunthorpe next season? Is he old enough? Is he experienced enough? Will he lose confidence? Will he put other riders at risk? It’s crazy, isn’t it? Surely it’s at least a season too soon? How does his progress compare with Chris Holder, Tai Woffinden, Lewis Bridger and Drew Kemp? Shouldn’t riders complete at least two seasons in the NL? http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.37681

I don’t know. But I do know that when I first went again in about 2005 my daughter came to three meetings and enjoyed running up and down the banks at Blunsdon

He topped the averages with 10.15 in 2005, ahead of Adams, Crump and Hancock, and got 9.65 in 2006, a little below them.

Decent weather. Good point. We need to make the season May to August/September. That would appeal more to families.

You could be on to something. Look how glamorous Formula One is perceived to be by the nouveau riche. What a crap sport that is. Plusnet has made a brand of being down to earth Yorkshire and value for money. Maybe that’s what speedway needs. It’s certainly a family sport, a place where kids can run around rather than have to sit in seats in a stand and where they can get up close to the riders and get autographs.

Gin. The emperor’s new clothes of marketing. Whether you infuse it with rhubarb, raspberry or botanicals, it still tastes of ..... wait for it ...... tonic water! And then some insist on Fever Tree rather than Schweppes!!! Why? Is it more tonicky? What a load of cobblers.