Bostonian

Really enjoyed last nights coverage! Good meeting, great crowd and atmosphere, close racing, close scoreline, abit of drama, and good work from the sky team. Shows what a good product speedway can be when everything comes together. Both Glasgow and Swindon have shown it can be done, so now its up to other clubs to follow suit. Totally agree on this! Although was great to see 2000+ there last night, no way can clubs afford to offer £5 a ticket every week. £5 x 2000 = £10,000 £17 x 800 = £13,600 Promotors just cannot take the risk of offering £5 a ticket all season and getting less money than they do now from 800 die hards every week. Sky money obviously helped last night but running a meeting at £5 a person is not sustainable. £10 a ticket? Is that reasonable? Would those 2000 fans still come week in week out through out the season? Im not sure unfortunately. 100% the right way of going about it though is offering cheap tickets for sky meetings etc, will hopefully get people back through the turnstiles again! Either way, we need more fans back into stadiums.

Abit late to this topic and sorry if this has been brought up in recent posts. But I did find it strange that some non-EU riders could still ride even though there averages were below 7. Think Proctor is about 6.48? At the start of the season a few people mentioned about Ty seemed to be over riding and trying to hard at times when he was out the back or in 3rd... I wonder if this was the reason for it? Seeing Proctor also racing at 4 seemed strange to me when the season started, when I believe Birks averages is lower, yet he's riding at 3. Guess the promotion hoped Proctor not taking a heat leader role would give him more chance to gain his over 7 average. Seems to all add up now. Really gutted for Ty though who's had some awful luck over the last few years and you can see he enjoys being at Sheffield.

Still think Panthers will win this. No Lambert but Kurtz in is a good move, flew round Owlerton for Somerset the other week. Compton aside, few sheffield riders struggling for one reason or another and with Cook still unsure how well he'll be, can see P'boro taking this. Hopefully I'm wrong ofcourse!

People are forgetting that many PL (and NL) riders might of had meetings sunday too, meaning leaves no time to get back from Denmark to race for their teams (i.e Kerr & Worrall at Newcastle). Rosco explained that he was also left with very little choice as a lot of riders simply couldn't afford to get to denmark, or have the right equipment ready in such a short space of time. Luckily Lambert was already their as he was going to be the reserve. Personally, although its not great to see a non-GB rider respresenting us, so many other sports see their teams with guys who have represented different countries at junior level etc and no one seems to be bothered about that. Massive hats of to Rory for helping us out and putting in a solid performance. The guy has been involved with british speedway for 15+ years, has an english wife and kids, has british citizenship, and also spends his out of season here too. Thats good enough for me, and he certainly didn't offer a lacklust display so seems he was happy to do so too! People getting in such a tiff about nothing for me....

Statement just gone up, Polish teams once again ruleing the roost!!! Just a shame it took a load of twitter abuse for a statement to come out, would of nipped it all in the bud early doors instead of a load of speculation, which got the better of me and I believed it! Appreciate the effort from Schlein to come in at short notice and cover our backs, this guy gets my total applause, seems to want to help anyone out within British speedway. Sure he'll give it his all...

Any news on who's guesting for the tigers yet?

Obviously don't know the ins and outs yet.... But the talk on social media tonight about the reason Woffy has pulled out is a disgrace!! Kicked up a storm to the authorities about us not being part of it, now has pulled out to test his bikes? Now he's either pulling a fast one or there's another reason behind it... Be good to see Lambert in again though, imagine h'll surprise a few again like the other weekend for Lynn at Gorzow! (PS. Hopefully once we know more, we'll have a proper understanding of this mess!)

Good win for the tigers last night, although Ipswich should of snuck a point but for falling riders. That 8-1 certainly made the score more respectable though as the tigers were 12 infront before that. Cookie was a great guest again, shame we cant call upon him every week! Compton and Garrity were impressive again, reserves did what is expected of them although would like to see Josh get some bigger scores. Arthur looking better every week. Proctor certainly can't be faulted for his effort and rode much better than what he scored last night. Ash is the only slight concern at the moment. Since Steady's injury he seems to of lost confidence and by the sounds of it, having some bike trouble too. Managed to catch him on the Biker FM show on tuesday night and he sounded very downbeat and not happy with how things are going for him. Hopefully he can turn it around because he's someone who i'd love to see succeed at Sheffield!

Looking forward to this one. Nice day, 2 decent PL teams which should produce a close meeting. Hopefully Garrity can get off to a flyer, think Cookie will fill in for Stead fine, although can't see him getting a max! But sure he'll score well... Think Benji Compton will struggle which could maybe swing it the tigers way.....

Great short term signing. Exciting all action rider, should be entertaining round owlerton!

Much better sky meeting last night, some entertaining heats and a close meeting till the last few. Seemed to be once the track settled down and riders got to grips with it we saw better action, which leads me onto another point... How come riders cannot practice before the meeting on the track? I know it could obviously cause the dirt to move out wider earlier etc, but it was evident last night that once the riders had a heat or 2 to get used to it and the track to settle down we saw better racing? Sure each rider getting a practice 4 laps wouldnt make too much difference?

Track was so strange, but cropped up some great racing! Couldn't believe no body looked at the tapes and get them sorted out. Nearly every winner came from the outside, and it was obvious there was sometime strange within the first few races. Seemed the german fans enjoyed it just a shame we couldn't of got to the final.

The fact that the riders say how good Lynn's track is, for me, says the track is good. I don't want to see riders bashing through ruts and holes and looking as if they might crash and injury themselves. BUT, last night was a factor of 2 things for me... 1. Lakeside were useless! AJ could only manage 1 decent race when he made a start and he's meant to be their star number 1 rider. Buster and the track staff can do NOTHING about that. If you don't have the bike set up right, or haven't got your head on it properly, then you'll never over take someone who has got the right set up i.e Mr Lambert. 2. Today's bikes are just about speed! I've started to notice this over the past year or so, but everyone just seems to be intrested in getting their bikes to go as fast as they can. Its great for the riders, because they score more points and pick up more coin. But for the paying spectators, it becomes so dull watching follow the leader. To me, thats what F1 is all about now, If you've got the fastest car you win more often than not. Even when the best riders in the country are in town (Rooboys testominal and the world cup being 2 at lynn) there seemed a lot of FTG wins. So what can be done? Slow the bikes down? Is that possible? All i know, I'll always watch speedway as I love and enjoy watching any form of it. But there certainly seems less passing now than ever before, and the excitement of that is what gets spectators through the door!

Really looking forward to this, local derby to kick the season off! On paper Sheffield have the better side, but anything can happen early on in the season. Hope to see a sizeable crowd and hopefully a few people who attended Ricky's BIG day and enjoyed the experience!

Agree with whats been posted so far, bloody great meeting! I knew it would be packed, but certainly didnt expect it to be as packed as it was.. I think 3,000 is a tad low, i'd say more 3,500+ with not only the terraces full but the bars looked it too. Seeing Ricky come out to that applause was brilliant, couldn't imagine how he would of been feeling. Great to see the speedway community (riders, fans, sponsers etc) pull together for this one and i'd imagine ALOT of money was raised for him. Once again, Steady showing he is the boss round Owlerton. If he can beat 2 GP boys (1 ex of course) in the final the way he did and win by such a margin, then some PL teams are in for some hammering's this season! Wouldn't say the racing was breathtaking, but that wasn't the point of the meeting, and I'm sure everyone enjoyed it as much as myself. Was great to see some top elite riders their along with the premier boys. Seeing screenie doing the wheelie challenge too, one of my favourites riders growning up, was icing on the cake. Well done all round i'd say!

Anyone know if the Tiger Cubs are running this year? Not seen them being mentioned in the MDL or any fixtures at that level?

Not connected with either side, nor was I at the meeting last night. But come on, some people are jumping the gun. Its like a pre-season friendly in football, you really can't read anything into it. Brummies have got 3 riders who have near enough no experience of racing in such a meeting, with a large crowd and a new track to deal with. Lets have abit of realism from some and let the youngsters find their feet!

Great promo video that is.. Few more clubs should take note. Good opportunities for sponsorship with that video too, can be posted on plenty of social networks and websites!

Rubbish news about Taylor, was absolutely flying at the back end of the season, and deserved his chance this season in a second string role. Its good that the authorities are now clamping down on imigration, but when it stops a young lad improves his dream to become a world class speedway rider, its a shame there's now a barrier to stop it. For me, we don't want to see stale veteran riders in our leagues when we could have young brits in, but when they're young, exciting, up and coming riders, thats when the situation becomes daft. But thats not way the world works.... Can see either Andre or Wilson coming back into the side now, both unlucky not to get a slot in the first place. Either way, still should be an exciting season at Sheffield and I'm hoping to get to plenty of meetings during the season, starting off with Rickys Big Day!

Thats interesting and informative reading. Seems as though things can get sorted before the start of the season if the bspa can get their backsides in gear! Hopefully these 'workshops' can be sorted asap, as the young aussies make up a great portion of our riders here. Whether you like them or not, we need these guys in our leagues to keep it running and viable. The Elite & Premier league will be alot worse of without the likes of ward/fricke/kurtz's etc not here! Worryingly, will only lessen the product even more to the viewing public......

Very impressive line up at Sheffield next year! Wilson can feel slightly hard done by as he did very well at the back end of last season. Would of been him or Bates for me but its all about averages and I can see Bates improving for a few years yet. Hopefully will be able to get to as many meetings at Owlerton as possible. You would certainly think with that with this line up there is plenty of fire power to win at home, its going to be those away trips that will make or break it to whether it will be a play off side or not. Roll on Ricky's BIG day in march!

No surprise to me that the top 5 have been retained, and I think it was definitely the right thing to do! Niels is niel's, will always be our top points man and top points scorer. Porsing came on so much last season and can see him carrying that on next season. Schlien was very hot and cold last season, but when he is on song he is a very capable 3rd heat leader. Lambert will hopefully continue to kick on, and with more rides this season with P'boro, can only be a good thing. Bjerre is another who, if he can stay fit, will be a good heat leader and him and Niel's will be one of the best heat leader pairings in the league. Just hope that whoever we choice to replace Jacobs can weight in with points to help Kerr out too.

A Saturday track signs a GP rider, be interesting to see how they plan out their fixtures and how many times will meetings clash? Either way a great signing for the Lions

Not sure if I'm reading too much into it, but noticed that porsing main sponsor said to him on twitter the other day that he would put him on his insurance for when he's over here next week (Tuesday prehaps?!) and then mentioned its easier until he is back over here from spring onwards.. So either nick will be back with us or I'm just putting 2 and 2 together and making 5! Either way I'd be happy to see the same 5 again, and I'm pretty sure that Buster and Rob will be too. We just ran out of steam last year through injuries and play off farce but if we have Niels firing again AND have him in the play offs, we have a chance.

Reading twitter tonight and the link sport reporter has quoted batch's storyline from a few weeks ago about being 95% on re-signing, and then put after the link, maybe add another % or 5 onto that.. So your looking at most likely being mr batch attack