Happy Hunter

If Plymouth join the championship they could take over Somerset's team or is that too simple?

I suspect that its Plymouth who want to join the Championship and that they will take on the fixtures that had probably been allocated to Somerset. This would make sense as its as difficult to get to Plymouth as Somerset on some days of the week. I have edited this as I realise I have used the word sense! Sorry!

We have a saying 'nothing stays the same for very long!'.

Poole are in the Championship not the Premiership.

We also had a sun break! Just like at home then! Was impressed with the way the kids were involved. Even those on the balance bikes were giving it a good go.

The maths are now simpler. The Govt want to vaccinate everyone over 50. That's about 26 million people. The Govt reckon they can vaccinate 2 million a week. That's 13 weeks for the first dose and 12 weeks for the second which takes us up to the end of June to finish the over 50s. To do this and keep the programme rolling would mean they would have to start vaccinating 4 million a week from week 13 onwards. This all depends on getting enough doses and the people to give them. So by Easter only 26 million people 50 and over will have received one dose - if we are lucky!

I hope that there will be a plan B and a plan C as well as a plan A! I can't see that there will be much of an improvement in the situation before the end of March at the earliest. The population if about 67 million. If we say that 50 million need vaccinating with 2 doses that's 100 million shots. The vaccine is not totally effective until after the 2nd jab. If there are 12 weeks between jabs that takes us up to the end of March. In the first month 1 million have had one dose. If they speed up to 1 million a day that's 50 days to give everyone one dose. Those getting them on the 50th day will then have to wait 12 weeks or 84 days to get their second dose. I'm making my own head hurt here but I hope you get my drift. No way is the current vaccination rate going to make much difference before Easter when we hear the season is due to start.

I was there. My ticket for the 1966 final cost me 10/6 or 52.5 pence in today's money. But to get a ticket for the final I had to buy a set that included group matches, a quarter final, a semi final and the third/fourth place play off!

The sun will continue to set at Beaumont Park where its always set - over the present third and fourth bends. Having the starting gate on what is now the back straight will not solve anything apart from the sun being in the riders eyes entering the first bend. The only way the sun could set behind the stand would be if you rotated the whole track 90 degrees clockwise and that would be a very expensive way to solve a problem that only happens if the sun is out in the mid summer months.

How does that sort it? Don't you just shift the problem to bend 1 which is even more dangerous?

If you live in Oz you can have a day trip out - https://www.qantas.com/au/en/promotions/great-southern-land.html?int_cam=au%3Aen%3Apromotion%3Ann%3Aen%3Ann#flight-information

See also https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/sport/were-down-already-and-they-keep-kicking-us-british-speedway-fears-for-future/ Perhaps we should start a separate thread about this e.g. Rob Godfrey blows his top!

A streamed meeting! Whatever next! https://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.38333

Take an umbrella or waterproofs!

Extract from report on BBC website:- Small numbers of supporters will be able to watch outdoor sports, provided social distancing measures are followed. Read into that what you will!

I think you are right that the opportunity is passed. The sad thing is that, as far as I can see, no one even bothered to do the sums to find out if my original suggestions were feasible. Like you I have no idea what it costs to put a meeting on but Philip's figures suggested that there is an audience for live speedway and even old meetings can get nearly 3k viewers.

Just for the record. 3.8k people watched Birmingham v Peterborough last night.

According to the BBC ( Guernsey cricket stages first game of summer in British Isles - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/52861230 ) a live stream of a cricket match in Guernsey attracted over 80,000 YouTube viewers.

Could start behind closed doors on Monday.

According to the BBC Sport website today the Government has announced that no professional sport, even behind closed doors, will be staged in England until 1 June at the earliest. The government has published a 50-page guidance document detailing how England will begin to ease lockdown measures. Step two of that plan - which will not be allowed to start before 1 June - includes "permitting cultural and sporting events to take place behind closed doors for broadcast, while avoiding the risk of large-scale social contact. The document states that reopening venues that attract large crowds, such as sports grounds, "may only be fully possible significantly later depending on the reduction in numbers of infections". It seems to me, therefore, that a resumption of speedway with crowds is unlikely for some considerable time, possibly not at all the season so I am putting these basic suggestions forward to see if our combined brains can come up with a way for speedway to restart. I am quite happy for the suggestions to be pulled apart and perhaps ridiculed as long as, between us, we can come up with something sensible. First I think that Speedway is a sport that can be held behind closed doors and that the necessary social distancing measurers can be put in place to protect riders, mechanics, officials etc. Even Rob Godfrey concedes this. The big question is where is the money going to come from to pay for this. Unlike most major spectator sports speedway relies mainly on income from spectators and sponsors. Assuming that the sponsors continue to sponsor then we would have to set up a system for televising meetings and asking fans to pay to watch on T.V. I think that all tracks have a firm that records meetings and sells the subsequent DVDs to fans. Could these companies do live streaming via YouTube or, if not, show an edited version a day or two later on YouTube? I would be quite willing to pay what I normally pay to watch live. To make things easier could we take a leaf out of football’s book and only use a few tracks that are owned by promoters like Scunthorpe, Redcar and Somerset or are on long leases like Leicester and Plymouth and who do not have too many restrictions on the number of meetings that can be held or which host other sports. All meetings could be held on these ‘neutral’ tracks with the proviso that no team races on its home track. If a recording system is used then several meetings could be held each day during daylight hours at each track thus reducing costs. Football for example is talking about holding three televised matches a day behind closed doors. Over to you!

Bang on. What a brilliant piece of promotion as well as helping the NHS!

The PM today talked about wearing face masks when we go out. Is some entrepreneur already making them in team colours and with logos?

Tesco's and Sainsbury's are rushed off their feet. Punters need something to read whilst queuing to pay!

Several of the tracks I have been to have limited undercover seating so I take my own lightweight fold up seat and, if it looks like raining, some waterproofs. Simples!

There are still quite a number of people around now who were around at the time the stadium was constructed, including the current press officer.