hammer1969

The nearest track to me is Lakeside but getting there is a nightmare, my only means of accessing it is by car and I don't think that helps with getting supporters through the gates especially the youngsters who may not even have a car yet. When I first discovered Speedway I was still at school and travelled every week to West Ham by bus, get people interested in the sport young and hopefully they will stay with it for the rest of their lives. There is a bus station at Lakeside would it be possible for Lakeside promoters to perhaps think about running a shuttle bus to and from the bus station on match nights? I know the clock can't be turned back but in the 60's there was more local rivalry giving supporters more incentive to travel to away matches i.e. West Ham, Wimbledon, Hackney to name but a few all within travelling distance of each other and also all fairly easy to reach by public transport, with today's petrol prices etc. and a number of tracks being difficult to reach other than by car I doubt many supporters are able to travel to away matches on a regular basis. There 8 teams in the Elite league playing each other twice and also how can it be called 'Elite' when most of the riders also double up for a Premier Club - where's the competition in that, sort out the leagues, Elite should mean ELITE, bring back the competition even if it means joining the Elite and Premier League together. Also Speedway tracks shutting because of lack of support is a major problem and needs to be urgently addressed and although people need houses local Councils and Planning Departments need to understand they also need places to go for entertainment and football isn't the only sport on the planet people want to watch, the bikes may make some noise but so what many houses in this country are built next to major road/motorways that generate more noise permanently than a speedway meeting. I for one would rather watch a speedway meeting any day at least when riders fall off they usually get up dust themselves off and carry on unlike a lot of footballers who roll around on the ground because they have banged their big toe.

Oh well perhaps Rye can go to Berwick and surprise them like they surprised us today. At least Eddie didn't come last in heat 15 and I know why because in my programme there wasn't a heat 15 as I changed it to heat 14 and a half just like I did at Ipswich last Thursday when he came first.

We all know Darcy can score points and gets supporters through turnstiles but this is making Speedway more of a joke than ever. Ear!ier in the year Immigration officials were trying to stop Australians riding in the UK as they were taking jobs that should go to Europeans, Darcy is now eligible to ride again so he flies back to Australia to apply for his Visa as apparently they are issued quicker there, duly gets it to ride for Swindon and then puts an Englishman out of his riding place at Swindon - what a joke. Swindon promotion should be ashamed of themselves Kyle Howarth deserves better than that and the people who run - or should it be ruin - this sport that I have been watching since the 1960's need to take a good look at how they are contributing to the demise of speedway which at one time was second only to football in terms of support in this country. Promoters should name their team at the start of the season then obviously apart from a rider suffering a long term injury, win, lose or draw that is the team they should stick with for the season and not be able to just draft in a rider who becomes available who might score more points than a rider already in the team. I don't want to see Darcy get injured but if he does will Swindon turn back to Kyle for help?

Apologies before I start I know I will probably upset quite a few people on here. Just read Luke Bowen is back, I know he has been a loyal rider for Rye House for many years but honestly no wonder Speedway is losing supporters by the droves. Luke rode 3 home and 2 away matches for us this year and then decided to 'take a break' now Rye have him back. If a footballer decided to take a break a few weeks into the season, then 3 months later declare I think I'll come back now, would their management and supporters welcome him back with open arms - sorry but NO I dont think so - it could only happen in Speedway no wonder we are in a state. I have nothing against Luke but if he wanted to take a break he should have made the decision before the start of the season and stayed out for the whole of the season. Dan Greenwood may not be scoring many points and I am no expert but to me he at least he seems to be trying. Also if the Rye management have accepted Luke back surely they must have known about it before signing Maassen, who rode for us last night, they should have stuck by Dan who scored 3 at Ipswich and stayed on his bike, Maassen scored 1 and in the race where he fell off and was excluded he managed to take 2 other riders out with him. I am open to giving Maassen a fair chance and hopefully see some improvement but after watching him ride I shan't be holding my breath, but somebody needs to sort out these diabolical rules that seem to allow riders to come and go as they please and promoters to do as they please. I will be at Rye on Sunday mainly to watch the speedway but if I see our new promoter walking around he may get a few of my thoughts on this subject as well. Also just to stir other things up 'Darcy Ward' at Swindon, I know he scores points but at the beginning of the year we get the debacle re visas and the immigration department declaring Australian riders are taking work away from Europeans then what happens Darcy's suspension ends and Swindon take him on and get rid of an English rider to make way for him and presumably the immigration department agreed it !

We are going, still mad with Len but it's not the riders fault. Let's hope for a good meeting as the first half of last Monday was enjoyable, just a shame about the farce in the second meeting. Weather forecast is good although it's cloudy at present, perhaps the weather gods will shine on us and we will get a light shower this afternoon, enough to damp the dust down but not enough to call off the meeting.

Let's hope for a good meeting with no referee issues, as we all froze last week and the delay while she sorted her computer problems didn't help my cold toes. I'm going for a Rye win by 8 points - ever the optimist me!

Re my post (635) I have sent a few emails today to various people but with no clear answers forthcoming, Rye haven't even replied yet, but one reply was interesting it basically said as Eddie was a full asset of Elite side Coventry when he signed for Lakeside that is why they get priority. My answer to that is rule 16.1.4 says "a transfer during the season does not change this priority", and anyway I though the transfer was done before the season started.

I always read the forum but this is my first post as I to am upset re Eddie riding for Lakeside on Friday. I have re-read the SCB rules and my understanding of them is he should be riding for us as he is our asset. I have emailed Rye to ask for an explanation, hopefully I will get one and if I do and am still unhappy I will be emailing the SCB. If people on this thread also think he should be at Peterborough please email Rye as well, its about time us fans are listened to we have been taken for granted for too long its no wonder supporters are turning away in their droves from this brilliant family friendly sport.