Kevofastings10

I was intrigued to see that this fixture which having been told at Arlington that was set to go finally go ahead on Friday 28th October, which did appear, albeit briefly on both the BSPA and Kings Lynn's own website before disappearing again was dropped again without any official word or explanation - during that time I had made arrangements to be there - okay call me mad, it was a nothing fixture that counted for very little with the play offs and league title already decided but not having missed an Eastbourne meeting either home or away for a number of years as inconsequential as this one was as a dedicated eagles supporter I intended to be there. For me as a self employed person this meant me turning work away on that day (my choice I know - and while I'm not bleating about that the patience does start to wear a little thin) - when I was told that the match wasn't set to be run on that day, it came as no great given the history of that particular fixture - just to remind myself I scanned the Eagles programme - the match originally scheduled for April 6th (and rained off that day) was similarly called off on the 12th October - in between times Eastbourne were due to contest a knockout cup second leg fixture at Kings Lynn on 22nd July - this too was also rained off with no rest aging date ever made - on each of these other three occasions I had turned work away on those days in order to travel to the matches (again my choice) but only once did I ever leave the house (April 6th) when I received a call about four miles up the road - early afternoon - to advise me the match was off - the other two occasions I learned late morning of the cancellation as the weather forecast wasn't set fair - I also endeavoured to travel to the national league pairs for both the original staging and the rescheduled date of 16th October - the first time we almost made it to the track - getting to within 20 miles of the venue before again being advised by telephone that it wouldn't be going ahead - though our journey had been completed in decent weather thus far I did learn that localised flooding had occurred which prevented any racing going ahead and am fully accepting of that - simply a most unfortunate situation and one we must accept from time to time as speedway fans - the second staging however it was again the early morning call to tell me it was off - and having again turned work away that day and learning subsequently from this forum and social media that the expected bad weather had not materialised and the meeting probably could have gone ahead (and considering this was a national competition and not just a run of the mill league or cup match) I'll admit I did find that slightly irksome especially in light of my 2016 experience in attempting to travel to the Adrian Flux Arena. Having then been present at Eagles own cup semi final with Cradley with torrential rain falling at the scheduled start time to see what could be achieved when there is a determination that the match must go ahead - and furthermore having been in attendance at the Norfolk arena in past seasons when poor weather has hit and seen the local track staff go above and beyond and work wonders to ensure the match has concluded, it did lead me to question whether any of the above four matches mentioned above (2 league, 1 cup and 1 pairs - not including the original pairs staging which I know could not and the 'will they won't they' late 28th October which would appear to have been quietly dropped), three subject to morning cancellations - the other early afternoon could possibly have gone ahead? I can only surmise that my endeavours to follow my team Eastbourne, in three separate competitions, to kings Lynn in 2016 have been subject to an unprecedented sequence of bad luck with not one of these fixtures ever making it to tapes. All I know is as a self employed person it cost me a fair bit of money throughout the season - and while as previously stated that is my choice and of little consequence to anybody else, and I fully appreciate that my losses in no way compare to those potentially incurred by the promoters, it does obviously have a knock on affect on my lifestyle and it leads me to wonder if (in the case of certain fixtures at least) I should be so diligent in trying to follow my team and the sport as a whole. I sincerely hope that the Young Stars take their place in next years national league and if they should, when the Eagles are due in town I fully intend to be there - l only hope that we shall have better fortunes in getting the match(es) on in 2017 than we have throughout the entirety of season 2016

I could be mistaken but I don't think Eastbourne fans hate Danny - at least I hope they don't! He's a great character, plays to the crowd and maybe scores a few to many points against us, maybe that's why he is sometimes cast in the role of pantomime villain and maybe it should be taken as a back handed compliment if the crowd are giving him the bird (please pardon the pun) I'm a big Eagles fan and I have no problem whatsoever with Danny, gives 100% every time and as I mentioned he is a character, not unlike Barney Kennett, Kelvin Mullarkey and certain others back in the day - the sport could do with a few more like him I say That said, I wouldn't feel too disappointed if he didn't score too many against us in the Play Off Semi's ;-)

Have to say, like a lot of people I'm sure, I feel very sorry for Ben in all this - he's been a fantastic servant to theclub, scored a lot of great points and played a huge part in the success we enjoyed last season. I for one would like to thank him and while wishing he wasn't going, very much hope he gets fixed up soon and scores a load more points for his new team! Thanks Ben mate - you've been a star!!