East End Fan

At last we are seeing a local youngster get a chance. Jason Edwards COULD become one of the better kids around, just too late in the season to do us any good. But we can't help his birthday

Seems to me that there are lots of moaners out there. I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting at Leicester and the fact that some riders were missing did not spoil it for me. It must be remembered that almost all of the riders in the National League are at best semi-professional so cannot be expected to have the same commitment as a full time professional. I do not find that a problem and enjoy the often unexpected things that happen where riders are learning their trade. Fully agreed with the member who voiced his opiniuon that both Luke Bowen and Bewley were the outsatnding riders for excitement.

Well, TonyE, that is a very pessimistic view. I think that we have every chance with Alfie the key man. IF he performs as he can, it's Heigh Ho for the Final....Eastie of Kent ??? Good end to the season.

I had not seen Bewley previously to watching him in the NLRC. This young man is an outstanding talent and I predict a brilliant future for him. He was a little lucky in that his first three races, when the track was too slick to allow any passing, he made some really good starts. After the track was watered in the interval, the track changed entirely and the racing improved beyond recognition ( lesson to be learned there !). Young Bewley's last to first runs in his last two races were worth the price of admission on their own. Loved it. Pity that some riders were missing for whatever reasons, but, to be fair, the meeting did not seem to suffer as a result. Ben rode well as I expected, but there was only ever going to be one winner.

While it's true that we have a very long tail, we are not alone in that respect. We deserve our Play Off place because our top 4 are among the best in the league. Just wonder who we'll get ?

This is a meeting I will certainly go to. Pretty good line up and our own rider in with an excellent chance. Good venue IMO as it's easy to get to.

Crickey...the opinions about Cookie and the club are alarming. And far too harsh in my opinion. He has, after all, given us some speedway this year and obviously lost a lot of money doing it. OK we know things were far from perfect with different race days and long periods with no meetings, but I think that the reason was beyond Cookie's control as he does not own the stadium. I cannot imagine that any promoter with a brain would want to do anything other than run on a regular race day, so it must have been forced on him. He has now come out publicly to say that he wants to go back where he was before, so I say "Good Luck" to him and let's get behind the club.....As I've said on this forum many times...Use it or lose it.

Promises, Promises.....As I've said before, I'll believe it when I see it. New stadium will take huge amounts of good things to happen for it to become reality. And where is the finance coming from ? With the decisions still being considered for the new Dartford crossing, my guess is that the Arena Essex site could easily be smack in the middle of all that.

"Dire Track"....really ? I thought they'd shortened it at both ends to make it better. The NLRC looks very good indeed with our Ben in with a top chance.

Yes, I'd agree with Claret3...there seems to have been a lack of ambition to uncover any new talent. I know that finding them is far from easy, and in the long run only a very few actually make decent riders. But around Lakeside has been Martin Hagon who trains young kids, so I would have thought that he might have come up with a possible. I feel that if my club had found one young teenager who looked promising, instead of keep using no-hopers, the public may well have got behind that and supported N.L. in bigger numbers.

Buxton's longevity in the league is even more astonishing if you consider that the track is so far from civilisation that it's a wonder anyone can find it. This is from conversations with others as I have never visited it myself. Tried to find it on a map, but failed.

Thanks Dave...Leicester Hunter. Now I understand where you are coming from although I am not familiar with the goings on at Birmingham over ther past few years. I only know that Tony Mole rescued it, as he has done in other places at different times. It seems such a shame that he is being lost to the game. Not totally certain why, but I was told that it was to do with the way that the BSPA are treating the National League. Can't understand any reason for the 3rd league to have any problem with the BSPA or anyone else. All they do is to find fresh new talent which is good for the game, so if the BSPA are in fact, as suggested, harming the league, there must be something that we don't know about. Shame

How do you know he gets £500 a meeting ? Sounds like a lot of money to me and very unlikely. If you had the choice way back in Maytime and had to choose whether to have George Hunter or Paul Hurry...it was a no brainer at the time and I didn't hear anyone complaining. Now that George has improved beyond all recognition since joining Kent, all the clever Dicks are shouting the odds about what a stupid move it was....well, it was not.

"Dregs" is a bit of an over the top description. I presume you are referring to people at Leicester. Well at least someone there had the courage and audacity to build a new stadium, almost unheard of these days...and no Public money like Belle Vue. I'd find it hard to criticise that. Of course, although you call yourself Leicester Hunter, you may NOT be a Leicester fan...Hunter name goes back many many years to the old Blackbird Rd. Even their last years were as the Lions. Don't know much about Patchett. He doesn't appear on my radar too often, if at all. He's Cradley isn't he ? They've had their share of success, so what's wrong with the promoter ?

When we think about the costs and risks involved, the promoters who get involved are to be admired. Yet they are the most criticised bunch of people in the game. In the eyes of most fans they can do no right. In the past I have been friends with one or two of them which is probably why I rarely criticise and on the whole tend to support what they do.

I simply hope that Lakeside are able to operate and I am cool about which league it is. I happen to like the National League and with the money that is banded about in the Championship and Premiership, I would guess that the N.L. is attractive financially.

I think your arithmetic could be better....In any match there are approximately 100 points to be paid for, so, even if your guess at £20pp in NL is correct ( and it might be way off), that doubles your estimate. If the admission is £13 then normally £2.60 of that goes to the Government as VAT, so the nett is £10.40....at most tracks now kids are free and many allow concessions ( though not all). Drives a coach and horses through your estimates. What about stadium staff ? what about track materials and prep'costs ? Advertising ? BSPA fees ? Travel expenses for all riders plus officials, team manager etc home and away....Electricity and water bills....maintenance of stadium, track and tractors etc. I learned about all these things many years ago when I was friendly with Dave Lanning when he was running West Ham. I was astonished at the time, as I remember, about how these things add up. To add further to "Red and Yellow's" estimates, Although I am not privy to the current points money being paid in the Championship or Premiership, I would be amazed if it was anywhere near as low as being suggested. I'm pretty sure that when AJ rode for Lakeside he earned several thousand pounds per meeting on his own. That may be a guess, but I'll bet I'm not far out. Everyone knows that the Polish clubs pay massive sums to riders, and British speedway has to compete with that. Of course it is impossible to compete which is why we are losing so many top performers. I would have thought that fans who are keen enough to write on this forum would be aware of such basic knowledge...obviously I'm wrong.

Wow...if Jason makes this kind of offer to anyone who moans about him, I'll do my best to get him installed at Lakeside, then make every criticism that I can.....would save me a fortune.

We keep hearing talk of a new stadium...just like the past rumours at Reading, Long Eaton, Cradley, etc...I'll believe it when I see it. Looks unlikely at present with new river crossings and roads planned directly in the area of Arena. IMO Jon Cook, if he is serious about a new venue for our team, should be looking elsewhere along the Thames Valley. Looks like a lot of vacant land between Barking and Dartford..Is any of that accessible and available ? And IF that was a possibility, is there the finance in place ? Stadiums ain't cheap, however simple.

I made one of my few visits to Kent last night. Track stood up well after a big downpour just before the 1st race. It was a bit of a lottery to start with on the greasy track, but it soon came good. Bowen tried too hard and went through the fence in one race, packing up in another. If Boxall had been his normal self instead of getting penalised by the ref' for his constant misbehaviour at the starts, Plymouth might have pulled off a surprise win. Very fast run meeting which was good considering that there was rain about...no parade and no interval and I was on my way home by 8.15. Very impressed with the 15 year old Rowe, steady as a rock and as fast as anyone.

Do we ( the Hammers) still have a chance to make the Play-Offs.?..It's become a bit confused since Kent won at Birmingham

The "Voice of Reason" seems to think that a second half with teams from the National League would be free of charge to the promoter. Far from the case...ALL riders are at the very least semi-professional, so need paying. I note he refers to the current level as "amateur" How naive is that ? Does he think that Paul, Zach and Ben ride for nothing ?

Having an upper age limit would certainly be unpopular. Many of the older riders are still admired and supported by fans and in any case age discrimination is frowned upon anyway ( is it illegal ?) There is no doubt that the league should start using the formula that was so successful for so many years in the Premier League, and that is to set up teams to a 42.5 limit on the basis that it is roughly the average that exists. It means that the top teams at the end of the season will still have to lose a heat leader or two who are then available for the weaker teams while maintaining a decent standard of riding skills overall. The youngsters being introduced at any given time will improve much more quickly under such a plan ie Wobblies learn nothing from other Wobblies.

Was it that Eagles' riders under-performed, or did the Kings excel themselves ?? I note that no one seems to give them credit

Hunters is on his way to IOW for Thursday's meeting...Must be walking all the way.