Chairboy

Could be, I hadn't thought of that! Thanks Lisa

Does anyone on here know why Dan Gilkes is riding for Plymouth v Birmingham tonight, but is being replaced by a guest at Oxford tomorrow?

This is the best news I have read re British speedway for a long time. The current league tables are an absolute mess. The bonus point is a simple and fair incentive.

Re the car park at the stadium itself - I had a quick look round recently and found that the main part of the 'old' car park (at the 3rd/4th bends end of the track) is no longer part of the stadium complex.

Having seen recent photos of the inside of the grandstand, in a totally derelict state, it does not surprise me that they intend to open in April without this in use. What I would be interested to know is whether or not the new promoters intend to erect any form of outdoor seating for spectators, eg as at Leicester?

Ben Cook hurt at Redcar this evening, may leave a hole at 6 for Poole. Can Alfie Bowtell move to 6, and use R/R at 2?

I'm planning on attending the home fixture v Belle Vue on Monday. Does anyone know if we are still expected to buy tickets online in advance? Will we need to wear masks when entering the stadium? Legally, all restrictions are lifted from 19 July but I can't see any mention of this on the Peterborough website.

Great. Thanks for the reality check.

Agree 100%. There is no point making the place ready for racing and not providing a decent amount of seats with a good view of the track - if you want the fans to come.

Big respect to you, Cityrebel! This is interesting stuff. Can I take this opportunity to apologise to you for something - I don't make many posts on here, but the user name I first gave myself was "White City Rebel". I felt rather guilty when I found myself reading posts from you, and you had clearly been on this site a lot longer than me, and I had inadvertently chosen almost the same name. I did eventually get round to changing my user name! I hope I bump into you sometime at Kent or Eastbourne, I'm sure you have many tales from your dog days...

Good stuff. I've no doubt you will always remember that Gold Cup Final, and the preceding rounds. My family had dogs trained by John Annett (attached to Oxford) and Gary Baggs (Walthamstow) in the late 80s/early 90s. I trained a few myself, racing mainly at Rye House and Milton Keynes. I'm guessing not everyone on this forum will appreciate this foray into greyhound reminiscing. I will always see football, speedway and greyhound racing as the 3 great working class sports of the 20th century (not necessarily in that order!).

Hi Blueherb - I'm probably one of a select few on this site that that also has ( or had) an interest in greyhounds. What was your Gold Cup finalist called, and who was your trainer?

I agree, I would happily support an NDL team at Rye House, and I know I'm not alone in saying that. In terms of it's facilities and ease of access (or lack of it), RH suits that level of racing.

Starting the season with 7 teams, can we really have 4 teams qualifying for the play-offs? More teams qualify than don't?! Some sporting credibility could be maintained if only the top 3 qualify, with the team finishing top going straight into the final.

As a speedway fan who also follows football, I am always amazed that this mysterious 'asset' system remains in speedway. There was a time (not so long ago) when football clubs owned player's registrations, and even at the end of a player's contract could stop a player from playing for someone else, unless a transfer fee was paid between the clubs. This all changed, of course, with what became known as the 'Bosman' ruling by the European court. A Belgian player got his lawyers to argue (successfully) that when his contract with a particular club came to an end he should be free to seek new employment wherever he wished. These days, transfer fees are only paid between football clubs for players who wish to move while they are still under contract. I would suggest it would only take one speedway rider with a decent lawyer to bring this system to an end.

Massive respect to anyone coming down from Cumbria...I know you're made of stern stuff up there, but you might want to bring a jumper.

So the 2 Lakeside riders will race in a double-header at Workington on Saturday night, and at Rye House on Sunday evening, and in between will ride in the grasstrack meeting?

All this is great news for Peterborough. Next Friday, Lakeside v Workington. Saturday, Workington v Lakeside double - header. Then Lakeside v Peterborough on Sunday. I have to confess to having no experience of life as a speedway rider, but when the Lakeside team line up v Peterborough on the Sunday they will have already ridden in 3 matches over the previous 2 days, and driven the length of the country twice. Seriously, how do you cope if you are feeling the effects of an injury, or have a problem with a bike that needs fixing?

As a speedway fan living in south Buckinghamshire, Peterborough is easily the track I have visited the most as a 'neutral' supporter in recent years - mainly because you're always assured of a covered seat with a decent view. So, at the risk of stating the b. obvious, I'd certainly count myself among the many who would describe themselves as 'gutted' if the track closed. On another matter, it's interesting that the attendance for the Play-off SF was low. Aren't we always told 'the fans love the play-off system'? I would love it if we went back to the proper league championship system, and I would say the same about the Premiership too. If BT want some guaranteed end-of-season fixtures to broadcast, the Semis and Final of the KO Cup would surely fit the bill.

With a forecast like that (significant rainfall from 10am and throughout the rest of the day), I would say calling it off as early as possible (tonight hopefully) would be appreciated by riders and fans alike. Very unfortunate for the home promotion, the band of rain is coming through at exactly the worst possible time.

Well, I do like a straight answer to a straight question! Thanks TT.

Genuine question - does anyone have a theory as to why Lakeside persist with R/R (rather than a guest) for Kyle Newman? I was at Peterborough last night and I can't see how giving extra rides to Alfie Bowtell and Broc Nicol is supposed to work.

I read in this week's Speedway Star that they have booked Chris Harris for the meeting at Rye House, then Ben Barker for the one at Peterborough. If that's correct, it's a little odd that the Panthers own preview does not reflect this.

Whether or not we all like it, the League Champions are determined by play-offs - which effectively means a 2 legged knockout contest tagged onto the end of this season. For this reason, it is absurd to also have 2 other competitions which end with exactly the same format, at the same time of year (and often with the same teams). Ideally, if there were sufficient league fixtures there would be no need for the rather contrived Championship Shield. As for the KO Cup, in my view it should have cut-off points enforced earlier in the season, and a Final much earlier in the season, so it is over and done with long before the play-offs start. In a perfect world, of course. Next week, my solution to end conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Couldn't agree more with that last sentence!