21st century heathen

A bit of good news for the Heathens ahead of the PO fixtures. Bekker has not broken his leg. That should give the lads a bit of a lift after what must have been a tough day yesterday. Also, Roynon is planning to ride at the weekend so may be back before the end of the season. Great news that he's obviously recovering well but not sure how I feel about him riding again this year.

First and foremost a bit of good news. The Heathens website, in an pre-meeting article for tomorrow, states that Byron has not broken his femur as was first feared. He does sound pretty banged up though so is clearly out of action. It's great news that he's escaped a broken leg though. Secondly, congrats to Mildenhall. The team look to have gone about their business in a truly professional manner. Their riders can only go out and do their best for their club. There's no way we can turn around that kind of deficit so it's disappointing as a Heathens fan. Already without Ash and losing Byron in that manner does look to have shook the lads up because even against such a strong team I'd have expected more points from Tom, Dan and Darryl. That's speedway for you though, so we just have to move on to the next meeting and it's equally as important. It's going to need all the experience of those involved with the Heathens to get their heads up and put them in the right frame of mind for tomorrow. A further bit of good news, potentially at least, is that Roynon is planning a comeback this weekend. I'm not sure if he's brave or foolish but best wishes to him, and fingers crossed that if he rides again this season he does so with a great deal of care!!

Where have you had the line-ups from?

Congrats to all concerned. It sounds like I missed a good one. Well done Dan. He's had a cracking return to the sport this season. He started the year as a 3-point NL reserve and ends on 5.90 in the main body of the team, rode very well in the U19's at Sheffield a few weeks ago and has now taken the MDLRC. Now if he can just add some team silverware...

Hope everyone has a safe meeting. Ommer um Dan.

Track record is out of date on that page. 53.94 now! The 1,300 figure could be the indoor capacity.

One of several that has a chance in my opinion.

Nielsen must be the favourite, but it's bold (IMO) to suggest that there's only two potential winners. I think there are a few more than that. It should be a good meeting and no doubt the battle for the rostrum places will be cut-throat.

It's a shame it's not the full strength line-up, but these events rarely are. It's still a good looking line-up and should be very good value if the track is conducive to racing. Really? Who?

Heathens' crowds are healthy, all things considered, but any suggestion of in the region of 2-3k on a regular basis is wildly optimistic in my opinion. I would put regular crowds in the region of 1,200. Broadly speaking the crowd for a Heathens meeting is about the same as a Wolves meeting. Jokes about pulling bigger crowds than our old rivals may be taken a bit too literally, and probably exaggerated, by some people. I've been to Monmore on consecutive nights and seen one or the other club pull a slightly larger crowd, and I've seen it pretty much the same. The main reason it's difficult to judge a crowd is that we don't ever see an official figure so we have no frame of reference. Also, 1,200 at Monmore will look a bigger crowd than 1,200 spread out around somewhere like Swindon.

No problem. Glad you spotted it.

Oops yes, sorry. It's Tue 16th rather than Mon 16th as I've suggested. My main point remains though. There should be plenty of dates that the stadium is available.

It's provisionally the 9th, according to club press release. Wednesday is reserved for speedway at Monmore Green as Wolves' alternative night (see link at the bottom of this post). It's has been for many, many years but is almost never used. I genuinely can't recall the last time Wolves had to resort to a Wednesday meeting. (I've been to more meetings than not at Monmore since '97). I see no reason why the stadium shouldn't be made available to Heathens as well as Wolves on a Wednesday should there be a need. It's also worth noting that Wolves' relatively poor season means the only remaining Monday meetings are v Belle Vue on 1st Oct and the Olympique on 16th Oct. http://www.wolverhamptonwolves.co/page.php?5

It is, and should be, in my opinion, the stepping stone between the amateur/MDL meetings and the PL. Using the Heathens as an example as I watch them regularly, the club has given Morris and Perry three years of riding against a better quality of rider so they can improve and they have raised their game to the point that they're now regular PL reserves. Without the NL as it is now they would either be riding amateur level or perhaps a much weaker NL than it is now. Had that been the case they would have not had the level of competition required to improve and get the PL places they now hold. Also, Ritchings and Greenwood have been given a taster of PL action but come up short this season. Hopefully next season they become the next big improvers and are able to gain, and retain, a PL place. The experience that older riders have can be very valuable to those younger riders prepared to listen. I remember Hancock/Hamill stating they were still learning from Les Collins back in '96 when we raced as Cradley & Stoke. I also believe that having to chase down PL quality riders that are doubling-down is important as it gives them a 'marker' as to where they need to be to compete at that level. For example, Roynon may well be one of he best riders to have ever ridden at this level but he's only a 3rd heat leader with a 7-point average at PL level. Knowing where you are in relation to someone like him (or R Worrall, Birks, Haines etc) really is important to a rider wanting to progress to a higher level. Quite a few NL riders have ridden PL this season. Surely that's the aim. We should be developing our own talent through the various levels to a point that they move up through the PL hopefully on to the EL. This should reduce the need for foreign imports and reduce costs throughout the sport in this country. I fear that without this valuable stepping stone to the PL fewer Brits will be riding to a level where the PL Promoters sit up and take notice. Would Perry, Morris, Greenwood and Ritichings have been given PL outings had they not been impressing in a strong NL? If it were a weaker league the PL Promoters may look at those riders and think ok 'x' is averaging 10 but who is he really beating? Now all of that said I acknowledge that it's a slightly strange league in that clubs have different agendas and it's not easy for some clubs to make it pay. It's not, nor should it be allowed to become, all doom and gloom though. Buxton, as a good example, may operate on a shoe-string but the club had great success recently. Swindon attract a good crowd but haven't won the league since God was a lad. I would hate to lose Buxton. It would be a very sad day indeed as I believe what has been achieved there in the past, and hopefully in the future, is fantastic. But having had recent success it's clearly not the league structure that is the root cause of any problems there. There may be problems throughout the leagues and some action may be required but I do not believe weakening our product, at any level, is the answer.

You cannot just keep extending the deadline. As I've stated a couple of times it's my opinion that if a club cannot complete it's fixtures it has a 0-75 awarded against it. I believe this has been done in the past, but cannot recall a precise example. What I would be absolutely against is a club being fined. Things are tight enough without the fat cats squeezing clubs in what has been the wettest season in the sports history (in this country), or even for other legitimate reasons. If there were a repeat offender then perhaps further action should be taken. Off the top of my head something along the lines of KL (just as an example) are given an 'official' warning this season. If they fail to complete their fixtures by the deadline next season they start the following season on -5 league points. That provides motivation to move heaven and earth to get the fixtures in but does not directly impact a club financially.

Yes. The riders race for financial gain.

The date has been changed once. I reiterate my opinion stated last week when considering IOW could miss out through no fault of their own - If clubs cannot complete their fixture list then a 0-75 should be awarded. It's harsh, but is speedway a professional sport or not? It's long-since been rumoured that the Heathens would choose Stoke in the PO semi. Frankly, I think that's utterly ridiculous and it would serve us right if we were knocked out.

Gutted for him. Thanks for the info.

Super meeting on a well-prepared track. Never been before and have to say that's a very nice set-up you've got at Sheffield. The Morris/Sarjeant race was worth the tenner on it's own. Lots of races became well-spread but there was plenty to enjoy with a number of riders pulling off good moves at times, with some brave souls getting out in the dirt. Congratulations to Stef, Ash and Joe, but what could have been for Tom. He was absolutely superb in the qualifying heats. Only Ash got anywhere near him and he was leading his 5th ride by a country mile after one of those brave rides out in the dirt I mentioned. He went so deep on turn two to get around and then just left everybody standing. He then made an awful start when it mattered most. After his performance in the U21's earlier in the year he could so very easily be boasting two national titles this year but walks away with nothing. Still, the big picture is his overall improvement from about a 5½ point man to near 10 point man this season. The top three were very good value with Ash clearly the second best rider, to Tom, throughout the qualifying heats. So, I'm almost as disappointed for him as I am for Tom. Those pesky Mildenhall boys keep getting in the way of a good night out!! Again, congrats to them. Both were worthy of their place in the final, with Sarj a little unfortunate to be the one to miss out as I feel he rode equally well. Dan rode well too and on another night could have got himself in the semi-final with his 10 points. Oops - I'll leave it in. Feel free to take the wee wee. Ben and Darryl didn't disappoint with both having a very solid night. One poor ride by Darryl could have spoilt his night a but but good to see him round the night off with a confident looking heat win. Tom S looked like he could be something of a surprise packet with two very impressive opening rides but he tailed off very badly. Still, a creditable scored overall though. All the others gave it their all but generally seemed to find the pace a little too hot and struggled to get points other than off each other. Fully commitment from every rider is all you can ask for and we certainly got that. Finally, best wishes to Conor. We were told he suffered an arm injury but not the extent of the injury. Given the time taken I fear it could have been a nasty one. Hope not though. Does anyone have any information on the injury?

The NL is viable in my opinion. There are a number of things in all the leagues that could do with being looked at but I hope we don't see any silly ideas or reactions to problems with fixtures this season. The 2012 season has been the wettest season speedway has ever known, to date, so fingers crossed it will be a long time 'til we see another like it. My point really was just that IOW, or any other club, should not be denied the chance to make the POs because another club cannot fit its fixtures in before the deadline.

To the best of my knowledge no funding has ever been sought, nor would it be. That said I don't have any insider knowledge, just what we (the fans) have been told over the years. The Council representatives said from the off that the Council would back speedway as long it didn't cost them anything. Easy to scoff now but to be fair the then Council did turn down the initial planning applications for Barratts to build houses on the Dudley Wood Road site. The problem has not been funding as such but rather finding land the Council consider suitable and then jumping through the variety of hoops that appear just as you think you're on to a winner.

Yes, it is harsh on any club that has legitimate reasons for not getting all the fixtures in. But it's potentially a lot more harsh on a club that misses out on a play-off place through no fault of their own. I'm not having a dig at KL particularly, it's just happens to be KL involved. In a case such as this KL have nothing to lose by not staging the fixture but it could cost IOW dearly.

If a home club cannot stage a meeting before the cut-off it should forfeit the points, particularly if the result could have affected the play off places. If the KL v IOW fixture does not go ahead IOW should be awarded the 4 points.

It's a shame but I fail to see any link with speedway in the area. Significantly less visitors can almost certainly be attributed mostly, if not entirely, to the very wet Spring and Summer.

I see the club statement dated and time stamped Tue 4th 20:13. This is around the time we, at Monmore 'Wood', had his absence explained to us as due to illness. That seems somewhat doubtful. Typical speedway. Anywho, I've no problem with the signing itself. It's before the cut-off, his average fits and there's time for the declaration to get the nod in time for the big meeting/s to come.