HGould

I don't think Ray is being disrespectful in making a what he thinks is a valid point. I also think that if someone dies that you don't respect or like for whatever reason, justified or not in the opinion of the majority, that the most respectful reply is to say nothing at all. Thats all I have to say on the topic.

On the subject of Ambulances and Paramedics it would seem that with our NHS in the state its in that the only resolution Speedway can have is to have 2 x Ambulances and 2 x Paramedics and other medical support at each Fixture. I won't hear a bad word about the Paramedics at Perry Barr though as there is at least 1 rider in the past few years whose life was saved by them. (Mitch Davey) That awful incident though casts a light on just how unforseen accidents can happen in Speedway that CAN'T be legislated for and for that reason I won't attack the Promotion for the sake of it. My recollection of that night was that whilst Mitchell's life was being saved another rider was being treated for a significant broken bone injury. So in that context even with 2 Ambulances and 2 paramedics and teams; a Meeting would still have been abandoned as both crews would have been working independently and both going asap to A+E. That's an extreme scenario but no doubt a few bashers would still have found fault with it. With regards the refund policy the Club have abided strictly to the letter of the BSPL regulations as they stand. In my opinion they are WRONG to do so and a small amount of common sense and customer relation skills would have quickly come up with an alternative. My question though would be - if the Club deviate from the BSPL specific Rules would they be penalised? Would a memo come from the Ivory Towers to tell them they can't do that as it sets a dangerous precedent. There tend to be 2 types of Speedway promotion in this era, the ones that stretch the boundaries with a customer slant are all too often frowned upon by the powers that be and the ones who act like they don't give a fig about supporters and abide rigidly to the BSPL rules are seen as glowing lights. There are 2 sides to every story and 2 sides to every coin. Strictly speaking Birmingham Speedway have followed the protocols. By all means attack them if you wish but we don't know the full facts and until we do I will reserve judgement. I will be writing to the Management politely to ask these questions and hopfully I will get a reply. I think with a businessman like Nigel in charge who will understand how important good customer service is, I will get a reply. Too many Speedway tracks are closing, we are all rejoicing in the return of Oxford and quite rightly and in Jamie Courtney there is one of those more forward thinking Promoters that are bucking the trend, but lets not forget HOW LONG it took to get Oxford back and how long it took Brian Buck to get Birmingham back too from the wilderness years. Thank You

Thats great for you Gerbat and I hope Mrs G is on the mend. Waiting times in parts of West Midlands though are horrendous

Vsst majority if tracks have had private ambulance and paramedic for years. Some tracks have 2 ambulances, some have 2 paramedics. 2 ambulances and 1 paramedic can be a problem if paramedic has to go with the ambulance to hospital. 2 paramedics and 1 ambulance is problem if ambulance has to leave stadium. Some NHS Trusts will only prioritise County NHS ambulance. It's easy to blame Promoters. I blame a Government that has destroyed the NHS and mugged taxpayers off 37 billion to Dido Harding and Michelle Mone for PPE that didn't exist and companies created by MPs to mug us off In Britain's second city a wait for a 999 ambulance at 6 hours is the norm Thats down to Boris Johnson NOT Nigel Tolley and Laurence Rogers

Gutted for the Promotion Team Hope Josh is OK Big crowd dry night good track. Not sure what medical solution is realistically available? NHS is in crisis. Massive delays. Medic cover and 2 Ambulance would be massive cost.

It's hard to work out what goes through the minds of some people. When Len retired and Central Park was no longer available or affordable (not sure which) the bravery of Si Kellow and his supporters in trying to make this solution happen deserves massive praise and credit not moaning and whining. The South East for various reasons has become a desert for Speedway in recent times and with no options south of Mildenhall, east of Poole or Oxford it may be sensible for people to be grateful for what they have. Hopefully Lakeside will find a track soon and Eastbourne will reopen next year; but until they do if you want Speedway in the South East its at Iwade! Music or lack of, toilets, food you'll have to give it a chance to improve and surely it will. The Air Fence apparently came from Central Park and is not a bespoke fitting?. Bags leak and need time to be properly set up and it may be they need more powerful blowers. The site as far as I'm aware is a long standing Training facility with various planning constraints but a decent track and like Buxton and Berrington Lough and lets not forget Somerset in those early days is what it is, a speedway track in a field where facilities have to be built as and when required. Hopefully Mr Kellow wont be disheartened by the moans and whinges and will create a long term home for Speedway in the area.

I'm pretty sure given his popularity and the fact he oversaw all BSPL media output that a memo has gone out to all Clubs to hold a respectful 1 minute silence or applause at their next meeting.

Deserved win for Leicester. Lost a sure 5 1 when Mountain had ef and endine problems earlier for Worrall. Poole will look very weak away from home when either Cook drops to reserve. Kemp started Sheffield season well at reserve but struggled mentally at no 2 Be interesting to see if he's mature enough to cope now. Dan T needs spell at reserve too.

Neil is one of a number of Curtis Sports journalists from around these parts in the West Midlands. There seems to be an increasing debate including on these Forums that the current 3 tier model has to change because if it doesn't there aren't enough riders to expand the CL as a middle tier much above 10 Clubs. It would seem the fans favourite would nne be a top tier of 8 or 10 clubs and a second tier of 10 clubs. If Swindon, Eastbourne, Workington came back and you add Mildenhall and who knows IOW there coukd be a 10 10 Club top tier and a 12 Club second tier. A top tier including some second tier rising stars and a second tier possibly the strength of the 2017 and 2018 NDL. With the current problems finding enough riders to staff the current CL something has to give. Hopefully all Clubs who want to join can join at a level they can make work consistently for their own budgets.

If you're a Belle Vue fan would be 600 mile round trip. That's North of 150 quid in fuel in a decent car. So at least 200 quid. Seem Plymouth streaming last week and it was superb quality. Sit at home spend 12 quid save 200. No brainer.

so one ex Management Committee Chairman screwing another over - you couldn't make it up!

Hope James is OK and a swift recovery. Its not done his speedway career any good all these grass track crashes but i suppose he earns significant sums on the grass / long tracks especially abroad.

From memory that was only the half of it. Didn't Lakeside find a number of their matches being called off a few days before they were due to be raced on a Friday night because the Management Committee were concerned about rider availabilty because almost every team would be racing on a Friday night. I seem to remember Jon Cook going ballistic about it and Lakeside having a big Fixture backlog. Nothing to do with Scunthorpe needing a No 1 Guest though! ??

Seem to remember that BWD had a serious problem with shoulder blades a few years ago. They had separated. Hopefully he can get latest problem sorted as on form he's a very exciting talent. It's getting a bit silly now on here with people seeing conspiracy in every injury when reality is different and riders are genuinely injured.

Well it's on global live stream. No reason why they can't go down the VAR route us there? Two shocking decisions could be easily overturned

The voice of fact and commonsense as always Brian. Thank you. Explains my similar understanding re Papers but in far greater and specific details

You mean when Ben spilt the beans on them?? Be interesting if Kennett returns quickly. He started last season very badly but got back in the swing eventually. Hans and MPT probably need to give Bjarne a call about bike set up there. Poole will be top 3 as I predicted but still think Glasgow and Leicester are considerably stronger all round.

Ah... Typical updates lol.

Not often you see someone pass another on the outside and get excluded. Strange one that.

The problem all Nations have is that their conveyor belts now all lead to the same place -: POLAND! The creation of the Under 24 League just adds to this. All the best talent from GB ; Denmark , Sweden who have allegedly protected nights) and every other Nation, especially those that have long staffed GB / Danish / Swedish Leagues is now being unilaterally sucked in to the Polish system. The Polish internal conveyor belt is also highly professional. gets massive funding and allows pretty much any Polish boy or girl to join what is increasingly like a UK type football academy where all the equipment is provided from small pee-wee type bikes right up to 500cc. Many of the No Limits / Young GB prospects of the last 3-4 years are already signed up to Polish Clubs and they are already tapping up some aged 14-16 in our Youth set up. It's like comparing PL Football Club like Chelsea (Poland) to Walsall (GB) no slight on Walsall but that is the reality. If you are a Speedway rider with apiration of a full time career and income from the Sport the ONLY place is Poland! We should try to hang on the protected nights (Monday and Thursday) as long as possible; but sadly I fear the CL will have to feed off reducing scraps and those who ride midweek (Tuesday and Wednesday) may be best placed as Poland is slowly gravitating to Friday too for some league matches and its not hard to see them giving preferential treatment to those who will base themseleves in Poland. The U24 League is I understand set for Tuesdays also in some instances in the future. The UK base will surely grow older and ride longer in to late 40's as we are now seeing. The sooner League Speedway in the UK goes semi professional and cuts its cloth accordingly the sooner i think we can find a base level and secure that and hopefully at some point build again.

I don't think it's a NEW paper. Various free editions of the Chronicle cover specific areas and have been free and widely distributed for years. Some cover Wolverhampton and include Wolves. Some include the "Black Country" and include Cradley. Most of the non football/cricket reporting is generic accross various areas. The Express and Star Group has always been less in evidence once cross over into the "Greater Birmingham Area" long the area covered by the old "Birmingham Post and Mail". Many Brummies fans will live in the area covered by Post and Mail; and some who come across from the West of the M5/M6 areas like Walsall / Aldridge / Lichfield etc will be far more likely to get a version of "The Chronicle" that you refer to. The best example is the old PINK sports paper on a Saturday - the hugely popular Sports Argus that was a Birmingham Post and Mail production widely popular all accross the western Midlands and further out and the less popular Sporting Star - produced by the Express and Star Group who produce the Chronicle. Any publicity in these free rags is welcome.

1) Glasgow (Basso and Brennan could be 2 of the biggest upwardly mobile movers all season)2) Leicester (strong 1-7 and one of the Twins will be at reserve all season)3) Poole (weaker at reserve than some - Kemp seems to have flatlined -)4) Redcar (dark horses for me strong all through and underrated improving reserves)5) Oxford (solid if they all click - will have to see what home advantage they have if any)6) Plymouth (4 heat leaders if Kennett delivers and 2 improving reserves - reliant on a few staying fit)7) Scunthorpe (very strong at home very vulnerable away)8) Berwick (solid at home vulnerable away)9) Edinburgh (not as strong as 2021 home form should be solid)10) Birmingham (I don't believe Ellis will be available most of the time and without him will struggle)11) Newcastle (will surprise a few at home and certainly wont be whipping boys at Byker)

In 2019 I saw him wheel 2 filthy bikes in to the Pits at a meeting after he'd ridden the night before. Doesn't take 30 mins at at last get the hose out and make an effort. Giving him the benefit of the doubt though as in a recent Speedway Star article he did conform that he had gone through a very acrimonious separation and divorce that will have impacted on that period and possibly his ability to invest too much in new gear. Sometimes things go on that we don't know about and there are 2 sides to every story and every image. I'd love nothing more than for him to get competitive and bang in a solid 7 point average season.

There can be processional races everywhere however good or bad the track is. The only thing they are doing at Leicester is trying and innovating. The original track shape and banking has been altered several times and the camber on the first turn has been improved and may be improved further. The fact that the track is extensively used for practice must hamper preparation on occasions but without practice there would be no conveyor belt of new talent. Swindon was massively improved by shortening the straights are rounding off the corners and a few tracks may benefit from that as the issue it seems are bikes and modern engines and set up's as much as tracks, even though Leicester is a relative new build. Give the Promotion there credit where it's due and as someone else has said, better a track where racing is ocasionally boring than no racing at all, you only have to look down the road at Coventry and Cradley to realise that.

I fear a good tonking for the Brummies. Will Ellis be in France, Poland, his back garden or timbucktoo? If he is there will he have one of his better bikes. You certainly need a motor round Berwick. I think Proctor and Pijper are astute signings tailor made for that very exciting banking. Flint is reaching undoubted potential now and in Bomber and Wells 2 proper heat leaders and Etheridge is a PL reserve too and like Bickley a track specialist. As for streaming, a great initiative I wish well but is it really going to attract new support? I'll be happy if it keeps existing support enthused enough to keep supporting at home and may be entice a few previous fans to try again. No point getting new fans in if old ones are drifting off in greater numbers or cherry picking matches. Berwick under the Courtney's are bucking trends and succeeding in growing the sport. Good luck to them. I look forward to watching the stream.