HGould

might be as simple as the reason up to now has been time off work parent(s) would hve to take to get them to the Training and Courses a lot of which are midweek and in summer holidays. I also heard they have to stick to pretty rigid training and dietry plans and it may be that they prefer to go their own way in those off bike things. They've ridden in competitive Young Lions Select type matches so definitely seem to be on the radar. I agree Trigger does seem to be the odd one out in terms of ability and experience so far.

You'll probably be able to cycle across the top of the 10 mile Truck queue into Dover growing at the rate of a couple of miles a day all the way up to Glasgow by the time the season starts. Funny how that's ben hushed up again! Seriously, can't wait to take in a Fixture at Iwade if I can find the place, proper NDL speedway in the raw, the way it should be, the way Buxton was and hopefully northside will become.

Laurence has close links with Team USA Manzaries or Max Ruml might do a second string job. Might be worth looking at Sweden for a No 1...one season swansong, Peter Ljung or similar anyone not riding Danish League.

Went to a number of Tracks in first couple of months of last season where Security Guards were there and hadn't been so obvious or there before. Think it was part of the Covid Licensing that allowed stadia to open that they had to police Crowds and ensure social distancing. At some trackes they were very over zealous and winding people up.

spot on. It's very hard for any promotion to make money if they don't control and get benefit of food and drink and other perks such as hospitality. It's even harder if they get zero co-operation from Landlords which afflicts a number of Clubs to the detriment of customer service and encouraging first time or infrequent visitors to come back. Even harder if Landlords seem to bend over backwards to be awkward or even sabotaging initiatives before they can deliver any benefit as some clubs have found out over the years. Having some bone-head security man confiscating water bottles from kids as an example! Do it all yourself if you can seems to be the best model but the start up costs are much higher. Glasgow, Leicester; Scunthorpe; Plymouth good examples of how having control of income streams can deliver a good and affordable product , I'm sure there are others and hopefully Workington / Northside will soon join them.

If rumours are true they are paying top $$$ for riders; including reserves on more per point than some Clubs are paying Heat Leaders. JC is a legend and great role model but won't be doing Team Management for peanuts and expenses like some TM's do. I just hope for the sake of everyone at Oxford and for the Sport in general that the guy in charge of the Stadium has deep pockets. Wish them every success.

Enjoyed watching Stoneman on occasions riding for Brummies but he'll struggle to average more than 7 I'd think with heat leaders at most other NDL teams. Hopwood was entertaining too v Brummies when we were in NDL and looks a 6 pointer to me. Sam Hagon could be an excellent signing of he can stop getting injured.

Nigel has publically said he's put a sum in as a one-off investment and that's it ;not going to be an annual event. It's not going to be a Promotion that can just write a blank cheque every year to cover losses like the majority seem to do and find some kind of warped glory in admitting it. That suggests (a) prudence (b) a need to try to break even. There are plenty of examples of well meaning Promoters who have lost money by letting heart rule heads and trying to keep up with allegedly bigger Clubs who have benefactors (private or corporate) who see Speedway as a play thing. It's too easy to lose the lot very quickly or to lose too much to continue as Peter and David who did a great job and worked their nuts off found out. Can't stress enough times that Brummies will have to cut their cloth very carefully. It boils down to what do those fans they can attract really want?? A team that can compete at the top end of the League that almost certainly costs too much? A team that can win enough at home and can deliver entertainment enough to retain support and attract a few more to keep the ship afloat? As others have said or suggested, the best investment will be in a track that can consistently deliver entertaining speedway and not putting silly money or stupid guarantees in to mercenaries who will turn up and not give 100% as they will simply be looking for the next pay day if it goes belly up. Back Nigel and the new management, you know it makes sense.

Can't see Mulford or Powell who are amongst the best Grass Track riders in the UK riding for Kent on a Sunday to the detriment of Grass opportunities in UK and on the Continent.

King and S Worrall both very good CL Heat Leaders and came good at business end of last season. Wasn't that long ago though (pre Basso) in early months of 2021 season that many Poole fans were expressing concerns about number of times Poole were vulnerable in closing heats and lost a few matches and threatened to throw away leads. If Lawson replaces Schlein as rumoured are they stronger / weaker / about the same, I'd say definitely weaker at home and about the same away; with no Basso and questions about reserves it may need Fords to pull another rabbit out of the hat mid-season. From what I've seen Kemp is over-rated and will struggle when not at reserve; but Mulford or Ablitt may be under-rated by some and could hold their own against other reserves. Pretty sure the declared 1-7 wont be the 1-7 by early August even allowing for any injuries.

I agree with you, that's why I'm suggesting that to cover his possible demands they would need a huge sponsorship hike even if they could average 250 more at home matches. I estimate they would need the equivalent income of 500 more per home meeting....not gonna happen is it?

Oxford Morris Dancers.. All bells and whistles

CVS runs a tight and successful ship and they have an excellent long-term sponsor. Why kill the Club? If you were to start at 4 or 5 grand a meeting for Tai minimum then I don't think you'd be far out. Thats 8 to 10k extra per home match to cover away match so you're looking at around 500 extra people paying. The only team who could even 50% match that week after week us probably BV. Tai has backing already from the likes of ATPI and Rentruk so it may need them and other big sponsors to find the rest.

Not sure if Nicol isn't one of those riders that flatters to deceive and just flat lines around 6 points. Occasionally brilliant, occasionally dross, solid second string overall. Still he won't have the responsibility of scoring big every meeting that he may have elsewhere and that may help him. Basso looks an outstanding typically Danish prospect. If he can dial in to Ashfield and stay fit he could be the new Ramus Jensen for the Tigers. Hume and Bailey can both add a point at least. Brennan looks the next big British rider after Tai, Lambert and Bewley. Although not in the way planned getting away from the comfort zone of a track like Eastbourne may be the making of him. Riders like Gordon Kennett, Martin Dugard and others have all admitted in hindsight they should have sought experience on bigger tracks sooner and riding Belle Vue, Glasgow and in Poland will improve him immeasurably. His links with Craig Cummings will also be a big and massive boost, the mentorship of a professional guide who has excelled on the SGP stage. Craig Cook can still be the out and out best in the CL and everyone will wish Ulrich all the best. The ones to beat for me.

Leicester have tried to build up an asset base in recent seasons and running NDL and being one of the main bases for GB Youth Training days helps too. It should be remembered though that no one can sign an actual contract until they are 16 so it doesn't follow all would become Leicester assets. I'm sure Perry and James have already agreed notices of intent to sign elsewhere as possibly Trigger did when he's 16 this May which is why he's been allowed to leave. With Poland the ultimate aim for these youngsters and those now moving up the pyramid it will work against any weekend track like Leicester longer term in seeing the full fruits of their labour's as the best will be cherry picked by the Poles. Not hard to imagine Stewart Dickson is already working on being in PL in a few years time with Thompsons and other young talent racing on a weekday. Everything about Leicester like Poole and Glasgow would fit in to an enlarged PL. It needs around a dozen of the Rising Stars to develop though to staff that bigger League and PL to be more commercially viable than Sweden. I can see that transition happening in 2 to 3 seasons as Swedes have no conveyor belt like we do. Increased GP and GP2 and Poland could mean UK at professional levels runs Monday to Friday in majority of cases and more at NDL level on a weekend.

Danyon an Ipswich asset

Looks like Gilkes, Atkins, Andrews, Extance, Trigger to me. 6th could be Bursill or Meadows.

Hopefully this time you're right as your last 100% sure assertion was that the failure to name a 1-7 or even a rider was nothing to do with rent negotiations... Let's hope and all genuinely hope this guess ages a bit better! I can't see Wimborne Road Stadium staging soccer again anyway without massive redevelopment as no one wishes to watch non league soccer in a glass fronted restauranted eating prawn sandwiches. I would imagine any redevelopment there would be housing/office space with developers finding another piece of land for Speedway but even that seems far fetched.

I reported it last night and made the same request. Can only assume Admins were tipsy already by then... Needs taking down, false and misleading accusations tend to gain credibility as keyboard idiot(s) know.

As always Brian you are the voice of commonsense and reason.

If Jane and Buxton could find a way to run NDL in some format and not lose any money doing so, I'm sure everyone in the sport would be delighted and try to visit when they could. I equally think that what the IOW do, is testament more to the people running the Show there than necessarily the concept of what they are doing. I'm not sure supporters at some Clubs would appreciate it as much as it is appreciated for what it is at IOW e.g something outside the box, transformative and positive.

Just wondering if with Poole seemingly in limbo whether a cheeky call to King, Lawson or Worrall might pay off. Any one of those 3, especially Danny might transform team building. We all know if the shoe was on the other foot that the Ford's would be on it by now.

Indeed! I just got round to properly reading Nigels interview in the Speedway Star from last week. He's very fortright when he made it clear that while he may have 60-70k to invest (not sure if he meant himself or the combined consortium) that it would not be something he / they could do every year and that therefore the Club had to breakeven to survive. That's the sports issue in a nutshell I think; is that many Clubs are losing significant sums year after year and bankrolled by Promoters / Promoters Businesses or the occasional big sponsor, that's not a sustainable business model and we all have to hope that Nigel and the Consortium CAN breakeven or don't lose that much in 2022 that they can move forwards frugally and sensibly.. Your definition of success is spot on!

According to my TV Choice at 4pm today on Channel 4 (Chateau DIY at Christmas) "Matt takes to the Cherry Picker to decorate the 40 foot tree in the garden of Chateau La Briance", be hilarious if he drove through the newly created "Basso Grove" to put a cutout of Shovlar on the top of the tree...

Ellis would be a good shout certainly he is local. I think his demands would be excessive though in terms of equipment and pay rates. Credit to the new Promotion who seem to be running a tight ship already; which is why I understand a few riders who've been offered silly (very silly in some cases) money elsewhere may have been lost. As I've said and will keep saying, it's imperative that this Promotion are here in 2023 and for many years after that!