Bojangles

Oxford's social media is outstanding - one of the things they've done very well since returning to the sport. The Instagram, Twitter and tiktok pages are constantly updated - I'm sure a few other clubs could learn a few things from the way the accounts are run.

I'm not too sure why people are moaning about the track. It's Poole's prerogative to make the track as advantageous as possible for the home side, no? They'd be crazy to try and make it suitable for the opposition! And it's also a bit too early to write the track off completely - it was one meeting. Nobody was really complaining about it after the Oxford win. It's a long season so I'm sure it won't be that bad every week.

What's going on with Scott Nicholls this year? He's been unbelievable. Must have rediscovered his love of the sport (or invested a few quid in some new equipment).

Or, on the flip side, you could say the only opposing riders he managed to beat on his home track were Jenkins, Heeps and Atkins (x2). Still early days, though.

No, it'll be a super heat I think.

I'm pretty sure you can park at the local Tesco superstore car park for free for three hours (at least you used to be able to). It's about a 15-min walk to the stadium from there. https://goo.gl/maps/qe2CTs1rBtw4xf6m8

Unless the speedway riders start using the greyhound starting traps, I can’t see the problem.

No, the Unipart bus is a big thing. Although I presume it would come from the Garsington Road direction….unless it does some elaborate detour.

I could be wrong, but think this was the Unipart shuttle bus. I think it drops off and picks up at Sandy Lane now, due to access issues into Ashville Way last season.

Apologies, you did. And they will be, I take it back. You must have been seeing double!

I think they'll be near the top and will surely be in contention come the playoffs, but saying there's 'little doubt' they will be top is comical. I hardly saw any Pirates fans there, just a small pocket on the third bend. Can't say I blame them staying away giving the weather forecast, mind. Think it probably kept a few Oxford fans away as well.

Greyhound racing at Oxford on Friday, starting at 6.17pm. Doubt they'd be able to get a speedway meeting done beforehand sadly.

Dan Thompson (Leicester) – 9.73 Connor Bailey (Workington) – 8.86 James Pearson (Belle Vue) – 8.00 Ashton Boughen (Leicester) – 4.95 Connor King (Kent) – 4.16 Luke Killeen (Oxford) – 3.00 Luke Harrison (Workington) – 3.00 Total = 41.70

Better late than never, but Oxford has switched from Scott Nicholls to Sam Masters.

I'd just ignore him, or better off block him altogether like I have Steve. Life is better when you don't have to listen to somebody who would argue with his own shadow. I, for one, have always enjoyed your posts. I'd rather talk about the fact that it's a shame you're so far away and can't attend the meetings anymore, instead of you having to justify why you haven't (which makes no difference to anything).

Apparently Sam Masters is now the captain of the Oxford Cheetahs. The website was updated with the 2023 team today and he's listed as the skipper. What happened to Scott Nicholls? Anybody know when/why he was demoted? Oxford were certainly mentioning Nicholls as the captain in tweets at the start of the year (after the team had been confirmed).

Yep. The conspiracy theorists might point out that if Galliard can prove the car park is not needed, they can at least get some money back by building houses on that!

Exactly. The prices/admission policy should be compared to rivals in the Championship, not Silverstone or Cardiff.

I'll let you decide that for yourself. Literally the last time I'm going to bother responding to you, as you can't see anybody else's point of view. You may think the prices are okay or the booking system makes sense (and fair enough, I've never said you're wrong for having that opinion), but it's not up to you decide if other people think the prices etc. aren't okay. If people are moaning as you so eloquently put it, then something obviously isn't right. It's not as if it's just one person. Not sure how else to say it to make you understand that fact.

And that's your take away from my post? Says it all really.

About time. Only weeks/months after every other team in the league! Still struggling with this bit, though. 'Oxford Speedway is pleased to confirm six of the seven riders who will represent Oxford Chargers in the National League in 2023 following a successful first campaign'

I hate to say this, but it's posts like this that suggest the exact opposite of fans being listened to. Other than the programme now be available at the track shop, it seems most of what's being raised on here is being taken with a pinch of salt. Saying things like "forums are largely redundant and largely populated by people who have little interest in current day speedway" is just plain wrong. 1) If you only go to Cheetahs meetings (which the majority do based on the difference between attendances), the season ticket option is a bit of a joke. £269 for Cheetahs only matches works out at £24.46 per meeting! Who is going to buy that? Why is there no Cheetahs only season ticket available? I'd be very interested to see how many have actually been sold. 2) Not being able to pay by card on the gate doesn't make Oxford a 'progressive business'. A cashless system arguably does, but making everybody pay ahead of time is crazy. You can pay for most football and cricket matches at the gate, it's only when it's sold out ahead of time that they aren't available. People moan on here because they aren't happy about it, and a good business shouldn't restrict any potential paying customer - it's simply bad business regardless of how many people actually take up the option. Oxford should be trying attract younger support and the die-hards at the same time, why focus on only one demographic? How about try and make everybody happy? 3) Not responding to emails from fans is extremely disappointing. There are numerous examples of fans messaging for a variety of different reasons, and all have fallen on deaf ears. I'm extremely happy to see Oxford back, but I can't help think that the promotion is currently expecting to get the same crowd levels for the next 10 years. They won't! Last year (and potentially this year), seeing speedway back at Sandy Lane was a novelty. The promotion needs to ensure they keep getting the fans back through the gates, and that means listening to them. History tells us crowd levels at Oxford can go downhill quickly and start to cause problems. Let's hope that doesn't happen. P.S: If Oxford is running such a modern business model, maybe they should try updating their website regularly. It's still got the 2022 team listed!

I'm debating it with you, so you have no intention of going? You seem to have a massive issue with people bringing this up based on your responses, why don't you just accept not everybody thinks the same way as you? We're all fellow Oxford fans, who ultimately want the best for the club, but it works both ways. You may not feel a £3 increase is excessive (or a £1 increase if you book ahead of time), but there are others that do. That's life. There's no point trying to say they're wrong, because they're not.

I attended every meeting bar two last season, and I'm debating it. If you can't see why people are disgruntled at a potential £3 increase in ticket prices, you must be slightly out of touch.

Strange. Only happened to me once last season (Newcastle) and my ticket was transferred to the Glasgow meeting, which I couldn't attend. Had to email them with my details (twice) to ask for it and it took ages to be refunded. I was told it was their policy to move the ticket to the next suitable meeting, as opposed to issuing an automatic refund. Not that I'm claiming it's a massive issue, but just pointing out that I can see why it would put people off buying a ticket in advance instead of on the day.