DaveWayne

Really good news that Ben is not too badly hurt. I have quoted your post as I wanted to thank you for the honesty. So many people on this thread jumping on the 'dangerous track' bandwagon last night, but as the majority were watching on TV they hadn't even seen the crash. From where I was standing near the bar on turn 3, so with a good view down the back straight into turn 2, it looked like a rider pushing the limits and making an error. Nothing sinister about it and he looked pretty much mid-track to me, nowhere near the infamous outside line. The bike high sided and he came down heavily on his upper body. My initial thought was collar bone or shoulder. Belle Vue were the better team over the 2 legs and deserved the win. We didn't lose the match last night, we lost it on Monday. Picko having 2 bike failures put us on the back foot, and the 5-1 in heat 15 gave us a mountain to climb. Sadly, when we needed them most, our top 2 riders were both way off their regular home form last night.

The irony of attempting to call somebody a moron and spelling it wrong, unless you meant Shooey and Kelly. 😉

I think we will also be hearing that the teams will be going for it 'from the get go' and whenever Bewley isn't at the front he will definitely be 'coming on strong' behind the leaders.

Nothing wrong with being tribal in the support of your team, but when it becomes intimidating and threatening then it has gone too far. We all complain about the falling number of fans attending meetings, but if the women and children are uncomfortable being there, then where is the next generation of fans coming from ? I'm glad a lot will be coming tonight and I hope you have a miserable evening. 😉

I think you misunderstood my post maybe ? Our issue was with the Belle Vue fans, not the Sheffield barmy army. It was the first time I have experienced anything like that at a speedway meeting and it made me wonder if 'segregation' needed to be looked at for speedway, particularly at bigger meetings. Sheffield fans were having to move away from them as the intimidation intensified as the result got closer. It wasn't what could be classed as banter, the comments were delivered in a threatening manner and some home fans felt very uncomfortable. The friendly family atmosphere normally experienced at speedway was noticeably absent.

Totally agree on this. We stand on turn 3/4 and with the Belle Vue fans all grouped together on that terrace it was very intimidating, to the extent my wife remarked "this is exactly why I don't go to football". We actually left before heat 15 as the result was decided and she was feeling uncomfortable. The league matches this season haven't been too bad as not so many travelled, but she is already apprehensive about tomorrow night.

Not all of us, I am 2 counties away and travel an hour to get to Owlerton on a Thursday night. I can get to Leicester just as quickly, but was brought up as a Sheffield fan by my uncle who has been going since the 60s.

On facebook, that well known platform of truth and honesty !! Everyone is taking her word as gospel and completely discounting Chris Holder's statement that it didn't happen. Is that because they know the woman personally and are confident she would only post the absolute truth ? Or is it because they dislike the Holder family and see an opportunity to jump on the bandwagon ? I wonder how many of those backing her statement would do the same if she said it about Doyle or Nicholls ?

Just the same as in football, there is a minority of fans at every club who are unpleasant, but that doesn't make us all the same. I have a friend who, in her early 20s took her 4 year old daughter to watch Wolves away at Belle Vue. On their way out of the stadium they were verbally abused by a Belle Vue supporter. What sort of man would do that to a lone woman and child ? Reading these forums at the moment makes it sound like visiting Owlerton is the speedway equivalent of a trip to Millwall FC !!

Any evidence to support this, or just a typical internet rant that could be completely made up and has gained traction from others who don't like him ? Maybe he was rude, but then again, maybe he was approached a few minutes after returning to the pits after just being done 5-1 in heat 15 ? These riders are putting themselves on the line every time they race, and I would imagine are pretty fired up inside after a bad race. Sometimes fans need to think whether it is a good time to approach a rider or not. Holder is not renowned for being over friendly, so common sense suggests that may have been a bad moment.

Interestingly, if you look at the live updates threads from bank holiday monday, the updaters that day had more races down as 'from the gate' at Belle Vue than at Sheffield. 😉

I don't think Harris was signed up for the playoffs in order to have a huge impact last night. It was always going to be difficult to find a guest who would 'do a job' everywhere, but Harris does ride well at Sheffield, Leicester, and Ipswich if it had been needed. With regards to putting Chris Holder at 5, this was tried a few times this season but it had an adverse impact as it broke up the Holder/Pickering partnership that works so well at 3 and 4.

Some were dodgy, some of the ones mentioned here were 50/50 and could have gone either way depending which side you leaned towards. Not surprising though. Her decisions cost Sheffield the play off final in 2022.

Interesting. Is he speaking on behalf of himself, his employers on the night, or the team he has guested for numerous times this season ?

Funnily enough, I don't remember any of your fans calling her a muppet when she was making dodgy decisions in your favour in both legs of the 2022 final. 😉

Issues that you were not aware of, but quite happy to jump in and tell me to 'give my head a wobble' !!

Whose fault was it then ? The official statement said all 4 teams agreed to it.

I'm not going to get into an argument about it, but maybe you need to look into the underhanded ways in which it was all done, and the way the existing tenants were treated. I'll happily eat humble pie if it happens, but I really can't see it. And for the record, the stock car track was far from underused and was a profit making business.

And to support this you post a link to an official statement refuting it. 🤔

Loyal British riders ? In that case you don't need to fit Bewley into your team. 😂

They have kicked stock car racing out to do this. Can you seriously see them letting oval motorsport of any kind back in there on a regular basis ? Especially when it is only just outside the clean air zone.

The only things I saw stated that these dated were reserved for playoffs, no mention of which were which. Yet more conspiracy theories about the playoffs being 'fixed' with no evidence to back it up. Personally, I'm just looking forward to enjoying the racing. Enough stress in life without getting too wound up about this. It's only a gameshow. 😉

Any evidence to confirm this ? It was 1st v 4th first last year.

Not disagreeing but where has this information come from, as I had never seen anything stated that said that ?

Don't forget the 8 they have to make up would only be 4 had it not been for Masters bike failure. Are you suggesting a team that was good enough to only 'lose by 4' away from home will struggle to win by more than 8 at a track renowned for it's home advantage ? They haven't lost at home since the beginning of May. I expect it to be close, but I think Leicester will just about be strong enough to progress