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Don't get the love for the Birmingham team after 3 signings. Dangerous to build so top heavy, because as good as they will be in 13 and 15, there are a lot of other races in a meeting! They need to have 3 or 4 fantastic signings to fill in the rest of the team to do anything.

Stoke sign Danny Phillips and Ryan Terry-Daley on 4.98 and 4.68 respectively.

Interesting... Malcolm, any reasons as to why Rob has left us? I felt he would be a shoe-in given his progress last season! Or is it something that is best left untalked about...

It's a numbers thing unfortunately. You have Armstrong at 1, and then I would imagine you would look to keep Shuttleworth and get McBain back (As both can improve) That leaves you with 21.31 for the final 4 riders. At that point, if you go Hopwood and Payne (On 7.28 and 7.10 respectively) you are left with 6.93 to complete the team, meaning you have two 3 pointers. That is one hell of a tail, when the points saved on Hopwood (Or Payne) could strengthen up the middle order a bit, and potentially have Shuttleworth at reserve to start the season. That is why I kept Widman in, as opposed to Hopwood. I think Payne will stay over Hopwood because he is an asset.

Wishful thinking on my part I reckon. Would be nice to see the Moggo name grace a Stoke race jacket again.

Interesting that Armstrong is the first signing. A fantastic guy to have around the pits, and will slot in at number 1 no doubt. Given the low points limit, I wouldn't be surprised to see Stoke line up as: 1) Jon Armstrong 7.94 2) Arron Mogridge 4.36 3) 5 points 4) Chris Widman 4.81 5) Lee Payne 7.10 6) Rob Shuttleworth 3.75 7) James McBain 3.00

Probably the same insurance we had in 08 when we were broken in to. Or 2011 when we were broken in to. Both of which caused "Thousands of pounds of damage"

I remember he swapped him for Tom Brown with Stoke, and many thought Stoke got the better end of that deal!

The only thing I would say is that 3 x 3 pointers wouldn't be a good idea. There are a few riders around the 3.5 mark, and this would leave them as a number 4 in teams, or would force them out. Better to say 3 riders under 4? Going off last years averages, the riders who would be affected would be: Tom Woolley (3.47) Reece Downes (3.50) Danno Verge (3.36) Rob Shuttleworth (3.75) Adam Kirby (3.68) Luke Harris (3.17) It's hardly a huge list, but I think if you said 3 x 3 pointers, none of these would have a club, and that would be a damn shame.

That has, generally, always been the case. Am I imagining things, or did Redcar say they were looking into the possibility of running an NL team?

Ooohh, for Stoke, with final Stoke average in brackets 1) Frank Facher (2.88) 2) Michael Rajkowski (2.89) 3) Krister Jakobsen (3.93) 4) Glen Phillips (3.05) 5) Jeremia Thelaus (1.47) 6) James Holder (3.09) 7) Take your pick from any of the terrible 3 pointers we used over the years, including Gary Flint, Andrew Blackburn, Rob Grant Jr, Kris Irving and many more.

You'll be waiting a while. Something isn't right at the club, but it's hard to put a finger on what. At a guess, it starts with the fact that our 2 owners are divorced from each other, which can't help. There have always been rumours flying around about who runs the finances, and about how accurate they are, but that is not for me to comment on here. Suffice to say that when one promoter said that in 2004, he averaged 400 paying customers a week, I find it hard to believe how accurate those figures are. However, Stoke have never been good at building teams, even going back before the Tattums were involved. This year was the 70th anniversary of the last 7 man trophy we won, so it isn't just a Tattum thing, it is a Stoke thing. When we moved down, we were told it was due to financial reasons. They had spent too much money in the previous season and owed too much money out, and that they wanted to move down to allow them to level back out. That first season was a success, even if there was no team trophy. It was unfortunate that we probably had the best team that year, but the Cameron Heeps saga, combined with Stoke losing most of their riders to injury at the end of the year, meant that we just couldn't compete in the finals that we made. Since then, you could point to excuses, you could say it is bad team building, but whatever it is, it is a continuing thing. The crowds come back if we win, and stay away if we lose. The problem is that every time we lose, fewer and fewer people turn up. It is one thing losing in the PL, but people view it as an entirely different thing to be losing in the NL. I think a part of it is that there are a lot of Stoke fans who would go to Buxton, to see a different level of racing, and put money into a smaller club. Now seeing this "smaller club" beating them as equals doesn't sit right with fans who were used to welcoming Sheffield, Edinburgh and the like. (This isn't a pop at Buxton! Please don't take it as such) The simple fact is that they are in a vicious cycle, that the fans don't go because they are fed up with the promotion, the promotion don't want to sell, but year on year they are struggling. If you ask Mr Tattum, he would say that he would sell if the right offer came along. If you ask the former Mrs Tattum, she will never sell. Maybe there lies your problem.

I really don't know where to begin with Stoke this year. At the start of the season, it was always said that Wilson would be a top rider in the league, that Armstrong and Hopwood would be steady, and that we would need improvement from the rest of the team. At the start of the season, everything was going well. McBain looked good, Shuttleworth looked promising, and no-one could have seen how Widman would take off. At that point, the wheels fell off. Wilson left and McBain got injured and never returned. Riders are in and out of form in a season, which happens, but it is difficult to sustain a team doing well when you lose a 10 point rider and a 3 point rider who was averaging 7. The fact that we won the pairs was nice, because any silverware is appreciated. The fact that we got hammered in the National Trophy final hurts, because the team that got us to the final didn't resemble the team that rode in the final, due to injuries and loss of form. On track, the track has been better this season than others, but that should be expected given the amount of work that was done on it over the close season. Those problems will have cost money to fix, so I don't envy them in having to do it, but it had to be done or the track was useless. Away from the track, however, it has continued to be a disappointment. No real marketing strategy, no regular press releases, no recognised press officer (And I am not in any way knocking the job Malcolm does there, but it is difficult to be a promoter, team manager and press officer, and still lead any form of normal life!). Add in the fact I noticed the marketing manager (Or whatever she was known as) vanished in the off season, and we still had no real form of external advertisement, and it was always bound to be a disappointment. For whatever reason, the Stoke promotion seem to have an opinion that people will turn up, and if they don't, there is no way of attracting them. There is no visable work done on increasing the crowds, and what little PR we had fell by the wayside when our website closed mid season, never to return. The thing is, I have said all this before. I can sit here until I am blue in the face and talk about how Stoke hasn't progressed, and about what needs to happen to give it a chance at survival, but the more I think about it, the more I am sure that they are happy to run at NL, break even on that and cream the profits from the Stock Cars. It just seems like this is the sad existence that we find ourselves in. As much as I hope for a new promotion with new ideas, or even the current promotion bringing the right people in alongside them, it won't happen. I've known Stoke fans over the years who had the skills that the promotion could have called on to put Stoke on the right track, but they were never used, or those who were were later bemoaned by the promotion for not supporting the team. Hell, even I've had the promotion scream in my face and call me all sorts of names because I had an opinion. I have a thick skin, and I will always support the riders on track, but more and more it becomes a question of justifying the cost. Speedway isn't cheap, but I would support Stoke because that is what it is to be a fan. Win or lose, you shout and scream for the riders wearing your club crest on their chests, but at the end of last season I questioned why I should make the effort to go when the promotion appeared to make no effort to improve themselves, and at the end of this season I am asking the same questions. Something has to give, because the crowds are getting worse. Stoke fans will generally support a winning team, if they know about it. The first season in the NL, when we topped the league and were in the KoC final, the crowds were fantastic, and there was a genuine buzz around the place. Instead of capitalizing on that, and using that feeling, they followed it up with terrible seasons. Any buzz there was is gone. Any hope that fans have is replaced with sneers, mocking jibes and a reminder of a mythical "3 year plan". But let's face it. They won't sell. They won't ever let someone get close enough to have a real go at giving Stoke some life, and they will run it into the ground. And when all that is left is a memory of Stoke Speedway, they will wander off into the sunset, without a second thought. That is what I have come to expect from a club that I have given 15 years worth of Saturday nights to.

I'm just picking up on this, do you mean 3 point riders as in 3.00, or below 4? Because saying at least 4 3 point riders would do more harm than good!

Well, as much as we like to criticise the SCB/BSPA, I think they have got this spot on. Fined around a meetings worth of wages, and big bans suspended. They will all learn, they will behave themselves and everyone can move on from it.

I can think of a really simple answer to this. Central track. Neutral Fair. Not a tight, tricky track. Have it at Stoke! Everyone wins

I remember a few years ago, Hynek Stichaeur being excluded for, and this is a direct quote, "Unintentional dangerous riding" He had lifted on the inside of bend 2 and cut across everyone, causing a rider to pull a locker and drop to the back. Everyone stayed on, everyone was fine, but the referee stopped the race to exclude him!

Bear in mind, Stoke ride on the same day as Devon, so that instantly cancels out a chunk of available time. Add in the fact that Devon can't race on the nights Plymouth do and there are very few dates remaining!

I didn't go, mainly because I still bear the scars from the last double header, but they said at the last one that they couldn't run heat 15 due to the curfew...at 10:45. Nice thing this moving curfew.

I'll be honest, i've already forgotten most of the meeting as it wasn't anything special, but I remember a few passes, a few falls, I did wonder why the inside wasn't used much, but that would explain it. As for the falls, I don't remember most of them, but other than the normal first bend bunching, I thought a few riders just ran out of talent aiming for bend 3. Nothing more, nothing less.

Shane Parker did it in the most blatant way possible at Stoke a few years ago (When he was riding for Glasgow) Glasgow were 9 down, needing to concede a heat advantage to use a tac ride in heat 14. Stoke rider had already had an EF, and his partner went on to win the race. Parker got to the line on lap 4, stopped, looked up to the refs box, shook his head and turned around, under team orders to make sure that they conceded a heat advantage. Crowd went nuts. I don't blame Parker for that by the way, just team orders!

I dont think I'm going to risk it...Just had such a ridiculous downpour in Brum!

It's still relatively dry in Birmingham! Shame Coventry looks like it will rain later!

I know I shouldn't have to ask this in summer, but is the weather alright?

I'll be there. Anything for a bit of speedway!