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Hey, keep your hands off Roynon, I want him at Stoke I just hope we have a team that can challenge/beat you on a consistent basis

He wishes this was true. Infact, it is the other way around.

Ah well, as I can't renew my rivalry with you over Stoke v Sheffield, Stoke v Buxton will have to do

He would still be a better option than Rob Grant Jr!

So long as we are accepted, Stoke are running.

Please, I'm begging you, stop this. I will give you 3 perfectly valid reasons why this is nonsense. 1) Indian riders are not permitted in the NL. 2) Arlo Bugeja would come in on a 6 point average, nowhere near enough to be a number 1. 3) Your continual spouting of nonsense on every team thread is making me want to tear my eyes out and stick them to the wall so I don't have to read who is signing for who. Please, stop with the spamming. Please.

Maybe he doesn't want to say what he believes the promotion to be doing? There could, in theory, be all sorts of reasons for it, so maybe he wants to keep information to himself until such time as it is right to tell people? I don't know, I'm just stating that could be an option. If information is sensitive, you don't really want to splash it all over the forum

Actually, in a poll, 73 people have responded. 25 say they will attend, 34 won't, 14 will attend the odd one. This poll is littered with problems as it was done the day after the news, so peoples emotions were still raw. Irrespective that it doesn't add up to "Over two thirds", it is still only a small minority of the fans who attend Stoke Speedway.

To be fair, I gather that the IoW make most of their money from holiday makers, so local rivals won't effect them as much.

Wow, if true, that's again a bit of a shock!

I highly doubt that to be fair. With Bournmouth and Weymouth set to close, as well as Plymouth set to move up, that gives 8 teams, 9 including Stoke. 14 in the PL, plus Leicester and rumoured to be Ipswich, that's 16. Are 4 more teams going to drop down? Or is there going to be the creation of 7 more teams?

Potters vs Heathens...could also be fun!

I just hope we can build a competitive team. I think one of the problems that we will face is the fact the Spitfires were so under supported, and there is a sense of "Pl Snobbery"...a lot of fans are of the opinion it is PL or nothing. If Stokes team doesn't start winning and quickly, I fear for the club.

I suppose club asset Barrie Evans comes into play! Could be interesting to see who we sign. Plus, it gives NL fans a new track to visit I suppose!

So, today has seen the news that Stoke are going to drop down to the NL next season. I wonder if we will be able to build a competitive team in this league!

Didn't at one point, a few years ago, the league come down to 2 meetings on a neutral track? It was held as a double header at Stoke, and from memory, Mildenhall and Sheffield were both involved in it... I remember it was to decide the league as there was issues due to the unavailability of the tracks involved

Flippin eck, any more riders with a Stoke connection?

Pretty sure they said that Nelson couldn't be used again, but because of the confusion over the rule, they wouldn't dock the points...

You could also add Piszcz, Sitera, Simota...do you think the Stoke promotion won't have already tried these? And that often, it isn't due to the points money at all?

Ok, who would you bring in as a heat leader on a 9 point average? We have had this discussion on the terraces lots, and for one reason or another, there simply wasn't the number 1 to bring in! Somerset went with Lubos first, and now have Hefenbrock, so it isn't just us struggling for a top line rider! Workington haven't had a number 1 all season!

It all depends on what you do when his average drops. If, for example, his average drops and we then use the 4 points to strengthen up somewhere else in the team, is it such a bad thing? We haven't had the best of luck this season, losing Bunyan after 3 meetings, and now he has a broken arm, Roynon rode 3 meetings then broke his ankle, Jakobsen decided he couldn't be bothered to turn up, Holder was useless, and Rajkowski didn't have a bike that wanted to move! The fact that we have only been able to field a complete team in 3 official fixtures this season sums it up for me. It's been a terrible year for us, but we keep plugging the gaps with the best that we can. Given a choice between having Tomicek and having an NL rider at 1, I know who I would pick every day of the week. Sometimes, these things are forced upon you. Let's face it, who would have thought Smart would have averaged nearly 6, or Graversen would be averaging about 5? These are the chances we take when our team is falling apart!

Facts can be made to say what you want. I could say he is averaging 6 for Stoke, which is approximately what Vissing was averaging, so we haven't lost out in any way...

Any news on the results of these qualifiers?

That team would struggle against most PL sides,let alone picking any 5 for the world cup!

Not going to the meeting then?