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Let's face it, a couple of seasons ago I took great pleasure in us putting 60 past Dudley, home and away. I still smile about it to this day. As a team, I would take no pride in beating Scunthorpe this season. What they are doing is admirable, but there has to be a limit. They are 16 points below the limit. That is absolutely ridiculous. By all means, bring riders through, that is a part of what the league is all about, but how is being humped at home going to help their confidence? Surely, by trying to get a couple of experienced heat leaders in, they would at least have someone to judge their own progress against, who could help in the pits and who could help them on track. I'm not talking top end riders, but at least riders who have experience and are capable of winning races. While I don't have a list to hand, I wonder if riders such as Gary Irving, James Wright, Rob Branford and the like were even approached? As a hypothetical, a team that lined up as follows would be better moving forward 1) James Wright 2) Arron Mogridge 3) Gary Irving 4) Steve Jones 5) Rob Branford 6) Reece Downes 7) Liam Sanderson 8) Aaron Mogridge You still have the riders being able to progress, but you also have a team capable of holding its own, and bringing crowds in on its own. I would be more tempted to travel to watch a team with that makes up, and you still have 4 riders who you would say are progressing! I worry that this team from Scunthorpe will hurt riders confidence, rather than building them up.

But what you are posting is complete nonsense. Very often still does a disservice to students who have to have jobs as well as studying just to pay their bills! Yes, there will always be the lucky few who take their student loan, and also get help from family, but for the vast majority they cut their cloth accordingly, rack up huge debt and then hope to get a minimum wage job when they get out, because that's all that appears to be going! Frankly, I find it insulting that you would believe that "[they] are often from well off middle class backgrounds" after the hard work and huge debt I, and many others, put in to try and get a foothold on the job market!

Absolute nonsense. I mean, I'll discount the fact that student loans barely cover what you are expected to use them to pay for, but to suggest that everyone is well off is utter nonsense.

Richie Worrall +2 over Nermark seems the best value to me. 13/8 at B365

I used to love those meetings. It always helped that Sheffield travelled in numbers to Stoke, and it always gave a fantastic atmosphere. The anger when Richard Hall took a heat 15 was a sight to behold!

Garrity is streets ahead of any of the others. Lee Smart isn't the same rider as he was before his arm injury. James Sarjeant will be fine if he can keep his composure, Ash Morris is a rider who will benefit from having ridden Wolves for a while. For me, Coventry and Birmingham have the best pairings. Garrity will be pretty untouchable at reserve, whereas if Starke can continue his form, and Lambert can rediscover his, they will be a good pairing. Weakest for me is either Lakeside, BV or Swindon. I think Morley at Lakeside is one of the weaker riders from the draft, with the same said about Richings at Swindon. Nielsen is exciting, but has had some stinkers with machinery, with Ben Reade coming off a season lost to injury for BV.

What old days? All I have ever really known has been the Tattums running Stoke. I started in 96, when the Heathens had a brief year there, and then I started properly going in 1999. I've only ever known this promotion.

That pretty much sums up a lot of things! What I will say about Malcolm is that there have been times (Quite a few!) where I have disagreed with tactics, for whatever reason. I have always, however, found him open and approachable, and as long as he doesn't have a rather long drive ahead of him, he is always happy to discuss the reasons why he made a decision. For that, I respect him. I personally couldn't care who runs Stoke Speedway, as long as it is run well. There is no excuse for the customer service that fans are given.

It's not about putting the money in though, is it? I couldn't meet the ridiculous valuation of Stoke even if I tried. However, my criticisms are of a group of people who have driven away the majority of a fan base that was once loyal. Until you turn up to Stoke every week, and see the damage that these people do, it's hard for me to take the comment seriously about putting my own money in. I have my suspicions about why neither one would ever want to sell, and when I tell you that Mr Tattum categorically said that during 2004 (Our best season in living memory) he only had 400 paying customers per week, you can begin to see why I believe that at least one member of the promoting team will never sell. Fully cash business, with one half of the promotion openly admitting he has no idea how many people pay to get in each week, and has no idea of the finances? Stoke is in trouble. So long as Mr Tattum drives customers away, Mrs Tattum does the finances, Mr Crabtree takes a wage, and Gemma Crabtree is a shoddy excuse for a marketing manager, we will never have a chance.

I'm sure I will catch up with you at a few tracks up and down the country! Given that I live in Birmingham now, I think I will be going to Coventry more (I have most Fridays off, so it's not a bad trip) or even a monthly pilgrimage up to Sheffield to catch up with old friends. It's a sad state of affairs when they are more preferable options.

Unfortunately, we could argue until we are blue in the face, nothing will change. The former Mrs Tattum was asked how much she would want for her half of the club, and laughed at the notion. Mr Tattum was asked what he thought the club was worth and he valued it in 6 figures. The club is worth next to nothing. Riding assets are limited in value, you have a few tractors, potentially the lease, and negligible stock at the bar. You also have the promoters licence, but that could be replaced. In reality, to put a value of £50k on the club is over-valuing it. As a business, it is run horrendously badly. The customer service is non-existent, and the product on track, while enjoyable at times, is inconsistent, partly due to inconsistent track prep. Before the drop to the NL, I said that the owners would have to change their ways, or they would see the death of Stoke speedway. At that point, I felt they still had a chance to salvage the club, even if they were determined to stay in charge. It required an investment of time, because it needed them to make the fans feel wanted. Stoke has an incredibly loyal fan base, but they want to feel like the promotion actually respects them. This never happened. There are countless stories of the promotion deciding that certain fans had wronged them, and going after them. There have been 2 Stoke websites shut down while the club had no official outlet, 2 different track announcers being forced out of their role for whatever reason, and countless fans being made to feel like they should pay their money each week and have no opinion. That just isn't going to happen. Now, it has unfortunately gotten to a point where I can't see the viability of Stoke Speedway as a long term business without the Tattums leaving. The crowds are at an all time low, and the outside view of Stoke is at an all time low. This season we have lost the NL 4's (Probably due to the terrible job we did running it for the previous 2 seasons) and I firmly believe that without the stock cars, Stoke Speedway would be virtually insolvent, and there is no way that it could be run as a going concern. Stoke fans often don't want much. Having never won a 7 man trophy, we can't be accused of being glory hunters, turning up when the going is good. They just want to feel valued as a customer. The Tattums (And I shall include Mr Crabtree in this as well) have never made the fans feel like they are wanted. It feels as though we are an inconvenience, and that if they could, they would just put a team out for their own benefit without having to have fans there. To that end, I'm fed up. I probably should have stopped going after Mr Tattum decided to threaten me after a meeting in the bar. I probably should have stopped going when meetings were taking 3 hours to complete. I probably could have stopped going after it took 6 hours to run a meeting against Workington. I could have stopped going after waiting 3 hours to start the meeting against Dudley, with the bar running out of cold drinks. In reality, I've been given countless opportunities to give up, and I shouldn't be able to name that many. Malcolm, I've spoken to you many times, and I respect you as a team manager, and I know the work you put in to put together a team that you believe will do well. While you don't always help yourself with your passion, and while I don't always agree with your tactics, I appreciate that you want to win just as much as any fan. I just fear that the constant damage done by the promotion team has caused Stoke to no longer be viable in the long term. It pains me to say that, because some of my fondest memories growing up have been watching the riders wearing the 5 stars, and that isn't just in the PL. I'm just fed up of being taken for a ride, by promoters who in my opinion, don't have the best interests of the club at heart. Whatever good intentions they started out with, I can't help but feel they have gone by the wayside. I'll end this long post with this. 2 years ago, I missed one meeting all season, our first season in the NL. This season, I'm not even sure I want to turn up every week, to pay my hard earned money to two spiteful human beings. I'm fed up of the promises of a new dawn, and the press releases stating we have turned a corner. I'm fed up of the way the club is run. It's jobs for the boys, and it's appalling. I know that Dave or Caroline Tattum don't read this, but if someone does want to pass a message on to them, it's this. Put the club on the market at a reasonable value, and leave. Please stop destroying the club that I love.

Yes, but we can in theory discount it because the track has changed shape and length since then. In reality, the track was made marginally shorter, and Silver rode a 59.1 if memory serves.

Stoke, for some reason, has 3 different TR's Overall TR: 60.5 - Ty Procter and Steve Johnstone NL Track Record: 62.2 - Richie Worrall CL Track Record: 62.0 - Andrew Tully Take your pick

Kyle Hughes is a hit or miss signing. On his day, he can be untouchable in the NL, but if his confidence waivers, or his machinery starts to go, that's that. Would love for him to have a big season, because he needs it!

Go on then, I'll give this a shot 1) Stefan Nielsen 8.00 2) Luke Crang 4.87 3) Tom Perry 6.30 4) Liam Carr 6.87 5) Josh Bates 7.49 6) Danny Phillips 3.00 7) Brandon Freemantle 3.00 And, if someone could build that team, it would be VERY fun to watch each week!

It just makes a joke of the competition though. Why should they agree to do 6 fixtures (Potentially 8) and cherry pick a team. What happens if, as can happen, meetings get called off, and they only get to run their final 3 trophy meetings after the new averages come out. Do they pick from the old averages? Or the new? Or a mixture? It's just ridiculous. Yes, if you want to join just that competition, do it, but don't talk about having your pick of the NL, and hoping to use a couple of riders where possible. IF you are going to do it, pick a team and stick to it.

I count 4 former Stoke riders in that lot! In all seriousness, will be relying on Webster and Reade being top men, with Smart rediscovering some form of old. Shanes at reserve could be ok, but Andrews depends on how he has healed from his wrist injury.

What an absolute joke. EDIT: So, they could line up like this, for the hell of it 1) Stefan Nielsen 8.00 2) Liam Carr 6.87 3) Tom Perry 6.30 4) Max Clegg 6.27 5) Luke Crang 4.78 6) Matt Williamson 3.33 7) Nathan Greaves 4.00 And basically walk the competition...

Guested for us one meeting. Turned up with 2 engines, both of which were there for testing. Scored 2 points, rode like he didn't care and we lost. I have no respect for a rider who does that to a team.

Gary Havelock Never liked him, and liked him even less after he defecated on Stoke fans from a great height. Sooner he is gone from the sport completely the better

Then, to paraphrase the late Vince Lombardi, why do we bother keeping score? We may as well say that 14 riders can turn up, have a few races, and everyone goes home happy. This is a league, with more stand alone clubs than non stand alone. Is it competitive? Yes, it is. Do the bigger teams tend to sign the best riders? Yes, but that's the same in all leagues. Frankly, I'm happy that we train riders to be winners at a young age.

I'll throw this out there, how do you base that it hasn't really worked out? The drop to the NL was not his choice, nor was the final team selected in the PL, so we can almost discount those. Since moving to the NL, we topped the league, won the Pairs, reached the KoC final...that's more success than I have witnessed at Stoke in a long time! Under the Potters banner, that is the most success I have ever witnessed, and I started back in 1996. Now, the only thing to do is win a 7 man trophy, because no Stoke team has ever managed that!

Fantastic to see Scunthorpe back, as it is a track I always love visiting, and I shall endeavor to make it up there when Stoke are there. As for a team, there are still a few familiar faces to Scunthorpe without a club, and given their aim to bring riders through, it wouldn't surprise me to see a few of them there. I wouldn't be surprised to see them tempt Gary Irving back to the sport, and potentially add Tommy Fenwick after a season out. They may even try and tempt James Birkinshaw back to ride, and have a good top 2 with rookies along the way. Either way, it's good to see one of the better tracks at developing talent back in the NL.

The ONLY fact you gave was that, when presented with a formal offer, Matt had to consider it carefully. No debating that, because any offer should always be thoroughly considered. You then went on to speculate what Matt thought, and add your own personal opinion about an offer allowing you to better yourself. My point is that I'm not sure how Cradely can offer the facility for a rider to improve themselves because they can't offer regular track time. If this was all about being a better rider, Matt would have joined Scunthorpe in both leagues, not just the PL. Hence, I believe that it has come down to money. There can be no doubt that this is an expensive sport, and that money plays a massive part in a persons decision, but if that is the case I would have a lot more respect for Matt (And anyone around him) if they just came out and said "This sport is expensive, I have to sort out PL level equipment as well as bikes for the NL, and I feel I have a better chance at doing that on the offer that Dudley made me"

I'll be honest, a lot of that sounds like codswollop. Buxton have ran for a long time, and have hardly held back the riders who have progressed from there (Names such as Nick Morris, Jason Garrity, Charles and James Wright, Rob Branford, Craig Cook have all gone on from Buxton and done well!) Cradely can't offer extended training time, due to non ownership of a track, so that goes out of the window straight away. I have no doubt that Matt enjoyed his time at Buxton, and by all accounts said that he wanted to be back. I get the feeling he was tempted by a better offer money wise, and if that is the case, just come out and say that. Come out and say that Cradely offered a lot more per point and be done with it, because the talk of better opportunities, and formal offers just doesn't sit right with me. Promoters show very little loyalty to riders (Generally) and riders have to go out and get the best deal for themselves. At least have the decency to admit that.