arnieg

Weren't people saying much the same about Jason Doyle two seasons ago when he was still riding in the PL - now look at where he is. [Doyle turned 28 in 2013; Cook is currently 28]

Mildura has a population of just over 30,000. The only large settlement within 150 miles is Renmark (pop. 8,000).

And Steely Dan was named after.. - hang on I think most people know that....

I read Humph's comment as being a query about the Star breaking cover, not the promoters who remain anonymous and are just engaging in routine internal organisational politics/backstabbing.

Piotr Swist is still going at 47 - riding regularly in the Polish League. Andrzej Huszcza was 50 when he rode regularly in the Polish League in 2005.

I'm with you on this. I rarely visit Somerset and Lakeside because the M4/M5 and M25 are simply unbearable on Fridays. I find the M40 is much less of a problem so Coventry is the only realistic option for me on a Friday.

Last competitive fixtures between EL and PL were the promotion/relegation playoffs in 2008 thru 2010.By definition these were worst in EL v best in PL contests. All six matches were won by the EL teams including a 68-21 thumping of Edinburgh by Belle Vue at armadale

Calm down dear

Sadly very true and I can think of even more examples.

Yes but their were other GPs where the luck went his way (Horsens?) that's part of the rationale for a GP - the luck evens itself out most of the time. Ultimately he was lucky to be ninth because if Hampel hadn't broken his leg he wouldn't have ridden more than a couple of GPs. However he clearly deserves a wildcard for 2016

The ceiling for fast track riders seems to be creeping up - give it a couple of more years and Scott Nicholls will be eligible!

What a pile of garbage this post contains. The opening sentence comes across as pure arrogance. The second is one of the silliest things I have read this year. Mildenhall lowering their averages - give me strength. I suppose that explains all that passing they did and the great racing they contributed to. Who cares. Well every time this sort of thing happens it erodes the sports credibility, wearing away at it bit by bit until it has none left and no paying customers. Is that really what you want? Talking of paying good money: a) the Rye House meeting (which I was also at) has nothing to do with this meeting the people who paid to attend expected to see two speedway matches with both teams trying to win. Did they? In saying if Eastbourne had wanted to win they would have 'pulled Coventry's pants down' accepts that the Eagles weren't trying and overestimates the Eagles. Coventry only lost once at home (and that was when they lost Connor Dwyer early in the match against Birmingham); they might well have won but it would have been a hard fought match (and that's what we paid to see). As for two Germans and a Finn - you are just trying to wind people up. The Spillers are clearly British (even if they have dual nationality), both have ridden in the British Under 16 Championships and if the Finn has a British passport he is eligible so no big deal. I think you are the one who should grow up and stop moaning. Eastbourne did something that was, to put it diplomatically 'unwise' and to expect that to go without comment is unreasonable. If you don't like Eastbourne being criticised (and you seem very sensitive about it) then you better hope they behave themselves in the future.

Never happens, it's all in the imagination. Besides I haven't seen any suspicious average lowering for at least.... ......an hour

2001 - 32,000 2002 - 42,000 and generally between 38 & 42k since then.

Worst bit was all that dead time was filled by Porky's inane ramblings

Not many people laughing here. It is now over 90 minutes since heat 8 ended, and we are awaiting the rerun of heat 10.

Track looks very chewy - lots of people staring anxiously at it..

Think that still makes then behind most teams last year.

Simply untrue. MOST guests (66% in the 2015 Elite League) are used to cover for injury, so unless you have some miraculous scheme for reducing injuries the problem remains.

Danes Johannes Kikkenborg, Kenni Nissen, Jonas Jensen, Jonas Jeppesen, Jesper Scharff, Jason Jorgensen Swedes Joel Andersson, Joel Larsson, Fredrik Engman Would be my shortlist

Bet they were from Jutland. Seven of the eight DSL tracks (Slangerup is the exception) are in Jutland/Funen. This would be the equivalent in the UK of having all but one Elite Lge club in an area with the population of Wales. And football isn't as big in Denmark. Last time I was there I watched a Danish Superliga fixture (Sonderyske v FC Copenhagen) and the crowd was just over 6000 - equivalent to a League one/two match over here - but these are two of the best teams in Denmark.

For an international perspective on attendances see: http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=80529&p=2697139

There is already a thread going in the British section (speedway general) about UK attendances - but nobody really knows what they are. However in the other major speedway nations crowd figures are published. I'm sure some of our contributors from these countries can flesh out the data with more background The data here is taken from: Sweden - SVEMO Denmark - Danske Speedway League Poland - Sportowefakty (these are estimates and the least reliable of the three) Polish and Swedish figures include play-offs Average Crowds 2015 2014 change Poland - Extraliga 8951 9518 -6% Sweden - Elitserien 2667 2840 -6% Denmark - DSL 1337 1556 -14% Poland Gorzow attracted the largest crowds in Poland (average 11,729) but still down 10% on 2014. This can be attributed to their on track decline, from reigning champions to sixth place. The next largest crowds were at Zielona Gora and Leszno (11,643 and 11,388) - both of these tracks saw significant increases, 10 and 11 percent respectively. Zielona Gora's rise came despite a less successful season on track; the team failed to make the play-offs this year. The largest fallers were Torun (down 17%) and Tarnow (down 16%). In Poland's lower divisions crowds were steady: League One average 4292 (up 1%) and League Two 2660 (up 2%). Rybnik (6914) and Latvian club Daugavpils (5375) are the big draws in Division One. The division two figure would be higher but for Rawicz who survive on a crowd of 275. (note: the ENEA Extraliga site carries its own figures, these show similar numbers for most tracks, but significantly lower reported crowds at Rzeszow and Grudziadz. Overall the ENEA site shows an average attendance of 8717, a 5% decline from 9195 in 2014) Sweden In Sweden Mallila (Dackarna) was the only Elitserien track to see an increase in attendances (up 10% to 3072); this made them the second best attended track behind Kumla (Indianerna) (3076 average crowd) [nb There are no crowd figures available for one meeting at Kumla, so it is likely that Dackarna got better attendances than Indianerna if this omission were rectified]. Halstavik (Rospiggarna) the best attended track in 2014 saw a 25% drop in attendance while Eskilstuna (Smederna) also saw a large fall (down 16%). Rospiggarna dropped from 3rd (of 8) to 6th (of 7) in the league standings. Note Dackarna and Indianerna's crowds would put them just below the Polish League One average, ahead of once mighty Bydgoszcz whose crowds saw a modest upturn but were still below 3,000. Denmark The drop in Danish Crowds was entirely attributable to large drops at the three best attended tracks. Esbjerg (1816, down 38%), Holsted (1659, down 16%) and Holstebro (1485, down 25%). A poor season on track probably explains the fall at Holsted, but the other two clubs performed similarly in both years. New league champions Munkebo witnessed an 11% increase in crowds, but more unexpectedly Outrup's (Region Varde) attendances went up by 30% - but they remain the worst attended DSL team. Britain Assuming (and it is a very shaky guess) Poole average between 1900 and 2200 that would make them the 25th best attended track in the major leagues (behind 18 Polish and 6 Swedish clubs). Esbjerg would be at number 26. So overall a clear downward pattern with the UK not even in the picture.

Another disingenuous statement that should set alarm bells ringing. What have the developers been doing since planning permission was received? The article claims delays are due to planning issues and seeks to portray it as council bureacracy, but the delay is that the developers haven't sorted these matters out in the four years since planning permission was given. If CO intended to build the stadium on schedule any decent project manager would have ensured these matters were resolved months ago. I hope I am wrong, but I fear that this will all end like Reading.

Had to wait a few minutes, but I eventually got onto the track and got my Swindon shale.