ouch

It was a no for us last time in ‘24 so I’m not optimistic. However the weakening of the cartel over the winter might see a different outcome.

£15 might be a tad on the dear side. 12 heats in and hour is the NSS average and 400 attendances will be what we are looking at should one “big” league kick in. Absolutely the way forward as we tip over the edge to oblivion.

Create a league with mainly British lads, the younger the better to make a pipeline for the future. Maybe run on a weekend when families can attend and make it affordable for adults with kids free. That way we can finally push our sport forward without the need for the money grabbing big hitters in a league that everyone can get behind and see succeed. It cannot fail, and those that say it would only attract a few hundred need to realise where we are right now. You should be a promoter. https://britishspeedway.co.uk/25results/belle_vue_10.08.25_res2.pdf

Chuffed for Jason as he’s been wanting to don The Aces colours for a few years now but our penchant for making our own stars has meant no room at the inn for him. Though he’s no Dan I’m hoping he can get back to something like he was when returning to the UK in 2022. He finished his glorious stint with Swindon on an 8.96 and will no doubt be looking to get nearer to that than his finishing average of just 7.86 last season. He should fit in with the British based Aussies in the team and linking up with his national team manager will see things run smoothly. I don’t know if the short term phrase is being bandied about in an attempt to re introduce Dan following his recuperation as just working off averages it would not be possible due to taking us over the limit.

If it was me I’d have guests at the NSS (mostly Jaimon) and RR away as nobody cares about away meetings and it will save us a bob or two to spend on a decent signing for the last five days of our qualification campaign. A top GP man might come over for those last few days before the play offs and then it’s all to play for. For RR away I’d run Peter, Brady, Brady, (one a TS), Zach & Zach (15). That should allow us to keep losses close then use our massive home track advantage* to secure bonus points. *Copy write BSF

Jason is nearly a point under Dan and Dan’s CMA is 1-2 points under his actual 2026 Speedway Star figure so whatever we do it’s no kind of replacement. Looking at final 2025 figures, Jaimon is marginally higher than Jason so if Northampton agreed we could have Jaimon and they could have Jason. A GP man lining up for them might produce a bit of press and we could keep our family intact rather than sign a journey man.

Very enjoyable GP again from the NSS with plenty of good racing and a few exceptional ones. Our seats remained empty in the grandstand as we stayed in the Craven suit for the whole meeting. Kasper (as all riders are) was committed to a last bend manoeuvre for position and Madsen was trying to pull it back and gain an inside advantage on the wide riding Max. It was just speedway and this can often happen though thankfully not too often. If the crowd seemed flat it is probably due to the fact that the vast majority there were Aces fans still feeling the effects of Dans injury. With such a small capacity at the NSS I’d say 50+ were locals. With so few of the competitors lining up for UK clubs it’s not surprising that other fans don’t make the trip. Everything seemed to go smoothly yesterday and I hope the fan experience (from a NSS responsibility) was a good one. Mark seemed happy but exhausted when we chatted. Looking forward to the same today and with an improved forecast I’m anticipating another memorable occasion. I’ll be sinking a few during and after the meeting and look forward to mingling later on chatting all things speedway.

I have checked the BSF forum this morning and a lot of posts are dreadful. Unfortunately, the forecast is for very much the same.

He’ll leave us alone. Working with Phil Morris was great, he was absolutely fantastic. He just took advice on what we could do with the track and pretty much everything I said he went with. It was good he had that much trust in us.”

Freight Island would be good near Piccadilly, only 24 min on public transport or less if they lay on shuttle buses or a 50min walk. The problem there is the cost to use it and the fact it would likely be just fans there. The alternative is Piccadilly Gardens (27 or 63 mins). The problem with Manchester as opposed to Cardiff is the crowd wouldn’t make a dent in the city, even with a Cardiff sized crowd of tens of thousands. Lastly would be the area a the rear of the hotel near the old bingo hall. Setting up many marquees for food and drink plus entertainment would give an area for fans to mingle nearby. For me they have never thought about the greater experience as the fanzone just doesn’t cut it from my experience at any of them. Ok for a bit of a wander but nothing to occupy any great length of time. There are many screen around the city some with seating either temporary or permanent. These have been used for football, tennis, F1 etc. It would be good to get the whole meeting live up onto those screen as a Manchester event. I’ve had pubs up and down the country put speedway on for me whilst away and the response from customers has always been positive considering I was the only fan there.

For me, he’s gone about it the right way. Hey boss, we’re signing Eddie. Great, let everyone know. Problem with Eddie so I’ll have to sort a replacement. Great, let everyone know. Great news, Phillip is back. Great, let everyone know. Alternatively at every of the above stages just keep the customers in the dark, I mean they will know when they arrive. Poor. One time, we had to make a change and the staging (cartel) promoter vetoed us putting any information out. We did leak it on social media outlets such as this though.

Guests were introduced in the 60’s as fans were sick of seeing walkovers when injury hit teams took to the track and there was a lot of unrest about the system from the get go and that continues to this day. I’ve always said if more than two members are missing from one team or a total of four from both teams then the meeting should not go ahead. The problem there is rearranging in the age where riders jet her there and everywhere. The other solution would have been to use riders from the second division and even better, buddy up with a team from that division. You are then seeing riders you wouldn’t normally see and not using riders from your direct opposition. The problem now though is double up/down is rife so it can’t work. Another solution is a squad system but there isn’t enough money in the sport to have riders sat in the bench awaiting a call. Lastly, with so few fixtures we shouldn’t be having ANY clashes where our riders are known to be required elsewhere. For us in the UK, guests are here to stay but they must be the absolute last resort and not the go to solution so currently overused.

I’d recommend the Longsite Sports & Social club down the road. There’s a collectors fare on and Lynn & Co will ply you with cheap booze. Plenty of banter with our Polish friends as well plus lots of speedway memorabilia to idle the time away with (mostly Aces based).

We think it is important too. Andy has done a fine job at Glasgow since he first started helping them out a while back.

You missed a trick then as you could have made a bob or two out of it but then it would have diverted your attention away from posting negatively about someone that did.