ouch

"History is written by the victors". -Winston Churchill

It all reminds me of the children's story, The Little Red Hen. Only thing is in this version the hen gets its neck rung before enjoying the bread.

Fortnightly speedway with the cut off in mind would allow for 13 matches. If you factor in rain offs then it would come down to 10 or 11. Is that a viable amount?

There are 10 weeks worth of school holidays during the speedway season so running midweek shouldn't be an issue. Parents could even allow a treat of a late night once or twice for the matches run on school nights. Only trouble is the fixture planners haven't got a clue.

He is without doubt an excellent accountant. During his last stint with the Aces we sold our number one for a tidy sum then after one season we paid a paltry loan fee to have him back before he retired. I think the club that bought him hold the record for the most paid for a rider for one season. Great days.

Irony. Like that one, lol.

I think they tried a couple of times to ride it but the weather intervened. The KO Cup was ridden on a frozen track that made broadsiding very tricky, in November if I remember correctly. I think it's a problem when fixtures are referred to as meaningful as it stands to reason that others aren't meaningful. I don't remember talk like this pre play offs as every fixture was there to be won to hopefully move you up the table.

Phew. Thanks for clearing that up. You had me worried at one point.

Probably right unfortunately. Go Buster. 😡

Halifaxtiger.

At last someone in the know. Let's stick some meat on the bones of these rumours. Thanks in advance.

There has always been loopholes in the rule book it's just years ago all the competitors participated with a sporting sense of fair play and realised they were just different departments in the greater company that was British speedway. Any smart arse in possession of low morals could take advantage of these happy souls who had previously been aware of the loop holes but thought nobody would behave in an unsporting way, would they. Then along came self confessed cheat Matt Ford and the rest is (a sorry) history.

The fact EDRs could move into the top five for the first time has messed things up a bit. The Worralls have also highlighted a problem. Steve EDR rode most of the year in the top five whilst Richie non EDR rode at reserve. It's messed things up so the thinking now is all PL or none PL for team building with the former being preferred due to the leg up it gives the Brits.

Looks like using PL averages is the way it's going. I'm obviously happy with it and the way it helps the Brits (yes, there are a few Aussies du/edr and even fewer from other nations). Cook coming in below 6, well I'd take it all day long. Back the Brits. Good times.

Whilst all these interpretations of rules or second guessing next years set up is fine the most crucial thing is consistency. If a team is told a riders average will be X then that's the average for all teams. Likewise lets know the rules for setting averages for returning or newbie riders now and not in August/September next year. Also do away with the brown envelope, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours approach which only seems to benifit some teams.

Are you guys doubting the word of the lady on the till at Sue Ryder? Surely not. 😀

From what I've heard it will be the case that PL averages will be used. It threw up an anomaly in Richie Worrall as he isn't an EDR but has ridden at reserve for most of the season so his average is skewed like the EDRs. The thinking is to use his PL average but that then was met with calls that if you do it with him then do it with the others so Cook etc will also use converted PL averages. There is also the likelihood of the 2.5% Brit reduction coming back. The powers that be are looking to cut costs so the team building average is going to be slashed thought this historically is always the case when The Aces finish top. Team totals will now be 38.50 I reckon Belle Vue will look like this under the new rules. Emil S. Worrall Cook King Fricke R. Worrall Jacobs

His UK average is 0.10 lower the Sam's because he never rode at reserve. Sam's my second favourite young Aussie. Great rider, love him.

Belle Vue average 2500. Poor for the stadium we have but with certain monkeys off our backs and a focused marketing campaign we should be between 3 & 4 next season.

Looks like there is something to the money rumours at Belle Vue. I spoke with the lady on the till at Sue Ryder and she's heard some shocking stuff. The booze that's sold for three pound odd a pint is actually costing them £6! If you book via tickets.com then Belle Vue don't see the cash as when they ring to check on sales tickets.com just say it's been quite. When I spoke to David after the BH Poole meeting he said how pleased he was with a crowd of 257. Apparently every time they open the doors at NSS they lose £25k. I asked David why run the last two colts meetings? One of them's a double header so I'll only lose £12.5k on that night he said! Not looking good.

I think if any of this years team want to stay and the rules allow it we'll keep them. We'll let Scott decide and I think he'll move to Lakeside with Paddy coming back. He'd be a trump card as a second string having ridden at number one all year. The doubt with Zagar is if he'll take the deal offered. We're in the driving seat now as riders want to be here so his old cash in hand deal won't be on the table. It's up to him if he wants to join the party. If he goes it's whoever will fit but probably Emil.

LOL

That's the problem if you've only encountered 21st century UK speedway. The crowds are lacking in enthusiasm and also very low - chicken & egg? In the 70's and 80's riders got stick because they were good and rode for the opposition. I'd boo with the rest of them but I'd still be in the pits chasing after autographs. The riders were in on it too and some played the game brilliantly adding to the whole event. I'm not advocating WWE style antics but more of Wednesday's interaction between riders and crowd would be great for the sport imo. Tai let it get to him and many did back then in the heat of the moment, it's his comments on social media when the dust has settled that surprised people. The PC brigade have worked their spell on a sport as rough and tumble as ours and now there's no real villains - manufactured or not. Our sport with its 60 second rush of adrenalin is made for such characters. Imo.

At least Tai can get a job as a spy when he hangs up his kevlars. If he can pick out one or two knob heads allegedly giving him grief about his Dad whilst on a motorbike with a helmet on and a few thousand fans shouting "who r yer" at the top of their voices then he could pick out vital secrets in various locations around the world. The only thing that would stop him is if it's all BS from the ringers apologists.

Belle Vue would have finished top on points difference even if the ringer had been in the side the night we beat them. The Aces topped the table for an incredible 12th time in their history, far more than any other club. I think Cookie should have taken a more laid back approach to the incident. Like Jason Doyle is doing right now in hospital.