False dawn

Thank you for the correction. That's what you get for trusting Wikipedia eh? But despite the erroneous logic, I still think "The Peterborough Pensioners" has a certain ring to it

Admittedly Luke didn't rider for the Bees but he did ride for Coventry. The Storm that is. Joe was a Coventry asset but a little too young to ride in any league when Brandon was open

Funny thing. I just read on the Belle Vue thread, something about someone with that name not wanting riders back in British speedway. The lengths some people will go to eh?

I think we're talking about two different things. What's happening in Ukraine is undoubtedly a war. What's happening in the sporting community is politics.

You could be right. But then, "A week is a long time in politics", eh?

FIM quote: "The FIM board’s decision on Russian riders’ licences can be changed at any time with immediate effect – depending on the evolution of the situation in Ukraine." What does this mean? Are the FIM saying that Jack Holder and Dan Bewley could be pushed aside mid year to allow Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov back into the GP series? Surely not. Either they have a place for the whole year or not. Or are they treating the "temporary" absence of two Russians like they would were they injured? I think the inclusion of Jack and Dan is, in these circumstances, a real mixed bag. It's a great opportunity, of course. But knowing the investment required in terms of cost and backing from sponsors etc. it does seem like a bit of an open ended chance to make a real impact. I hope I'm wrong and the two riders concerned will just burst into the GP series and show us what they really can do on the world stage.

A funny thought occurred after talking to Rob Lyon recently (see above). If the Panthers were Dad's Army last year, what do we call them this year now they're a year older? Well a cursory look into the history of teams that have won the "top league", back beyond the formation of the British League in '65, has revealed that the team that won the southern league in 1929 was the Stamford Bridge Pensioners. So there we have it. "The Peterborough Pensioners"

Time to make a friend, in the queue.

A GP at the NSS is possibly a viable financial meeting. However, as I've said before, I'm fairly sure that the Welsh tourist board put a deal of money into the Cardiff GP on the understanding that it remains the only GP in Britain.

I think they changed the rules 2 years ago that the next in line from the Challenge don't now get promoted.

There are just the early signs that Poland may relax their rules next year and we could see more riders back in the UK. Who knows how that will shake out but we have to hope that it will be good for the sport in the UK.

The latest guests at the last two Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club meetings, Neil Vatcher, Rob Lyon and Dale Allitt expanded on the rules governing number 8's and the PJL. As someone said earlier, what we've always called a number 8 is in fact an additional rider and the rules there are unchanged. The new number 8 position is a kind of squad member. If a RS is injured a team must use the no.8 as a replacement. I'm still not clear if this can happen part way through a meeting though. However, a team manager has the option to swap his RS and no.8 in his named team ahead of a meeting. Hence the squad concept. I did ask the question about the prospect of no.8's sitting in the pits all night without getting a ride. The answer was that no.8's will automatically be in the PJL team, so should get rides in the second half. As to PJL, teams will comprise 4 riders with a maximum combined RS star rating of 8. The league will be regionalised (I think, 2 times 3 teams). It is clear that riders can ride in the NDL, the CL and be a no.8. My conclusion is that such riders will actually be riding in 4 leagues since they will also be automatically included in their PJL team. Well that's my latest understanding. Please don't kill the messenger.

I think it is likely that the Russians will be suspended from the GP series. In the short term at least. It is very sad, for sure. But many sports are already lining up to exclude Russian competitors. Should the FIM try to sidestep this issue, there will be widespread criticism despite the niche nature of our sport. We have to remember that the FIM is also the governing body of several high profile sports, so speedway is likely to treated the same as them. Of course, the upshot will be that Jack Holder and Dan Bewley will then be promoted into the GP series full time.

I was with Rob Lyon last night. No, I'm not name dropping, he was one of the guest speakers at the Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club meeting (along with Dale Allitt). I showed Rob your analysis and it sparked quite a lengthy discussion. I did point out that if Peterborough win the league again this year, Bomber will hold the record for the number of league titles, at 6, on his own. I did caution Rob though, that he had the rider with the most wooden spoons in his team. That particular stat set us thinking as to which teams and in which years Scott achieved that unenviable stat. Can you enlighten us all with the details of those 6 wooden spoons please?

Am I the only one not able to load this page?

And a reasonable piece it was. 2 or 3 minutes in the sports update on the half hour. I assume it will be repeated today on the BBC News channel if you want to see it.

And he tweeted, "and currently uncomfortable" and "I’m sorry I haven’t been online or responsive". I think we'll forgive him, eh? With that list of injuries, let's hope that none of those horrendous list of injuries are life changing. Get well soon.

Amen to that. I enjoy my trips to the Coliseum. Mind you, it's a long way to travel twice. Can you arrange a double header please? Isn't this a bit wrong? Any centurion who ended up a gladiator, back in the day, had done something wrong!

2018 - 5.63 is the information I have.

I thought it was a bit like H2G2. You know, the fifth book in the trilogy. I remember people trying to build a hypothetical 7 man team all called Owen, back in the day. Could we not have a Thompson septet?

All I can say is that I'm stunned. Steve was a good mate,

Are there three twins now? Oo err.

This is a great discussion. Riders individual achievements, British Finals, World Championships and so on, are known by many and have been written about endlessly. But team players are really only lauded by their team's supporters. To take up your point with regard to Jason Crump, from the outside he fell into the "I've scored a maximum but the team lost" category. I don't think I've seen a rider consistently finish so far ahead of the field. But in this context, Greg was a quality individual performer but for Bees fans we remember the H&H days with great fondness.

In a sport where team events are seen as the primary "form of the sport", it always amuses me when we talk about the greatest that we focus only on individual achievement; numbers of world championships and so on. I would go further. Many of the names mentioned here were involved with successfully teams. However, I would ask the question, "were they great team players?". Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed watching some great riders achieve outstanding individual success. But as I look back over the decades, my fondest memories are of those riders that have lead my team to success. I've watched those that score a 15 point maximum and ask what more they could have done when the team are defeated. That didn't thrill me much. And so, in that context I would nominate Ole Olsen, not as number 6, but as number 1.

Look like the same averages as we already have i.e. still contain the Eastbourne numbers