greyhoundp

I dont know if we have double copied on there 21st, but you could send a copy to the Express & Star, bit of publicity for "Wightlink Ferries" 1 good turn deserves another.

Well done and a big thank you to "Wightlink" i have copied and pasted on The heathens website http://cradleyspeedway.proboards.com/index.cgi? and i am sure they will be apreciative, when they finally get back, as the majority will still be down on the South Coast for tonights meeting against the Buccs.

Feel sorry for the fairly large contingent <by NL standards> of fans that have travelled down there,not an inexpensive trip for them around £150 and that was only for the travel and Hotels, and i must admit i was very tempted to go, but studied the forcast for today and it was a Sh*te forcast, however tomorrows another day, and i may well be tempted to make that journey,to Poole.

[ It's dry in the refs box Riders walking the track, majority in shorts So maybe they will have a swim in there shorts or even do a swimming meeting without the bikes.. but for double points to the winners..

I am surprised this meeting is still on, raining all day in Boscombe..and even now at 6-00 pm..if it goes ahead good luck guys..better forcast for tomorrow, so maybe i will see you there, at Poole.

Sarah, we have some Guys from the Tamworth area working at our place, and the local Brummies call them "Sandybacks" i dont know why, maybe you could research it.

The only way i have been able to find some of them is by logging on to The various team sites,there is nothing about NL averages on the BSPA site.We dont exist in the eyes of the BSPA, or is it again down to Peter Morrish doing a real first rate job in promoting the League, in my opinion it is time this guy was pensioned off.

I hate to put a dampner on this, so dont look at the weather forcast for Tuesday, but Wednesday will be fine, and apparently its a double header also. Come on Ommer um.

Drye House or Bournemouth in the play offs, so basically lots of home advantages at most of the NL tracks.

010 PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1ST ROUND Birmingham v Sheffield 63-25, 54-36 (Agg: 117-61) Scunthorpe v Newcastle 31-59, 49-41 (Agg: 80-100) Rye House v Edinburgh 39-51, 35-55 (Agg: 74-106) Glasgow v King's Lynn 33-57, 42-48 (Agg: 75-105) Berwick v Newport 55-35, 39-50 (Agg: 94-85) Workington v Stoke 54-36, 52-38 (Agg: 106-74) QUARTER-FINALS Somerset (bye from round 1) v Birmingham Newcastle v Redcar (bye from round 1) Edinburgh v King's Lynn Berwick v Workington 2010 NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1ST ROUND Buxton v Mildenhall 58-37, 49-41 (Agg: 107-78) Isle of Wight v Weymouth 51-39, 36-58 (Agg: 87-97) Newport v Plymouth 42-29, 57-35 (Agg: 99-64) 2ND ROUND Buxton v Rye House Weymouth v Newport Bournemouth v king's Lynn Scunthorpe v Dudley 44-46, 60-32 (Agg: 104-78) * All ties will be raced over two legs Now for an educated guess, the semi finals of the NL KO Cup draw will be winners of Tie 1 versus winners of tie 2, and winners of tie 3 will be versus winners of tie 4 The Heathens. I make my deductions because of the PL KO Cup, Because in the Q/Finals the first bye team zummerset v Birmingham, the second bye team redcar v newcastle, the third is edinburgh v kings lynn, and final Q/f is Berwick v workington...so there appears to be a top half and bottom half of the draw, however this is speedway, and anything could happen. So i look forward to a semi final of The Heathens versus Bournemouth or Kings lynn, and would guess that leaves Newport versus Buxton or Rye house, Then again as i said earlier this is speedway, and anything is possible, and whoever we ride against i look forward to it, and may the best team win..

All that i know is Dudley are through to the next round, its such a pity Nigel Pearson who is the BSPA, and incidently Dudleys Chairman does not give more coverage or is it down to the so laid back Peter Morrish <he,s almost invisble> who doesnt give a jot.

Indeed the battle for the wooden spoon looks interesting to, as does the position of top spot. Dudley have there last two away fixtures coming up next week, away to the IOW, and the next night away to the Buccs, so if we can take four points from those two meetings in total which will not be easy, it should make for a very interesting run in, with home meetings to come against Rye and Newport. To sum up,its in our own hands and if we could manage a win at either IOW or Bournemouth, i will be happy, anything else is a bonus.

The Heathens have moved swiftly to fill the gap left by the injury to Jon armo armstrong, they have signed barrie evans from the sadly defunct mildenhall team, IMO this is a good move, because with some critical meetings coming up in our push to cement a play off spot, especially away meetings against IOW and the Buccs, it would have been to much of a risk to go in with R.R as if any of our riders were to have an off night, it would have been difficult to cover that also, good luck barrie, and the rest of the guys.

Simple i live in Dudley or Netherton to be exact, Dudley Council have NEVER done anything for Speedway, or any other sports Team for that matter, so they dont deserve any recognition, I refuse to use the word Dudley when related to the speedway, my team are "The Heathens" if they wish to use my local Councils name in front of it,then so be it. IMO we would be far better off using the name Sandwell Heathens as i think if we are to have our own Track locally that is probably where we have the best chance, albeit a slim one. I respect your opinion, but until such time as we have our OWN Track, I will continue to refer to my Team as The Heathens and i am sure we are ALL in agreement with that, and all the people behind the scenes who have put us back on Track albeit, Perry Barr and Monmore deserve credit for that, and the riders have earned my respect for there efforts this season.

Gary it has been great knowing you, i enjoyed meeting you and Tim along with the rest of the guys, good luck with your aims for the future, you will be a hard act to follow, and to replace, and yes since the Dream Team started, the climb back for American Speedway has slowly begun, I hope we will still see you over here from time to time.

I defer to your greater knowledge on these matters Neil, however i would exclude program printing as this should be covered by sales.But it still leaves £1500 ish, in the pot to cover 6 of those items, and i have not included any income from Corperate, and individuals which the aim would be to try to get the PM in every race covered. so though no-one would ever get rich at Mildenhall, if cost cutting was introduced i am sure it could survive, though from time to time there may be cash flow difficulties, such as a run of home rain offs, and three away meetings without any income, but this would/should balance out over a season.. Rhidassa; I did bring in £10 per point in my £1560 figure.

Whilst i am not privy to what rent anyone pays for Mildenhall Speedway, surely there has to be a way forward, between Mr Coventry and any prospective promoter..and this lies in what rent is paid to the stadium owner. Mr Mascalls figures indicate the crowd figures for this year are 300+ average. That brings in an income of £3000 riders have to be paid the minimum of what? £5 per point for an average of 90 points for two meetings 1 home 1 away, thats £450 quid for 2 meetings, now i have no idea what the mileage allowance is these days, i am sure someone will tell us, but just say we pay each rider £40 per meeting x 7 riders x 2 meetings this equates to £560 travel expences, so the costs of covering two meetings for the riders alone would be aprox £1110 even if £10 per point was paid, which i am sure some teams dont, it would then come to £1560, so that leaves just under £1500 to cover rentals and other costs, if a figure of say £750 per meeting was paid minimum; based on an attendance of 250, <this would be the critical figure> and a sliding scale then brought in of say £50 for every 10 spectators over and above that figure, plus the Stadium gets the Bar takings, Introduce a Car Park Charge £2 per Car 50/50 Speedway and Stadium. I am sure if something along those lines were introduced then Speedway could survive at Mildenhall, obviously there has to be trust between the Promotion and Stadium owner, but that has to be the way forward long term.. I am sure the Greyhounds at Mildenhall dont get anywhere near that figure for crowds, especially mid week, but they seem to survive, and whilst i dont know what prize money levels are for the greyhounds, i am sure they must pay out at least £30 per race x 10 races per meeting = £300..admission to the greyhounds is probably £6 with probably 150 max there on a saturday, and a good attendance mid week would be 100, just add up and compare...

Another good crowd at Monmore tonight and the scoreline, did not reflect the nights racing, Steven Worrall rode well for his points, Buzz had two very good races in between two dissapointing rides, and all The Saints riders tried there hearts out, and saints fans can be proud of them. for the Heathens it was a good All round team performance from them, led by a largely untroubled Lee Smart, and there doesnt appear to be a weak link in the Team, however they may be vulnerable to a team of gaters, i am looking forward more and more to the Newport fixture..we OWE them..

I dont think the lack of posts on here reflect a lack of interest, if you look at Dudley v Scunthorpe thread there are currently only two replies,but this does not reflect a lack of interest, as there must have been another four figure+ gate at Monmore tonight.

I must admit i am not surprised at the decision to drop Smethills, however Paul Starke is a rider who i would have liked to have seen in the Heathens team this year, I cannot for the life of me see what he has done wrong to deserve losing his team place, i am pretty sure this will come back to bite the Plymouth promotion. Good luck Paul wherever you end up.

Excellent all round team performance from the Heathens; they all scored well, a rather dissapointing showing from the Islanders, except from Simmo and Danny, i must admit i expected more from Bren, they really need another heat leader as a minimum, but also from Simmo when he was on a tactical but i would guess from the most recent signing at No2 they are on a strict budget. There were a few good races mention must be made of young Mr Perry, and Simmo when he was on a tactical, and took the win on the line, For the Heathens they all rode well except for Jake who though giving 100% still appears either lacking in confidence, or down on power or a combination of both, rather scary for the other NL teams to think there is still improvement to come from this team, and Ben Taylor is still out with his season long injury, but where could he fit in ?? it was apparent from the applause who is the crowds favourite step forward Armo, i am glad i dont have to make the decision when Ben is fit and ready to race again, yes James could do a very good job for another NL team, ie Weymouth, the Islanders to name but two teams. There was a good sprinkling of Brummie fans in the crowd, which was again excellent, and i would put it at minimum of easily 1000 + The inside stand appeared pretty full, the first bend stands had little room available, all around bends 1 & 2 there were spectators, and the terracing was i would estimate at least half full, with plenty space available around the exit of the 4th bend where i stood. yes most Premier, and some Elite League teams would be envious of the crowd figures that the heathens are getting.

Hi, I just came across this short Video of Eric his crash, and of him fighting his way back to a reasonable standard of health, what also comes through is his determination during his battle back to fitness. Eric was MY hero then, and though i am in late middle age myself now, i am no less admiring of him now <in a different way> to what i was then. Good health my son, to you and your family..

Gemini; i think it probably has, next time i go past i will have a look, i choose not to go that way to often, as it still hurts to see those dammed houses there, that is what people don,t realise about about a lot of Cradley fans, to many of us it was a way of life "Dudley Wood on a Saturday night" not much else to do in Craadley, and to lose it after 35+ years of going there,was gut wrenching. But maybe when we have a new track it will be more bearable.

Wildest rider in the PL, its a no contest, Chris Blewitt by a mile am i correct in thinking he had to pack it in because he could no longer get insurance cover,No Ivor Brown was never wild.

Hi Bobbath; The pub you are on about was and still is "The Victoria" there is a Planning Application being drawn up at the present time to be submitted soon, try visiting this web site most of the info you want is on there. http://www.cradleyspeedway.co.uk/