Ben91

Let's hope Barrie can line up for the Hawks this season, if he does and the team Ash has posted is indeed the one we go to tapes with it will certainly be a title challenging side. I'll be supporting the Hawks, let's hope they can win something!

Looks about right Ash, can see Evans having to turn out for the Fen Tigers now however... If that is the case i'd like to see Danny Halsey and Tommy Allen fill the last two spots, they'd both fit in I believe.

The Scunthorpe V Rye double headers in recent years have been fantastic, I'm hoping that the Saints V Hawks fixture will be staged as the second part of a Scorpions/Rockets double header again in 2011, if not I won't be as tempted to travel i'm afraid.

Looking very top heavy, which I would assume means a good amount of young lower end riders, which is a good thing! I'd imagine Gareth Isherwood will figure on a 5.12 average in the Potters septet.

Thought Buzz might have returned to Stoke for the 2011 season, shame if he does have to retire, he can still mix it at this level and is a really entertaining rider to watch still.

Fantastic news for the Fen Tigers, at Uni in Norwich, so will be getting along to as many meetings at West Row as I can in 2011

Very sensible approach, may be a debatable signing, however Jon will be putting his bod on the line for the Heathens so it is right to support him. I know I do the same for any rider who pulls on a Rye House racejacket. Very true, not a dig at Dudley on my part, just a case of them being one of the teams who have supposedly voted against the Fen Tigers inclusion. It is a shame any club would have voted against the Tigers coming back to the sport and if Rye are one of those clubs who have i'd be very disappointed by that.

Armstrong on an 8.36 average? That's a very big gamble, he is a good rider, however when did he attain that figure? I'm pretty sure he was averaging around 6 a meeting last season. Loyalty can cost successful teams in speedway and the increase that Adam will have in average looks like it will be offset by a drop in Jon's. Also if the Heathens have voted against the Fen Tigers return to the sport it's quite shocking, just remember last winter it was the other way round...

Standard "You must be a racist for saying the NL should be Brits only," response from a few here again. I agree, we need to set up racing for younger riders below NL standard, however, we also need to maximise track time for those riders who are in the NL, assuming (also hoping) the NL is a 10 team league this year, that's potentially 10 Brits who could be replaced by Aussies/Kiwi's who should be coming over when they are ready for the PL. Before the "Well there are Brits going out to Aus and taking our riders spots," responses look at things from this perspective. Riders such as Micky Dyer, Andrew Aldridge, Ryan Sedgemen, Grant Tregoning have all come over in recent years and averaged between roughly 5-7 points a meeting respectively at NL level, the riders we are sending to Australia are in the main established PL regulars (Auty, Haines, Newman), so until we are sending our raw talent out to Australia and New Zealand then the same should not happen the other way as is the norm at the moment. Points limit lowering is a sensible idea to develop talent, teams will be encouraged to use young 3 pointers who will generally up their averages and move into the main team for the following season as the new reserves come in etc, over a few years this will also stop riders dropping down on ridiculously high averages, or at least if they do, then a team will have to compensate with a few lower averaged youngsters. in 3-4 years the league would have a lot of young British talent and then slowly a compulsory 3 point Brit at reserve in every PL team could come in to play with this again being expanded on slowly. Patience is a virtue and if there was some in British speedway we could rebuild and have some fantastic riders coming through in the next few seasons but we have to build from the NL up.

Mear isn't eligible to ride NL, neither is Jerran Hart (PL average now over 4 and in a PL side.) I posted this a while back as a potential Cobras side, think it'd be just as good as a Hawks septet. Tommy Allen 8.84 Marc Owen 6.72 Joe Jacobs 6.43 Danny Halsey 5.34 Ben Morley 4.78 Shane Hazelden 4.2 Brandon Freemantle 3.00 Total: 39.31 Full of upcoming youngsters, whilst Tommy Allen has been mentioned as looking to get back into the sport, it wasn't that long ago he was threatening to break into the EL as a reserve, having some of the meetings at Lakeside may give him more of a kick to ride NL and impress as he can get back to where he was IMO.

Good, the NL should be Brits only, for the good of our nation's future on the international stage, when the commonwealth riders are good enough they will come over and race PL straight off. Simple. All we need now is the points limit to be lowered to encourage teams to use two young British reserves and we will be on the way to starting our own conveyor belt of half decent talent.

I never thought i'd see the day when Shadders and Bryn were flirting on the internet. I was wrong, as is this situation.

Basically, this is cutting fixture congestion at Rye House, whilst Lakeside get to help develop assets Hazelden and Owen on their own home track, whilst also getting first dibs on other young prospects such as Morley, the Hackney name comes in because it is no more a Rye House side. At least there is no more ridiculous Cobras nickname. The promotions should not be looking to older fans to form crowds but the younger generation who will be fans for a long time to come. In all honesty it's a shame the Cobras have been pulled, the National League meetings are generally always very exciting at Rye. Good Luck to the Hawks though

Very good signing for the Heathens, I'm guessing he'll be on an average of about 7 too as it's been a long time since he has established a NL average. The lad deserves a break and he will be busy this year, hopefully he is safe and successful, still one of Britain's best prospects imo.

Presuming the points limit will be 40, the following line up fits and would be very competitive. Tommy Allen 8.84 Marc Owen 6.72 Joe Jacobs 6.43 Danny Halsey 5.34 Ben Morley 4.78 Shane Hazelden 4.2 Brandon Freemantle 3.00 Total: 39.31 I wouldn't be too disappointed with that side at all, could win the league at a canter if the riders all race to their potential.

That's a whole different kettle of fish though, the EL is our nations top tier, the standard should be as high as possible. To say there's not enough riders for the NL Is a falsity, even if we lost the Aussies/Kiwis in the third tier. The solution is a slightly lower points limit, then teams would be encouraged to track two young three pointers, thus giving more young Brits that first step on to the speedway ladder. I hope the Colts run next year, in a NL with as many team as is possible. Not as many as is convenient.

Ah Freemantle of course, could be a very good signing. Get him in and we do realistically have 5 riders who could make the step up the the Rockets in the near future in Morley (already has), Jacobs, Hazelden and Owen. That said, however as Jacobs is an Ipswich asset he may well be loaned out elsewhere, which would be a shame.

I'd fully expect to see Morley, Owen, Jacobs and Hazelden back, I'd also like to see Jamie Smith return if fully fit. If Tommy Allen is looking to get back into the sport we should give him a shot in the NL to show what he can do, whilst Tom Stokes would complete the side as a three pointer. Whether this fits or not i'm not 100% however it would be close and a good side I'd pay to watch at NL level.

Najjer has a good point tbh, if you are going to organise a meeting like this, with a pretty strong field, why not go for a traditional 16 rider line-up, 12 rider individuals mean some riders meet twice in the heats and are a lot more predictable. Will still hope to get to this one, however would make more of an effort for a full 16 rider meeting.

Aussies/Kiwi's can do 2 years in the NL, Jade Mudgway and Andrew Aldridge being examples of this, Dyer could line up as a Heathen again next season, unless the rules have been changed. Again.

Peterborough and Coventry seem to have a clear cut choice, NL or permanent closure. Both tracks could survive a season in the National League and then re-apply for EL status in 2012, which they would pretty much certainly get. Both clubs have a fair few assets they could loan out or sell for a large sum, whilst not having to pay these riders wages, this would help cover stadium rent, in Peterborough's case at least, i'm not sure how Coventry operate. A few snobish fans will no doubt turn their back on the sport, crowds will be made up of the die hards perhaps at the start of the season perhaps, but when the fair weather fans start to miss their fix, then they will come crawling back and realise that the NL isn't so bad. Perhaps we may even see EL and NL teams operating out of both venues in 2012.

What? Have you ever thought of being a politician? You're good at dodging a question. There has to be a reason for your argument, you can't write something off as "twaddle" and expect people to accept that because of who you are. My comments were opinion, rather than a blunt, pedantic answer which there was no need for, you could have simply pointed out that my view was in fact not the truth in an adult manner.

This is where we have a problem Malcolm, you shoot posts down however you do not support your argument with a point. Read the bits in bold, I supported my argument with an opinion, a sound one too, not facts, I was not 'fabricating' any 'notion' merely stating something which could be true. If I had stated that these were the reasons Leicester had been accepted over Plymouth then you would have a point to argue, however I didn't so you haven't.

Sad to see a new team come in and jump straight into the PL when Plymouth have been looking to move up and have been around since 2006. Not to sound petty or accusation-al but it could well be a move by Stoke, letting Leicester take their PL licence, to ensure they have at least 1 more opponent in 2011 in the National League in the shape of Plymouth.

Quit your moaning already, it's ridiculous.