Ben91

As long as the team do well and the track produces decent racing people will attend. Progress stadium wise might not be happening as quickly as people would like but steps forward are steps forward.

Should be competitive. I'd be surprised if Lindgren didn't go through the card. Pleased with our side for the year but won't make too many predictions until I see how Nicholls takes to the Rye track, how Harris copes having Rye as a home track and if Watt can perform to the standard he showed in Australia over the winter (barring one meeting). This will be won/lost by the second strings and reserves I think. The heatleaders look reasonably even.

No it doesn't in the slightest. It's a smart move if anything, rather than plumping for a rider that the promotion aren't sure on they're giving riders a chance to impress around their track. They might find a prospect that could otherwise have gone under the radar.

Play-off side barring injuries without a doubt.

Nothing wrong with discussion on a forum. Seeing teams declare their pairings for the pairs now, I wonder who we'll go with. I know Eddie starts the season as number one but I'd personally go for Bomber and Nicholls assuming is two from the top three.

Fair play, all that said though I'd still take Branford any day of the week over Bates.

Which it does. It's a competitive meeting. Good line up for this. Not a fan of Ward but wouldn't wish his injuries on anybody. Don't see why there has to be comparisons between this and the Ben Fund.

Bates comes across as a brat. If some of Branford's meetings hadn't been as a guest for Rye he'd have had the higher average too.

No thanks.

Yes it will.

David Why?

No it won't.

He hasn't been lumbered with it, it is the average he achieved in the Premier League.

The fixture list generally gets changed throughout the season anyway due to weather, rider unavailability etc. and now that we're in the top league Sky will play a part too, especially if we are doing well.

To that point most Speedway heats are slightly under the minute mark so it's also less than 15 minutes of Speedway, add in the fact that you can be in a Speedway stadium longer than you are in a Football ground and Football offers much better value for money. It is a nice analogy but it doesn't fit for me. Speedway is not something people are priced out of but want in the way an expensive Cognac may be too expensive for some. As for the quality over quantity, I'm not convinced there is more quality in a single Speedway meeting when compared to a Football match. As for intensity, again just because it is a motorsport it doesn't make Speedway more intense than Football, hell look at Darts, there's plenty of intensity there and it is two blokes throwing projectiles at a cork board. But there isn't just Premier League Football. There are Football teams in the fifth and even sixth tiers of the English Football Pyramid who offer Football in better facilities and for a more reasonable price than the top level of British Speedway. Of course comparisons can be drawn. Football is thriving, Speedway isn't. How do you improve a product? Look at the competition you have that is at the top of its game. This whole 'Footballers are paid too much' stuff is nonsense, it's supply and demand. There is a product and people will pay for it, sponsors will pay to have their names plastered over stadiums, kits and players. You wouldn't see that with Speedway. If more people were in the Speedway stadiums in the first place though sponsors may be more easy to come by because they have a bigger captive audience. Despite the money being pumped into the game from all angles Football would be nothing without the paying customer who goes to the stadium. Even if you paid £10-15 for a Football match in the Premier League you are still getting more minutes of entertainment for your money than for paying the same to go to a Speedway meeting. To compare a 0-0 draw to a meeting at Scunthorpe is a very one sided way of thinking of things. It could quite as easily be a 6-3 Everton vs Bournemouth thriller compared to a gate and go fest at Leicester. I'm a big fan of both sports, Speedway for me is a better raw product and always will be. But I go to see my Football team week in, week out and it costs me roughly the same as going to see my Speedway team who I will go to watch two-three times a season now if they're lucky. Why? Because I get better value for my money, in my opinion, attending the Football.

You get 90 minutes entertainment at a football match, you get 15 minutes at a speedway meeting. Football doesn't need to attract fans, it could do more to make itself cheaper for people wishing to attend though. Speedway is too expensive and in need of more fans to physically attend meetings but unsurprisingly the cost puts many off.

It's not great but it isn't awful either, especially looking at the kind of teams Leicester have fielded in their EL tenure. Lebedevs will be a key man and his performances will decide meetings either way for the Lions I'd imagine.

I'm a Rye fan, I fancy our chances in the league if our top four perform consistently throughout the season. Kasprzak will be more than competent at Rye though.

Before a wheel has turned I'd say Poole. I fancy our chances at Rye House too if the top four can all consistently perform.

When I hit 16 and Rye House started to charge me as an adult I stopped going to as many meetings. While they made roughly the same from my one adult attendance as they would for me to go to 2-3 meetings as a child they were losing out on a weekly programme sale plus any food or drink I purchased. Now I'm old enough and earning enough to go every week as an adult I don't still because in the years I was alienated because I couldn't afford to go I found better things to do with my Saturday evenings. Young fans are ultimately the future, they have to be treated well (as do all fans for that matter).

Sadly the nature of speedway over the last 10-15 plus years gives me the impression that this is just delaying the inevitable and the first season of Premiership racing will be remembered for Coventry not making it to the end of the season, let alone back into their home stadium. I hope I'm wrong and don't like to be pessimistic. Just part of being a speedway fan I guess! Hopefully we can take this at face value and that the Bees will continue to race on and be back at Brandon as soon as possible.

I'd suggest getting your eyes tested in that case.

Spoke to Dennis a couple of times on Rockets' trips north back in the mid-late 00s, came across as a very nice man, incredibly knowledgeable about the sport. A huge shame to hear of his passing. R.I.P.

Bowen's raced at Lakeside before and is a small track specialist. Took to Kent like a duck to water, can't see him struggling with Lakeside.

I'm not a Kent fan. Just funny how when a rider rides for Eastbourne he's god's gift but if someone else signs him then it's a completely different story. Hopwood is a good signing on his average but Kent have built their team wrong and realistically he's going to have to do the job of a second heat leader for them to do well.