lucifer sam

Sour grapes? In what way? I was an Oxford fan - we never rode against Birmingham (we moved down as Birmingham moved up, and we moved back up as Birmingham shut down). There were a section of Brummies' fans cheering when the Heathens fell. In particular, a loud cheer when Luke Chessell fell in Heat 12, which changed a 3-3 to... er.. a 3-3. Lots more points to Brummies' cause there then!! I made a few neutral observations about the meeting. If you don't like that, then tough. All the best Rob

They had one in Garrity, and declared him in the top five All the best Rob

Not a bad meeting, although Birmingham clearly have a better all-around team, and badly exposed Cradley's bottom end. The riders from both teams approached it in the right spirit; a couple of times, the Heathens' lads dragging the bikes off the track to let the race continue. Shame about some of the Brummies fans, who cheered when an opposing rider fell off. All the best Rob

The PL points limit of 42.50 (without bonus) is the equivalent of around 46 or 47 with bonus, so actually it's comparable to the points limit ever since 1983 (when it was 45 with bonus). Arguably the second tier, with the multi-national teams, is a lot stronger than the NL of the eighties. Whether it actually needs to be is a moot point. All the best Rob

I suspect her name might be Teresa - since a common shortening of that name is Trees Are you a real perm? I agree with nw42, in that I'm not keen on modern all-seater stadiums. They can be quite sterile. Oxford United's old Manor Ground had 10 times the atmosphere of the current Kassam Stadium. Having said that, I can understand why the facilities at speedway stadiums would be a turn-off to some first time visitors. All the best Rob

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions commence their Premier League fixtures with the visit of Plymouth Devils to the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (6.30pm). Zdenek Holub will be missing, as he is still sidelined with a shoulder injury – it is hoped that the Czech Republic international is back in action at Berwick on April 30. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey explains: “Zdenek had a try out in the Czech Republic, and his shoulder isn’t quite right yet. “He’ll sit out the home match against Plymouth this week, and we’ll again use the rider replacement facility for him. We’re hoping Zdenek will be fit for our visit to Berwick a week on Saturday.” After an indifferent League Cup campaign, which began with a bang with an away win at Ipswich, but fizzled out, Scorpions are looking to start their league campaign with a victory against Plymouth, who were saved from closure earlier this month. “I’m delighted that Plymouth were saved from closure”, added Godfrey, having afforded every assistance he could to the Devils in his role of vice-chairman of the BSPA. “No-one ever wants to see a speedway track close, and there’s no doubting the passion of the supporters down in Devon. “But we can’t afford to be charitable on Sunday. The League Cup did end up being a bit of a disappointment for us, but everyone starts afresh again in the Premier League. “The league is our No 1 priority, and we won’t under-estimate the Devils. We need to make sure we do the job at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday and emerge from the meeting with three precious league points in our account.”

I've spoken to Richard H on a couple of matters tonight, and also asked him about this. It seems the 25th July was on an early draft of the fixture list, but removed before the final publication of the fixture list. It seems it still appeared in a couple of places, before being removed (as Alan Jones mentions, it was on the original BSPA fixture list). At this point of time, there is not a provisional date for Scunny v Sheffield in the second round of the KOC. It will decided at a future date, after we beat Newcastle. PS No apology needed. If there is any questions about the fixtures, I prefer to know what they are, so that they can be clarified, and we can update the Scunny website where necessary. All the best Rob

RS50, thanks for the reply. The other change that I recall making is the start-time to the Peterborough on the Spring Bank Holiday (May 30th) from 3pm to 2pm, but that was done very early indeed, maybe before I even added the fixtures to the website. It may have been on other websites, but my original list of fixtures never had a Scunthorpe home date for the second round of the KOC. I will check to see if there is a provisional date for this and will let you know, because I appreciate that people like to forward plan fixtures (I tend to have hundreds of potential fixtures scribbled into my own diary). ( EDIT: Just found how the fixtures stood on January 21st, when first added to website: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4677 ) All the best Rob

Gavan, you've got your years muddled. Jan O suffered the injured tripping up while watching karting (he wasn't even doing it!) in 1990. In 1989, he was injured in the Dudley-Wolves trophy the weekend before the World Final, which is why Troy Butler (first reserve) replaced him in the line-up. All the best Rob

I don't think, in terms of the racing, speedway is any more or less interesting than it was 30 years ago. However, it's maybe lacking as many characters - they used to be something kicking off all the time. Maybe we need to let more controversy come back into the sport. One way would be to allow tape touching again (with riders only excluded if they break the tapes). That always used to cause a kerfuffle. Having said that, probably the most incident-packed meeting I've ever been to, was Scunthorpe vs Ipswich last year. That was speedway on steroids - riders passing each other all over the place, a rider knocking off another rider post-race, a sit-down protest on the track, a separate punch-up between two other riders, etc. I tend to pick and choose my meetings these days, and avoid anything that I consider might be 'boring'. A good starting point is watching half my speedway up at Scunny - speedway is never dull up there. All the best Rob

RS50, where was this listed? It wasn't in the list I was provided for the Scunny website, and I haven't added or removed anything beyond mid-May. If July 25th (a Monday evening) was included anywhere as a provisional fixture for Scunny, I assume it was an error. It wasn't in our fixture list. It would be useful to know where it was listed, because I can then check that source for other potential errors. All the best Rob

That is the case. Last Sunday, Nicolai was in Poland, so it was a choice of bring in a new signing (Ashley Morris), or use a National League guest rider (NL average up to 6.00), because a facility would not have been available for Nicolai. R/R for Holub again tomorrow at Somerset, with Wilko up in team and Ash Morris at reserve. All the best Rob

Tai rode for Scunny in 2006 & 2007, but as a CL only club, they weren't allowed to sign assets. Wolves signed Tai as an asset at the end of 2006. All the best Rob

Any reason for you being such an unsympathetic prat? Get well soon Rory Schlein. All the best Rob

Poor bloke. All the best Rob

Rick & Spencer Timmo (surprised Mr Roberts missed that one ) Colin & Andy Meredith All the best Rob

David Howe is back: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=5203 All the best Rob

No-one has mentioned it, because we all realised that Tai Woffinden was a current rider. All the best Rob

http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=5125 All the best Rob

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions have signed Ashley Morris as a replacement for Nicolai Klindt – and he will ride for the club at the Eddie Wright Raceway this Sunday, in the League Cup clash against the Peterborough Panthers (start-time 6.30pm). The 21-year-old Englishman started his career at the Eddie Wright Raceway in 2009, riding for the Scunthorpe Saints in the National League. Scorpions’ team plans are currently in a state of flux due to the absence of Czech Republic star Zdenek Holub. He injured his shoulder at Peterborough last Friday, and at the time of moment it’s unclear how long he will be on the sidelines. Holub seems to have avoided a break, but still has little movement in his arm. Klindt was only on a temporary contract until his Polish commitments started, with fellow Dane Andreas Lyager waiting in the wings, ready to come in for Klindt once Holub gained a real average. But Holub’s absence provides a complication, since he has not ridden in a fourth away meeting, required for gaining a real average, and he will stay on his assessed average of 7.00 for a little longer. Promoter Rob Godfrey explains: “Nicolai Klindt is unavailable to ride on Sunday, due to a Polish commitment, plus he would have been unavailable for quite a few of our forthcoming meetings. “We knew that Nicolai’s Polish fixtures would be kicking in at this time, and therefore we’ve made the move for Ashley Morris. “We know Ashley is a quality rider and can come in and do the job that we’re asking from him. He’s a temporary signing, but if he comes in and scores a hatful of points, he can make it impossible for us to drop him. “Theo Pijper came in as a temporary signing last season, but stayed the whole season.” Morris’ introduction means that Carl Wilkinson moves up to No 2, rider replacement for Holub to No 5, while Morris slots in at No 6. Godfrey states: “Once we’ve got a clearer picture of how long that Zdenek is going to be out for, then we can figure out the best way forward. With shoulder injuries, you can either recover very quickly or they can prove to be long-term. “I can assure our supporters that we are considering every option available to us. If Zdenek is out long term, then Andreas could come in for him.” As for the meeting itself, Godfrey remarks: “Every time that Peterborough come to Scunthorpe, it seems to be a fantastic meeting. I’m sure everyone remembers last year’s clash, when we turned it around with three 5-1s in the final three races. “It’s going to be a tough meeting, especially as Peterborough have started the season well. But we’ll be going all out to record our first home win of the season.” There are 24 heats of action in total on Sunday, with a nine-race second half including a six-heat Midland Development League match between Scunthorpe & Long Eaton. Admission prices for Sunday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Sunday: Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Carl Wilkinson 3. Alex Davies, 4. Ryan Douglas, 5. Rider replacement for Zdenek Holub, 6. Ashley Morris, 7. Josh Bailey. Peterborough Panthers: 1. Ulrich Ostergaard, 2. Simon Lambert, 3. Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen, 4. Michael Palm Toft, 5. Nickolas Porsing, 6. Emil Grondal, 7. Tom Perry. Midland Development League teams: Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Chris Hay, 2. Lloyd Ditchburn, 3. Luke Whitehead, 4. Sam Chapman. Long Eaton Invaders: 1. Layne Cupitt, 2. TBA, 3. Bradley Andrews, 4. Stephen Whitehouse.

New signing revealed here: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=5135 All the best Rob

... that's become even more retarded this season? Probably All the best Rob

Allott, Allott & Allott. All the best Rob EDIT: Arnie beat me to it by seconds

I reckon the Collins boys would win the brothers four team tournament competition! All the best Rob

Still on according to Sky's own website: http://www.skysports.com/watch/speedway-on-sky All the best Rob