lucifer sam

Shame Brian Leonard didn't up end as the speedway promoter, after his year alongside Dore and Bliss in 1987. Things may have gone down a bit different path. Dore was the dogs man. Leonard was passionate about the speedway. Hence Per Jonsson trying setting that track record in 1987, because Brian Leonard spent money on the track that year to get it right and it wasn't its usual slick self. All the best Rob

Didn't Bill Dore trade in the longer lease for a shorter one, to get a rent reduction? All the best Rob

Thanks to the Devils On Tour fans for taking the time to send the following letter to Scunthorpe Speedway: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=5333

It does look like it's sorted out this time around. I guess the proof will be that NL meeting on Friday evening. All the best Rob

I've got every World Final programme. Had to pay the most for 1936, the only time I had to go above £100. I got 1961 for £70-£80, I think. Ebay is the mug's way of collecting these programmes - much cheaper at auctions, etc. All the best Rob

If Belle Vue are up and running, then yes. Hence the "to be confirmed". All the best Rob

SCORPIONS UP FOR THE CUP IN BANK HOLIDAY FEAST HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions turn their attention to the Premier League Knockout Cup at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Bank Holiday Monday (3pm), entertaining the Newcastle Diamonds in the first leg of the first round of the competition. There are 36 heats of speedway action on offer in total on Monday, with a 21-race second half consisting of youngsters from the 500cc and 150cc classes doing battle in the second round of the British Youth Championship. The Bank Holiday weekend bonanza of action completes a weekend that also sees the Scorpions travel to Berwick in Premier League action on Saturday evening. The Scorpions are due to welcome Czech international Zdenek Holub back to their ranks this weekend. He has been missing through injury since sustaining a shoulder injury at Peterborough on April 1. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “It was a relief to register our first home victory of the season over Plymouth last Sunday, and we need to push on from there. “We’ve been drawn against Newcastle in the KO Cup for the second year running. They’re a strong team, no doubt about that, so it’s a tough draw and we’re going to need everyone on the gas, if we’re to have a chance of getting through to the second round.” The Scorpions twice won the Conference League (third tier) KO Cup in 2006 and 2007, with current Scorpions’ skipper Josh Auty part of the line-up, but success has eluded the club in the competition at Premier League level. Godfrey added: “It’s going to be a packed and enjoyable afternoon of speedway, and I hope the crowd will stick around to watch the cream of Britain’s youngsters in the British Youth Championship at 500cc and 150cc level.” Bank Holiday Monday’s adult admission price for the double-header is £17. It’s just £2 more than a single Premier League meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway, for 21 extra heats of action. A full and exciting afternoon of racing is ahead. DON’T MISS IT! Admission prices for Bank Holiday Monday: Adult: £17.00 Student/OAP: £15.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £39 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Bank Holiday Monday: Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Carl Wilkinson, 3. Alex Davies, 4. Zdenek Holub, 5. Ryan Douglas, 6. Ashley Morris, 7. Josh Bailey. Newcastle Diamonds (to be confirmed): 1. Robert Lambert, 2. Rider replacement for Tero Aarnio, 3. Matej Kus, 4. Ludvig Lindgren, 5. Steve Worrall, 6. Lewis Rose, 7. Danny Phillips. British Youth Championship second round: 500cc class: Carl Basford, Tom Brennan, Sam Woolley, Kyle Bickley, Luke Woodhull, Ben Woodhull, Kean Dicken, Sam Bebee, Jordan Jenkins, Lewis Whitmore, Alex Spooner, James Hitchen, Sam Chapman, Taylor Hampshire. 150cc class: James Laker, Kieron McCoy, Nathan Ablitt, Mason O’Rourke, Jamie Bursill.

Really? I don't have an issue with Belle Vue, and would have loved for the opening meeting to be a roaring success. But, if yourself and Ouch are going to try to defend the indefensible, then I may disagree with you! All the best Rob

It's pointless comparing with 1946 - a very different time with very different circumstances. And remember British Speedway was at its very lowest ebb in 1957/1958/1959, just a decade later. In 1958, there was one league of ten teams. That's all. Instead of looking back, it's necessary to look forward, although that's not to say we can't learn from the past. For examples, meetings used to be far more controversial than they are now - and provide plenty of talking points. But looking forward, are there ways of getting more fans onto the terraces? And, if not, what sources of alternative income are there? I, for one, still very much enjoy my speedway in 2016, and I'd like to see the sport survive and thrive. All the best Rob

Thank goodness for that. I wondered how long that you are going to spout your nonsense for. The buck stops with the BV management over the opening meeting. If the track wasn't ready, then it should have been called off on the Thursday, not leave it until 5000+ people are in the stadium. The contractors cannot call off a speedway meeting. The BV management can. The slowness in sending refunds just compounds matters. It's been a huge PR disaster. All the best Rob

Five in a row: Wembley (1949-1953) Four in a row: Belle Vue (1933-1936), Wimbledon (1958-1961) Three in a row: Wimbledon (1954-1956), Belle Vue (1970-1972), Poole (2013-2015). All the best Rob

Expected teams for today: 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. Plymouth Devils: 1. Charlie Gjedde, 2. Sam Simota, 3. Jack Holder, 4. Todd Kurtz, 5. Kyle Newman, 6. Stefan Nielsen, 7. Ellis Perks. Midland Development League teams: Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Chris Hay, 2. Lloyd Ditchburn, 3. Luke Whitehead, 4. Sam Chapman. Buxton Junior Hitmen: 1. Ryan Burton, 2. William O’Keefe, 3. Joe Lawlor, 4. Connor Fletcher.

Who actually owns the stadium? Is it David Gordon / Chris Morton or the council? If it's the council, is it time for them to employ someone else to run speedway at their stadium? I feel for the long-standing Belle Vue fans - they deserve better than this. All the best Rob

Understand his post fine thanks, and responded to it, since Brummies did not score any extra points due to Chessell falling, which was his excuse. Meanwhile, Birmingham clearly have a very good side for a second successive season, with strength from 1-to-7, while Cradley do look very top heavy at this point of time. Looked at my programme until Heat 12, at which point both sides had provided six heat winners, but Brummies were 12 points to the good. The difference was Birmingham's first six heat winners were all different riders, while the seventh (JPB) had two paid wins. That kind of solid scoring is the kind that wins titles. All the best Rob

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