Thischarmingman

Chris Harris - SGP qualifiers? Jesus wept.

Debbie Arneil perhaps? If so, that must be getting on for 30 years ago. Think her Dad was one of the major sponsors, possibly of Les Collins, back in the day.

For all of speedway's (many) faults, the one constant positive is that throwing money at riders is no guarantee of success. Glasgow have proven that once again. There is no rule to say they are not allowed to do that, but a points limit of some sort remains vital to keep a relatively level playing field.

Yes, i re-read the part of the report and see what you mean that the figure quoted was an increase from 2016. I am a bit detached from speedway these days, particularly at the top level, but I must have made the assumption that the new Belle Vue track was attracting bigger average crowds than it does. It seems really low to me, when the new stadium was supposed to be Belle Vue's saviour and seems to produce such good racing. Hopefully 2018 not dropped too badly despite the reports earlier in the year.

Wow, not long into the new stadium's life and crowds were down to an average of 1400 in 2017. Judging by the noises made earlier this season that the fixed race night has not been good for Belle Vue then that figure would likely be lower for 2018. Desperate times.

Now that Nicki has sadly departed the scene, the Monster clique will need somebody new to pick on. My bet would be Freddie Lindgren, a hard rider who can dish it out and take it back in return, a bit like Nicki. Any other suggestions?

Just happened to be flicking between Sky news and BBC when I saw speedway and there was Tai. He came over very well, completely relaxed. The sports presenter (can't remember his name) clearly knew a bit about speedway but he was chatting away to all three presenters. Nice to have the big trophy there prominently in picture. And Monster will be happy with their exposure as well.

But but but itza trick track ye ken and only they monarchs cheeturz can ride roon the place and it's no a real speedway track cuz ye dinny go fast likesy.

There will be no more bouquets of flowers from the Facenna's for Chris Harris after that effort.

Really have to check with Chris Harris how he wants to play this. Last week he wasn't too keen to travel north on a wet day due to a family birthday and a religious festival. I have no knowledge of birthday's in his family, but I do know that orthodox Christians consider this Friday to be Good Friday, so that could be a sticking point. Best play safe with an early call off I should think.

Time for Chris Harris to get a 9-5 job by the looks of his whining on Twitter. Completely understand the desire to spend time with his newborn, but to make reference to his wife's birthday, and it being Easter is pathetic. Better check for any family milestones, next time it's a bit wet on a Friday.

How much more elaborate could the Monarchs make their pricing structure for the 800 or so regulars. Seriously, is there a need for 4 different pricing structures for people who want to pay weekly? What is the point in the blue membership card, and the need for two levels of pre-payment and two levels of pay at the gate?

Bang on, that's exactly what they have done, taken the ruling literally, without taking into account the very clear circumstances which could merit a successful appeal.

Lucifer Rob always conveniently leaves out certain facts if they don't suit his line of argument at that point, he's done it for years and doesn't fool anyone.

The committee is not a large group as I am sure you well know, however, if it is made public that Stewart Dickson voted in favour of the visa appeal being supported by the BSPA, I will be the first on here to apologise.

Oh, and who is one of the wise men on the BSPA committee? It's that lovely cuddly Stewart Dickson of the friendly, helpful Glasgow Tigers. I'm sure Stewart was fighting Edinburgh's corner.........

Do you not find the situation just a little bit odd? Not the content of the statement which would appear to be helpful, just the speed with which it came out? From recent memory, within that last couple of years Glasgow stated that by Edinburgh objecting to Tigers application for a Friday race night they were 'damaging their business', something along those lines, can't remember the exact wording. Glasgow took the huff and decided they didn't want to race challenge matches at the start of the season or the Scottish Cup, a sentiment which I doubt Edinburgh shared. Thereafter, seems to be no interaction between the clubs unless absolutely necessary, until the recent apparent thaw in relations, after the announcement of the opening challenge match fixtures. Can we expect more friendliness now going forward? John and Alex popping round to the Facenna's for tea and a scone? Group hugs on the centre green before the first match of the season?

It seemed to me that he was questioning the timing of Glasgow's statement more than the content of it. Does seem a little strange that the Tigers' spokesman seemed to have statement issued just a short time after the news broke. Did Philip Lanning confirm if he'd asked the Edinburgh promotion for a comment before publishing the story, which would have seemed the reasonable thing to do?

Most unlikely, they've rarely shown interest in the past. However, if you could hoodwink the council into believing that Edinburgh Speedway are inextricably linked to the 'famous' Heart Of Midlothian football club (maybe Scott Wilson could convince them), then they will be bending over backwards to help them as usual, butts in the air.

There will be a few glasses of champers raised in celebration in the posh restaurants of Leith tonight, while the domestic abuse rates will triple in parts of Glasgow tonight, as is the norm when the old firm unexpectedly lose.

Glasgow Tigers spokesman released the following statement following last night’s result; ‘We’re as disappointed as any of the fans that despite throwing ridiculous amounts of money at riders this year, we’ve not managed to actually win anything worthwhile. But fear not Glasgow fans, you can be sure that we will be working hard to rectify that situation over the winter and offer large amounts of money to average riders, which in turn increases the demands of all riders, and costs to all clubs in speedway, thus destabilising the sport in the long term. But we’re all right jack. In fact, right now we’re targeting a young talented British rider who was given a chance to prove himself by one of our closest rivals, we’re confident that he can’t possibly refuse the offer we’ve put together, which will make any package put together by any of our rivals laughable’

Noticed on twitter that the owner/founder of Meridian Lifts, who as far as I can tell are one of the SGP's main sponsors, is on a major anti-Nicki tirade. Fair enough he is entitled to his opinion, but when he is wishing bodily harm on NP ('hopefully laid up soon with a couple of broken legs and one arm' and hoping he ends up in an ambulance amongst other gems), this is going well over the score and doesn't reflect well on the SGP. Classy.... If this spills over to Cardiff and beyond, I hope Greg is satisfied with the s***storm he has created.

Has anyone ordered Bydgoszcz tickets and had them arrived safely by courier/registered letter from Poland? If so, how long did it take? There seems a confusing variery of delivery options for delivery, presume one of them is recommended for sending abroad, but not clear which is best. Seems strange that they can't facilitate a pick up at the stadum option......

We're thinking of booking a very last minute trip for the GP, of course there are no tickets available that I can see on the official booking site. I know it's a longshot, but if there's anyone who has a couple of spares that they want to get rid of, please could you get in touch.

I think South Africa and Rhodesia had a short lived boom about a decade before Penhall's time, almost all based on touring riders with the odd home grown talent thrown in.