Brummie Kev

Check this out from Horton today, says Coventry will track share in 2018 and drop down the leagues to the NL. Somehow i get the feeling the track share wont be with Leicester! http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-bees-speedway-brandon-stadium-13571089

Unlike a few people on here I have no idea whats going on when Tony and Graham retire, so all i go by are the occasional stories in the Speedway Star. Given the amount of effort that was put in to bring the sport back to Birmingham and then to save it twice by Tony Mole, I don't believe there isn't something going on given how quiet its been in the media. Surely if no one was interested, they would be shouting from the rooftops in the local media and forming an action plan with the supporters club to try and find someone to take it on? I hope that there is some kind of news prior/during or just after the Kent match which could be our final home league match. So the fans like myself that arnt 'in the know' can have some idea of what the future holds for the club. Having gone through 2014 and all the uncertainty around that, it feels like we are back to the uncertainty all be it in different circumstances. I know some fans will say to just be patient but we are coming to the end of the season with the AGMs upon us before be know it. Fingers crossed we get something sorted before then.

No idea whats happening with Birmingham next year.

RIP Bryn, My thoughts are with his family and friends :sad:

I was very surprised when I saw Ritchings announced as I expected Judge to sign up Jack Smith as the next rider. Daryl struggled a bit towards the end of last season, that said as someone has mentioned he will a second string next year. Sad to not see Jack back but i wish him well wherever hes riding. The team looks decent to me, solid top 3. JPB could easily be a number 1 given the talent that kid has. Hume also could push on to a 9pt average and I reckon Bacon wont be far behind. Cupitt is an excellent signing, still young but he was impressive at times I saw him last year. 9 pts in the British U19 final and did well for IOW at PB

I dont reckon it does but because this is Graham Drury and Birmingham so a different rules apply to us compared to the other teams.Lets face it we have had this dished to us already this season with the Richard Hall farce. Clearly a case of screwing us over, given only weeks later Antonio Lindback who rode for Poole about 9 years previously gets a brand new average. It was 11 years for Richard Hall but he didnt get a new average like Lindback. We are clearly not a club liked by people high up, or even by the man running the BSPA himself

I take back my criticism of Eastbourne, fair play to Dugard for them comments. Drury can get the blame for not knowing the rules but for me the SCB ref Paul Carrington really should be investigated for clearly not doing his job properly. Quite clearly this error by Graham should have been spotted days beforehand, then we could have used another guest or rider replacement. Instead Birmingham fans travelled hundreds miles to learn we are facing Eastbourne with a depleted team, Eastbourne fans themselves wouldn't have been deprived of seeing them beating a weakened side and poor James Shanes wouldnt have had a wasted trip from Dorset. Such a shame the final speedway meeting in britain for 2016 can end in such farcical situations and I look forward to the SCB investigation into their failure of following procedure regarding tonights meeting. However I reckon theres more chance of Turkeys voting for Christmas then that happening!

Graham Drury has had his say on the Brummies site: Birmingham team manager Graham Drury said: “I have been told on more than one occasion this year that, due to the nature of rider availability in the National League nowadays, the so-called eight day rule no longer applies. “Do you really think that I’d book the same guest rider on back-to-back Sundays if I thought that rule was still in use in our league? “There have been a number of fixtures where this has evidently been the case and I can’t recall any problems with it prior to our meeting at Eastbourne. “I thought the days had long gone whereby the public are deprived and robbed of seeing a team that has been advertised and publicised in the build-up to a meeting. “Yes every now and again you will have riders who have last minute travel problems or illnesses and you’re forced to make late changes, but on the whole when there’s no problems at all, supporters should be able to turn up to a meeting and see all of the riders they are expecting to. “There’s a procedure within the British Speedway Promoters’ Association and the Speedway Control Bureau where five days before a meeting, each club going head-to-head must exchange their team line-ups for that upcoming meeting. “Those teams are then passed on to the SCB referee scheduled for that fixture who then has plenty of time to confirm the eligibility of all the riders down to participate in that particular event. “Both the referee and the Eastbourne management have raised no objection or questioned the booking whatsoever in the build-up to the meeting and there has certainly not been any communication whatsoever regarding the ineligibility of James Shanes guesting for us in the Knockout Cup Final. “So with that in mind, to then be approached just 30 minutes before the scheduled start time and told that James Shanes wouldn’t be allowed to ride in the meeting due to Eastbourne’s objection absolutely astonished me! “Not only did it make our task even harder than it already was as we were already without Danyon Hume but it meant the supporters of speedway were once again the losers. “It’s unfortunate that we’re ending the season on such a controversial matter and that we’re not talking about what a classic cup tie that should and would have been. “It’s not for me to cast any aspersions on anybody why it was left so late to be brought up and objections raised, but it just seems very strange how standard regulations and procedures haven’t been followed in this instance. “Eastbourne should have raised any problems or queries when I sent them our team earlier in the week and the referee certainly should have given us prior notice if he didn’t think James Shanes was an eligible guest. “I’d like to apologise to our supporters who gave up their Sunday and spent money on petrol to make the long journey down to Eastbourne but unfortunately, this one was completely out of our hands.

At end of the day you can all point your fingers at Graham Drury and blame him for not knowing rules. However teams are announced in advance, not an hour in advance like football. So why didnt Eastbourne protest as soon as they saw our team or better still why didnt the SCB say anything. Instead lets wait until the rider gets there and the fans get into the stadium. Shambles

It was announced tonight at Birmingham by the man himself that 2017 will be his last in the sport. We all should applaud what this man has done for the sport in this country, hes saved countless clubs over the years. He bought speedway back to Birmingham and saved the club from closure after the 2014 shambles. Thank you Tony. Tonight was amazing for the Brummies, its had success on and off the track in the National League .I sincerely hope someone can step forward and take the club on so the club sport can continue beyond 2017 in Birmingham.

As nights at Perry Barr go, that has to be the best since 2007. Its justice for what happened in 2013 when we finished top but beaten in the Playoffs by Poole. Im so glad tonight we managed to overturn the 13 points, I honestly wasnt that confident especially as Eastbourne only lost by 6 points 7 days earlier. However we came out on fire and set the tone in the first four heats. I cant fault any of them, they were amazing including guest Mitchell Davey who beat Adam Ellis in heat 1. Just want to say what great support Eastbourne had, loads of fans made the trip and they had their own stand. Felt sorry for them tbh, especially given the distance they come to support their team, great support. The Brummies fans were defo the 8th man tonight, so loud and probably thrbest atmosphere I've heard there for ages if ever. Its nights like this I will remember for a long time to come. Fantastic Brummies!!

Tricky one for Brummies, having such a great team this year but we cant keep all 7 riders from this year 1. Tom Bacon 7.70 2. Danyon Hume 7.33 3. Jack Parkinson Blackburn 6.74 4. Jack Smith 6.09 5. Ryan Blacklock 5.76 6. Jordan Jenkins 3.00 7. Layne Cupitt 3.18

No because yourselves or Cradley are due at Perry Barr next wednesday for the final of the KOC.

I have no idea if this has been mentioned but earlier in the season in the National League the BSPA blocked Richard Hall from signing from Birmingham. At the the time the BSPA insisted Richard was to sign using his 2004 conference league average, not a converted Pl average or a reasessed one. So isn't the BSPA hypocritical for allowing lindback back in on a reassessed average yet use a 12 year old average to stop Richard Hall ride in the National League and thus denying a British rider a team place

Couldn't we look at signing a replacement for Zach, I know it's over the transfer deadline but you can replace injured riders. Come on BSPA give Richard Hall an 8pt average. I think that's pretty fair, he probably ain't a 9 or 10ter nowadays

I enjoyed the meeting, total respect for ALL the riders for putting on a show. Disappointed that Bewley couldn't ride as maybe Max Clegg wouldn't have won it so easy. Still congratulations to Max, he deserved it. Didn't always gate, in the heat with Perks, he passed him on the back straight. Then Heat 20, Shanes had the beating of him right up-to the last bend, when Max got Shanes on the line to win the title. Great way to win it. So happy for Jack Smith that was a great podium. Very impressed with Layne Cupitt, he rode well.

Danyon Hume has broke his collarbone last night riding at the IOW

Im very much looking to this, its the future of this country and a decent line up. Admission prices remain the same as a normal Brummies match. I know people will look to Bewley or Clegg to win this but dont right off James Shanes, if theres a dirt line on the outside i honestly wouldnt rule him out. He was superb last week!. Hoping JPB and Smithy do well on their home track. Gonna leave early as the Villa are playing at home and the traffic will queue down the Aldridge road, shouldnt affect fans coming from the motorway or the A34.

Next week is the British Under 19 final and it should be interesting to see how Shanes gets on against Bewley and Clegg. If theres a bit of dirt down and the outside is working like tonight, I honestly wouldnt rule him out beating them both. I thought Jack Thomas would have done better, he was impressive earlier in the season at reserve here and in the second match he held his own in the main body. Seemed to struggle tonight

I went to Brandon earlier in the season when it was Storm vs Brummies on a sunday afternoon and I wouldnt put the crowd much past 200. I could count the number of people on the back straight and it just reached double digits plus a few people on the third/fourth bend. So this press release is no surprise to me. I honestly dont believe its because the Storm team isn't doing well, even if it was do people seriously think the crowds would be good. Coventry have had team in the top league for donkeys years so for most Coventry fans its their bread and butter even for all its failings as a league. A shame because these young kids need your support, just because your team isnt doing well, you shouldnt just turn your back on them, FWIW if I was off work on Friday I would go. I would be a neutral but for me 17 pound for two is an absolute bargain. £8.50 per speedway meeting!!. Okay the IOW away from the Island are a bit naff but Kent are a good side with a v good top 3. Questions need to be asked about the future of the NL in my opinion. Will Coventry and Kings Lynn run NL sides next year, given i think crowds for Young Stars matches arnt that good either. Heard from some Brummies fans that there wasnt that good a crowd when we was up at Belle Vue, thats despite a decent colts side, are their crowds holding up? So could we face a situation where Coventry, Kings Lynn and Belle Vue dont run NL sides next year. The likes of Mick Horton or Buster Chapman wont continue running NL sides if they are losing so much money. Everyone talks about the EL being in crisis but what about the NL?

Decent contest, good to have a nice close result for a change. For me the tie is evenly balanced going into the second leg, Kent will be happy to only have conceded a 10 point deficit. Whilst we have a handy lead bearing in mind we have won there this year. We came back quite good in the end after Kent started fairly well. I honestly thought we screwed up with the track prep, seemed to be over watered which caught the riders out in the early stages. Very impressive from Bacon again, and Perry had 3 great wins towards the end. They had 3 quality NL riders in Bowen,Ayres and Shanes. As expected all 3 were on the money, but their reserves were poor for the averages they hold. I often wonder why James Shanes doesn't ride in the Premier league, he would be in his element at a track like Peterborough being the racer he is, is it purely because of all of his grass tracking?. Hes one rider I would love in a 2017 Brummies NL side.

You could single out any Birmingham rider for praise so far this season, they have been terrific and deliver every single week. Danyon is a totally different rider to what he was 12 months ago, he was a rider who could barely score 3 points a meeting. Fast forward to now and the transformation has been amazing. Got to say it was great to see Danyon walk out 5 year old Lenny, a Rye House fan who on his birthday came to Perry Barr to watch Danyon. It was his birthday so must say class of Danyon to make that little guys day. I get the feeling that the kind of guy he is, he always posing for photos and signing autographs with fans.

Such a shame this is off, my parents were due to make their first visit to buxton and were really looking forward to it.

Really good meeting for the neutral, some good racing in front of what looked a massive crowd, big queue to get in. The Heat 11 incident was one of the most terrifying incidents I have ever seen. It was pure luck that the track staff, porky and the start line girl wasn't seriously injured. PK clamped Lawson down on the inside of bend 4, Lawson bike took off air Bourne towards them. PK rightly excluded by ref. Shame Lakeside didn't have Bridger, but v impressed with AJ. He was on fire for most of the meeting, as was Lawson until the crash which took it out of him. Good to see Woffinden back, took a few rides to get it right. Was involved in some great races.

Well done Danyon Hume