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glenantony

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Everything posted by glenantony

  1. All I've got to say is that I'm really gutted for Tai - he has had such bad luck in the last few seasons, I asked him last year whether he would ever think enough is enough and stop putting his body through it? He said he was happy to carry on riding. The bloke is a legend in the sport and I hope he can fully recover as quickly as possible.
  2. Although not an ideal solution - the various Sports Bar & Grills have separate screens at each table and will change to 'ahem' niche sports for you. I've watched the Monday night matches in the Clapham Junction branch - albeit without sound. I know there are others in Farringdon, Marylebone and Old Street but I think the one in Victoria has closed. Hope that's of some help
  3. Nothing sums up this forum like the number of people prepared to come on this thread and tell us how bad Cardiff is and how they will never go! Who cares? Those of us who make a big effort for the weekend seem to love it! My partner and I enjoyed meeting some great speedway fans from up and down the country, enjoyed the racing, couldn't fail to love the result and thoroughly enjoyed the impromptu Q&A with Tai after the event. Thanks Tai! We're also going to Riga & Torun, which will probably cost less together than Cardiff, but it is the only speedway themed weekend in Britain. Posters throughout the city centre, stalls with 'dodgy' merchandise on the Main Street, streets closed for fans - don't remember anything like that in Manchester for the SoN?? It would be great to see two SGPs in Britain but did Belle Vue do themselves any favours with their overpriced tickets, resulting in a big temporary stand looking empty? Again the two of us enjoyed ourselves in Manchester for a weekend, but lets not have a competition for the best - lets get together for both!
  4. I like Kvech and think he can improve by racing in Britain - interesting signing!
  5. Weather is looking wet all weekend - Got a morning flight on Sunday too!
  6. Just for my clarity - what did Lemon say that he had to retract later?
  7. I feel that there are a few things to address here still. I am bemused by the Ipswich fans on here so defensive about their parade times - I too have attended speedway around the country and Europe but frankly I couldn't care less about riders saying hello to the crowd over real racing! We all know that the package is only 15 minutes so needs some filler but there are times when this doesn't make sense and I'm sure most of us have been to meetings when the parade is sacrificed or the interval delayed. Now if the council have a ruling, that I fully understand, but it's a matter of communication to everyone, not just home fans, to say Tapes up at 2:30pm. If I turn up to se a 3:00pm kick off at Football I don't expect to see the team coming out to play at 3:15. Equally if labour laws insist there is a certain interval for track staff, just let us know when the interval is called - at least we can moan at other factors then. My real gripe/concern is that yesterday was another one of those chances to boost the sport - good crowd expected for a bank holiday derby and some first-timers were even acknowledged by the announcer. But what would the opinion be of those casual fans? How tempted would a family be to spend good money on a sport that pays so much heed to the weather, and ends up in everyone traipsing out feeling short-changed by only seeing two thirds of the races. Maybe results shouldn't be called after 10 heats? Maybe refunds should be given up to Heat 15? Would promotors attitudes be different then? I don't think the two minutes was put on immediately after every race, no matter what the local fans say, and I just didn't feel that enough urgency was shown - sorry Chris Louis! As I said I compared it to the Oxford match I attended earlier in the season where the meeting reached a full conclusion when the track was far from ideal and all parties were trying hard to get through as soon as they could due to the threat of another downpour. In the end I guess I would only have to endure another 5 heats of Ipswich putting my beloved Stars to the sword - and in the meantime I realise I've turned into my dad!
  8. Living in an idyllic world?? I've been to Ipswich today! It's nice to see you're so behind your team you're prepared to sacrifice racing - OK if the racing couldn't start to 2:30 I get that point but making no effort to hurry is not excusable. Any idiot could read the weather apps or internet sites - unless you're from Suffolk it seems, where it is always expected to be sunny!
  9. I was at the meeting and I did think that there was no real pace about beating the impending rain. Equally it was announced there would be a break and then after that the interval was announced. Wojdylo's falls of course add delays but there was time to get more than 10 heats in today. I have no criticism of the riders and agree that no-one wants to see riders struggling round the bends, but as a counterpoint I went to Oxford's opening night this season and knowing the rain could return the pace of the meeting was kept going throughout - 15 heats seen and no complaints!
  10. I do get angry at the time wasted at meetings when anyone could read the weather forecast and predict problems. I'm sure people would rather see racing than be introduced to riders they already know and listen to what Ritchie Hawkins thinks ahead of the meeting. Today should have started earlier, been kept going at pace and have limited grading and breaks. If 50 people miss the start surely that is amply compensated by the rest of the crowd seeing more that the basic ten minutes of racing. I really try to always be positive about British speedway but with a good crowd for a Bank Holiday derby the public get shafted again - I don't want to see riders trundling round on dangerous tracks but I would expect promotors being more prepared to get the racing done when poor weather is expected.
  11. Watched on BSN and I have to say that this meeting showed the sport at it's very finest. The track at Glasgow is so exciting and if the riders are prepared to embrace the banking, it produces some of the best racing you can see. Congratulations to both teams and hopefully more of the same in the play-offs. Speedway lives!
  12. So crowd was much more than the promised 7500 - don't care who paid and who didn't the atmosphere was great and the racing was good thanks to the work on the track. Tai was a magnificent ambassador for the sport - saw him around the city and in the pits, and I have absolutely no idea of the number of pictures and autographs he did, but smiled for every one of them. Thought it was going to be his night, but not to be. Cardiff is a great city for a weekend and for a couple of nights out, and the way that streets are closed and decorated for the GP is unrivalled in the speedway world - for all the advocates of Belle Vue, they must realise that the city centre facilities nearby can't be matched. There was no conspiracy about the venue next year - the date was given, just like other years. Catching up with the forum today, after some decent racing the moaners came down to the fireworks and the trophies - please find something more interesting! Of course it was really noticeable that the negativity on the forum was widespread during the actual racing and now those of us who went and enjoyed ourselves over the weekend are now posting with more positive messages.
  13. I'm afraid this sums up this forum - Cardiff is usually the best chance that Speedway has for mainstream coverage and publicity. The city becomes a speedway centre for at least a day and people who attend seem to enjoy themselves. Yet, here on the forum, we get 'speedway fans' who can only get joy out of the fact that it might be a failure! 'Only 7500 tickets sold, blue-light tickets to fill the stadium, must be the last one etc etc' - if you're not interested in Cardiff, don't go and don't sit by your keyboard and take your little pot shots, hoping for failure. Start a new forum for just slagging off the sport and congratulate each other on your success if things don't go to plan - just keep it away from here and let's enjoy some positivity. I hope those who are moved to a more expensive area, enjoy it more. I hope that the cameras make the place look packed. I hope some free ticketholders take a new interest in the sport and I hope everyone that goes has a great day of racing and a good time in Cardiff. The demise of the Cardiff weekend has been predicted before - but here we go again.
  14. Thanks - never found a reason to join Facebook until now!
  15. Hi - it seems to a bit of a grave yard area but just wondered if anyone had any of these for sale to complete my collection? 2003 - Norwegian SGP at Hamar 2003 - Slovenian SGP at Krsko 2017 - Australian SGP at Melbourne 2020 - Wroclaw SGP 1&2 2021 - Lublin SGP 1&2 Any help appreciated
  16. Really hope that last week was a wake-up call for most of the Lynn team. After putting his neck on the line to capture Laguta and building up the hype as a promotor should, I felt so sorry for Alex Brady last week watching the team just failing from the gate repeatedly. He looked personally hurt and I'm sure he wont't put up with another performance like that tonight. I'd take a narrow win!
  17. This speculation is terrible - please just announce it either way and put us out of our misery!!!
  18. Anyone know if Viaplay intend to show any speedway this season - nothing showing on website?
  19. This season started with so much promise - the return of Bewley, Sayfutdinov, Kasprzak and Pedersen seemingly signalling the return to a more glorious era with star names. The birth of a new Workington to add to the success of Oxford last season, Leicester taking the plunge in the top league again, and the promise of some British youngsters continuing their upward careers. How could this turn so toxic and disappointing already? Peterborough's awful statement regarding their loss of Pedersen seemed to write off their season before it started, and now terrible news about Monmore Green has put another black cloud over the sport's future and it seems we're keen to discuss the death of British speedway again next season. So many people were saying how they were looking forward to this season - a month in all optimism has gone! How about we revel in what we have for this summer? By all means protest and petition but let's enjoy what we have and spread a positive message - what this sport needs is fans, paying money over the gates and this negativity already this season isn't going to help.
  20. Hi - had it confirmed from Smoke & Rubber that they will not be selling a DVD for last season's GPs and SWC - does anyone know anywhere else that are producing anything? Poland maybe? I assume it's linked to being able to watch on Discovery+, but there must be others who are like me and would want to continue their own collection
  21. Seemed like a healthy crowd to me - I hope Glasgow Speedway made some money as their facilities and organisation were excellent. Why do members of this forum feel such a need to talk the sport down? The track, the fence, the delays, the coverage, the crowd, the time of the races, the format, the winner of the meeting for god's sake - all been panned in the preceding 40 pages, much by the keyboard experts who sat and watched a stream. How about taking the positives and advocating this great sport. I count myself lucky to have seen that meeting on my first visit to Glasgow and also thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Edinburgh the previous night. Both clubs seem well run with good tracks and consequently well supported - isn't that what we all want? Sometimes it seems that the forum members hate the sport and look forward to it's total demise just to say 'I knew that would happen' - c'mon try loving the sport as it is!
  22. If this was the worst meeting at Glasgow you must see some fantastic meetings! Some of the best speedway I have seen for years Loved my first visit to Ashfield- the racing was exciting and at times unpredictable. As someone said there wasn’t much complaining at the track as people were respectfully waiting for the injured riders to be cared for. Some riders obviously found the track difficult but that is surely down to their own way of riding and certainly the Poles struggled with the shape - that doesn’t make the track poor, it just means there is more to speedway than open the throttle and go.
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