Steve Shovlar Posted July 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Fullmax said: I'd be interested to hear your overall opinion as a neutral on both your trips to Leicester and Kent . How do the stadiums ( cost , atmosphere , facilities + viewing positions etc ) , racetracks and standard of racing compare against each other ? Leicester is a basic stadium compared to a purpose built stadium at Sittingbourne which no doubt could seat a couple of thousand fans compared to the temp stands at Leicester. No doubt Sittingbourne could do with a tidy up and lick of paint. Doesn’t look like it has been touched since it was built and there are tractor parts laying around on the first bend. But where is the money going to come from Swale Council clearly don’t like speedway to force draconian conditions on the club. Racing between the two meetings was chalk and cheese. Leicester was a race to come out of the first bend leading. There was no hiding place at Sittingbourne where there was passing in every heat bar one. I had been told passing was at a premium at Sittingbourne but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Perhaps it was in NL level but last night was the most passing I have seen in a meeting in many years. If it was filmed, this is worth watching. Cost wise it was £20 last night for adults and a program. Viewing was very good. Perhaps the track could have been a bit bigger and closer to the main stand. Leicester’s track is bigger but little passing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted July 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 1 hour ago, waco said: Totally agree some of us have been complaining on here for a long time about the PA SYSTEM IT IS TERRIBLE,,,,They have not used a center green presenter and would the sound be any better if they did,,?? Why don’t the promotion invest in a couple of speakers placed on the dog track facing the main stand? It was like listening to someone with cotton wool in their mouths. Awful. And why not advertise for a center green announcer? A good DJ with a knowledge could do the job and it wouldn’t cost the Earth. What about approaching Kevin Coombs at Eastbourne? Not too far to travel and would improve the product 1000%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted July 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 31 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said: Delighted to hear that first and foremost the racing at Central Park was good! Its a strange phenomenon that whats often needed is for the away team to be better to negate the home advantage or the 'lesser' riders to gate and let the 'better' riders chase them. Equally delighted to hear than Danyon had another good night and that Ben Morley rode so well. Both of these riders have been rattling around on the fringes for a while and seems crazy that Hume wasn't snapped up by a CL side sooner whilst Morley must be in prime spot for Kent rider of the season at present. Two hugely likeable riders and im delighted that the successes are matching their efforts. Hume seems to have been constantly overlooked in the past, with clubs faffing about with the Jack Smiths. He was there to be picked up but no club fancied him until Matt Ford grabbed him for this season. I must admit I knew little about him but he has been a revelation. He can pass. He is not afraid to keep the throttle open and is fast out front. Last night he was miles clear in heat 2 when Wright fell and in the rerun was caught Morley’s back wheel trying to pass which caused him to lose second to Gilkes. Without Wrights fall he would have ended up paid 15. He is still a reserve though and could well up with just a couple of points in another meeting. But he has potential and any young Brit improving in the sport is only a good thing. It will be interesting how he gets on tonight against the Thompson twins and Zane Kennedy. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaColette Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Whoever recommended him to MF should be asking for some commission! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Must say I agree almost entirely with SS and his assessment. Having been there a couple of times each season since they opened, that was probably the best meeting I have seen there. PA has never been any different. Inconsistent refereeing. Starke clearly moved in one race, punishing himself. Rerun, no warning. Another race, KIng made a blinding start, rerun, King warned. In the rerun, Nicholls moved far more than either King or Starke and the referee lets it go. I was sat directly in front of the refs box, who had the window open. I asked what he was doing? The reply was 'Im paid to do my job, you are just a fan'. I feel for the Kent fans. Very likely to collect the wooden spoon, but please hang in there. To be able to watch Nicholls and Starke each week is value for money. Gilkes will come good and young Mulford in the background, you are heading in the right direction. Whispers I heard last night was that there are 2 new riders pencilled in from 1st August. No names mentioned though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaleshifter Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Fantastic meeting last night at Central Park stadium. Great racing and lots of passing . Kent just need another heat leader and a replacement for Paul Hurry. It's not for the want of trying but I don't think he is going to improve, too many injuries have blighted his speedway career, although he is still a class act on the grass. Kent have a great set up at Central Park and I hope they can make a success of staging speedway at Championship level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin bass Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Danyon was always good value when he was at Ipswich, bit rough round the edges but was to be expected as he'd not long converted over to speedway as i believe he came from another 2 wheeled background originally, he always had good bikes so happy to see his hard work finally starting to pay off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedwaysliders Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Would Len Silver get the best out of Lewis Bridger if he returned to the sport?I have to say a bid yes. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East End Fan Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 2 minutes ago, speedwaysliders said: Would Len Silver get the best out of Lewis Bridger if he returned to the sport?I have to say a bid yes. Funny that you should mention Lewis Bridger. I am sure I saw him at Central Park a couple of weeks ago although, as he was not dressed in Kevlars, I am not 100% certain. If he could be persuaded to ride in a serious way, would be good for the club. A very entertaining rider. Having said that, the entertainment in the Poole match was brilliant. The score did not matter one little bit. All of us expected Poole to win, and win they did. But I wonder what the result would have been if they had not enjoyed a fantastic best ever performance by Danyon Hume, their reserve. ? Scott did not seem his usual self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted July 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Scott said on Twitter this morning he hurt his shoulder in the heat one fall which ruled him out of heat 15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bald Bloke Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 15 minutes ago, East End Fan said: Funny that you should mention Lewis Bridger. I am sure I saw him at Central Park a couple of weeks ago although, as he was not dressed in Kevlars, I am not 100% certain. If he could be persuaded to ride in a serious way, would be good for the club. A very entertaining rider. Having said that, the entertainment in the Poole match was brilliant. The score did not matter one little bit. All of us expected Poole to win, and win they did. But I wonder what the result would have been if they had not enjoyed a fantastic best ever performance by Danyon Hume, their reserve. ? Scott did not seem his usual self. Buster thought he was serious at Lynn. I wouldn't bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 1 hour ago, lisa-colette said: Whoever recommended him to MF should be asking for some commission! I would be surprised Lisa , if Danny King didn’t have a huge input on getting Danyon this chance.Danny has helped him develop as a rider over the last few years great to see some young Brit’s coming through. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaboy279 Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 8 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said: Couple of things from last night. No center green commentator. All we got was some muffled announcer who we gave up trying to understand what was being said. Couldn’t hear the race times and rider changes. The announcer shows little to no enthusiasm and there is a distinct lack of atmosphere. The fans don’t make any noise and tepid polite hand clapping is not what this sport is about. The presentation severely lacks. A center green presenter whipping up a crowd is what is needed. I am actually the centre green presenter at Kent, although due to local covid restrictions we are very limited to what we can do. This season has been limited to a pre match coin toss, and post match interviews. In the past we have done interviews during the meeting but as you ve heard yourself the sound system is not the best. And its pretty pointless interviewing anyone whilst tractors are out as well. As for Glenn in the box, (when you are stood somewhere you can hear clearly...) there aren't many people better at getting all the relevant info out there, whilst dealing with all the refs commands as Glenn (and indeed his mentor Derek). I think people would genuinely be shocked at how much goes on in the box, frankly anyone who does that job has my undivided respect. Its fair to say the quality of the sound system has been a thorn in the side of the speedway since day 1, but i do know they ve had various sound engineers in over the years. So whilst there has only been minor improvements, that isn't through the lack of trying. I don't know for certain, but knowing we have a very tight curfew due to noise concerns from a couple of the neighbours, I imagine that has prevented them just plonking a couple of huge speakers on the greyhound track. Really great to read your various posts on the meeting and the stadium. I will share them with the club management, as when someone highlights all the positives that are happening you'd like to think they will take on board the constructive criticisms as well as the compliments. As for the crowd being quiet, despite air horns and the like being banned, I ve never heard us described as being quiet before. But I speak to many of my mates and many are still in awe of the speed, skill, and ruthlessness the step up in leagues has provided. Many fans are still getting their heads around the fact that the Poole Pirates are actually at Central Park. Nice to see soo many Poole fans, and getting to interview Midlo was an unexpected surprise. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 4 hours ago, speedwaysliders said: Would Len Silver get the best out of Lewis Bridger if he returned to the sport?I have to say a bid yes. Doubt it ,don’t think Len would be taken by his false promises that he is raring to go.Waster of the biggest order.IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 5 hours ago, speedwaysliders said: Would Len Silver get the best out of Lewis Bridger if he returned to the sport?I have to say a bid yes. He never got the best out of Garrity. He let Len down big time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris4gillian Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 Paul Hurry has today announced his retirement from speedway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TotallyHonestJohn Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 38 minutes ago, chris4gillian said: Paul Hurry has today announced his retirement from speedway. Lined up for the impending new rider at Kent and a big hitter at that... Regards THJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipper11 Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 2 hours ago, teaboy279 said: I am actually the centre green presenter at Kent, although due to local covid restrictions we are very limited to what we can do. This season has been limited to a pre match coin toss, and post match interviews. In the past we have done interviews during the meeting but as you ve heard yourself the sound system is not the best. And its pretty pointless interviewing anyone whilst tractors are out as well. As for Glenn in the box, (when you are stood somewhere you can hear clearly...) there aren't many people better at getting all the relevant info out there, whilst dealing with all the refs commands as Glenn (and indeed his mentor Derek). I think people would genuinely be shocked at how much goes on in the box, frankly anyone who does that job has my undivided respect. Its fair to say the quality of the sound system has been a thorn in the side of the speedway since day 1, but i do know they ve had various sound engineers in over the years. So whilst there has only been minor improvements, that isn't through the lack of trying. I don't know for certain, but knowing we have a very tight curfew due to noise concerns from a couple of the neighbours, I imagine that has prevented them just plonking a couple of huge speakers on the greyhound track. Really great to read your various posts on the meeting and the stadium. I will share them with the club management, as when someone highlights all the positives that are happening you'd like to think they will take on board the constructive criticisms as well as the compliments. As for the crowd being quiet, despite air horns and the like being banned, I ve never heard us described as being quiet before. But I speak to many of my mates and many are still in awe of the speed, skill, and ruthlessness the step up in leagues has provided. Many fans are still getting their heads around the fact that the Poole Pirates are actually at Central Park. Nice to see soo many Poole fans, and getting to interview Midlo was an unexpected surprise. Steve has a good point about the crowd being quiet. This has never been the case in the past but this season for some reason riders are going straight back to the pits rather than back past the stand, it leaves the supporters extremely frustrated that they cannot show their appreciation of the racing & it leaves to (as Steve said) tepid hand clapping. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEATTHEBOOKIEBOB Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 1 hour ago, TotallyHonestJohn said: Lined up for the impending new rider at Kent and a big hitter at that... Regards THJ Deontay Wilder? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 7 minutes ago, BEATTHEBOOKIEBOB said: Deontay Wilder? 1 hour ago, TotallyHonestJohn said: Lined up for the impending new rider at Kent and a big hitter at that... Regards THJ Jason Garrity on loan from HMP Durham 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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