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Just thought I d share what I posted on Facebook this morning about last night. Massive shout out to the Edinburgh Monachs, staff, fans and management. Never has a speedway club been so welcoming, with everyone thanking us for coming, doing anything they can to make us welcome. Stadium owner insisting we stay until close and filling us up with homemade cake. locals plying us with beer, and then doing running races around the track with thier young fans at 11pm.... And even after the taxi never came back to collect me and Kieran, the guy locking up the stadium took pity on us and drove us to the hotel. If carlsberg did speedway. ..... These guys are right up their with the IOW Warriors Way.

I have bouts of mental health problems, and its only over the past few months that I've "Come Out" to coin a phrase. Some people told me to buck myself up, which is the worst thing to be told. Some people don't understand the situation, and I get that, because they won't if they've gone through it. Some people are very understanding. I'm currently having a great many demons, but have confidence, and obviously hope, that the people helping me with it, will get me out of the other end of the tunnel. I like Craig Cook. I feel for Craig Cook, and I pray he gets the help he needs from this invisible but deadly problem. Please people, whether you like the man or not, show him the respect and love that both he and his family needs at this present time. With the right guidance and love, he'll come out the other end with a smile on his face. Thank You.

I've no sympathy for the current 'management'. It's the fans i feel sorry for, they are the big losers. Promoters and riders can move on. For some people it's a lifetime of support for a club. As an Arlington regular, I'm devastated by the news.

It is somewhat emblematic of speedway's state that its most prominent owner announces his decision to sell, not after poring over a business plan, but in an emotional outburst worthy of a six year old.

I have bouts of mental health problems, and its only over the past few months that I've "Come Out" to coin a phrase. Some people told me to buck myself up, which is the worst thing to be told. Some people don't understand the situation, and I get that, because they won't if they've gone through it. Some people are very understanding. I'm currently having a great many demons, but have confidence, and obviously hope, that the people helping me with it, will get me out of the other end of the tunnel. I like Craig Cook. I feel for Craig Cook, and I pray he gets the help he needs from this invisible but deadly problem. Please people, whether you like the man or not, show him the respect and love that both he and his family needs at this present time. With the right guidance and love, he'll come out the other end with a smile on his face. Thank You.

Bomber wants to ride his bike and his prepared to in all conditions and all tracks, maybe just maybe that's why dad's army are doing so well this year. Old school riders Let's not forget Harris was a guest willing to put on a show elsewhere

Rather rude and patronising to a 16 year old. The lad showed true grit and determination to get that point. The conditions were awful. He could easily have simply ridden round for a point. He didnt, he tried hard and fell. He could have given up, like several others had previously. To pick his bike up and get going again is a credit to his training at Newcastle. I was well aware of that being his first ever point at this level. How many others realised this? Very pleased he got it. I applauded his effort. The first of many many more. Personally, I love to see new riders come in and follow their progress. Archie is one whos results I look for. Being thrown in at the deep end is very difficult for him. Getting hammered as well, it wouldnt have been a good feeling for him. He performed professionally. Well done Archie. You did alright.

Slightly ironic that Buster is now fed up & wants to sell up, when much that is wrong was implemented during his time as chairman.

See Craig Cook now taking a break from racing because of his issues with ongoing mental health! Wishing the bloke well and hope he concentrates on himself and his family only the next few weeks! Get life into perspective.

Of course they can... they can explain on what has happened when they have spoken to Gi i guess they have seeing no stadium is being built after yet another broken promise. even if Gi have given no reply to there questions . if they are not trying to contact them then that is even worst . its hardly a lot to ask . The lack of pressure put on Gi by the club the press and the local mp has been shocking to be honest . Looks like yet again another con by Gi is going to work with a barely a wimper of oppo

Drove to Glasgow on Friday for a meeting. Drove back Saturday (8hrs+) to Leicester. Didnt see a meeting. And both rain offs were the right decision at the time they were made. The forecast was bloody awful (weather warnings on all weather apps for LE4 on Satrurday) when the decision was made and I would rather have the opportunity to make other plans rather than stand in the drizzle, watch second rate racing (due to track conditions) and possibly see a rider pick up an unnessary injury. But the one that I really hate, is the scrape to Heat Ten and get a result declaired on a track that should never be raced on. Remember you go to a meeting for a nights entertainment.

I feel nothing but sadness and a great deal of anger for all those left behind who collaborated with the Allies who may now be fearing the worse and what may happen to them.

If you make enough predictions, some are bound to come true. I’m still waiting for someone to explain exactly what the conspiracy theory is, who thought of it and exactly how they managed to persuade 99% of the worlds leaders to go along with it. Whilst I continue to wait, I will get on with my life and enjoy it, double jabbed and wearing a face mask when and if I see fit.

There has always been some doubt about the ability of Eastbourne to survive, even in the last days of the old Elite league, Bob Dugard was bank rolling the operation and laughed at anyone who asked about the returns from Speedway. The product has been on its knees for years, but any new promoter or anyone with new ideas seems to get short shrift from the BSPL mafia. Bob Brimson tried, and was hugely critical of those running the top administration, he said something along the lines of “I’ve dealt with shady characters in the music business but nothing like the people in Speedway”. Rick Frost (Peterborough) gave a similar impression when interviewed at Arlington. If the product and business plans of the top clubs is so good, why has Buster Chapman got fingers in three clubs ? If the administration of the BSPL / SCB / ACU is so good why are we still awaiting the result of the “full investigation” of the last minute cancellation of the final National League meeting Eastbourne v Mildenhall in 2018? (Mildenhall called off). Because there wasn’t one, despite all the PR crap that followed. Is there truth in the posting on this site that Godfrey has all the new tyres and teams have to collect and pay him for them? I wouldn’t trust the BSPL for anything (they can’t even draft their memorandum and articles of association correctly, and always screw up writing the rules so ambiguity creeps in). Speedway needs an independent body to run it. The current operating model is outdated and broken all round. It will hurt me if Eastbourne fold, I have supported them for 15 years, a season ticket holder and generous contributor to various funds, I sincerely hope something can be rescued, perhaps next year. My mantra during the NL years was some speedway is better than no speedway, but I’m not optimistic.

Well, he will know where to find his first clown

I agree with much of what you have said but you have to question why Eastbourne are on the verge of closure when 70 miles along the south coast it is - by all accounts - boom time at Isle of Wight (I am reliably informed that last nights attendance was the biggest ever under the present promotion). Smallbrook is no less inaccessible than Arlington, and you need a car to get there (you can walk but having done so a few times I certainly wouldn't recommend it - with no streetlights and no pavements, its like a rather nasty game of chicken with speeding motorists). I think the stupid BSPL decision to run before Covid restrictions were removed and before the vaccination programme got into its stride hamstrung Eastbourne (and indeed all the other clubs) That meant reduced capacity (Wolverhampton, for instance, described that as a 'financial disaster') and people - rightly or wrongly - still being nervous about attending spectator events. Isle of Wight, in contrast, waited until all Covid controls were lifted and more had been vaccinated, and therefore suffered no limited attendances nor misgivings about actually being there, nor were they burdened by financial loss in the early part of the season. Covid has actually worked in Isle of Wight's favour, at least to a point. Its likely that the amount of domestic holidays in 2021 has been greater than at any time since the early 1970's (every day I seem to read about how packed Cornwall is) and the Warriors have really cashed in on it. You have to ask why Eastbourne - which is in no less of a holiday area - have not done the same. Part of the reason might be Isle of Wight's furious attempts to publicise the sport on the Island, recognising that many visitors might be unaware of the speedway's existence. In my many trips to Eastbourne, I don't recall any such attempts at all. Then there's the fact that Isle of Wight have substantially diversified their activities on race night. That might not be to everyone's taste (me included) but is anyone going to suggest it doesn't work ? The main factor, though, I think is financial responsibility and that is taken extremely seriously by the Isle of Wight promotion. Whatever else might have been said about the Warriors, they operate on the basis that income must reasonably cover expenditure. To me, its seems clear that Eastbourne grossly overestimated income and/or grossly underestimated expenditure and that's why one club is in the black (more than that, much more, I suspect) and the other is on the brink of closing down.

Too many riders think they are superstars nowadays. Speedway thrived when it was a paid hobby for riders who also worked outside speedway. They slung a bike on the back of a car, put a pair of overalls in the boot and just rode for the fun of it. There isn't the money or the fan base in the sport for riders to carry on as they are, making financial demands and not giving a toss about the paying customer ( with the odd exception). If riders aren’t prepared to at least consider fans and give it a go on a wet track maybe they should seek other employment.

No one with half a brain would invest in a speedway track run under the current structure. Sadly a few owners have dragged the sport down to a point where the only survival route is probably amateur riders racing on open licensed tracks and a maybe a mini league. The BSPL had the opportunity to do something different this year but decided on a tried and failed product formula. If the stories are true and you have the futures of Swindon, Birmingham, Newcastle, Eastbourne, Peterborough, Kings Lynn, Poole (track ownership) and possibly one or two more in doubt then sadly speedway in the U.K. will be a shadow of its former self and possibly resemble France in terms of league racing and Belgium/Netherlands in terms of individual events. The fans and supporters are not to blame, many turn out each week but are pissed on from a great height by club owners and the governing body is solely responsible for systematic failures including squandering t v revenues and pricing the sport beyond those who would have given it a go as well as looking down its own nose on those from grass track etc who may have given it a go. None of those in charge have the balls to come on this forum and be answerable to the supporters. Gentlemen and Ny Ladies, you are cowards and much more you have driven the sport to the point of dying out completely. Your failure to even acknowledge the punter whose hard earned cash you take each week is a disgrace and you should hang your heads in shame except that you have no morals. To the directors, board and whatever you call yourselves on the BSPL you are a disgrace to the sport.

Hang on a minute. Apparently we are told the country is short of HGV drivers, hospitality workers, carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, farm workers, pickers, nurses etc. If the required numbers of workers are not available in this country to enable the economy to grow then we need to look at our immigration policy as it can’t be working. So regardless of whether they come from Afghanistan or elsewhere, how does the UK house them and school them etc etc etc anyway?!! I have never understood this mentality of ‘we can’t keep letting more people come to the UK’. Our economy depends on an immigration workforce whether we like it or not and now we are feeling the effects of the Brexit policy!

People to quick to blame speedway in general but the bottom line this was just a poorly ran business, speedway club or no speedway club

What difference do you think Raab making a few calls would have made ? This was doomed to happen as soon as the yanks decided to scarper.

watch it on catchup, that way you can fast forward the racing and watch the adverts

The problem is these new fans become regulars who read the programme, the Star and forums such as this. They learn about the constant rule breaking or reinterpretation of the rules. They visit a track, wait in the rain for an hour and then get told it’s off, etc, etc, etc. UK speedway hasn’t just lost fans, it’s actively driven them away.

Star Lady put it in a nutshell for me earlier. I have said before that - even in the glory days of the 1960's and 70's - only the top boys (Nielsen, Olsen, Penhall. Jessup etc) were full time speedway riders and, for most, it was little more than - as the former Reading and Coventry rider Mick Bell once put it - 'a good paying hobby'. Tom Owen, for years an NL kingpin, always worked at his plant hire business during his racing career. The blight on the sport that is uncontrolled doubling up is there for one reason : so that riders can be full time (in the season at least). it needs to change if the sport is to survive.

I can only go on the updates, but it seems a great performance by Leon Flint. Peter Adams always tells his riders that their job is to beat their opposite number and Flint has done that. In addition to beating Starke and Kemp he has also beaten Anders Row and Craig Cook. So all in all a great performance by him.