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Several reasons why teams request to drop.. With financial being the obvious one. With the underlying reasons of there being absolutely no kudos by winning any Speedway title nor any attainment levels to aspire too from the lowest league to the top.. No disrespect but a Grand Final in Speedway (UK), is akin to two bald men fighting over a comb.. Therefore what difference does it make to the clubs what league they race in? Hardly anyone cares who wins. There is almost zero National coverage.. And there is no financial reward worth speaking of, in fact, as we see, successful clubs can actually lose money and go bust by winning!! Therefore you might as well decide amongst yourselves where you want to compete, and at the end of the day you can watch pretty much the same set of riders anyway so no loss there.. As you say, it sends out all the wrong messages, but that's where the sport is in the UK, and I suppose the overall thoughts are better to have clubs still in existence than not.. An ever decreasing circle though isn't it?

Hopefully no. Like or loathe they promote Speedway with passion. Isn’t that what we continually crave?

A bit late to the party but wanted to add some observations to my first visit to Blunsdon for a while due to moving from the area and work commitments. I make no apology for the self indulgent post either! Thursday was my first ever experience of the Robins winning a trophy on home soil. It was tremendous. I saw a group of grown men dancing together, plastic cups of lager spilling as they danced their Dad dances in a circle. The atmosphere was terrific. Chanting at speedway? Never have I heard that before. Jeff Beck’s Hi ho Silver Lining was belted out several times. Another group of young lads (teenagers this time) all singing together, laughing and smiling) Before the meeting began, dark clouds circled overhead, looking menacing and threatening. Worryingly , one massive cloud began to empty its cargo. At the time, I was stood inside having a cheeky beer. I watched as the home straight crowd staring anxiously at the sky. Fortunately, the clouds passed over and although the track looked wet, it certainly looked raceable. I watched the first 3 heats from the grass bank entering turn 3: I must admit, I felt nervous as Ipswich edged ahead. Even after The Iversen exclusion. They looked sharp from the starts, and Chris Harris ( for the first two laps in heat 3) looked hungry and committed. But then I witnessed an absolute steam roller of a side. Jensen was aggressive and fast Musielak, smooth and slick. Doyle was as expected. He’s a terrific leader and a real winner. Batchelor ( who I have criticised many times, mainly for when he opens his mouth) really does look high class these days. His pass of Doyle in heat 13, ( yes it was a pass too rather than any kind of team riding between the two) was superb. Ipswich were simply annihilated. Jake Allen gave a gutsy performance, but tired after Hawkins threw him into as many early races as he could in an attempt to contain the rampant Robins. This was the best Swindon team I have ever seen. And, in my opinion would beat any of the other 3 championship winning teams. There seemed genuine affection for the team from the packed crowd, and a pleasing team spirit. I liked the blend of orange/tangerine, ( I’ve never seen so many reflective orange highway maintenance jackets worn by supporters!!) Finally, I’ve supported the Robins from the days of Martin Ashby, Killer, Bouchard and Jan Andersson. I would have given anything for one of the mid seventies Robins teams to win the league, or even win an away match! I followed them everywhere on the coach, only to see them get a hammering at places like Cradley, Halifax and Wimbledon. The Blunsdon track in those days was excellent. Always passing, always good racing. These days, I like the shorter version. Huge compliment to the track staff who have worked wonders with it. In order to get a quick get away to travel back to my home in Cornwall, I left straight after heat 15. As I reached my car in the car park, I heard another rendition of Hi ho silver lining (Hi ho Swindon Robins!,) I sat in the drivers seat and caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror.......I was absolutely beaming!!! As I reached the M4, it was pouring with rain.. But the sun was shining on another triumphant season for a super speedway team.

Some memories from last night ... a bit worried after the first two heats, thinking it was going to be a bit of a fight. The absolute pandemonium when we won it the amazing crowd and the fact that so many hung around for the presentation finding out afterwards that when Adam punched the air as he crossed the finishing line he popped his shoulder out and he was crapping himself as he couldn’t drop his arm and grab the bars till halfway round the first bend. The post match “celebration” at Rosco’s pub chatting with the legend Eddie Kid at the pub. Meeting up with fellow board members a very drunk Adam on the drive home watching videos on his phone and saying “ f**k me, I didn’t realise I was riding THAT close to the fence” going to bed at 3am with a huge grin on my face. Can we do it all again next year please ???

It's good that GP organisers constantly look to tweak and improve the product. But I do think in terms of the scoring, this is an area that needs leaving well be. Through trial and error over several years, they have arrived at a format that provides an exciting climax to each GP, but is also fair and rewards consistency across the series. It's right the winner of the Grand Final, the winner of the hardest race of the night is crowned the night's winner, but it's also right that the night's most consistent performer goes away with the most points. I'm all for change, but not in this instance.

What do want the final to be ? you want Swindon to make it close ? Maybe Man city in the fa cup final should beat Watford by less goals . brain dead post .

Ive set up a little separate thread here for all you bitter Poole fans to have a little chat all on your own about the Grand Final.................simply because some of you are clogging up the main threads discussing how woeful Ipswich were in not trying last night You can sit on here and discuss how poor the final is without Poole in it all by yourselves and let the Ipswich and Swindon fans, who have a mutual respect for each other, carry on with the final chat Maybe next season, if you dont pick the 'easy' team in the semi final, and you have riders that actually put in effort, then you can be a part of a Grand Final thread again...............

Get it right if you are gonna continue having a go. Poole lost 2 big long term sponsors in the lead up to 2019 as well as the end of the 2-year 2017/18 main sponsorship and then was seriously let down by the new main team sponsor mid-season. No club could easily withstand those losses to their budget of many many thousands of £££s!! Along with a reduction in attendances due in part to the change in race night as well as the increased number of TV meetings - and also at a time when MF is in the process of uprooting to a new business in France - why wouldn't he do the best for the club to continue racing under the stewardship (co-promotion) of his son and another - hardly wanting to get shot of it is he - unless a decent offer comes along which is the same for most clubs at any time? (If Ipswich were so secure with a great main sponsor then why did Louis need and accept financial help from Buster before the 2019 season? - Yes I know the 'full takeover contract' was never signed apparently!!) Poole have never paid over-the-top money but what they have done is always guarantee that riders get paid correctly and on time - something which attracts many riders who have been let down by other clubs both here and abroad!! By all means carry on having a go at Poole - we all get it - just get your facts right before repeating the same old same old!

Awwww no. The thread read has only just opened and it’s been Gavin and Shovlar’d stand by for more of the usual .....

The Pirates are MY team and always will be. Whatever League we race in, I will be there. Once Pirate fan, always a Pirate fan. No other team will ever come close. I have said to friends for at least 3 or 4 years the we are no more than a Championship side with perhaps just one stand out rider. This season has proved we are no more than that level. It has been a struggle to generate any enthusiasm for the 2019 team,tbh. I think lots of people feel the same. On the occasions that I have been to Wimborne Road you can quite clearly see the lack of crowds, also there is a poor atmosphere. I dont drink or smoke. I can however relate to a smoker trying to give it up. I am fed up with it all right now. Once the season starts again, I will be following the Pirates in what will be my 65th season!

Chun ...... it appears there’s a new dick in town. Gotta love the internet

Yes you are right. I was a bit quick off the mark and very disappointed to read and hear there was a risk of us dropping down. Hasty is the right word. I have always much preferred the highest quality racing, as I prefer top league football. I went to Swindon Town v Newport recently and what a load of crap that was. I did enjoy Poole when they were in the NL as I didn’t have anything to compare it with. But the sport has changed completely from the 1990’s. And when we moved up the racing was just so much better. I might not feel like it now but if Poole do drop down, by March I will probably trundle down the road to the stadium. It’s in the blood.

It's like groundhog day on here, same repetitive posts. We know we know we know.

If speedway is going to be on Eurosport next season I do hope they don’t use Ermolenko for commentary! Probably the worst commentator ever IMHO

It’ll be madness to move from fixed races nights. For example Adam Ellis has already signed in Denmark as a b rider & will be in their side. What happens if Swindon bring Him back & have clashes...ridiculous to even be considering it.

You might want to rethink and perhaps even delete that comment, unless of course you feel that mental health is something to laugh about?

Aye it's not quite as north as those other tracks

Should get Dave Norris back he was a very good co commentator

Time for the mods to move this thread to the correct section...

I would like to see for Poole:- J Holder R Wells THJ

Losing my team at start of year was terrible , but i still go and watch but oh those delays after a all 4 back anything up to a dozen "mechanics" rush on the track fuel up adjust the wheel WHY and the same riders getting of the bikes at the start line and digging it just wears me down. Slow the bikes down use throttle control and lets get back to RACING.

Good luck to Cookie and our neighbours from the West. Fly the flag for Scotland

A great night to be at Blunsdon last night. The place was rammed. Just reward for the promotion team for doing a great job this season. From the very start in getting the new track sorted out of their own pocket so quickly for the season (which has buoyed the mood at the abbey alone), to lifting the league trophy in front of thousands last night. Superb. It wouldn’t have mattered who we were against, We’d have blown away anyone over two legs. It’s as if everyone in the team has been riding with an extra 2 points on their average since mid August, just fuelled by confidence alone. People can blather on about Ipswich riders not wanting it or showing no effort, but no amount of passion or effort matters when the team you’re up against is just faster in nearly every department. Well done to the Witches fans there for making the journey last night. Can’t have been much fun watching that, but to be honest that semi final performance at home was their great crowning moment, which they deserved to enjoy. It would have been a bit more exciting and more memorable if it was a tighter score line and having that moment of sheer relief when you squeak a result near the end of the meeting, but we’ve had plenty of those earlier in the season at blunsdon anyway. Watching back on BT, it certainly wasn’t much of a spectacle for the TV viewer, especially as the cameras were barely pointing in the right place half the time, but there was some enjoyable action on track being there in person. Vissing being particularly entertaining. It was great to have all the lads scoring well over most if not all the play off matches. Massive shame to have to ditch a couple of them next year. I Wonder where all the comments about not winning anything with a team lacking a free scoring reserve have gone? Not the right time to say who should be binned, but in terms of keeping riders, Tobiasz on a 6 average, if he can be persuaded to stay in the UK next year is no-brainer. Injury free he should be making a mockery of that average. The crowd and success of last night should be used to put more pressure on sorting this bloody stadium out. Clearly loads of people around the town care enough about speedway still to turn up and pack the place out and even more will be royaly pissed off if further development of the site was to finally bring an end to having speedway at Blunsdon. We need to make the site an immovable object by keeping crowds healthy and general good will about the place, rather than the life just being sucked out of it gradually, as I’m sure Osbourne/SBC/other shady characters with vested interests, are rather hoping will happen. Sounds like a well deserved piss up at Rosco’s last night. He was bloody insufferable 10 minutes after heat 15 last night, so god knows what what he’s like at 2 in the morning after a few bottles of babycham . Great stuff.

I’m not posting down here. They’re not worthy!

I’ve avoided responding to you for longer than I expected - but your constant obsession with all things Poole, and in particular one poster is bordering on the need for help. You turn every thread into your hatred of Poole and stalk every post from SS. You’ve made your repetitive point soooooo many times. Please STF Up and let the subject thread flow without so much anger.