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You have tens of thousands of holiday makers in Poole walking about that have never heard of the pirates. Sitting in a high st cafe watching footage of a meeting on a loop, with the cafe selling tickets for that weeks meeting makes it very enticing. A nice coffee and cake, some speedway merch and tickets for a meeting has more chance than a family turning up blind at the stadium on race night and buying merch from a metal container on the 4th bend.

So the £50 for Holder will not cover the rent for long

One of of few men that make pete adams look excitable

They only get prize money ,but stock drivers don’t believe the sport owes them a living , speedway riders do , it’s ok for the top guys but these days get a licence and string 4 laps together and suddenly you think your a proffessional , that may sound harsh but as far as finances go that is why soeedway is all but bankrupt

So it turns out the Philip Rising and the Speedway Star have many of the same, very serious concerns about the state of Speedway GB, as a lot of fans do. The C word has now been openly used and not just about one of the several things wrong with speedway in the UK. It is chaotic and run chaotically. It is time that someone more balanced ( I nearly wrote sane ) took control of the situation and brought in a much more common sense approach to how the sport should be run. Is it too late for that to happen?

At Ipswich it is roughly once a fortnight except for speed weekend. It is not just bangers but a range of cars from stock cars, hot rods etc. To get an idea of attendances at Ipswich, take a look at the face book page for Foxhall Stadium. I think it may also depend on who is running the meetings. Spedeworth run Birmingham, Arlington, Ipswich, Mildenhall, Great Yarmouth, Northampton and Aldershot. They run at a few other venues. Ipswich speedway would certainly like the level of punters that turn up for the four wheeled motor sport and given the number of speedway meetings likely in 2018, attendances on a like for like basis based on frequency of meetings will be easier to judge. I am not comparing one sport against the other but was simply saying if you look at the numbers turning up for the four wheeled sport they seemingly are generating greater revenue than speedway hence from a business perspective why would you battle with the way speedway is run with dwindling numbers through the gate when you can probably derive greater benefit with less aggravation from running stocks, hot rods and bangers.

But they don't stick to the rules...they change them every year...and now they have started changing them before the season even starts. Doing things like that will never enhance the chances of getting title sponsors on board..where the teams actually compete for more than a piece of plastic.

For a shop to work...it would probably need each and every poole fan to spend a grand each just to pay the rent...its just not viable.

I have to agree baldy, it seems to me the only sport that the fans want, no expect, to be given all the rules, why such rules and who voted for them and why, is speedway. It seems to me no-one these days just enjoys the sport of 4 guys racing anymore. Sad

Couldn't agree more...like in all forms of life..if you can't financially compete..you lower your aspirations and cut your cloth accordingly.

The go to men are the hearns. But both have no interest in speesway. We're doomed I'm afraid

Covatti wasnt reserve for long he was on a false average from his time at Sheffield and quite clearly was heat leader material. Ok so picking hairs but Masters, Wells and Riss is now Riss, Wells and Riss. Weaker heat leader trio than last season. Pickering and Andersson need to hit the ground running for sure. The team will or should do well on their tricky home track but cant see them getting to much away at all.

What do you expect when you’ve got a troll updating the posts? Probably forgot what login details are needed.....

Whatever it is you're taking, i want some ....

If it forces them to sort the shambles out its very helpful

I would say that 5 minutes of standing around watching a tractor and listening to "Now that's what I call music volume one" has a more negative impact than any rules anyway.

I’m not sure this team is that great but I think having two local lads is a huge thing. I wonder if promoters realise how much people like seeing local hero’s being made? Fingers crossed both have smashing years, tbh there’s no reason they shouldn’t.

Disagree about a permanent shop. Much better to have a consistent proactive and interactive website with substantial social media activity which can also be advertised via more traditional methods around the town and wider catchment areas. Improved brand awareness is one thing but has to be supported by consistently good social media activity and up-to-date web news.

Our number 1 will be a former rider coming BACH

Whose the last two then ? i would love one to be Jorgensen because I truly believe he would improve his average by 2 points next season. He did have poor meetings but he gave 100% effort every heat. just read Klints piece in the Speedway star saying the rider if signed will be number 1 and he has joked that he will have the number 1 race jacket within a month so obviously the rider has a higher average the 7.51.

Berwick appearing twice in the "winners" section of the Speedway Star review of the year. Who would have thought, with all the doom and gloom on here.

They can afford it having just taken 75million from Liverpool

I only really follow a few sports....but do other sports come out and explain to its punters why decisions are made??? The only reasons for change I hear from the sports I follow is for closer racing and keeping costs down.

not just were....

Which then had a domino effect on Sheffield and Berwick it seems

I think the main reason speedway appears so chaotic isn't the decisions themselves, which I am sure are based on considered opinions, but is in fact the lack of transparency. For example, why haven't the promoters who voted in favour of the "one over 8" rule been made to come forwards and explain their logic? Similarly, the process for which foreign riders receive assessed averages seems completely random, yet I am sure someone at least thinks they know how they are determined - so why isn't this published in the public domain? Until then, the determining and implementation of rules will always seem random and chaotic.

It would have to be a cafe / coffee shop showing speedway videos on big screens with merch section. Opportunities abound.

What you are basically saying is that you have to crack some eggs to make an omelette. The reaction you will get will depend on if a fan supports a team that makes up the egg yolk, or of it a fan of a team that makes up the egg shell that gets thrown away into the bin.

Disagree, it would be popular for a few months and would be dead it would not be sustainable at all.

Thought this was a Rye House thread, not Poole.

Well he has just had a hugely successful popupnshop in Poole with tons of new merch, plus employed the same designer that Man City use, plus a new company for internet promotions/ twitter/ facetime/ etc. This years team looks like its going to be the team to judge others by and be very exciting. So I disagree that Matt is losing interest. I think Pirates will be back with a vengeance next season.

Shame they used a plough to do it with!

I have to agree about how some clubs manage to balance the books,given the figures quoted regarding riders points money it certainly a mystery how some clubs are viable ,it is certainly not on crowd levels.Sponsers with money to give away seems more like it,and fans donations.

When Zenon rejoined the Hawks midway through the 79 season to replace the sadly departed Vic Harding he was amazing to watch. He broke the track record almost every week, and I remember he beat Olsen from the back twice one night..which took some doing. As you say there was always a lot of uncertainty at the start of each season, with Len Silver having a constant battle with Zenon's Polish club to release him. Obviously Gollob is Poland's greatest ever rider, but Plechy will always be my favourite!

I find it funny how people come in here and defend the Poole track, yet everytime it’s on tv it’s awful but it’s labelled a one off. The Poole track is an embarrassment every week everyone knows it

Do love the properly prepared track comment. Sure same guy does Poole and Rye House.

Will Pottinger is your new team manager! You wanted someone tactically astute and I think you’ve found one.

Exactly and if his 2017 Div 2 scores had all been converted to equivalent Div 1 scores his previously attained 2016 average would have been reduced would it not?

If Ludde is in the team with Robbo, I see many debates on here, now that WKD may actually attend and not rely on tittle-tattle ;)

They don't get it wrong very often regarding who they sign.

Henny Kroeze by a proverbial mile! Held a regular place in the top flight and was a half decent rider around Halifax! Even rode in the 1987 World Final in Amsterdam when he was seeded in being the best Dutch rider even then, when he was way past his best!

So why did you moan so much when Woffinden returned to Wolves when he got his average from riding in this league. You puzzle me Steve because you will always seem to think it's alright for Poole to sign riders on these sort of averages,but as soon as any other team want to do it it becomes unfair

Until speedway overcomes the problem of staging meetings in wet weather, the fans will never come. There are far too many reasons for riders not wanting to race. How can you market the sport as 'high risk" when the bikes are put away if the sun is too bright!

This is an example of a post on another topic , stockcars know what they are and are not trying to be something else , they know their fan base and know what they want , speedway doesn’t know what it is or even remember what it was but it’s trying to be a poor mans F1 and it will never be that and it’s stuck in the middle with no idea who it’s fan base is

Don't understand why it was shut down as it moved all the bickering into a wider audience instead of keeping it local. I know a lot of non-comets fans read the unofficial site but now its read by a wider audience.

I'd have read 'rules changing every other week' as just a saying rather than taking it literally, either way it really can't be worth making such a bloody fuss about!!

I remember seeing 3 Norwegians in the wasps colours ed strangleland, einar egedius & reidar eide. Ed was a entertaining rider from my memory, einar I think married a Newport girl but it was reidar who I remember most fondly he was in I believe the best team Newport ever had in 1975 he also rode in 73 & 74. One race inparticurlrly recall is a golden helmet race against ole Olsen I think in 73 where he brought the house down at Somerton park by blasting by ole to lift the helmet, great days.

you having a laugh compared to you dog bowl worry about ladbrookes being bought out by gala bingo ?

"So Tai, if viewers haven't seen speedway before and are interested in coming to watch you do your thing, when can they look forward to seeing you next season?" ....

Christmas Statement from the Save Coventry Speedway group. WE would like to extend our Season’s Greetings to all supporters of Speedway and Stock Car Racing at Coventry. Our thanks to all who have supported the Campaign Group efforts over the course of the year, and also to everyone who helped organise and supported the Challenge matches run in 2017 with Coventry Bees not running as part of the official league structure. It has been the worst year imaginable for everyone with a love for the sports at Brandon; from the shattering news that ‘agreements’ for future racing were not to be fulfilled, to the eventual omission of Coventry from the 2017 Premiership, to the deterioration in condition of the stadium throughout the year arising from the lack of security on-site by the owners. Brandon Estates bought the stadium for their own purposes, but in doing so they have shown zero regard for the 89-year history and heritage of the iconic venue, nor the fact that regular visits to Brandon to watch these family sports remained a way of life for many thousands of people throughout the season, right up until the end of 2016. In addition, the intransigence of the owners to engage in reasonable communication is a further indication of their motives, along with the material included within their official representations and public exhibition material – much of which is open to serious question. At the Exhibition in October, comments from the public were invited by planning consultants Framptons. We have seen a number of these responses, and the local reaction is clear - but as with the 2014 Exhibition arising from the initial plans, they appear to be a closely-guarded secret at this time. The display boards also indicated that an outline planning application would be submitted in Autumn 2017. At the time of writing, this has not taken place. We do not know the reason for that, but we can assure Brandon Estates – and their front-man, Monaco-based businessman John Downer – that as soon as their planning application is submitted, we will be ready with strong opposition. They must understand that they cannot simply take two major sports away from the region – sports which were both perfectly viable running in tandem at the stadium – merely on an outrageous speculative bid for development on land which had not been earmarked for that purpose, and expect everyone to sit back and let it happen. Our Campaign Group came together in its present form in the immediate aftermath of Coventry’s exclusion from the 2017 SGB Premiership, and our primary aim was to bring about a return to racing at the stadium for 2018 as well as establishing plans for the long-term continuation of both sports in the area. In those respects, we have regrettably been unsuccessful. The sheer depth of issues to be considered and resolved arising from the activities of recent years has been eye-opening in the extreme, and we have to respect the fact that the timescales of official business are sometimes longer than we would wish for. We believe there is tremendous momentum behind our campaign and overwhelming opposition to Brandon Estates' proposals. So our work will go on into 2018, and there are various events and hearings in the early part of the New Year which will play a vital part in matters going forward. Finally, we must emphasise to all who pass comment on the situation, often on social media, that the status of Brandon Stadium remains absolutely fundamental to the entire argument, and an acceptance that it has been lost to sport permanently is simply not an option. We wish every supporter of Speedway and Stock Car Racing a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and we hope 2018 provides some encouragement to everyone who wishes to see our two famous sports restored to their rightful place.