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THIS week's Speedway Star is its usual 48 pages plus a 24 page section from Travel Plus. How are you losing out?

BUT 33% of the usual 48 pages are not devoted to adverts. It is hard enough making SS viable these days without turning away what little advertising is available.

Easy to say that but I doubt anyone would have expected KK to be so pathetic. Looking at the lineups Swindon are nowhere near strong enough to retain next season. No big improvers and no big hitting reserves. Looks like last year was a blip and its back to mediocrity for the Robins. While normal service resumed for Pirates? Looking possible.

Lakeside wanted him (and Kennett) Dont feel too sorry for them though as they simply gamzumped Berwick and Sheffield for Morris and Lawson instead and have brought in 2 reserves on out of date low averages....

Time to get some long trousers then !

First of all we are discussing a CL club here and no one is advocating that the NL should allow overseas riders to participate in their league. At Edinburgh, the supporters have had very few problems with the overseas guys recruited in terms of commitment. Indeed in 2016 when we ran our final home match, due to previous postponements, on 21st October , a break of 3 weeks since our last actual race meeting, our 3 Germans traveled back to honour their commitment. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of a certain English team member who threw a sickie, but was well enough to attend a social function at his EL club on the same night! Unlike the overseas riders who are prepared to commute here, we have great difficulty in attracting decent English prospects to sign on for us, usually citing our base as being too far for them to travel. So what are we supposed to do, just employ any Brit who is willing to come, irrespective of their ability? Well current & potential local supporters up here would soon lose interest if we were compelled to track cannon fodder in the name of keeping all British riders in a job. Oh and btw, our foreign guys do socialise after the meeting and our promising Aussie, Josh Pickering, stayed within a couple hundred yards of the Stadium with a local family.

The speedway star in my opinion is excellent value look at the prices of other sporting magazines or papers the Racing post as a example for me it should be more than 3 pound.Also the 2018 teams line up edition is a terrific read great value that certainly should be a higher price.

Sadly the same can be said about everything leisure costs a fortune these days.A few years later as an apprentice my take home pay was £10.06 a week a pint of beer was 10p so I could(not that I did) buy 100 pints with my wage.Now a pint is approx £3.00 how many apprentices take home £300.00 pounds a week. Again a few years later on full money married buying a house etc I went to football on Saturday afternoon and speedway at night and could afford both no problem.As the years have passed and my money became worthless I could not afford to do both so I had to choose I picked speedway it would seem most others stayed with football. And there lies the problem people can't afford to spend as much on leisure because it and everything else cost so bloody much and your wage goes nowhere these days.As with me a lot of people cannot do everything they want to do and have to pick and choose and it would seem speedway is lower down on peoples list than other things and in my opinion is a big reason why speedway is struggling these days.

Have you finished wiping that egg off your face from last season, Steve?

What on earth are you expecting for £3 a Book! I find the SS excellent value for money!!!

Please, please, please say it's Bridger

Because if the Brits don’t come first and we lose our British riders the national team with disappear, the profile of the sport will sink even lower, the sport won’t be able to afford the extra costs of flying in riders, our league will be at the beck and call of the foreign leagues, just like last season with Poland dictating where riders should ride, there will be less interaction between riders and potential local supporters because they will rarely be in the country, there will be less interest in a sport in which only foreigners participate, all us families who support NL riders and give our time to clubs for free will be lost to the sport ....

I think they do a good job myself.

More a case of DC being extremely bothered about the look of the Poole team that's so far been assembled and hoping against all hope for a chink of light for his beloved Robins. With Leicester already looking stronger than Swindon and Poole likely to match, Swindon might scrape into the playoffs with their current team. But that's about it.

...remember talking to the late Bernard Crapper about the times he would appear to 'rant and rave' at the referee whilst on the phone at the starting gate. He explained to me that often he was just passing the time of day with the referee but felt the need to liven up proceedings just to get the crowd excitable.

Over and done with, my memories of watching almost every match at Brandon from 1973 - 1997 ( when I lived in Northampton ). I was a biker for all of that time and loved the ride there ( although there were very few other bikers ). Some fantastic racing and controversies Thank you lads, Big Names or not but I remember vividly Andy Smith's amazing on track efforts among so many others. And oddly, the first race win Peter Lloyd ever had there ( maybe the only one? ).All consigned to the archive now and never to be replaced with new on track clashes and rivalries.

How very amusing you are.

Good stuff First meeting Cradley v Swindon 1970 Second Meeting Cradley v Hackney the following week. Heathens' fans stoning Garry Middleton's Mercedes when he tried to leave early First meeting at Perry Barr 1971 Arthur Browning's max in his first meeting for Brum in 1972 Mal Corradine riding in a plaster cast 1972 Mick Hines in 1973 The double in 1974, Just the team, fantastic bunch, brilliant times NNL champs in 75, sponsored walk (pub crawl) for Keith White 1978, Czech touring team at Stoke, utterly bonkers! First time I saw Zdenek Kudrna race. 1980, Zdenek joins Brum, fantastic. My ultimate sporting hero 1981 KOC final, ran Ipswich close with a rag tag and bobtail team Last World Final at Wembley, a great occasion, even though Penhall won (joking) 1982 Zdenek returns to Brummies. The sheer joy of watching Jason Lyons in action Bad times The debacle of Brum's debut year in GOBL 1976. Chris Morton fencing Alan Grahame. We knew. Losing Zdenek in 1982, a real low point both personally and for the club Finishing at the Ladbroke in 1983 The reality of the Wheels stadium, not good. Decent racing in 85, but in 86, well........ Seeing Joey Owen seriously injured 1985

Not a mastermind, just better than the other tosh. Every year promoters vote on new rules to save money and hinder Poole, yet every year you all complain that Matt is smart enough to make the most of it. You should be whinging about your own lazy promoters.

So even no hoper British riders should be guaranteed a place?

Being known as a family sports is a good asset to have. Presentation and entertainment should be at the forefront of promoters thoughts and action.

In which case it could be down to around 7 taking discount into hand. Will ride as a second string if it goes through.

Unfortunately for us all only the BSPA and Matt Ford will know the answer on a GSA for 2018 if this rumour has any truth in it. Could just be a rumour of course. Mind you Skidder is normally fairly reliable on a lot of info. Assuming he isn't just pulling our leg ;-)

Well he hasn’t ridden here for a couple of seasons so there’s some discount there. 7.85 sounds about right.

One name that I don't think has been mentioned yet was the late Doug Adams who brightened up many an evening for me at Ellesmere Port, although his major role was over the Pennines at Halifax, and I seem to recall Sheffield. I also used to thoroughly enjoy Laurence Rogers' work at Cradley Heath.