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SCB's thin veneer of intelligence is once more stripped away by his rancid and repugnant ageism. It's a familiar argument - "I know a pensioner who's well-off so every one of them must be." It's as intellectually and morally bankrupt as "All these foreigners are taking our jobs". I do wonder if he's got a problem with his parents or other elderly relatives, given the sick bitterness and prejudice he continually shows to the elderly. In another recent thread he came up with what were superficially intelligent comments about the way forward but which were invalidated by his comment "Stop pandering to the old, they'll be dead soon", or words to that effect. I'll leave you to consider for a moment just how repugnant that is. Don't be taken in by someone who is obsessed withe speedway rule book and averages. It doesn't make them intelligent, merely fixated. I had to correct him ages ago when he was spouting this regulation and that to point out that he was completely ignoring the key part of the rule book, the supplementary regulations which are issued during a season and regularly amend those rules., I remember SCB complaining about the car park at a certain track on the basis that it was damaging his very expensive car. Lovely chap. I'd park mine outside ;-) If people were singled out for such abuse on the grounds of race, gender or sexuality they would be rightly condemned by most reasonable people in society and in many cases prosecuted. So why is ageism allowed? Speedway may have an age profile that could do with reducing. The SCB's of this world would achieve that by making the sport hostile to the elderly and forcing them out on the basis that the young and 'cool' (i.e. his own perception of himself) are put off by the sight of geriatrics viciously sitting down because they can't stand up for two hours and callously drinking hot drinks from a flask because they know that the stuff on sale at the track is awful quality and overpriced. Shame on them! It's not the elderly that are the problem, it's the shallow, ignorant outlook of certain people at the other end of the age spectrum. Still, there's one consolation, given the modern trend to despise the old by the time he gets to be in that age group life's going to be pretty appalling for him. Yes I have attacked the poster, and I have not one iota of apology for doing this. I've posted some strong views on here over the years but they have all been based on a deep love of and concern for the sport, and not my ego. I had my brief spell in the spotlight and I can tell you I am much, much happier sitting quietly in the shadows now. When I see SCB's posts I see raw ego. I worked with a few TV technicians like him in the past and you would sometimes get those who developed appalling arrogance through working in the industry. I thought I'd seen the worst.......until now. I remember years back Sittingbourne getting their only away Conference League win at Newport. Almost everyone on the BSF were congratulating the then Crusaders on finally getting a win. One kid wasn't though. He went through every decision made in the match, every pass and incident, desperately trying to prove that the Kent side hadn't deserved their win. Ever since then I've been waiting for SCB to grow up. Seems like I've got a longer to go. Still, I'll probably be dead first, eh? Rob McCaffery - aged 60 and expecting the basic state pension only, if that when I can finally afford to retire. You see, instead of building up a career I spent too much time with speedway. I'm now partially disabled so have to have a seat at a track even if it's a folding one which SCB so despises. After 46 years of course I don't deserve a small concession on the admission in my advancing old age.....It would be nice to be able to enjoy the sport in my final years without having to put up with prejudice from this shallow clown.

Here you go again SCB. You really must be a very bitter person. You are right when you say that a hell of a lot of Pensioners are well of, some of them very well off. However the obverse is also true. There are also a hell of a lot of Pensioners who are not very well off, are indeed very, very poor. Some can afford Speedway every week, but others will inevitably not be able to, and it seems that you want to make them even worse off. I doubt if there are many very well off Pensioners who attend Speedway that often so you are actually having a go at the poorer ones. Shame on you!!! You are either very bitter, very jealous or very selfish or maybe a combination of all three. Shame on you!!!

If you buy a day ticket for the main racing only, its £28 (or £34 on the gate). That's not quite so good. You're right, though - just because something isn't comparatively expensive doesn't mean it is value for money and, in many cases, speedway does fall down there. I went to the Belle Vue/Wolverhampton TV match last season and, basically, everything was just bang on. A reasonably close result, some fantastic racing, an Aces win - we even had Chase the Ace doing a 'Staying Alive' dance. I paid £10 but even at the usual £17 it would easily have been worth every penny. All too often, though, we have crap tracks, ridiculous, unnecessary delays, poor presentation and riders who can't be bothered. All that has to be addressed, and soon.

I work full time...and I would like 20k a year for working...let alone being retired.

Theatres , cinemas , trains , buses ,football games.... all give concessions amongst many others. there are plenty of pensioners who are very glad of a little financial help

...trouble is SCB has a fixation about ageism and raises the issue over and over again. Gets a bit tiresome after awhile.

One phrase in the Lambert article highlights some of the problems with speedway in the UK, and in particular the cost of attending meetings He refers to "making a living out of speedway in the UK" - he's 19 years old, should he really be trying to make a living out of riding for Kings Lynn at that age? Did Terry Betts and others expect to do that, at 19 or even older? Most certainly, no they didn't, and admission prices reflected that It's fine to be ambitious, but lads these days seem to expect far too much from a sport that is not F1 or Premier League, and far too soon

The above was Halifaxtiger quoting SCB. SCB, it does say "average", that means the figure evens everyone out. Someone on the National Minimum Rate of £7.50ph will earn £15,600pa. Even the new pension, only recently started to be paid, is approx £8,400pa and that depends on NI contributions. Pensioners before that get much less- and thats what my state pension is....much less. I contributed to a private pension for 23 years which helps me out, many pensioners today do not have private pensions. They will really be struggling. I think you need to learn what pensioners are actually on rather then rely on some "average" figure. If pensioners didnt get "senior citizen" rates I would imagine some businesses would struggle - speedway would probably have folded years ago.

Just shut the hell up you childish morons grow the fk up

I doubt that there are many rich pensioners that include speedway as an interest.. The OAP concession should remain

Bit of a generalisation SCB, there's plenty of pensioners on basic pension and maybe a small personal pension .....

Phil you have nothing that needs defending , like you state you need the extra revenue these days to exist every publication does really can’t see where Semion is coming from as like you say the 24 page ad is an extra that doesn’t cost the customer any more! I actually find the brochure quite good toilet material once I’ve read the actual magazine content lol Despite social media and the internet in general I still enjoy my fix of my speedway star as does my son...as you know! Keep it going more of us appreciate it than those that do not

How very amusing you are.

Another good thread Sid! Best memories? 1. My very first meeting at Cowley (1972 vs. Coventry) 2. White City winning at Wolves in 1977 thereby winning the league. 3. Oxford vs. Ipswich (KOC Final Second Leg). Best ever meeting at Cowley during my time in my opinion. 4. Hans Nielsen winning the World Championship in 1986 at Katowice...I was there! 5. Oxford hammering the enemy (Swindon 'Budgies') at 'The Abbey' in 1986. Worse memories? 1. Any deaths at speedway (thankfully I was never present at any meeting when a rider was killed) but they all left a profound effect on me. 2. Travelling a great distance to be met with a postponement announcement. 3. The demise of the second half...used to have some great second halves at Cowley during 'The Rebels' era. 4. The closure of White City and Oxford as speedway venues. 5. Seeing the sport decline in popularity and I can't see it being reversed.

A Bit Of A Tear Jerker

(quote from above post)If you can't see that old people will die before young people,well .....You're an idiot.) What an idiotic comment.I am 60 now and in my lifetime I have lost 8 friends and family ranging between 14 and 56 the reaper comes when he is ready so do not count your chickens no one ever knows how long they have got.

The simplest answer to the OP is that OAPs get a discount today, just because they always did in the past. Going back to a time when very few OAPs attending Speedway would have a private pension and would (then) have been on the poor side. That is/was the British tradition. The argument for taking the concession away is a fairly silly one. The negative impact of removing that 'discount' today would piss off so many that the promoters would be stupid to do so as the attandances would be hit badly. But then I would have thought SCB was very able to work that out for himself. So, I assume he just felt like prodding the hornet's nest due to boredom!

According to the Office for National Statistics, that's not true. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/nowcastinghouseholdincomeintheuk/financialyearending2017 They say that the median retired household's income is £22,400, that of a non retired household is £29,300 (the equivalent mean is £26,347 and £34,363). That's about 30% lower. Having said that, the gap in the last 10 years has narrowed significantly. While non retired household incomes have remained the same, retired households have increased by almost 25% . To me, that means you have a point and don't deserve the abuse thrown in your direction simply for raising this issue. Until, however, those two figures match each other then I think the case for the discount is justified, quite aside from the fact that certainly some of my retired friends would stop going if speedway did away with that reduction and that's regardless of the income they receive. There are a lot of retired people that go to speedway - although the proportion is nothing like what you have made it out to be - and the sport simply can't afford to risk losing them.

Pretty much any 'debate' if you can call it that you've had with Starman.

Or run a junior meeting like the Northern Junior League, and the MDL meeting, after the main meeting in meaningful matches with 4 junior riders in 6 extra heats.

I can go to watch a British superbike round Friday Saturday and Sunday...all the practice, qualifying races and all the support races from 8 am to 6 pm all 3 days for 37 quid. Speedway isn't expensive..but value for money it's poor.

OK, I can see your point that English riders may not want to travel all the way to Edinburgh, although Glasgow have signed six!

STILL BT not SKY ...

Not watching the live stream organised by MA? Wednesday's viewers were up 50% on Saturday. Friday starts around 8.15am, from Mildura...

We jokingly call the back straight terrace , where we watch from , the Charlie Monk stand . I cant think of a more fitting tribute than Glasgow to name the grandstand to honour the memory of Jimmy Beaton . Officially naming it the Jimmy Beaton stand would serve as a lasting thanks for all he did for the club .