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I too welcome the SCB's intervention in the Nicholls case but I'll await the transparency that you suggest because I am not convinced. E I Addio has pointed out that the AGM finished in mid November and the SCB resolved the matter at the end of February - after a challenge by Peterborough, a review by the BSPA and a threat of legal action from Nicholls. His description of the SCB's actions in this matter was 'appalling incompetence'. It could easily be seen as though they took no steps to correct the situation until Nicholls legal challenge, at which point they had no choice but to change the decision. The other thing is is that this is a major issue, one that affects all clubs. It is equally as important that disputes on single decisions affecting just one club are dealt with - as BCD has said - fairly, openly and subject to precedent. I have it on good authority that when Adam Roynon signed for Plymouth last season three NL clubs protested, saying that the average they were using was incorrect. Those protests were brushed aside, despite the fact that the average was indeed substantially understated (something that was later admitted, although not publicly). Matt Marson has a British passport (I stand to be corrected, but I believe his mother is British). As a British citizen and a newcomer to the sport in this country, Mildenhall put him in their team last season on a 3.00 in accordance with the SCB rulebook. Suddenly, he was graded as a 5.00, an average that doesn't even exist in that rule book. My understanding is that it took a further threat of legal action to make the BSPA adhere to their own regulations. On those (and so many other occasions) speedway fans - and even clubs - did not know who made the decision, how they made it and why they made it. That simply cannot be right, nor can it be the case that the sports own regulations are so easily broken to suit the needs of individual promoters. I have never believed that the running of speedway teams should be subject to independent control. Speedway teams are mostly loss making, so it is a case that he who calls the piper calls the tune and that initial decision making must be left to those that put their hands in the pockets every week. However, any protest must be determined by an impartial adjudicator with no interest in any speedway club. It is at that stage that currently the sport disastrously falls down and, quite clearly, if you know that any decision you make could well be subject to independent audit, you're more likely to get it right in the first place.

As some will no I’m a cricket fan as well and a member at Trent Bridge- speedway could learn so much about customers service from Trent Bridge from official stewards to box office staff to catering staff they can’t do enough for you as a fan you feel valued they email fans before games about how the club is looking forward to our visit and by the time we get home there is another email saying hope you enjoyed your visit and please let’s us no if there is anything that can be done to improve the match day experience- ok two different sports one cash rich the other not in the same financial league but speedway is up against sports like this and the difference to how fans customers are treated is vast . For me it’s all about being valued as a fan rather than being taken for granted.

Well you make some points in the reply that I take some issue with 1. Scott Nicholls himself states he was contacted by Damien Bates before the AGM asking if he was interested in riding for Sheffield in 2018, it appears he wasn’t adverse to the idea but said his preference was Peterborough, he heard nothing more from Sheffield from then on, so if a new member of the MC didn’t know about the proposed rule how on Earth was a suspended promoter likely to know. 2. You and me both know from experience that challenging the MC or the BSPA gets you nothing but aggravation as the promoters who do so know from bitter experience. They don’t follow precedence and make decisions on the basis of who is asking rather than general common sense or fairness to everyone. The fact that Ged Rathbone made some serious money from the Holder deal is what sticks in the BSPA throat, that and the fact he picked up two trophies didn’t help either. The organisation as far as new rules is pathetic as last years Fours was with rules not coming out until a few days before the event and we’ll after the date teams declared their teams, then we had the laughable situation where teams were in, out and then back in in the space of a week during which some of the teams had riders then committed to Poland. And he were in March and the 2018 regulations are still not published. 3. It’s clear that the governing body for Speedway in the UK (the ACU) don’t hold either the BSPA or the SCB in a good light and after all the problems of 2017 and recent events it’s no real surprise is it. As for publishing results of some hearings, it’s been plainly obvious to some that the BSPA have no stomach at all in publishing its own shortcomings as the recent Rathbone appeal and Godfrey finding showed, for some reason the BSPA seem to think that if they don’t mention it no one will be any the wiser but in this day and age nothing is secret for very long with most discretion’s being fully dissected on the BSF and being taken to task by the Speedway star. I have said before until the BSPA start acting with honesty, openness and fairness nothing will change and this sport will lurch from one PR disaster to another.

As a general point I don't think there is any excuse for poor customer service and not putting those who pay to use your business and therefore keep it afloat first, second and third. Whatever the shortcomings of that business are excellent customer service should be an absolute minimum. It's a no brainer. 'Customers are not an interruption of our work, they are the purpose of it'.

The decision was not only made at the AGM, it was subsequently confirmed on 1 February 2018 - despite the fact that Peterborough challenged it. As such, they did test the decision and were refused. Three weeks (BCD has stated it was less) later - apparently after solicitors were contacted - the BSPA backed down completely. According to Phil Rising, the SCB were fully aware that the Nicholls decision was illegal and refused to ratify it. I am therefore asking myself whether the decision to retain the rule after review in early February and then reverse it a matter of weeks later was a matter of incompetence, viciousness or both. I don't regard Rathbone as the peoples champion - and I suspect those that do are motivated by their own prejudices - but I do regard him as someone who stood up to a ruling in the interests of his promotion, his team, his fans and his sponsors. That is very hard to condemn. The problem with a closed shop is that no-one is allowed to challenge it. That means however illegal, corrupt or biased their rulings are they must be adhered to. That surely cannot be right, and the answer must be not to punish dissent or dissension but not make such rulings in the first place. Decisions that are fair, open, justifiable, subject to precedent and legal are far harder to challenge. There are those who bash the BSPA at every opportunity - again, almost certainly as a result of their own prejudices. The thing is though is that the BSPA themselves have, to a degree, created such an attitude. Personally, I take pleasure that an illegal ruling has been struck down and I doubt very much that I am the only one with that view. I have made no secret of my respect and admiration for the promotion at Isle Of Wight and its clear Barry Bishop and Martin Widman have put a huge amount of time, money, effort and enthusiasm into ensuring that the Warriors are a paying success. Yet last season, time after time, rulings went against them, be that because they were turned down (despite precedents) or that others received ludicrously beneficial judgements. That undoubtedly contributed to their final league position and no doubt there were times that they would have felt utterly disillusioned by events around them. The thing is I - and I would stand on my own reputation for fairness and impartiality - can well believe that they were denied their share of discretion through simple jealousy, provoked by the remarkable (and totally justified)amount of credit and praise they have received from speedway fans across the country. Ged Rathbone was heavily fined and had his promoters licence suspended as a result of allowing Holder to ride in Poland. Two seasons ago, I went to a meeting where a promoter took part in a sit on the track during that meeting. He, one of his riders and a number of the home support sat on the track on one side of the tapes while on the other side were riders ready to race. I thought that was a grossly irresponsible act and an awful breach of health and safety regulations. To my knowledge, that promoter was never fined, punished or disciplined in anyway and, in my view, there is no question about what was the more serious offence. Any organisation that treats its members with such appalling inconsistency - and, seemingly, favouritism - can also make decisions in precisely the same way and therefore deserves at least some of the odium and criticism it gets.

like him or loathe him, len silver must be one of the last promoters prepared to run speedway meetings every week. since he has left rye house there have been big gaps in the home fixture list, sometimes going weeks without a meeting. despite the awkward start time and the dreaded curfew, kent still stage meetings virtually every week. they are rewarded with healthy crowds at central park, which proves there is still an appetite for regular speedway in this country. I might not be len's biggest fan, but i'm grateful to have somewhere to go on a weekly basis in this speedway starved area of the country!

I believe that they originally said the announcement would be made after the winter series and open days and the one that impressed the most would get the final spot in the team. I think the weather put paid to most, if not all, of those.

Andrew Tully was injured during Newcastle's P&P (also a broken vertebrae) and we were allowed R/R, but, obviously that was a speedway injury. Something in the back of my mind says Dickie Juul was injured pre-season and it was argued that, because he'd ridden for us the previous season, we could use R/R, but had he been a new signing, we would have had to find a replacement (I am sure someone can confirm this, or correct me!).

If Poland can get away with it, why not us.???

Long trip down my friend but you should try them out. They are a truly remarkable outfit, setting a standard that shames much of the rest of the sport. Its pretty much characterised by their promoters willingness to come on here and engage with us all - not the 'utterly without credibility' stance of other teams. I'll see if I can get him to respond to you - knowing him a bit, the sky's the limit for the Warriors but this isn't a man who will pour good money after bad for one single second. Huge enthusiasm but financial accountability. There's a novelty

Surely not its a non speedway injury

The relationship between The EOES and Speedway is completely irrelevant to most supporters. The confirmed 2pm kick off, with this line up, would have seen the biggest Ben Fund attendance for years. If the venue date and time wasn’t guaranteed and now a driving school takes precedence over an essential fund raiser - it should never have been awarded.

I haven’t posted on the forum for a while now but I had to log in just to call mickthemuppet a massive liar!

My dad's bigger than your dad springs to mind here

If the new World competition, which seems like a Pairs event, is the only thing on the World stage, who on earth would want to take a franchise on the British title. I certainly agree with those that do not like "Team GB" stupid IMO. Bring back "Great Britain" or, even better, "England". Didn't "England" win the World Team Cup ( or whatever it might have been called then) 3 times in succession ? Can anyone confirm that ? Would be nice to see some of the old Test Matches that used to be regular features a few years ago , England v Sweden, England v Australia. Hugely popular at the time...why not now ?

Whilst that is true the BBC still have excellent viewing figures for 'Match Of The Day'. Speedway would benefit massively with a similar format on a free channel or online. I would bet anyone that an highlights package would get far more viewers than any live meeting on free to air channel than a paying Sports network.

The argument for live TV surely gets defeated. A prospective new fan surely won't be that interested to sit through all the pointless waffle and still be tuned for the next race. A highlights package, like the olden days of World Of Sport, shows one race after another. Kids of today don't want to be sat there listening to chitter-chatter. It's action they want. Never mind kids, an old-fogey like me would prefer race after race. I used to sit through all the padding SKY gave us during 15 races crammed into over three hours, but I wouldn't like to do it now. It is pointless. Indeed, transferring my old videos over to dvd, I cut out all the studio stuff. The importing thing is racing, a glance in the pits now and again, at the terraces (if you can find a fan). A live meeting is like watching the two years it takes to make a feature film... you can see it all in usually 90 minutes if you wait for the full edit.

Sounds a bit stupid but what ever.

When Tungate is at his best, he is simply magic at NSS. Must be in with a shout.

If I were to watch a match that was live on TV, I'd record it and then watch it afterwards, I'd fast-forward the gaps between the races which are only there for filling time. I'd watch the races and not much else. It is like most things now - record, watch later, cut out the ads etc. So, isn't it just as good to give whichever TV company is interested a one-hour highlights' package? I am sure there are enough avenues to do this, all the companies that cover meetings at tracks for small profit every week and are good enough standard and picture quality to show on TV for, after all, mainly speedway fans? They often show these companies' footage during live meetings don't they? Buy a speedway meeting on DVD and you get all the action within the hour, no boring experts telling us what they think will happen or what we've just seen happen during 10 minutes before the next heat, and then for another 10 minutes after the next one. Live Tv has been done.

Not sure but last time I looked we had never left the Eu .

It's very interesting that the guy who is fronting up the Save Coventry Group, who has probably put in hundreds & hundreds of hours of time and effort into trying to save the stadium for future use stated quite clearly on radio last night that he wouldn't be attending Leicester because he didn't believe that a team racing there & competing at the lowest level represented the Coventry Bees. i wonder if all the posters on this topic who keep telling those of us who have expressed the same opinions, that we are trying to " kill the club" would accuse Jeff of being of the same mind?

Surely the Ben fund meetings are about raising money, change in time now means less money, so change the venue, I'm sure another venue could be easily found at short notice.

Yes, but fans are aware that is the norm for a league meeting, where you probably only get a handful of away fans from one team. The meeting in question is a 'prestigous' meeting on the calendar where fans from all over the country attend, a 6.30 start on a Sunday is no good to a large majority, Paul Ackroyd must be fuming. How many times in the past have Peterborough mess around with dates and start times, they should be nowhere near hosting an event like this.

Speedway is its own worst enemy. Season upon season we have promoters annual "We may not run next year," followed by "We're ok to run," once March arrives. It is so unprofessional. When tracks like Coventry and Cradley, and Oxford, can fall by the wayside... all major clubs 30 years ago, there does become a time when even the most ardent of fan walks from their last meeting thinking whether it's the last they'll see, through choice or the impending bulldozers rolling in. Peter Oakes was correct recently, pointing out that only one club had gone out of business through financial hardship - Hull. So, reading that fact, it does make you feel that speedway's future may not be in the hands of the new brigade of fans, but on how much the land is worth that the track sits on.