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Why not, with the team Poole have Redcar could win

Forget about the result last night ,it's time to appreciate the riders of all clubs for providing us with entertainment and putting there bodies on the line for us . Wishing Gino and Nike a speedy recovery as at one stage it looked far worse then what the two riders have been diagnosed ,hoping to see you both back on the shale very soon

If by downgraded you mean semi-professional then so be it - that's how it was in 1965 for the majority of riders, who rode UK and had jobs/professions as well The likes of Rick France, Ron Mountford, Ivor Brown - even Nigel Boocock - all had income from outside the sport Full-time Speedway isn't sustainable nowadays and the riders need to realise this - then the financial side might be able to be sorted

This good enough for you SS. Who never said they were to beat everybody! Your memories not so good!

I think the sport in Britain is beyond repair until a total colaspe and then rebuild from scratch but I don’t blame buster, yes he has been in charge but even when he makes a correct stand against something he gets slated, something I see is too few people having too many fingers in too many pies, it’s always the same names and that’s when conflict of interest happens and when you have that nothing gets acheived

Attendances show fixed nights aren't attracting enough customers Tracks must operate on the best nights for them - and we must have Friday and Saturday nights as Speedway nights

The time was probably ten or so years ago to be honest..... However, I think some egos of those who run the sport will always stand in the way... Dealing with 'superstars', I think, must give some a sense of 'reflected glory'... Ride on nights that give you the best crowd and grow the sport from its current 'rock bottom' base, only use riders committed 100% to GB Speedway. And pay them what is affordable from an entrance fee of no more than fifteen quid..

Perhaps it is time to downgrade our speedway to a sustainable level because like many people have said it's dying on it's feet ?

How many other teams can say that ? To some of us that is no surprise at all simply because you have set a standard for every other club in British speedway to follow. I have made no secret of my respect and admiration for what you and Martin have achieved and are trying to achieve on the Island and will continue to bang the drum for you and your methods. Those methods include a huge publicity campaign, free entry for children (100 there on Thursday apparently, average age of the attendance must have been about 14), the creation of a truly remarkable family atmosphere, a visible presence on race nights and a willingness to engage on here (254 likes from 76 posts says it all) and, above all, a determination not just to give the paying spectator want he wants but to treat him as a valued and important client. The remarkable gesture of giving rain off programmes away free - when most other clubs charge full price, nothing less than a total rip off - is yet another example of how to do it right. Its little wonder that you have attracted little but praise and credit from fans across the country, including some of the BSF's most respected posters. Every supporter across the country should look at the list above and see if their team does the same. Most of them don't and, in some cases, the contrast will be a stark one. One of the saddest parts of my self imposed semi exile from speedway in 2018 is that I won't get to come to your place as much as I would like (a total ban, however is unthinkable ).

I guarantee no other country in the world would have let this happen with Lambert needing a win to progress We really are the best at making things hard for ourselves

i remember when Poole went ** up - i was sorry to lose a track i didn't take the piss out of fans who had lost their track and team to support. They were a cinderella club for years, along with Cradley. People should have more respect for smaller clubs.

With every single one of them committed to British Speedway.. They might not be 'Superstars' but very, very few are.. The vast majority of riders will always be 'average'... Let them earn couple of grand a week on 'average'.... Every week..

Exactly. Ipswich last won the top league with six riders. Not all teams would want/can run at weekends. One league is so mind boggling simple to implement my brain hurts when trying to understand why it’s not happening. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing The Aces will be back to Fridays and BH next year.

oops even better...............so am i anti poole or thick.......................or correct? think i summed it up well pre season yet again miles out no team out there lol when Poole fans preach like this and believe me there are loads more......................it makes giving back all the more fun

I think he came to the role full of enthusiasm but very quickly realised he was banging his head against a brick wall. Yes he's guilty of raising our hopes but IMHO the failure is that of the collective of the old boys club.

WITH so many vacant dates why can't this sort of thing be avoided?

This. Well done to Bewley for recovering like that but by heck that was dumb!

It's business as usual at the Stadium of Candle Light tonight. We've reached heat 2 here at the Theatre of NIghtmares... 1st attempt and Lewis Whitmore falls ..... It's all 4 back for the re-run 2nd attempt Wiliam O'Keefe leads, but falls while leading (He's making a hablit of this) He's excluded. 3rd attempt Lewis Whitmore falls again... colliding with Alcock and Douglas 4th attempt. Whitmore wins. Has anyone ever won a race before when he's already fallen off in two previous attempts? Rumour has it that the Battle of the Somme was originally going to be staged at Stoke until Field Marshal Haig complained about the conditions and got the fixture transferred to France

Redcar and Berwick would be popular - not so sure about Poole Your arrogance precedes you!

Pay for speedway only

Didn't Craig Cook feature for Buxton?

1 big league. 5 man teams. Then there should be enough riders.

That might depend on whether Ove Fundin did the same!

Exactly, nothing wrong with running teams of 6 or even 5 riders.

If there are not enough riders to run seven man teams then don't.. If you cannot afford to run seven man teams then don't.. The fewer riders per team will free up others to replace injured riders.. Simply base your team structures on what you can afford and run on nights that bring the most money in...

I think that's a total cop out. He's been around speedway long enough that he should fully understand the internal politics. Using that as an excuse for non-delivery is poor. I think he has done well to introduce fixed race nights, something that British speedway has needed for years, but which people continually said couldn't be done. There is plenty more still to do, but it is a start.

If he scores well and gets into the 1-5 allowing the 2 Poles to drop to reserve, then I can see him staying - as always it'll come down to averages and the numbers game.

He’ll be your number 1 by then!

It was broken when he started and he had to say something. Who really thought anything would change in the short term. It was a bad time to get the job and the problems in the sport have yet to bottom out but they will at some point. So in answer to the question I'd say neither.

couldn't agree more - start from scratch is the only way. NL seems to be doing ok - finding talent and running some big clubs. Lose anyone who can't commit to British meetings whenever they take place. People like you must know how to make bikes cheaper. I for one lose complete interest in a meeting where guests appear. Its a bloody plague these days.

I was thinking more of the lack of consistency and poor form  but I am expecting a stronger performance now they have the benefit of Stefan Nielsen to advise on set ups and lead from the front.

Thoroughly enjoyable weekend was had, great to see such a massive crowd, Warsaw in Poland is a great venue to have this GP, am already looking forward to the event in 2019, does anyone know of the dates yet.

Since taking over as Chairman he's been an absolute failure. That's not me saying that's the opinion of other teams supporters as we'll now see

Haha fair one! brennan head and shoulders above all of them though from I saw in terms of bike control!

Torun v Leszno Friday 18th May all heats short version https://www.cda.pl/video/2293191b7?wersja=720p

In the end, a comfortable victory for Scunny... but at what cost? Hopefully Gino ain't too badly hurt, hoping for good news and wishing him all the best. Bit of a bruising encounter... First Auty/Lunna.... then Lunna (again)/Manzares.. and Danny Phillips x3 ...all in the wars. The meeting seemed to drag, but that's speedway, can't be helped when these incidents occur. Withdrawals from Manzares (Coccyx injury?) and Lunna (Don't know of injury, but poor lad probably had no bikes left) ..Hope all injured parties heal soon. As for the racing.. After the first few processional heats the quality improved no end.. There was four or five real quality heats and some very hard fought racing. Scunny deserved winners, despite another fantastic effort from Tero Aarnio. Expected a bit more from Proctor and Klindt. Just a little mention for Danny Phillips... Tried too hard tonight and paid the cost, can't fault the lad for effort.. a little more patience and one day it'll just click... stick in there Danny... there's a good score coming.

Your excused!

News just in, it’s Poole, yes, Poole, in sixth ........ don’t get vertigo Pugwashers. Up to and including Thursday, May 17, 2018 M W D L 4W 3W D 1L L F A Pts 1 Swindon 8 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 366 353 16 2 Wolverhampton 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 296 244 13 3 Belle Vue 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 280 260 12 4 Rye House 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 285 345 10 5 Somerset 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 255 285 8 6 Poole 7 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 295 334 8 7 Leicester 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 195 165 7 8 King's Lynn 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 187 173 7

You’ve got to be careful with dementia at your age. I’d advise you get yourself straight to your surgery

There was an article in the Wolves v Poole programme, that I thought was worth sharing. The article is written by Mark Sawbridge who is the official historian for Wolverhampton. He has previously written a book about Wolverhampton Speedway and is a well respected member of the speedway researcher community. The article states that Wolverhampton Speedway will be 90 years old this year. Furthermore, it is now the oldest track in the world, because all other older tracks have closed or simply don't exist anymore. I am long term Wolves fan, since 1967, but this is still a surprise to me. Long may we continue ! If anyone is interested in the article, PM me.

Things do seem a bit flat this Season. I've been on a diet.

I'd say Iversen is the must do better. Kasper is doing just fine considering his age and experience.

Nice try

Perhaps Carl Johnson's statement before the start of the season makes more sense now (we have a plan A and a plan B .

what did you say about heat 9 in the post I quoted, nothing! What did you say about Dan Bewley in your post I quoted, again nothing. the only thing we agree on is the numbers attending the meeting, was very poor and must be a worry for our promotion, however I would hazard a guess that it was that poor mainly because of the celebrations in the City for the blue half. As for our super duper track, it's because it's super duper that it gives the riders confidence to race, as was witnessed in heat 9 So to quote yourself (only I wont be as rude as you). Read the post.

It has been mentioned a few times on this forum about atmosphere making a huge contribution to the experience of live sport. Recently I paid my first visit in living memory to a premier league football match, Huddersfield v Swansea to be precise. The atmosphere and noise was incredible, but as Tony Mac alludes to, most of the time nothing really exciting is actually happening. A huge cheer followed by fervent clapping as a player clears a ball away from danger – you would think the guy had just found a cure for some terrible disease. If you saw that same action with the crowd removed, there would be literally nothing exciting about it at all! In my opinion this partly explains the, ‘speedway was much better in my day’ viewpoint. The atmosphere back in the 60’s and 70’s clearly was superb and added hugely to the experience even if the racing was poor. A good example is the 1981 world final at Wembley. A fantastic occasion, for sure, but count the overtakes. Not many, and yet this is one of speedways best remembered meetings because the occasion and crowd elevated it to something way beyond just the racing.

Without wishing to get into the pointless discussion of what constitutes entertainment ( and let's not get into the silly argument Speedwáy only being 15 min racing) surely the point is that if 50,000+ are regularly paying an arm and a leg to watch a football match, it demonstrates that Speedwáy is not over priced , and that if people find someting enjoyable and entertaining they will find the funds to pay for it. Reducing Speedwáy admission to £10 won't bring more through the gate ( well not significantly anyway ) , good entertainment well presented will make a difference. There will never be football sized crowds at Speedwáy meetings but if Speedwáy tracks could put even another 200 on the gate each meeting of the season it would make a huge difference to the finances of most clubs, and to the future of the sport. Instead those in charge act as if lowering the standard is the way forward.

Few changes: 7. Chris Harris 8. Roland Benko

Totally uncalled for Steve, thought better of you tbh

Rathbone said: “From Ulrich’s point of view, it’s just a case of us wanting him to concentrate on his racing. He has been a good captain for us over the last three years. He’s still the modern-day ‘Mr Peterborough Speedway’ but he’s at a stage of his career now when his main focus needs to be on making sure he’s a consistent scorer on-track.” Lambert was a silly appointment for captain anyway and the same can be said for him. Give it to Nicholls who's the only one of that lot who should be able to lead by example