Ringitsneck

Interesting comments on the pay scales and Workington was a class example of a winning team , with possibly excessive wages, killing the club off when the crowds didn’t match the results. From my travels this season so far your right on the crowd levels, I would think the average around the northern clubs is about 5-600 level currently, some slightly more , some less but I think that’s the average.

Decent meeting with the right winner for once using the semi final & finals format, you can’t argue with unbeaten all night ! It appeared to be a good sized crowd and the track prep was spot on with no dust despite the heat. Took a long time to get it all done but I’m told that was because of an enforced break before the semis to issue / fit new tyres ? Good to see ‘ our Archie ‘ in there and not looking out of place and most of the field can still have a few cracks at this title in the future. Thought the ref was wrong on more than one occasion. Heat 10, Kemp lifts on turn 2 and interfered with Mulford who had to bail out , big time !, yet Mulford excluded ? Harsh on Ablitt too when it should have been all four back for a classic ‘ first bend bunching ‘ but then I’ve never rated the Mussolini of the refs society. Well done Redcar , once again, for staging this type of meeting.

Interested parties details were obtained at a major moto x show., hundreds signed up. A day was set aside , bikes and kit supplied at Scunthorpe , and all the names were contacted, less than six took up the offer. As for “ go out of there way “ or “ take the mountain to Mohammed “, where are you going to stage a speedway demonstration but at a speedway track ?!?

What do think is piled in the corner at the back of Redcars pits ? It’s shale, red shale ! Oil isn’t allowed for environmental reasons wether we like it or not. As for recruitment drive, been tried from moto X , hundreds signed up, only a few turned up for the free trial , it was so poor the scheme was abandoned. As for Grasstrack, that is also virtually a dead sport compared to the 70’ 80’s. You’ll be lucky to see six meetings staged in the north these days and 70% of the entries are Moto x bikes . But I do agree about slowing the bikes down.

Not sure why your having problems as I’ve just booked 2 and the club provide a telephone number to ring to arrange tickets at the gate. What more can they do ?

‘ is anyone losing interest ‘ asks the title ?, well no as you ask. I find the ‘ sport ‘ fascinating now as individual promoters find their own interpretation of the rules ( are there any now ?). Having seen Poole’s and now Birmingham’s line ups for there next matches I am constantly entertained. A facility granted for a rider who hasn’t ridden for you when that was against the rules but now isn’t ?. A guest for an ‘ injured ‘ rider ( injured in this country allegedly )who is now riding in his own country but not here ? I used to think I understood most of the rules but not any more. I don’t think we can call speedway a sport for much longer as sports have rules, not guidelines to be used to increase an advantage for some but not all.

As a neutral ( but a season ticket holder too ) it’s a shame to see the Bears having such bad luck. On paper the team looked fantastic but they hadnt really clicked all at once and now injuries are ripping the team apart. Due to having such a good race track ( and benefitting from our hasty decision to part with a great track curator ) with no real home advantage you had a team of ‘ racers ‘ but , as Eastbourne proved, you need to have some gaters as well. Losing Stewart weakened the team ( R/R not really getting the expected points ) but losing two good young prospects at reserve will be almost impossible to cover with a Friday night race night. Not sure on the rules for covering their absence but Blair would be a consideration ( is he a “rising star “ ? ). Thought Serjeant was unlucky on Friday, in point scoring positions in his races just lacked top end speed and I think he’s worth his place as teams are too quick to dump riders and I dont see Redcar being like that . I hope the Bears do pick up and make the play offs. I bought my season ticket based on the quality of the racing at the STMP over the passed few years once Terry the Track was brought in and I haven’t regretted a penny of it. Wish I could say the same about my own team but hopefully things will pick up there too.

So you didn’t read the next days release which blamed the Redcar riders and promotion for the delays ? The one that Redcar objected too and responded too rather strongly ? Seems you have selective recall just like the promotion.

But that’s called pre planning, not what Birmingham have done taking 48 hours after England qualified to call it off .

The point being made is that the first leg, at B’Ham, was a complete shambles due to the promoters lack of planning, no prior track preparation, inadequate equipment and the fiasco of COVID preparation with fans from both sides being sold seats at the same table !?! Now throw in even more poor planning when the Euro fixtures were always a bone of contention and even after England got through it took Birmingham over 48 hours to decide to postpone the fixture . Riss being injured having anything to do with this ? Yes, any team can pull off a victory but the B’Ham promotion have been found seriously wanting and showed no humility or respect with their press releases blaming Redcar at every opportunity.

Isn’t there a cut off date for cup matches ? it’s a farce.

This is why the sport is dying, bad promoting !

Why have Birmingham waited this long ?, this was foreseen by everybody and should have been done as soon as England won ! Thats besides that it should have been awarded to Redcar in the first place.

Just be happy with home wins personally .

Good meeting despite the wet conditions. Eagles deserved the win, solid all the way through and much sharper from the gate early on when it counted the most. Kemp was the star but he’s ridden Redcar a lot recently and it showed. Newman was the surprise for me , a little lucky not to get excluded early doors ( 1st bend incident in the 2 nd bend ? ) but he was unusually aggressive which got him the rewards. Bears bike issues and falls really cost them in the end ( 3 of each ) but they are a team of racers not really known for their gating and in wet conditions that cost them. Allen had one superb ride from last to first and how the crowd reacted to it but then he was badly off the pace , very strange. Never seen Wright on his backside so much ( not his fault ) but he recovered well despite them taking a grinder to his bike ! Good to see a decent size crowd and a full 6 heat second half provided when the rain would normally prevent such things. Redcar certainly show a few clubs how it can be done , with a little effort and positivity.

Terry and Jonathan Swales at Redcar together ? Can’t see it but that would be a dream team. Just good that Terry is thinking of carrying in but I think he’ll stay local to his midlands home as he’s not getting any younger,

Who do you think writes the rules ? The SCB are powerless and merely ‘ ratify ‘ rules as and when Godfrey tells them too, that’s why he’s on their committee ! The current ‘ rule book ‘ is in his head and the answer to whatever depends on who’s asking . See stated case Redcar v Glasgow 2017 not completed prior to heat 10’s conclusion judged against Birmingham v Redcar 2021 , not completed prior to heat 10’s conclusion….ridiculous!

The Star will not print anything controversial that criticises the BSPL or the SCB , they won’t bite the hand that feeds them.

Swindon? Ah, makes sense then, hope he’s managed to turn it back to the good surface it was rather than the neglected swamp it was on fiasco night. Terry’s a track advisor ? Good, but there’s less and less to ‘ advise ‘ , a dying art is track curating.

Oh but he did, when he was asked he did fill in at Birmingham and Wolverhampton as there local to him but I do agree, one of the best there has been and he’s a loss to the sport .

What rules ? Is that the book, written in pencil by one of the top table that can be altered quickly depending on which clubs are involved ?

Apologies to Dixie Dean ( as I’ve not heard of him before ) but he doesn’t appear on the BSPL tracks registered curators list, is he now the Brummies permanent track guy ? or just another guy who gives a hand ? , Like Terry ‘ the track ‘ did ? ( can’t pronounce never mind spell his surname !)

The same ‘business sense’ as running a double header against two of the best visiting teams to attract a crowd when people moan about paying extra to watch the Gems double headers perhaps ? Or not having a competitive team when your team is your main attraction ? Or not having an experienced track curator when you have even less time to prepare a track due to an earlier start time ? As a life long season ticket holder I’ve been through the good times and the not so good, this is the worst but we will , hopefully, get through it and struggle on but we need to be savvy . We’ve already had the begging bowl out so we need to tread carefully better times ( no restriction on the crowd limit ) are coming so it makes sense to run more meetings then than now.

The way things are if there’s even a sign of moisture , this will be off. This isn’t a dig at anyone but it simply would make business sense, Barker needs time, restricted crowd and lack of a proper track curator so why not wait till things are more positive ? Plenty of more experienced promoters have used such tactics in the past and we need all the help we can get to stay in business.

Until a representative of Redcar get on the management team , that is not going to happen. The SCB ‘ representative ‘ who originally declared the 2017 Redcar v Glasgow match had to be rerun, then announced 3 days later that the match was awarded to Glasgow ( in the press , not to Redcar ) later admitted in person that he was “ told to make that decision by a senior member of the BSPA “ . Money talks, top table influence has gone on for years. The SCB include the current chairman of the BSP L on the board, how is that an independent body ??? Totally understand Duffill’s frustration , the same as his predecessor, little Redcar not on the top table, no cash to wave around.