Jim Sharman

Another Rainoff! Saturday, 28 April 2012 12:18 Mildenhall Fen Tigers' fixture against Buxton tomorrow (Sunday) has been called off due to heavy rain. A new date will be announced as soon as it has been arranged.

Whilst I feel desperately sorry for Morten and Taylor for the injuries they have suffered, but the Club have done absolutley the right thing here by re-signing Leigh Lanham. For a week, he has been a wanted man, having found himself in a real predicament following Newport's closure. I'm sure there would have been interest from Rye House to make his move there a permanent one, to replace the equally unlucky Chris Neath, but with Leigh living so local to Foxhall and being a family man, this will hopefully suit all parties. It does give the look of the Witches side a different complexion, but thinks it is slightly distasteful that some contributors on here are taking the opportunity to rubbish Morten, and his possible contribution to the side. He is a genuine rider, who had prepared extensively for the new season and looked terrfic in pre-season practice and was looking for a good season. It is possible,you know, to make contributions to a forum without having to taint comments with negativity about others (who through no fault of their own, now find themselves injured!) Anyways, with regard the covering for Taylor Poole, again I think the Club are doing the correct thing by playing a waiting game to ascertain the full timescale of the lay off from his injury (which at the time looked by far the worst of all last weeks incidents). Rider replacement may not be everyones chosen option, but with the inclusion of Lanham at Number One, this means that the remaining riders should be able to cover for Poole until his return date is known. If after four weeks or so, it appears he is a way off returning to racing, then reassess the situation and either carry on with rider replacement (if it is not placing too much duress on the remaining riders) failing that maybe make a short term replacement, on that basis. The good news is that both Morten and Taylor are now out of hospital and starting that road to recovery, for which I wish them all the best. It is also encouraging to see from Chris Neath on Twitter today, that he is being allowed out of hospital to attend Foxhall to watch the Star of Anglia tonight. Hopefully that will help lift his spirits as he begins his recovery and all good wishes to him also. It has been an unprecedented start to the season reagrding injuries for a not just the riders mentioned, but many others. Let's hope they are all back in the saddle soon and back doing what they do best by entertaining us all.

Thank goodness that the actual racing starts tonight, so everyone can get on with discussing the racing instead of all these other issues. I dread to think what might have ended up being discussed had the closed season gone on for another month! As I understand it, the intention was to reverse the colours on the logo this season ie to have a black witch on a white background and indeed three of the riders suits are like this. The other four show the white witch on black. But they are variations on a theme and the overall look of the kevlars is one of a team which surely is the intention. Every year when any clubs new race suits are revealed there are always differences between them (take Olly Allen at Peterborough for example, who's racesuit didnt carry the name of the team sponsor! hence him wearing a race jacket at the Peterborough Press and Practice day!). I'd say the most important aspect of the Witches racesuit is that it once again carrys the name of Sackers Recycling as the main team sponsor along with a number of club partners. Afterall, there was plenty of grief on this very forum when Ipswich were not attracting a bona fida sponsor. Good Luck to the Sackers Witches for tonight and indeed to all the riders from all teams racing up and down the country for our continued enjoyment. It's been a long, cold, lonely winter - so let the racing do the talking!

This is the home page for the Foxhall Stadium operating formula and provides a little more detail: http://www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk/yourdistrict/planning/enforcement/foxhallstadium/

This debate about Press and Practice (section 7 [v]) seems to crop up every year, so here is the very detailed operating formula for Foxhall Stadium so you can see the restrictions that both Spedeworth and Ipswich Speedway have to work to: http://www.suffolkco...ula20082013.pdf

*Please be warned that the above post contains traces of positivity*

Only a couple of seasons ago, everyone was bemoaning the fact that Ipswich Speedway could not attract a main team sponsor. Now we have the excellent news that Sackers Recycling are renewing their sponsorship for a second year and it goes by with hardly a mention on here, with everyone predictably choosing to spin the season ticket announcement in a negative way. I'm sure the management would have studied all the options available for season tickets before reaching a decision and making the official announcement. There has to be a period whereby they can study the books thoroughly to gauge what was most effective in terms of revenue streams and on this basis have probably made their decisions. I do not agree with the point about not giving fans enough time to pay for the discounted "early bird" discount. The 2011 season finished at the end of October, leaving roughly eight weeks to save the money for the discounted ticket. I'm sure anyone considering applying for one of these discounted tickets, knows before waiting for the official announcement of their intention to purchase, so you have had more than three weeks in reality. Plus the announcement about season tickets then heralds further announcements regarding confirmed riders for 2012. I can understand the supporters frustration that they do not know the remaining members of the team when some teams have fully declared their line-ups. But look at it a different way from a marketing/media angle. If the whole team is announced en block, then this leaves very little for the newspapers/radio stations etc to report on for the remainder of the closed season. However, by drip feeding the announcements then this maintains the media interest and ensures that Ipswich speedway is appearing regularily throughout the winter and keeping the awareness for those that do not follow the sport as intently as other, more die-hard, fans. I would have thought that the management had a number of permitations for the side for 2012 and possibly had to wait on the decision from Lasse Bjerre, who by the reports was earmarked for a team place. Once this situation was known, then one of the other possible sides would then have to be activated. As posted previously, I find it a little worrying that some supporters have such a negative attitude towards Ipswich Speedway when it is clear for most to see that a systematic and steady process of rebuilding the club has begun and will bear fruit in the seasons to come. Many will reply with "that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it!" which of course you are. But, by the same token the management, I feel, are entitled to some support and encouragement for the work that they are doing. So its a warm welcome back to Sackers who, as the press release states, really got behind the team in 2011 having been complete novices to the sport and may we look forward to the remaining team news.

I've reposted this in an attempt to get a straight answer to a straight question out of aljerk, but I'm not holding out much hope. I've also just started to feel the negativity already regarding the 2012 Ipswich team, when only 3 of the 7 have been declared. Once again jumping on a bandwagon to have a go at the management. Any Ipswich fan worth their salt know by now that the Ipswich promotion never do their business in the media and announce signings etc until after the deal has been done. Absolutley no point in speculative comments only for those riders to end up elsewhere and that would be a real disappointment to supporters. Many fans have accepted that Lasse Bjerre has moved to Leciester, where I'm sure he will be their stand-out rider next season. This was always inevitable by following his brother to Peterborough, who are a Thursday night track. Also, to pick up on the comment that the Witches have won nothing in the past 13 years. In 2011 the Ipswich Witches won the Premier League Four Team Championship, one of the major honours in the Premier League. The Witches finished the 2011 season strongly, with many more consistent performances, including away success. Therefore if the nucleous of this side is retained then surely that is as good a starting place for team building. For people posting on here and other forums, it is always so negative. Ipswich have signed Heeps and Tungate, which is such a positive start to the side. How many other clubs would love to have one or other of those two in their teams. So can we please give some credit, even just occassionally for the work that is being done. And as I have said in a previous post, if the set-up is not for you, if the Premier League is not for you, if the riders chosen to represent the Club are not for you then maybe watching speedway at Ipswich is not for you and you should perhaps seek to watch your speedway at another track.

Like you say, it is personal choice and a very subjective issue. Suffice to say, that if you prefer the Elite League then you should travel to an Elite League track and watch the speedway there. Conversely, if you like watching Premier League speedway then visit a track which offers this level of entertainment.

There will be no comparison, of course, as they are two different league, one higher than the other. Like the Premiership in football is a higher division that the Championship. What I am keen to establish is, in Aljerks eyes, the Top Ten Top Riders that we are being deprived from watching.

Just so we are all clear, could you please name these "top riders" at Foxhall EVERY week. Obviously we wont include the Premier League 2011, but lets say the 2010 season. There really are some dilusional people on this forum that clearly cannot see what is happening now at Foxhall is in the BEST INTEREST OF THE CLUB. Lets go for your Top Ten Top Riders and I'll create a list for you, which I look forward to you populating: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 -

Which just goes to show how unpredictable the good old British weather can be, one minute sunshine, then threatening rain and then back to sunshine, without any rain actually falling. Imagine being a promoter and having to decide do we run/don't we run? What's the weather going to do? For many "fans" (terms being used in loosest poosible terms here!) it's easy to critise the decisions taken, especially when it is not their business about to lose valuble income as a result! But hey ho, another crack of a meeting at West Row and certainly the Fen Tigers have hit form at the best possible time. Hopefully they can complete the job against the Isle of Wight and we have a cup final to look forward to, and also confirm their place in the play-offs!

I got the impression that Jerran MAY be turning out for the Fen Tigers AND The Witches, so supporters of both of Suffolk's teams would get the pleasure of seeing him in action

Another cracking meeting at Mildenhall yesterday and a terrific showing from all of the riders, Mildenhall and Scunthorpe alike. All the riders spoke well after the meeting at the Fans Forum and you can see how well the Club is being run by Chris Louis, Michael Lee, Michael Lee and Robert Henry with the turnout of supporters in the bar. It's worth noting the after meeting practice of Ipswich's Jerran Hart, who looked very impressive with numerous practice laps. With Cameron Heeps now at Number One for the Fen Tigers, and likely to be sidelined for another month at least, perhaps a short-term role for Hart at Mildenhall is being considered?

As other have pointed out your analogy with Sir Alex Ferguson just does not hold any water. He is the Manager of Manchester United and attends all their matches. Do the club owners/promoters attend ALL the matches? Pete Simmons is the Ipswich Speedway Team Manager and he attends ALL the Witches meetings Home and Away. Chris Louis as the Ipswich Speedway Director of Speedway AND one of THREE co-promoters at Mildenhall Speedway could not have possibly been in two places at once on Sunday, with Ipswich riding AWAY at Newcastle, whilst Mildenhall were at West Row versus Stoke. After returning home from his SkySports duties late on Saturday night, he was still up and out of his front door by 8am on Sunday to drive himself to Newcastle to be with the Witches, ONE of his teams he has a responsibility to. This left his TWO remaining co-promoters to run the meeting at Mildenhall. To show the full commitment of the Louis family at Mildenhall however, it may be of interest to note that even though Chris himself was not there, his wife, his sister, his mother and two daughters were all in attendance to help with the running of the meeting and the fundraising. To me, that shows a very high degree of support for the Fen Tigers and speedway in general.