Roger MARTIN

To get new people to go and watch Speedway need two things, a good team and good racing, if you dont have that people will get bored, when Plymouth first started my son use to go with me to the meetings, half way into the season he stoped going, he got bored with such one sided meetings, new people to the sport will stop going if you get one sided meeting, or they will pick the meeting they go to, then what you are left with are the dye hard speedway fans that will go no matter what the score is, so the people that say out with the old and in with the new will have to wait and see if they got it right, in my opinion if you get to many one sided meetings people new to the sport will quickly get bored with it, and leave or pick their meetings.

P/L prices at Plymouth for the coming season. £12 for Adults. £5 for Children 8 to 15. £9 OAP'S age 65 and over. £9 Students with valid student union membership card. £30 Family ticket which admits two children and two adults. £250 for a season ticket for a minimum of 24 meetings. Children under 8 will be admitted free when accompanied by an adult. I think that is very good value for anyone to go and watch a PL meeting.

Dont they do a family ticket, i think Plymouth did a family ticket for £22 last year, £34 for a NL meeting for a family of four is way to high.

One rider i do expect to do well this year if he stays injury free is Marc Owen, i saw him at the SBA just before he got injured, and he was very quick, and had a great style about him for a very young rider, and i think that if he had not been injured last year he would have finished the year has one of the top riders in the NL, so i think this year Marc will make a big impact in the NL.

Well their is no excuse this year for him not scoring points, appart from Simon Lambert,Adam Roynon, Paul Cooper and Jay Herne he should with his experience be one of the best in the NL, but i have a feeling he wont, a rider with his experience should be up with the likes of James Cockle and Danny Warwick, with a cma of around 7+ not 5+.

I think uncle Len has made a big mistake in letting Rob Smith go, in my opinion he should have kept Rob, signed Ben Hopwood, and got rid of Mason, i think signing Ben is a very good move because he is very good around Rye, but letting Rob go is not a very good move for me, i would have kept Barry Evans or David Mason, not both, Danny Halsey is a much better rider than Mason, surely when you put a team together its not about the past, and riders that have left the team, if you are going to charge £12, you have to get it right, im not saying David Mason is not a good rider, what im saying is their are better riders around than him that would do a much better job for the team, i think David Masons best days are gone, its crucial you have riders in your team that other teams fear, i see that in Barry Evans, but i dont see that in David Mason, thats just my opinion, we had the same situation at Plymouth with two older riders in the team, and i dont think it did us any favers when coming up against teams with young up and coming good riders, with a will to win, this year you can count on one hand the amount of riders in the NL that are PL standard, last year the league was full of riders riding in both NL and PL, so i think this year it is a true NL, so teams cannot use that has an excuse for not doing well.

Just like to say all the best to Jaimie and Tim for the coming season, Stoke have two lads in JP and TW that will give 100% for the team, i think Stoke have a very good side, having James Sarjeant at reserve is a very good move, well done Malcolm, all the best lads.

Great to see Rob back into the sport has a rider, and if Paul is back with the IofW i wish them the best of luck for the coming year.

I agree, very good rider, and a 100% tryer, i have seen him a few times at the SBA, not a rider you want to mess with,a very aggressive rider with a will to win, a bit like Sam Hurst, a rider i allways liked to see ride and talk to, great to see Jack back.

I would also like to wish Matt and David all the best for this year with Newport, will miss Matt in the pits before the meetings on fridays, allways up for a chatt,so is David, and i also wish David an injury free year, the lad had some bad luck last year with injurys, because of the 100% he gives in every race, he and Matt will give 100% to Newport you can be sure of that.

Great to see Paul getting 8+2, well done miss seeing you on fridays at the sba, keep it up Paul and Tony.

Plymouth Devils 59 Nicky Glanz 12 (4) David Gough 2+1 (4) Seemond Stephens 10 (4) Matt Bates 8+2 (5) Mark Simmonds 10+1 (4) Jaimie Pickard 11+2 (5) Ben Reade 6+1 (4) Kings Lynn 36 Simon Lambert 16 (6) R/R. Jake Knight 9+2 (6) Scott Campos 4 (4) Adam Lowe 6 (5) Rhys Natlor 0 (4) Chris Widman 1 (5)

Paul has gone to Rye House PL side, i was told last night, so its not Paul.

Did not agree with the decision to drop Paul, great lad and a great rider to,a lot of people were not happy last night at the meeting with Kings Lynn, but i hope Paul gets on well with his new club, RocketBen should know more about that.

Plymouth Devils 45 1, Seemond Stephens 7+1 (5) 2, Matt Bates 5+1 (4) 3, Paul Starke 10 (5) 4, David Gough 0 (1) 5, Mark Simmonds 4 (4) 6, Jaimie Pickard 10+2(6) 7, Ben Reade 9+4 (5) Team Viking 45 1, Marc Randrup 9 (5) 2, Thomas Jorgenson 15+1(6) 3, Michael Melchoirsen R/R 4, Danny Hodgson 2 (3) 5, Peter Juul Larsen 16+2(6) 6, Sam Woods 2 (5) 7, Josh Pickering 1 (5) Hope this helps Vicar. =

Its not about how many Australians are in the NL at the present time, its just the way they use the NL has a stepping stone to get into the British Premier League, most people have no problem with them coming into the Country, just why dont they go into the PL, or when they come over they are given a realistic cma if they are going to go into the NL, Look at the Australians that are in the NL now and what cma they came in on, do anyone think they should be reserves when they come into the NL, Micky Dyer has started on a 6.00 point cma, he has already uped his average after just two meeting to just over 8, he hasn't finished last in any of the nine races he has been in, and is already on a better average than John Armstrong, on his visit to the sba guesting for the Somerset Rebels he got 12 from 5 rides, not bad for a rider who has never been to the sba in Plymouth before, Their may be five in the league at the momment but how many have have been in and out over the last five years, Darcy Ward 4.56 EL Aaron Summers 7.47 PL Justin Sedgemen 7.13 PL Richard Sweetman 7.74 PL Dakota North 3.80 PL Taylor Poole 6.46 PL thats just some from the last five years. Most of the one's in the NL now will be in and out, then we wait for another five next year to come in, having these lads in the NL are not the main problem your right, just one of many that need to be put right so people know what the rule is, at present nobody outside of the people that run the league knows what the rule is on Australians coming over, are they on holiday, do they have a visa to work or what, seems to me if you get the go ahead from the muppet who runs the NL you can use them, it maybe against the rules but who cares, so long has he says you can use him.

I another big problem is where the track is, and can you use it seven days a week,i was talking to Nicky Glanz and the the local track near in Demark you can use seven days a week, and any time of the day, their are always people their, the track in Plymouth has big problems with this, only being able to use it on fridays 7.30 to 9.30, and some saturdays for training 1pm to 4pm, it seems nobody wants a speedway track near them, Exeter had big problems setting up a track after they lost the track they had, they had to give up in the end, and it was nothing to do with the lack of money, and it was in the middle of a horse racing track,seems its ok to race horses, but when it comes to speedway bikes its a big no no,in Plymouth next to home park the local football team they are building a life centre, a big sports complex where they are going to have every sport you can mention in it, a big netball centre will be based in the centre, and have been given a grant to run it, are their any grants available so speedway can run these type of centres, seems everyone can get them, why not speedway.

Its never going to happen,in Countries like Denmark and Sweden the sport his higher up the league table than in Britain, in Britain its way down the league, its so low its not even in a league, so the NL is where the youngsters have to start, like it or not thats where they have to start, they have an u15 Championship, then they have to go into the NL, i think that if the NL was to be run with the young British riders in mind it would be a good league to learn in, but having half a dozen Australians coming over every year using it has a stepping stone to the PL it is not helping,the problem is there is no money in the sport to do what other countries are doing, and there is no one willing to put money into doing it, so its easy to come on and say do what other Countries are do knowing its never going to happen, anyone can come on and say that, but most know it will never happen, so dont suggest it,

Its my opinion if the NL was run with the interest of British riders first, and run in a way that everyone can see that is the intention to run it that way then, their would be no problem, i think the main problem is the man running it, he makes up the rules has the year goes on, people contact him if their not sure about things before meetings, where he throws the rule book out of the window, and tells them yes you can use a rider when in the rule it says you can not,you can not run a speedway league that way, i have seen some great meetings at the sba in Plymouth, and i believe the NL if run the right way could be better than the PL and the EL, the main reason being you have young riders coming up wanting to do well, couple that with teams only being permitted one older rider in the team, and one Australian per team, and on a 6 point cma,i feel the idea behind the NL is very good, but the people running it must be of the same idea, their is no good running like it is, where you have riders in it like Cook who rides number 1 for a PL side one week, then rides in the NL the next, im just using Cook has an example, i feel that if a rider after riding so many meetings for a PL side, and his cma rises above 4 for his PL team in that curant season should not be permitted to ride in the PL and NL, some riders in the NL are finding it hard to get 5 or 6 points a meeting,and only have one bike, when some riders are getting double figures in the PL and the NL,in my opinion that is not how the NL should be run, if run the right way it could and should be a great league to watch, the NL should be used has a feeder league to bring young British riders on, at this present time its a feeder league to bring young Australian riders on, and promoters are helping them along the way, this has to stop now because it wont be long before their is no NL.

Semion on not asumming anything when speedway is involved, if the NL was run the way it should be i have no problem staying in it, but the people that do run the league are a disgrace, i also have no problem having young riders in the team, i dont support having older riders in the Plymouth team, some of the best racing i have watched at the sba have involved young riders, its just promises were made that were not kept,it is because of that Plymouth will try and go up, thats just my opinion.

We can all see what needs to happen, lets hope Mike Bowden do, its not all about the speedway, their are things that need to improve off the track, but if they get it right, who knows, one thing for sure i cant see any of this years team good enuff to go up, i did think Paul would be ok, but his form has dropped, and to be good enuff to go up he needs to be the top rider this year, if Nicky comes into the team then i can see him going up, the the rest no way.

Who's fault is it then, if Marc was hit by Benji, i cant see anyone else but Benji to blame for it. was Benji excluded, if he was then he is to blame.

Thats up to the promoter to get together a good side, its the same for any sport, but i tthink if you can win most of your home meetings, the home crowd will be happy, i know the 500 to 600 that go now will stay.

All the best to Marc, watched him at Plymouth last week, a great young British rider.