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Osbourne has not broken the law, the planning conditions mean diddly squat when you are experienced in getting round them of which Osbourne is, hence that’s why he has carried on with Swindon regardless completely ignoring and planning conditions,councillors say one thing and do another, I have seen this twice in the last 2 months where a councillor has said one thing in a meeting and in the presss and then done exactly the opposite behind the everyone’s back, Swindon’s problem is the council not Osbourne, they have the power, do they use that power ?

Have to agree even though they knew it was coming, it’s around now it’ll be hitting home hard. Feel for all the fans who have lost clubs over the years of course, but especially the Peterborough and Wolves fans as this will be their first season without it.

MIDLAND DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE 2024 The MDL 2024 will be contested by three clubs .. Birmingham DUCTAIR Bulls, Birmingham SUPPORTERS CLUB Buffaloes and the Leicester Cubs. It was hoped that a few other clubs would contest the league but unfortunately they are not committing to it despite interest from them. Some may be offering some challenge second halves later in the season so the three teams in the MDL should get additional fixtures. Last year the two Birmingham sides dominated the MDL finishing joint top but a planned play off was lost to the weather and the two sides are having a decider early season at Perry Barr to claim bragging rights for the new campaign! Birmingham will run MDL strength second halves all season with individuals and challenges for their expanding squads with several newcomers joining the ranks at Perry Barr with recruits from the local grass track scene where the club have a tie up with the Formula Grass Association . Additionally the club have a new recruit from moto cross joining their ranks having been tempted to give speedway a try. The teams will meet home and away twice. Under a change to the rules clubs can use a National League rider up to a 5 point average but will give chances to young riders aiming to put themselves in the shop window for the NL. League co-ordinator Laurence Rogers is looking forward to giving as many young riders important track time as possible, “ It would have been good to have had a few more clubs joining our ranks but some have decided to just do their own thing. The league is a stepping stone for young riders and the more track time they get the better and thank you to Leicester for coming on board to ensure this league survived . There are lots of young riders out there and at Birmingham we do what we can to develop them and give them the opportunity to ride in a team. We will be running two teams again with separate squads and continue the friendly rivalry we have between the Bulls and the Buffaloes and look forward to the clashes with the Leicester Cubs.” MDL FIXTURES 2024 MDL FIXTURES 2024 MON 1 APRIL FGA INDIVIDUAL MON 15 APRIL BIRMINGHAM BULLS V LEICESTER CUBS A FIXTURE SUN 21 APRIL LEICESTER CUBS V BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES A FIXTURE SUN 12 MAY LEICESTER CUBSV BIRMINGHAM BULLS A FIXTURE MON 13 MAY BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES V BIRMINGHAM BULLS A FIXTURE SUN 19 MAY LEICESTER CUBS V BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES B FIXTURE MON 27 MAY BIRMINGHAM BULLS V BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES A FIXTURE MON 3 JUNE BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES V LEICESTER CUBS A FIXTURE SUN 23 JUNE LEICESTER CUBS V BIRMINGHAM BULLS B FIXTURE MON 24 JUNE BIRMINGHAM BULLS V BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES B FIXTURE MON 8 JULY BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES V BIRMINGHAM BULLS B FIXTURE MON 22 JULY BIRMINGHAM BULLS V LEICESTER CUBS B FIXTURE MON 12 AUG BIRMINGHAM BUFFALOES V LEICESTER CUBS B FIXTURE

He is a business man, as I said if speedway was profitable he would be running it, he has a long history in the sport, it just doesn’t make him any money now so he is chasing the money for his land which is houses and speedway track land is very cheap in comparison to other land and without real opposition is a relatively easy process.

I will just mention "The Crooked House" much more on our patch Deanno, the Council have this week used there powers and ordered it to be rebuilt, I suspect the owners will be very reluctant to do that so it will be interesting to see where that goes, but yes Swindon Council do have the power to order GI to do various thing's what they don't have is the power to order GI to allow Speedway at the Stadium, which is what most of us want to see, and the same goes for Brandon Stadium.

I was a Dons fan - crazy Dons fan. However, I always loved the sport as a whole, and often missed our meetings on Bank Holidays so I could take in three meetings! I would travel all over the country just to watch speedway.

Perhaps there's something wrong with me but in my peak days of watching speedway - at Halifax in the late 60's and in the 70's - I attended religiously whether the team won or lost. It was entertainment, it was exciting and it was a way of life. Deciding not to attend because your team is losing is like stopping going to the cinema just because you happened to see three bad films on the trot.

Well.....for a track in the middle of a field with a clubhouse it generated a great atmosphere,the track was usually great with some fabulous racing and the amenities were pretty good also.i sure miss the pairs meeting prior to the g.p a hell of a lot,have some great memories of those.sadly missed.

If people have issues over an additional £3 then they really shouldn't be spending £20 on going to speedway anyway as there are real life priorities to be taken care of. I would hope nobody would spend money on any sporting event over food, heating, bills and essential clothing.

One of my favourite debuts for Somerset was Matt Read. Must of been back in 2003 if memory serves me correctly, as we had been pretty rubbish and he came in as a new signing against Exeter. He romped to a paid maximum from his programmed rides before finishing on 12+2 from 5 rides and featuring one of my favourite speedway photos of years gone by as seen below. He became abit of a cult hero at Somerset… even more so when he had an almighty crash and ended up clearing the safety fence. Unfortunately his career was cut short but a long track crash I think it was but a definite triumph!

The play offs definitely pull in many fans like me, who are not too bothered about who actually wins or not... It provides many "followers" with a night out at a speedway meeting that actually has decent crowds and, therefore, atmosphere... A bit of a throwback to how it used to be when we all started to follow the sport and loved it.... I really enjoyed both meetings last year I attended that the Aces were in, with good crowds at both Ipswich and the NSS.. Peterborough's Captain then turning up for Sheffield so they could defeat Ipswich in the Final, (after he had made such a fundamental impact in putting Ipswich in the Final), summed up perfectly why you shouldn't take league UK racing too seriously.. An excellent night out are the play offs...

May be its an age thing... but my preference is value for money! Give me close racing over meaningless silverware any day of the week!