Royal Box

Yes the good old days when every heat was a classic and Stars trophy cabinet needed extending every year.

T&Cs are printed on the back of the ticket.

Oops. Tad embarrassing 2nd leg score.

Love the spirit in the team. Big job done. Well done Rob.The team are back on the rise. Robert to hit top form, Kenny to continue where he left off, A bit of luck going our way and it could be our trophy. Come on you Stars.

Looking forward to it already. Cracking idea. Flag and air horn dug out the garage and ready to go. Come on you Stars !!!

Are you the same GRW123 who was having a go at other Stars fans earlier in the season for playing down the fact that we were doing so well ? Good point at eastie. Get behind the team !!!! If we don't, nobody else will.

The track was as bumpy as usual with the age old dugard tractor lapping ensuring the dirt was in the right place for whichever eagles riders were in the next heat. at least we didn't' have the wheelbarrow and shovel team operating topping up the run in to bend one like last meeting. Long live Eastbourne. Long live fair track preparation to allow a good meeting. The point last night is like winning 4 points elsewhere. Why should away fans say we love the track and love Bob. Hope Eastbourne continues, and hope it is under a regime that prepares a decent track. Go ahead and twist that to whatever negatives you like - seems that's what this forum is all about. Dreadful news. Out of all riders last night Cameron stood out engaging with fans on the parades and acknowledging the applause from the grandstand on the way back to the pits, although not the best night for him score wise. Hope for a speedy recovery.

Good meeting good crowd well done Kenneth stepping up to the plate tonight. Keep the faith, the team spirit was definitely back in the pits tonight. Come on the Stars !!!

Seen Kildemand steam under riders and force them to the fence several times, so no sympathy here. What you give is what you get.

It's not table tennis

I would say 8 out of 10 teams still have a decent shout of getting in the play-offs. A couple may or may not drop away but the fact remains that the season is still alive for more than half the teams to almost the end of their regular fixtures in early September. Without the play-offs 1 out of 10 have a realistic chance of winning the league. This is why play-off systems were introduced, to keep the season alive for more than 1 or 2 teams at the top, so supporters have something to get excited about when 6th plays 8th for example at the end of August. 4 qualifying out of 10 is about right as it means the league fixtures do matter in making or not making the play-offs. The suggestion of all teams qualifying at the end of the season in 1st v 8th etc is not eliminating enough teams. ko cup is long dead. Suggesting that the play-offs should become the ko cup is worth looking at. My own opinion is this wouldn't work and Sky wouldn't go for it as it doesn't provide the excitement of the ultimate prize being won as the climax to the season. By the way I am just pointing out the benefits of the play-offs. Of course the team that wins the league should be champions, not the team that finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th. In rugby the game has never been more popular than under this system. Fairness or dramatic ends to seasons - with Sky involved we know the answer and it works for rugby as a sport.

Yet rugby union with an almost identical play-off system has best ever attendance levels and the play-off final setting a world record for a domestic league match. None of my former speedway attending acquaintances mention the play-off system as the reason why they don't attend any more, so struggling to see your point here. Poor standard facilities, too expensive once kids are older to attend as a family, frustration at rain offs are reasons given to me. Clearly you don't like the system but it keeps the season alive for virtually all teams in the table, almost to the end of the season.

Great idea. You would have thought Sky would have used their global knowledge of sport and entertainment to come up with the format that works best, but all they had to do was ask you and GRW. Easy !

Do they really ? In rugby union ? Are you really sure about that ?

No the team that finishes top of the table doesn't get a trophy. They play the team that finishes 4th, at home, in the semi final. The team that finishes 2nd is at home to the team that finishes 3rd. The champions are the team that wins the final at Twickenham. I guess this is so the season climaxes with the best teams battling it out for the ultimate prize. It works very well and is great sporting drama. I would think the format would have been kicked about a bit between rugby bosses and Sky and this was decided as better format than having a league champion who then takes part in a post-season play-off with the 3 teams below them.

No of course they don't move their bikes constantly and that's not what I said. I know for a fact that best bikes and engines get moved for important league meetings, including Stars riders bringing GP equipment over the last time we were in the play-offs. Next season if Poole are 20 points clear at this stage of the season, and no play-offs, the best bikes and engines will be in Poland, Sweden, Denmark and stay there for their play offs. Imagine no play offs this year. What matches would Sky be showing ? "Tonight Kelvin we are at fourth place Lakeside to see if they can hang on to a top half finish against fifth place Eastbourne." not a great inducement for non-speedway fans to stay watching.

There is good and bad about the system, just pointing out the benefits, and that another sport I enjoy watching has adopted the same principle. 80,000 fans at Twickenham would be a good indicator that this is a good thing for rugby. It's possible to split hairs about lots of competitions about fairness and call them crazy- why should a team that finishes second in the group stage of the World Cup still go through to the next round and have a chance of being world champions ? How can the 4th place team in England be champions of Europe after winning the Champions League? how can the 8th place rider in a GP end up winning the meeting ? These are rules of the competition based on some logic to make those competitions more successful. What do you see the improvement would be to speedway by reverting to the non play-off method ? In rugby and football domestic cup competitions are dying on their feet. Why would an end of season cup competition in speedway grab any attention ? The Young Shield springs to mind, or the PL play offs where Edinburgh actually bought their own trophy to display at KL because we already had won the PL and were champions. Meaningless after the champions have already been crowned. You know as much about Dads Army as you do about speedway. It was Jonesy who used to say that. "Stupid boy"

Best bikes and engines would be in countries where there was potential to make play-offs and extend seasons, so increasing rider income. Minor injuries would be exaggerated to duck meetings in England where little at stake to ensure full fitness for the play off matches in Denmark, Sweden and Poland.

BBC weather forecast for Eastbourne is rain for 7pm through to 9pm. Hope that's wrong then. Still going down as I would have missed several meetings if I had based attendance on the BBC forecast.

And Stars will Rule the World Weather forecast is worrying.

Was at the Rugby Union play-off final at Twickenham to see the team that finished second in the table beat the stand out team of the year Saracens, having finished 9 points behind them. A last second controversial score decided the final. Harsh on Saracens, but you can,t beat that kind of sporting drama. In football the top of the Premier League has quite often had a runaway leader, and then focus goes on to which teams will finish in the top 4. Without the play-offs in speedway this season would be pretty much all over for everyone except Stars as there is no champions league to qualify for and no relegation to battle against, so teams would just be playing out their fixtures while riders would focus their attention on foreign leagues where their teams still have a chance of winning something. The fact that finishing 4th gives you a crack at being champions mean that every meeting is vital for teams from 2nd down to 8th at the moment, which if Stars were in those positions we would not be questioning the play-off system. similar system applies in the British speedway championship meeting where there is a semi final and final, rather than top point scorer from the heats being crowned champion. Right or wrong, I don't know but it makes for more sporting drama,

Favourites to finish top of the table sure, but as regards the play-offs I don't think so. I think Stars will try to keep the same 7 barring injuries, other teams will peak at the right time or have already / will strengthen for the business end of the season. A lot of home meetings have been tight, so even though Stars have had an impressive winning streak it's not as if they have been in a totally different class to other teams. Would love to be champions but if it's not to be then it's not to be, but having a great time watching this team race home and away. I just love being back in the elite league to be honest. Come on the Stars !!

Hope they do if Stars don't. Rather Swindon than Poole. Impressive win from 4 down and without Steve Worrall as well. Hope the meeting is as close on Saturday and we can nick a point off the Eagles.

Pretty good really - basing that on how full the car parks were, it was pretty much as usual. sprinkling of Bees fans as we'll. Some good moves to watch from NKI, Porsing and Robert. Glad I went.