old bob at herne bay

Well well HGould , old I maybe, but I have been watching the sport long enough to have put away the rose tinted spectacles. Getting youngsters into the sport is to be applauded but the “product” needs a lot of work. A half completed match last night at Leicester after an hours delay for the county ambulance A solution needs to be found. The side put out by Leicester was under strength and on a warm Sunday afternoon produced exactly what I expected. I didn’t need to be there - I have seen so many daytime meetings in England and everyone has been the same. DUSTY. A solution needs to be found. How promoters of British speedway today can expect to make a living I don’t know No blame can be attached to Leicester - injuries happen, but entertainment ??? All down the car wash tomorrow to get the cars cleaned ? enjoy your sport HGould

Tough luck on Leicester :-( Lack of gusts will be a problem, maybe R/R will be the only option. Assume Kennett will be riding as he pulled out last night at Scunthorpe ? Eastbourne will prepare a vastly different track surface to the one when Leicester beat them earlier in the season . Expect a thrashing at Arlignton and an even bigger thrashing for Eastbourne at Leicester for an aggregate win for Leicester. Hope there is a big crowd of families and young kids watching the "racing" in the afternoon sunshine at Arlington. Park your cars well clear of the track at the back of the car park. ;-)

Hasn't taken long for the sugar to come off the acid drop down at Eastbourne...... Jon Cook is no lover of anything but "top divison racing" a point he made many times until suddenly Lakeside dropped down into the National League !!!! when it was suddenly the best thing since sliced bread and all his fellow NL promotoers were great friends ! That was pretty much was the end of Lakeside Speedway. They soldiered on... hood winking the fans with tales of a new stadium for a couple of seasons...... all very unsatisfactory. Very surprised to read that Cook allegedly is no longer a promoter or shareholder at Eastbourne ... I thought all the fuss over the close season was about Cook settling outstanding payments incurred whilst part of Lakeside Speedway and regaining his promoters licence ? I assume he was part of team selection for 2019 ????? He should know the capabilities of Morley and Bowtell very well. Cook loves Bowtell so he wont be going anywhere. Both have been riding a fair few years. I havent seen any improvement at Championship level up until last season. I am sure some clever statistician will tell me otherwise. As for Wood don't know the lad. National league hopeful thrown in at the deep end in the CL 2019 and Cook wants to out him after 2 months.

H Gould thanks for stating the reason for the staging of Eastbourne's Leicester fixture on their alternate race time. My opinion stands regarding daytime fixures in the UK. Never seen a good meeting in the daytime in the UK. No one seems to be able to get enough moisture into the track material and the atmosphere is never the same in the daytime. Leicester's Friday night sounds a better deal. Why Eastbourne didnt go for a Sunday Evening ?

Oh dear Wooffers thanks for the heads up on the Sunday Afternoon staging Shame . Wont go to that then - be a dustbowl. Still I expect they will get a good crowd of youngsters along ......

Mmm H Gould you might have tempted me to donate some hard earned cash into JCooks retirement fund and visit Arlington again . Needs to be some decent opposition to interest me - as I will support the away team . Leicester Lions seem to be able to ride the track reasonably well maybe the end of the month fixture.

Seriously.......how many Sheffield fans were planning to travel to Eastbourne to see their team flounder around the tight confines of Arlington ?. 1, 2, 10? I doubt Eastbourne’s planning of gate receipts for 2019 factored in any travelling fans in a league with no clubs within 200 miles ?? The statement on the Eastbourne website really shows the perilous state speedway finds itself in England and Scotland nowadays.

Interesting comments IAN2 re Canterbury. Maybe some hints for young Leaping Len? “Going back to Canterbury days we used to have a 2 hour curfew, 18/20 heats of racing, nothing cut short, a 15 minute extension for an ambulance coming on track and 2 Ambulances always in attendance”

City Rebel, relieved to hear it’s not “just me” who has lost his interest in attending at Kent. I tried a few meetings last year and never saw 15 heats due to “curfew” The last meeting I watched I actually walked out before the meeting was abandoned. It was against Eastbourne, where I witnessed the most disgraceful display of time wasting by the Eastbourne “promotion” to ensure the match would be “ curfewed off “ Neither of the 2 accounts of the 2 meetings in 2019 inspire me to try again ....... Sad really as this is my only speedway track left within 60 miles.

Oh yes Richard on a related point “wasn’t all bad news” on Sunday at the Arlington bowl either I gather ?

Reading on the speedway updates site suggests that Kent have 2 hours track time per week from the start of heat one on a Monday regardless of the start time. Unless Kent can manage to race 15 heats in under hours the sport surely has a limited future at the venue? Delays in completing meetings in a timely manner threatens the continuing existence of the sport at Kent IMO. At National League level seems 2 hours isn’t enough time for 15 heats at Kent. Whilst I would share Richard Weston’s thoughts about the track being to blame.....seems most of the fallers were home riders who should know how to ride their own track ? With the charges for admission rivalling those of the PL maybe Kent should invest in greater depth of medical cover to reduce the frequent delays for rider medical treatment?

M.D you have a good memory. In the past several seasons I used to be a regular attendee at Arena Essex / Lakeside up until 2 seasons ago, when my attendance become less frequent due to the (a) erratic fixture list (b) lax presentation and never ending delays providing poor entertainment I have yet to have my interest rekindled at either Kent or Eastbourne, the only surviving clubs in the SE region.

Seems that speedway 2019 is no different from speedway 2018 in respect of timekeeping. Even the home riders cannot get to the track on time, let alone the spectators! There are enough reasons (excuses) for delaying hte meeting once it has strated without delaying the start because of late arriving spectators and riders. I always thought the referee was in charge of the meeting , not he home promoter. Shouldn't the 2 minute warning have been sounded at 15:00 hours for all 4 riders for heat 1 ? Still a mickey mouse sport ... although the promotion at Eastbourne do seem to be trying. Maybe the Speedway Star should publish the ACTUAL start and finish times of each meeting and run a " league table " of tracks who manage to complete their 15 minutes of racing in 90 minutes (thats 5 minutes per heat and a 15 minute interval after heat 10 to buy a cuppa. )

woofers, A supporter for many years, I hate these afternoon meetings. Many a dustbowl I have experienced over recent years... usually as the season opening meeting on a bank holiday. Attracts a one off large holiday crowd , but how many of the dusty new attendees come back for more ? I expect a similar problem at Kent on Bank Hoilday Monday given the forecast. Never seen any English track cope with the dust problem. Speedway in the UK is a sport to be run under floodlights. As for the tardy start of the meeting and lax presentation , this is something that is endemic in British Speedway. The " promoters" obviously know best, as is reflected in the healthy state of the sport in England.

greyhounds, a couple of facts. Kent applied for planning permission to race on a Saturday ( that would allow them to enter the CL) This was rejected by the local council. Kent appealed the planning decision, this was again rejected . that is the fact of the matter of Kent remaining in the NL. It angers me that Football clubs are allowed to build a monstrous football stadia in London with no parking facilities, a bunch of football hooligans who rampage around the streets every Saturday - and yet Speedway with its modest crowd levels of well behaved supporters and family atmosphere are refused planning at every opportunity by a very small minority of “NIMBY” neighbours. Sadly I witnessed similar Issues at my local track Canterbury, where the local residents seemed happier listening to barking Greyhounds 24/7 in their kennels than the noise of a speedway meeting for 2 hours per week. Strange country we live in nowadays ?

Mikebv, does your list of charges INCLUDE car parking ? I note Belle Vue for example charge £3 for parking.

You can add the team manager Will Pottinger to the 2018 Lakeside staff following J Cook to Eastbourne.

Wish the Lakeside Eagles (or should that be the Eastbourne Hammers) the very best of luck on their newly adopted track at Arlington. One can only wonder if Jon cook has accepted the offer of riding the Hammers remaining league fuxtures at Arlington last season whether Cook's Hammers would have been CL champions last season. Anyhow with the majority of riders and personnel from Lakeside, with a sprinkling of up and coming youngsters from Eastboune's NL outfit - they are keeping the torch of professional speedway in Southern England alive. Maybe Cook's continuing efforts to resurrect Lakeside will bring about some local derbies in 2020.

”mrss” must be on the management committee of the BSPA Amateur presentation of the sport appears to now be the norm and is now considered acceptable ....... delay after delay ...... they rival our train services for excuses for delaying the entertainment. Nothing has been or is being done to address the issues. Nobody appears to be in charge of the entertainment schedule ......... grader breaks water cart breaks inaudible pit interviews with riders team “managers” fence repairs start gate failures flood light failures bike repairs rest periods for riders track inspections “unsatisfactory” starts people feeling unwell in the stadium.....it just muddles along . 2hours for 15 minutes racing appears the norm, with 2 1/2 or 3 hours not unusual. Kent Kings regularly miss their curfew deadline of 2 hours such is the inability to race 15 heats in a reasonable time. One of the main reasons I took your advice mrss and now keep my money in my pocket. Thanks for your advice. If every fan took your advice the problem would be resolved and we could all go home and watch the SGP s on TV.

Regular fixtures ?? Meetings completed in UNDEr 2 hours ? Less gardening and faffing around at the starts ? Seems all suporters and the BSPA have short term memory loss and hae conveniently forgotten about the problesm of 2018 ??????

Good 2nd div. side 5 years ago. Such is the standard of the UK premiership in 2019. Only have to finish in the top 4 (out of 7 clubs) to be in the p.offs . Then injuries permitting Poole take the p off cup

Cool. That’s sweet .

Can I get a copy of a specimen riders "contract" ?

Gusting, that’s great - you have a few years on me in your speedway supporting , saw my first meeting at plough lane back about 1961 , and visited New Cross in their part season in the provincial league in 1963. I still feel privileged to have seen all the greats of the National league in the early 60s ......

If what we are being told is true "gustix" then we allegedly have the support of Thurrock Council and the developer who are "sympathetic" to a sporting venue on the Thurrock area. HOWEVER what is clear is that the developer does not support paying for a new sporting venue as part of thier development plans (surprise surprise) I doubt a petition will do any more than show that a few thousand folks are interested in a speedway track in the Thurrock area, and generate som much needed publicity for the cause. For my part I have signed the petition. I also supported Kent Kings planning applications. I have previously posted my opinion on the Lakeside Hammers fans forum that unless a wealthy potential owner can be found to lead this campaign then Hammers RIP. Money talks. PS You are a New Cross Supporter ?