East End Fan

Yes. When the Government did not unlock as expected, it has hit a lot of clubs including Wolves and Birmingham. I agree with NeilWatson and I would not be surprised to see other clubs having money troubles for the same reason. No doubt difficult days for our sport.

The point is that if the stadium is not using all the official allocation, then you ask Why. Most people are thinking, maybe right maybe wrong, that there are a lot of fans who simply do not want to book ahead. They want to make their mind up on the day. So less people are paying. Now add a huge sporting interference such as an England game and running must be considered suicidal. It is not rocket science.

Grachan. What YOU say makes no sense. It is obvious to almost everyone on this thread that if attendances are a bit down because of Covid restrictions, any other interference with attendances is intolerable, and England football on the telly is a huge interference. I am annoyed by the cancellations but fully understand the reasons.

I am devastated that the two meetings have been cancelled. My weekly dose of racing keeps me going. But I truly understand in these weird times. A double whammy of reductions due to the Covid restrictions then added to by and England match on TV makes heavy losses a certainty.I will try to get to Eastbourne on Saturday to see the Royals. I have not been there this year so it will make a change.

Well said, Teaboy, I completely agree. Winning everything is nice, but if it puts the club in the Poor House, what is the good ? This year, I am very happy just to enjoy the racing win or lose. Rider availability is much more difficult now that we are not in the EU, so any team needing a new rider will struggle unless exceedingly lucky.

Agree with Waco. I loved the racing on Tuesday. Right out of the top drawer. I note that a lot of Warriers on the link are talking about how strong the team needs to be. They all have already completely forgot that at the very beginning, the management reported that this was to be regarded as a learning process for them and clearly did not expect to win anything. The early loss of Nico Covatti gave an immediate problem and with so few riders now on the scene, I, for one, did not expect the team to be among the leaders. So long as the racing is exciting......and it certainly is...I am happy.and we have a couple of the best youngsters in the UK who will only get better.

another tough nut to crack for the Kings. R/R for Ton Bacon is a big negative unless both Daniel Gilkes and Ben Morley can do the business. Good weather forecast and not quite as hot as it ws last Tuesday (hope).

Having the benefit of Drew Kemp at the bottom of their team gives a huge advantage to Plymouth. Danny King for Jason Crump....not much in it I guess. Steve Worrall should compensate for no Cameron but still a tough match for the Kings IMO.

HGould had the opposite experience to me. I booked for the Leicester match and when it was rained off I called and got through straight away to get the ticket transferred to the Eastbourne match, That match was rained off so I transferred the ticket to the Glasgow match and booked for Bank Holiday Monday at tne same time.. Couldn't fault the system.I had the impression that the girls on the phone new very little about speedway, but I still got my tickets.

Telephone sales have been used by Kent. Very very easy. I got my tickets the next day after my phone call and had a reserved seat. I believe that others were able to buy tickets directly at the stadium with a personal visit right up to the time of the meeting.

Very nice comments from glenantony about his first visit to Kent. Very similar experience which I had when visiting as a Hammers fan a few years back, and the reason I have become a Kings follower now that the Hammers are no more. The Kings will suffer while Cameron Heeps is missing, but, as I have said before, this year, the results are less important. Just want to get our weekly dose of racing.

With a rider missing and no practice on their own track, Kings are up against it. Glasgow are a known quantity as a top team and I expect them to win. But I don't care...At last we are getting our weekly fix.

Nicol got 3 points, hardly a number One's score. Chris Hunt must have been very disappointed. A decent return from him would not have altered the final result, but the numbers would have been far closer.

Begs the question...Is it too late for a change of heart by the promoters at IOW ? Still many weeks left between now and the end of October.

Looking at the scores, Jack Thomas was a poor replacement for Danny Gilkes. He had a duck in his previous match. I would have expected Chris Hunt to use Mulford after his performance at Glasgow, but he was in the junior meeting at Mildenhall where he did very well. Strange that Tom Bacon, who had done so well at the tiny Plymouth track, failed to score at Arlington. Such things always make me curious as there must be a reason that we will never know about. Maybe someone on the forum can enlighten me ?

This situation has been a thorn in Speedway's side since time immemorial. In day past, dog racing was restricted to 3 meetings a week by law, But that is far from the case these days. No restriction on numbers and far fewer tracks has resulted in many more meetings at all tracks. The knock on effect is less prep' time for Speedway. So, on odd occasions we are bound to see things that are less than perfect. It's either that or no Speedway. To be fair, on the whole the various track curators handle the situation well and should be congratulated for their work. Never seen it on this forum !!!!!

I have been reading all the severe comments about the match at Birmingham (v. Redcar). Many fans suggesting that the promotions do not care for their fans and do not care how they run their businesses. Personally, I think this is far too harsh a judgement. I may have led a charmed life in Speedway, starting with supporting West Ham at the old Custom House track ( great days !), then to Hackney when it closed and moving to Arena Essex when they became the new "Hammers". ( my 1st love). Now, with Arena no longer in action I drive a bit further down the M2 and have become a Kent fan. In all those years, and through many different promoters and managers ( one of whom at West Ham was a good friend of mine), I have never witnessed or suffered the kind of disaster which occurred at Perry Bar. For decades of regular attendance at those clubs, all run in different ways by the various managers, I could not criticise any of them. So those that make general comments of lousy management everywhere are not being accurate or fair.

Probably true. My own view is that this was a good performance from a team that no pundits reckoned had a chance in hell of winning anything. In any case, what is important for me is that we are back in action after 18 months of nothing and I am not too concerned about results.

This is the sort of insider information that we do not normally get. Shows that Chris Hunt does know what he is doing, as I suggested in an earlier post on this very subject. Personally I think that a draw away from home is a terrific performance.

Lots of teams in similar positions with newly riders of short experience. As the season progresses, the best of the will start to shine. But Sings makes a good point. This year the N.L. matches are a rarity ( until September, that is), so not much experience available.

As none of us were at the meeting, this is a question we do not know the answer to. However, I reckon that Chris Hunt is a pretty astute team. manager, so he must have had a good reason for his heat 15 decision. Kent VERY unlucky IMO with a fall ( most rare) for Dan Gilkes in heat 14, spoiling a certain 5-1 for the Kings. Good result though away from home and all riders scoring is a good omen.

I think the managements of all the teams concerned should have contacted you first. After all, the meeting was imminent, only 9 weeks away. How dare they not consult.

Must agree. It was a fair result with the unusual heat causing a few dust problems, but, to be fair, lots of water kept coming. Gilkes surprised me with his superiority. He could not be beaten even by Jake Knight. My own favourite, Mulford had me off my seat. A terrific performance from the most inexperienced rider in both teams ( with the one exception, newcomer Josh Warren). Nathan Ablitt got better as the afternoon went on and was put in Heat 15 even though he was a reserve. This move secured the draw for Eastie. Great to be back.

Lakeside was never owned by the Speedway promoters. It was owned originally by Chick Woodroffe, the ex Stock Car champion who lost both his legs. I think it was subsequently owned by his daughter when he died. Chick did promote the Speedway himself for a short while but then rented it out.

There are still a few promotions that try to run every week, my "new" club, Kent is one of them. It has to be good for business to be on every week on the same day and time. Go back a few years and ALL clubs ran like that. I don't understand why it all changed.