Fortythirtyeight

Whilst the NL has to be saved this doesn't look like a good plan. I admire Edinburgh having a go at giving the northern based young ones a team to aim for but their nearest rivals will be Belle Vue then Leicester . The makeup of this division will see more lads ' retire ' during the season as the distances between tracks is just not cost effective for 'youngsters' , allegedly on £10 a point , or those trying to hold down full time employment. The new rules also look silly, we now have handicap racing which means the more inexperienced riders have more chance of being dropped from a ride having travelled for hours to get to a meeting . Yet again we make the sport more complicated than it needs to be. Whilst I do think it's the best of a bad job , this is not a good strategy for the future of speedway.

Not surprised that any club struggles to sign riders at this time of year when a well known tactic of a certain very northern based club is to have around 10 riders ' signed ' before the AGM. Thus preventing said riders signing for other clubs before the full points limit is known and then said club drops the extras that no longer fit in the club's plans. Good tactic if you have the guile to do it. Obviously Newcastle were never in a position to ' sign ' anybody till after the takeover so at a disadvantage straight away. THJ makes some valid points on rider availability on a Sunday so your looking at a very small field of riders to choose from. Just hope Newcastle can sign at least one big hitter to turn the decline around but you will need big bucks to get one.

Redcar will be looking to follow last season's success with a top heavy side, one solid reserve and a ' two pointer ' at reserve. I don't see young Kelly as the no.7 just yet, but you never know. The lad has done plenty of laps around Redcar over the last eighteen months ( despite Marshall07's statement) having started on a 500 when he was 13 before committing to 500 fully in 2018 . I don't see Bukhave fitting in either although he deserves a chance somewhere . Think the promotors down there know exactly what they want and have already signed them up and good luck to them.

Ged Rathbone and the BSPA? ( Chairman Rob Godfrey ) no clash there then.

Looks like Redcar are beating the BSPA then by having a ' forum ' on Saturday evening to inform their fans of the AGM outcomes.

Yes, ridiculous. If it's just about ' giving confidence ' why wasn't every other British youngster allowed to treble up? Several others were barred from riding in the NL because of averages and ages, just makes a mockery of the sport having one rider allowed to treble up. No rider should be permitted to do it .

The only thing killing off the NL is the NL itself. When certain clubs started to have a win at all costs attitude and paying way over the accepted rate then that was the start of the end. One NL cub was paying a NL reserve more than a Championship second string was earning! Look what's it's done to Buxton. The gready clubs are still gready and now they've killed off the opposition they have to move up or have no one to race. How ridiculous is it we have a Premiership title winning rider allowed to ride in the NL? The NL needs to save itself for the benefit of the next generation if there is to be one.

If the 'Gedfather' gets control expect some more ex Panthers . Østergaard a cert, Moaner Bjerre a possible, Emil Grondal? Paul Starke? Palm-Toft? and you can nail in Team Motive sponsored Danny Phillips. Knowing Ged, if he has the financial backing, he would even put a bid in for Scott Nicholls as Sunday would fit in nicely with the airport just up the road. Newcastle needs a new broom, Ged could be just the man.

Be realistic, this will never happen even if I do like the idea of a NL team locally. Track would need many, many upgrades to get a track certificate and then there's the usual number one problem. Who is going to fund running a team?

What income from Cardiff? BSI run that event .

Why? and with whose money? Speedway is a sport made up of individual clubs ( business's) most of which lose money annually. Why ' support ' a business that closed down of its own accord? The BSPA has no funds having blown their pot on the white elephant that was GTR engines, that's why they sold off Team GB and no longer support the youth championship

Interesting that even before the AGM clubs are announcing riders signed and riders released ( Kyle Bickley, an upcoming Brit released before the AGM has even started) This being the case then the promoters surely know exactly what's been decided on points limits etc . We have clubs moving divisions yet no one as ' officially ' been accepted anywhere . Sounds like it's already decided and the AGM will see the richer clubs get what they want,( bigger points limit) . The TV deal may have saved the ' premiership ' , it hasn't saved the sport.

The National League run their own business and are not dictated too by the BSPA so any additions/ withdrawals are made by the club's concerned.

Strong rumours in the pits last night that the ' Gedfather ' is taking up the reigns with his best friend Martin and they have bought Gentleman George out. George has been a stalwart at Newcastle but maybe a new leader can inject some enthusiasm in the place as there appeared to be more Redcar fans than home fans last night, but then success always brings a crowd. If George's time is up then he gave it his all, put his time and money in and should be greatly thanked for his services. Newcastle for the National League? Got to be asked as they will already have Phillips, Embleton, Ben Rathbone and possibly Archie Freeman to consider for team places.

For a fellow Comets fan you really have let the side down there. The clue is in the name... " DOG TRACK COVERS" i.e. NOT speedway covers.

I hope for Redcar and speedways sake that that isn't true. He's made a massive difference at Redcar over the last few seasons and is one of the best in the country , irreplaceable!

Be thankful for that. If Jeff Brown wasn't such a huge fan speedway wouldn't get a mention at all and let's be honest, who can blame them for not covering a minority sport that can't get its act together.

Charming but then you always have been . If I went into work and said I want a day off with less than five days notice I suspect the answer would be no as not enough notice. and your not being realistic. Redcar would not call a meeting off this far in advance and neither will Newcastle. I have no doubt that alternatives are being looked at but let's leave it to the clubs to sort out shall we.

Try and keep up. Newcastles staff/ volunteers and most importantly the Track Curator, and possibly the stadium , are not available on a ' work ' day at short notice.

There appears to be no justification for what has been announced ( has it been announced publicly?) as the rule book simply does not allow it. It would appear the rules are to be ignored ( again ) and Vatcher and Pipe are just making it up as they go along. No doubt the puppet Vatcher has been told by his masters, the BSPA Mafia, that they want precedence over the riders concerned and Vatcher has then told Pipe that this will happen, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SPORT as they like to say or to the detriment of the National League.

Newcastle's respected track curator will not be available as he has a ' proper ' job so that rules it out.

And some need to grow up.

A short while ago a ' junior ' fixture took place at a northern track and a young child was excluded by the referee allegedly for causing another young child to crash. Not an unusual occurance you might think but the race was filmed and the alleged offender was extremely upset that he may have been the cause of injurys to his friend that he didn't want to race again. Upon review of the footage it was clear there was no contact and the faller had crashed due to lack of experience in a race situation. The excluded riders team manager now had a traumatised rider not wanting to race ever again so he decided to show the referee the footage in the hope that the ref would speak to the accused rider , after the meeting, to reassure him that it was just a racing incident and he should continue riding his bike in future. The said manager was invited into the refs box by another official , having knocked and asked to speak with the ref. The ref was told about the footage and asked to view it but refused in no uncertain term and demanded the manager leave the box post haste. ok, all fine and well, just a team manager and a ref disagreeing you might say, happens all the time. But.... the S.C.B. ( Neil Vatcher ) has now decided the team manger has breached rule 3:2:8 and has been fined £100 . Failure to pay leads to an automatic speedway ban. lets get this in context. A certain Premiership ( and former G.P. ) rider was find £65 for ASSAULT on an official at the Fours event at Peterborough. Where is the level playing field here? The manager is an unpaid volunteer who travels far and wide at his own expense and pays for the privilege of helping our future riders. He has not previously transgressed and is well thought of within the sport. Surely an official reprimand at most would have sufficed but no, £100 fine and Vatcher will not reply to any discussion on the matter. The Premiership riders fine was based on £65 being the average payment a rider of that calibre should be paid per point ( yes, that's honestly what the S.C.B. said!) In that case why is the team manger being fined at all? He doesn't get paid! In this country even a criminal is given his 5 minutes in court to put his side of the story but not with the S.C.B. it seems unless the unpaid team manger wants to pay another £150 to appeal, take time off work, travel to Rugby and go before other S,C.B. officials in the hope they vote against Mr.Vatchers decision. So now the sport will be a £100 richer but the poorer for losing an enthusiastic volunteer who gave his all to help the speedway kids in his area. Well done the S.C.B.

Looking toward to this one. Three of us coming over from Cumbria, hotel booked and hoping to see both legs without any weather interruption. Whats our chances Bears fans?

I'll ask it again and I don't care who the rider was. Justify a £100 fine for a ' dispute' , if that's what you see it as, in the refs box compared with £65 for an assault?