King's Lynn V Mildenhall (nl) - Saturday 11th August 2012

[sizewell 0]

Is Mimmo the guy who does the speedway quiz in the kings Lynn programmes

[rhidassa 73]

I believe so, true fen tigers fan, he certainly writes a page in the KL National League programmes, often with cheeky comments!

[Mimmo 1,070]

Would agree mimmo is a true speedway fan

 

Primarily, I'm a King's Lynn supporter of both the 'Stars' and 'Young Stars', but enjoy going to watch most clubs ride, and do favour National League racing if I'm to be honest. I don't consider myself to be a biased supporter, and if my team gets beaten then so be it, although I'd obviously like them to win, but there are more important things in life than the result of a sports event.......well unless Spurs beat Chelsea .

 

If my wife and I wake up one Sunday morning for instance, and it's a nice day, then it's quite normal for us to make the drive to Derbyshire to watch Buxton v IOW, or whoever they might be riding. Alternatively we might fancy say Scunthorpe v Stoke, or Rye House v Dudley, so go there. At the moment, Mildenhall v Dudley sounds quite appealing this weekend, but there again I could finish up at the Buxton v Stoke match, or maybe Leicester v Workington (PL).

 

I've been a regular since (oh my god!!) 1958 (quickly, somebody tell me I don't look that old ) and started life as Bryn has hinted, supporting Wimbledon. When I moved to Norfolk in 1986, King's Lynn were my nearest club, so they became the obvious team to follow, and when I see what Buster and Family have achieved at the Norfolk Arena both in terms of entertaining teams and stadia upgrades, I couldn't be more proud to be linked with the club.

 

I/We used to travel to the majority of the King's Lynn away fixtures, but midweek isn't easy for us due to health issues, and as there is nearly always National League meetings on offer at weekends, especially if they're in the afternoon, we can get back home at a sensible hour. I know I'm probably in the minority, but I much prefer the 3.00pm or in the case of Mildenhall 4.30pm meetings as apposed to 7.30pm.

 

So as you said fentigers79, I'm a true speedway fan. I've enjoyed watching some of the British Youth Champions these past few years, and can't praise highly enough the job that Neil Vatcher and Phil Morris are doing there. The meeting at Mildenhall back in May was of the highest quality, and your promotion did the series proud in the way everything was presented, and what a healthy sized crowd attended. Last month Scunthorpe put on a good show for the fifth round of the competition, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the final round at Sittingbourne next month. A great little club, and it's such a shame that they are no longer part of our regular racing scene, other than Amateur Meetings.

 

Talking of Amateur Meetings, what fantastic racing some of the Dragons and Southern Track Riders meetings have produced these past few years, not forgetting also the Summer & Winter Series that Richard Hollingsworth organises at Scunthorpe. I like to get along to as many of those as possible too, although I am mainly restricted to the Norfolk Arena with those. Of course there are a fair number of poor races in those meetings, but that applies to racing at any level, just look at last weekends Grand Prix!

 

Going back to the National League scene, when I see youngsters like (and apologies for the many that I won't think of) Chris Widman, Tim Webster, James White-Williams, Darryl Ritchings, Daniel Greenwood, Kyle Hughes, Ben Hopwood, Paul Starke, Mark Baseby, Danny Warwick, Aaron Baseby, Danny Stoneman, Gary Cottham, Marc Owen, Lewis Kerr, Adam Lowe, Brendan Johnson, Jake Knight, Scott Campos, Tom Stokes, Lewis Rose, Daniel Halsey, Stefan Nielsen, Joe Jacobs, Josh Bates, Joe Graver, Nathan Stoneman, Ryan Terry-Daley, Ben Morley, James Sarjeant, Shane Hazelden, Richard Franklin, Luke Chessell, Tom Braddock, Tom Young, Oliver Greenwood, Daniel Phillips, Tommy Fenwick, Max Clegg, Adam Wrathall, Liam Carr, Ben Reade, Liam Rumsey, Jaimie Pickard, Daniel Berwick & Jack Kingston, I worry for their future. Each and everyone of those I've named are I believe BRITISH but because of the amount of overseas riders that are allowed to compete in the Premier League, the majority of them will eventually be lost to the sport, because there is nowhere for them to go, yet given the chance to perform on that higher platform, a number of them would blossom rather than stagnate. I'm British, and that's why I particular care about the league that gives my fellow countrymen the chance to do what they were born to do.

 

That probably sounds if I'm knocking the overseas riders, but I'm not, because many of them are a sheer joy to watch, and worthy of gracing our raceways, but some aren't.

 

My personal opinion is that the Elite League should have both reserve berths filled by British riders that are also riding Premier League. The Premier League should then use two riders that are also competing in the National League in the No 6 and 7 jackets, and the reserves in the National League should be virtual newcomers such as Tyler Govier, Lewis Rose, Robert Lambert (when old enough) etc., etc. Of course many of you will disagree with those thoughts and have your own opinions, but that's what makes the world go around, and we're all entitled to those opinions.

 

Sadly as I'm typing this out, the man in the house opposite is mowing his lawn, his wife is fannying around with a rose bush, and the King's Lynn v Belle Vue meeting, followed by an Anglia Junior League match against Ipswich in the 2nd Half has been rained-off just down the road.

 

Oh well, I'll have to watch the England v Italy footie instead, whilst Jaybea will no doubt be engrossed in Celebrity Big Brother. I wonder what that saucy lady in the mask will be up to :P

[NeilWatson 1,988]

My personal opinion is that the Elite League should have both reserve berths filled by British riders that are also riding Premier League. The Premier League should then use two riders that are also competing in the National League in the No 6 and 7 jackets, and the reserves in the National League should be virtual newcomers such as Tyler Govier, Lewis Rose, Robert Lambert (when old enough) etc., etc.

 

That's a vision I share too Mike, I wonder if we will ever see it?

[Mimmo 1,070]

That's a vision I share too Mike, I wonder if we will ever see it?

 

No of course we won't, will hell ever freeze over, or will we ever have a worthy hosepipe ban?

[Dekker 239]

The Premier League should then use two riders that are also competing in the National League in the No 6 and 7 jackets, and the reserves in the National League should be virtual newcomers such as Tyler Govier, Lewis Rose, Robert Lambert (when old enough) etc., etc. Of course many of you will disagree with those thoughts and have your own opinions, but that's what makes the world go around, and we're all entitled to those opinions.

 

The issue isn't opportunity, it's the fact we don't have a proper 80cc junior system to sort the wheat from the chaff before they get on a 500cc like the nordic countries so we don't produce much talent that's any good. It maybe starting to happen now but a lot of those riders you named will never be PL standard.