Leaderboard

As much criticism as Plymouth get for not replacing missing heat leaders (Kennett & Covatti) how many other Championship clubs have been able to replace injured heat leaders in recent years? While there haven't been a great many long term injuries, clubs have struggled to even sign riders willing to ride on a temporary basis: Berwick (Schlein), Birmingham (Auty), Edinburgh (Pickering), Redcar (Riss / King) & Workington (Zischke) have all ran with guests & r/r in the last few of years rather than finding a temporary or permanent replacement. Berwick couldn't even find a replacement for a reserve, happy to run with guests for Borke. Only heat leader I can remember being replaced is Steve Worrall & that was by someone with a second string average. So while it's certainly not ideal Plymouth running two out of the last three seasons missing a number one, before people keep criticising them, think to yourself - would other clubs have done any different?

I honestly cannot understand why so many people post on here about late and missing deliveries, IMO it shows a great publication in a very poor light, when the problems are out of the publishers hands.

Let's hope Brum don't sign Artem Laguta or the forum could go into meltdown 🤣

Seriously, the Kennett/ RR/ guest chat hasn't been funny for about 2 years. Give it a rest man

As part of my own Teams and Fixtures blog which I make up each winter, I've put together a colour coded page which lists all fixtures across Continental Europe for 2025. Leagues covered are: All 3 Polish divisions Swedish Bauhaus Ligan Danish SpeedwayLigaen Additionally, all SGP, SEC, qualifiers, National Finals etc are also listed. Hopefully it helps you if you have any planning for meetings over the upcoming summer! Also, do click the individual links on the right hand side for information on all squads and other assorted things... https://speedwayteams2025.blogspot.com/p/calendar-of-meetings-in-2025.html

If Sheffield was that bad a track, I'm sure we'd see lots of Sheffield riders sidelined through injury. Like, for example, the end of the '23 season, when Tigers had to field 3 guest riders for the final, with Woofinden, Gilkes, Vissing and Jack Holder on the injury list. Or the '24 season, when Woofinden (again) was an absentee for half the season. The odd thing is, despite riding the Owlerton track week in and week out, NONE of them were injured at Sheffield... they ALL succombed to injuries elsewhere! As I've pointed out before, you have to go back to 2014 to find a Sheffield rider suffering serious injury on the (allegedly) "perilous" Owlerton track. It can't be that bad!

That was the battle. The Peterborough Local Plan stipulated that if AEPG didn't include Peterborough Speedway within their plan for that parcel of land where the stadium sits then they should provide a like for like replacement on the remaining Showground land or at an off-site location. The first proviso was then of course knackered because PCC had already approved planning for the rest of the EoES. AEPG never had any intention of fulfilling any of their responsibilities regarding an on or off-site location for Peterborough Speedway and Peterborough City Council let them get away with it. Mick Bratley laid it out quite clearly at the appeal meeting that the club was only asking for what the Council's own policy stated. PCC then ignored their own local plan and those sporting safeguards that they themselves had incorporated when they moved from their sensible EoES policy LP31 of 2015. They threw Peterborough Speedway under a bus & will no doubt be clearing up the mess over the next decade along with most of their disastrous decisions. This has nothing to do with the Labour Government, it has everything to do with weak, incompetent, self interested, easily influenced councillors who only see £ signs & not people and community.

I see this sort of comment on various threads during the 'team building' period and I must admit it confuses me to some degree. I assumed that people who bought season tickets were dedicated fans who follow their team through the good times and the bad. As a football season ticket holder, the 'early bird' period is usually immediately after the previous season ends, which is over a month before the transfer window even opens. Most people buying football season tickets have no idea who many of their players will be for the coming season. If you are a supporter, you are a supporter.

I think Birmingham have put a very interesting and cosmopolitan team together and they might just surprise a few people. Hopefully, they can retain all seven riders throughout the full season and they certainly look a much more exciting bunch than last season. Will all the problems Birmingham have recently encountered (finances, crowds, lack of top riders etc), I'd just like to congratulate the management on the team they have ultimately assembled. Good luck and I hope your season is a success!

it shouldnt have been announced with a fanfare if it wasnt watertight the correct outcome has been reached as they shouldnt be in it but it makes the sport look amateur hour yet again

I would say the opposite really Personally I think Poole should be hammered for this, why even accept the invitation (or if never formally done so say you would) allowing press releases and fixture planning etc to be carried out then pull out, it is a nonsense! The viability of accepting the meetings should have been looked into prior to doing so rather than months later once everything else was in place as you now have another club and fans in Sheffield impacted also. I’ve never understood the Poole bashing before as I’ve thought of them as the gold standard, a tidy and full stadium every week and levels of success that would be the envy of most clubs in any sport let alone speedway but I can now see the self interest and quite frankly f you attitude to everyone else in the sport others talk about.

The legendary Polish former National speedway team coach, Marek Cieslak, commented in sportowefakty.pl results of Poland’s sport Personality 2024 plebiscite announced yesterday. When mentioning fifth placed achieved by the 5-times world champion, Bartosz Zmarzlik, and problems with speedway, Marek Cieslak said this: It is a complex issue. We need the successes of our national teams, which we do not have. We have achieved the best league in the world, which has great viewership. The problem is that the Grand Prix series cannot keep up with this at all, and it is folding down. This is visible, for example, in the locations. There are no new ones, and in addition, large stadiums are slowly disappearing. The FIM and the promoter Discovery are responsible for this. In addition, the best riders in the world do not ride in the series. The recent nominations for wild cards and their translation into geographical terms are a joke. All this means that the Grand Prix arouses interest in fewer and fewer countries. I have the impression that even here (i.e. in Poland) it does not generate the same emotions as it used to. If it were, the successes and the phenomenon of Zmarzlik would have a much greater echo in the country. Do you think that it is time for Artiom Łaguta and Emil Sajfutdinov to return to the series? Initially I was against them, but now I think they should be in the series. Zmarzlik would also benefit from the presence of Artiom Łaguta or Emil Sayfutdinov. I have no doubt that he would still win, but then his successes, this rivalry with the Russians would arouse much more emotions. In this way, the audience would be larger. Please remember what rivals Tomasz Gollob had. He had to compete with Tony Rickardsson, Greg Hancock, Billy Hamill, Jason Crump, Mark Loram, Hans Nielsen, Leigh Adams, Ryan Sullivan and many other great stars. Each of them had papers for the title. Now the series lacks such figures.

Harsh to exclude anyone called Brian!

Thought he'd be nailed on.

Couldn't agree more Saddlebow some excellent promoting by Plymouth. Each signing announced with enthusiasm and positivity and good explanation from Promoters about what their aims are with the build up of the team. Good luck to them, they are flying the flag for the South West and deserve support. As the saying goes "use it or lose it" and hopefully they will attract good Crowds and keep going.

Would imagine all clubs are running on a limited budget just some more limited than others. One thing I would say that doesn't apply to Andrew is that he is very vocal. A generally unassuming guy who loves Speedway and achieved something worthy of praise. He has done this through sheer hard work and a shrewd business eye which has enabled him to acquire services and materials at a cost that has made the project achievable. He is probably not in a position where he can afford to suffer sizeable financial losses every season. He wants Championship level speedway to be sustainable while supplying the fans with top entertaining racing in the process. The least we can do is support the club.I believe it is a 10 year project so don't understand why you feel it doesn't seem promising after only 2 seasons. At the very worst the future holds NDL racing.

I think the Birmingham promotion should be commended for their efforts to build a competitive team which I think they have. Obviously the team is probably quite expensive to put together and deserve to be supported and not written off before a wheel has turned.

Fair play to the brum management they have put a solid looking team together when heat leaders were hard to come by. MJJ had a solid season in the polish league 2024 averaging more than Bewley, Fricke, Lindgren. don’t think he’ll be a slouch in the prem by any means

Getting a bit fed up now with the groundless insinuations about the Owlerton track being a danger. All speedway tracks have their moments of horror, but Owlerton is no worse than any other. This myth seems to have kicked off because Ben Cook had a shocker on bend two which knocked him senseless. But, to be fair, he was racing again ten days later. The only other accident of note at Sheffield during the 2024 season was the one which finished Emil Sayfutdinov's season, which occurred NOT on the allegedly "notorious" bend two, but on bend four, and was put down to Emil's over-exuberance to catch the race-leader (i.e. his own fault, rather than any fault of the track). Every venue has its share of bangs and scrapes every season, but nine times out of ten, riders get up and walk away, albeit licking their wounds rather gingerly. But for the record, the last time the Sheffield track saw a rider incur "life-changing" injuries was 2014, when Taylor Poole fractured a femur, causing him to draw a premature veil over his racing career (and that wasn't on bend two either). Speedway can be a dangerous sport at any venue and all tracks make every effort to ensure that rider safety is the paramount consideration. The problem is not helped by alarmist voices making baseless "wall of death" insinuations.

For services to Polish Speedway?

Poole probably couldn't find any riders not racing in the UK who were prepared to risk getting injured on the Owleton wall of death...🤪

Don’t know if you saw this bit. It is great news hopefully the support returns and they all pull it off 🐯steering club committee post🐯 Things are moving at west Row with a ‘steering committee’ discussing plans over the last few months and the big news is that a member of that committee has been to Aldershot and visited the headquarters of Spedeworth stock cars and had a meeting with the Managing Director Mr Deane Woods. The committee member reported that Mr Woods could not be more helpful and that there is a deal on the table for the fen tigers to race again this season. A spokesman said, ‘we will be looking for a complete community effort with everyone pulling together if we are going to pull this off, and we want to enter the NDL national trophy along with a couple of challenges with other NDL teams as we do not want to run before we can walk and an approach about entering a national competition has been made to the relevant authorities. All will be revealed at a public meeting in the stadium bar on Sunday 26th of January starting at 3.pm although please note the bar will not be open, however you are free to bring your own food and drink The spokesperson went on to say “I cannot tell you how excited we are by this turn of events as most people were contemplating the end of the fen tigers, and I sincerely hope this excitement is reflected amongst the Mildenhall speedway supporters” Regards, the steering committee. Tigres rugiunt!

i know how dare promoters promote shame on them not been the case at lynn in recent years plenty of effort and very little giving up

'Wayne Rooney in career change shock!'🤣 "With me and Barker at 1 and 5, nobody will get past us in heats 13 and 15 at the Coliseum", reports the Plymouth Herald.🤣

Listening to the talk speedway podcast with Peter Facenna. Freddie working for the Glasgow owners (probably a good reason for him to go to Glasgow). Interesting listen. Need to listen to more of these as good content.

Love a Bank Holiday afternoon meeting. Don’t always produce the best of racing strip particularly in the summer but the extra numbers and atmosphere make it a great occasion. Looking forward to the East Anglian derby on May bank Holiday. Lynn having a more competitive side this year will add to the interest. Will be a bumper Foxhall crowd that’s for sure.

I guess you do but I've always been of the mind that if you are going up to the limit for the sake of it and shoe horning in an unsuitable rider or submitting to somebody asking ridiculous money then it can be a fools errand. Voulas and Jeppesen potentially have serious improvement in them, to leave one of them out for someone who has a higher average but not much else going for them in comparison would be silly IMO. Getting the right blend of riders is more important.

That actually took longer than I anticipated!

Bring back the track rakers,that's what I say.They always done a great job in the day,you never got a build up of dirt then as it was brought back after every race,and there was no delay to the racing.

Great fixture planning home opener 18th April (Good Friday), then no home fixtures until 9th May 🤬

You can be sure when the fixtures come out they will have their meeting v Glasgow after WC signs

Its a business model that works. Championship same crowds as Premiership and cheaper to run so why worry about the top league .

I think he'll realise that it will be a different set up required for each track,and a motocross bike for Wimborne Road lol

Good signing for the Gladiators but as usual when Plymouth sign what will be a top rider in this league the doomsayers have to put it down. Plymouth and especially there fans deserve a good season hopefully this goes some way to achieving that.

Not really. He is younger than me. 🤣🤣

Probably because they wanted to get stronger in heats 2,8,12,&14? As much as I want Cook as part of a strong top 4, I would not have let go of Zischke or Vuolas, so could've ended up with a team like: Troy Batchelor 8.46 Craig Cook 8.42 Tate Zischke 6.96 Annti Vuolas 6.40 Vinnie Foord 3.90 Jack Smith 3.64 Sam McGurk 2.00 Total 39.78 So would Cook / Smith / McGurk score more than Bowes / Etheridge / Hook? I definitely wouldn't want a team with Foord starting in the top 5, I would not drop Zischke or Vuolas under any circumstances, so to create the strongest Workington team, it means either Cook or Batchelor had to go!

There is a podcast dedicated to the Young Stars coming out soon (hopefully tomorrow). It features Jason Pipe, Jody Scott, Cooper Rushen and Calum Mitchell. Race nights were mentioned and likely to be a Wednesday on weeks when the Stars don’t have a home meeting. All fixtures subject to final confirmation but Young Stars likely to start away at Birmingham mid-April.

I do think that some of you are being a little unfair. Moaned for weeks about not signing the last two riders and when they do,moan about the 2 riders. Some are just looking for negatives and some just want to try and put the club down at every decision . Come on people, a wheel hasn't turned in anger yet, go to the track in March, see what's on offer and comeback here next October, make a complaint then.

Might be of interest. #OURSTARS EVENING WITH NICOLAI - King's Lynn Speedway - The Home of the Stars

i remember the old Scottish Triangle 3 team meetings with Monarchs and the Tigers

I think most would accept an increase but not to those levels. So a business decision has been reached and those that criticized Poole for contemplating entering a Premiership knock out competition can stop although they wont because we will now get criticized for not accepting.

Because they weren't allowed to bring their own food?

This comment coming from someone who attends Wimborne Road is hilarious.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Depends on the reasoning for the RS, to decide it "hasn't worked". The system has given many young / inexperienced Brits opportunities in the top flight, this alone should save money on flights if foreign riders were used at reserve instead. Also just because a rider hasn't moved out of the RS system, doesn't mean he hasn't improved as a rider. Look at the Championship averages of Jenkins & Edwards, they keep improving - has racing in the Prem helped cause that? Look at Kemp & Mountain, riders who got dropped not because of poor form but to try & improve the team, this would happen far more without the RS scheme. Maybe that's the only negative I can come up with, as riders like Kemp & Mountain are considered "number 7 quality" so miss out on Premiership team spots. Even when Dan T got dropped, without the RS scheme, he may not have got picked up by Ipswich, would he have improved so quickly without gaining another spot? I know some people will say "if you're good enough you'll get a chance anyway" but look at Dan T in the Champ in 2023. No club wanted him at the start of the season, Birmingham signed then dropped him, till he finally got a spot with Plymouth. This is the sort of thing that could easily happen more often in the Prem without the RS scheme. Every year there will be riders at the bottom of a teams average (below 4) no matter what system is used, I just think it's better to have Brits in these positions. I had a quick look at the last season before "rising stars" 2019 to see who ended up at number 7. One promising Aussie (Ryan Douglas), two young Brits (Perks & Sarjeant), three riders who didn't average over the minimum 4.00 (Porsing, Wells, Ostergaard) and one who never returned to ride over here (Berge) so if we got rid of the RS system and ended up back as it was then, is that any better? Ps sorry for the rambling, I find it hard to condense my thoughts down lol!

Wooooosh.

I'm not a Leicester fan, but I just wanted to say a big well done to you guys for running 2 teams at ND level. Such a refreshing attitude...as compared to that of an ar**hole club like Poole.

Think they are just informing others that’s they are in the same boat.Think we all know the problems are not with the publishers.It certainly doesn’t show the publishers or magazine in bad light.IMO.Dave at Pinigen does a great job sorting out everybody’s issues with the greatest of ease and pleasant manor.

Not being negative at all. My first comment was regarding cookie and batch. Both have their flaws and I was trying to spark a discussion in this thread due to it being quiet for a while. My second was regarding the financial situation and I clearly stated I hope the comets are here for the foreseeable. If you can't have a wide range of different topics going on in a forum then what's the point of a forum? This spots got a few wet wipes and snowflakes.

Magnus Zetterstrom?