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I read all your comments with interest and I thank you all for them. One of the things that determined this years team for us was a hunger to come to the club. In seasons past, we have struggled to get people over to the island and this has narrowed our opportunity for rider selection. The very young 15 - 18, normally have school during the week, so reserves the opportunity to the next hot shot to their local or weekend club and they remain quite a challenge to find. Although, as a club we have never prevented starlets coming over and indeed encourage them as part of the GB Young Lions. I have also invested time and support to various young riders including Drew Kemp, Kyle Bickley, Chad Wirtzfeld and James Shanes to name but a few, because I believe in them as much as I believe in the riders we have selected this season, all of whom can progress this year. The second aspect we want are team players and all of the riders announced so far fit that bill perfectly. We want unity and a belief in the common goal.... which I know is always easier when you have a winning side for sure, but with strong, fun characters in the team along with very capable heat leaders and experience the combination is there for success. The other factor for us is pay....simple as. We cannot afford to pay the requirements that some riders have asked for, nor we will get into any price war. We have a scale and thats that, and the core objective remains the same... be the best we can be and hopefully that is trophy winner, while remaining viable, providing a fun filled family night out where our guests are valued and get value, while developing riders via the school and our NDL/SDL Teams. #comeonyouwarriors .

DID the BSPA design the new aircraft carrier

Yeah, but no fun watching films in black and white!

We need riders who understand that it is not enough to turn up ride a bike for 5 mins load up and bugger off to the next gig. Holder and Batch were poor signings in hindsight, did either really want to be there ? I think not. They showed total contempt for the Club and the supporters. Mug punters we are not and won't be treated as such.

50% of Poole's team is currently former Somerset riders - what's your point?

Surely the answer is to have rules and them stick to them for several years. Constant tinkering and change has cock up and self interest written all over it. Same old crap about a positive meeting to take speedway forward before the realisation of the detail sinks in and the arguments start for the next few months.

Jake is a racer, and always goes out to win. He did not thrown away points when a match result was at stake. Always push as hard as you can, riders make mistakes in front and you need to be in as position to capitalise. As you get older you get smarter and are able to do this as second nature without making mistakes. All part of Speedway. I watched Jake a lot this year and have to say that his passing ability was top draw. His 15 point max at home to Brum was stunning, and not all from the Gate, As a ex rider I applaud Jake, he has always just got on with it and done the best he can. As his Father I am proud of him, always worked and raced and can hold his head high. Very unfortunate not to get picked again for Eastbourne, but hey that's Speedway. Richard

Looks more like a Poole A team compared to who Poole have announced - with the difference that most fans would want to see them do well

Agree - just disappointing (if not surprising) that it wasnt all in order before team building was officially started for any team let alone completed by some.

shambles ain't the word looks like a long long season ahead ,said it the other year when they cocked up , sign a decent no1 and a decent reserve before anything else

So why didn't we have our team sorted

So we had the Hokey Cokey cup, now we have a Hokey Cokey team, shambles.

I havent posted in quite a long time as life is pretty hectic, but i have just read through a shed load of pages on this thread to catch up - Seems everyone is freinds as usual! ;-) Its a shame it looks like Hans wont be back - Nice guy and very experienced. As for CH seems thats looking doubtful - I was chatting with a customer of mine who has helped him out over the years and he said he doubts he will be back at Poole - disapointing as he is on a bargin average for the amount of talent he has - Shame to see his personal issues look like they have got in the way over the past few years. As for the first 4 signings they look pretty good - Poles tend to be a risk but like many i remember the year matt had Hans and Krystoff Cigeilski (SP) at reserve (from memory) and that panned out alright! Nice to see Josh back - very nice lad and has a good racing head on his shoulders - Hopefully Matt can pull a "Big" name out the hat to take the pressure off Brady. Andy

Exactly, we like to make them unhappy ourselves once they've arrived!!

Some men might see that as a win win. A night away from the wife and being able to go to a proper race track.

saying she is an " employee" skids implies she is paid ,just wondering?? ps her work looking after sponsors partys on racenite is excellent she is really really great with everyone

You can’t compare the great CO with the current owner ,he is not fit to tie up Charlie’s shoes. One would be a successful blue chip company executive the other a rug salesman in Morocco. charlie would not be in North Africa

Yeah, because Jason Doyle can't ride big, fast tracks. He was hopeless in the Aussie GP this year, wasn't he!

It may be a risk but the fact that Danno (and Ben Morley) are showing the ambition to improve their all round riding skills, even though it may cost them in the short term, should be applauded. It is the sort of commitment that should make them popular with fans. I hope it works out for both of them. (Last year signings of Campos and Portwood raised a few eyebrows, but both were very popular - so it is clear that such left field signings can work for the Warriors).

Ah, love the archives! Got one from Poole last winning the league?

Charles Ochiltree was respected and, in turn, he respected his customers, the fans. As a youngster in the 1960s, I once went into the office to ask if a race card was available (one of those long ago occasions when the stadium was so full, they sold out of programmes!). I was quite concerned when I saw him in the office but still asked him. Ever the gentleman, he responded to a young lad with the same politeness as to any adult and told me to wait whilst they xeroxed some spares, handing me a copy before I left. Very powerful man in the sport at that time but never lost touch with reality either.

Unfortunately the inclement weather has delayed any progress these last 5 years.

britten!! You should apply to join the BSPA. You'll go far

Surely Morris with improve his average by not have Doyle in heat 13 & 15. Before if he was beaten by the oppositions top man in those heat then he scored 1 as Doyle was also ahead of him. With no Doyle they all move up one so he ends up with two extra points per match. Unless of course last year Doyle shepherded Morris around in those heats.

Holder and lynn didn't really work out from day 1. I found myself struggling to support him from day 1. He came across as a bit of a rock star. I wasn't really enjoying speedway at the time he was dropped. The 2'nd half was full of hungry riders with points to prove. We lost loads but it was a team of tryers and everybody can relate to that. If we could have 6 of them back plus Niels I would take that now. doyle would be a 1 season wonder. Ride lynn this year, then Swindon again. Then who knows. Niels feels like a lynn rider. I'm never going to be a fan boy over a big name signing again after last season. I guess I'm a cynical person now with it. Doyle was missing so many heat 15s for Swindon. That sort of thing bugs me a bit. Iversen, lindgren, no 8+ rider, Doyle, some billy big nuts gp rider doing the uk a favour. That would be my order of prefference

id say theres at least 2 in that line up that wont be right

Do they not have young riders in the SGBC? You would rather see the Bees cease to exist than support a team of "kids riding round"? I am sure that those loyal supporters of the rest of the NL teams would have been overawed at having such all-important supporters such as yourselves deigning to visit them. It must be wonderful being such important speedway supporters. We bow in awe ;-)

Simple answer- Speedway was once all the rage, very popular, well known and cool to be part of. Times changed, things evolved but the sport did not. I can still enjoy aspects of the sport but you are not going to get youngsters wanting to go to run down stadia that plays old music and stand with a bunch with a bunch of oap's, LOOK, most people know of the "Inbetweeners" imagine how an episode would play out if they went to Speedway! "Why have you even brought us here Neil? this is embarrassing, don't you dare mention it to anyone else at the school we came here, this is so totally not cool"

Yes,the ones i spoke to said exactly that,they had a change to make a living racing speedway rather than pay pay pay out to ride

how about we all turn up BUT do not enter the stadium? no way am i giving him any money. Even if 2000 turn up week on week he will say that it doesnt pay and walk off

Also, see how many Gnomes or Dwarfs or whatever they are you can find! There are hundreds of them.

I find it very funny how people say that holder and batchelor were not team men? All 7 of the squad stuck together last season and that's why the big fall out happened. Clubmen they are not but team men then I can't see why you wouldn't want them in your 1-7. All 7 of them were very close knit. Unfortunately it was to each other and not the club. If things had gone other way and meeting abandoned after 8 heats I bet we would have carried on and easily made the play offs.

Well the die is cast. Interesting that 5 of the 7 are the same as last years first declaration with only the two 3.0 pointers coming in.

If ever there was an ideal time for the BSPA to have a new beginning, this was it. With no TV monies to spend on top riders, nor shackled to an out of date TV schedule, This was the ideal opportunity to re-invent the wheel. A new beginning without the restraints of the Polish authorities or the calender of world events. This was the time to get back to reality, and provide an affordable product from scratch. There was no need for 2 divisions, nor fixed race nights. We should have had one league, with teams of 5 / 6 riders, competing against each other on a regular basis. Instead we will have 2 leagues, both governed by managers taking advantage of inept ruling of riders and averages. And you wonder why people are turning their backs.

Including Swindon lifting the trophy in 2012 there

From my reading of this, Aces 2018 will be Cook 8.45 Tungate 6.18 S Worrall 6.77 Fricke 7.39 Bewley 4.71 Smith 2.00 35.5 Leaving 7.00. Do they splash the cash on a new 7.00 International rider, or with no TV deal find a cheaper option. Kennett, Lahti, Hougaard many options... as yet unsigned.

it does look like the promotion havnt learned anything as not 1 off them has posted anything and offical site also not that great with info we all know the problem is not laura real shame things arnt improving ive not given up hope of a decent season on track but really hope im wrong but workington looks like its self destructing from the top down

Also Marian Kaiser for Leicester in 1959 and Stefan Kwoczala for Leicester in 1960.

Really !!!!! would i trust Orion's view or Rosco a no CONTEST to be honest Batchelor with a watered down league makes us field a healthy top five with a talented young rider in the reserve berth so i am happy with that. Rider's that really improve your team are pretty hard to come by at the moment your club should know that as you now will do very well to field a better and proven top five than the Robins.Also another point that was mentioned is if Batchelor fails badly and let's Rossiter down he will be replaced.

Includes 2017 and 2018 GP riders i believe...

I thought you could go on any thread you like it's a forum or are you saying we can only go on our own thread?

And,for the many bees fans who grew up with the C O running the show, the last five years at Brandon, watching the club being dragged down year on year, the pain is even greater.

Did they do ok? They got lucky (and unlucky at times, as well as self inflicted damage). If the 4TT wasn't at the EoES then they probably wouldn't have got out of the group, let alone winning it. The KO Cup speaks for itself when your TM says “But I told the Ipswich management and riders that they didn’t deserve to lose the final", and we all know what happened there. They must have done ok in a business sense because Rathbone decided to run in 2018 so they must be doing something right as he says? The mantra usually is that we only want riders who want to ride for the club, such and such can add a point to their average (because that's the way that you win the main prize), and the final chestnut is "that's the team we wanted". Having said that, looking at the 2017 table, Panthers were not far away despite finishing 6th but more of the same will bring the same result, or worse possibly, looking at some of the teams so far. You are right though in that a good no1 can make a whole world of difference but not too sure that it can save what we currently have?

Have to agree there Gemini, when I think back to the 70's and early 80's when my local track Canterbury had 3000 - 5000 people per week over that time. There was a curfew, the meeting had to finish by 9.00pm. It started at 7.00pm with a centre green rider introduction and one lap parade on their bikes, swiftly followed by the first heat. 13 race league match, 3 second half junior races, 4 second half heats and the second half final, 21 races in less than 2 hours with even time for a couple of laps after the final if a rider wanted to try something out. And yes the sun was a problem, for about 20 minutes, going into the third turn but that is what the effective peaks were for on your helmet! After the meeting the fans had full access to their favourites too.

I guess we may be the difference to the norm, but we only managed 5 wins last season in all competitions yet our crowd went up on the previous season. We saw an influx of families, a lot of travelling fans who wanted to experience an evening with us and our season ticket sales increased from 2016. As I wrote earlier, not one person said to me, sort the team out, we have had enough..... they really enjoyed their evening, because they were properly entertained, received value for money, felt valued and I guess felt/knew that Martin, our team and I were putting everything we had (I don’t mean financial) to make their evening fun. As someone wrote before...as the crowds grew, so did the atmosphere, which in turn probably helped the crowd grow again. I truly don’t believe that fans of speedway want to see the best in the world week in week out. If they see close racing, with excitement and a bit of controversy, plus they feel valued, safe, their kids make friends, they interact with riders, in my view it’s a winning combination. If their team happens to involve the world's best and they have the close racing still than that's even better. We market as much as we can, but it is actually expensive to do all mediums, radio, paper, magazine, billboards and so on, so if I had one wish that would be an unlimited marketing budget to prove that marketed correctly the turnstiles will click again Thanks again, it’s interesting to read your views, as I try to see how they stack up in our stadium and what we do, and if using your views we can tweak what we do or implement something new. As always, if you come to the island come grab me for a chat, I'm always in yellow and blue

For me, personally, the period it started going wrong was in the 90s. I remember being passionate about speedway even then, although there were times I started questioning how loyal the sport was to me, the average fan. It was about 1994, a run-of-the-mill Four Team round at Kirky Lane that had to be delayed while riders were held up dashing back from Swedish commitments the night before. I had turned up, like the other thousand or so that night, in sufficient time before start in case I missed something... and yet the full cast wasn't there as scheduled. To me, at that time. I was merely part of a crowd that was supplementing another paynight for the riders who were en-route, and I questioned their true one-club loyalty. Riders had other irons in the fire - not on the individual front, but for other teams, other countries.That the Polish and Swedish leagues were now importing what had been primarily British-based riders didn't seem right to me. How could riders be team mates in another country and yet opposition over here! That wasn't the rivalry I grew up thinking speedway was about... from now on it was simply riders earning a crust, whenever and wherever, getting the best out of being self-employed (as Scott Nicholls described himself recently). They were putting too many fingers in too many pies. Then over here we had the ludicrous doubling up and down, here, there and everywhere rule, which further took away my belief in team speedway. Even when SKY began doing live matches in 1999, I still adored the sport. My adoration continued being smacked about though. The Golden Double, in which riders purposely slowed down to allow a team mate through and so to earn the double points, the World Cup in which Pedersen and Crump tried to stage-manage their race position so that one country couldn't operate the Joker in the next heat. The last 10-15 years have made me realise that speedway and its ethics have placed a huge cloud over my belief in the sport. Riders spreading themselves too thinly have taken away the true value of a team sport. Thankfully the double points rule has been confined to the sport's tried-but-failed old-rules shelf. albeit 15 years too late.

This quote intrigues me, as it imo, proves what is wrong with Speedway. When you say 'better his career'...how so? Individually or as a team rider? What are speedway riders...individuals looking out for their individual glory, or team riders wanting to be the best rider they can for a team? For me...this is the biggest problem in speedway. How many riders early in their career, focus on being the best team rider for a Club? Or do they dream of individual glory, and doing their utmost to use teams and clubs, to further their career in Individual pursuits like the GP's. It's confused thinking, and tantamount to the downturn in Club speedway over the years imo...which after all is what most fans watch weekly. I personally wish Speedway never ever had Individual world Finals or the GP series. I'd prefer World team Cup finals and Test match series. The focus in speedway is too much on individuals rather than teams imo. It's all about teams and Clubs for me...either International or domestic.

Don't underestimate her, she'll go to sleep when she spots Peter York or kick off if she sees Sandhu or Horton !!!!!!!!!!!

I was going to respond myself. But it would be superfluous after reading SCBs post. I do not think I have seen a better critique. Brilliant.

Just being selfish. I'd much rather have a league with 8 closely matched teams than one or two teams running away from the rest at the top of the league. Closely matched teams are also more likely to produce good racing and that's what it should be about.