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How dare you blame the fans! Ridiculous post! You can go to Leicester and still have those arguments, fans could use it as a place of peaceful protests. I don't see how running elsewhere hinders the SCS campaign, they've even said that themselves. I'm of the opinion if we run and continue to do so it will put pressure on the council to help find other avenues like insist on a new site elsewhere. The longer we don't run the harder it will be to get support needed for a new site. Anyway whatever happens Brandon Estates will spin it to try and gain an advantage whether we run, we don't run or whether its successful or not. They'll have an answer for it. We just need to make better arguments instead of blaming the fans choices.

I can't agree with that Lindgren has showed tremendous character to regroup and get his career back on track after a poor year.He is definitely a top eight rider now in the world and that has really surprised me Iversen is the same position that Lindgren was in needs he to prove he is still a force at top level I hope he does it.

A very fair analysis. What is also important to remember is that Mick has a 'place at the table' at the BSPA. Were he to cease running the Bees, any new applicant wishing to bring Speedway back to Coventry would be treated as a 'new entrant' requiring significant bonds etc, in the case of Premiership speedway that would be a very significant sum. Running at Leicester DOES enhance the chance of returning to race in Coventry, contrary to what some posters here may say. Watching the Bees at Leicester is certainly not going to line Mick's pockets, but would be a positive contribution to the Bees' future. If not watching them ultimately contributes to failure, that could make any attempt to return Speedway to Coventry more challenging for a new investor.

So, you all boycott and help to kill it off. You'll then have plenty of time as the bulldozers and houses to move in to say "Well, we showed them". You have a golden opportunity to show that there is still a genuine interest in the Bees. It's sad that so many of you are throwing it away.

As I say good to see these events shared around different tracks.

Nope - Lindgren is the better of the two.

Pleased to see NKI back racing in Britain. two good heat leaders now and hopefully an upturn for the Stars.

1 , Poole Everything that is wrong with our average system is highlighted in this team. Ford’s astuteness to assemble his team using out of date figures has placed Poole on a pedestal few can match. Out of date figures have always been the wrath of team building but the BSPA do nothing to remedy it. This league victory will be a walk in the park … 2, Leicester One has to appreciate the strides the Lions have made in their quest to assembly a strong Team. Spear-headed by a GP rider, coupled with 3 more heat leader quality riders makes them a formidable team. Pleased that Bates changed his mind that will only add strength lower down. Getting Simon Stead as Team manager was an impressive coup… They should reach the PO without too much trouble. 3 Belle Vue I feel disappointed they haven’t won the league recently. They have been super strong all season only to lose out in the play-offs. Led by strong heat leaders they will score most over their rivals with their young class reserves. Losing KB will be a big loss but no doubt Tungate will step up. A dead cert PO position but I feel they will miss out again. 4, Swindon Losing Doyle could have been a bigger lost than it has been, but Morris is a readymade No1. Adding the selfish Batchelor to the solid team could be a master stroke or a mistake, but either way they will have too much strength not to reach the PO. 5. Wolves This 1 over 8 rule has cost Wolves more than most. Losing Freddie is a massive lost that other members will find hard to cover. When meetings were close it was always Freddie to the rescue. Thorsell, Masters and Rory should hold their own, but it is lower down I feel they will struggle. Although they have an able leader in Adams, I feel victory this year, the league will be too much, even for him. 6. Rye House They have 2 areas of confidence that will really helps them. The first is the massive home advantage gained from their tight track, and secondly the experience from their elder riders. Both these issues make them far stronger then would normally be seen and will provide enough strength to be very competitive. I think the PO will be a step too far. 7. Kings Lynn I rate Niels very highly, equally as important to Michael Lee back in his prime. Mr Reliable himself. To have him back on board is wonderful. I wish I could be more confident with the team we have assembled. For us to have a chance of the PO every rider has to up his game. Lambert and Jorgensen have to become solid heat leaders, and new boys Proctor and Andersen have to hit the ground running. It’s a big ask . I will be there supporting them whatever the outcome. If the track is in first class condition and the racing is good, I’ll be more than happy with that… 8. Summerset Such is the competition this year it will be no disgrace to come bottom. The bottom 4 are all of similar quality and could finish in any order. Doyle is the master when results are close and could be a deciding factor. But like Lynn, Somerset could suffer as most opposition like to come ride on a decent tracks, the home advantage disappears. Hope they do well but I feel the competition is too strong. Conclusions: I fear Poole are way too strong. They have no weak links and will win by a distant. The next 3 teams are all solid and competent enough to make the PO. The bottom 4 again a competitive group that could finish in any of those positions, but I will be very surprised if one manages to jump into another grouping.,.,

Despite all the negativity about the Stars team I will be at the AFA when the season starts supporting the Stars. Let's all give the team a chance and see how it goes.

Little bit of advice Starman. Don’t get into the usual heated debates with Gavan or anyone else. It will raise your blood pressure one way or another, even without you realising it, and at the moment that would not be good for you.

Thank you guys thats much appreciated. Like all of us we stick up for our clubs, but end of the day we are a speedway family, and when push comes to shove we back each other. Again thank you both for you kind words. It will be a long road, with many ups and downs, but i will get there. be nice to bump into either of you during the season..

Well, we are just going to go and support the team whatever, we just want to see speedway. Cannot go bowling any more Star Lady as I have arthritis in my fingers. Use to bowl in winter when speedway finished.I think we had 6 teams consisting of 4 people back in the day when I lived in Newcastle. I have adopted the Stars as my team and if I had to choose on the night between 10 pin or speedway I know what I will choose. Speedway will always come out top. At 70 years I am not interested in the whys and wherefores and all the technicality. Been watching speedway since 1964 and would be very sad if I couldn't get to a meeting or if it closed down. Just want to see the lads racing and winning hopefully but it is not the end of the earth if they lose. We will still be there the following week/s.

Talking Pictures TV will be showing this wonderful movie in February. Keep an eye on their website or your EPGs. They showed "Skid Kids", the cycle speedway film the other day, which was interesting, films are repeated so look out for that one too. The channel can be found on Freeview Ch 81, You View Ch 81, Sky Ch 343 Virgin Ch 445, Freesat Ch 306, so you should be able to tune in somehow If I find out the date/time, I'll post it here. http://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/

No sour grapes from me for moving it to Redcar , I am not a great lover of the fours event at the best of times and last season I arranged my holiday to Australia coincide with the tournemont , it 'was the only meeting I missed and still managed to get back for the next home meeting against Newcastle. Good luck to Redcar and I hope they make a success of it .

two teams to manage , job outside speedway , easy . not too sure of running a marriage tho . thats hard even without anything else going on .lol.

But they DID ride in the PL in 2017 and, thus, have current averages to be used and/or converted where appropriate.

And you think anybody on here would know that , we don't even know the rules ffs never mind how much someone pays for an event.

Very well written piece above!

I very much doubt Neil Vatcher has done this unaided - no doubt one, or more, complaints have been made and he has responded. One thing is for sure is that we will never get the full story.

Must agree with Rob McCaffery. Those who are spouting the venom to persuade others not to attend the Coventry Bees project at Leicester are doing the sport in general great harm. Even IF it does not help the cause of a return to Brandon, it IS Speedway and those of us with cinder in our blood should support it where=ever and whenever it is staged. I am a :Lakeside Hammers fan but I attend as many meetings elsewhere as is possible. I know that is unusual, but at least ALL fans of any team should support their team to make sure they are not lost as so many are.

I totally disagree. I qute like Ludde he's a 100% rider and which i love watching him especially at home. I think he knows he needs to improve his away perfomances but don't think he's an ideal captain as he is constantly beating himself up after a bad ride whether it's shouting at himself or his mechanic or smashing his helmet off his pits area.He should be ready to give encouragement to the riders going out in the next heat and more often than not he's not in a position to do so. For this reason I think Robbo should be handed the captaincy because of his mild manner and his experience.

I see that numpty Steve Brum laughed at my last post. Hes obviously dull enough to not see how true it is. Iversen nearly 2.00 a higher average than Lindgren in 2016. would much rather NKI leading my side than Lindgren.

Looks Like the Poole & Ipswich fans are going to score well again

Iversen far superior to lindgren and hampel in UK speedway

Do people not bother reading all the subsequent messages before posting? Double O has already apologised for his error..

Yes. It's 1 point for a personal insult 2 if you manage to upset all the supporters of a particular team and 3 if you p!ss off the whole forum. I'll get my coat

Ok have pie n peas and a soft drink . Scunny dan was only putting a suggestion forward .plenty of positives at scunny this season try buying into it .

Leigh Adams was a huge favourite of mine too, what a pleasure it was to have him in Stars colours for two seasons. He should've stayed longer, the track suited him so much.

Heard a rumour that BT upped their offer to a much more reasonable amount from the paltry 3,000 per live meeting initial offer. The agreed offer was of an amount so that clubs could offer a tenner entry and not lose money when the cameras are in town.

I am surprised but I am also naïve. If an event is a huge success on and off track you'd think you would do everything not to change it. No disrespect to Redcar, but in almost every aspect it is inferior to Peterborough for holding an event of this nature.

Lindgren has reinvented himself for me a top eight rider in the world. In England apart from maybe one year Freddie has been terrific given great service a great team man and in this moment in time a level ahead of Niels.Even when Niels was in his Pom in the EL he was never that impressive at the Abbey this year is a massive year for Iversen is he regressing ?i hope not .Will the likes of Kurtz,Morris young number ones get the better of him it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

I suppose if we are judging current form from 2017 the Lindgren is well clear. Why some (well one) would argue who is better when both are proven top riders on the World stage and more importantly in our top flight is beyond crazy. Both are brilliant riders. Maybe Niels wil have a good 2018 season just like Fred did in 2017. I'd be surprised if he didn't anyway.

Spoke to Liam yesterday. He is chuffed he has landed this gig as it keeps him invoived with the sport.

I just state the obvious.....

all them years of going to church and i have been singing the wrong word(s). so it should be HMMMMMM and HMMMMMMM ! thats the pearly gate locked when i get up there then . cheers 4 that !

pretty sure Richard Green did and loaned himself out

Absolutely. Club loyalties will always see many of us clash on issues but yet again the speedway family show support for those that need it. Hopefully get to Poole this season so will come say hello. It's about time! Take your time and stay healthy. Really Steve, stop stirring.

That will be heat 2

Stronger? Really? That's the best laugh I've had in a while Poole on the other hand - with their 3 ringers.... That's a different story.

No, been watered down yet again. Only one rider of 8 and over proves the point and does it no favors imo ...

There seems an irony that the 4's move from the track Ged got, to the track he wanted to run in the first case. But best of luck Redcar, they will do a good job I am sure, and it's a lot less miles for me and my Northern brethren. They have already held the 4's meeting for the NJL 4's for about 4 years now. I think we will still miss Peterborough as that day out is always something special to me and my family as it is with most fans.

They had to get it on a certain date to make sure the car parking at the adjacent Karting / moto cross facilities will also be in full sole operation by Redcar Speedway for the 4s meeting. Dont worry everything has been well and truly thought out before this meeting was accepted by the promotion

Oh sod off

The thing is, most people can see through the (alleged) bribe from Brandon Estates to shunt Coventry off to Leicester. And most people see Horton conspiring with the enemy by taking the (alleged) bribe. Once Coventry race at Leicester, Brandon Estates can say to the council "Look they're happily re-homed at Leicester. They don't need a stadium in Brandon anymore" And who do we think invited gypsies to Coventry stadium? Do we think the gypsies just happened across the stadium themselves? They say there's only a padlock on the carpark gate that gypsies cut through easily, but isn't it a fact that when the stadium was in use there was never much more than a padlock on the car park gate? But the gypsies never invaded the car park then. It's as if someone invited them now. And of course there's the mystery fires that will eventually burn the stadium to the ground. Has Brandon had any major fires in the past 70 years? But now it will mysteriously have several. Accepting the Bees move to Leicester is giving in to Brandon Estates plans and bribes to show that no one needs Coventry stadium anymore.

Liam Carr to manage the Birmingham Bulls . Brilliant news i am a massive fan of Liam both on and off the track he will be such a positive influence on us in 2018 and a huge fans favourite a masterstroke from the club .

The Coventry riders might have had something to do with it (not to mention the Poole ones!).

1 - Poole. Look really solid. If Woryna and Holder improve their averages as expected nobody will stop them. 2 - Leicester. With the signings plus releasing Jim Lynch, they are showing that they mean to be taken seriously. Now the other teams - the ones without riders on dodgy averages. 3 - Belle Vue. Will be pretty strong again, particularly at home with Tungate rampant. What is it with him and that track? 4 - Somerset. The Doyle factor. 5 - Swindon. The lack of Doyle factor 6 - Wolverhampton - The lack of Lindgren factor 7 - Rye House. Disappointing that they never brought in a GP rider. Should have signed Andrew Silver to bring down the average age a bit. 8 - King's Lynn. Obvs.

Depends on who can get the ringer In on a dodgy average from years ago as Swindon benefitted from Tobi last year.

Without fair and proper rules and therefore a level playing field the competition is pretty pointless. And unfortunately that is the situation speedway finds itself in today. Some people can ignore all the political garbage and unfair averages and just enjoy the racing, and I feel a little bit jealous of those people. Some of us just can't and the whole thing is tainted by the ineptitude of the governing body and how some teams seem to be able to find loopholes and ringers year after year. Unfortunately many people of that mindset end up walking away.