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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 .

11 teams in the league, 5 of them are further north than Redcar. That makes Redcar spitting dab in the middle.

Unbelievable, someone who spent his whole career keeping out of trouble on the Speedway track, his luck was well and truly out that day

i am sure the governing body can give ged a bit of help in the maths side . . its not like he is trying to bend the rules or owt , is it ? come on bspa/scb , lets have a bit of leeway for the hard done panthers fans !

Geez your geography is worse than mine! Since when was the Isle of Lewis in the East???

well you never know you might not be too far from the truth there jenga once over played a big part in saving speedway in a certain area

Press and Practice Day confirmed as Easter Saturday 31 March. Opening meeting on 5 April will be the Vince Mapley Memorial Trophy.

Your not alone.

We arent discussing GP form or form elsewhere, we are discussing British racing where Iversen has been superb for the last four or five years. I, and I would think most, would go with NKI over lindgren as far as uk speedway is concerned

Have Redcar ever had a team capable of winning the league? Sheffield always seem to have home track advantage when they have a good team, it disappears when we don't I really don't understand this fact

Every day I click on that RH website, thinking maybe, just maybe...there might be some news about the last rider. How foolish I always feel afterwards. "Why did you look?", I ask myself. Haven't you got anything better to do? What has your life come to? I need help...

this is a team that could do very well the season after next

So you wanted to sign Nicholls and Kennett and end up with Morris and Lawson on a lower combined average. Shouldn't you be thanking the BSPA?

Lol. lindgrens years as top dog are long gone in the el now. 2016 when both Iversen and lindgren rode in the EL, Iversen was two points higher than him so anyone suggesting he would be a better signing for Lynn than iversen is deluded. Lindgren was one of the top averaged riders last year but so he should be in such a weak league. For kings lynn iversen is a much better signing than Lindgren would be.

First two transmission dates are: 19th Feb 18.00 25th Feb 14:00

Absolutely correct. Media coverage is impossible for a Saturday night practice. Back in the day when Bandits were at Berrington (and could run bikes any day, any time) the P&P sessions were on a weekday morning preceding the opening night, with two TV channels and a dozen journalists in attendance. The coverage from the joint (weekday morning) P&P sessions at Brough Park in recent seasons bears this out. They even had Per Jonsson up for local TV on a Tuesday morning as the newly-crowned world champion to advertise an end-of-season individual meeting.

1. Belle Vue 2. Poole 3. Leicester 4. Kings Lynn 5. Wolverhampton 6. Swindon. 7. Somerset. 8. Rye House. Tbh I don’t think that there is a lot of difference between all of the teams after Belle Vue and Poole who I think will be way ahead of the rest. Most people have us in the bottom 2 but I really believe that we will be the surprise team this year, come on u stars.

Great news and thanks for letting us know. Talking Pictures is a charming channel, run by a small business who love old film and TV so it's a labour of love which is thankfully gaining respect and viewers. Readers may be interested to know that another classic film featuring speedway (at Lea Bridge/Clapton) is freely available to watch online at the BFI website. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-britannia-of-billingsgate-1933-online

Ditto that comment Gavan 110%. Been there too. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But good to see a regular contributor posting again so welcome back and good health to you Starman.

Shame there incompetence has cost someone a job

On the strength of last year Jorgensen will win plenty and do well. He should add a point.

I agree with Walter and others slippery Mick is not getting my coin. i can’t see this venture furthering the case for speedway at Brandon Good luck to the young lads who will get a ride now though that is a positive.

Yes, you're quite right in your insight on Polish matters. Good for you. Anyway, speedway is popular in the areas where there are speedway clubs. If you happened to be holidaying in Poland's North-East, there are thousands of lakes and pine woods, if you have asked local people about speedway, they probably would not know what you are talking about.