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They change the name to climate change from global warming because that’s not what’s happening , the ice caps are actually growing , the pictures of plastic in the sea were actually results of tsunami’s that swept the plastic off the land into the sea and was actually mostly Chinese rubbish and not ours although not sure why the government isn’t banging on McDonald’s and Poundland’s doors about the waste plastic they dish out and as for fossil fuels , how clean do you suppose electric vehicles are ?the mining to produce the battery’s(google how damaging that is to the earth) and where does the electricity come ? Oh yea nuclear power stations that we need to build to cope with demand to power the cars saying diesel pollution is responsible for 38,000 cancer deaths a year is the same as blaming ladders for a broken neck deaths , with modern dpf’s hardly anything is coming out of the exhausts these days but strangely that never seems to get mentioned cause it doesn’t fit in with the plan , it’s all manipulation to make us conform to the master plan , unfortunatly we are stupid enough to fall for it and if any of you disagree with me I don’t care , live your life as you want to and stop trying to change mine , anyhow this is my last post on here for a while so enjoy and have fun what ever you do

Oh dear SCB, are you still trying to defend your moronic and offensive ageism by sneering and ridicule? For the benefit of those that haven't seen this person's constant attacks on older supporters and blaming them for the ills of speedway elsewhere the worst example was "Why pander to them, they'll be dead soon?" Treat him with the contempt he deserves. It's pathetic that someone who passes himself off as vaguely intelligent can make such ignorant and offensive posts and when rightly criticised tries to ridicule those who dare to do so. Truly pathetic. Stick to regurgitating the rule book. Anyway, welcome back to the second tier, Lakeside, you have been missed and I hope you have a superb year. Those of you old enough to be despised by the likes of SCB will at least take some reassurance that they are unlikely to have to put up with the individual concerned this year since he is far too self-important to attend Championship level speedway. Despite my involvement at Rye House over the years I still have a soft spot for Arena-Essex, especially since I recorded the commentary on the first-ever meeting there in 1984. Oops, that shows how old I am. I should be ashamed of myself, not having died yet. ;-)

Ok...I can compare them to a beautiful sunset, a beautiful flower. Why does a human being that can naturally see the beauty in a woman be called a 'Perv'? Are we not meant to be naturally attracted to one another...to pro create? Why fight those natural senses? There are just as many woman who want to work in this type of industry as those that feel it wrong. Men and woman have naturally been drawn to the other sex and have appreciated one another's form since time and memorial. Why does a few in this generation think they know best? The modern image you seem to want...craves everything unnatural. As for your adage regarding men in the role of woman....watch a programme called 'loose woman'...and tell me how if 4 men in a panel spoke about the same things as they do would be right. It's not about being equal anymore...it's about taking over and forcing it down peoples throats. Many a 'grid' girl has come out since and spoken about how ridiculous this situation is. Some saying 'how is any different to going out in a nice dress clubbing of a weekend? Why do woman do it?....To feel like a woman, feel attractive and good about themselves. Everything is so hypocritical....and so far removed from the majority of the rest of the world. It's complete madness...such companies like the BBC standing for such things, yet they show a cartoon pic of Piers Morgan;s head up Donald Trumps arse...imagine if they had done it with a female presenter or politician. One rule for one....etc,etc....there is no consistency and men are being absolutely hauled over the coals atm for everything. The Country it seems wants to ban looking at woman, yet has businesses building sex robots...how totally fecked up. You can see where this world is going....

Are you crazy? A brilliant speedway race is thrilling. Compare that to the borefest that is formula one and the millions that gets!

British riders should be exempt from any such ruling imo ...

They have realised how boring it is

The non reversal in this New Year maybe but the reintroduction of the restriction was before Boro's involvement.

The majority of the public have common sense. It is only a very small minority who have a very loud voice when it comes to 'Political correctness'...with many working in media and other types of outlets. Has anyone else considered what agenda is behind all of this. Why are we all being asked to conform and agree to it all? Men and woman are naturally attracted to the opposite sex. It's NATURAL and NORMAL...to admire the form of others. What is wrong to naturally look at the beautiful lines of a woman, in the same way we would look at the lines of a classic car, JAP/JAWA Speedway bike or say Spitfire. All are beautiful, easy on the eye and give natural pleasure. What's being forced on us, is everything unnatural imo.

Good post, didn't Jake have a season with Sheffield a few years back? Unfortunately more experienced riders in the team weren't performing which meant more pressure was being put on your son and in turn he lost his place and has never had another go at Championship racing as it is called now. Riders like Connor Mountain and Alfie Bowtell need NL riding in my opinion just for instance say Bowtell has a poor start to the season doesn't score many points and gets dropped by Lakeside then he'd be completely without a team which is so wrong when teams like Berwick, Edinburgh, Peterborough, Redcar, Scunthorpe and Workington all have foreign riders riding at reserve now some of these have been riding over here for a long time but still get picked over young English riders. What's the incentive for young English riders who progress from riding in the NL to get CL places because promoters tend to pick foreign riders on "bargain" averages. Arguably you should have 6 & 7 in the CL for young English riders and promoters should be made and encouraged to stick with them for the full season.

Scott wants to race - thats one of the 9

True but isn't it a fact the BSPA want to break Jed Rathbone and see this as one way of doing so. I for one don't believe this is all about Scott Nicholls and Eddie Kennett.

A debate on TV coverage descends into moronic ageism. Speedway gets what it deserves, to be honest.

Teaboy279 may have hit the nail on its head. However, if it was not the promoters who decide, then who should it be ? It is my personal belief that all leagues, including the National League, should always put teams together under the mean average of 42.5. Strong teams at the end of the season would HAVE to lose a rider or two but without decimating. Weak teams would have riders to sign and yet the overall quality of the league remains high. Now we have a situation where some very good National League riders are out of work while many teams are forced to employ riders not up to standard. That HAS to be ridiculous. So WHO is advocating the present situation ? As I have said before, something does not smell right.

The problem speedway has right now is the image it portrays to the casual TV viewer or someone who goes to a meeting for the very first time. I have seen much speedway live and on TV and I must say the image it portrays is dire. I have seen meetings ruined with riders messing about time wasting "gardening" then they all get to the tapes and one will decide to pull back and go for a ride way past the fourth bend on a "scenic tour of the track" while the others wait at the tapes then another and yet another will decide to follow. The starting marshal keeps calling the riders to the tapes, with no control over them whatsoever, the riders go forward nearly stretch the tapes to breaking point, then go back then go forward and back a number of times, with the starting marshal who might has well not even be there keeps indicating the riders to get in line with frantic waving of his arms Tapes get broken or a false start and more time wasted when they open the pits gate and a 12,000 mile service takes place to the bikes. even the crowd appears uninterested a few cheer on but many looked bored to death as they stand in the cold watching little of interest, watching riders just faffing about, eventually hoping to see the next race. Then with a few heats to go it will start to rain and then more delays will commence usually with more "gardening" and more "scenic tours" as the track gets wetter and wetter, instead of getting on with the meeting to get a decent result. Added to all this we often see unbelievable decisions made by referees. What a sad fiasco this all is. The image that speedway portrays these days if not a good one. I love speedway but am not happy to see the sport decline in this sad way through lack of decent management on how it is run as a spectator and supposedly entertaining sport.

Ha Ha . I don't think you need anything explaining, you are more than capable of working things out yourself. There are many contradictions and bits of recycled news in there, and don't forget it's all coming from a guy who after five or so years at Brandon, we've learnt tells loads of lies and cannot not to be trusted Anyhow it looks as if the Observer report has been pulled now , I've no idea of the reason, but perhaps it's better left there as it could get nasty.

If you want to gullibly believe what Brandon Estates and Horton are telling you, that's your business. Some of us can see through it. Have a read back on this thread and see where I, and others, predicted that Brandon Estates would claim that Brandon Stadium isn't now needed because the Bees are re-homed at Leicester, and see how that prediction came true exactly as we all said.

No, I can't see any holes here either. What Horton is saying here goes against what BE have said in their planning application. If he was being funded by them then they won't be happy with this. Basically saying this isnt a long term solution and we need somewhere local, two things BE don't want to hear. BE are worried about having to help finance somewhere new hence in their application they worded it like Leicester would be a long term solution. We now have the owner of the club stating it isn't a long term solution and we need to get back. Sandhu now needs to do the same regarding stox and put huge pressure on BE.

AUSSIE riders rarely get a good press on here, some suggesting they are parasites to British speedway, so it is well worth watching the You Tube interview between Nigel Pearson and Jason Doyle at Somerset last night.

Shouldn't be. He should be a 2.00 as he got injured before any new average 'kicked in.'

It’s got more todo with Jack Hoder missing the 4s and what went on between the BSPA and the Pboro Promotion from that date on than it had todo with Scott Nicholls .

Every speedway fan needs to get their objections emailed in. Even if it's just a one paragraph email saying that you strongly object to the plans and urge the planning officer to recommend refusal. Don't forget to include your full name and address and application number R18/0186, otherwise they'll ignore it. If you live in the Coventry area, your objections are doubly valuable. So if you've got friends, neighbours, relations with a Coventry address, get an objection sent from them too.

It never fails to amaze me why so many state “Speedway is boring, first out the gate wins”. Then drool over the F1 absolute borefest. Edited to add ‘Why’? F1 is so boring to me. A Speedway GP is so much more adrenaline fuelled, exciting and watchable - I would even include predictable Prague v F1.

Not relevant. The 9 'protected characteristics' in law you refer to are - age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion/belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage/civil partnership and pregnancy/maternity.

Objections to the planning application submitted by Brandon Estates can now be E-Mailed or posted to Rugby Council and should be addressed to the Planning Officer Ms Erica Buchanan. Her E-Mail address is: erica.buchanan@rugby.gov.uk and your E-Mail/letter MUST quote the application number which is R18/0186 and MUST also include your own name and full address. Anyone who is uncertain of what they should write need only say that they are strongly opposed to these plans and urge the planning officer to recommend refusal. This will be sufficient to have it recorded as an objection (although of course there is no reason why you should not give all the reasons you can think of to make your point if you so wish.) When the Planning Committee meet to consider the application, the Planning Officer will state the total number of supporting E-Mails/letters and the total number of objections and will give a selection of the reasons for both, which have been stated in them. It is important therefore, that we try to overwhelm them with the volume of our objections. We did this in our fight to get speedway back to Birmingham and it was very effective. It will help too, if we can find out the names and E-Mail addresses of the members of the planning committee, and bombard them with E-Mails as well - remembering of course to keep them courteous and polite since the chances are that many of them will know little or nothing about speedway, and might well have been got at by the opposition. I wish the campaign every possible success in their efforts to save the stadium. It will be a major achievement to turn over big business - but it's certainly not impossible if we all play our part.

Unfortunately British speedway is not consistent, The N/L should be made more competitive, how many promising young brits do we have that will go on the ride on the world stage, I am afraid that to many will be lost along the way, we are happy to bring over young oversees riders and give them team places in the upper two leagues, (nothing against this) but we need to limit the current numbers. A young rider trying to make his name in the sport needs to ride at least twice a week, he will also need to give 100% to the sport if he wants to get to the top. We know that not every rider has the natural ability, but with the right help and support he could still make it to the top. When I started out I raced and worked for a couple of years, after a while it became to difficult, getting home from a Scottish meeting and then working the next day, took its toll. This was how most riders started out, we were all in the same boat. Trouble now is we have a lot more riders coming over from overseas that are just riding and we expect our young riders to match them from the outset. So let’s look at this scenario:- Young Brit in the N/L riding and working, he is number 1 and is doing well, gets a call to guest. He has to go into work and then drive straight to the meeting and ride. Gets a last in his first ride, maybe he gets a point in his next, what happens next he is taken our of heat eight. He goes home only 3 rides and 1 point. Back to work the next day and slim chance of another selection. We must give more young Brits full team place’s from the start of the season and fast track them before we lose them. Sink or swim, I was told by a promoter that I would not make it, but hard work and dedication got me to the world final. Riders are actually penalised for doing well. Richard

Your face fits perfectly in the right setting Baldy.... Crimewatch

I said exactly the same thing not so long ago and got slated...your face obviously fits better than mine.

Crowd just like the play off and cup finals

It will depend if he is in favour and who wants to sign him....

Does anybody care about this drivel?

Thank you Booey Boy, much appreciated..

I don’t know. the British Speedway Premiership, sponsored by The Co-op Funeral service has a nice ring to it with all the old fogies who attend the sport up and down the country.

Quite right. While I respect anyone who has the courage to get on and race a speedway bike the power in the sport has moved to those riders who in the main seem to have totally forgotten the rights and needs of the paying public. Sadly that malaise goes further than the riders. Every instruction to a rider to drop points to fiddle the average, every time a dispute between rider and promotion is played out in public at meetings, every time a rider goes missing for a more lucrative pay day elsewhere, every meeting that's rushed through to heat ten with no racing possible, the constant team changes wrecking loyalty between fans and riders, every time a rider chooses an early night rather than socialising with the fans, every little thing that tells the fans they are the least important people at the meeting, they all serve to damage the sport and we are seeing the bitter harvest of it all now. It is an essential truth when selling a product or service that the needs of the customer come first. Speedway's forgotten that and the bill is now being presented for that stupidity.

It's about time the human race started worrying about more important things - like climate change, ice caps melting, sea levels rising, population growing, plastic in the sea and food chain, fossil fuel pollution. God knows what else - bloody ridiculous.

Hey Starman i don't like it in the tube bit clostrifobic and all the noise like you say I wear those eye pad things makes it better hope it comes out fine good look

Thank you Hyderd, so do i. ive been in a nightmare for 8 weeks, and i just pray it comes back clear. Ive had several MRI scans its not being put in the machine is the problem, its the 30-40 minutes duration of clunk clunk clunk, chugger chugger chugger. they are a wonderful inovation, they can see EVERYTHING, xrays are good, but these are different class. i still remember seeing the first MRI scanner being lowered through the roof into place at poole. CT scanners are an advance on xrays. good detail but not in the class of an MRI scanner.

Your first sentence is plain wrong. Life expectancy at 65 is a further 17 years on average. So well over 50% of 65 year olds will still be alive. See https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/lifeexpectancyatbirthandatage65bylocalareasintheunitedkingdom/2014-04-16

I know some speedway on TV is better than none. But at the end of the day if your not going to cover it properly in the first place why bother at all lets hope its not like this

I agree. So long as the women involved are happy to do the work. Personally, I don't care whether we have them or not. They now only appear at the NSS for shared BSPA events and I can't say that I think the presentation or entertainment level has suffered but that is my opinion and I wouldn't dream of imposing my opinion on others who think otherwise. I have never come across a female supporter who has ever said they feel strongly and are offended by the start line girls nor have I come across anybody who has given it as a reason not to attend any of the sports where they or, their equivalent, appear. In the present climate too many seem to be afraid of offending the snowflakes who believe they know what is right and best for the rest of us.

I'm not sure that's true. The account I got of the visa/immigration issue was that the BSPA had been breaking the rules over the eligibility of foreign riders for years and without any regard for the actual legal position. Make no mistake, this was probably the most serious threat to speedway in this country for years and why it is treated with such care now. Fortunately, the UKVI took a very (more than very) tolerant and reasonable attitude, stating what the rules were and drawing a line in the sand over past misdemeanours. They made it clear in no uncertain terms what would happen if those rules were broken again (one promoter tried to do so a matter of weeks later and then attempted to offload the blame on to the UKVI - the incident you have mentioned). Scotchopper doesn't post very often but when he does he is usually spot on. Now that this issue has been clarified, it seems to me that both he and Cyclone are absolutely correct : this is a matter of a failure to delete a rule from the rulebook and a failure to make the actual position absolutely clear at the outset (or at least at a much earlier point). Its the second time - Lakeside are the others - that poor administration from the BSPA has led to difficulties for a team and a rider.

Oh NO. But who will do the reversing.?

This debate shouldn't be about whether two riders should or should not be allowed to ride for two teams - it should be about whether ANY riders should! The whole situation is a complete farce and has spiralled out of control. The BSPA should at the very least be taking steps to gradually reduce the scope for allowing this nonsensical situation with a view to eventually eliminating it altogether - not trying to frame rules for extending it! Those riders who bleat that they must have two clubs "to make it pay" should spare a thought for all the riders who don't have a team at all - because they have two!

Where have they stated that? Someone on the end of the phone saying it "seems like" a valid case isn't really a ringing endorsement is it? And to the Edinburgh fans, the fact that the regulations allow for the right of appeal doesn't mean that one is automatically successful.

I was starting to be persuaded to support the "Bees" at Leicester. But this latest propaganda set of lies has hardened my resolve to not lend any measure of support to the venture. We are clearly being asked to support an explicit statement from BE in their planning application and thus justify their attempt to influence the planning authorities. They can appeal this until their blue in face. We haven't yet begun to fight. "Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not go gentle into that good night."

Yep welcome to speedway. Interested in having a ride around on your own while you learn how to actually ride a bike? You may be lucky to live near one of the few existing training tracks (most of which the governing body disapprove of) Progressed with your learning and want to test your abilities with some racing? There are a few (amazing) amateur events running but they are very limited (most of which the governing body disapprove of) Got good at the amateur meetings and want to showcase your talents? Here you are extremely unlikely to get any laps after a meeting unless your face fits despite only asking for 5-10 minutes additional time unless you can get one of a few precious places in the (amazing) development leagues. Got a development league place? Now you can drive up and down the country for the "chance" to get 3 very rapid rides after the main meeting providing the main event hasn't dragged out due to prima donna antics, excessive interviews weather watching etc in which case it will be cancelled and you will be sent home with nothing but loads of expense incurred. Like i said welcome to Speedway you are our future, still want to stick around? I must add that all those who run practice days, amateur meetings, development teams along with the band of volunteers are truly amazing beyond words and are the reason the sport continues in this country. Without you it would be finished already so i salute you all.

Can Brandon Estates go on record and confirm no money has been sent to Mick Horton to help fund Coventry Bees’ National League speedway venture at Leicester this season? Responding to our question, Brandon Estates said: “Brandon Estates will not be commenting on any historic speculation regarding the site. “Our focus now is on moving forward with the future of the site and the proposed development, on which the public can continue to provide feedback.” .. No suprises here then. not lining slippery micks pockets ,of course not . and the moons a balloon then.

Just wanted to send my best to Somerset press officer Ian Belcher who has decided to hang up his clipboard after 15 years service to the club. Best of British in your retirement mate. Hope to still see you stood on the second bend........”so wide he nearly ended up in Wiltshire”.

Use it in the care home all the time, the oldies love it

It seems the memory of Speedway at the famous Norwich "Firs" stadium, has now attracted the attention of a housing developer. Lovell Homes are building a new estate just up the road from the site of the old Norwich Speedway Firs Stadium, and to honour the memory of many of the riders, they have named each house type after famous riders from the past. So if you buy a house at the new Firs Park development, it could be a Betts or a Lawson or one of many others. They even have a picture of the old Firs Stadium in their brochure. Great idea, well done Lovell Homes. http://www.lovellnewhomes.co.uk/developments/east-anglia/firs-park/location http://www.lovellnewhomes.co.uk/documents/uploads/brochures/FirsParkBrochureWEB.pdf