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For the first time since league speedway began we are now 'enjoying' the first year when top-level speedway will not be staged in Britain at weekends (including Friday nights), with the exception of Cardiff. Once we had six senior tracks racing on Saturday nights with several more racing on the also lucrative Fridays. Now we have none. Fridays and non-GP Saturdays are Poland's playground now. Add in endless breaks in continuity and you have a toxic situation, as I fear several tracks will find to their literal cost. From a six day a week sport, top level speedway is now on two nights that nobody else really wants. The sport and its supporters will wake up one day, as usual far too late.

I think the decline/rot has already set in and the weather is just what it has always been, dire. I am sure they are justified, but call offs are all too frequent when even there is a hint that the weather looks dodgy. Go back a few years and they would do anything to try and get a meeting on and go back many years they used sawdust. The lack of speedway on nights (mainly thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) when fans want to watch and with weekends when you have the best chance of good crowds, is something I find ludicrous. The decline is evident on this forum. The lack of feedback to those meetings that are on and in some cases nothing at all or perhaps one comment says it all. I agree with Rob re the state of things and I think it could well be the end of the road for a number of clubs come September. All very sad and no doubt many more will get out of the habit of going. One big league with home and away, ko cup and British invidual championship and you probably would get back to regularly weekly meetings. This country can no longer compete with Poland, Sweden or Denmark and the other nations such as Germany will soon overtake the U.K. Back to basics might just save speedway in this country.

Why do you have to start an argument by the way for your information we need Chris back sooner rather than later otherwise we will, be also rans !!!!

Think the lack of regular weekly speedway will come back to bite the Clubs,sad IMO

Looks like the Diamond's are ripping the p*ss as well putting the reserves out in 15. There not as bad as some on here said they would be, credit to them for that they may take a few beatings away but at Brough they will be no mugs as they have proved.

Is it alright if I drop some shirts and a pair of trousers round?

Hawk127 has hit the nail squarely on the head in the above post " All very sad and no doubt many more will get out of the habit of going" I know I have already. From being a regular at Rye I stopped going each and every week in about 2008/9 and just started picking and choosing my meetings. Moved to the East Midlands in 2012 and not been to a meeting since coming up here and now get my fix via television, internet, youtube and dvd. Sad I know and Im sure many on here will say im not a true supporter BUT watching it this way I dont have to drive for xxx amount of miles each way, stand around in a clapped out stadium and go home £30 or £40 lighter in the pocket and moan about the meeting or lack of meeting at the end of the day. Plus the best bit of watching speedway my way is that if its crap there is always the off switch or something on another channel. High speed bikes with lay down engines and slick tracks I think killed it for me its all open throttle and hang on today ........ what happened to throttle control and riders natural skill and ability? I think whats even sadder is that im 61 this year and I just cannot see myself attending another live meeting

I would think after this season the Monday and Wednesday night odd scheme will be forgotten. When live TV matches start that's when it will hit home. You could not get a worse night to stage Speedway than a Monday

Jye is OK rode for berwick Saturday night

The first paragraph above is so true. People think they know THE reason why British speedway is in such a mess, but the reality is that there are so many, and not all of them are speedway related. I've said it before, but I will say it again; one of the big problems is that speedway is no longer a city-centre sport. When we had tracks in urban areas, everybody was exposed to speedway, even if they didn't actually follow it. Now, thanks to the constant quest for industrial estates and housing developments, the demise of greyhound racing, the ever-growing NIMBY population, dereliction (let's not forget the age and condition of some of the older stadia) and several other factors beyond our control, we are being forced into rural locations away from the population. With 24-hour live television sport, obsession with computers and video games, and stuff like that, people don't want to leave the house, let alone drive out into the sticks. As far as your second point, it is a ridiculous state of affairs, and of course, much of that IS speedway-related. Living in Surrey, I wasn't always going to travel the country, but I ALWAYS had options. Even when Wimbledon changed from Thursday to Wednesday, it changed the specifics, but not the opportunities. Exeter was too far on a Monday, but Reading was easy to get to. Tuesday, Poole, and later MK and Crayford were doable. Wednesday was White City, later Poole and Long Eaton. Saturday was wonderful with all the choices. Even Sunday was great for choice. Those were the days... Steve

I think you're exactly right but the key problem will be persuading those who worship 'names' that this right. We need, sadly, to isolate ourselves from Poland before their needs and demands destroy what remains of British Speedway. Unfortunately losing the remaining 'names' is probably too much for the short-sighted that post here. People believed the fairy tale that switching to fixed nights would bring back the 'names'. It didn't, only money and the occasional bout of loyalty (c.f. Jason Doyle) will. We need to rebuild and get our weekends back. All we are doing now is retreating to accommodate the needs of the Poles and their chequebooks.

Sometimes clubs have a moral duty to do the right thing, regardless of any rules implemented by the BSPA.

Going back to a couple of earlier posts, one thing that always concerned me with fixed race nights is the fact that so many of us used to frequent other tracks on nights when our own teams weren't in action. Apart from being a fixture at Plough Lane, I was a regular visitor to White City during their short BL period, and it wasn't unusual for me to go to Hackney, Rye, Arena, Crayford, Mildenhall, Milton Keynes, Lynn, Swindon, and Canterbury. Again, I would see the same people at a lot of the tracks, and fixed nights automatically reduce those numbers. The sad reality is that it was the crowds that generated atmosphere as much as - if not more than - the actual racing. As crowds dwindle, so does the atmosphere. That leads to more people staying home. Fewer meetings will only cause more to stay home... Steve

Good little contest,some good talent there IMO .Thought Josh has a nice style and a touch of class.

Back in the 'Good Old Days' we used to go to Reading (occasionally) on the Monday, White City on Wednesdays, Oxford on Thursdays and more than occasionally Swindon on Saturdays.

Uilly was a very lucky guy last night last night. He drifted out on the forth bend and, with no grip, he hit the fence hard and him and the bike were strewn down the straight. The first rider in third place chose to go though the gap between the bike and Ully, but the last rider seeing it all late, chose to go though the gap between Ully and the fence, and watching it in the pits , it was a good choice which only just came off. Situations like that need quick and correct actions and because of the actions of those two riders Ulli was not so badly injured.

How can clubs that have traditionally ran at weekends, still expect to mainain their crowds levels when switching to a midweek race night. Lemmings jumping off a cliff springs to mind!

...personally I always preferred race jackets and the choice of individual leathers. It made it easier identifying one rider from another.

Above all else best wishes to Ostergaard and Lawson.

For the life of me, I don't understand how the BSPA could contradict the directives from the FIM on our allotted preference race nights. Once the governing body had made a ruling, surely we as a affiliated body take that on board. There should be no discussion or vote on it, these directives were made for the good of the sport, giving control of meeting priority. The BSPA should have excepted ruling as law. The Clubs should have been informed of this ruling and told this league will be running the PL on Mondays and Thursdays, and Championship will run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The only discussion and decision the clubs should have been given was which league and what day they wanted to partake in. If Ipswich, Sheffield or Redcar insisted on running on Thursdays, then fair enough, they should be competing in the PL. If they wanted to stay in the Championship then they would have to change racenights. Its not Rocket science. There is not much difference between the two divisions, illustrated by the number of riders that ride in them both. By giving individual clubs the opportunity to contradict a FIM directives , highlights what a self-righteous shambles the BSPA are. How can other countries take us serious when we make decisions like that . If the BSPA are saying the individual clubs are more important than the FIM , then that would illustrate why our speedway has dropped from being the best in the world to now also rans......

Predicted 41-49 and happy to be proved wrong. How different it would have been with Ostergaard fit who knows. Great boost for Berwick though. Doolan was superb, looked very fast all night. Really need to do something about the 3-4 pairing, which looks vulnerable. Impressed with Ben Morley for Lakeside, better than I remembered at Shielfield. Always good to see Bomber riding round here, non-stop racer. And good to see Nick Morris back as well. On a totally separate note, there was some absolutely cracking races in the NJL match, a couple of good battles between Keiron Douglas and Josh Embleton, then Sam McGurk, Luke Harrison and Archie Freeman had three really great struggles, riding way beyond their years.

He was? More than did his job and an integral part of the 2009 title winning side! Had a serious injury just as he was really beginning to make strides.

looks like our favourite speedway uploader has moved to cda after youtube blocked him. Motor - ROW available here - https://www.cda.pl/video/22227324c you're welcome

You can blame the Championship promoters for our Danes being missing

I usually ignore Redcar fans.

He feels at home with us and is wanted. He held back signing for anyone else at the end of last season when we were in doubt about running, hence the reason we were in a position to announce him as our first signing when we made the decision to run. A bit like Schram, Mills, etc, Ash has been dropped on a regular basis by other teams till they all came to us and suddenly became decent riders. It must be something in the Geordie water. Kyle Newman is another who always wants to ride for us but the distance puts him off.

what a difference a week makes ......... last week u lot were full of it and laughing at us as wooden spoonists I said we were both poor sides .. but its 1st wooden spoon to the bears ... bottom of the northern group

The diamonds up and down season continues !!!!! Great effort by the boys tonight with all 7 winning a heat ... but the star was Ashley ... riding superbly ... keep it up As for Sheffield .. they missed Howarth although Garrity was a good guest, Wright rode well and Shanes impressed..... but the villain of the piece was bjerre ...you can say he was unlucky with machinery or is it poor professionalism ........... he has a poor record round brough (unlike his brother who was superb) and to not complete a lap is not really acceptable why was wright so annoyed with Garrity in heat 15 ?

Couple of years ago Ludde had a double max in a double header at Edinburgh, a 15 pointer and a 9 in a curtailed meeting before the curfew.

Oh yeah absolutely, completely different tracks and equipment, but it can and must still do wonders for your confidence. Banging in double figures in front of 13,000 on a Sunday must make Somerset feel very small fry when he comes back to the 'track in a field' on Wednesday.

Surely that cant be legal to take someones money not give anything in return and then refuse to give that money back

Great viewing over on FreeSports at the moment, with coverage of Torun's meeting in Poland this afternoon. Jack Holder absolutely flying with some fast starts and some big wins, and even replaced Iversen in one race. Doyle also riding for Torun too, let's hope they bring that form to Belle Vue tomorrow night.

Well done Newcastle excellent result , special mention for Ashley Morris , always knew this lad had something about him and suggested to Tsunami that he would be a good choice when Diamonds were looking for a replacement rider in 2016 after Panthers wrongly sacked him IMO.

Completely agree, just for context for those who were not there the first was David Howe and the second was John Lindman.

I'm not a fan of his but how the hell is Buster to blame for this?

Prem Pawlicki for me should have gone there.

Totally understand your point but from where I come from it was Thursday or sometimes Saturday.

Rzeszow v Rawicz will be available to watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBriWSwyxr0 starts at 3:30 BST should be an interesting one, Smektala and Kubera in Rawicz's team today

Last week James had to go now szczepaniak make you mind up ?

I believe Sky insisted on Team racesuits when they had the TV contract. BT make no such insistence and pay virtually comparatively nothing for the broadcast rights. Its definitely a cost cutting exercise by those clubs that have chosen not to have them.

Seems suspicious...

It all comes down to costs Steve. Kevlars are very expensive to produce, and race jackets only cost around the £50 Mark to make. Rye house have been using the dreadful race shirts this season. It's all about saving money rather than appearance.

The guests have been well chosen and one could argue make us a little stronger but that's not the point, people want to see a full team of their own riders.

Eastbourne typically looking comfortable at home.The side this year young & all seem to get along well. They are fortunate to have had track time unlike some clubs. It's good they seem to be moving on quickly between racing, not hanging around. Also good they are doing second halves more value for money for fans that stay to support & maybe see a few future NL stars. Even though weather last night was cold, nice to see more atmosphere than previous week. The Mike man makes it better for the kids with chatter & selfies etc. Might be worth Eagles giving time for fans to have pics/ autographs with a different rider each week like they do on the Isle of Wight. Myself & my family all like the new colours freshens things up.

Only if Doyle gets his " finger out". Recent scores of 7 and 6 in Poland and 8 and 9 for the Rebels, is not good. Come on JD we need you to be scoring 12 to 15.

I didn’t expect Ben to score many tonight. Happy to be proved wrong. Eight points from a No2 on an away track mis the sort of thing that wins matches. Let’s hope he can keep it going.

7 day ban for you then.

I am in favour of this seven day rule, if that means we have to go against Ipswich without Richard then so be it, the rule just proves that riders are not missing from meetings at a whim because it has bigger implications than just one match, in fact in Richard's case he will also miss both of Somerset's meetings next week too so he has had to sacrifice another four meetings as a result of missing tonight's.

Are you Lawson in disguise

Ty 12+1 guesting for Redcar at Sheffield good to see him getting some track time