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Why not, with the team Poole have Redcar could win

Forget about the result last night ,it's time to appreciate the riders of all clubs for providing us with entertainment and putting there bodies on the line for us . Wishing Gino and Nike a speedy recovery as at one stage it looked far worse then what the two riders have been diagnosed ,hoping to see you both back on the shale very soon

If by downgraded you mean semi-professional then so be it - that's how it was in 1965 for the majority of riders, who rode UK and had jobs/professions as well The likes of Rick France, Ron Mountford, Ivor Brown - even Nigel Boocock - all had income from outside the sport Full-time Speedway isn't sustainable nowadays and the riders need to realise this - then the financial side might be able to be sorted

This good enough for you SS. Who never said they were to beat everybody! Your memories not so good!

I think the sport in Britain is beyond repair until a total colaspe and then rebuild from scratch but I don’t blame buster, yes he has been in charge but even when he makes a correct stand against something he gets slated, something I see is too few people having too many fingers in too many pies, it’s always the same names and that’s when conflict of interest happens and when you have that nothing gets acheived

Attendances show fixed nights aren't attracting enough customers Tracks must operate on the best nights for them - and we must have Friday and Saturday nights as Speedway nights

The time was probably ten or so years ago to be honest..... However, I think some egos of those who run the sport will always stand in the way... Dealing with 'superstars', I think, must give some a sense of 'reflected glory'... Ride on nights that give you the best crowd and grow the sport from its current 'rock bottom' base, only use riders committed 100% to GB Speedway. And pay them what is affordable from an entrance fee of no more than fifteen quid..

Perhaps it is time to downgrade our speedway to a sustainable level because like many people have said it's dying on it's feet ?

How many other teams can say that ? To some of us that is no surprise at all simply because you have set a standard for every other club in British speedway to follow. I have made no secret of my respect and admiration for what you and Martin have achieved and are trying to achieve on the Island and will continue to bang the drum for you and your methods. Those methods include a huge publicity campaign, free entry for children (100 there on Thursday apparently, average age of the attendance must have been about 14), the creation of a truly remarkable family atmosphere, a visible presence on race nights and a willingness to engage on here (254 likes from 76 posts says it all) and, above all, a determination not just to give the paying spectator want he wants but to treat him as a valued and important client. The remarkable gesture of giving rain off programmes away free - when most other clubs charge full price, nothing less than a total rip off - is yet another example of how to do it right. Its little wonder that you have attracted little but praise and credit from fans across the country, including some of the BSF's most respected posters. Every supporter across the country should look at the list above and see if their team does the same. Most of them don't and, in some cases, the contrast will be a stark one. One of the saddest parts of my self imposed semi exile from speedway in 2018 is that I won't get to come to your place as much as I would like (a total ban, however is unthinkable ).

I guarantee no other country in the world would have let this happen with Lambert needing a win to progress We really are the best at making things hard for ourselves

i remember when Poole went ** up - i was sorry to lose a track i didn't take the piss out of fans who had lost their track and team to support. They were a cinderella club for years, along with Cradley. People should have more respect for smaller clubs.

With every single one of them committed to British Speedway.. They might not be 'Superstars' but very, very few are.. The vast majority of riders will always be 'average'... Let them earn couple of grand a week on 'average'.... Every week..

Exactly. Ipswich last won the top league with six riders. Not all teams would want/can run at weekends. One league is so mind boggling simple to implement my brain hurts when trying to understand why it’s not happening. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing The Aces will be back to Fridays and BH next year.

oops even better...............so am i anti poole or thick.......................or correct? think i summed it up well pre season yet again miles out no team out there lol when Poole fans preach like this and believe me there are loads more......................it makes giving back all the more fun

I think he came to the role full of enthusiasm but very quickly realised he was banging his head against a brick wall. Yes he's guilty of raising our hopes but IMHO the failure is that of the collective of the old boys club.

WITH so many vacant dates why can't this sort of thing be avoided?

It's rare that I attempt to in any way defend the BSPA for its many perceived failings, but as a fan of numerous other major sports it's fair to say that speedway is not alone in causing angst and bewilderment among its followers and, just perhaps, we are all guilty at times of being over-critical of officialdom and what is served up in the name of sport and entertainment. Take football. It continues to price itself out of the financial reach of the average man and woman on the street and attending Premier League games now costs an arm and leg. Then there's the overpriced kits (three versions at any one time) and other merchandise clubs pump out to further rip off their loyal followers. Premier League chairmen/owners are widely regarded as the greediest bunch of governing parasites in world sport. People question the integrity and nous of some running Premier, Championship and National tracks. But look at the disastrous club ownerships that The Football League has stood by and allowed to wreck and ruin - my own club, Leyton Orient, almost went to the wall a year ago at the hands of our then psychopathic Italian owner, who treated us like his personal play thing with almost fatal consequences until the O's were saved in the high court. County Cricket has just entered another desperate new phase of trying to reinvent itself, with the newly-proposed '100-ball' brainwave set to be introduced in 2020 in an effort to attract new, younger fans and mums. It's a franchised based scheme, with a select group of players (not including the best English Test and one-day cricketers) chosen to represent new teams representing cities rather than counties. This, though, will effectively kill the current T20 domestic competition brought in in 2003. The ECB and county bosses are being publicly hammered and ridiculed for dreaming up yet another new format for a game that already has 5-day Tests, 4-day County Championship matches and two one day tournaments. Cricket clubs and the ICC at world level have spent fortunes improving their pitches and outfields but they still can't control the weather and, like speedway, matches are often postponed or abandoned after just a few overs play. These two national sports are awash with billions of TV money yet still, it seems, they couldn't organise the proverbial p*** up in a brewery. How many different 'World Championships' does boxing have these days? In recent years cycling has been totally discredited for harbouring cheats who take drugs to enhance performance. Which race teams and riders can be trusted? Greyhound racing has literally gone to the dogs, with more and more tracks closing year on year. I don't know enough about other sports, such as rugby and ice hockey, to comment here about where they come up short but you can rest assured they too will have their critics and be hampered by decisions (and indecision) taken by their respective rulers. 'Who cares about other sports, speedway is all we're interested in', I hear you scream! I hear you, loud and clear! But remember, there is a lot wrong with many other sports, too, including those with huge financial resources and tens of thousands more followers, and speedway is by no means alone in struggling to satisfy its loyal supporters. Should we keep questioning and challenging the BSPA and FIM (I would add the SCB, too, but they are toothless and have virtually ceded control of the sport to the men and women who run the tracks)? Of course. No-one could argue that speedway couldn't be much better organised and administered, and badly needs to offer more variety in its formats and competitions. The ridiculously over-complicated rulebook needs to be torn up and re-written in the simplest terms. Doubling-up and guests must be eradicated ASAP. There has to be more emphasis on British youth development, with team places made available to the best prospects. But speedway is plagued by many problems (bad weather; lack of stadium ownership; ill effects of the GP and other domestic leagues) beyond its control. So all things considered, while it doesn't solve problems to acknowledge the fact, we're certainly not alone among sports fan calling for more sanity and things to be run better. Speedway? It ain't so bad after all!

Spot on. Ridiculous when you think about it, still a good result for Robert. Comfortably the most difficult qualifier this year I'd suggest.

The return meeting in Glasgow was more of a straightforward home win , with the Bears more or less a one man band . Tigers were solid throughout , with Claus Vissing and young Jack Thomas the home men of the match candidates . Jack's beating of Jonas B Andersen and Theo Pijper was a very impressive and mature ride . As for the one man band , Barker really is box office when he's on it . His never say die attitude on the bike got him in amongst Tiger's heat leaders , and on occasion , Bear's team mates alike . As Matej Kus found out in heat 13 . But on track he's never a dull moment , shame we never got that in his short spell in the stripes .

If years ago you said let's have 8 team leagues and if you finish fourth you can still win the league you would have been laughed at!

Redcar and Berwick would be popular - not so sure about Poole Your arrogance precedes you!

you really are full of sh8t -it gets right on my wick. Great - Poole are rich and well supported. Play yourselves every week. You need a league - an affordable one for Redcar and others otherwise you'll have a four team Div 1.

I really hope he has got his bike problems sorted. When he is on song, up there with the best !

HaHa - very true norbold - very true.

That might depend on whether Ove Fundin did the same!

Exactly, nothing wrong with running teams of 6 or even 5 riders.

If there are not enough riders to run seven man teams then don't.. If you cannot afford to run seven man teams then don't.. The fewer riders per team will free up others to replace injured riders.. Simply base your team structures on what you can afford and run on nights that bring the most money in...

I think that's a total cop out. He's been around speedway long enough that he should fully understand the internal politics. Using that as an excuse for non-delivery is poor. I think he has done well to introduce fixed race nights, something that British speedway has needed for years, but which people continually said couldn't be done. There is plenty more still to do, but it is a start.

If he scores well and gets into the 1-5 allowing the 2 Poles to drop to reserve, then I can see him staying - as always it'll come down to averages and the numbers game.

I'm expecting a very tough meeting for the Pirates. Expect the track to be different - again!! - Its been different for every single home meeting so far! Thorsell finally sussed out the track last year and with Schlein, Masters and Howarth all liking the Wimborne Road circuit, I can see a narrow win for the Wolves unless ALL 7 Pirates have finally found their set-ups and gating gloves!

I was thinking more of the lack of consistency and poor form  but I am expecting a stronger performance now they have the benefit of Stefan Nielsen to advise on set ups and lead from the front.

Thoroughly enjoyable weekend was had, great to see such a massive crowd, Warsaw in Poland is a great venue to have this GP, am already looking forward to the event in 2019, does anyone know of the dates yet.

Wolves average away score from their 2 league and one cup meeting is 38-52. So far this year they are poor travellers. You really are in trouble if you can't win with ease but of course there may be other reasons for keeping it close.

Haha fair one! brennan head and shoulders above all of them though from I saw in terms of bike control!

Torun v Leszno Friday 18th May all heats short version https://www.cda.pl/video/2293191b7?wersja=720p

In the end, a comfortable victory for Scunny... but at what cost? Hopefully Gino ain't too badly hurt, hoping for good news and wishing him all the best. Bit of a bruising encounter... First Auty/Lunna.... then Lunna (again)/Manzares.. and Danny Phillips x3 ...all in the wars. The meeting seemed to drag, but that's speedway, can't be helped when these incidents occur. Withdrawals from Manzares (Coccyx injury?) and Lunna (Don't know of injury, but poor lad probably had no bikes left) ..Hope all injured parties heal soon. As for the racing.. After the first few processional heats the quality improved no end.. There was four or five real quality heats and some very hard fought racing. Scunny deserved winners, despite another fantastic effort from Tero Aarnio. Expected a bit more from Proctor and Klindt. Just a little mention for Danny Phillips... Tried too hard tonight and paid the cost, can't fault the lad for effort.. a little more patience and one day it'll just click... stick in there Danny... there's a good score coming.

Was I the only one to see it on BBC South Today tonight: “Matt Ford awarded rear of the year”? No, not for his shapely bottom (although avidly admired by a couple of voters dubiously named “Shovvy” and ”Starchman”), no, this was for his “smack our arse” team selection! Who’d have thought it, three years in a row!

There are times Im not sure you have a clue - thank you for removing any doubt

no i sold my pc lollolmmmmmm

IF there was a master plan & IF one point was going to make such a difference they wouldn't have put him in heat 15 in the first place.

There was an article in the Wolves v Poole programme, that I thought was worth sharing. The article is written by Mark Sawbridge who is the official historian for Wolverhampton. He has previously written a book about Wolverhampton Speedway and is a well respected member of the speedway researcher community. The article states that Wolverhampton Speedway will be 90 years old this year. Furthermore, it is now the oldest track in the world, because all other older tracks have closed or simply don't exist anymore. I am long term Wolves fan, since 1967, but this is still a surprise to me. Long may we continue ! If anyone is interested in the article, PM me.

Slangerup live updates start time 1.30pm UK time https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/85382/2-runda-el-do-gp-2019-w-slangerup Lonigo live updates start time 8pm UK time https://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/relacja/85383/3-runda-el-do-gp-2019-w-lonigo the last round is on Monday from Abensberg

It's the 21st century Oldtimer, Speedway has made some right cock ups in recent years and the presentation (other the centre green announcer) is usually crap, but getting rid of the ancient fanfares and rider jingles isn't one of them!

Yes, to all of you tuning in for Panthers chat, try plan b. Nothing to see here

Perhaps Carl Johnson's statement before the start of the season makes more sense now (we have a plan A and a plan B .

It has been mentioned a few times on this forum about atmosphere making a huge contribution to the experience of live sport. Recently I paid my first visit in living memory to a premier league football match, Huddersfield v Swansea to be precise. The atmosphere and noise was incredible, but as Tony Mac alludes to, most of the time nothing really exciting is actually happening. A huge cheer followed by fervent clapping as a player clears a ball away from danger – you would think the guy had just found a cure for some terrible disease. If you saw that same action with the crowd removed, there would be literally nothing exciting about it at all! In my opinion this partly explains the, ‘speedway was much better in my day’ viewpoint. The atmosphere back in the 60’s and 70’s clearly was superb and added hugely to the experience even if the racing was poor. A good example is the 1981 world final at Wembley. A fantastic occasion, for sure, but count the overtakes. Not many, and yet this is one of speedways best remembered meetings because the occasion and crowd elevated it to something way beyond just the racing.

It's sad (that was edited!) that a serious attempt to make a point about the relative state of speedway in response gets petty point-scoring drivel from the usual suspects. Tony mentioned that he couldn't comment on ice hockey. I don't have involvement with that sport these days but their league structure until recently has been similar to ours, with a small top division supported by a middle section of around a dozen clubs but then, unlike us, regionalised hockey in the third and fourth tiers. I noticed when taking a look at the structure during the winter that their second tier appeared to have self-destructed with the former members now picking up the pieces in the regionalised minor leagues. Yes, we're not the only sport with problems but we are the only one where it ios pressures from overseas that are damaging the sport domestically. I've said before the BSPA has its great limitations but I rather feel sorry for them trying to face up to the onslaught of Poland, BSI and One Sport and having to surrender weekends for the top tier in response. They weren't really equipped for the battle. Football is a sport apart, if only for the money. You only have to look at the success of Manchester City and Chelsea, backed up by virtually unlimited subsidy from private individuals and their businesses to see that the sport side is rapidly disappearing. Sadly football has been relentlessly hyped so far in the 25 years since it sold its soul to Murdoch that normal economic factors are long gone. Despite protests the clubs can practically charge what they like and run up debts with impunity that they can walk away from, just creating new phoenix clubs where necessary when it gets too bad. People though let them get away with it because football is simply too important to them, and they will put up with anything and pay anything for their 'fix'. I use that last word carefully. Yes, UK speedway's in a state, but it's far from being all the BSPA's fault. With skills which they sadly don't possess they might have been able to deflect some of the harm done by foreign pay-days but. in reality they were on a hiding to nothing. It might help if the 'supporters' who mouth off here might actually see the bigger picture than whingeing about 'watered down' leagues and accepted that structural change is sadly vital and on the whole we simply can't afford to pay the top talent, although some are somehow finding the cash. More fool them. It's time for the genuine speedway fans to stand by their sport, make allowances and for those who are simply in it for championships and the 'glamour' of names to let the rest of us try to enjoy what we still have and work to rebuild the sport rather than play pathetic 'whooshing' and 'fishing' games in this forum. The BSF should be a sounding board for ideas to rescue and rebuild UK speedway. Sadly it seems that's beyond the playground mentalities of too many 'heroes' hiding behind their hilarious false names.

Looks like the only saddo is you. Not man enough to apologise I see. Read about his injuries here, https://www.daveyracing.co/single-post/2018/05/14/MITCHELL-DAVEY-INJURY-UPDATE Nothing there to joke about.

Lunna came in with a 5.90 average , he has done well away from home but looks very poor around the showground and Lambert I am sorry to say[ he's had plenty of chances and has had the luxury of a reserve spot but this season has done very little to warrant a team place. Grondal started off the season brilliantly but in the last 2 matches has tailed off and I understand in the last 2 matches he has blown 2 engines. Panthers look very suspect at home at the moment and unless they make some changes then I can see 2/3 more home losses and I think if the right riders can be found then they should make changes.

See ya Skip! Enoughs enough with Lambert surely? Least Bacon is showing signs of improving.....