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Turning to the current scene, sadly my planned trips back to Rye House have been scuppered so far by health so my chance to comment on actual sightings hasn't happened. But I've watched TV and video clips, read carefully the reports of others and yes, I'm worried. Knowing a little about losing money at Rye House (thankfully as an onlooker only) I suspect it's haemmorrhaging again. Like it or not, Rye House's history lies in weekend racing and has since Dicky Case ran it as Wembley's training track prewar. It grieves me to think of the place dead at weekends just so the promoters can run in the 'big time', or at least as 'big' as Britain can get these days. It was ambitious of BMR to take the Rockets up. It might have been more sensible to mix the ambition with knowledge and experience. I suspect it might have been cheaper. I've heard of last years figures and they were frightening enough without running without the TV money this year. Have there been demoralising pay cuts? Something's wrong. I will not speculate on reliability of payment - I have no evidence and that would be wrong. I want to see a stable Rye House running at weekends and whatever league it takes to achieve that then go for it. Steve Ribbons evokes the days of the Infradex team. Is what we've got now really better than a thrilling team of home-developed talent who were always free for a chat after racing? No it's not about 'rosy glasses', it's knowing what does or doesn't work at Rye House.

It's a shame how the place has turned out, it's being run into the ground and it would be a sad state if it did shut but that is all that looms in the future for Stoke. Needs a new promoter but the current promoter wants ridiculous money for the sale. It has potential to be a great stadium but not with this current shower running it!

Like how far our heads can get in the sand before we stop breathing?

Well just to keep this post going I've just noticed that every Glasgow rider is now doubling up or, in the case of Jack Thomas, down. I don't care what anyone, rider, fitness expert or psychologist says but no one can give 100% to two or more jobs especially with the amount of travel involved in speedway. Fans are yet again being short changed while the sport is being diluted by stupid rules.

WHEN I was assistant Race Director for a Copenhagen GP at which Madsen was the wild card, he was late for signing-on, late for riders' briefings and late for practice. Remember asking him whether he was on a different time zone. Seemed in a world of his own. Strange character.

Hello back!

Maybe he should stop with the golf carts and walk with his club's...

Shanes and Rye is not a good fit. He’s not a point and a half better than Clegg’s 2 point average so to sign him would be stupid. At least we didn’t sign him on an 11 odd average!

Even Keith Chegwin wouldn't take that swap

We were warned about KK when he signed. His inconsistency drives you mad. Most of the Rockets side have been up and down all season. In fact the only consistent rider had been Max Clegg.

KNOWS his way round Rye House

Unfortunately that's what it is all about nowadays with riders,how many meetings can I ride a week ,doesn't matter who for.

Still going through old mags, and back in 1978 Belle Vue were celebrating its 1502 member to the Supporters’ Club. I know it is 40 years since, but perhaps the lure of following a team – you needed to join the club to travel on club coaches – was one of the reasons. Belle Vue, admit ably, had an attractive side, but they had a decent line-up for much of the seventies. My belief - back then; it was the lure of following a side you could identify with. They were your boys, which you felt all sort of emotions when they won and lost. Racing was no better, but you had the belief that it was your side. You were energised to follow it on its travels, even the odd individual meeting that one of your riders was in at some far off corner of the country. But that has gone. And so-called promoters scratch their scratched-scarred heads wondering why. Speedway has suffered a continuous decline since 1978, but modern day speedway puts two fingers up at the fans that want that team ethic back we had even 20 years ago. When you see men on television riding in a Swedish match and scoring well after having had a bit of a stinker for your club just 24 hours earlier, it makes you think – why should I support a team of riders who don’t really mind what they net for you or your team, because they have a preferred match in Sweden or Poland later that same week?

Id be surprised if a well respected Speedway man like Vasey puts his name to the shambles that is Stoke Speedway

Anyway...back to planet speedway..glad to hear Ulrich has no broken bones.

You worry about Poole, Somerset seem quite happy with Garry May.

Jack has knuckled down and gets on with his job. Very easy to work with. Must be happier this year.

best thread in the championship section i’ve seen in a while I have to say! Sheff fan realising his team isn’t anywhere near as good as he thought and unhappy that they was knocked out of a competition even though everything was followed by the rules...

when i was on a bike i was living the dream, the money side of it really wasn't an issue, and when i rode in the first team i didn't have a clue what money i was on i just wanted to get out there and ride. when i was at Canterbury they rode Saturdays so i just didn't work that day, and when at Exeter (3 hrs each way) i just took half day holiday from work on a Monday (BT) and took the bike in to work on the back of the car and left it in the BT yard ready to drive straight down. away meetings were holiday from work unless it was Wimbledon which was 10 minutes from me. at times i'd take 2 bikes on the trailer but it was very rare. basically what i'm saying is that now it just seems to be nowhere near that, even for MDL or whatever, it's all moved into being a business and self-employed and not about getting out on the bike

Meaning?

I reckon the losses will be a lot more than 30k at numerous tracks by the end of the season.

They kept animals to protect their grain.That is why we have domesticated cats,brought to Europe from Egypt by the Romans.Meat was expensive and even up to the 19th century lots of people survived on mainly a vegetarian diet.The reliance on vegetables or particularly the potato was shown in the famine in Ireland

Calculator to hand I hope. Those scores get tricky come heat 14.

He isn't related to Peter Madsen is he? (guy who was recently convicted of murdering a journalist on his home-made submarine near Copenhagen)

Maybe he should just try and be a modern day pro speedway rider.

The word 'entourage' springs to mind!!!

Wish you hadn`t posted that as it`s reminded me that in the same season we(the Racers) had the Kai Niemi guest farce. I thought i had just got over it but i`m not so sure now.

He was merely a shadow of the rider we know he can be on Sunday , Witches fans and management must be totally frustrated with his recent performances when you know there is a much better rider in there somewhere, your management need to get to the bottom of whatever is problem is, be it mental block, physical, injury, or machinery problems, no one likes to see riders with talent just wasting away when know they have something about them and know they can do a great deal better. I was very disappointed in his efforts at the showground.

Great result, awful speedway. Felt so sorry for our little entertainer.

I have been saying this for yonks. That's why I'm out!

Matej Kus

I would think Comets v Peterborough as our best/better option being as we have riders that like to go AWOL at the other two, at least this way one of those tracks will be removed from our equation!!

Charles Wright now gone from Somerset. The sort of rider we could do with. Our top five so inconsistent away from home and for example our new No1 picks up 2 points away at Lynn. But you get what you pay for I suppose and in our case over the last three years not very much

As Pirate Nick says there's 2 sides to every story.

As JCF I trust knows the cost etc is not the point.

Poole have 7 second string riders

Yeah. Everyone suggests I ought to let it go but no-one seems able to actually give a logical response to my assertion that Sheffield have the better results and should be in the semis. Anyone with a basic understanding of mathematics can see that basing decisions on average league-points when the teams have differing numbers of fixtures is always going to give an unfair advantage to the team with fewer fixtures. Personally I would never be happy with my team qualifying for a semi-final if their performance didn't merit them being there. There's no joy in winning on a technicality. Just ask the guy who climbed two-thirds of the way up Everest but claimed that since he'd done it in half the time, his achievement was better than Edmund Hillary.

Oh dear I believe you are digging yourself a bigger hole to JCB proportions. Time to let it go and next year you may do better .

Well said Gav.

Had there been another side in the group and that side managed to make Peterborough drop those home points it makes it very likely THAT team wouldve been second in the group AND therefore in with a chance of being better placed runners up than Sheffield too

A bit like not accepting a simple principle of average points per match??

What did your promoter say then. But if Sheffield had gained one more point away then they would have qualified, and they had one more chance than Peterborough.

You yet again ignore the defeats Pboro 3 pts per home meeting Sheffeiled 3 pts per home meeting Identical records Pboro 3 pts from 2 away ave 1.5 Sheff 4 pts from 3 away ave 1.33° Now which is the better away record??

Thank you I didn't want to have to say it myself.

Two good posts. Surely enough is enough. No one really wants to see a track close but neither do we want to hear of injuries or farcical circumstances further damaging speedways fragile reputation. A suspension or closure may be a blessing.

Hope he never gets his gating gloves. Fabulous entertainment

Can we take it as read that you wasn't at Berwick last night, Josh Pickering may be many things but out of control isn't one of them. Silly post really.

Seems like the only person Phil has criticized in the sport is Charlie Webster and the NZ promoter.And it was funny that he only criticized him once he pulled out of promoting a GP!!!!Before that,he was a great bloke lol

I have long followed speedway from the bike in the back of the boot days and stopped going in the mid 80’s. On my return in 2004 I couldn’t believe how more professional the sport had become with vans mechanics and 2 bikes for each rider. That mirrored our society then with greater wealth per person. Sponsors were happy to invest in riders and teams as times were good. Then came the crash in 2008 money tight sponsors disappear and speedway in my opinion has been on the decline since. The sport needs a backer for all the leagues but all we have is BT in the Premiership. A few thousand pounds going to every club in the lower leagues would probably make a world of difference. If those clubs then give it to the riders in higher wages then we’re back where we started! A free for all system doesn’t work so restraint needs implementing.

To me its fairly obvious, there are 15 minutes of racing in speedway meeting, yet meetings tart at 7.30 and finish at around 9.15 on average, stadiums in general do not have full under cover stands, pa systems that are pizz poor, announcers/presenters that are ta best average in terms of geeing up the crowd and keeping everyone entertained. Fans and riders used to moan about Frank Ebdon but maybe just maybe he was ahead of his time in pushing meetings through, todays youngsters are the one's that will need to sell speedway to their youngsters going forward, nobody wants to stand out in the elements for nigh on two hours for 15 minutes of entertainment and lets be honest most races or even meetings may not be entertaining!