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It's madness that every team doesn't allow 16 year olds and under in for free every week!

No point in targeting new audiences, or even trying to hold on to your existing ones if you don't first of all give them a speedway meeting to attend. As has been said before, what those dullards Chapman and Godfrey have done is to unliterally wipe three clubs fixtures from the already sparse fixture list , which cannot fail to hit the attendances of the clubs concerned even further. They then compound that display of mismanagement by telling the fans absolutely nothing, not even the briefest of announcements and merrily carrying on as if nothing has happened, and hope the fans wont notice. The more I think about this utter, crass stupidity, the lack of communication, and the abject short sightedness of those at the helm, the angrier I get. They are worse than useless.

He was unhappy about the way Lakeside and other Friday teams fixtures were removed without warning. He said that ongoing discussions are to be had, and that whilst our next home fixture is in 2 weeks against Peterborough, this is only provisional as the official permission to run it has not been given yet. He stated that decisions were being made to benefit one club at the expense of several others. He didn't name names, but the implication was pretty clear that the culprit is Mr Godfrey at Scunthorpe.

NO! I won't have this... they changed the white helmet colour to green! They did all they could

I have just had to scroll to the top to check that I am actually on the Somerset thread. If you aren’t going to discuss Somerset topics guys can you use another platform to air your views please.

But you are now a serious prospect for the play offs. No one will touch EDI at home with a top four of Wells, Riss E, Worrall and Palovaara. Glasgow have handed you a lottery win by dispensing with their more flexible heat leader and rider most marketable to rival play off contenders on 7.57. Had it been Harris in the low 8's there would have been few takers, especially not Edinburgh. Its a spectacular own goal by Glasgow that could end our own fragile playoff hopes, particularly as the last two league meetings are Edinburgh home and away.

Superb guest choice

The tracks are too small and the bikes are too fast. Has anyone got a magic wand.

Yes but Fred Flange, I’m not the one populating most threads with spats with other posters, and rarely being on topic.

Unfortunately with a PR company you have situations like last Monday. A live TV match on a major broadcaster, 2 evenly matched teams , the most successful team of recent years as the visitors,a modern purpose built track and stadium , beautiful weather and no clashes with the World Cup. And what do we get , 2 hours of dross,a trapping contest with riders strung out like washing after 1 lap with little or no racing. A bore fest, now how could any PR company worth its salt do anything with that ? Unfortunately that's where we are !

I hear what your saying but my point is that in whatever business your in, you have to listen to the paying customer and adapt to keep them happy or you will lose clients..

Yes the troll will come up with another load of rubbish re replacements, just like Chris Harris

Riding stoke most weeks would dent any riders confidence

The sport needs an independent body with a blue print plan for the future of the sport, I think most agree on this. The sport needs to go back to basics and concentrate on the product on offer. We can't afford the top lads so get rid of them for a while, spend the money not on wages but track prep, presentation, advertising and putting on an entertaining evening with fast flowing speedway on a well prepared track with a slick show in between races to keep fans entertained. A consistent fixture list is essential with the only non race night is because the team is away that night for a fixture. The governing body needs to at first win back the trust of the existing fan base with transparent honesty and then look towards winning back the lost fans base and then and only then can it start to attract a new fan base. Stabilise the current business, work within the existing financial constraints and then start to build for a future.. They have to consolidate what they have first, work as a team and then build, this I doubt will happen..

Why should Sheffield Ipswich and Redcar be sacrificed just so the premiership teams can have fixed race nights. The championship / premier league / national league has always been a better run league. Several clubs have been tempted “up” and then been shafted and either closed or ran in the current national league.

You are nothing if not consistent in your anti Lakeside rantings. You may think your comments are meaningful but they just exemplify exactly what you are . After experiencing a truly awful track at Peterborough and then being lied to by the then promotion, I vowed never to go there again (and haven't) but I do not constantly post anti Peterborough comments. You need to get a life!

I must admit it was close and waited for the official announcement before jotting down scores . P.S did you touch the tapes ?.

They have not listened to anyone, as far as I know, or asked any fans or groups of fans about preferences. The BSPA should be going ahead with a survey of the type recently posted ( which was first done 20 years ago ). They neither welcome nor acknowledge feedback from their customers. Such businesses usually end up by closing down. I agree with your choice myself.

Again you are missing the point, I was comparing Klindt score against those of the rest of the team. Such was the advantage of having a strong reserve, any team would have profited likewise had they had the same.... In all of my years , jealousy has never been one of my straits. In fact I believe jealousy is such a juvenile behaviour, that its probably more in keeping with those who think it.....

Agree, but, better a guest, if it had been last night, been down to 5, too risky against a good Sheffield side

maybe give them a free rattle and a club rosette?

A very enjoyable meeting with lots of good races. Much credit must go to Sheffield who gave a real battling performance. The two 5-1s in heats 13 and 15 made the score look a lot more comfortable than it ever felt. Fortunately for the Hammers, Lawson and Morris were superb, and it's that spearhead that may make the difference for us when the trophies are handed out.

I don't know why any sensible person wouldn't go for the heat 15 option when winning the toss.

Not fans at fault it's down to the BSPA who have allowed this to happen , fans, have not created this situation , alarm bells have been ringing for years , when the so called top league started poaching riders from the now known championship to double up in reserve positions for the now known premier league , you see they even nicked our league name because they know we have a better product.

3 months for a scalphoid.

Feel really sorry for Mark, good luck lad and I hope you can come back to us sometime. Thanks for your contribution to Monarchs, you are a much better rider than you have been lately. I’m sure someone will snap you up

This surely should never been allowed to happen? Does this mean Hancock can sign for Berwick? And Pedersen for Newcastle? Craig cook has found his level, can't cut it in poland or the gps, I think he's accepting this by agreeing to this move.

Tracks are not too small, gustrow proved that today and bikes are not really any faster than they were 30 years ago, the back wheel speed has increased but the bike speed is pretty much the same but you don’t need a magic wand what you need is someone to get control of the machinery and stop the free for all which has gone on for years but it won’t happen cause the tail wags the dog and while it does the sport is cooked

According to Jon Cook in S/S;- "Our entry to the Championship was submitted that we were going to run mainly as a Friday club, with us accommodating the likes of Scunthorpe and Glasgow even though they opted to choose their race night this season This was discussed at the fixture meeting earlier this year and there were no real issues as we have been a Friday racetrack since 2007. For someone like ourselves we haven't got the availability of our venue to fulfil our fixture list if we could only run on a Saturday." The point really is that the fixtures were submitted and approved then suddenly removed half way through the season without notice or explanation. Nobody forced them to accept the Friday fixture list. They could have said no before the season started but to get half way through t the season and then remove the fixtures, apparently at the whim of a BSPA MC member is despicable.

I kind of agree with that but there’s a chance that in canvassing opinions when some are inevitably discarded that you end up alienating those that put forward the opinions that were passed over. Granted you’ll never please everyone. But I think ultimately that the clubs need to get their collective heads together and agree for the sake of the sport and it’s long term survival what does and what doesn’t work. They need to develop and agree a long term business plan that will mean the survival of the majority, if not all, of the clubs long term. As.much as fans believe they know the ins and outs of running a speedway team I imagine that the vast majority do not in reality. So taking business advice from those that don’t know isn’t necessarily going to be a sound move IMO. If the clubs and their owners can put forward a product that ensures the long term survival of the sport in this country then I’m sure most fans will happily buy into that.

I guess you do what the majority want, at least that way you give yourself a fighting chance.

Which is precisely why the unthinkable is going to happen in the not too distant future to John Lewis/Waitrose. After their latest poor set of results they announced 'From now on our colleagues will be at the centre of everything we do'. The customer can go swivel as long as we are happy. Remind you of any other organisations?

They were singing the wrong words - they should have been singing “we’re coming home”

Presumably it was because England could have been in the final? With all the 'Its coming home' messages I saw I thought it was a foregone conclusion. Dont know what went wrong because I dont follow football.

BLACKMAIL . more like it .dont sign the guy . reeks of bull ! so he has been racing all these years and has not got a spare pair on kevs . what next , a throttle cable ?

well that would be a good place to hand out half price entry vouchers at their nearest track

There not griping and moaning they are expressing there democratic right of opinion.

And didn't even need a lollipop to help?

Hi Dave, Cradley Heath v Wolves on 3rd June was abandoned due to a waterlogged track.

Didn't Craig get a paid max earlier in the season? Don't usually check their results but I think he was racing for them before the current break (beginning of July).

Jake Allen guests for Ully .... http://www.peterboroughpanthers.co/news.php?extend.3417.2

Yes kids should be let in for free, but when they're in the stadium I'm just not sure things like photo's, sweets and caps cut it anymore with kids. The majority of kids I see at Speedway couldn't be any less bothered with what his happening on the other side of the fence. What the sport needs to invest in is some kind of interactive app that kids can install on their phones and couple that to the action that is happening on the track, that is the addiction that will keep them wanting to come back and when they grow out of that smartphone adddiction hopefully they've created enough of a bond with their club to continue to attend as a paying adult

The fact that other clubs haven’t postponed tonight’s meetings despite postponing ones on other dates that England played show they don’t think it’s a financial risk. So why are Eastbourne fans more interested by the 3rd place play-off than the rest of the country?!

Apparently next year we’re doing an “everyone can get in free if you can find the track”.

Monarchs by 12+

Tough one for Edinburgh - they wont have the home track advantage that they had last night......

At Speedway Mail, 27 years ago, we were echoing the fans' growing dissatisfaction and urging the BSPA to listen to them. All the grumbles expressed today were apparent back then - and beyond. The problems have only worsened over the ensuing years.

Not having team Kevlars makes sense now. Mind you probably would have got a discount for a bulk order.

So Chris Harris signs for Poole It has been pointed out that Chris`s performance for Rye House were baffling to say the least this year (sadly this resulted in his average being reduced, but luckily for him a low average makes him more employable). His one great performance this season was 4 wins and a fall on a 5-1 at Poole (but I am sure this was a coincidence that they happen to be his new employer) the rest of the season was littered with 6 point scores. His form this season has been erratic due to various circumstances he himself outlined earlier this year, well I am so glad that immediately after losing his job at Rye House and is in the "shop window", he breaks the track record at Glasgow. It would seem that by total accidence Chris is a very lucky rider.

So, three clubs, namely Lakeside, Workington and Peterborough, have seemingly had the plug pulled on their Friday meetings for the foreseeable future, despite the fixture list being approved by the BSPA at the start of the season. If the regular race night is lost it will be a financial hit to the clubs. Even if the Friday Race night is somehow restored it will mean attndances are likely to be hit because many fans, especially season ticket holders build other arrangements around the original fixture lists an cannot easily change them, not to mention the problems of trackstaff having to change their arrangements, at a time when we have the main holiday season approaching. On top of that we have all seen how difficult it is to re-arrange rain-offs let alone a whole block of fixtures. And that is the best case scenario. The worst case scenario could be having to change race nights and going down the same plug hole as Rye House have just gone down Lets be clear. The buck stops with the BSPA who have conduct of the Day to Day running of the sport, and its chairman Keith Chapman. For years now Kings Lynn fans have been on here becoming increasingly disenchanted with Chapmans lack of information about what is going on at Kings Lynn. This now seems to be polluting the sport in general despite Chapmans rhetoric about openness when first elected. This has now plumbed to new depths with the withdrawal of Friday race nights to three clubs, as it seems even the clubs themselves, let alone the fans have been kept in the dark. This is the relevant section of Jon Cooks comment on the Lakeside website :- “This meeting however, and all our other Friday meetings, mysteriously disappeared from the official BSPA fixture list at the end of last week and although the club has yet to receive any explanation from the Association, the SCB (Speedway Control Board) has reassured us on the continuation of our season,......" It seems from this that even the clubs themselves have not been told anything by the secretive Chapman, and that follows the palpable silence from the BSPA regarding Rye House. To my mind, that tells you everything you need to know about the way the present MC regard its fan base. Needless to say the BSPA website, which should be first with the news carries on as if nothing has happened. Personally I have been going to speedway meetings since before I started school, more than half a century ago. I have never been as close to walking away as I am now. There must be loads more like me. While I am on my soap box perhaps I could add that I have in my memorabilia a copy of the old Speedway News dated April 1939 previewing the start of the season for that year. The editorial stresses the need for having balanced and competitive teams to generate interest in the league and each match. I doubt if there is a fan in the country today that would disagree with that. its what gets the crowds in. Its all the fans want: competitive racing in a competitive league with no shenanigans behind the scenes. Not a lot to ask for really.Nearly 80 years after the Speedway News hit the nail on the head Chapman and his secret society still dont get it