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As a Wolves fan I will be as you say be '"disappointed" at no Lindgren etc. It must be similar to Belle Vue fans who will miss Zagar, Cooke, Tungate etc as they enter the sterile surroundings of the National Diversity Stadium after being ripped for £3 parking, frisked for taking food in and finding such limited VFM catering inside. Whoops looks like I've taken the bait ..... Will try better Next Year. Pip pip, Lefty

The guys a complete ‘creep’. His obsession with Stevebrum is pretty worrying

I find that those who wish to knock the sport paint a picture of those who attempt to defend it as blind optimists, utterly refusing to accept its minority status and living in cloud cuckoo land regarding the deep problems that it has. It is no coincidence that many of those no longer attend and my suspicion is that they do so in an attempt to justify their own decision not to go any more. In actual fact - and I attend meetings right across the country regularly - nothing could be further from the truth and I know of no-one like that. Every single current fan accepts that speedway is minority and they are all deeply concerned about its future prospects for survival, its declining attendances and revenue creation and the appalling self interests at the heart of the sport. The scale and range of critical comment on this forum is evidence of that. Even in its hey day, speedway never got the media attention its size and attendances deserved. It would say that that was partly but not totally the fault of those within the sport. It would also be very wrong to insist that those who advocate Woffinden's inclusion do so simply because of their own bias towards speedway, rather than on an at least a partly balanced basis given other nominees. Truth is being a competitor in a minority sport - or an 'irrelevance' - has never been a handicap where the BBC's nominations are concerned. If it were, Lizzy Yarnold would surely not be there (as you said yourself, only 2 out of more than 60 recognised her and on University Challenge recently none did). Yet as the greatest ever British Winter Olympian her nomination, to me, is absolutely correct. By virtue of his three world titles, Woffinden can reasonably be stated to be the greatest British speedway rider of all time (or the most 'decorated' one, using the BBC's own term). As such, he isn't just a World Champion. I would say that their achievements are almost identical. Clearly, they both represent minority sports. My view, therefore, is that they should be treated equally. Your view (because you have stated no criticism of or opposition to her nomination) is that they should be treated entirely differently. Which one of us is biased ?

Clearly you DON'T know how councils operate. Every council has a department which seeks to attract investment through sport and tourism. If a strong enough following can be demonstrated, councils are duty-bound to support viable initiatives. Thurrock Council says it supports Thurrock's business base, local enterprise, innovation and economic growth which raises the profile of Thurrock as an innovative and progressive place to invest. Through this petition the speedway family is attempting to show that a speedway venue in the town fulfils these aims. Fans of our great sport - wherever they happen to live - can assist in this by signing the petition and expressing their support for a new venue.

Maybe he’s the best rider at the right wage on an average achieved in the 3:00 + bracket. Maybe, although not exciting enough. This could be a move to make room for another rider who does matter more. He could be the sacrificial lamb to allow a potent top 6. Team building could come down to .01 of a point. He could be the guy there to make the rest of the numbers fit until DRew Kemp is ready or another face fits?

Could be akin to having an 8th rider if you look at it that way No one knows the in and outs of the deals (and nor should they really) but you would expect a relatively level playing field So lets wait and see before jumping to conclusions however obvious they may seem at this time

What a horrible thought! And a Happy New Year to you!

Ive given up trying to 2nd guess what the £$@€ is going on!! Im at the point of just waiting to see what happens and making little comment The next week or so could see some more info. Originally it was indicated to expect the next 2 announcements early in new year with completion not too long after Hopefully that will happen rather than having to wait til March......

I'm starting to think that Ipswich were backed into a corner and forced to move up to save the premiership. Perhaps a case of premiership or no speedway as the bspa tried to save the flagship league! The longer this all drags on the less convinced I am that this what Louis and Ipswich as a club wanted. The amount of work that has been put in recent years in terms of naming competitive teams social media updates and interaction with the supporters seems to have been wiped out and replaced with the Chapman silence blanket. The club didn't appear to be for sale and Ipswich were planning championship speedway again at the end of last season.

If it’s a tug o war between Lynn and Ipswich for the services of one Rambo Lambo this one battle I really wanna see The Witches win. Have a feeling he would be much better suited to a season around Foxhole.

Simon Lambert has got news coming out on new years day, fingers crossed it's Kings Lynn

The individual has a choice, they can take advantage of the generosity of the club, or they can take a moral stand to support the club financially by paying through the gate. Peter always offered me free entry, I always declined and paid my share at the gate.

That's a tasty looking team. If Becker is anywhere near as good at speedway as his dad was at tennis, it's going to be top drawer. Get him on the faggots and peas early doors.

The only fuss I can see seems to be coming from certain opposing teams fans , and your Dads Army comment I think is very disrespectful to those riders concerned considering they have been entertaining fans for a number of years with a fair amount of success to show for it. For myself I am very happy with the team assembled and take nothing for granted as long as I am entertained in the right manner and as long as it is competitive I will be more than happy .

I think people have to bear in mind thst the principle was spot on and that even though sat in Jason’s kitchen looked unprofessional, the idea was there. Other years we’ve seen a NLKOC ‘draw’ where all teams local to each other have raced each other whereas now we know it’s totally transparent. Just the presentation needs sprucing up. But even the big sports get it wrong! Look at the football Carabao/League Cup draw where teams were drawn the wrong way round and teams drawn twice!

Fingers crossed the new sponsor isn't Caburys otherwise you will be backing 7 big purple ones next season.....

No, their will be a new headline sponsor for 2019 which the club have said should be announced soon. I reckon this means that a return to blue and yellow is highly likely.

Please tell me what your beef is with all things Wolverhampton it is all getting very petty and childish now .Just stay in your own room if you not like us.

Yes you took the bait, he realises very few if any clubs in this country can afford riders like Woffinden etc. Just on his usual wind up and dislike of everything Wolves.

Fingers crossed you're right!

I prefer if my opinions of you and your posts are not printed. You come across as someone who sees the world through Stars tinted glasses. and your comments are the same . as soon as anyone voices different you jump as to say how dare you. Never have I said there shouldn't be intervals, but when they stretch to 20 mins or sometimes more then I complain. there's an old saying, don't Kill the goose who lays the golden Egg, Buster usually does everything for his own benefit , just a pity some on here cant see it.....

Yeah it was a bit amateurish and a bit cheap, BUT it was a genuine draw and we had full disclosure. A big step in the right direction. If the BSPA are going to do similar things more often, hopefully they find fit to start unblocking the many people they have blocked over the years many if not most simply for asking a question. Myself, I got blocked after they denied saying there was ever a live feed planned for the u19s. I screenshotted their tweet from 2 weeks earlier as a reply and got myself blocked lol.

It was great to be there and see the Tiger get on the rostrum...

I can also recommended a good book on pre-war Wembley,which i am sure has less mistakes than the museum website https://www.amazon.de/Wembley-Speedway-Pre-War-Years-Greats/dp/075243750X

As do you !! Putting a couple of emojis at the end of a sarcastic reply doesn't disguise its intentions. I had given up ever having a discussion with you because of your continue disrespect for anyone who voices opinions against the Stars. It becomes a pointless exercise when you only see in one direction. All your feelings towards the Kings Lynn Stars I have felt them all. Once upon a time they were more important to me than the Lord himself. My life was governed by the exploits of this same club. During this time, I travelled to every venue in the league and never missed a single match for more years than I care to remember. As years started to add up , the family was getting older, I realised there was more to life and reduced the amount of time and money the sport then occupied . Instead of having my head in the clouds I began to see the sport for what it was , and I enjoyed this more believable existence. The pure ingrediencies of this sport is watching 4 riders on fast machine with no brakes, competing for glory. Witnessing Robert Lambert defying the laws of balance has become an immense pleasure. So I find it insulting, for posters such as yourself, to ridicule my views. In those 54 years of following the Stars , I have seen the Good, the Bad and the Ugly many times. but the one thing I find hard to accept is the continue contempt shown to the fans. We should be the bread and butter of every club, but nobody appear to understand that... Hence, the reasons why I feel the way I do..

For those who volunteer, or those who provide a service that puts speedway on at Berwick, I have no trouble at all with them getting free or reduced entry. Its those who either used to provide a service, no longer do and think they have a right to free entry, or the wives and families of those who provide a service on a Saturday night there is a problem. True its the choice of the club but there are times when it seems the clubs generosity it being taken a lend of.

Good luck for the new season .

Wow i see lots of slating before you even have a team you never know could have NKI as your number 1 .

My comment was directed to 1 'fan' only and that is the inflammatory FF, so you can calm down.

Speedway fans the world over would want to support the growth of the sport wherever it occurs. As a Sheffield fan nothing would please me more than to see new tracks opening in Essex.... or Liverpool, Bournemouth and Aberdeen for that matter. I suspect many of the signatories are of the same opinion.

Haters gotta hate. And be personal.

Indeed , Although i don't think its a question of 'knowledge' to realise that titles aren't won on paper ? Just common sense ...

Fallacious? Ooooh, suck on that one!

Absolutely correct. Belle Vue haven't got a pot to p**s in and can't even afford GP failure Cook.

That's basically what Barry Bishop questioned in the comments of the last speedway tavern.

Didn't see it so cannot comment on the quality etc but sometimes people are darned if they do and darned if they don't. It appears that the whole concept has been well received but execution lets it down a bit and whilst it isn't particularly difficult for those with a bit of know how to produce something professional looking i personally im just glad to hear that a large budget wasn't allocated/wasted to something as simple as a KOC draw.

thank you for adding your twist to my post . the final sentence was welcoming and honestly . is that the best you can do ? r must have a wee go at altering your posts sometime . or is that a typo error and you forgot to put in in the proper place ? you could always edit it ..

Well I tend to differ,I think that witches will have a top level number1 signed and by news years day everyone will be full of confedence for the 2019 season ,first 2 signings look great so get behind ya team as positives are always better than negetives ,happy team and fans is a fast one that holds the cup at season end!

Yes - and no. Of course, many of speedway's problems (well, BRITISH speedway's problems) are self-inflicted. However, there are many that aren't. I am not going to keep going over the same ones, but I haven't previously covered the media ones. Now, it would be wrong to accuse the BBC alone, and it would be wrong to think it is just a speedway (or sports) issue. Unfortunately, the world is a very different - and very much more self-opinionated - place these days. We are all aware of the problems on public forums with opinions seemingly taking precedence over fact, but it is not limited to the general public. The days of reporting "news" are gone; even the legitimate news services display ridiculous bias. The sad thing is that with modern television, the opportunities are there to cover so many more sports than ever before. With so many channels now, all running 24-hours, there shouldn't be any problem covering everything. Of course, there is, and it appears that it is better - and cheaper - for the tv companies to keep showing the same handful of sports, and to keep repeating the same programmes. When the public complain, we get, "Sorry. Your sport does not fit in with our plans". In other words, the station (or more accurately, a person or persons within the station) don't like that particular sport. Same with newspapers and other publications, although the world of print has suffered at the hands of the internet. And then there is the internet... I check the obituaries on the Telegraph website on a daily basis. They basically cover anyone who was anyone. Actors who appeared in two episodes of Corrie, footballers who played a handful of games for Rotherham Utd in 1964, etc.. Speedway? When Nigel Boocock died, I contacted them, and said that I thought that he deserved inclusion. I submitted a concise but detailed obituary. I received a "thank you", but that was it. They published an obituary for Ivan, but nothing for Ronnie. Is that REALLY not their fault? High-profile and successful figures who were literally household names who merit inclusion more than many others who are published? So, the media cannot be totally absolved from blame... Steve

The reduction in the number of teams from 10 to 8 is as much responsible for a lack of places for last years riders as the limit reduction is. But you are correct that there will be an inflation in all riders averages once the first set of new Green Sheets are issued. The team average will rise from 36 to 42, so a mean increase of 16.7% It is likely that a 6.00 rider will increase his average to 7.00 and then could be replaced by a (last year's) 7.00 rider who is really worth 8.16 in new money. The only way I can think of to counter this is to increase the average of any rider from last year, who doesn't start this year, by 16% if joining a team after the new averages are out.

The reduction in the points limit seems to be freezing more than a few of the top riders out of the National League (which was probably at least partly the objective!) But this will mean that many riders who were perhaps 6/7 point men last season, will become 8/9 point men after the first month of the new season, due to having had comparatively easier rides. If this happens, clubs will then be able to drop one of these riders and replace him with a 2018 8/9 pointer who will then in reality be a 10/11 point man. Difficult to put into words, but this could create problems and ill-feeling from clubs who aren't in a position to make such a change, so I hope that the BSPA have taken this possibility into account!

Then if you dont want that sort of thing thrown back at you dont make stupid comments in the first place..

It was a question. I did not say that you accepted it, just asking. Not sure why the insult was needed though - just shows you up as a complete and utter bellend.

Updated for correctness!!

Ah! Spain. A real speedway hotbed - really surprising that no senors recognised Woffinden

Welcome back Ashley Morris

Who is ridiculing stock cars? And what relevance does the expense have apart from backing up my hobby comment! The cars are a labour of love and incredibly expensive yet the rewards are quite small - that sounds like the foundation of a hobby to me

I can accept looking stupid, it's not uncommon. But no rose tinted specs, as it affects me not in the slightest what the riders are earning.

Halsey and Harris as a pairing seems to scream as getting a 5-1 over decent opposition but in their next race Halsey falls and Harris retires!

Swap Connor for Nathan Greaves and that would be challenging for honours in the CL in 2019....