Leaderboard

fACEBOOK ! whats that ? is the the one where your husband or wife looks up old school friends/work colleges ? then the next thing you know , he or she is leaving you for an old school friend work mate etc . then you are saddled with a 2nd mortgage to pay them out , but still have to pay for kids and the extra money they get off you goes towards a new car for the new partner and not to the welfare of the offspring . not speaking from experience or owt like OH, that facebook .

According to the Peterborough Evening Telegraph Chris Harris is gutted to be left out of Panthers team and could anyone blame him, Ged Rathbone has said he cannot comment on this and Carl Johnson said he been instructed not to comment about it . Did Ged go over the allowed budget or is this Chapman flexing his muscles to get equality amongst his 3. clubs. Supporters club committee have held a behind closed doors meeting with representatives of Chapman at the weekend to let them know what is expected from them for 2019. So Chapman being club owner has silenced those promoting the team which effect means they have been gagged. All this just to keep the premier league functioning. I am beginning to wish we had stayed in the championship and not sold out to the dictator.

Arch Stanton - that's bang on in my humble opinion as a non Witch. I think both Ipswich and Peterborough would be better in CL; especially when you consider the more competitive CL set up, which despite losing Workington (sadly) has 2 new and positive recruits in my team Birmingham and also Eastbourne. My views are-: The thought of a 14 team CL with Ipswich and Peterborough in it and with Workington still going plus the 2 newcomers would be as near as "salivating in anticipation" as we have had in League Speedway for a decade or so. I can't help and think and fear that a 7 team PL is simply not going to work, I just hope BT Sport stick around though as surely the penny has got to click at some point - a 16 - 18 Team League (combining CL and PL) home and away once each with 40 point limit, no doubling up and telling the Poles and Swedes that we will be racing 7 days a week so that Sunday / Tuesday tracks can be part of a BRITISH LEAGUE. Who knows we may even get some decent Sponsors back!

Peterborough fans put there hard earned money into the club a few years ago and to be honest they should demand it back now after the Holdergate episode and the sale of the club now but most did it for the love of the club to keep it going.

With all due respect when Chris Harris is being banded about for elite league number 1 you know your in trouble. 10yrs ago yeah I’d get it.

The big downside with Harris is the "he never knows" statement especially at the start of the season, he never knows how to get his bikes set up, he never knows any other excuse other than im struggling for speed and don't know why and he never knows any other response when he has an early mechanical failure but to put his hand out and say i need more money. Come play off time i suspect he will deliver but sadly as a guest and not the team he signs for.

Northside has planning permission to run 364 days a year, it has to be one of the preferred sites for developing a track. The current training track could be kept as it is, there is more than enough land over there that seems to be used for not much else. For me the main issue over there is the possibility of a gypsy park being located there as well, Northside have enough problems with vandalsim and theft as things stand without adding to it

I personally would hope the new stadium could be used for other things as well as football and rugby, ideally it would be good to see a concert or 2 in the West of the county. Re: the Comets in my humble female opinion I would like to see us develop our own track no matter how basic initially so that all income comes to our club rather than us subsidising a landlord

Sadly I think both Ipswich and Peterborough fans will be saying the same - it is all about saving the PL and the tv deal with BT - only in speedway could you have one man effectively owning 3 clubs in a 7 team league .

I don't think the racing today is necessarily any better or worse than I have watched since the 1950's. In my opinion the racing at the NSS is as good as it was at Hyde Road. Good racing is produced at UK tracks like Peterborough, Somerset and Scunthorpe and also abroad, in the GP's and the Polish leagues. However, what has changed is that the bikes today are not as well suited to many of the tracks in the UK and that, together with other factors, such as track preparation and the quality of shale used, has resulted in an overall poorer standard of racing. I have witnessed it and many have commented on the poorer quality of racing now on offer at once great racing tracks like King's Lynn and Sheffield and the standard at Wolverhampton, a good little technical track, is not what it was even 7 or 8 years ago.

Problem is, most sensible business owners that are Speedway fans know to stay away from running clubs if they wish to hold onto their riches. Peterborough and Ipswich didn't need a buyer anyway as their existing owners were willing to remain in the Championship. Buster didn't want one big league so desperately bought these 2 clubs to maintain Premiership status. In doing so is already upsetting their fans through lack of information to which they're not used too under previous owners. All the negativity has been created by one man who's desperation to save the league is turning his "customers" off. These supporters are now seeing what I've seen happening at King's Lynn. Keith Chapman in a decade has gone from a potential saviour of the sport to a virus that's spreading and needs stopping.

But I’m not a member of the BSPA, I’m a fan that enjoys watching Speedway racing. Am I happy with a lot of what’s going on? No. But it’s out of my control I can’t influence any of it. As I say, all I can do is try and put all the politics to the back of my mind and turn up on a Thursday evening to hopefully still enjoy the racing.

I've never been so disinterested in Speedway in this country than I am now its really got to that stage.

That's what I call a very polite answer, MRSS is either a troll or is braindead or perhaps both.

Please, pretty please, not Harris,

I remember this young yank being half a lap behind at some tinpot pairs meeting I went to at Swindon in 1989. I'd love to see the scorecard from that now. Forget his name...Glen Hancock...something like that. Wonder whatever happened to him...

It couldve been worse he couldve sold to Chris Shears........ oh hang on

I think there is a lot of unneccessary worry at the moment Yes the Buster PR style (ie often none with the odd minimal effort) is difficult to get used to but rather that than announce prematurely I dont see the team being greatly adrift of the pack as others are predicting We will have speedway and it will be at a higher level than recent years too. No reason to think the entertainment wont be as least as good either Relax people - you might actually still enjoy it!

So give over complaining if you aren't going. If you are looking for a bit of money sell your computer, you might make a couple of meetings then.

It might be Ippo. It's not the riders cost, it's the cost of the team. Hans, Cook, Harris...In one team ?

What's the difference between a rider getting injured in Poland on the Friday to a rider getting injured in Sweden on the Thursday or in England on the Wednesday? If they are out injured on the Saturday, then they are injured. End of. What does it matter how long ago the injury was incured? And are memories so short as to forget that British Elite League teams used to ride on Fridays? What qualifies us to criticise anyone else for doing the same?

Not withstanding you can't run on the same night as Scunthorpe so you really need to know how many meetings they are gonna reschedule first!

I think people should think twice about looking for someone to blame and remember the support that local businesses have given to the club over the years, and the fact that when we are looking to return in 2020 we will be looking to them again to help get us up and running again. Never bite the hand that feeds you

You are correct with regards to the phone and charger but you forgot the extra charges each year for all the hair dye I have to use now to cover the grey and the site has given me plenty over the years! I confuzzle people with my texts, I can be sarcastic and flighty all at the same time and no-one quite knows how to react (although I think Fozzie got the hang of it in the end and just ignored my OTT/Silly texts and thankfully never posted my unladylike language). Oh and I must bore them too, everyday chasing, everyday asking the same questions, sometimes several times a day.

It’s obviously not ideal but it is what it is. We all love Speedway racing otherwise we wouldn’t be on here, so the only thing you can do is try and put all political stuff to the back of your mind, turn up and watch four riders race each other for 15 heats of Speedway and hopefully enjoy what we see. Thats the way I’m going to look at it.

precisely its a complete farce the other countries must be peeing themselves over the UK

All this Buster knocking could have been avoided if any of the Panthers fans had of put there money where their mouth is , and bought Peterborough Speedway themselves . It was for sale long enough.

Yeah I have been reminiscing over the old Speedway days I have had the DVD's out, mainly 90s stuff when Speedway was worth going to watch.

We have rather gone off topic...perhaps I should re-title as "Your favourite Swede"

At the time Nordin was widely regarded as the best rider never to have won the title. I was a huge fan.

Odd you should say this I was talking to someone in town at the weekend about the Reds moving over and asked the very question, they said that there would be changes to the pitch as its not the right size for football for the Reds in the current league but they woulld be looking at an extension to the pitch that could be removed for speedway so the track wouldnt be affected. A bigger worry at present for the Reds is making sure they dont get relegated this season to an even lower league than they are currently in which would surely have wider implications for them as a club and the new stadium

Just been reading the Workington Town Rugby forum and there are a few mentions regarding the soccer team..the Reds...moving to Derwent Park in the summer, saying July, with therefore amendments being scheduled to the DP pitch area which will require grassing over of the speedway track. This of course just reaffirms what I was told at the Town match last Sunday - but it worries me greatly that the track could be lost forever? I hope not!!!!!!!!

They spending thousands now on engine tuning how many times per season?

That makes a change from blaming Poole for everything.. Way to go...

Well, the way that the Buster Chapman empire has treated Chris Harris, I will never go to Peterborough Speedway again. The way they also treated Chris Holder, there should be some serious questions asked about the way they do their business. So now King’s Lynn and Peterborough off my list of tracks to visit . gutted for Chris Harris!

No. But just think for a minute....Buster has Lynn for 25+ years. He buys Ippo and Boro to keep the Prem going(big money risk). They didn't have to sell to him. It's cost him £££. Cookie is not cheap. Harris is not cheap. Hans can't be cheap.. I don't know what went on, but I find it hard to believe Buster agreed to pay big wages at Boro and less at his beloved Lynn and lesser to Ippo. I may be wrong..Are you right?

We may never know.. I think Buster thinks he is doing the best to keep the Prem going. He has laid lots of money on the line (no one else would) when speedway in the UK is on it's @rse. He has taken a big risk. Do people really think he has bought Ippo and Boro to make himself thousands when no one else can..?? We don't know anything about the deals in place or budgets etc, so I think people should cut him a bit of slack for now.

And giving the losing the side choice of gates, means the track staff don't know which gates to favour in those circumstances doesn't it?

Erm, let me get this right...you are digging out quotes from 16 years ago to revive a long-gone discussion? I've heard of quiet Sundays, but this is something else!

http://speedwayplus.com/ then go to 'programme generator'

No different from today,,, in fact I could say I've seen plenty better at most tracks.

Great clip from a time when we had proper promoters who relied on speedway for their living, not fans with big egos who could/can offset speedway losses through their another business. Thanks for sharing and I'm glad I was involved during that period.

Bus loads! We tried to hunt him in May but couldnt find a replacement. Infuriating watching his lack of effort for us then pull off heroics for Poole.

It’s not a given you have to have two but bikes however with the large amount of traveling involved it is a nightmare to get somewhere and the bike don’t run properly . We always warm both bikes up before we go anywhere to make sure ther ok and have had instances of one playing up and not being right once we get to the track. Try telling an 8 to 12 year old he can’t ride after 4 hours in the van and another 4 to get back. The cost wouldn’t be reduced massively with one bike as in our case our set up has been over a four year period and the figure I quote is running cost for the year and dosent allow for any initial purchase cost of the bikes over the time. Would say our cost is mid range for a top level junior some will spend more some less but not by huge amounts. thanks for the good wishes it’s all up to him he has the backing and talent but only time will tell if he has the desire and ambition. Regardless of what happens we have made some brilliant memories

Not much room left in the lid of that coffin

Maybe that's whats behind the 'BSPA Ltd' plan mentioned at the AGM? ie 'own' every rider..? Then do what's needed to spread them about around the teams to try and make it competitive? Efffectively rider control but without the name, (and stigma)..? And all teams under one central commander controlling budgets and spending to ensure continuation of the sport?

Useless at Foxhall,,, even more useless on that average, would rather take Tungate even though I don't like him either

If it's true that the new Peterborough promoter(s) have pulled the plug on Bomber Harris' signing for financial reasons, then perhaps at least one club is coming to its senses in refusing to pay out what it cannot afford. Or is there another side to this story...?

Ipswich. They won’t close mid season but this will be a one year disaster. Top clubs not releasing riders as per Hackney in 87. Poole Ipswich Berwick and Wimbledon in 91. And the one big league in 95/6 and Leicester in the last few seasons. Self interest by the top clubs is nothing new but the group is getting even smaller and without buster bailing them out with the purchase of two clubs it isn’t going to be long before the league is unsustainable. The championship has the blend right and the sooner we return the better.