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Best of luck to all teams, and fans, in 2019......ENJOY...

Thanks for your valued input and utter b/s.

The crowd levels have a lot to do with it too....if you watch an average meeting as one of a few hundred spectators you wouldn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as being among five thousand fans watching it for example. Speedway back in the day seemed so much better due to the bigger crowds, better atmosphere and sense of occasion even though the racing itself was very similar.

No one really,just one comment from someone on here and you know how things drift,and before you know it Buster's sold up everything and moved to Acapulco

Didn’t think for a moment I’d get a sensible answer but for what it’s worth that’s a very negative way of looking at it. How about trying to look as professional as possible to gain more sponsorship? Speculating a bit to accumulate? Even some National League teams have them. Why would a team want their collective photo in the paper on online with everyone in different gear? Looks so amateurish. Unfortunately too many people in speedway are like you and have a can’t do attitude rather than trying to drive the sport forward.

Workington have a great race track never seen a poor meeting there.

BY god, we are on the same page

Think you miss the point re crowd levels.There is so much more for people to do now than what we had back 30/40 years ago.Add in the fact we now race midweek,although weekends probably wouldn't make that much difference now with all the different entertainment options for people to do now.Remember for me it was either speedway or a night at my Nan and Grandad's watching Starsky and Hutch or tails of the unexpected.That was pretty much my options,so it would be silly to refuse a night at the speedway.Don't think i could name all the options they have nowadays.

Just wondered if you had a bit of insider knowledge It might be... He just doesn't know for sure... I agree with most of your line up... But I would swap Wethers and Lambert around... Clegg at 7 is important imo... Wethers will be a lot better of a number 2 than Lambert will be... But they'll both be average number 4s

It can't have always been the case that teams using a historic name have to be actively looking for a new site in their area, because just a few years ago there was a team called "Mercia Vikings" and there hasn't been any "Mercia" land or any Vikings since the days of King Cnut and Knig Harthacnut over a thousand years ago! The Cnut running them must have been a 1,000 year old Glory hunter using a defunct name to play fantasy speedway who wouldn't put their Danegeld where their mouths are!

Press and Practice will herald the return of the Witches to the top table Looking forward to some outstanding action and pictures that will make all around the country take note

an entry in the guiness bokok of records , claimed over 100,000 for a league match at Bradford

So the loco has gone to Acapulco

As he was signed on loan from Rye House when he joined us half way through the 2017 season I`d say yes, I haven't seen anything where he became an asset of another club.

Dont panic our season starts in a couple of weeks, then the real moaning and groaning starts.

Decent 3rd place for Danny today at Ben fund meeting, anyone have any ideas why Lawson pulled out?

Gunther Bauer has announced his retirement from the sport

Good to see Lewis came through his first meeting ok. Scored 6 as did Kasper. helps blow a few cobwebs off. Lewis 1,1,1, T/EX, 3...… 6 Kasper 0,1,2,1,2...… 6

'Press and Practice Day'....surely, a bit hollow these days, with the state of British speedway currently. I realise I sound negative, but Press and Practice Day sounds like a season launch, for a sport which is healthy and going places! When, as we know, it's in trouble, sadly.

Dementia it must be. The Mercia Vikings were a ghost team run out of Sheffield by what I can only assume fits your description of a Glory Hunter playing fantasy speedway, http://www.speedwayplus.com/Vikings2012.shtml

Total rubbish Matt Ford and Middlo work as a team. Ford relies heavily on Middlo's input.

Lidsey back on a bike in Poland. Panic over on that front. Any update on Bewley??

I find National Development League meetings produce better excitement than the SGB Premiership more often than not, with times of course being slower. So I agree 100% with you on that one Star Lady.

To be honest, no none promoting manager should be considered a legend of any club. The only job they do really is try to motivate rider's. When required to do anything tactical, I find Middlo and Rosco inept. Peter Adams is one of the best tacticians out there. The other thing on the side of Adams and Rosco over Middleditch, they put their own money into the club's as promoters and have a say who's signed and replaced. Whereas Matt Ford does all the leg work at Poole. No matter which way you look at it, Middleditch has stolen a good wage from Ford for 20yrs. He would be found out with a new promoter in charge, he knows it so is jumping ship. Middleditch brings nothing to Poole Speedway.

I'm going to have to disagree with the top paragraph. I cannot for the life of me see how faster racing means better racing. Back in the day, races were slower BUT there were almost no super duper professionally tuned engines so as I recall the races were closer. Sure some bikes were tied together with string but that didn't impact on rider skill. As for the sport being more professional nowadays, sorry it's not. Yes riders spend thousands more than they did in the past but that doesn't make it more professional, just more costly for all concerned. They look the part but the racing is no better than before. Had promoters however put the same amount of effort etc into their part of the sport I might be more in agreement with you.

Exactly, there are a million and one things for people to do with their leisure time and money nowadays, and unfortunately speedway hasn’t moved with the times to make people want to come. Add to that the way the sport is run and the often dreadful customer experience and it’s little wonder crowds are so poor.

Actually, the name 'Mercia' is very much alive, being used by the Army the Police and the Girl Guides to mention but three without taking any thought!

I too have decided Cardiff isn't for me,just over hyped and over priced imo.

What's one of them??

Think Max Clegg will be your key rider this year and end up in the main body pretty quick and Simon lambert will drop to reserve so you will always have a strong reserve and Danny will score his average most meeting home and away and think the 2 reserves will swap between the 6/7 pending who they are against

All will be well. The speedway Elders have spoken and they are never wrong.

I'd guess at, 2 Lambert 3 Wethers 4 Bjerre The rest as you say.

Yes, but all the cars in an F1 GP are on-track at the same time, so it's the same for everyone at any given moment. That's not the case with a Speedway GP.

I don't really have an issue with TS or IRR. I have no doubt, though, that the NDL was fine without them.

Pretty much like Cardiff to me.Look back at the racing and it is pretty mediocre.But as you say the occasion and bigger crowd makes it seems better than what it is really.

Agreed. Should have left the NDL rocking along without TS. They slash the points limit ridiculously low because they want to bring in the young 2.00 kids.... ...and then in the next breath they bring in TS, so one of those young kids is going to have to give up a ride to the No.1, whereas on the other side their youngsters are going to come up against the opposing No.1 who can now have a 6th ride.

Not really the point is it.....for a sport struggling to attract sponsors and punters and drag itself into the twenty first century team suits are a no brainier and should be compulsory in our top two leagues.

Because you were younger imo ......... you enjoyed life more, you were up for a good night out, you enjoyed music more etc etc etc

Of course it's relevent would we have won the league with the seven we started with last season no and many season prior to that as well i am not knocking Neil it's just the way I see it

I love it when Alex Ferguson's reign is described as being easy as the richest club. The majority of the winning under Ferguson's reign was with players coming through the ranks of the club which is where the club's wealth came from. For me, Middleditch has just been Ford's puppet. Ford says who rides for him, who's sacked, which replacements are needed etc. Middleditch for Poole is exactly the same as a team leader / supervisor in business, powerless in hiring and firing and just there to fire up the staff employed by someone else. Matt Ford is the reason and only reason for Poole's success.

Where would you place Neil Street in all this, in his time @ Poole & prior to that @ Weymouth Neil could spot tallent a mile off & with the rider willing to do so made novices & average riders into top riders & superstars................

If anyone agrees with you or not it matters not. That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. In my opinion I believe Neil has done a great job. But that's my thoughts.

I wonder if Matt was the one finding the riders and putting the team/changes together. I don't know, but Matt certainly knows the rule book inside out

It goes both ways. A lot of people say Sir Alex is the greatest manger of all time. (Yes, he did manage more than 1 team) but the success was with 1 team that was the richest and had the best players in the world. You still have to win. And I think some of 8 prem titles middlo has been pretty impressive. Yes, 2013 was quite easy but 2015 he kept the side together after the shock. I do get the argument though. But I would certainly not describe Adams and Rosco as great if middlo isn’t described as great. In 20 years time people remember championships more than anything else.

You really are some sad deeluded idiot. Small wonder you are hated so much on this forum with comments like that.

I just dont see Middlo as the greatest manager thats all its called my opinion. He has had the best financial backing over the years at Poole and has been able to change riders as and when Poole need to. In my opinion Rosco and Adams have proved they can do it at other clubs with less resources. Lets see how Middlo can do at a different club is all im saying. Poole fans will quite rightly feel he is the best because he has managed their club but i think any manager could have managed Poole..............he was awful as Team GB boss.

I've never been able to understand this theory that everything was better in the old days. You can look back to a lot of results in the 70s and 80s and see absolute hammerings. Imagine how those type of results would be treated on this forum nowadays. The "second halves", I can remember a lot of the time riders didn't fancy it and either went through the motions, or were replaced by local juniors because of bike problems. I bet the forum members would love that these days. The good old days when riders were part timers, travelling about with the one bike on the back of a car. What if that bike got damaged in a crash or blew an engine? You either had to borrow another bike or withdrew from the meeting. You can imagine that going down well these days. You look back at the race time back then, I will use my own club Berwick as an example. Race times in the 70s and 80s are roughly the same as a Northern Junior League race now. Can you imagine many fans nowadays putting up with that as a night's entertainment. Yes it would be great if we could get back to a time where we had the top riders in the world competing in our leagues, but unless we can find some rich benefactors or miraculously find some big sponsorship or TV money, we have to accept this isn't going to happen. Let's face it, we were all a lot more easily pleased in the past. There were fewer alternatives, we were less coddled in those days. Now we want instant gratification and we want it all the time. For my opinion, speedway is better now than it ever has been, throughout the sport. More riders are becoming "professional", the standard of riders have gone up as a whole, right across the sport. But all I see on the forum is doom and gloom. I find I spend very little time looking at the forum these days, the general mood starts to bring me down.

no

Just as fans said last year & where did we finish... So let's see who is eating there pudding at the end of the season with that Massive wooden spoon & I bet it's not the Diamonds roll on the 29th of march for our 1st meeting at Redcar

I only did top 4 and bottom 4 rest will be in the middle... Newcastle will be wooden spoon contenders without big changes