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I said I wouldn't attend any of these cup meetings,,, but after last week and the arrival of Kings Lynn,,, I've just gotta come.

Yet the Bears riders were singing its praises last night in the post match chat with Roy!!!! Funny that!!!! Regards THJ

I wonder if buster still thinks that Kenny is no longer a heat leader in this league lol.

I remember in the 60's if there weren't at least 5 passes in every heat, the meeting ran past 8.45 or one of the superstars shot off home without buying everybody a beer they used to refund double your entrance fee.....probably.

Think Promotion will be glad these type of fans have decided to attend given the state the sport is in.

I agree that too many times races are too strung out but there does not have to be passing to have an interesting race. Close racing is what is require which we won't often get until teams have riders of similar qualities and abilities. I've been to many meetings up and down the country where the fare has been just the same. Passing is good but you can still see a good race when the riders keep closer together and seem to be making an effort to get or keep better race positions.

Was good to see a few Redcar fans up, they obviously thought they had a good chance of winning something unlike previous years... Now I'm sure there's a name for fans who just follow a team when they think they are going to win... No can't think of it oh well never mind

Totally agree, & that's why I went up the pub rather than attend.

Glyn Taylor didn't built it, David Hemsley did.

Yeah i agree... Summers and Tungate are just as good as Bomber and Cook

As I understand it the team manager nominates four riders and the Twitter poll is to choose which two of those go in heat 14. So it’s as broad as it is long really. Opposing fans can’t choose your two worst riders out of the whole seven.

I’m sure they will target a win in every meeting this season, no reason not to. Disappointment at defeat is fine as long as people don’t start being silly ie demanding riders be sacked and writing the team off after one loss (if we lose). One thing this forum does very badly is perspective.

Maybe the amount of debt was more than anticipatated would be my guess.

Tunnocks caramel wafers,, and sweets,, the massif diet.

Should be an easy away win with us bringing a reserve in for a heatleader.

You are right we will never know the full story , but it would make interesting reading to hear Ged's side of things . Personally I have absolutely no faith in Buster Chapman what so ever I don't trust him and that is why I have totally withdrawn my support. It's not the lies it's the truth that is not being told that bothers me.

With the attitude Darcy shows, I'm more than justified in why I gave no money to his fund. He really is a horror of a person

Honestly Well done Redcar as they rode with a lot of grit and determination... they deserved it... However... and I accept that it was the first home meeting of the season but I stand in line with the tapes and the starts seemed so disjointed and scrappy which was most unusual as Phil Day is normally a very good Start Marshall (as is Barry Simpson when we borrow him from Redcar) and although this had very little bearing on the final result as it was the same for both sides it did look very messy... I thought this new "starting" rule was going to improve the starts however I can't say that slicker starts or a slicker starting process was evident this evening... Regards THJ

Another reason why Charles Wright will be right at the top of the averages come the end of the season. He’s starting to become the real deal.

Same

Chapman is obviously completely clueless if he thinks that. Kenny will be a top performer in this league ...

The ultimate #### you and well done Kenny! Take your medicine buster lad

Hopefully not for Wolves - we don't want him back until he is fully fit

It would be crazy from the team manager to nominate an under performing rider for ht14 surely.He has to name 4 riders for ht 14.I would most definitely name my best 4 on the night.And whoever gets voted for ht14 put the other 2 in ht15.Whether that means Lambert in ht14 then so be it,at least your not running the risk of having a rider who has probably scored 0 all night. edit:Bagpuss beat me to,must be able to type quicker than me

I wouldn’t believe everything you read in the BSF.

Absolutely 100 per cent CORRECT ! The Comets management were literally en route to the BSPA AGM to inform them we were not able to run in 2019, when Laura received a phone call from a "local businessman", who said, "do NOT tell them that Laura...I can help". So the Comets management said at the AGM that they were able to run. But, just as you said, the promises of a cash injection did not materialise ! I am led to beleive that this in effect cost the club £5000, as they subsequently had to notify the BSPA that they now COULDNT run. If they had told them as they intended in the first place, that they were NOT RUNNING this year, then there would have been no £5000 to pay.

Have to agree ref the lighting feel for the riders in those conditions. I know there is limited budgets but surely safety is paramount and will be sorted hope so. Ref the racing as many have said over many years the fundermental issue is the shape of the track long straights tight bends unless widen will never really change its ok the odd guy being able to ride but as an entertainment sport you need the majority to...Hemsley and his team got it so wrong from a clean field unless amend (very unlikely it will always be at best average racing)

unlike how he ran the club

This is harder to grasp than flippin' Brexit....... ..I'm not really arguing THJ you have more friends in speedway circles (and Maryport pubs lol) than I do, so am often pleased for your info sharing...good reading. However if it was "purely financial" , re Comets crashing out, then why on earth did they sign up 7 riders ready for 2019??? It just doesn't add up to this bonzo. I'll try to guess the answer in that folk who were promising to 'divvy up the cash', to help the promotion, backed out at the last minute?

Agree with you 100%, I think Barker was to fault for the incident with Bjerre and as you say, the fact he fell indicates contact and he should of gone. I think that decision turned the match firmly in Redcar's favour. I don't think it would have made a difference to the aggregate score but it would have meant an opening night victory. I think this is the first time in a long time I have seen such a twitchy set of Diamonds riders at the tape, it was like we had ants in our clutch hand. This will have to be sorted otherwise we are going to continually penalise ourselves. For me, the ref was rubbishe, to the point where he should be removed from this level of competition for a while and the incident with the rider red exclusion light and not the red stop lights topped it off. I hope he doesn't darken Brough Parks door for a while but as he is local and refs are thin on the ground we will probs see a lot of him. Impressed with Clegg, seemed to go off abit after two races, not sure if injured after fall or lack of confidence. Phillips still a worry for me, not on the pace and only points were gifts. Impressed with Bjerre and Jorgensen's pass on Wright was top drawer. Steve was poor in my opinion for his standards and to be out elbowed to the first corner by Wright summed his night up. Onwards to Berwick and see what that brings. For the Bears, really impressed by Wright considering I believe he used to and maybe still does hates Brough Park. Greaves and Bacon were very good for the Bears and luckily Palm-Toft had an off night. I think the Bears can be confident of a good season. Congrats to the Bears you were by far the better side over two legs but I think we deserved the win last night, just my opinion.

I was once told that a Somerset/Newcastle televised meeting (Div 2) on Sky was only selected because both teams had team suits; and that Sky preferred clubs to have team suits! how true that was I have no idea; then I believe this was followed up with a Somerset/Workington or Scunny/Worky match where Worky were definitely not in team suits so it may be utter rubbish... Memory may be failing too but I will stand corrected; however I did hear the same said about a Newcastle/Glasgow televised meeting that it was selected by Sky because both teams turned out in team suits!!! You only pay VAT if your purchase comes from a VAT registered company The taxable turnover threshold which determines whether a person must be registered for VAT, is £85,000. You can only claim VAT back if you are a VAT registered company. The irony being there is an argument that the advertising on the suits is VAT exempt and to add to the confusion some riders are VAT registered!!! but all clubs will be VAT registered. Newcastle first went down the team suit route (2007 I think) when Darryl Illingworth and Darren Bond came up with the idea to get local businesses involved. Our company was asked (in 2012 I think) if they would pay £350 quid to sponsor a suit and be the main sponsor of that suit (they were told they would get preferential advertising on the full right leg, stomach and small of the back) (which didn't happen but never mind) the main sponsor had the chest and right arm and the rest of the suit was left for the riders, so 7 companies were approached for the 7 suits and it worked. No cost to the club. (except for injuries and team changes) and of course guests still ended up with a bib! The cost of a suit now is £500 quid and no VAT as our supplier is not VAT registered, and it is an easy way to provide team suits and gives the smaller businesses the opportunity to get their name out there; it just needs someone to co-ordinate it with the club/promotion; so £3500 gets you a full set of team suits. A small business or one man band may look favourably if his only outlay to get a bit of advertisement and kudos only runs to £500 quid As ever utter Horlicks!!! next to you Donald Trump is a Genius Here is a one we done earlier (sorry its not the right team) Regards THJ

Away win with King Kenny and Fricke scoring big points ....

Honestly I think if the Speedway had of run the Reds would have been looking for another temporary venue, or playing on a smaller pitch at DP no matter what protestations they made (about the FA and pitch size)... so the Speedway not running has saved the council a major headache in that regard... The new stadium vanity project still might not get off the ground despite all the positive spin we are hearing... The last thing I was told was DP wouldn't be demolished for 3/4 years and in that time the Speedway could use the venue and would be the sole users until somewhere more suitable could be found (Northside ish?) The Northside Track would need major alteration to accommodate big boys Speedway and this cost (around £150K) would be prohibitive... Also Keith Denham spent an awful lot of time; effort and money laying the track at DP, surely there must be some recompense if it is just unilaterally ripped up... Also my big worry would be the electrics laid to the inside of the track for the starting gate, as it will be a complete ball ache to try and reset; relay and rewire those should they get damaged... The outlook isn't that good I reckon but lets wait and see I would love to be wrong... Regards THJ

Good to see that it is not a pubic event so I didn't trim my bush for nothing.

All very confusing for this old lad....the talk at match yesterday was re the speedway track being lost to a new/enlarged grass pitch, to comply with FA rules (for the 'Reds) with the work on this starting in May......."it needs time to settle before soccer kicks off in August". And with the RL World cup fixtures destined for the brand new stadium in Oct 2021 it is work of some urgency?( i.e. Borough Park, the Reds current home, is to be the site of this new venue.) It seems a 'chicken and egg ' scenario to my puzzled mind.....i.e. surely if speedway did run they would thereby have been ousted mid-season to allow this pitch work being on schedule? Whatever, it still leaves me hoping there is new venue on the horizon to stage speedway for Workington........and regarding that - I still can't fathom out why Derwent Park is scheduled for demolition.....now where's my tablets.

yep, I was there, the only 2 moments of comment were Bates beating Stewart on the line and a cracking ride by Connor Mountain. Everything else was a total procession with riders strung out with 30 yards between each of them. Oh and seemingly hours of tractor racing. What did you see?

No .everything was better in the old days .how long have you been on this forum

It was his decision to sell the club and his alone, he cited the travelling as his biggest reason. Bearing in mind their recent history It surely came as no surprise to anyone that he and Watson would be leaving once all the loose ends were tied up and the club officially in Keith Chapmans control.

This is where speedway promotions (not just Wolves) just do themselves no favours whatsoever. There's been stories of Morris having a possible broken scaphoid doing the rounds for the last 24 hours. Word from the official site on the situation, there was none. Now it may well be that it can't be reported one way or the other as if, for instance, he has broken it, they'll need to wait for the swelling to go down to confirm. But for God's sake a few lines on the OS explaining the situation 'he's going for x-rays tomorrow/he's ok' would be fine. It's almost as though they take some kind of perverse pleasure in keeping people in the dark. They've never come to terms with this interweb thingy.

How dare you compare it to the "good ol' days"!!! Your sort just won't admit it was absolutely perfect back then! Immaculate starting procedures with nobody ever needing a 2-minute warning, the noise, the smell, capacity crowds every night, incredible racing with 20+ passes on every lap, riders staying with the same teams for 30 years, and every British rider was so much better than that Aussie Tia Wofflebottom (or whatever his ruddy name is)... Steve

Such a shame to read this post. I had the same experience. A very nice stadium ruined by the track.

I am not answerable to you , but as a previous loyal supporter I am still entitled to have my say and you are correct I will not be attending . I am in total shock at what has gone on with the club since the new year, you must be one of a few that are happy with it . Me I am far from happy with it and I will have my say and if that upsets you tough.

Specsavers?

I ve missed less then half a dozen (including amateur and SDL etc) meetings in 6 seasons so far. For someone who lives like me, very much hand to mouth finding a lump some for a luxury item for myself no matter how good value it is, when that money could go on the kids. Think I ll suggest next seson we announce prices earlier and allow us Fan's to pay in installments, I would get a season ticket for certain then. 15 quid is in my opinion too steep for NL Speedway (ar least to the casual follower), but then again you could barely buy a packet of fags and a pint of lager with that theses days. The first 2 fixtures are for certain 1000 plus crowds if the weather is nice, the acid test will be the first normal Monday night to see whether the crowds still hold up. And despite the planning permission failing to change race night, I see no reason why we cant race up in the higher leagues even with a 6.30 start. For riders in higher leagues many wont have a day job to have to have a day off work. And in all honesty if your travelling a few hundred miles to support your team the start time plays little consideration as most of us need to take the day off regardless of start time. The added bonus for away fans is getting on the road by 8.30 means even north of brum is doable by midnight. So hopefully the club pursues this Avenue rather then poke the council with another application and risk further alienating ourselves to them to much. Obviously if we top flight we could retain Mondays ( we have planning for 1 day a week Monday to friday I believe) and I doubt very much whether BT Sports would be overly troubled by the earlier start time either, infact with little live action at half 6 ( cricket finished, footy not started) it could actually boost viewing figures and start a trend. It's highly noticable the sheer numbers of children who attend Kent weekly and this as much as Lens free kids supporters club helps is probably more to do with the start time. Iow the best promoted club in the land with bags of mini warriors every week starts at 7 and normally done by nine. I think there is a lot to be said for early evening midweek racing.

? You missed some great racing and no-one got hurt. What's not to like?

To be fair, you’ve got to admire how Buster’s done this for maximum media exposure. He announced the KL team one by one over several weeks and now he’s sacking the Boro riders one by one. Genius

You are the only one that sees things way differently to you. That’s why I put the emoji that I did. On paper one of the strongest sides this year and haven’t seen one other prediction that thinks Wolves will be bottom. We are only making predictions on what we see at the start of the year, irregardless of how pointless this is. FWIW my pick would be. 1. Wolves. Very solid with plenty of riders on bargain averages. Jacob (when fit) and Nick both started last season as number ones, now find themselves 3rd and 4th in the averages. Howarth had an injury wrecked 2018 and will easily add a point to that starting average. Ash Morris really improved at both levels last year including a spell in the main team. Now starts as lowest averaged rider. Key riders for me are Kyle and Becker. If Becker lives up to half his promise I can’t see this team having any weak links at all. 2. Swindon. Strongest top 3 on paper and average. Will always be in with a chance at the tail end of meetings. Doyle is just class and whilst his other heat leaders can blow hot or cold at times I still see them as a huge danger. Ellis is a strong second string and i# getting better every year. Make that a strong top 4. Key riders are Lampart and Zach. Think Zach will add well in reserve. Definetly improved last year and good to see him progressing nicely. Lampart seems an odd signing but perhaps Rosco knows more than the rest. 3. Belle Vue. Again on paper very solid. Can see Fricke becoming dominant at number one. Kenny will have the odd stinker but should be solid otherwise. Every rider like Wolves have improvement in them. Remains to be seen if Worrall can start 2019 the way he did 2018. If so I’d have to make them top favourites. Dan Bewley is a real talent. Ricky is a good solid middle order rider. You will a good 5-8 points from him week in week out. Key riders. The fitness of Bewley remains to be seen but should be superb come end of season. Lidsey, much like Becker, comes with huge expectations. Can see the NSS being a fortress. 4. Poole. Still no real leader but another solid looking line up. A decent top 2 whilst Klindt was massively rejuvenated at Poole last season. Needs to be solid all season. Josh is promising a much better season (see this weeks SS) whilst Richie should do a good job too. Both reserves look solid in that department. Key rider. Grajczkonek. 5. Kings Lynn. Lambert is a complete class act. Thank god we have the pleasure of watching him again this season. Then it’s a real struggle to see who will step up to the plate to support him. Proctor did a decent job and has always been a decent top flight rider. Riss I really rate but is he going to step up to the plate and step away from the comfort of the number 2 berth and Lambert partnership? Jorgensen and Kerr have done little to show they can step up yet. Key riders.Toft and Kerr. 6. Peterborough. Would have been top 4 if they hadn’t have got rid of Cook. I’m basing my assumption that Gomolski is replacing Cook but would have to think again If it’s NKI! Hans is still a decent rider but not a great number one. Tungate has a high average due to his home form at the NSS. Can’t see any improvement there. Lower end looks solid but one of them needs to step up if the Panthers are to be in the hunt. Key rider. BW Dean. 7. Ipswich. On paper look the bottom side with no real leader. Difficult to drum up many positives I’m afraid! Lower end looks more hopeful than the top end. Key rider. Jake Allen. Top 3 look well clear of the rest. Poole stand a fair bit above the bottom 3. FWIW.

If they can perform as well as they look, we should be in for an interesting season...…

I’m sure Swindon fans are loving having sh!t stirrers on their thread.

If your logo was red, orange pink for example, would you still want it on the the red suits? Craig is a 7.5 rider. There is only so much he can insist on. NKI has rode for Buster for years, so Buster can't be that hard to deal with surely ? Fat twit... That so called "fat twit" has spent into 6 figures including 90 tons of shale and equipment, and was full of praise for what he has done with the track from Hans..