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Surely Barcelona don't have the same appeal as Aaron Summers

3 local Rugby teams if rumours are to be believed

Only my opinion. I watch every Swedish speedway match on freesport and every home meeting at the NSS but despite all the big name riders in the Swedish league the racing in most of the meetings I see is not a patch on the racing i see at the NSS with so called lesser riders.Is it just me or does anyone agree ?.

It depends which Terry Russell you believe. This one from the 26th September 2018: https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/16903310.swindon-robins-to-rip-up-abbey-stadium-track-this-winter/ Or this one, from the 23rd January: https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/17377892.swindon-robins-chairman-terry-russell-plans-to-start-work-on-improved-abbey-stadium-race-track-layout-next-month/ Swindon's new track has had more false starts than a heat featuring James Sarjeant.

Surely if a fanbase is so low - the only way it can go is up?! or so Yazz says.......

Are mummy and daddy still his UK pit crew ?

Peterborough City Council should increase Niels' council rate band.

Sounded more like a sarcastic remark, but if his parents are still his pit crew them i have to say they are doing a bloody good job of it

Sounds a very bad decision.

He averaged more than harris last season, so it wouldn't stun me

Whats the point of banning a. winning riders and b. any riders at all since there’s not enoughof them anyway. This had to be a joke?

Promoters on the Continent don’t seem to pay Cook what he thinks he worth either.Cook needs a reality check on himself IMO .

Speedway has its problems, don't really think anyone on a speedway forum needs you to spell it out 1. What do you get out of posting on here anyway ? go wield your inflammatory pen on a forum of the more professional sports you purport to watch.

So the name of the horse was ...................... knobhead?

Anything for a scrum down.

Nice picture and good to see it covered. Just a pity that the picture on the front is Daniil Ivanov on an ice speedway bike

Plus he is a virtual nobody abroad, it’s about time clubs weren’t held to ransom by the demand of the greedy few.

Not me I'm afraid. Some might but I'm one of those strange fans who prefer to see some good racing rather than winning by 20 or 30 plus points. As a Coventry fan I got used to close results, last heat deciders or, heaven forbid, actually losing.

Just to qualify one of your points......Swindon speedway do not own the Abbey, Stadia UK do. The ''pre-built grandstand'' you mentioned is owned by Stadia UK, not Swindon, they are the ones who have stated that the prebuilt grandstand is in storage in Wales. The Speedway club (and even the local media) can only provide information which is given to them by Stadia UK. This is also the reason the track reshape hasn't started until a few weeks back, the landlord has to grant permission. I hope this clears a few of your points up.

Speedway in this country must stop being dictated to by Poland.If it is to survive,the best race nights for family's are Friday and Saturday with Sunday early starts. My team Belle Vue have never had Monday as a regular race night in all the years i have followed them.Just tell all riders to decide were they want to ride Poland or Britain so we can still have speedway there will be a watered down league standard because riders will have to be moved up into higher leagues to fill any gaps.But i would rather have that situation than no speedway.Three clubs have gone from last year how many more from this year,we cant let the current situation carry on or soon there wont be any clubs left.

Agree. I think we can carry him at the NSS, he will always be good for 2-4 points.

Better shape, think you are confused ,don’t think you would get many agreeing with that theory.IMO It is crying out for Independant body to run the sport though,not many takers on that front .Imo

Heard this evening that Panthers asked KK to take the spot but their “offer” was politely refused......twice. They also asked Woryna and got the same response.

What does Jordan Jenkins, Nathan Stoneman, Richard Andrews, Luke Harris, Rob Shuttleworth (If still riding?) or heck even David Wallinger do on Sunday afternoons like? All would be an improvement... Sorry Danny, all of this can't be doing you much good either... Can't fault your effort or commitment though... Whatever happened to us and another north east team having a NL team then? Any other team changes people may be thinking about... It's a bit early I think, don't over react, Thomas Jorgensen, Lasse Bjerre, Matthew Wethers and Steve Worrall are all too good not to improve on their early season start... Thomas and Lasse are still basically away riders at the minute... The first in particular... As he made it VERY hard for himself on Sunday night, some of the lines he was taking were questionable... Give him time and he'll come good... Also Simon Lambert? Can't fault his effort either, but Brough Park is just not his track... Let's give him a few weeks chance though... Max, you're doing great (Bar Berwick away) Very impressive at home last Sunday

Blimey !!! now looks like leicester- hope it doesn`t ride like it !!!!!

Cook will make a reasonably healthy living from Glasgow and being one of the top riders in the Championship, Craig himself says he still has the ambition to make it back into SGP, without any top level racing in either Poland or Sweden and now without a Premiership club he`s further away from the GP`s than ever.

I would suggest the 'natural level' of the attendances you can get determines what league you race in rather than the standard of riders in view... Somerset and Leicester for example, are for me traditional 2nd tier teams... Both have recently had a dalliance with the top league and decided that they couldn't justify paying out for a higher level of rider as their crowds didnt increase sufficiently (or maybe even at all), to cover their costs.. Every team has its 'natural level' and it is quite pertinent that teams always need their 'arms twisting' to come up, such is the risk their crowds won't increase, and their lack of belief and confidence that increased crowds will happen... I actually think the Aces for example would still get 1300 - 1600 or so on a Satuday night charging circa £15, riding at a '2nd tier' level as that is their 'natural crowd' level.. Clubs such as Poole, KL, Swindon, and Wolverhampton are all for me similar to the Aces in that they will get 'the best crowds in Britain' regardless of whether 'World Class' talent is on show or not, (as long as they are allowed to ride on any night that is best for them)... Hence the top tier is the 'natural position' of these teams... Most teams who average 800 - 1000 are therefore naturally 2nd tier, and regardless of who gets brought in, their crowds will pretty much stay that way I reckon..

That's a very childish remark

Mr Dishington needs to have a word with his tutor Mr McGregor then,As I believe he taught him all he knows.

Both Grahame brothers came to my mind too. Andy was also reserve in 1982. Never global superstars, but certainly very competitive at international level for a few years at least. Shame neither bagged an outright final appearance as they were both up and around the same level as the likes of Phil Collins, Les Collins, Neil Evitts, Richard Knight who can all claim to have been finalists.

Lambert seems to have trouble at times and I wonder if it is that he has not (as far as i know) got a top "spanner man" like Woofy would make a big help and he could give more time tp just riding the bike and scoring big points Just a thought

Geoff is as thick as a plank it seems.

If your No 1 and leader is going well it inspires confidence. It also allows him to perhaps spend more time encouraging and passing tips on to other riders. If things are going badly, he'll have his own problems to deal with and the rest of the team can be somewhat rudderless. That's basics surely!

It was reported that Belle Vue released Craig for similar. GP rider demands for a bang average rider. He also publicly slated Belle Vue's management. So Craig has pretty much left himself with Championship Glasgow or Premiership's Swindon and Wolverhampton. Neither of the Premiership clubs management teams would be stupid enough to pay what his "Speedway Superstar" wages.

He's just a kid, to have any period of consistency to back up that type of argument will take many more seasons before we have an answer. Robert is an out and out number 1 with a huge ceiling, he will only get better but unfortunately that won't be in the UK for us to see it.

There did need to be some 'balancing' and it looks like Buster is the man who has taken it on himself to do it... Read Craig's comments in the SS and understand his view completely... However, bottom line is, you work for someone under their terms and conditions.... Or you don't... I am sure Craig will get a team place given the nature of the sport.. And who knows, maybe some team in a difficult position will offer him even more money than he would have got at PBoro....?

Which is quite ridiculous. Of course, it was all down to money, but why not just say that? To put him into a bracket of non heat leader is just really, really stupid. Given that he quite clearly is in this horrific standard of league. Craig has pissed his chips a bit, but a part of me believes he just didn't want to ride for him and for that I have no grudge with it.

I stand by it. The No 1 is the leader. If he is under performing it effects the whole side. If he's doing his job it can lift the rest of the team.

BT and BSI have announced a new 3 year contract covering 2019,20 and 2021 for BT Sport to show the GP`s and the SON

Who could really blame Robert if he's using the UK for extra spending money abroad. This year I'm sure he'll be pushing for SGP 2020 qualification, SEC to compete in, Ekstraliga and Elitserien. Plus no doubt Bundesliga is on his fixture list, possibly Metal Speedway League too. He's a very busy boy in 2019

At yesterday's Ashfield practice Rasmus looked very fast and confident, Claus equally so. Was impressed with Aaron's speed at the Bordernapolis, Coty the same when in front. Leon looked confident and he knows Ashfield well enough. This is a tough opener for the Tigers, we might even look back later on and realise it's been our biggest test of the season.

Will the Panthers have a competitive team by then

Am I missing something here , Wrighty was offered a deal which he agreed to and then changed his mind and decided to go to Redcar for better money. At no time did our promotion discard him or say they didn’t want him to ride for us. So to all intents and purposes he was going to be Rebel in 2019. His choice to go to Redcar. How does anyone know if his decision will be Redcars gain ! What a nice greeting to our new guys who lets face it , are pretty decent themselves, to the club. Stop going on about coulda shoulda, no Wrighty this season , his choice. He’s been a real entertainer and crowd favourite, but he’s gone now, new team, new division. At least give these guys a chance.

Common sense to not to run the meeting but questions have no be asked why it took so long to start the work in the first place leaving such a tight deadline .

Live on Polsat sport Easter Saturday April 20th programme starts 1.45 pm UK time

Damned if they do and damned if they don't.. I remember being in a crowd once, a crowd full of anticipation to see a new track, (maybe you were there too?), and coming away thinking "Speedway! No matter how many times you give it another go, it will always be a Mickey Mouse amateur shambles"... At least this time a couple of thousand fans (including Aces supporters again no doubt), won't have yet another reason to feel so peed off with the way the Sport is ran once more... And no need for humble pie either, as with any Speedway meeting, the track may have been absolutely perfect on the day but the heavens might have opened so no meeting would have taken place anyway... The season finishes many months from now, so better to wait and do something properly, than rush things through half arsed and spectacularly fail... Especially when you are in Swindons unique position where they will want to be seen as ultra professional in the eyes of the public and local officials, given the challenges they are facing with their new home.. A brand damaging opening night farce could have been a disaster that they just may have struggled to recover from..

Fantastic speedway rider but an utterly dreadful human being. Way too much ego and opinion without even an average intellect with which to deliver it Traits which are sadly common in many modern day riders and promoters alike.

Sportowefakty reporting 55812 fans watched the 4 1st round Extraleague matches at the weekend- a truly amazing figure.

It's not as easy as you think Naj, I know, as I try every year and getting small businesses to sponsor/advertise with the club is getting harder by the year. Whilst getting supporters to fund the suits sounds great, and might work in Glasgow or Leicester where you have a much larger conurbations to gather support from, it's a lot more difficult in somewhere like Somerset, you only have to look at the kind of support you get when asking supporters to support events at the arena, away from normal race night, even when the cost is negligible, it's the same old small hard core of people who attend & spend the money. As to your point about it not being appealing to sponsors, the club attracted several new sponsors last season and that was without race suits, as they were more interested in the hospitality side to entertain their clients and staff. One of those sponsors have increased there spend on sponsoring with us this season and the lack of race suits never entered the equation with them, they just wanted more visibility at trackside and around the arena, in addition to the hospitality side of things. If you speak to new sponsors coming into the sport, in my experience, it's more to do with networking & hospitality, somewhere to bring clients or potential clients as a way to tie up their business. If you and others want to come forwards and offer to buy the race suits for the team, and to keep for yourself at the end of the season, then I'm sure the promotion would be very happy to talk it through with you and anyone wishing to do that. If you look at the reasons the promotion took the decision to take the club back into the Championship, you'll realise that it was done to safeguard the long term future of the club, and not to take a huge financial hit that would see us in the top league, only to have a limited life span. It was also a decision that was taken at the actual AGM, and not beforehand, as the intention was to run in the Premiership again, but decisions made at that AGM made it financially impossible for that to happen and for the club to continue into the foreseeable future. The promotion's ethos is to ensure they don't do anything that puts the club in danger of big financial losses, so if that means that we run in the Championship for now, and no race suits, that fine by me, as I would rather the club survive, than join the likes of Rye House, Workington & Lakeside on the proverbial speedway scrapheap. Next year is another year, and if the terms are right, I'm sure that the promotion would look at moving back to the Premiership (If there is one to move back to that is), and if they can be funded, I'm sure race suits would be on the agenda, but until that happens, we are where we are. I know for a fact, because I've talked to him at length about it, that Garry sorted out a really good deal for Wrighty, and I know how it was going to be funded. Wrighty stated at events he attended at the Oaktree, before the season, that he wanted to come back, he virtually told the fans he was coming back and had accepted the deal Garry put together. He agreed to rejoin the team, and it was the best deal he could have got from us. However, a team that came to the AGM, and pleaded abject poverty, saying that they couldn't run if they didn't get a 36pt team building average agreed by the rest of the promoters, then went and offered him far more than we had offered or could afford. So despite the fact that you feel he will be a top rider in the league this season, which I don't disagree with, he is not at Somerset, and that isn't the clubs fault. I'm not saying it's Wrighty's fault either, as riders will go where the money is, but when a team tells you it can't run unless you dumb down the product to something that is totally unrecognisable, and then acts like that, something's very wrong with this game.

Trouble is the following night Panthers are at home to Wolves. I would have thought they would have changed the 29th April fixture to a PSC and run another league fixture later on. i must be honest I find it strange that they fix Premiership days as Monday and Thursday and then run on a Wednesday.