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I’m sorry but does Hans have to have 4 rides? If not Carl Johnson needs to take some of the blame for the poor end to the meeting. Because if Summers was going to go in heat 14, which he did, why did Hans go out in heat 13, we knew before heat 13 that Summers was out in heat 14 yet had not ridden since heat 7. So the track was going to be completely different to then, surely common sense for a team manager is to replace a rider who is so obviously off the pace with a rider, who was going well in the beginning of the meeting, therefore giving them a better chance in heat 14 by having a run out in the heat before?

I agree, not an outstanding meeting by the standards of the NSS but still some decent racing. The crowd was better than I feared considering the United match and the very cold weather. It's one of those meetings that we never looked like losing. To me the highlight was to watch Dan Bewley showing that he is well on the way to being able to carry on where he left off after his serious injuries last season. He had three wins, good race times and didn't back out of a tight first bend. Lidsey showed enough in his first meeting at the NSS for us to see what a talent he is and Bradley Wilson Dean was impressive for Peterborough.

100% spot on there.

Just as well they didn’t last year - all those suits would have bankrupted them

Harris was probably shipped out by bluster to strengthen one of his other clubs ipswich. No conflict of intrests though.

All going well in Buster's Pantherland then? As Blackadder said " Well it started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle & the less said about the end the better ... "

My point is this team is not good enough..and Johnson was suggesting we are..which I disagree with.

What like they smashed Lynn tonight

You’ve been spouting the same rubbish for weeks now - time to take off those rose-tinted glasses!

It was 2008 when speedway began its current decline. Before that is was having something of a minor revival, with radio 5 even running a report on how Speedway had become "cool" at one point. Then, with crowds relatively healthy, the introduced low points limits and "cost cutting" measures time after time, and each time they did it the crowds dropped. So, each time the crowds dropped, they did it again. So they dropped again. It always amazes me when people say that the future is about cost cutting. That is what caused the trouble in the first place.

He might even have had a pay rise !

Looks like Hans may have more that 1 night to forget, possibly a season.....

Hope your internet goes down for a while

I very much doubt we will have any "extra" points to play with by the end of June so will have to exchange (if we wish) like for like. Anybody who is under 40 is going to be bottom of the table by a long way

Maybe the topic heading should be Leicester Track Best It's Ever Been!

i think your timeline is a little skewed it was well into the 2000’s before the top boys all upped and left. To illustrate here’s a list of a few riders that rode in the elite league in 2005: tony rickardsson, Chris Louis, hans Andersen, Leigh adams, Ryan Sullivan, Antonio Lindback, Pepe Protasiewicz, Billy Hamill, Greg Hancock, Jason crump, Nicki Pedersen, lee Richardson, Scott Nicholls, Sebastian ulamek, Greg Walasek, Freddie Lindgren, Peter Karlsson, Michael max, ales & Lukas Dryml, Mark Loram, Andreas Jonsson, Kenneth Bjerre, Joe screen, David norris, Chris Harris, Kris kascperzak, many others that arguably worth a mention, Troy Batchelor, Matej Ferjan, Jason Lyons, Mads Korneliussen, Martin Smolinski my memories of the late 90’s as a witches fan is the team of 98 - gollob, rickardsson, Louis, Svab, nicholls & clouting!

Same thoughts struck me... I have a fairly decent salary but not sure I could afford (or justify) £100+ per month for four Speedway meetings out of my disposable income, with the inevitable teenage requests for food and drink on top! There are so many other costs these days that have to come first.. Kids aged 13 - 16 are conspicuous by their absence at a great many tracks, maybe charging for them to get in also dissuades parents to attend who otherwise might go if their teenagers got in for free? Use free admission for their teenage kids as a 'loss leader', as let's be honest you don't see many teenagers now at many tracks so hardly a huge income loss... Do those who let teenagers in for free now I wonder see a reasonable amount of them there? Someone needs to replace the ageing demographic over the next ten years or so..

Who next Ben Hopwood? Don't get me wrong Phillips has had far more time at this level than many riders ever get and still shows no signs of making the step up but if a change is going to be made i would at least suggest a rider who could become a real asset but the ship has sailed on the majority like Jason Edwards etc. Luke Harris is a fair shout although also still a little too early. Would think the best opportunity is Jordan Jenkins as suggested and as a wild card i would say Danyon Hume would be a better option than Simon Lambert. However at present the diamonds issues are far bigger than who fills the number 7 jacket.

20 years ago there were many more clubs, league fixtures and at least 50% more regular paying supporters on the UK terraces, so I am not quite sure what the better shape is. Thinner? It isn't better quality racing, not from where I have been standing anyway. As for a Barry Hearne type figure, I can't think anyone would appear as there is no way to make promoting UK speedway profitable again. Is it Buster Chapman, when he increases his ownership to 8 - 10 clubs? Do you know, although I do not like his operating methods, he could be the saviour by cutting down costs and increasing the likelihood of semi-pro racing here if he did increase his holdings? No-one else is likely to do anything like that unless some 70 year old diehard fan wins £100 million on the Euro lottery and wants to blow it on wine, women ( or men ), song and speedway. Instead of doing something useful with it!

When the fixture mattered, in what was the biggest match of the Stars long history, we still succumbed to 4 consecutive 5-1 's and later trailed by 18 points . Now, in a match of little importance , and already 10 points adrift, this has to be the most uninspiring match possible... If you could think of reasons why this sport is in such low interest , this match highlights them all. I will be most surprised it the Pirates don't rattle up 60 points, at least....

I'd assume the licence that Horton held is no more which means one less hurdle to cross if we ever get a track to ride on.

After reading season preview in speedway star, Mr cammy knickers wants Tigger's to have more luck this year !! Think last year you were beat by a better team !! Now thinking Berwick side this year resembles that better team from last year, good luck bandits in Tigger land. By the way just over 1 week to cookies testimonial any riders known yet ? Got my h18tory tee shirt to wear next week !!

Andersen is done at the top level. He won’t win the big races when you need him. Solid 3rd heatleader these days. Tungate performed better than he will elsewhere as a number 1 given the track he was on tonight. I’d keep summers, let Barker go and get a proper number 1. Then becomes a much better team.

I think this is the best race I've seen for a while (I know it's off topic for this thread) Partly because it's a hell of a race, partly because it's a match winning race and mostly because Chris Holder finished at the back ...Oh, how I would love to live in Poland...

The way things are looking we would be better off replacing Hans with a out and out number 1 but doubt there is anyone available

Same problem as the last few years. Struggles too often from the gate, over 30 yards and gets beat up on the first turn. Time waits for nobody and this isn't the barnstorming Andersen that Panthers once knew. He may have been testing equipment or something and there could be improvement in there somewhere from tonight but the decline is only going one way IMO.

I would imagine the thinking was that Hans needs track time to get his machinery sorted for the more important league fixtures coming up.

Andersen looks a very decent and tidy rider. Can’t see what Lynn fans are moaning about they have been well up for it tonight. Proctor just rode last to first passing Josh and Holder with ease. Lynn could steal a win tonight to be honest. No good Holder riding like a plank at the back shaking his head.

Rumors of what tho... Not a return until it gets dark & then I would have the moth back as that's when ludde bangs in points ( but according to his mechanic well mmmm dogsbody he told us where to go !! ) Which I took with a pinch of salt lol

He is clearly in the majority regarding speedway non attendees......A laal town like Workington had a high percentage pro rata re population who used to follow the Comets, I base this on the comments re Belle Vue on Wednesday. Because I was just amazed to read on the Premiership area of this forum stuff regarding Belle Vue attendances....it seems only around 700/800 turned up on Wednesday night...an obvious clash with local top soccer match would have certainly affected that figure. But what really astounded me was a guy writing "we didn't manage our usual 1800".....blimey usual 1800????.. this is for speedways most famous team in a brand new(ish) stadium....and held in the UK's third largest city to boot. It just, if ever needed, confirms speedway is in rapid decline. I can recall going to the old Hyde rd. stadium and being sat amidst 10,000 fans, but never less than 2,000.... ....oh by the way great to see that young Dan is on the way back to top form. And another 'by the way'....I see on the Town RL forum talk regarding the upcoming Allerdale council elections...it is apparently feared that if Labour do not gain the overall majority of seats on the council the 'new stadium project' could be seriously hindered by the Cons' and Independents....

I totally agree with you. My two kids jumped ship as teenagers, and wouldn't go now if i paid them!

No it doesn`t matter but its one of the reasons Speedway is on a downward spiral. It portrays a poor image.

LOL...not sure why I made the comment about 'Gate 1' ? (being a dipstick...) just feeling sorry for the boys They tried their best and that's all you can ask !

Pretty much spot on except that Ben Wilson will be donning his finest tunic & sandals this year as a Plymouth Gladiator.

I note Speedwaygb have used this as an example of 'great heat action' on their website. A tapes to flag 5-1 for the Aces! Great?!

I'm sure Poole will keep it close for the entertainment factor. Nobody really wants to see a one-sided meeting with little racing and loads of Poole 5-1's do they?

Let’s not even go there Sing! I hope Lynn rock up and put on some kind of show on for the Poole faithful.

We are back to the usual huff and puff without any action .at the end of day buster will need deep pockets if he doesn't get a rider in . fans will only have the pea took out them so long and I can't see fans having having the patience with buster like they had with ged

Everyone is welcome to their opinion. That is yours. You won't be missed on Saturday, that is mine.

If I remember correctly all those around the old track were cladded, so doing the same with these will be no different.

52-38 ? hardly the mauling the so called experts predicted ? If we're the weakest team in the league and Somerset are predicted to win it, then its going to be a close championship. Gate 1 was the biggest advantage tonight and Somerset won the toss and had the lions share of that! Well done Paco....yet again! Great reserve switch by Bossman in heat 8 !

Lasse seems to be having more mechanical gremlins tonight. R, R, 2, 0. Hope he gets them bottomed out sooner rather than later.

Round 3 times and TV arrangements announced today.- all UK times Friday April 26th Czestochowa v lublin Eleven sport 1 1st race 5pm Friday April 26th Zielona gora v Grudziadz Eleven Sport 1 1st race 7.30pm Sunday April 28th leszno v Gorzow N Sport 1st race 3pm Sunday April 28th Wroclaw v Torun N Sport 1st race 6pm

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..

Are mummy and daddy still his UK pit crew ?

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!

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.

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.

Couldn't have put it better myself. A well balance viewpoint.