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It's unfair to criticize the GRA over bar prices at Perry Barr. They also think that these are too high but they have no option but to charge what their London masters say that they have to charge. The GRA now only operates Belle Vue and Perry Barr as has been said, but they are not an independent organisation - they are owned by a larger London group called RCP, but as far as Perry Barr is concerned, the GRA management and staff have been more than helpful and co-operative towards the speedway club in every respect. Perry Barr Stadium is owned by the City Council but leased to the GRA. Part of the grandstand is a Grade 2 listed building and there is a covenant on the stadium which states that it must be used only as a sports venue. The stadium was a gift to the City made by Lord Alexander in 1888, and it's original name was The Alexander Stadium and was the domain of Birchfield Harriers Athletic Club until the late 1970's when the City Council constructed their present home - originally styled "The New Alexander Stadium." The Council planned to sell the old stadium to Sainsburys at the time, but were prevented from doing this because the Alexander family would not agree to lifting the covenant. The old stadium, then derelict, was leased to The Perry Barr Greyhound Club in 1985, and the Greyhound Club was sold to the GRA in 2002. The original speedway/Athletics track was 402 yards slightly shorter than Belle Vue (Hyde Road) and Norwich but very similar in shape to both of them. The new dog track constructed in 1986, covered the home straight and the two bends of the old speedway circuit, but extended further over what used to be concrete terracing on the back straight, and the new speedway track, laid in 2007, inside the dog track of course, was of a very similar shape to the original although with much shorter straights. For anyone with an interest in local history, at the high point of the rear of the central part of the grandstand can be seen the leaping deer emblem of Birchfield Harriers surmounted by the club's motto "Fleet and Free." Here endeth the history lesson!!!

Must the the most stupid post ever .... I'm completely lost for words that won't get me a ban

Excellent again from Kasper away from home, just need him to have a good home meeting or two to get his confidence up around Lynn. There is obviously talent there. Can’t be displeased with an away draw to start the league campaign. Both teams will probably feel they could have won it.

I think the way to get over this is to have no crashes at all.A crash don't help anyone,especially someone who has just got over a bad crash.

Yes we all are aware of that and Aces fans are very lucky to have it but the rest of us don't and some like to keep reminding us that there track is better than ours especially some people who have an anti Wolves agenda.I am not a Wolves fan but i have always enjoyed my trips to Monmore and will continue to do so.

Kent were robbed by poor refereeing,thats all. Plymouths Campos and Andrews clearly bringing down Kent riders. The referee let the Andrews incident go, much to everyones surprise. Even the Andrews family said 'Rich got away with that one' Campos was leading,locked up,and was on his way down, when Jenkins,on his inside had nowhere to go. Most folk near me had to change their programmes as it was so obvious. Zero from Kemps rides didnt help, but I do think Len was right to go with R/R.. Plymouth were riding to the best of their ability and could do little more. Kent are far better, especially as Kemp would have scored freely,I am sure.Very impressed with Ablitt.Only very hard riding from Stoneman cost him more points.I liked what I saw of Gilkes,aggressive and controlled. Dont be too hard on your riders or management. Its not often that a referee has such an impact on a result. Oh and before anyone says I am biased, I am a Poole fan, who goes to Plymouth regularly as its the closest track to my home in Torquay. I just like to see justice served whether its for or against my side.

Did you bang your head, that would explain a lot .....

One suspects that’s what skidder is waiting for, the opportunity to hammer somebody else and take the attention off Poole’s issues.

Hoping both sets of fans have an enjoyable evening and all rider's put on a show.

Agree, and suppose 2.5 points a match is a five point swing in your direction. Which is better than the 'Audi badge' 0000

Ooooh Harris looks to of recovered nicely , can see another tight match, a point would be good, 3 better go witches

Apart from belle Vue,,, I think fans of nearly all other clubs would like a track the same as the showground as their home track. Don't think I've ever seen a poor meeting there

Last year we had the shale issues which they told us was resolved, it's beginning to look like the shale be used is total crap...………..yet again!! You have got to have decent material to provide decent racing, decent racing equals happy supporters and more of them, it's not rocket science but I am starting to have my doubts that the promotion either care or just don't grasp the basics

Many think its laughable but that's just a clear indictment of the state of these boards today. It's a shadow of its former self. At no point have I wished injury. At no point have I said Dan wants to crash or that I would like him too. Once again, some people just fail to grasp the concept of reading between the lines.

I couldn’t believe that anyone would write something like that unless I saw it with my own eyes. Shocking.

I see dan ford reaction to the meeting on pirates defeat on Friday but not a mention of the state of the track . I find that strange ?

I too was at this meeting ,ledwith seemed to be trying to hard his bikes never looked set up for the small track there was a few bizarre referring decisions but I think Plymouth just about deserved to win on the night,but Kent with all there riders are going to be very hard to handle for anyone where Len has got those two boys at reserve from god only knows but they are very impressive especially Gilkes he could go as far as he wants the last time I saw a team that strong was the scunthorpe team including woffinden,auty,Becker and Dennis.im looking forward to seeing their result against Belle Vue today I totally get why they did r/r on Friday on any other day they would have won.good luck to Kent for the rest of the season the fans will have a great time watching them this season.

Danny's inability to score round Brough and anywhere else for that matter at Championship level, will I am sure tell him something. It certainly will be damaging his confidence and maybe he should make the call himself to move back down a league where he can win races and make some money! I tend to agree with TG that Simon Lambert will make good, but hopefully in the near future.

Remember all other fans commenting on the Scorpions pages last year for being unfair . Well I witnessed Danny all last season home and away ,I gave him the benefit of the doubt returning from injury etc .But when you see a rider de throttle to miss the first bend on so many occasions to be in a safe position is beyond me . If he wants to ride Speedway that's fine but the rest of the guys are racing and competing ,that's why when supporters pay good money they expect effort and commitment. Ive seen Speedway for 40 plus yrs and some of my favourite ride back at the old Hull Vikings were Peter Scully and Mike Hampson not the greatest riders but always give 100 % effort

Kingy comes across as a decent guy but my memories of him as a Lions rider are of someone who lacked steel in pressure situations. He frequently came up short in crunch heats (heat 15 if selected) when he often only had to deliver individually and not team ride. This opinion is based on observations at Premiership and not Championship level but there isn't exactly a gulf between the two leagues since many of the riders are the same! (This could only happen in speedway. Been meaning to check if Jamie Vardy isn't sneekely turning out for the Forest or Derby occassionly).

Oh but you are! And despite the fact that several other Panthers fans have tried to set you straight, you're still banging on. It's not Panthers' stadium - so they can't just go changing anything to the infrastructure, especially under the current EoES management. Anyway, you'd find it hard to find many Panthers fans complaining about the configuration of the track. The surface - yes (sometimes). The riders - often! Management - again often! But the stadium, track configuration and facilities? Nope. And the vast majority of visiting fans seem to enjoy their visits to our place too. By the way, if, as I suspect, your fingers are poised over your keyboard to dash off a reply with something about how all speedway clubs need to look forward and try to make improvements blah blah blah; maybe so, but that's a general speedway thing. This is a Peterborough Panthers (v Poole) thread.

It’s discretionary, basically Peter Adams asked CVS and he said it was ok. It’s not always given as I know of one rider who - should he have not ridden straight away - R/R was denied.

Where’s odsal boy still doing the ironing

I'll not even entertain the first paragraph because I don't want you to keep digging that hole, you might never get out. As regards the EoES: for 30 years on a regular weekly basis we were the prime valued user of the site with only the annual agricultural show otherwise taking place that I can recall. A change of administration with different priorities in a shrinking showground being sold off for housing, the consequent reduction in access roads, the Arena springing up and much more use of the site gave the perception (and fixtures, health and safety issues would probably bear that out) that speedway is now an afterthought and source of regular, if not particulary significant income. Annoyance isn't the right word but they certainly wag the dog as no home fixtures from July 15 to Sept 2 indicate. The product has been dummed down for years, that's why people talk about survival. The tracks were always fine but the rider quality has got worse. You can have your most perfect track in the world but if you're not putting out riders of sufficient quality to do it justice then the product will be poor. That's the key that we wasted over the Sky years which is why speedway is continuing down the Hahnenkamm.

I have never liked rider-replacement - but it is infinitely preferable to guest riders, and both have become easy options in a variety of circumstances which would never be tolerated in any other well-run professional sport. The excuse of "not enough riders" just doesn't wash - the promoters themselves have created this situation by allowing so many riders to ride for more than one team - a thoughtlessly pointless rule which has delivered no benefits whatsoever and has only created a scenario of some riders being able to double their earnings at the expense of fellow riders whom they have denied the chance to earn anything at all. So many riders now seem to consider it a God-given right that they can ride for two teams so there is absolutely no chance of this daft and embarrassing rule ever being rescinded - the riders just wouldn't stand for it. Apart from 30 or so riders being deprived of a team place because 30 of their colleagues MUST have two teams, the knock-on effect has been to force the better National League riders to stay in the National League instead of progressing upwards as should be the case. Understandably, many of them will take the view that why should they not pick up more cash from scoring a dozen or more points per meeting as a National League rider when the alternative is only scoring 2/3 and earning peanuts in a higher league and always being in danger of the chop at the same time? Perhaps one day (the day that will convince me that the age of miracles has not passed) speedway will re-structure itself with properly defined teams in each division, and one man-one-team, with promoters forced to develop their own extra riders for use when a team man in injured, with no guests and no rider-replacement. Every other sport does this - and supporters accept that injuries and loss of form are all part and parcel of their particular sport - so why should promoters think that speedway must be so different?

I agree that Kerr should be at two but I can’t imagine this isn’t something that everyone has agreed on. Also agree about being a little disappointing after being eight up but in mitigation the two strongest looking Premiership teams have lost at Peterborough this year and both Riss and Jorgensen were way below their usual standard tonight for various reasons so I’m not going to worry about it too much. The bigger concern for me and speedway in general is that one of the best racetracks we have hasnbeen altered and doesn’t seem to offer that outside line any more. One line round the inside is no good to anybody.

While some Stars fans will take positives from this result I think it's a little disappointing. 8 points up, against a team running 3 points under the team average. Should not jave ended a draw and again proved critical at the back end of the meeting by having Eric Riss complete his night by heat 11. Riss has to be at No4 or No5 and Kerr at No2. I just don't get why the management ain't picking this up, it's ridiculous.

Gated, and went. Very tidy and is from the grass track scene. I would say around 300+ that stayed behind.

2 great meetings racing wise. Well done all 13 riders enjoyed that

Good crowd, weather and racing. Bomber was class tonight, some great passing. Bellego disappointing.Ippo reserves far better, but very strong top 5 for Swindon. Lampost should have been Robins man of the match.Good to see most of crowd stayed for second half.

Just so you know, some of us knew exactly what you meant.others don't read posts properly.

Whereas the Ipswich reserves were much better than their counterparts. It’s the way the two teams have been assembled and to be fair, any team’s heat leaders would struggle against the Robins top 3 at home.

Christ what on earth is wrong with you? You seem to have issues and seem a very angry individual. Absolutely no need to be calling people “simple”, none whatsoever.

Having taken nearly 7 hours to get my home in Worcestershire to Eastbourne on Friday and arriving at 2.45 as a result, glad they did delay to let me and about 100 other people in a queue in at 10 to 3 and that with all their turnstiles open. I blame the M25 / M23 lack of infrastructure investment, awful British roads, crazy London drivers, the hot weather, 101 other things before i blame Eastbourne or any other speedway team, the doom mongers really do want out great sport to die don't they. I rejoice at big crowds and queues at speedway brilliant i say. Been to Kent today, not a great crowd but very decent for NL and another Club trying their best to promote speedway racing. Well done Kent and well done Eastbourne I say

Rumor has it he's struggling to find his way home through the dust ...

Good afternoon meeting at Belle Vue with no dust Stop blaming the shale or the direction of the sun or the side of the bed that was got out of.... Pooles track prep is nothing but a disgrace if it’s not bumpy and dangerous it’s dusty and dangerous. I see Starman has hardly commented at all on either how bad the team is or how bad the track is... anyone know if he is still posting

I would suggest you just leave it... You are not going to convince those who don't agree.. For what it's worth (ie not much), I do understand your sentiments.. When I played football I bust my ankle and for approx 3 games on my return I barely made a tackle due to my concern there could be further damage, (even though physio and all medical team who had helped in my recovery said it was fine)... Fourth game in, I had no choice but to instinctively take a 50/50 on and won the ball but got 'nailed'.. Best thing that could have happened to me as after some 'magic sponge' treatment (when did that stop fixing every ailment in football by the way?) I was up and about and flying in like nothing had happened... Coming back from injury can be a very mental thing to fix as you say... You do sometimes have to test your body out to convince yourself you are OK. ..

or not got a screw loose.

So you don't like what you feel is a disrespectful comment made to you.And then you come out with that comment above to geoff58

I see the snowflakes are out in force. Soft. The lot of you.

What? Have you been taking something you shouldn’t have?

Of course the (new) Alexander Stadium Brian refers to, now home to Birchfield Harriers and also HQ of British Athletics is being upgraded to facilitate Stadium for 2022 Commonwealth Games and although plans are for it to be scaled back to Capacity of just over 20,000 after the Event may make a longer term option for UK Speedway (if a temporary track could be laid) somewhere below the 50,000+ of CARDIFF Millenium (which cost is too much rent for Domestic use) yet well above the very restrictive spectator capacity at the NSA in Manchester.

Me thinks there was an easy solution to this problem. Shave some shale from the inside to the outside and hide the concrete. That concrete has always been there, its what the fence is built on. It has always been there, under the shale. To hit that concrete with your back Wheel spinning is a recipe for disaster, but just cover it... Whats the problem?

Would save having to drop him anyway when Thorsell returns. Never rated him and seems to have lost it mentally. Still, nothing surprises me and he could be back in a Pirates race jacket before long

Nothing against Danny Phillips and I know it’s very early in the season but how much longer can/do you persevere with him? He’s not even scoring at home. You could sign someone like Jordan Jenkins admittedly he’s probably not ready for championship racing and may not score much or at all but at least he’s young and has potential to improve.

Good win by the Diamonds tonight with a hard fought battle against the Monarchs. Hats off to TJ and another very impressive performance from Clegg, gets better week on week. Gr8 to see Wethers amongst the points and Bjerre's haul would have been greater if not for a retirement and a team riding attempt which didn't quite work. Lambert still a worry but Phillips has to go, he's not good enough for this level, simple as.

Let's be honest, any rider could end up at any club and it wouldn't be all that much of a surprise.

Yup. Ruled changed a few years ago. All in the rulebook.

Imo Peterborough have a beautiful track

With Kurtz having already been there and scored 13,,looks like the best choice of guest to me.