Leaderboard

The SKY coverage during the first 10 years at least should have put speedway on a sound footing. Had real business people been running the sport, no doubt it would have done. For two-to-three years from 1999 there were real signs speedway was on the up. Crowds seemed to be improving and SKY really did recognise viewing figures were good for its network of channels. We had our faces painted and kids were let in for a quid on the evening SKY rolled up for a live broadcast. There did seem to be a hint of proper promoting by those who had lazily worn the tag for yonks beforehand. But it didn't really last. It drifted into being taken for granted, speedway being on TV every week, and sometimes twice. I felt the sport - promoters and fans - thought SKY and the influx of cash would always be there. We even began having long faces when certain matches weren't on SKY, despite all they had done for us. Fans began getting picky when commentators were pronouncing riders' names wrong, or if certain teams featured more than theirs. That afternoon SKY had its cameras set up for the Riders' Championship at Coventry, when the promoter was scrambling on the floor looking for the dummy he'd just spat out, that was the final nail for SKY. They had so many rained-off meetings towards the end, I believe they decided to cut their loses. They were a professional broadcasting company working within an amateur sport. They couldn't drag it up to their level. For example, how many times did live matches overrun? BT have only half-heartedly accepted it, but we should be thankful for small mercies and not start bickering of who's doing a bad job and who you'd like to see on the panel. I often look at some of the dross SKY are covering during the summer months and cannot believe how the sport messed up its opportunity and is no longer featured. As a fan, I don't really know the ins and outs. But I do recall the amount of money SKY used to shell out setting up all the gear, and then the match was washed out. They aren't a charity and won't put up with it. BT also. I look at speedway, 20 years after SKY could have saved it, and see a dangerous shortage of riders with clubs having to share them, like the last cigarette being passed around by kids behind the bike sheds. I see clubs going weeks without a match in the height of summer, which will surely mean some fans will simply get out of the habit and get used to the cash in their pockets. Meanwhile, fans are expected to tune in to the GPs and see many of the riders (or their type) who put two fingers up at Britain and merely used it like a Tom Cat when the female was in season. Fans are expected to turn up trackside and support riders in their team who aren't even their riders. It's like visiting someone in hospital you don't know and wishing them to get better. It's not someone you know and love. In fact, you ask yourself why bother turning up at the bedside every week to wish someone you don't know get better. Looking at British speedway right now, I see remnants of what might have been, ghosts of live matches on SKY and all the missed opportunities. That could have been the sport's saviour. It should have. But look at it now. How many lives does it have remaining for British speedway to mess up?

What an incredible end to a highly enjoyable meeting . Yes it's advantage Eastbourne , but speedway that good deserves to pack out stadiums . Well done to both sides and the track staff for giving them the stage to produce that

Heat 1 Cook Bowtell Kennett Sarjeant 3-3 Cook wins by the length of the street and equals the track record , no bad with a broken wrist , Eagles pack in for the 3-3 Heat 2 Edwards Bowtell Bailey Bickley (ret) 4-8 Eagles gate and bring back a comfortable 5-1 Heat 3 stopped just as it was getting interesting , Vissing was leading Newman , Newman then got badly out of shape on bend 2 lap 2 and came down , he's up okay , but excluded Heat 3 Starke Kerr Vissing 8-10 cracking race for a lap or so with Kerr and Vissing wheel to wheel before Kerr got the better of things Heat 4 Lawson Jensen Edwards Bickley 10-14 from the gate , Eagles look up for this Heat 5 Kennett Vissing Starke Edwards 13-17 Tigers getting a gating lesson so far Heat 6 awarded Cook Lawson Bowtell Sarjeant (f'exc) 16-20 cracking race again , Son of God electric from the gate , but Craig Cook does Craig Cook things though it took him 3 laps . Sarj down at the back though riders 30 yards ahead had entered the last lap Heat 7 Jensen Kerr Newman Bailey (f) 19-23 from gate , Eagles doing the sensible thing and packing in for a 3-3 when they don't gate . Behind me in the pits the Tigers getting marched in for a bit of an arse kicking session by the looks of it Heat 8 Newman Bickley Edwards Sarjeant (ret) 21-27 Eagles gate again but Bickley gets in between them exiting bend 2 , Sarj chucks it after a couple of laps , this post natal depression is a bugger Heat 9 Lawson Starke Vissing Bowtell 24-30 son of god gets the better of Starke by the 3rd bend , while at the back Vissing went missing and it took a mistake on bend 4 lap 3 to help get passed Bowtell . This is a completely different Eagles side that were up here earlier in the season. . Interval now Heat 10 Cook Kerr Newman Bickley 27-33 Deja vu, Eagles pack in behind Cook . With Tigers bottom order not doing it , heats 13 and 15 are the only hope of a home heat advantage , but even that's no gimmee Heat 11 Jensen Kennett Bowtell Bailey 30-36 Bowtell showed Bailey who was boss on bend 3 by forcing him out to the fence in no uncertain manner , all part of the learning curve for young Connor to be a bit tougher Heat 12 Vissing Bickley Newman Bowtell 35-37 Best race of the night with Kyle Bickley coming alive and producing a stunning ride from the back to pass both Eagles Heat 13 Cook Lawson Jensen Kennett 39-39 bit of a meeting now , Jensen gets Kennet on the final 2 bends Heat 14 Starke Kerr Bickley Edwards 43-41 Bickley passes Edwards bend 3 lap 1 Heat 15 Cook Lawson Jensen Kennett 47-43 , stunning just stunning by Cook and Lawson , you won't see a better race anywhere in any division

An absolute belter of a meeting credit to both teams on an excellent night of entertainment. Heat 15 was wow, anybody that thinks Lawson is just a gating tart heat 15 completely blew that theory. Bickley's last to second kick started an absolute fantastic final five heats whether it is enough i don't know , speedway was the winner tonight though , both teams must take enormous credit on serving up a classic match.

Like I care about getting into trouble lol

Jason broke his wrist in a 4 bike pile up in the British Semi Final at Redcar & he's been out for over 2 months now. It has been reported that he had a skid after our amateur meeting at the week end. His 28 day replacement has done more than enough to keep his place. His enthusiastic style of racing leads to entertainment but it can, & normally does, bring its share of injuries during a season. Always a trier though, unlike Schlein.

The term keyboard warriors seems to me the only riposte promoters have when they can't or won't give any credible reason for the shambles such has been served up recently.

DIFFICULT to argue with any of that...

I think it would be interesting to know how many “personnel” GB had with them at the SON finals, as I can’t see any benefit apart from maybe a physio, any of the nutritionists, fitness coaches, agony aunts, sleep coaches etc being there, by the time the meeting comes round what can they do? It’s been documented in the past of complaints from other teams about the amount of extra personnel GB had in the pits. It was said on the TV coverage that Dave Rowe was assisting Rossiter in the pits, was he there just for this? or in some journalistic capacity? Now my point about this, it was said Bewley had a visa in place, if so save a seat on the plane for the boy instead of any of the above, let him take a set of his preferred handlebars and seat ( as cook did for the GP challenge there, he didn’t take bikes ) if freight costs were an issue, then if he was required, fit these to a fellow team members bike, not ideal but good enough to feel comfortable. If he wasnt required to ride just let him soak in the occasion, observe and take in how the nations at the sharp end go about things.

Totally agree. Supporters need to recognise that team GB, England or whatever you want to call the motley crew of riders racing under the banner are with one exception no real match for those who race at GP, Euro or Polish league speedway. Why do people bang on about the overseas contingent not riding in in the UK when in fact they could not give a fig about British speedway. The current state of the sport offers up the ideal opportunity to regroup and foresake all that has gone before. Time to look after number one and re-build from the bottom up. Those riders who cannot commit to weekly racing in the U.K. between April and September, go ply your trade elsewhere. Build with what we have, invite overseas teams for test matches and forget Poland, ask Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Czech, etc. and get to watch riders who will only grace these shores is these type of matches. Bring back the interest in seeing overseas riders at test matches only. Work on a U K open individual championship, and look at a league format that has riders competing with equal ability rather than machines and stop the nonsense of throwing money at bikes and instead give riders machines that are standard so that all competitors really have to look at their track craft and hone their skills rather then rely on the gate and go aspect of the sport. The sport may once have been part time and a hobby for some riders but it was much more of a level playing field when it came to machinery. Oh for the days when it was announced that a rider was using the track spare. A reality check is needed before it reaches the point of no return. To those in charge, be dynamic, be forceful and stop living in a dream world.

Excuse me for this one but we need to give as much exposure as possible to anyone good enough to support Reading Speedway... Reading Speedway are proud to announce a new sponsor in Lind Harley Davidson, who will sponsor the no. 1 race jacket for the remainder of the 2019 season. The family owned company have businesses in Reading, Guildford, Norwich and Newmarket. With the local branch at 660 Wokingham Rd, Reading, they are more than just a motorcycle store, offering repairs, servicing and mots, and can even sell your bike for you. They also organise social nights and exhibitions and offer a vast array of motorcycling accessories and merchandise. Visit their website at www.lind.co.uk, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter under Lind Harley-Davidson and Instagram at lindhduk. Reading Speedway are always grateful for any sponsorship we receive, we thank Lind and we hope that this is the start of a beautiful friendship!

Klindt posted on twitter that he had spoken to referee, who said that he was holding the tapes for longer to stop movement. Well it's not working, never seen so many restarts. Just let them go & get on with the racing. The crowd come to see the riders not some prima donna sat up in the stand.

He is only there a couple of times a season between injuries.

Saga Magazine this month(shows my age ) full page Speedway article(GP and domestic) "armchair sport! by John Aizlewood(award winning writer). Decent article, he obviously did some research about the history of the sport. couple of quotes With BT Sport`s coverage seducing a new audience, it`s ticking over very nicely , thank you. Dirty ? yes smelly ? yes loud ? yes. And rather wonderful ? oh, yes

Doesn't Bomber have to guest for every team at least once per season? Isn't that one of the regulations..? And if he isn't available then I believe Scott or Rory must be asked...

Pretty much sums it up perfectly! The revenue received from SKY was never invested in anyway, no short term (let alone medium or long term) strategy was ever implemented and remember that due to a commission the BSPA naively agreed with the man who negotiated the SKY deal, meant a large chunk of the amount paid by the broadcaster never went to the clubs. The BSPA failed to capitalise on the more than credible viewing figures to land a title sponsor, shameful! Too many petty little squabbles saw promoters try and out do each other on points money paid to certain riders. All comes down to the fact that a the sport's weak self governance failed miserably and they totally ballsed everything up by taking SKY for granted and even going back cap in hand at one point! Massive opportunity lost - never get another chance like that!

Spot on , the jealousy surrounding Glasgow threads is quite comical at times. I remember only too well standing in the weeds on the back straight at Glasgow and you were able to do a quick head count, now while 2100 May be a tad over generous , the attendances are much healthier . The Charlie Monk stand is always pretty full , the stand on the home straight is usually pretty full , and the fourth bend terrace always looks well populated and swelled by an extra 10 folk when the Monarchs visit. While there are things about Ashfield since the Facennas took over that I don't like, I.e no decent bar and over zealous stewarding, it's like night and day now compared to the dump it used to be . If people feel the need to pick holes and throw insults in the direction of something that is actually good about British speedway, then that's pretty sad and it's an attitude which is indicative of where the sport in this country is just now .

First leg of the Shield semi final is upon us and it's not even October . Few questions to be answered , will Mr Maximum's dodgy wrist prevent another maximum ? Will Son of God be as minging again as he was last time the Eagles were up here ? How will we cope after actually losing a match on Sunday ? Will Easty's long tail be their undoing ? Will we get the twenty point lead to be comfortable going down there ? Will my stupid phone stop changing words ? All this and more to be answered at the citadel of speed .

Kings Lynn was a fantastic track with plenty of passing and riders feeling good about attacking the track,from what I've seen on BT Sports that is no longer the case, and this has been backed up by other speedway fans. It doesn't need massive amounts spent on it, just a good track curator and a bit of backing from Busted.

Seems to have been excellent racing &match! Whether it is enough for Tigers we shall see. Huge thankx to Paulco for his informative texts (Much better than the Twitter on Updates!!)

But, do you know what, I don't get upset with what Team GB do anymore. When you grew up supporting your local team first, then the riders who often went off in various directions for the British League Individual events, if England ( as it was at the time) did well, that was extra custard on your crumble. It was better of course if your club favourites - Peter Collins and Chris Morton - brought the World Pairs back for England and Belle Vue. They may look the part in their team suits, but I can't say I could gain any National pride cheering on Cook, Harris or Lambert. Would much rather roar on a local side in domestic racing.

100% down to desire or lack of it - we was the same with the air fence or safety foam barrier seems to remember in the PL days we had Oxford air fence the club wanted volunteers to put the air fence up and take it down not many or any people came forward so the air fence sat round the back of the terracing pit end and riders continued to get injured John Oliver was one - so I guess if we all turned up with wheel barrows we could have proper red speedway shale lol

Glasgow were unbeaten in the league home and away (until last Sunday), which, I think, kind of proves my point. They still got a "bonus point" despite the defeat, so your point (in my opinion) isn't totally valid.

We all know that was a bit optimistic - if unrealistic. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

But when I got a new computer, and after V 10 would not load and someone from the Far East had to do it remotely, I was asked for the passwords for every different system used. Best password is Ihavenoidea

Hi Colin, Thank you for your email, It will be Piraterna vs Lejonen that will be broadcasted this week. Best regards, The team at ESS Play

It’s still a solid day of work to completely relay a track and pack it in.

It's speedway , it's an occupational hazard Look at poor old Birmingham , lost their three heat leaders , then to make matters worse , they sign Jason Garrity

Now we know the answers to our questions about whether Garrity or Barker will be here at the weekend. Garrity to Birmingham so Barker to the Scorpions. As I have said on previous threads, he has sorted his personal problems, scored well for us & other teams have picked him as a guest. Welcome fulltime Ben.

Aye you need that wee dose of bile to keep us on our toes

Yes agree with you - BUT feel you should have added “especially when the owner ripped apart his anticipated side before the season even started”. He was on a hiding to nothing from the off and we could all see it.

Have to take your hat off to Peter/David (Mason) for at least trying to give 'us' an entertaining team....they could easily have carried on with R/R for Morris. I admire their dedication and commitment to the cause.

Probably because he’s useless

Fire some dirt on the track ,that will take care of their No1 ,gives you a wee chance

Great speedway races at Lynn are a thing of the past, you have more chance of enjoying roast Dodo for Sunday dinner ...

So is it a World Championship, or a development/experience event for younger riders with potential?

Not missing the point at all. If a nation doesn't have three strong senior riders, it is highly unlikely that they will have a competitive under-21. Again, that is where GB are lucky; the best under-21 is also the nation's second best senior rider! I have said this before though, that throwing kids in at the deep end can be very counter-productive. In hindsight, it may have been better to take another under-21 instead of Harris, but you must admit, once you get past Woffinden, Lambert, and Cook, the list of Brits who can genuinely compete at world level is pretty bloody sparse! Funny thing is, we have a lot of "good" youngsters, but none of them (outside of Lambert) are anywhere near ready. Having said that, history will show that VERY few of the best teenagers actually develop into true world-class riders, and that youth development programs actually generate little in the way of world-class contenders. What happens in reality is that once every few years, someone special comes along, and any connections to a youth programme are likely to be coincidental. That isn't just a British thing, and neither is it a speedway problem either; it is the way of things. Steve

Forever the loyalist that’s trees lol None of the above matter when the promotion (and I used the word promotion in a very lose way as there isn’t much promoting going on ) doesn’t have any intention of using red shale they are quite happy using clay based with a few stone thrown in - sooner everyone realises its all about stock cars rather than speedway the better

Well, if he's got a broken wrist and does manage to win any trophies, I hope he's gonna be able to pick them up.

You'll not be an Alan Partridge fan Rodders but he had the perfect retort for a similar loon: "No way you big spastic you're a mentalist!"

Enjoyed that tonight, looked like a fair sized crowd too.. Guesstimate would be around 700-800 from where I was sitting... Plenty of kids with it being hols too.. Cant complain at a tenner in and free for teenagers up to eighteen years old can you? Nice to see a bit of needle too between Jack Smith and some of the Aces lads, maybe those Facebook comments about not getting picked for the U21 were being shared around... Cannot knock the NL can you? A very, very decent product, full of lads giving their all... PS, Barry's Curry must be good down there looking at how 'well fed' several of the IOW lads looked... Made me feel quite 'svelte' like.... (A 'trim' ahem, 15 and a half stone by the way). Well done to all tonight, including Chase The Ace who, with the kids in attendance, did a great job of engagement.. My only gripe would be that on nights like this more could be done to get people to come back to watch either more Colts or 'the big boys'. A massive opportunity to advertise more meetings to a captured market and several around me were first time attendees.. Maybe discounted Aces meeting tickets to any of the newbies? A bit of market research on the night can guide who you try and engage.. Fair play to Mark Lemon too, not a short flight from Russia yet in the pits tonight.. Well done that man.. You do feel that there is hope when the NL shows what can be done..

Based on original team declarations is Chris Harris guesting in place of himself?

I don't think speedway's competitions are Mickey Mouse at all but otherwise you are pretty much spot on. The other thing is that in those days speedway was very much a part time occupation for the overwhelming majority of riders even during the season - Mick Bell (a three time British League championship winner and decent second string/reserve in the 1970's) once said that for him it was 'a good paying hobby'. Nowadays, it seems to me that - NL riders excepted - they regard it as a full time job (which is why we have the blight of uncontrolled doubling up) and require payment to that level. Costs have definitely risen, but so have expectations. That simply has to change.

I hate the phrase keyboard warriors. Those are your customers !!!!

How can something be sorted if there isn't qualified/ experienced people to sort it? There is no ' training scheme ' for the skill of track preparation. The few good ones still around are constantly bombarded with calls begging them to sort a track out somewhere in the country, usually for a pittance of a fee , and they are getting on in age doing a very physical job. The Wolverhampton curator, Terry , does Wolves, Redcar and up until a week ago Birmingham. He has been asked to 'sort out' Stoke, Isle of Wight, Glasgow and a few others over this season already by the SCB and promoters and he is just one man relying on the track concerned to provide him with the machinery and the shale to do the job right. It has taken him years to learn his trade ,mainly from Doc Bridgett, but there is no apprentice scheme so when he retires who takes up the role? The powers that be can't sort out the rule book never mind the tracks.

Hi All, I have just received a reply to my email and they are now showing Piraterna v Lejonen. The response below. Hi Andy, It will be Piraterna vs Lejonen that will be broadcasted this week. The matches that are broadcasted are picked together with the club and the federation and we are always interested in hearing your opinion.

Absolutely spot on - though thing to remember is Kings Lynn is a stock car stadium that just happens to stage a few speedway meetings .

Just found Heat 15 on you tube under Swindon Speedway . Titled 4th July 2019 Swindon v Ipswich heat 15. Don't think it has been put on BSPA site.

Y fronts on ya head and a pencil up each nostril just doesn’t cut it anymore