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I'd say that they set a standard and a blueprint for speedway clubs across the country. Their method is two fold : massive customer care and financial responsibility. Quite simply, they aim to give the paying customer and his family (and the latter is most important) the best night out they can so that he comes back again. Normal business practice, you might suggest - and you'd be right - but speedway has fallen disastrously down on that so many times. Any travelling fan will tell you of the 'get what you are given and be grateful' and 'if you don't like it, don't come' attitudes that have prevailed in speedway. It is one of the principle reasons why the sport is on its knees. Isle of Wight broke the mould. For a start, there is a concerted attempt to promote the existence of the club through show attendance, advertising and school and youth club demonstrations. Then there is the genuine care that they show on race nights, and innovation is paramount. Its little wonder that they have attracted almost universal credit and praise, culminating in a Speedway Star article by one of the sports most experienced and respected journalists. I started banging the drum for Isle of Wight in 2016 and have had no reason to waver from that view. Ironically, it came about because I was critical. Usual speedway club response to criticism is hostility and aggression, even abuse. To my amazement, I got an apology, a remedy and a wish that I would return. I was, to say the least, astonished and I know that I am not the only one who has had that reaction. Underpinning this remarkable degree of care is an equally robust financial policy. Huge effort is put into attracting sponsorship and sponsors and even the smallest are valued and appreciated. Rider pay and other expenses are carefully considered and weighed - no superstar pay here, but you get your money on time, every time. Barry Bishop and Martin Widman have done a fantastic job, and I can see signs that others are following suit. I was hugely impressed at Redcar the other week, for example. On the other hand, lets look at Plymouth. Reportedly losing money hand over fist, criticism is subject to hostile denial and a refusal to accept that anything is amiss - even when opposition riders threaten not to ride. Loyal and long standing fans are barred from both the club forum and the track for questioning the promotion. They are now apparently subject to an SCB investigation. The contrast with the Warriors is a truly stark one.

Great point for Bears , now for Berwick. UTB

Aviator, you know it would be unprofessional for me to comment in a public forum, on an internal matter, as it is still in fluid state. All I can say is that I did as I was asked last night.

Any Sheffield riders you want, sure we will help you out as well as Leicester

Many times. Manor Walk Shopping Centre, Tynemouth RNLI event, various schools, Aykley Heads (Durham Police HQ) event, and that's all in the last few months alone.

Like what? I don't know why we should be raising money for the riders, I would have thought keeping the club afloat would be more useful (that's if the Supporters Club is there to raise money for riders, which, thinking about it, I don't think it is).

It's called lunch down here in the south.

With all the rain prior to the start, it is a massive credit to firstly the track and secondly the riders and staff for getting the meeting on.. The same happened last year with the Stoke Match. As I have said before , going to The NSS is like being in Speedway heaven.

A ban for them or at least a huge fine. Or taking a few match points away. It brings promoters into disrepute if they don't all play by that rule "in the best interests of the sport".

Cracking meeting and a huge advert for both the NL and NSS. As Neil Drummond said, no other track in the country would have put that meeting on given the amount of rain and it is entirely possible that had it been a Premiership match that would have been off too. There was some high quality racing once the slush was driven off and a knife edge finish,. Massive credit to both teams We don't know the full circumstances of course, but the decisive difference to me was that Kent gave their in form reserve 7 rides, Belle Vue didn't.

Sitting there before the match with the rain pelting down.......................surely no chance of any racing........................announcements from the BV commentator suggesting they are giving it another 20 minutes and see how it goes. In truth we had by this time regretted turning up. (In truth there weren't that many of us anyway). And behold! They put on heat one with the rain still falling and it wasn't a bad race. (Considering!). And then, long story short, the racing continued and the track provided a fair stage for both teams. I just wonder how many Premiership matches would have gone ahead in these conditions? So credit to riders of both sides for providing racing (at times really good racing). Shame about the result from a Colts point of view but hey!.

live , but not free . you have to register and then you have to pay £10.00 . prob via paypal or something like that ...also you cannot live within 50 miles of Armadale . scunny should just about sneak in there .... but well worth a tenner if you wanted a bit o speedway with your mates around .. .well done Edinburgh on the E.M T .V .side of things

Riding well the bears just hope you do Eastbourne in the cup semi and set up a cracking final against us diamonds ( should be 2 good crowds to help out both promotion's ) and a cup in the north

Let’s be honest here. Ipswich have done very well this year and have surprised everyone, myself included. The form of Cameron Heeps, who has ripped up the form book and considerably increased his average is one of the main reasons Ipswich have done so well. They have strength in depth and easily the best two reserves in the league. KP at reserve is quite frankly ridiculous. However. The chinks are now showing. They have been ripped a new one at home by Poole, then scrapped home against Wolves and Belle Vue. Where they were clear at the top, they are now barely hanging onto Pirates shirt tails. Poole now have a meeting in hand and next weeks top of the table clash is going to be paramount in deciding who finishes top and gets the puck in the semis. With Poole starting to come back to full strength after a period where half the team were out of action, I struggle to see them beaten over two legs by Ipswich. Is it time for changes at Ipswich to bolster their championship ambitions?

Bears second away meeting on two days. Riding well, confidence high. Bandits unbeaten at home for a year , well, its got to end sometime, and as a Bears fan, Saturday would be the perfect time to do it. Tough ask though, realistically, anything from this meeting would be great. UTB !!

Well the solution is obvious, ride both legs away.....possibly at Peterborough?

Probably the best promoting team in British speedway..If only the other promoters put as much effort in then possibly speedway could see a resurgence in this country.,.......well done again IOW..!,

That’s bang on the money then. His average is 5.22

Doesnt mr Dick Barrie post on this forum?????? Surely not after all his previous comments in the Berwick programme/announcements?! thought not! As only a Dick Head would go against his word like that!?

fine by me

That may be the case, but shall have you know, I have plenty of snap crackle and pop, and I feel gggrrrrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaaaaat

Strong result from 3 rider Kent to pinch the win o the night despite choosing under performing guests with Wally who needs to do better as a championship rider and Barnes learnt the hard way that his equipment needs far greater investment and maintenance to get near this level. An off night for a few of the home side and Flint especially let the meeting slip away but credit for all riders for completing all 15 races when higher leagues wouldn't have unpacked their vans and Jon Cook thinks this is an inferior product.

It's still good, but not as good imo.

Things are going so well down on the South Coast now, it looks like Poole will 'Hoover up' another title... Unless of course, something pulls the rug from under them.. I'll get me coat..

The best thing about being a bloke is you can eat a banana in public, without feeling embarrassed.

Just got back from a stonking meeting tonight at Wimborne Road. IMO the best meeting we have seen this season with some balls to the walls racing and thrilling entertainment. A big crowd at Poole tonight to see the return of Brady Kurtz and he rode very well. The strength of the team is starting to shine through and we managed to blag our way through the last month with a weakened line up. Tonight we turned the corner. First of all Charles Wright was well received as the new British Champion. He said he had never known so many pele wanting pics with him, congratulating him etc. Nice guy. The racing tonight was very good. Track perfectly prepared. Just the right amount of shale, perfectly watered. And it led to some classic battles from as early as heat 3 with Josh cutting past the Panthers duo over the course of the heat to join Klindt for a 5-1. Wright passed Covatti like he was standing still, Klindt charged under both Panthers, Wright got between Klindt and Wells off the final bend as the three went over the line together. Holder and Hans passed and reposed... it was all happening. Special mention for Ryan Douglas whose first visit to Poole netted him 10 deserved points including a heat win. For Poole: Holder did well before missing it completely in heat 15 r/r got just 5 points. Klindt was excellent for 13 points. So consistent at the moment. Best season ever? Josh had 3paid wins and a couple of lasts. His last ride saw him badly impeded entering bend three which saw the end of his chance to score. Kurtz was excellent. One poor ride when he got blocked out by a derailed Nicholls. Covatti is clearly not fully fit. Struggled for his 4 points. Wells battled but needs to use the outside more. For Panthers: Tungate was poor overall. One race win which was caused by Nicholls blocking ability. Nicholls was excellent all night. Wright battled and I thought would have got heat 15 but it was given to the guest (which was deserved) Proctor was very poor tonight. Hans is clearly not race fit. Had one good battle with Holder. Summers was poor. Douglas impressed all night. Paid ten for a first visit is exceptional. When Speedway is dished up like this there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the sport. Wimborne Road showing why it is one of the best tracks in the country.

Hang on ---this is a D thread , so I prefer Paprika as a spice to Chillies

Poor Craig...being respected by the Hydra.....

Who would be a speedway rider sign for a club one week kicked out the door next week promoters tell them one minute they want them to ride for them next thing someone better comes along and it's thanks for nothing

It could work for me because many years ago I was a huge tractor enthusiast but then lost interest and gave it all up. It turned out to be beneficial though recently as I saved a lot of people when the room we were in filled with dense smoke. Lucky for them I was an ex tractor fan.

Used to be the best track and best prepared in the country - losing Wright, Allen and co was a massive loss but they don’t come close to the loss of Ez

I for one would welcome a single league, with riders attached to only one team. Looking back as I often do , part of the enjoyment was the riders formed the backbone and strength of each team. Although the riders knew each other well, they would never be team mates within the team structure, and were looked upon as the enemy. My take these days is because the riders ride for so many teams they have a job to know who their own supporters are... But we mustn't think changing to one league would solve our all our problems, it would be just the start. We need to run British Speedway as it's own entity . Race on nights that suit each club and not be bothered about clashes with other countries or competitions. We want tracks that are uniformly prepared so to ensure decent racing. We want new rules to excite the racing and not be a hindrance or a time factor. No going back to the pits when the ref decides to call them back. So what if someone anticipated the gate. if a riders does wrong, let the race continue and exclude at the finish. They'll soon get use to the rules and the meeting would flow much better... I wouldn't stop the top riders from racing, but they race at our convenience not just on a night that suits their schedule... WE need to start again from the beginning to grow into a sporting occasion that people want to watch, and not live on past laurels...

GONE for a lay down in a darken room ...

Get well soon dan. Can’t understand people having a pop. Those injuries last year would have finished other riders careers.

The car is currently parked outside Tescos... He's setting off as soon as he can find 50p to put in the slot... Bit of a decision to be made though whether to drive the Postman Pat one or the Fireman Sam one.. The Postman Pat one has the better accompanying song but the Fireman Sam one has a big bell... (Which is more appropriate maybe?)...

JCF

Is all this rider “swapping” In “ best interest of the sport”.It harms it credibility IMO.Replacing injured riders ok ,but “ average swapping” is not.

Probably impossible to replace the points he gets especially at home on his average. Need to try and pull a rabbit out the hat , i suspect Starkey will be back before the 6 week timescale.

Bears may have only had 3 race winners but Glasgow had 9 last places that's why the Bears got so close.......

Great team effort from the Bears, and a thoroughly deserved point gained. Onwards to the Bandits tomorrow night.

It's just to celebrate Lubuskie Derby. Nothing more, Nothing less

I wouldn't know,,, I never have to eat any

Be something like the Danish league? Makes sense but that would entice me even less.

I think, if the bears, can do the unthinkable and take a point or two, off Cookie and Rasser, then this match, could get very tight.

Thanks - yes, a long way behind, I’m afraid It all came up suddenly and rushed past me and I’m left far behind Not in/on Twitter, and don’t know how it works - didn’t understand “handle” or the “@“ which seems to crop up in various places these days Cheers

Not sure the pig would agree with you there. I prefer fish, it helps with the brain power. Can’t you tell.

Sorry to hear you only have a couple of years left then Gazc

Reported.

And they still do ......

It's head is emptier than a blind squirrels nutsack...