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Morning all, I’m happy to report that the track is absolutely fine after last night. We had no rain on Wednesday which left the track dry yesterday. The track was packed hard yesterday afternoon so it would take the rain forecast overnight. We have some rain forecast this afternoon, but this evening should be dry and we don’t anticipate any problems with our meeting going ahead. Racing conditions should be excellent and will make for a superb Semi-Final. We have opened up the back straight for additional viewing facilities and we have a 2nd paramedic booked, so the meeting should run smoothly. Hope to see plenty of you there this evening! Jitendra Duffill

Klindt could well move to Foxhall.........bit like football where a player shows form for a smaller club before moving on to a bigger club

Good idea. Take all the teams still remaining in the play offs and go with the team that finished highest in the league. Excellent idea.

Really cant wait for this. 2 really good teams giving there all. Set to be a cracker Kent won the last match here but that was in heavy rain. Good luck colts. Let's hope theres lots of people there. They deserve a big crowd.

They were quality unbiased updates best unbiased updates i have seen. They were much appreciated.

Let's do it on the basis of the most liked club. You'd be bottom by a mile !

Sorry you are asking the impossible now. Any old memory cells have long been pushed out to accommodate new information like why did I just go out to the garage or upstairs. The only match that has stuck in my memory is the Middlesbrough one (spelt correctly this time) when they refused to ride and Long Eaton won 75-zero. Oh...and another one when Ove Fundin and his wife were guests of honour. Beautiful sunny June evening but the track had been over watered and the match cancelled. Can't remember who the opponents were.

I wonder how much the fine is compared to a small attendance lets be honest not giving much away for this one .as i said earlier we are away on holiday no decision to make for us

Fair point. Again, I have no issue when people use reason and facts to substantiate their views...

A case could be made that he did win the 1946 British Riders Championship. Did qualify for a World Final before the war and was one of those that lost some of his peak years due to the war

When will the BSPA learn, playoffs should start at beginning of September, and finished by end of September. Fixture scheduling is terrible, there is not that many fixtures and some teams go weeks without a home meeting. Also if a meeting is rained off earlier in season it should be re-arranged within 2 weeks not just sticking it on the end of the fixtures.

Because the Extraleague do what they want to !!

Come on you know Josh G wanted to ride for Ipswich this season judging by his kevlars.

Cost of reasonable industrial strength tarpaulin with eyelets and fastening clips in suffient volume (say 80000m2) to fully cover a track would be circa £17500. Putting aside the length of time it would take for a team (of volunteers?) to erect and then take down and where such a large and weighty mass would be stored, it is questionable if such cost is justifiable v value of saving meetings from being rained off particularly since the cover would need to be fully removed a good number of hours before the meeting to allow for track preperation which would leave it open to the elements anyway.

Currently blue skies over the track. Just been down and it's looking in top shape, still quite firm! If the forecast is correct and we get no more rain then it should be a terrific meeting!

Fantastic effort to get this meeting on , travelling over from Workington later to hopefully see the Redcar Bears take a decent lead and progress to the Grand Final

Surely this has to add fire to the case that league fixtures and play offs should be done first, then KO cup etc to be run at the end of the season? The risks that a league champion isn't decided is just daft. That said all the best to two strong sides, i hope the score is close over both legs and its won by the best team and not a contentious decision.

I think He was one of the few that didn't choke. Agree with the rest.

True - Holder will reduce his average enough by himself if he comes back anytime soon anyway.

The standard of riders in the PL has dropped year on year for many years. Generally, the average of riders returning after being absent for a number of years should be increased, not reduced because their average was attained when the standard was higher. However, as I have said many times, the most sensible way is to give them an average based on their average in whichever foreign league(s) they have most recently ridden. It would be easy to devise a formula to convert averages for each foreign league to an assessed PL average. That would, overnight, do away with those who come here when relatively inexperienced, don't ride here for a few years, improve significantly and then return on their original low average and cater for those who have not ridden here for a few years but are on a downward spiral in the twilight of their careers and realistically, wouldn't achieve their past PL average.

I can safely predict that this will be the most important AGM for years and that major changes are needed to ensure speedways survival..... Then on the Monday we'll find out nothing has changed and that the same crap will continue and be allowed to ruin this sport further still. That's until the AGM of 2020 which will again be the most important one ever.

Some Poole fans are getting desperate to still be involved. Not gonna happen, you got beat by the cannon fodder.

Masters & Pickering signed for next season.

Tie is still alive for the second leg , can't ask anymore than that , don't forget Leicester were 14 points above us in the table , Leicester are a top team I'm over the moon with that result and for a bit of bad fortune we could easily be 12 to 14 points up

Planning meeting has been cancelled!

I think he died in about 2006.

It is also the case that Tommy Price was at the top longer than Freddie Williams. As iris says he qualified for the 1939 World Final and it was only the period between 1951 and 1954 that Fred Williams topped Tommy Price in the League averages. Even in 1950, when Williams won the World Final, he only came 13th in the League averages with an average of 8.75 to Price's 9.83 and 3rd place. In 1955 and 1956, Price again outscored Williams in the League. It is true that in that 1950-1953 period, Williams had a far superior World Final record, but he really only had five years at the top while Price was at the top in 1939 and then from 1946 - 1956, and again, as iris point out, missed out what would probably have been his very best years.. Which brings us back to the question of do we count the best as the rider who was at the top the longest or the rider who had a shorter period at the top but was probably better in that short period? Which is part of the problem when comparing Lee with Craven or Collins for example.

Sadly all the developers are concerned about is more money. I expect many are waiting and hoping that the Tories will come up with another scheme like "help to buy" that will push house prices up even further, or they are hoping for a post Brexit/non-Brexit bubble to come along eventually, not to mention the value of the land increasing whilst its stagnant.

I remember Bert Harkins wearing stripey pajamas over his leathers at Old meadowbank in Edinburgh

What about boiler suits, they might help to keep the kevlars clean,,, would you need to have owa-raals with the sponsors on ?

Unfortunately you better start walking sings i am afraid.

Jk`s racecard for tonight`s World U21 3rd and final round in Pardubice https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2019/U212019-03.pdf

Average track area of a 300m track 10m wide is just under 3500 sqm. A heavy duty tarpaulin (the type they use to cover a cricket square) will cost approx. £5000 for that amount. The fundamental problem with them is fixing them in place, and getting a team of people and you need at least 10 to drop everything, go to the track, put them out, take them away, get covered in dirt doing it, and to do it on top of everything else they do for the speedway club for F##k all already. Sure covers would save some meetings, maybe half if you are lucky. Oh and by the way, if you've ever tried laying a 10m x 10m groundsheet in the wind and the rain and to do that 30 times and secure them, then take them back up without damaging them and dragging them across a shale surface covered in muck. If you'd all like to form an orderly queue to volunteer to do it for free, that would be great, answers on a postcard...………...thought not.

Anyone else losing interest? The rain offs are dampening my enthusiasm as well as the tracks

Scorpions 2020 ? here's my take on it Auty will unquestionably be the first name on sheet but not for me !. I just cannot see Josh making any further progress with his racing at Scunthorpe. Just look at Ryan Douglas as a classic example; he has developed into a bone fide Premier League rider scoring an 18point maximum recently !. I would contend he would not have achieved all he has this season; grown as a rider without leaving Scunny . As harsh as that sounds ?; and for me Auty needs to do the same to get away from being a one track rider. It is controversial; probably will not go down well but it has to be in his best interests. Regretfully I reckon Jake could be looking elsewhere in 2020. My own opinion is that the two leagues should merge at least in the short term and if so then I would think he will favour a full time switch to Ipswich ? Garrity again; not for me can be thrilling to watch but equally frustrating caught up sometimes in racing situations with lesser riders at the back when he should be dominating heats. Too inconsistent. Steffan Nielsen; probably again needs a change of surroundings; really out of luck injury wise and although as has been said his current average might be attractive it may be best for us all to move on ? Ryan Kinsley has done a great job sticking to his task and coming up with a competent first full year of Championship racing. Really competitive and improving all the time. But I cannot see us bringing in Jordan Palin and keeping Ryan. We will surely need an experienced rider at reserve with JP to support him in the first stages at least ? First name for me would be Danny Ayres without any question the Rider of the Year in the Championship. We appear committed to Palin so that's two. I would definitely have a focused Ben Barker back who has the experience and ability to score well home and away. Something we have always missed. So too Simon Lambert who proved a superb bit of late season business and could be the one to back up Jordan Palin in the reserve berth. I would 1000% ! have Ryan Douglas back but alas he has gone beyond us in the two league structure. In a combined league is may be a possibility ?; but in the present structure I would see it as a potential step backwards to return after such a brilliant season with Leicester. So I think we have to accept it and wish Ryan well as he climbs the ladder. So as it stands for me; we need three riders in the current league set up. But some serious discussions need to take place before rubber stamping a another season like this one ?. Way too many gaps in the fixture list; way too many riders moving around the tracks; no team identity; little variation in the fixture card. Need I go on. i am not going to go into reams about how British Speedway needs fixing - it does ! I have two words for British Speedways power brokers at the next Annual "knees down" - BE BRAVE !.

Indeed Keith and crowds pretty similar and income level. A lot rent their stadia as well with volunteering a must to survive at that level. All depends on the ‘rider demands’ and who is prepared to ride in the UK. Sweden now looks like its heading the same way so there could be more riders available. A budget blown on one rider because he is GP level isn’t going to be very popular (with riders) but on the other hand might get a few hundred more through the gate. Improve the racing and stadia experience is more important imo than who is riding and the promotion have to make a profit otherwise it’s bye bye.

Which is exactly why Berwick still get rain offs even with covers available

Planning meeting on Tuesday with planning officer recommendation to go ahead with stadium plans. (Swindon Advertiser!)

Absolutely,having the most important fixtures this time of year is just bonkers.

His bike choked, and his steel shoe choked, he didn't. You clearly never watched it.

Can't disagree about any of this Sam and yes Peter was a brilliant rider and none of what i said was meant to be a slur on P.C.Yes i am bias about Lee and most people's opinion's can be blinkerd by there personal experiences.Going back to Peter forget all he achieved for me his biggest accomplishment was that he was such a fine embassador for British speedway. A fine example for younger riders ,Michael on the other hand never quite achieved that accolade.

Never did the fish and chips, but I went up there a few times when I had a Wednesday off. One particular year, there were a large group of us flying over to compete in the Canadian Open. Everybody else flew out on the Wednesday, but I went up to watch the Dons and flew out the next day! Now, that's dedication! Steve

Now that's good enough reason for me. I would start my team with these, Allen, Covatti, and build from there,,, one must though is at least one good gater, yeah they are boring, but it's needed.

Dead right, only the losers should start one. Now where's that Poole 2020 thread...........................

hasnt matt ford in the past tentatively suggested the way forward for british speedway may be semi-professional riders?never be a shortage of youngsters who want to race motor bikes,who knows.Non league football by and large is a pretty successful and stable product.

1. An Electrician 2. Another Electrician, in case the first one is too busy wiring up a plug in Denmark 3. A Spin Doctor to explain why the electricians haven't done their jobs 4. A new team manager 5. A Rain Maker, in case the new spin doctor struggles to excuse the inefficient electricians 6. Arthur Browning - keeping things "in-generation" with the current fan-base 7. Who cares? He'll probably "take a break from the sport" before you've had a chance to learn how to spell his name.

No disrespect but Poles are highly unlikely to tune in to Eurosports possible UK coverage in great numbers given the amount of top level Speedway they get bombarded with each week, so I don't see how Polish companies will see a positive brand message for themselves by attaching their businesses to UK Speedway.. Bomber Harris v Charles Wright (for example) might mean something to us British fans but won't I would suggest inspire too many Poles to look in on match night.. I would think that Eurosports coverage in Poland would get a similar following like the saturated football coverage does over here for non league football.. eg Torquay v Chorley will get watched as you flick through for a while if nothing else is on, but not many other than the fans of those two teams will watch the whole match with any degree of interest as non league football is dwarfed by the Premiership and Champions League saturation.. And, as quoted often, the scheduling and production of Eurosport is often a shambles at times..

The difference between building from scratch and simply improving the stadium is simple. In one case you are literally having to build from nothing but in the case of Brafield you have a long- established and respected venue with a track already in place and basic stadium facilities. BriSCA hold their European Championship there and while it's a while since I regularly worked there it had facilities that were perfectly adequate for higher stock car crowds with plenty of scope for improvement. It's been around for decades, albeit without speedway since the sixties. There are tracks in the CL and NDL with sparser facilities. As a new Northampton Speedway, yes, despite its fairly isolated location. I doubt whether we'll be seeing a revival of Brafield Badgers, but not a replacement for Coventry and should not be used as an excuse to prevent a Brandon revival. Congratulations to the team carrying on the fight and thank you for your efforts. Both speedway and stock cars desperately need a thriving Brandon.

If the wet weather goes on much longer it will be shown on Eurosport

Poor side??? Ummmm, we finished top, did we not? So how are we poor? We just had some bad form at the wrong time. But table shows we are the best over the season.