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After yet another season full of high quality close and exciting racing, from all around the UK, British Speedway is in the best position it has been in for many years. Highlighted and endorsed by the new TV deal which reflects the confidence major global media partners have in the UK Speedway brand. 2020 will see many more evenings of exciting, edge of the seat entertainment, being beamed into tens of thousands of not just British homes, but European ones too. Giving many more of Speedway's millions of followers around the globe the chance to enjoy what Speedway in the UK uniquely has to offer.. There can be no doubt that the sport in the UK has made tremendous progess over the past few years and now presses on at pace with its exciting long term vision of continued growth and success.. The feedback, from an ever growing fan base, clearly shows the postive reaction to the course that UK Speedway is following, and we all together, fans and owners alike, look forward to yet another season full of adrenaline fuelled entertainment, being provided, once again, by some of the World's finest riders.. Will that do as the press release?

Yet another season has drawn to a close, and once again Crazy Sue and her intrepid texters and updaters have come up trumps again. So thanks Sue and your wonderful gang for providing such a brilliant service, we'd be lost with out you, hopefully more of the same again next year You really are appreciated

So when Poole come to Somerset or vice-versa will the racing, atmosphere, entertainment and attendance be worse because it's not Premiership?! Of course not!!

yes but the format isn't the problem - bikes are too fast for the tracks which have no dirt on them, or at least not enough. Maybe rev limiters will help. It's still a good night at the speedway but there's too much emphasis on winning at all costs. And it's too expensive to get in because the bikes are too expensive. And so it goes on, the list's a mile long.

But undoubtedly more than you.

So to be clear Kent/Plymouth are going to have to give a pitch that demonstrates a business plan and sustainability to the very people that have got us into this situation in the first place. Oh the irony.

You forgot to mention the ditching of the WHITE helmet colour to be replaced with the LGBT multi coloured strips. This will then bring back all the missing supporters that have been absent the last few years.

Surely if the finances are in place no Team should be blocked from moving up to a bigger and better League.!

So essentially nothing will change looking at it. Sheffield for Poole in the top league otherwise it's as you were, but with a different TV package. To summarise, nothing to see here. Just the usual self invested bickering between certain promotions

Being a speedway fan and someone who attends regularly, I sometimes wonder why I am on here.

I started the Kent thread on here with a question mark.....asking IF Kent were accepted would they be at a disadvantage. I will be shocked and would be the final straw for me,if Kent are not given go ahead.

Clearly he means a under 21 Brit capped at a certain average level. Any ideas to get British reserve's back rather than a foreign ringer is good enough for me.

Weymouth aren’t a full time NL team though. Surely 7 Wednesdays are available for an NL league side?

You have no idea and I am not inclined to explain it to you... no one lost thousands in LJM the only person who lost thousands was LJM... just crawl back under your rock you clown... Regards THJ

And yet a month ago you reassured everyone:

I see you still haven't done one

Tough one....Shanes or Bacon ? I'd have both and leave out the foreigners!

"But for Kent/Plymouth it will be a condition of acceptance because if they step up then it would likely lead to the collapse of the NDL league ." Them running NDL won't be a condition of acceptance at all, it will be based on a voluntary decision they have made to do so...IF they do, and since Len Silver has already indicated he will it is a purely voluntary decision on his part.

Well fingers crossed by the end of the week we will know if you are a well informed poster who has earnt some respect from others or just a nonsense talking (insert expletive here). I know what my opinion currently is but im happy for it to be changed.

agree orlov,but reality is that the greyhound track was being shortened so if the speedway wanted to continue they had to bring the speedway track inside the new shaped dog track no choice,but they done it so full marks,many promotions wouldnt have

Good try... But to be honest, I think my press release is better..

There's posts on the Poole site saying Holder has visa issues so probably won't be riding in Britain next year!

Funny, I thought this was a Kent thread. All I am reading about is Poole. Must be very difficult for both Kent and Plymouth at present. I am sure that Poole could not be denied a place in the Championship, but both Kent and Plymouth must wait for the decision ( is it this week ?) So neither of those clubs can make any real plans about riders while all the others are getting on with the job. Doesn't seem like a fair system to me.

Palin has the backing both financially & more importantly of his family to keep him grounded but progressing. Many of the burn bright but fade away riders mentioned had either one or both of those factors missing and that is what finished them off not bike ability. In order to improve you have to race a better standard regularly and in the NL Palin just won't get that. The Aussies have to come over and drop straight into Championship so its sink or swim for them and the reason so many make it to a decent standard is that they have no other choice, giving riders an easy time will make them soft. Tai, Lambert and other success stories made it because they were strong and determined enough. Its now for Jordan to prove which camp he will fall into but i wish him all the very best and have a suspicion he will succeed.

I don't debate the reasoning and in fact think its a very strange requirement any side stepping up from the NL must keep a side going in the lower tier but if stepping down from higher is ok. Its a double edged sword because the more teams in the NL the better but forcing teams to run two sides could easily be financial suicide and cost the existence of the clubs in the long run. That said Poole should be made to run a youth round next year after skipping out of their agreement this season.

And why won’t Poole? Surely they’re a bigger club and could do so?

Why does there have to be 12 teams?

Aye true but by trying to explain or defend the indefensible gets you a free ticket into the club. Always keep a hold of yourself.... try and retain your sanity and at the end of the day it costs nowt to be nice and if you cant be nice maybe don't say anything at all... and if you do at least don't hang on to the venom because you end up poisoning yourself which ain't good. Like the Hedgehog said climbing off the scrubbing brush "anyone can make a mistake"... move on nowt to see here... Regards THJ

Amazing as ever I'm sure it's like the swan on a pond which looks serene and beautiful above the surface but no doubt paddling furiously under the water

No, a don't think so, but it's a small world, which will never be short of clowns.

Ruined it so much they gave hundreds of thousands of pounds to do their best. Your disgust should be aimed at the insolvency laws unfortunately businesses cannot pick and choose who gets paid once insolvent there is a strict legal pecking order.

Bet Garry has exhausted all contacts to get a team together. One thing I do know he will not bankrupt the club over rider demands.

I've always held the opinion that Speedway is a sort of novelty sport. In that I mean when a team debuts at it's own track a large crowd assembles. Many folk are interested in the actual racing, BUT another, large, percentage are only there to see thrills, SPILLS, and excitement...The match score being a secondary factor to those types. And they are unfortunately the fans who get bored quickly and lose interest thereby becoming ex fans....so that opening night figure of thousands dilutes to the hardcore support. When Ian Thomas, Stoney, Brent and co. revitalised the sport at Derwent Park in 1999 that opening crowd of, reportedly, 4,500 gradually receded over a couple of seasons to (reportedly) 1,200.....even with that figure Ian Thomas kept saying "the honeymoon at Workington is not over".......but in reality we could see the crowds dwindle. And in my own mind I had alarm bells ringing, don't think I was alone with that dark clouded view. Then sadly when there were/was crowd(s), of just *390 ( *quoted to me by the then announcer, a friend and soccer foe lol) then obviously all was not well, and the struggle was certainly so difficult for the promoters....however I still believe, that as indeed was proven by packed Grandstands in October 2018, that speedway deserves another chance at Workington.. .............hopefully our forum friend THJ is spot on regarding someone working toward this next new beginning. BELIEVE>>>>>>>>>

Just loved that rant THJ, spoken with the passion of a man who loved the club and backed it every which way he could. More guys like you fella and we would indeed still be running. I too look forward to the day it returns and indeed hope I live long enough to see it .

This is a very complicated issue (administration); however the Bond paid by clubs is an issue in itself; and in this instance will have been around £10k due to the club having assets that potentially could be set against any loss (by being sold off), however the asset system is flawed, and the club bond was due to rise again in 2019. (maybe due to depreciating assets but I don't honestly know) Now I will happily stand corrected but someone from Lakeside could possibly enlighten us; however I am led to believe that the Lakeside promotion were asked for a £50k Bond in their last season which raised a few eyebrows at the time and when Lakeside closed the Bond did not cover what was owed by the promotion and the BSPA went back for more and were told where to go, now that is a very abridged version of what happened to the Bond in that instance but it does indicate that the Bond offers very little protection and when there are losses and debts wracked up in excess of £100k a 10k or 50k bond doesn't go very far. The business plan; which has been discussed on here in the past; was set out at the start of the season and was fit for purpose, unfortunately or fortunately which ever way you wish to look at things; due to the success of the team; which far exceeded everyone's expectations; just blew the budget apart and where the management failing was IMHO; is that there was not the contingency plan in place to finance a successful team; which may seem ironic as you are in it to win it but the team was never built to be treble winners, however the whole thing gained a momentum which was unstoppable and the cost of that success was never budgeted for... Quite correct the Administrators get their slice of any available cash first; and from experience I can share that our company were hit by the ROK PLC collapse in November 2010 and we were owed some £292k and had to pay £51k of VAT (reclaimed back after 6 month as "Bad Debt") and through consequential losses like having to pay our sub contractors and suppliers we lost another £220k so the impact to this business was in excess of £500k. Now guess how much we got back off those nice people at Price Waterhouse Cooper this February 2019, and yes 2019 that's nearly eight and a half years later, any guesses? £847:68 pence, yep we were awarded something like 0.003 pence for every pound owed and had to be thankful for it... best laugh was PWC bumped us of approximately six quid because they "got their sums wrong" but it would have cost £30 quid to query the error... Correct SS however possibly I would suggest a poor choice of words in "just rewards" as it has cost her an awful lot just to win that treble... but I understand your sentiment.. If the "Non Die Hard Fans" the people who now bemoan the loss of the team/club had of supported the club at home more regularly it may have been a different story now. If the clowns (the so called fans of speedway) who derided not just this promotion but the previous promotions on this site and on the unofficial forum had half a brain cell to recognised the damage they were doing to the club with constant negative posts; maybe if they had been a bit more positive and supportive the thing might still be there/here... When one poor quality cup of tea rumbled on the two forums for nearly 10 weeks into the season absolutely crippling the turnover of the Blue and White Cafe impacting club profits; well... its clowns like that who should look closely at themselves as they have contributed substantially to the demise of the club... which includes the balloon who started this thread and his little gang of "Bum Chums" it absolutely boils my bladder... I got a bad cup of tea and I am very important and demand quality as I am paying to get in and it is awful that the tea wasn't nice and it is a fundamental right that I get a quality cup of tea that I have paid for... Honestly get over it take it back to where you got it from and say "here get this changed or give me my money back" not save it for posterity and moan about it on every platform possible you can... I was fully expecting to see something on the front page of the Times and Star or the local news "crap tea at Derwent Park someone should be flogged" and here's me thinking Monica Lewinsky was sad keeping a dress for nearly 10 year covered in Pineapple (Allegedly) A sport like this and a club like Worky needs a solid fan base... it needs the fans to pull together and get involved and if that is just buying 50/50 or raffle tickets or supporting events put on by the club so be it... but the thing has to make money to run and everyone is aware of the financial constraints. All Keith Denham wanted was to cover his losses, he was happy to put 5 to 10 grand of his own (personal not Armstrongs) cash in to run the Speedway but when the losses started to rise to the £20/30k levels he asked for support, he wanted 100 more people through the door, and what happened? he was absolutely slated off the Worky Troll brigade on both forums... they were instrumental in him walking away; their abuse of a genuine fan of Speedway... I consider myself a "Die Hard Fan" and as someone who sponsored the Comets over 5 seasons and increased my financial input each year until I done a double year sponsorship deal in the last two seasons I am personally devastated at the loss of the club but until the "Clowns" realise; the trolls; who slate or put down the club at every opportunity, until they realise you cant kick a horse down a street then expect to get onto it and ride off into the sunset... it wont happen... "Clowns to the left and jenga to the right" "Trolls stuck in the middle with you!" I hope it does come back and I will support it with cash and all I would ask is "if it does come back can the knob heads who took every opportunity to deride; slag off and generally shaft the previous promotions to either get with the programme and support whatever the new owners are trying to achieved or if it gives you the hump that much just stay away" Whilst I have been doing war and peace this has landed in; and well said; also from one die hard fan to another "never say never" it wont come back to DP that's gone for sure but there is a good guy locally giving it a real go to bring something back; I just hope I live long enough to see it... LOL Soupy got there before me Correct and well said Rant (for now) over Regards THJ

I reckon it was 6 seasons Geoff . I seem to remember that Laura initially took it on for 2 seasons with an option to extend. I think 5 years was the original quoted max . It was the treble winning sixth season that got Laura her just rewards and brought success for the diehard fans, it was just really sad that it was at such a financial cost.

They gave us 4 seasons when no one else wanted too we should not forget at what it has cost laura she deserves some respect for that, the people who ruined the comets are the ones who stopped going each sat night !

A service that many of us have come to take for granted. Which is all wrong, of course. We have to remember the time, effort and cost of bringing us heat by heat results of virtually every meeting held. Forget the pale imitations on Twitter etc. This is the most comprehensive results service anywhere. Keep up the good work and thank you.

Racing - Yes... Better riders, better quality. Atmosphere - Probably Entertainment - Yes... the difference between the top and bottom riders is far greater in the 2nd tier than the top tier Attendance - Yes... crowds were well down from what I was told last year against our Premiership seasons

Where has it been said there's only one place available? As for Kent and Plymouth running SGBC and NDL teams surely it's their choice not a condition! Or have I missed something?? As for the youth round i'm sure it would be well supported at Poole as long as the date doesn't subsequently clash with an away league fixture which would require the club's promotion and many track volunteers to be elsewhere.

If he cannot get a visa he will not be in any teams plans.

To me the new TV deal puts some money into the sport which should help struggling clubs to keep their club running.The sport cannot survive if clubs keep closing so if the TV money keeps their doors open I don't have a problem with watching a lower quality coverage after all its the racing I watch it for and not all the glits that goes with it and perhaps a few less cameras will stop all the switching about where you tend to miss important parts of the race. Any TV coverage is extra to me the important thing is to be able to watch live speedway. TV speedway is not a patch on watching the real thing.When I watch a recording of a meeting I have just been to I am always a little disappointed as it just does not seem to capture what I have just witnessed live.

Brilliant...

Try Sheffield then, mate.

No, but I think it could be the start of a “five year plan”!

Thank you so much for providing this service allowing us to stay in touch with speedway around the land

only a mug would have kennett over Lawson, kennett gets the ass too easily away and disappears without trace after 3 rides away whilst Lawson is solid dependable and extremely consistent.

I read the Speedway Star that's all, I was a Track Raker and that's about it. My reading of the Speedway Star this week suggests to me that Kent and Poole are as sure as you can be to be in The Championship when you read the articles written. I may be wrong but looks like rubber stamping at the AGM which is next week Wednesday and Thursday I think. I do hope there is a decent NDL in 2020 as most would agree it needs to thrive.

MASSIVE CONGRATS to Danny Ayres, 2019 Scorpion of the year, HAS to be back in 2020

Definitely not, it would give those teams with the best NDL reserves a big advantage.