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Let’s hope it can be sorted and that the Diamonds run this year. Sport can’t afford to lose more tracks and any sport is better with local rivalries.

Promotion only thinking of fans wellbeing.Last 2 years finished best of the rest and didn't have to stand in the freezing cold October nights in watching playoffs.Bring on seventh place and we'll only have to watch on freezing cold summer nights

If Petersen puts any bums on seats it will be the other 3 riders

Why is all this guff about league structures being discussed on the Newcastle thread, at a time the very future of the Diamonds is in real doubt, and the concentration of minds and offered opinions should be about the club's survival?

Everyone looks at things differently . For me at least we have speedway . The club was up for sale and nobody came in , as a sponsor for a few years now I could not see a way of making it work and I completely understand why Matt decided to open up a new business opportunity, however he could have just closed it down but didn’t giving us fans a chance to watch the sport we love. Now it’s up to us to support it or if we don’t then accept it could be the last we see of it. the sad thing is that the sport as a whole needs a revamp or the closure of clubs will continue. whoever you support just keep it up Save our Speedway

It baffles me when people make judgements when no one has been announced! Plus staying away on a permanent basis only means the club would be lost. Surely if the racing is good does it matter who the riders are? I think the standard in the CL is more level than in the PL, so should be close.

Good hope you get yourselves sorted out and come to the tapes next year good luck

I'd be quite happy with Nicholls replacing Howarth.

It's still open so Mr Shovlar can pretend that Poole are still at the top table and that all those years of telling us that Poole is the shining example of how to run a professional top flight club and Matt Ford's vision of what the top flight should be hasn't all been proven wrong.

You're dead right, mate. In the 'eighties, the Fearman regime had ground the (big league) club into the ground, the track was awful and entertainment nil. They folded, in came Stewkesbury & Ansell with their National League (as was) competition, racing was close and going to Wimborne Road became a pleasure, not a chore. And the Pirates are still sailing!

So not known for doing this and because Dandelion has been nowhere to be seen... How would this float everyone's boat... And its only a guess on who appears to be left so please don't bite to hard... be gentle... And; and; and; the best one is what about Bjarne Peddersen back home for his retirement year... mmmmmlollol Or or Hans Andersen who has been mentioned but I cant see anywhere yet? bigger mmmmm louder lollol... Not factored them into my game of "Silly Burgers" yet... So here goes... he said... trying to think outside the box... Oh and finally mmmmm's and lollol's copy-write recognition to Bandits BJcol... Dear Santa can we have a speedway team first off and Secondly we will have anything left in your sack for a team NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS AVE -2.50% 1 Claus Vissing 8.43 8.43 2 Max Clegg 5.05 4.93 3 Lasse Bjerre 5.87 5.87 4 Matthew Wethers 6.92 6.75 5 Nico Covatti 7.82 7.82 6 Jacob Bukhave 4.00 4.00 7 Alfie Bowtell 3.10 3.02 Total: 41.19 40.82 Its the best I can come up with looking on the BSPA web site... and sitting on a train using my phone... Regards THJ PS me eyes are bleeding looking at this little screen cos I've forgot me specs... Doh

Haha so we drop down and Gavan drops down with us

Been busy over the weekend and today but once I am back in the office I will share what I can and hopefully we can pull this round and maybe even move things forward... It's not all doom and gloom Regards THJ

Great news, if he don't put bums on seats no one will

Middlo to continue as Team Manager for 2020 but will share responsibilities for the northern away meetings due to the health of his dad Ken and his weekend business commitments. ( BBC RADIO SOLENT today).

On the first point, you are absolutely right. But there are so many on here who think they have all the ideas, only they don't. And as I said, the crucial point is that while they are very happy to speculate with others money they won't risk a penny of their own. On the second point, I can't be certain of how much money riders make or don't make although be very surprised if any rider doubling up between the Premiership and the Championship 'barely makes a profit'. Very surprised indeed. I consider that uncontrolled doubling up is a blight on the sport in this country and we only have it so that riders can double their earnings. Because of that we have fixed race nights, and that has closed one club (Rye House) put another up for sale (Sheffield) and meant that a third (Poole) has had to drop out of a league which they have pretty much dominated. Riders demand that tracks are prepared how they want them, not what is best for the spectator and thus the sport itself. Its little wonder that in a facebook post recently Gordon Pairman said that while fans point fingers at promoters for the sports financial difficulties, riders are to blame. I don't totally agree, but he has a point.

He is desperate to come back to the UK for a fraction of what he can earn abroad. I heard all the GP stars are queuing to come back too.

Don't believe everything you read on this forum. It's a hoax. Some people just get a kick out of deceiving other people.

Think the Poole team outwitted themselves well maybe 4 riders did.

You’re only as good as your latest performance. Guess that makes us the best!

That's a very similar story to the early days at Birmingham when a lady living locally read in the Birmingham Mail that we had raced against Rye House one Saturday night so she wrote to the Council to complain about the noise plus the fact that we were in breach of the planning conditions by running on a Saturday night. What she didn't realise, was that we were away at Rye House that particular Saturday night. Naturally, the Council took here complaint as gospel and forwarded her letter to us for our comments. I wrote the lady a polite letter explaining the facts,and pointing out that greyhound racing took place at the stadium every Saturday night, but she still insisted that she heard the noise - and that it wasn't traffic noise! It was clear that no matter what anyone tried to tell this lady, she was going to stick it out that we had raced at Perry Barr on that Saturday night, but fortunately for us, her neighbours wouldn't back her up and in time, the Perry Barr locals (apart from the inevitable odd nimby) became much more reasonable and we now have a good relationship with them.

the delay is the BSPA looking up the meaning of 'ratifying'

Lets hope so John. Certainly heard a bit more positivity over the weekend.

Wasn't it half of a 60's pop duo, Petersen Lee? Welcome home.

i didn`t know Colin North at all but this year at the British Final I parked up behind a car on the road side. A man got out of the car and opened the boot, I could see it was full of TengTools merchandise of which I spotted some TengTools caps. He picked up some caps and other stuff and began walking off to the stadium, I asked him were the caps for sale he pondered a second and said here you can have one. So I was shocked to see the photo of him on Twitter I will always remember that moment, it was a nice gesture. everytime I put my TengTools cap on I`ll think of him.

Ian Jordan has confirmed on a Eastbourne supporters' group on Facebook that the 2.5% reduction does still apply to British riders.

Yep me too. As a second string a no brainier.

We would probably be 7th then

Think that has been said every year tbh,all newman is now is a championship 2nd string or a good reserve thats it hes found his level.

I know it's unusual for anyone involved in speedway to actually talk about money but it would be nice if the promoters told us how much money they need to run next year and then possiblly the true fans migt be able to help.

100% committed for all home meetings and the southern away derbies!!

Very similar traits I would think - in fact almost identical I would imagine!!!

I don't think we are more fickle than any other team and Middlo is loved by everyone at Poole and we all want him to stay.

Big fan of Kyle and think he was badly treated at Brum as was Ullrich and both did very well end of season in proper roles (2nd strings) at new Clubs with pressure off. Brennan was excellent at Perry Barr just before his injury. Have to agree Kyle and Brennan are solid looking and who did Eastie start with at second string last year ??. was it Morley and Bowtell? Wish Kyle all the best for 2020 top lad!

Not surprised at the speed some want to get away from Ipswich!! Going that fast we'd have done better with SS than Jack Holder!!

I certainly believe that more could be done to make the racing better, but once again it seems to me rider interests are put above those of fans. I once complained about the dust at a track and asked for watering, only to be told that the riders don't like it so it wasn't going to happen. If the sport continually puts the needs of paid employees above paying spectators attendances will go down - that's pretty obvious, and it has to change. I have always believed that trying to get people back is a waste of time and speedway should concentrate more on new fans. Those who used to go tend to complain about matters that have been in force for decades, trying to give the impression that they only came in two or three seasons ago. They are overwhelmingly - and occasionally bizarrely - negative in an attempt to justify why they don't go, and make unreasonable demands as conditions to return. Why on earth chuck money at such people ?

I am far from convinced that fans do either. They suggest that points limits, tactical rides, rider replacement and guests cause people to walk away, ignoring the fact that all have been in existence in the sport for half a century. Cut the prices they say, ignoring the fact that when that has been done clubs have usually sustained heavy financial losses. Its too expensive. Belle Vue costs £18 and I see at least one world class rider (usually two) every week. Halifax Town costs £20, and they aren't even in the Football League. By that comparison, speedway is cheap. They criticise the play off system, disregarding the fact that it is a huge success in terms of revenue and that it is now common practice elsewhere. They compare speedway to other sports, ridiculing its rules, its practices, its procedures. Speedway is about as similar to football as an elephant is to a haddock and any comparison is just as valid. I am sure I have even read that speedway should be marketed as a sport for those aged 40 or over, a bit like crown green bowling. Total nonsense. Speedway is for all ages, and should be promoted that way. As to the ageing attendance, I think that's a myth. Barry Bishop told me that less than 15% of his crowds are of pensionable age. But the most telling fact is that while some claim to have all the answers, ask them to put their money where their mouth is and they are running for the hills. Quite willing to gamble others funds, they won't stake a single penny on their - occasionally hare brained - schemes, which shows just how confident they are about their success. While I deplore the utter contempt that most - but not all - members of the BSPA have for this forum, they can justifiably point to that in describing us as 'keyboard commandos'. All I know is that speedway has to start treating its paying customers as paying customers and not run the sport for the benefit of the riders, because that's how it is at the moment. Even with things as desperate as they are, clubs still find time to treat its fanbase like dirt. Sheffield's Damian Bates, faced with huge criticism over an underperforming team and a dreadful track, found time to slag off the clubs fans last season. Faced with similar criticism over an equally dreadful track, instead of listening Plymouth's Mark Phillips chose to ban those who were being critical. When you choose to treat the lifeblood of the sport that way, you get all you deserve.

Just have to correct the statement slightly We knew there were a host of teams looking to sign him, so we had to act fast offer a shed load of money to get him on board.

Rather you made a come back than watching Phillips again. Is he not supposed to be going to Redcar anyway?

Reported

They would all come back if the money was good. And if someone can afford him then it would be brilliant for our league.

Connor Bailey announced for Glasgow

16.2.6 Any rider who has been or is eligible to compete in the NDL (and has not represented another FMN, other than the ACU) will receive a 2.5% reduction on their MA. Wethers rode in the NL (CL as it was then) for Armadale in 2003-4

Hawkins is a poor manager tactically But i give him great credit that he managed to motivate the team in the semi final after the capitulation at Poole in the first leg....and the fact that Poole had won twice at Foxhall already....thats some great man management skills to get one over on Muddlo...........heck Poole even used an 'injury' to Holder to try and squirm their way through! Over the 2 legs Hawkins was able to outwit Middlo

Looks like the fish bar is history https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hewigo-Fish-and-Chip-Fryer-2-of-2-commercial-fryer/223755668256?hash=item3418e08b20:g:Z4oAAOSwAGxd0n-S

Howarth confirmed

Would be great to have Danny back but suspect he will rejoin Scunny as for Alfie im personally staggered he gets mentioned so often and would struggle in any side.

Jason Edwards, Eastbourne.

With regards to NFL American Football, yes, all the games, whether they're against your own division or a selection of others, appear in one single set of standings with two extra twists - firstly, that the previous season's results help to determine a couple of each team's games the next season - secondly, the rest of the selection of other fixtures is designed on a rotation basis so that despite having only 8 home games each season (and 3 of those are always against your divisional rivals), all the other 31 teams will visit your side in any 8-year span. What's being set up in speedway's Championship is nothing like as complicated as the NFL format but here goes with as simple an explanation of the NFL format as possible for anyone who thinks it's just a load of shoulder pads and crash helmets clattering into each other. The NFL has 32 teams, split firstly into 2 conferences of 16 teams (the American or AFC & the National or NFC) and then each conference split into 4 roughly geographical North, West, South & East divisions, albeit Dallas have remained out-of-sync in the NFC East to maintain their deeply historical rivalries with each of Philadelphia, Washington & New York Giants. Each team has the following 16 games in total - 6 of them are always the home-&-away games against your own divisional rivals - 4 of them are 2-at-home plus 2-away as the whole of your own division faces the whole of another division in your own conference on a 3-year-rotation for reversing the home-&-away opponents - 4 of them are 2-at-home plus 2-away as the whole of your own division faces the whole of a division from the opposite conference on a 4-year-rotation for reversing the home-&-away opponents - and the remaining 2 games are 1-home plus 1-away against teams in your own conference who finished in the same position as you did the previous year. This last aspect of the fixture compiling does two things - for primetime tv, it creates more clashes between the most successful and popular teams while it deliberately gives last year's poorer teams a slight helping hand towards a better record the next season by scheduling extra games against similarly poor sides. There's a complete understanding that any single 16-game regular season involving 32 teams can't possibly create perfect fixture parity - instead, the aim is a mix of traditional divisional rivalries alongside both a steady rotation of other opponents and the twist of forcing last year's best teams to survive a tougher schedule the next time round in a bid to share the glory around more teams. Hence, for example, Philadelphia in the NFC East always play Dallas, NY Giants and Washington both home and away for 6 of their games - this year. they've got the NFC North on their 3-year NFC rotation (home games with Detroit and Chicago, trips to Green Bay & Minnesota - those venues will be reversed in 2022) and they've got the AFC East on their 4-year AFC rotation (home to NY Jets and the game they're currently playing against New England, trips to Buffalo & Miami - those venues will be reversed in 2023) and then, because they were 2nd in the 2018 NFC East, they've already visited the 2018 NFC South runner-up Atlanta and next week they're at home to the 2018 NFC West runner-up Seattle. Next year in 2020, Philadelphia will have their usual 6 divisional games, the reverse of whichever different-NFC-division games they had in 2017, the reverse of whichever AFC-division games they had in 2016 plus those couple of games against NFC sides determined by the final 2019 standings. At the end of the regular season, all the results go into one tally of wins and losses for each team whose records are then displayed in their 8 separate divisions of 4 teams to settle 12 playoff tickets, namely each division winner and the best 2 other records in each conference as wildcards so that if one particular division has had an amazing year, even its 3rd-placed team can claim a wildcard as long as its record beats all its rival runners-up. Trust me, speedway's 2020 Championship won't be anything like as complicated as that !! - for example all the Northern speedway teams will end up with exactly the same combination of opponents as each other have faced, likewise all the Southern teams. Ideally with Newcastle on board, it'll be 32 meetings in total, 10 at home & 10 away covering each team's 5 divisional rivals twice plus 6 home & 6 away covering the opposite division's sides once.