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Holder over Batchelor? Realy???

Well, what a terrific team we have assembled for our first season in the premiership. Nicki is Nicki, I'm sure he'll be an astute rider on home and away tracks. Howarth, Holder, Grajczonek, Kurtz and Lawson are all very quick around Owlerton, so we should be in for some entertainment and big scores at home! Away from home, I worry about a few, especially the reserves, but a new season means a clean slate for everyone, and I hope both Kurtz and Morris can do their bit away from home too. Either way, its an exciting time for Sheffield Speedway and huge well done to the promotion for the team they have assembled. Up to us as fans now to get behind the momentum and pack Owlerton out and prove we are right to move up to the Premiership.

Holder over Batch is a big NO from me as would take Batch every time.

i am another that thinks Ulrich will thrive at Glasgow, it's a good RACE track which he needs more than many

The aussie on a 2 has a British born Mother and has a British passport and has chosen to be British , unlike some of our British born Aussies that used the system and have chosen to ride for Australia.Connor wants to ride for GB not Australia.

We've been over this subject time and again and it's just not possible. To many factors in the way. Rider's wages are one thing, with certain clubs pay better than others. Rider has to be interested. As an example not fact:- Jason Doyle is on £400 a point, he has to go to Peterborough who can only afford £200 a point. Should he have to accept that? Of course not, he'd probably feel better off giving the UK a miss. It was bad enough when a draft system was used for reserves. Some rider's refused due to distences to travel etc. If a team can afford 4 heatleaders and other clubs can't, so be it. That's sport.

Bull rubbish. He's not trying to finance both. He's in a partnership.. He's not even building a hotel. He's helping to renovate a chateau. If he's that desperate for cash then he would have accepted any offer - and there were some!! Why would you put your son in charge of something that couldn't make money and why would his son give up his full time day job if there wasn't money to be made?

Why wouldn't he? In a draft system Swindon wouldn't have a choice who they have. Draft systems usually work by the worst team having first pick the following season. In that case, why would anyone leave Doyle for Swindon to have. Also, gradings are so unfair too. Doyle 8.96 Batchelor 8.82 Pedersen 8.61 Lambert 7.81 Cook 7.78 Kurtz 7.54 Holder 7.49 Masters 7.35 Thorsell 7.33 You'd feel a bit peeved to be left with Masters as No1. What happens with the 2 not picked? Drafts system =Daft systems

Always someone who tries to spoil things. who says Nikki is only here for 8 weeks and the ridicoulas wages allegedly being paid, I am sure there is envy somewhere regarding the Sheffield team

Another great side assembled. Good being a Swindon fan of late eh,

just to cover all the bases, someone start a poole thread in the national league....you never know what will happen after the coming season

This “use it or lose it” saying that I keep reading on here and other speedway circles is a very dangerous game. How about making it more appealing for fans to attend instead of threatening closure if you don’t?

A thoughtful parent who has createdfurther opportunities for his child which will been entitled to dual nationality/freedom of movement between AUS & the UK yeah those true colours are disgusting.......sometimes there is a whole lot more to life than speedway.

Absolutely amazing. A championship team reaches 106 pages on a thread in the premiership section. Think a few need to let it go and move down to where they belong. Otherwise jump across to support Swindon.

Fans or quid

I was thinking about Basil Brush, but it might mean having a long tail,,, Boom Boom,,,

Seen this article from Castagna now. Talk about giving countries where speedway is still just about established some priority. South Africa and of course his old favourite, Argentina. And that Discovery are well established in Asia, so........ https://www.speedweek.com/speedwaygp/news/152697/Exklusiv-Der-Speedway-GP-expandiert-ab-2022-weltweit.html Barely able to hold a straight face as I post this !!!

a very huge well done for putting together, what potentially is,a cracking team who will be very exciting to watch.will win most at home i think and surprise a few away as well.can,t wait for the season to start!

Is that the same Geoff that was giving it the Billy Big balls about how good the aces were going to be this time last year, and how bad Ipswich would be. Total class clown

Sadly, I think it is a misconception, that Ulrich has poor machinery. I believe, it is the engine set up, that he wants, which is the problem. What suits other riders, will not suit Ulrich and vice versa. When Ulrich came to Redcar, some years ago, He changed from Jawas to GMs. The new engines went to Sean Wilson for tuning, Sean did his stuff, but they did not suit Ulrich. After several attempts, Sean had to say that's the best I can do, (no one was blaming Sean by the way) and I am sure the end product, would have suited most riders. Just not the individual requirements of Ulrich. The engines, then went to Ash - Tech in Poland (that definitely would not come cheap) and I think he was happier with the results. I believe he still has his engines done by Ash - Tech. Ulrich would seem to be a constant work in progress, (machinery wise) and hopefully they get it right. Its not for lack of effort or expenditure. When Ulrichs bikes are going well, he is great entertainment

I can guarantee that Hans Andersen would add 3 to the gate

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Auty before now...

Its awful. Poole have gained 400 followers since we dropped down. Somerset and Kent are truly embarrassing with it.

Pavlic feels like an odd name to be touting after 10 years away from the UK. That average as well, would have thought Rosco would have been doing everything to have got him in over or for Lawmpart last season. Haven't seen him mentioned in any 'wish lists' for next year in a long time either! Would have thought a top 2 of Hans and Vissing is more realistic if Clegg is starting in the 1-5 Although if you are right it would definitely show up a lot of the Premiership clubs!

Yeah there's definitely a common denominator with them all. It's frustrating when one tweet, regardless of origin, can be seen by hundreds, thousands and even millions of people and yet there seems little effort to put any effort in. I happened to look at a Championship club's Twitter the other night, they follow about 150 people, most of which are other speedway clubs/accounts - why aren't they getting out there following journalists/media etc etc and spreading their name? Baffling.

Very happy with the team put together for our first season back in the Prem. Built to be very strong at home and can see us doing well at other similar fast racks like Peterborough, Kings Lynn etc... See how some fans of other teams are sniping already... let us Sheffield fans worry about our team which I'm sure 95% are delighted with. Amazing how we look 'average' when none of the others have completed their teams as yet to compare to? Swindon are almost complete and look very strong again. I would still fancy our chances against them at home. New league, new start and back to Thursday night racing. Cant wait for March to arrive.

No man,,, a didn't mean has Robbo ridden in Britain, a meant has the new or new/old guy ridden here before??? Ye silly sausage.

Would have to agree. It is very hard at all. Does help 2/3 of the Poole promoters happen to work for a website company. But all the clubs part of the Pearson media tree, Wolves, Swindon, Leicester, Sheffield, Somerset, Kent, Lynn, Pboro have awful social media.

Doyle - 8.96 Stewart - 4.00 Jensen - 7.86 Ellis - 6.33 (2.5% discount applied) Batchelor - 8.82 Perks - 3.49 (2.5% discount applied) Rowe - 3.00 Total - 42.46

I don't think either team has a tail which tail will do much wagging, I would prefer a more balanced team personally.

I think there could be a lot of changes throughout the year with this team, very strong top 4 but weak bottom 3 and every team needs at least one good reserve so unless Stewart or Rowe improve a lot during the season I can see many changes although it could be said the changes in 2019didn't do Swindon any harm.

That's nice, I don't think most speedway fans would want any club closed, I expect most clubs would have trouble selling their club especially if they didn't own the stadium they ride on.

Its gotta be Robbo Just wondering if he's ridden in Britain before and, if you can use a 12+ rider for 'team building' purposes only?

We had a great side assembled for the 2007 season also, but won nothing that year. (Sorry, I was soundings a little like DC2 there!) Seriously though, well done Rosco on putting together what looks like a very competitive side. Tough choice to let Musielak go, who when I watched him the few times that I did last year, looks a real class act. Can anyone tell me where the idea of tangerine/orange influence came from? I thought it looked really good personally.

We don’t know that neither haven’t yet.

With respect Phil, our “Number 1” last year was Chris Harris who dropped a couple of points off his average and we ended up runners up. It’s not the be all and end all.

The crash of 2008 had nothing to do with the decline of Speedway, the way the sport is run here took, and is taking care of that. You’re certainly not speaking for all Rye fans when you suggest that BMR coming in was cause for optimism about a new ambitious promotion. They quickly showed they couldn’t build a good team for toffee and then they went on to move a team based in a town of roughly 40 thousand people into the top division. The short sighted fans out there saw it as an opportunity to see Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris every week, in reality by the end of that first season both were riding in the second tier too anyway. Rye is well located geographically from the perspective of a rider coming into Stansted Airport, not so much for travelling fans. Once you’ve lost your club you may pop in to the next nearest club now and again but not many fans make a weekly pilgrimage, particularly when as is the case in Hoddesdon, there’s nothing really to do here. Rye can sustain second or third tier speedway. I’d love to see us back in the third division and start from scratch. The track has a selling point in as much as it can be used any day, any time within reason.

You're saying an extra 400 people but if they didn't sign Nicki they'd need some form of rider at number 1 anyway so that's not really true. He might be double what you'd pay another number 1 so therefore 200 extra people would pay for him

Where exactly are the new venues everyone is after? Middle-East, Spain and United States are mentioned... Really?

Just for Reading Racer. A _ A _ / E L L I _ (4,5) Clue: League winner 2017 and 2019.

Seems that some sort of Test Match (Western Australia v Great Britain) does go ahead next Saturday ! TAI WOFFINDEN TO RACE AT PERTH MOTORPLEX. Two times British Champion, three times World Champion, twice winner of The Rob Woffinden Classic and current Western ...Australian Speedway Solo Champion Tai Woffinden is in town and booked to race at the fabulous Perth Motorplex on Saturday 7th December. Marshall McDiarmid, President of the Speedway Motorcycle Club of WA and Perth Motorplex Manager Gavin Migro teamed together to ensure they secured this huge event for WA speedway fans. Tai Woffinden will also race the following week at the Pinjar Park Motorcycle Speedway in Neerubup in Perths northern suburbs the following Saturday night for the running of the Rob Woffinden Classic. He has previously won the title twice and is the defending RWC Champion. Joining Tai Woffinden at Perth Motorplex will be three other British riders who together form a British Team who will contest a series of events against a strong West Australian side. Team GB include, Jack Smith, son of former British Champ, Andy Smith. Leon Flint, the 16 year old Berwick Bandits flyer Drew Kemp 2019 British under 19 CHAMPION. Headlining the Team WA will be former International rider, Frank Smart, the in form Dan Winchester and Matt Marson. Tai is down under in the Southern hemisphere for some R & R to recover from a bruising European season and his World Grand Prix commitments. He will head back to the UK in the new year, however while in Perth he gives of his time to perform in a couple of shows for his WA fans, much to our delight. Tai set the Pinjar Park track on fire last January winning the RWC and the WA State Championship and was responsible for some of the largest crowds the new track has seen in its relatively short existence. This is a great opportunity to see Tai Woffinden and his fellow British team mates perform, an opportunity we don't get to see often in Perth, and I urge you not to miss either of these two huge speedway Meetings. Graeme Sinden

Brummies look to have a decent team this year, especially as you'll always have one strong reserve! Expect you to be in the top 6!

My advice is get to as many as you can, the thing I miss about the second division most since Lynn moved up nine years ago is the away trips and tours with plenty of weekend meetings. Some great people from this forum to be found at those tracks too.

Agree about the tv meetings, I only watched a few as many of them were not worth the effort, the same with the GPs.

Swindon might struggle with the bottom 3 but they will be given a chance & then changes might be made like last season. Somerset went down the same route with a long tail last season & it didn’t work so roll on April where we can see on the track.

10 points plus I would think he will and should achieve at home adam and steve should not be far behind either .I think adam may end up no 1 as the season progress

Sheffield look decent but Swindon look quite a way ahead of them on paper, I have my doubts about Pedersen taking into account his age and time away from the UK and their reserves don’t convince me although accept many reserves won’t look great to start with. Sheffield look good for the top four but Swindon are the best on paper without doubt unless anybody else pulls rabbits out if the hat, can’t see it though.

Better than the clique who so badly embarrassed themselves when faced with up-to-date snapping!

It was a good night, well attended, and as Dalbers said, congrats to the fans for the most disciplined fans meeting we have ever had. Could agree with that as I think we were all in anticipation of what was being revealed, and everything was very positive. Rob's not the young lad he was, and is now a accomplished successful businessman who wants to bring success to Newcastle Speedway, and mix it with his other business interests to brighten things up and make meetings more entertaining for both adults and kids. Talk of fairground rides both in the carpark and inside the entry area to be open when the gates open at 5.30, but that could be revised at some stage. Two riders announced Max and Matty so everyone happy with them, two more signings I think at the end of this week, another two the week after and the final one at the Xmas Party at the PTE on Fri 20th Dec, prices with a buffet £8 with other reduced prices. First meeting on the Sun 29th March will be the 90th anniversary meeting held over, and prices will be £10 per adult and concessions £5. The field will be made up of the current team, plus a lot of previous Diamonds. Rob has talked to Bjarne not necessarily to ride, but to be there to meet everyone again. He is also going to talk to Nikki and KB. George pointed out that with the meeting being early season, unlike last year, and with the early Ben Fund Meeting, most riders will be looking for rides before the season starts proper. Good point. Season ticket prices currently under discussion and they will cover the 16 league meetings plus the KO Cup match, but not the 90th Anniversary meeting as that's already been discounted down to £10 per adult. Meetings in future with be ramped up with attractions and maybe stunt riders on the centre green, special events for the kids mainly aiming for 7-9 years old. Music to be really ramped up so that there is no standing doing nothing and no music for atmosphere. Something will be going on all the time so there is no dull moment. The meeting will be going on as usual, but the extra entertainment will not delay the proceedings and the first meeting will always will be followed by a second half for junior racing. The Gems will be continued and new riders will be encouraged in order to build up a stock of young riders. Rob said 6 riders have been signed and talks are still on going with the 7th rider. All riders were capable of increasing their averages and all want to ride for Newcastle. The ownership of the speedway in now in the hands of Rob jnr, being the single shareholder, George and Dave Tattum as Co Promoters, Neil Machen as adviser and Dalbers as the club Secretary. Special thanks went to Vaughan Jones who has worked alongside everyone during the transition period, and guided the promotion to a successful conclusion from the previous promotion. Vaughan and Tim Scott had been in a similar position in about 2002 advising George, Darryl and myself. At the end of the night I would say there was a full room of fans leaving the room pleased at what they had heard, and looking forward to more info about the team and the meeting arrangements. See you all at the Xmas party PTE on Fri 20th Dec for more surprises and news.

My thoughts were aimed at cheaper bikes that were more sustainable. We cant have this situation where the bikes being used are costing the earth.