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Sheffield fans delighted with Kurtz. Away fans arguing about if we should have had Kurtz, Auty, Pickering, etc. Only in speedway...

He can easily get back to his 2018 form you are lucky you have him to see everyweek i never tire of watching Robert ride a real talent.

Ah... the great Terry Betts, lovely guy. But don't forget the wonderful Tomas Topinka who had 15 seasons with the Stars and scored over 6,000 points in 578 appearances. Both riders were also really stylish and smooth on the bike. Great times!

Assuming that all the other clubs have made significant improvements? My only concern is....and I'm not being negative....we have a team that''s capable of beating any other team when all are firing, but on the flip-side, we might be 'beatable' by the weakest team when they're not? I'm extremely happy with our 7 and look forward to seeing some proper action at PB this season..... If I had to choose between thumping everyone every week and winning the league, or seeing some great racing and not quite making the play-offs, then I'd choose the latter! May be it's my age?!

I’m pretty sure Glasgow would have Craig cook as #1 even on a 12.00 average. It’s a statement of power, and consistency in the big heats 13 and 15 which often are match winners

Vic Eastwood, the very successful scrambles/moto X rider passed away on Sunday. You may say what has Vic's passing got to do with speedway, well, probably not much, but he did race machines which had Hagon frames. I did buy a bike from him once, at his shop and was a gentleman to deal with. RIP.

Scrambling on Grandstand, happy days. RIP Vic, who was one the biggest names in the sport, along with the likes of John Banks, Badger Goss and of course, the legend that is Arthur Browning!

3 lapsed fans of my acquaintance would return if we got a genuine, big name, #1 i know the sums need to add up but I think many fans need a hero in the team. A 7.5 point #1 who loses heat 15 every week is never a hero.

If by any chance, we end up 2 points below the points limit I will be really, really annoyed.

There are exceptions to that, and Wethers appears to be an exception - no discount was applied for 2019 on his 2018 final average.

Does Matty Wethers qualify for a 2.5% reduction?

It will all become a lot clearer after the talk in on Tuesday, when they will be discussing their plans

Segment? Which part?

Good to see five of the team back for the new season.

How come? Thought you were a Swindon supporter?!

Was at derwent park helping alan middleton when he got a telegram off a rider who couldnt make it , i think it was the charlie williams meeting anyway he rang big Arthur browning after 3 pm can u get here tonight no probs came the answer and off he comes from the birmingham area in less than 4 hrs , can u see any off todays " stars" doing that!

I watch a lot of 'old league Speedway' on YouTube, mainly from the eighties, and a hell of a lot of it is pretty garbage to be honest. Even allowing for the one camera, independent, straight to video coverage of the time.. The main differences to today when it's garbage is that back then the crowds were bigger so the atmosphere was there, and riders were mainly part time and hadn't spent fortunes on machinery to take part, so didn't expect/need big money to compete.. Nowadays you get pretty mediocre racing, interspersed with the odd great race.. Just the same as happened back then.. Definitely worth watching a few YouTube League meetings from the eighties and nineties if you have an hour to kill.. Pretty poor fair in the main and definitely not too dissimilar to what we get today at most tracks..

A very good scrambler (as it was in those days). Used to watch him when scrambling was a feature on Saturday afternoon TV. Dave Bickers, Jeff Smith, then they brought Torsten Holman and Rolf Tiblin (names if I remember right). Great stuff. Another good in bites the dust.

Since Glasgow has been refurbished , there has been a large increase of females, especially younger ones attending. Before refurb, you just wouldn't use the toilets as they must have been the worst in the country, no light only 2 female toilets in the stadium. Now they are plush, with running hot water, having nice toilets do make a difference for us women who attend speedway, Glasgow crowds are now about 50/50 male and female, so I would say that it should be a bit more of a priority. That may be a reason why crowds are going down in places. I go to the pairs event, track and racing brilliant but viewing is awful, especially for short people like me and not enought toilets, and they ran out of programmes 1hr before start of meeting, which was shocking.

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.

Rest assured our number 1 will have an established average above 8.00

Not to mention Wolverhampton and Long Eaton

If you can’t respect the posters and just keep giving insults and name calling just jog on and stop posting it’s getting boring. We are talking about the Ipswich team or lack of at the moment and you are adding nothing to it

Remember Ipswich speedway is a stand alone business. It’s not a tax avoidance toy like some teams maybe. if the figures don’t stack up at the end of the season it will not continue. of course I want a winning team but not at all costs. Because once gone it’s difficult to get back. Rye house lakeside and Workington etc

Think they might be, come the night of 14th Dec

Some people don't half talk some crap no matter what league Poole are in they will still be around in years to come

Arthur and I think Alan as well, were BSA works riders. Martin, I am pretty sure was Arthur’s son. Arthur was known as a pretty fast starter ( I can’t really say gater in Moto Cross ) and was often first away but had a bit of a problem with fitness. I remember him once stopping at a pub in a pretty big trial , and having , in his words, “a couple of dinners “ ! Back to the point of the thread, Vic Eastwood one of my heroes as a youngster, but it broke my heart when he left Matchless and rode an ‘orrible two-stroke, although with hindsight I can understand that as a professional rider he had a living to earn, and the big heavy four stroke Matchesses had had their day by then. In memorium, Vic Eastwood, a great rider.

Season ticket info available. There has been a slight change to the monthly direct debt plan but its still decent if you go every week and would rather spread the cost. http://www.swindon-speedway.com/news.php?extend.3381

Yes, I can think of a few. Chris Harris in particular springs to mind, he is always prepared ready to take a booking at the drop of a hat if it’s possible to get there in time. He’s a professional rider working in a professional way.

He isnt.. Kurtz is better at Owlerton look at the race results between the two in the last few years.. Kurtz wins more often than not

The Latter.

Fans or quid

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!

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.

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

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.

And the post was liked by Adam Roynon, how about him?

Brady won't mind not picking up any trophys with your lot, he's got plenty with Poole to keep him happy

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?

Nice look back to the fantastic 1976 comets in the "ss" this week , steve lawson shows a true gentleman he is saying how much pride he has in both his sons.

Personally, I love subtle merchandise with club logos. Especially things that you regularly use such as diaries, phone cases, credit card holders, pens. On clothing, polo shirts with small embroidered logo leaving the more garish stuff on posters, mugs, framed photos, tee shirts and mouse mats. Team jackets should be standardised for riders and fans to give unity.

I cannot see firstly that Hancock should have the headline as it is obviously between all the southern Track promoters , and secondly I cannot believe that this is not an option for all clubs to admit season ticket reduction on visitors to the tracks . It would encourage more season ticket sales and encourage supporters to travel more

Sometimes it's best not to 'peek behind the curtain'.

Bet Phillip Rising doesn't agree with you ?

Maybe they could add another heat. B Final for the 4 riders knocked out in the semi final. To decide 5th to 8th place.

There is an inverse correlation between the number of wildcards and the integrity of the WC system. The more wildcards, the less credible the system. And am I the only one that thinks it's a bit odd that one rider can qualify three ways, all at the same time, before the end of the current GP series? And they say being the top scorer in a GP and not winning the meeting is an anomaly.

You are 100% right. The GP series, when it was introduced, had one feature which countered the "how can a rider who has one good meeting, be considered WC?" effect. Well, what better way to prove that the WC is the most consistent rider across the season that to make every race and every point count? A 3rd in your opening ride should not be considered a bit of a slip, to be caught up later. It's 2 lost points, lost for good. And what about "I've qualified for the semis, so why try hard to win further races" under the new system? We want riders making every race meaningful don't we? Pushing for every point, not making judgements about their likelihood about their qualification for the later stages of the meeting. This is a fundamental mistake and ignores simple psychology. Think on. At Torun this year, we were following the destiny of the championship from race 1 and throughout the meeting race by race.

Win all your heats, finish last in your semi-final, take home 10 points...

I'm not a fan of this if it is true. As I said earlier, a rider may score 15 points in the Qualifying heats and finish third in his S/F for an actual total of 16 points, loses 4 points in the new format, being 'awarded' 12 points. Another rider may qualify for the S/F with 8 points and finish second in his S/F actually scoring 10 points but gains 4 points after being 'awarded' 14 for finishing last in the Final!

Hopefully won't get any of those 3