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Well it's a vastly different looking team and , as most of us know very little about the new guys, it will be interesting to see how they get on. A few weeks ago there was the real prospect of no speedway on Tyneside and now they have a lot of new riders to look forward to watching. Look forward to seeing how they perform.

That was obviously a failed attempt at humour, on my part, based on a misspelled word Seriously.... I'll say this to my Poole friends. My history (continuously since 1970) is with the Bees. We were, for many years, the one team that all the top riders wanted to be with. And we had our share of success (even over Poole!). I am, of course, heart broken that the Bees are not (currently) racing and their beloved home lies empty and rusting. But there is always a way. For a real fanatic there are still clubs out there racing. For me it meant putting aside my feelings for the auld enemy and supporting Leicester. Not only that, I had to accept racing in the second tier. For sure there was some justification (excuses) in that Leicester had borrowed a few of our own. But the reality is that I quickly formed allegiances with individual riders (not just the former Bees) and I looked forward to my weekly fix with enthusiasm. Moreover, I became an enthusiastic supporter of racing at the third tier. Oh, I know what you're thinking. It's easy to support two (new) teams when they winning everything. And yes, that was a factor. But despite my pride in the Bees, during the past 50 years there have been some dark times when we couldn't win a fight. I can tell you, for a fan with a long history of following and watching racing at the highest level, racing in the Championship is a joy. The commitment of the riders and their management is no less and the spirit is good. So I'm now a genuine Leicester supporter with some real loyalty for the club(s)....... until the Bees come back

I doubt any other team wants one

Plus they need to turn up at the right Ipswich

Being bottom of the PL for a couple of seasons and then winning the CL would be the key to crowd levels there, nothing to do with entertainment at all, the fickle love a winner.

Happy with them two signings and hope they can become assets and can only improve.Will also be nice to watch the progress each week hopefully.

Honestly I have just come back from the Christmas markets in Prague, full of (No not that!) Belgium Waffles, Bratwurst, Leberkäse, Bockwurst, Weißwurst, Nürnberger Rostbratwurst, Knackwurst and Teewurst and also with a very novel twist on a sausage with a Curry-wurst and of course Jaternice ; all washed down with copious amounts of Pilsner Urquell; Gambrinus, Staropramen and Kozel. Now whilst on this Beer and food quest I bumped into a couple of Speedway riders who said they had just signed for the Newcastle Diamonds. Now both these lads will be coming in on 5 averages so we will be over 2 points under the build limit; although one does have GP experience; so how did we get him? I wonder... however the good thing is we will end up with a couple of assets and as hard as it may seem it will give an opportunity if either struggle for an early change if needed to strengthen up the team. Hopefully not... So don't panic Captain Mannering... Don't panic... (Dandelion) Now everyone will want to know their names and of course it will be in the public domain in the next few hours after the Christmas Party but I would like to be the first to welcome both JAMES ANDERTON and RIK JACKSON to the north east. Good luck lads and lets hope you both end up with 7 plus averages. No its not a puppet Dandelion (its an anagram)... Can I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year... All the best... Now as it is Black Eye Friday I am off on the lash (now) and promise to leave the phone at home and not post under the influence of drink making a bigger tool of myself than I usually do... Honest... Oh and I am looking forward to the fall out tomorrow, just like Christmas day; some will be happy with what they have got; some will be sad; some will be just content that they have got something at all and others disappointed with one or two just downright ungrateful... Good luck to the Team; Rob Grant and the whole promotion and lets hope we can shock a few people and take the league by storm... Regards THJ

Especially as it will be slightly cheaper to attend too!!

I agree 1 valve. Steve is a pessimist. IMO better & more varied racing !& better crowds than 2019

I would just like to see any speedway racing at my local track. Good luck to the pirates.

The reason was planning consent. There were a number of residents objecting to the application for permanent consent for the Monarchs, so to give strength to that application John Campbell pulled the plug. The application was successful and consent was given. It was the sensible thing to do. I think if it hadn't been for that John would have kept going even although crowds weren't great.

All that does is skew riders’ averages massively and create a massive problem the next season. Not to mention the boring heat formula.

It has been reported in the Manchester Evening News that planning permission has been granted to build 247 homes on the site of the former Belle Vue speedway stadium. There is no date set for the demolition / build, but it looks like the end is in sight for Kirky Lane. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/historic-belle-vue-greyhound-stadium-17448332 A very sad day. The stadium is undoubtably in need of serious renovation but it kept the sport alive in Manchester when it looked to be lost. Without Kirky Lane, there wouldn't be a NSS.

Both on a 5 I think

If you havnt seen this video, or even if you have, take a look and prepare yourself for what the NSS can give........ https://www.speedwaygp.com/son/news/article/8002/madsen-takes-on-the-aussies

Cook can fook off. Don't want him anywhere near the team.

THJ is an absolute weapon

£35 ticket for 2 meetings and approx 40 races is a bargain

Sorry if this has been posted before. I have never seen it, but some great photos mainly from Speedway Royal, Wayville around 1928 including Vix Huxley, Sprout Elder, Billy Lamont, Paddy Dean and a Frank Arther!!! and a Miss Kay Taylor!!!! and Les Van Praag and a few riders with I guess the Golden Helmet including Tommy Benstead https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+40549

Brooks has posted on facebook saying he Hope's to get a club next year as he is not in Mildenhalls 7

Ipswich don’t belong to buster thankfully

Piffle makes me laugh for some reason, suppose it's more polite than bol***ks.

Piffle At Birmingham in 2018 we had Tom Bacon / James Shanes / Danyon Hume with likes of Sheldon Davies and Aaron Butcher. Were you there then??? I don't think anyone of right mind would argue that is a MUCH bigger disparity than anything at Plymouth next season (Bowtell/Stoneman and Atkins nowhere near ability of Bacon/Shanes/Hume) with same 2 reserves who are probably better now than in 2018; in what many argue was the high point of the NL with 5-6 excellent Teams in 2018.

Only if they turn up on Queensland time, twelve hours early.

I think Stekkers runs the old speedway dvd thing, classic speedway videos.com or something like that - so assume that's his base - somewhere like stafford i think it was.

Poor crowd levels on a Saturday afternoon was why they stopped before , so I hope it works this time . The only way we're going to have new Scottish talent is by having a NL side for them to cut their teeth , so let's hope this is a big success

That was a suggestion being considered i understand. For me the National League side should stay as the kings and the championship side given a new name. I like stats and my records will quickly become a mess otherwise..... lol

Stop press. Pirates new clothing range... It's time to do the right thing Mods.

Not allowed wooden spoon now for health and safety..

Wooden spoon?

Never sold it

You imagine it will sink in one day.

I've no axe to grind but Poole are in the Premiership in 2019 and it is still 2019.

Think he done a full gp as a wildcard or something in 2017.

Why would he do that? He’s now neither chairman of the BSPA or the owner of Ipswich of which he never was despite the intentions. Chapman won’t be helping Ipswich with anything currently.

I have laughed through the whole thing, only other people getting stressed about it. If he backed up his answer and gave a list of 'most' riders then I would have shut up a long time ago. If he can only provide a few examples, then it is clear as day that only a few have improved. Which is my whole point. Steve knows he is wrong but can't admit it, prob cos it's me! But I am right very occasionally lol.

Great news about Erik, I, too, would like to see him push on this year ..... I would like him to forget looking stylish and just race effectively if that makes sense

Because planning permission etc would only be granted subject to an agreeable & binding long term future of stadium & associated activities being finalised & implemented?

I know a lot of people are exited and looking forward to it

Something to do with the rustle of £1 notes might just sway it

I quite like the Eastbourne side, way way stronger than last yr, top 6 for sure.

Big victor yes .. Little annoying man No

Not an opinion shared in Glasgow.

Not sure I'd agree with that. At the end of the day, the venues are much the same as they were during the pre-BSI SGP with the exception of maybe Cardiff and Warsaw - the others all proved to be non-sustainable, and some GPs are still being held in fields in the middle of nowhere. Even towards the end of the World Final era, it was still possible to draw good crowds at the bigger venues and if venues like Cardiff had been around at the time, it might have been a different story. I think almost any half-competent company could have leveraged the television opportunities that existed towards the end of the late-1990s and early-2000s - satellite and cable companies needing to fill many hours with cheap content. But the transition to new forms of broadcasting such as streaming media seems to have been a bit more painful, and sponsorship development has probably been fairly weak over the years. On balance, I'd say things are slightly better since BSI came along, but it's no great shakes and really the SGP is still focused on pretty much the same markets as when they started. After 20 years, it's time for someone else to have a go even if speedway is a difficult sell nowadays.

Baffled Lawlor and Jenkins( who i like ) get chances yet no chance for Danyon.At his best he was one of the fewer riders who looked as quick as Ellis Perks at times.

Danyon really deserves a chance and again disappointed Brummies didn't find a place for him More of a racer than Bowtell and might be better suited to Team too. Likely Danyon will again lead Leicester NDL side to help keep confidence up. Would be great signing for Pirates

Ellis signing certainly a game changer, number 1 most of the season i reckon

And the rest of us.

The new rights holders would be off their heads to jettison Cardiff. It's a proven money maker with a loyal base, the event template is long embedded and with the safety net of (rumoured) seven figure support from the Welsh Government, it's a classic no brainer. Broadly, I think BSI have done a good job with the GPs. With venues like Warsaw, Cardiff, Stockholm, Copenhagen and the like, they have moved the World Championships on significantly from the fading embers of the old one-off finals and the early GP series at Coventry, Pocking and the like. Live World Championship speedway on live television is now taken for granted as are some of the plush stadia it takes place in. 25 years ago, the world championship was in a very different place, despite what some fans and their rose-tinted monkey masks would say. But, I agree that there has been some stagnation in recent years and some freshening up could be a good thing. A more global series with new venues and new markets would be a welcome development. Good luck to One Sport, I sincerely hope they make a great breakthrough. Biased I may be, but a quality SGP stands fair comparison with any major motorsport world championship and is - I believe- a great product. My fear is that they will discover why BSI had difficulty in establishing any long-term sustainability in new markets and regressed to the reliable core markets of Polish, Swedish and British audiences. Put it this way, I wouldn't invest any of my own money into SGP's potential international growth.

Surprised he wasn’t in the Kent line up at reserve alongside Jack Thomas who was on a 2.42 average, they would have been a far stronger reserve pairing then Ledwith & Gilkes. Kent had 6.23 to play with at reserve, Morley & Thomas totalled 6.13 whereas Ledwith & Gilkes totalled 6.00. Another thing to note is that Morley & Thomas are in the top 3 scorers in Kent’s history in the National League.