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Why on earth would anyone post this on a speedway forum? This forum is all the better for the many fans of defunct clubs who still follow GPs/Poland/Sweden/other clubs, but why bother coming on here when you've admitted to having no desire to attend another speedway meeting after a 15 year absence? I know your posts get a lot of stick on here so it should be expected, but this is just such a strange way of thinking.

Good to see the Bees back on track at Leicester on 11th April. I am sure there will be a large Coventry crowd to roar the lads on and be good see the team back on track albeit for one afternoon. Be good see Cov maybe do some more challenge fixtures when dates and riders are available to keep the name out there and show BE that there is support for the club and sport http://www.savecoventryspeedway.com/news.php?extend.4176

You would think he would be hot property then....

You could say the same about Nicholls Harris etc riding in the championship.....

And I was a fan at Coventry since the late 50s and he was the worst manager we had in my opinion

Ooh I'm so sorry forum police..I hadn't seen it mentioned..or I couldn't be bothered to sift through all the negative crap on here to find it.

Clearly, but based on firm evidence.....

Yes, sounds right to me. Anyway, I think we can say that Lionel Wills was the first domiciled Brit to ride proper speedway as we know it.

All is far from lost at Rye House. The Car Park has been completely re-laid with tiles (at a great expense) and there are major plans to work on the stadium. The fact is that the site is now owned by the Kart people and not got a Bellway sign up should tell you a lot.

Passed away 16 years ago today. RIP Les.

Kemp spent the majority of last season as a second string for Sheffield, so should definitely raise his average at reserve for the Eagles!

Yet he wont shut up about how hard done by he is..

Yes you are right Steve, Wilson/Wyer came through the system from div two Reg at Worky Doug at Berwick.Then Bob Valentine came along he was a very good rider until he got injured can't remember how ?? hand gliding i think? he was never the same rider after that.

Ben Wilson

Will there be subtitles as personally I cant understand a word Havelock says. Must admit I find this a very odd decision.

Spin King bought a round...

Thank you, and more so as I was Promoter at Coventry when he was our team manager!

Team GB enjoyed a good 50-39 win against Australia this morning in which Leon Flint scored 8+1.

Lewis Kerr.

It was in response to some suggesting he should ride for the Gems team.. Simple really he shouldn't be in the NL anymore we need to avoid riders who aren't ever going to make it passed Reserve/Second String using the NL to prop themselves up, That league should be for improving youngsters

Your opinion

I’m a Kent fan & you are spot on. I understand they are trying to work around both teams racing on a Wednesday but come on it don’t take a lot to let the fans no what’s going on even if no riders names are given out. I would take it that either the promotion don’t care about the NL team or don’t care about the supporters.

Time to move on though - the past is the past

I always remember Sheffield fielding a strong 1-7 during the early middle seventies but not necessarily an out an out number one. I recall Doug Wyer at reserve! Arnold Haley proved a trump card at Ipswich in 1974 when "The Tigers" won the first leg of the Final of the Knock Out Cup...super competition in my view and left many memories to look back on!

Cant speculate but what has actually be done is impressive and the Kart track is kept very smart, so lets just hope we can get speedway back. There are people who have still not given up.

Thinking about it, maybe it wasn’t a coincidence Wills turned up in Western Australia, as I think by then Hoskins was also there. So maybe renewing acquaintances? And might explain why he was given as ‘the English rider’ instead of ‘an English rider’ if Hoskins had given the info to the press

Are you having a laugh main man advise him on everything he makes so many mistakes his self just ask brum fan's?

It was one hell of a achievement BOBBATH for Rick to quality from the 1967 West Ham British Final for the world final.In a way it was an equivalent of Martin Yeates qualifying from Coventry to the Overseas final at Belle Vue in 1984 the underdog prevailing Rick did achieve more though. Briggs 15, France, Mauger, Wilson. E.Boocock, Pratt ( did brilliant) qualified--- non qualifiers were Trigg, Ashby, Maidment, Betts, Hedge, Airey, Luckhurst, N.Boocock,Broadbank, Hunter great days.

Totally agree Steve that is why the core of the 2020 Robins team of Doyle,Batchelor,Jensen,Ellis, Perks is refreshing to see some sort of continuity from last season.

I was glad someone finally remembered to mention Rick France and Jim Lightfoot. I think I recall Boocock, France, Mountford and Lightfoot as the 3 or 4 heat leaders in 65-67. Clearly Nigel was the outstanding superstar-but lets not forget that Ron (62) Jim (63) and Rick (67) all made the World Final. How would other forumlanders rank those three???? - I think I would make it Rick, then Ron and then Jim. Pretty sure Ron and Rick worked together -a garage and repair shop maybe?. Ron was a tough customer -no question. I think he wore contact lenses. Jim I recall at the end of his career maybe riding for Long Eaton?. I attended the British Final in 1967 at West Ham where Rick qualified for the World Final-bit of an outsider to qualify I thought before the meeting. I would consider Rick as a Prov. league graduate. He advanced from West Ham at that British Final while more favoured riders e.g. Terry Betts did not. The 1967 British Final was a great meeting- a very warm evening as I recall-am sure maybe Norbold, Andoutt and Celticman could have been there. Of the Bees second strings mentioned I tended to think Col Cottrell was the best, I certainly recall Roger Hill starting out. I know that Ron Mountford has passed away, also that Rick France has been quite ill. Is Cap'n Jim still around? Think Col Cottrell has passed away-not sure re Roger Hill. The Bees were always great visitors to Somerton Park, Station Road Long Eaton and of course Leicester-always smartly turned out and always ready for a great night's racing- I think their closure was a tremendous loss to British speedway.

Didn’t Main Man advise him on everything including filling in is program for him, I know he never left his side during a meeting

If ever a man looked like a snake.....

I can’t believe anyone would want to see Adam Roynon back on a Speedway Bike, After every thing he has been through injury wise, I for one would be happy if he remained retired and and we will still have the memories of what a great entertainer ha was

Ron Mountford suffered a bad leg break early on in the 1968 season, which meant he missed all of the rest of that season and was never the same rider when he came back.

I know Chris Louis was keen to have it at Ipswich.

Poole

He's got a CL average above 4.00 and has a CL team place? Or am I misunderstanding the rules... If he is eligible... GET HIM SIGNED UP AS THE NUMBER 1 Forgot about Kelsey... Good shout, although if he's spannering for Nick and Nick is in Heat 15... It'll be a bit tight for Kelsey will it not? Wouldn't say 3.35 is a bargain, but he'd be a solid reserve imo... When was the last time he rode Brough? Don't recall him doing second halves? Dean is not ready imo... He should stick to the NJL for sure... No offence to him but it would be like Danny in the CL... In the deep end too soon, and he'd get nowhere

Honestly Kelsey Duggard must be a shoe in for the Gems; he is living in the North East now; will be swinging the spanner's for the Slovenian GP rider this season and comes in on a bargain 3.35 average. Also if you are looking to give local talent a go... Don't forget Dean Douglas... (No relation to Kieran) Regards THJ

Fantastic news for the promotion and the club on getting the British Under 21 championship final. The work put in behind the scenes fully justifies the MPA as one of the best venues for such great events. Roll on March.

Not sure that criticising a promoter for hosting this meeting is appropriate whatever axe you have to grind with him? Surely he would hold it regularly if he was bothered about nest feathering.

Sweden's top division consists of nine teams again meaning some will take place on Thursdays.

Lambert all day long. Zero debate.

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What like they did with Readings bid to race at Swindon, giving the NL another much needed team, exposure for a homeless club trying to increase interest with a view to finding a location for a new track while giving more NL opportunities for British youngsters??

Ahhhhhhh, those were the days.

In true BSF a pretty good thread has gone to the dogs. Shame.

Will Wolves make a pre-season change and replace Nicol with Nicholls?

Ooooohhhh, the anticipation

That would be crap. Can you imagine a sport that allows a few teams to have a massive spending advantage to buy the best players and thrash the poorer teams? It’d never catch on. Off to watch the football now.

And each season, after peeing about for donkeys using a slide rule to get seven riders as near to the limit as possible, all teams start 'level' yet, by the end of the season, one, if not more, are always miles adrift of the team that tops the table. . Usually after tinkering around for weeks signing riders not much better than the ones they are replacing, from a small pool that fits the averages that they need to build to, rather than a wider pool of 'talent' that might make a difference.. Hence they don't move forwards and their seasons are effectively over by the end of June... Market forces will dictate who they bring in if there were a wider amount of leeway as, lets be honest, not many could afford a Bartek or a Tai to turn their seasons around, however maybe a club could pick up a '6 point man' to replace a '5 point man', which could make a difference without breaking the club...? As we know, there a myriad of variables that delivers a riders average, so many of which are shall we say 'less than scientific' meaning this hardly justifies the influence they possess on the whole sport, therefore, let's spend less time trying to build a speedway team with averages as it's most important focal point, and more time building one using the actual personalities who have brought it both success and positive fan engagement...