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It's very interesting to read this because we are fortunate to have many holiday people who come to the speedway perhaps for the first time on the island.... I of course when I welcome everyone, just after 13 mascots of differing ages 7 - 24 have ridden but before the parade, ask the crowd "who is on holiday" to see the hands and shouts... why do it do that because these are a target for me and my team to try to engage with and get them out on the centre green to find out the where you from, have you been to speedway, blah blah. Not to promote the Island but our sport in general (and don’t think for one minute we leave our or visiting fans out of the extra fun treatment). Once I know the answer to my questions above, I always tell them what local to them and where to find it. And the resounding thing that I see time and time again in emails, Facebook messages or posts is that what they see when they go locally isn't half the fun or as entertaining as their experienced with 3rd tier Isle of Wight Warriors. Even more interesting I hear time and time again (and you will again see it written all over) is those who go to speedway but come to us because they are on holiday, want their promotion team to be more like us, our show, our fun packed family night out where we focus more on entertainment than the result, value over speed, a positive note rather than anything else. This why you will read the "Isle of Wight is the blueprint of speedway's future" and other comments all over social media....not by me but by people who have visited us (I guess that’s why we have won so many awards both in and out of speedway) and even more interestingly why clubs, far wealthier than us - (I know we are the poorest club financially in the sport), copy our ideas by the time I have shaken the last visitors hand or switched off the pits lights on the race day we first do it. So, sorry I don’t agree that we have a poor product, we have probably the best product for today’s environment, the best show in speedway, brilliant racing but most of all a very happy, satisfied and entertained crowd who want to come back or visit their local tracks which ultimately, sadly, disappoint.

Thats a carbon copy of the 1977 White City race jacket. Way back in 2000 I always thought the "rebels" nickname was a reference to the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion and the following battle of Sedgemoor in 1688 but if you look into the rebellion and what happened to the Duke and his followers you would hardly want to celebrate it. I don't have any issue with the Confederate flag or "Old Dixie". Anyone that takes offence at it or thinks that it is racist needs to get back to the holes they came from.

Regards your first paragraph... you should really read some reviews or attend it.... our presentation is good for speedway and is objectively good. Track Staff are smart - all dressed the same thanks to our sponsors Sydenhams. Are they polite.... read ANYWHERE about the welcome people are given on the Island and you will read just how polite, welcoming, helpful, engaging, interpersonal all our staff are - you see we view every person as equally as important as the next... who do you view the most important person on race day...? Actually for me there are 2 The carpark team (our carpark is free so they are purely there to welcome and direct) and then the team on the gate... why because they are the first people anyone who comes meets... if they are smart, polite, trained, and knowledgable its the right start... then also its what a visitor takes away with them... the thrill of the last heat, great food at the right price, seeing the kids on the track in the running race or our riders signing tareoffs to give away at halftime... is it their visit to the pits, the drink in the bar, our clean toilets or using our baby changing facility, maybe it was the visit to the centre green, or the old boys on the JAPs after the meeting, could be our brilliant programme, or the videos on the TVs in the stand... could be me interviewing as I go live before the meeting starts..or it could be the tractors grading or just perhaps they have really enjoyed their night with us... Sorry I got carried away.. to continue... is it tidy? Oh my we have probably the most beautiful stadium before race day, after race day and any day... it is always clean.. ask anyone who has been every air fence panel (all of which are sponsored by the way) are cleaned for every one of the 20 weekly meetings we stage, the grass is alway on point, our toilets are clean, with flowers most weeks, and painted every off season, our stands are clean, our bins are emptied, our weeds are... oh we dont have weeds in the stands of course, or that main spectator area, or the picnic area, or the pits.. but there are a few where no one goes on race day until they are outgrown by blackberries which we encourage fans to come and pick (wash before you eat them), are we sign posted? Yes we are and we have banners across the island, pop ups in cinemas, and other attractions, can we improve this bit.. of course we can. Is the PA system good.. ,we have a great PA, a two mic presentation (fixed and mobile) but it wasnt always perfect but as soon as it was reported guess what ... it was fixed. Is the parade good... OK our meetings go like this... firstly our MASCOTs are introduced to the crowd..normally 13 every week they go off into the crowd (signing autographs and inspiring others).. then the riders decend through the crowd high fiving the kids on to the track.. the brilliant Rob Dyer introduces them one by one, giving an overview of any recent news about the rider (he knows his stuff) and when the final rider has been introduced do we allow riders to go off... although if we have our second team the Wizards in the main event we have them on parade too to be introduced in front of the crowd... so yep I think its good but we always look to improve. I guess we always try to be different, we know we will be copied, we know we must innovate to maintain our sponsors, we know we have to work hard but the most interesting thing is we are all a team... I am the promoter, toilet cleaner, tractor driver, drain cleaner, painter, joker, receptionist, car part attendant, burger flipper, drink supplier, raker, trainer, confident, accountant, marketing manager, My First Skid coordinator, track watering specialist, roving mic, sponsorship coordinator and anyone of our volunteers could be exactly the same.. they are all equal and all so very important to us.. I think the only difference is that they look to Martin and I for leadership and direction... Our reputation is pretty much known outside the UK too... we staged the first ever NICE meeting - now when I was in Poland I could have lied and said we had gates of 2000, we were loaded we had every possible machine.. but I didnt I told the truth.... when the Poles arrived the night before (from Bydgoszcz) to look at the stadium, I was watering the track - by a hose pipe..... at first they thought I was crazy...then they helped me.... look at the feedback of the riders, fans, NICE management of how we presented the NICE Challenge... no one has done better, no one. As for racing I just dont believe the racing is better... it may be faster but it never better... I dont care if the track record gets broken... what I believe fans want is action, passes, elbows, characters, appreciation from riders, interaction.... not flat out first bend new track record..... we are maybe lucky in that most of our meetings are last 3 heats deciders... and this of course adds to the tension and suspence.... but ask anyone who travels all over and watches all three leagues the entertainment value of the 3rd tier is by far the better... Now i am not saying there are processional races or thrashings of a side... but this is in every league... By the way I really enjoy this type of thread and I learn from it...normally I read more than I comment but for sure we are super proud of our product.

Been to every track and for professionalism and slick presentation and putting on a good night i.o.w are right up there in the top 3 , actually could well be number 1

It would have been 25 but Bruno is a Cradley fan

Andy Galvin rode for the Dons a few times as a young kid, but when he came back riding for Hackney he used to wind the crowd up something rotten. Great box office, though

pride in the product is what seems to be seriously lacking across the leagues

I doubt it. Adam is 24 and these days most riders peak between 26 and 32. The number peaking before that (Batchelor, Karol Zabik, Ed Kennett) is small. I fully expect Ellis to continue improving for another 3-4 years and under the circumstances his seeding seems justified. He's not ready for the GP series yet, but in three years he just might be and the Challenge will be good experience for him.

I think you're reading WAY too much into the statement, Bob. What Grand Central is saying is that a lot of people remember Szczakiel for a first bend crash at Oxford (rather than for his achievements), but never mock any other riders for their crashes.

They're all full of s**t, whatever colour they wear.

It's a credit to those who built it. However, go to a big meeting like the CL Pairs, stand on the grass banking, in the dark like a sardine, with barely any extra toilet or catering facilities and it's horrific. It's quite frightening on that grass when it gets damp and little or no public lighting. It's great for their normal crowds up to high hundreds, even then lack of toilets and catering can be an issue. Not suitable for big Events without massive increase in portaloos and catering.

As long as they race I don't mind, another rubbish stirring post with love from Irrevelance from Birmingham....

Imagine if speedway crowds took the knee, most would never get back up again

Tom Farndon!

Well, he did threaten Mr Farndon's position as the best Englishman... Still, had he sung in a group, you'd have been a fan!

Sweden has 8 teams and they are meeting the other teams just once- so that makes 7 matches. In order that each team rides 4H and 4 A they have introduced an extra round where the teams will have a " derby match " which means they meet 6 teams once and 1 team twice. Mind you they are having QF`s with all 8 taking part.

I remember a meeting at Long Eaton when Hackney were four down going into the last race. The home pair made the start and Andy tried to pass them up the inside going into turn three. He misjudged the pass, clipped one of them and all three clattered into the fence. In one of the strangest refereeing decisions I've ever seen, the home pair were excluded, and the Kestrels cruised round for a 5 - 0 and a one point victory in the rerun, with Andy popping wheelies and waving to the home fans for all four laps! The home crowd wanted to lynch him and there were some punchies thrown, but Andy loved a good scrap. I think a police escort was called to get him out the stadium. He was public enemy number 1 at most tracks, but we loved him at Waterden Road!

its about the % of TV meetings in these circumstances though or rather the % of none TV meetings with no crowds. Much less fixtures in Sweden and Poland. Whereas in this country they'd have to have run many loss making none televised meetings without crowds, to maintain the integrity of the competition. Of course they could have thought outside the box and arranged a much reduced competition which was affordable within the TV revenue and would still fulfill the contract. Had they have done it quickly enough it might have been one of the first live sports to appear during lockdown and who knows what the audience might have been. But they didn't. Or maybe you're right and the TV deal isn't worth a bean so it wasn't worth trying to secure the income from it? Either way someone dropped a bollock.

I also went to the two at Hackney Sid, plus one each at both Bradford and Coventry.

I was a fan of the GP system when it started, but I've started to tire of it the last few years. It's not so much the one off world final that I miss, more the qualifiers along the way. It was always fascinating during the last round of heats trying to second guess which riders who were 'safe' were possibly going to do a fellow countryman or club mate who were desperate for points a 'favour'. Fair enough it was cheating but it just seemed part of the occasion in those days. Speaking of race fixing, something has always bothered me about the infamous 1982 Overseas final 'scandal.' Bruce Penhall has mentioned in print on a few occasions that he wasn't happy (he even used the word furious in his autobiography) with the finishing order of that race, he said the other riders didn't stick to the agreed order. I don't get what he means. Obviously Sigalos had to win as he was only on 5pts and with Kelly and Shawn both on 6 it didn't really matter who came second, one of them was going to be joining PC and Les in the run-off...The only way I can see of guaranteeing all three qualifying would have been if the Morans had dead - heated for second and scored 7.5 points each..Although I can't imagine that's what Bruce meant!

To be honest with you Steve, I'm a live sport man. I don't really enjoy watching televised Football or Speedway. I'd much rather go and watch a live event. If the GP was held at a decent track like the NSS, I'd probably go. After 10 visits to the poor temporary track at Cardiff, i decided I'd had enough.

I've never liked the GP's, but this is probably an age thing. I miss the excitement and drama of a one off world final. Lady luck sometimes played a massive part on the outcome. GP's can never replicate that.

I think that is a little harsh on Mucha, Steve. While he never reached the heights (or the fame) of some of the other Poles, he had already established himself as one rider who wasn't out of his depth at World level. He was also unusual in the fact that he was quite at home on smaller British tracks. When you saw him, he already had two World Finals under his belt, with 7 points at Wembley in 1969 (including a defeat of Briggo), 6 points at Chorzow the following year (including a defeat of Olsen), and a top-scoring 6pts for Poland at Wembley in the 1970 WTC Final. Mucha was one of the steadiest and most consistent (and certainly under-rated) of that that batch of Poles in the late 60's and early 70's.

For many of you who attend Saddlebow Road regularly you will know Merv Beckett. He has sadly passed away after a battle with cancer. The Lynn news are running piece on him tomorrow, and I figured you may be interested in the article https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/tributes-to-much-loved-kings-lynn-scout-leader-a-friend-to-everyone-9119484/

I have been on forums where you cant type Scunthorpe. ..

I hope you win the £200 Ian, I like Vaculik, just a tad more consistency and he can do it. Mind you, I would be pleased if Madsen won, he deserved it last year (remember the fuel tank incident that robbed him of at least a second in that race). They can’t both win, so let the scrap begin......... soon!

Another 'Trumped up' and false allegation!!!

Tommy Knudsen?

That’s because of the mega points money- they don’t want to risk dropping points trying to team ride costing them money !!

... Back to the rest of the GP Series... Surely if Emil doesn't win it this year he must be in danger of challenging Leigh Adams of becoming the best rider to never win an Individual World Championship?

No. There was a rumour involving two speedway administrators, but Ford was not one of them.

Fag Ash Lil must be getting worried.

Not sure why you and Grand Central put so much faith in politicians. Most are far stupider than you give them credit for, and generally make decisions on what will make them more popular / less unpopular tomorrow than what's better in the long run. The simple fact is that a 'Spanish Flu' type scenario has long been postulated, and the spread and mitigation of other infectious diseases long been studied, including quite recently. That Grand Central and yourself are apparently ignorant of this, and prefer to believe government propaganda that it's the first time anyone has ever had to deal with such things, sums up the sheep-like mentality of much of the population that's been scared into submitting to the edicts of their supposed lords and masters. There are far more sensible measures that could be taken that would allow a modicum of normality for the least likely to die age groups, whilst limiting economic destruction and the loss of important social and sporting institutions. Whilst sport obviously has to come a long way down the list of priorities, there seems to be little real scientific analysis applied to countries declared to be COVID-19 hotspots.

Not so sure about Laguta, bit of a start tart... Having said that there's no "trick" tracks this year so I think going on current Polish form could be a wise move

Do you really think he will even be riding round Monmore in a couple of seasons!!! Poland and world speedway is all about fast starting and fast bikes these days .IMO

Unless it’s Poole,it’s always a dull meeting for Shovler.

His last meeting last year was the GB / Denmark test. He scored 10, apart from a couple of French league meetings, ( admittedly not very strong although he beat Bomber a few times ) he’s only raced three meetings in the last 10 days, scoring 15, 10+1 & 13+1. And more meetings this Friday and next Tuesday I know he’s my son and therefore I’m biased but who else would you put in who’s getting regular competitive racing at the moment bearing in mind the meeting’s in 10 days time ?

Can see Super Slow Freddie wanting to kiss CVS backside for a ride for Wolves next season

Speedway as a 'professional' sport has produced so many farces over years, it would make a great soap opera. Having no team to support helps me deal with this. I've had plenty of disappointments with the sport, i am now battle hardened to it. I still enjoy the racing and the social side of it, Scunthorpe on Sunday was a perfect example of this. Speedway isn't worth taking too seriously.

Yes 1. Dennis Fazekas 2. Drew Kemp 3. Kacper Lobodzinski 4. Esben Hjerrild 5. Petr Chlupáč 6. Mika Meijer 7. Mario Niedermeier 8. Steven Goret 9. Ricards Ansviesulis 10. Ben Ernst 11. Daniel Šilhán 12. Ernests Matjusonoks 13. Jason Edwards 14. Daniel Klíma 15. Markus Maximus Lill 16. Leon Flint 17. Jan Macek 18. Pavel Kuchař

I think the confederate flag was also known as the rebel flag. The team may well have been named after local history but in the world of speedway there’s enough logic in using something called the rebel flag for a team nicknamed the Rebels I guess... the Somerset promotion made the right move ditching the flag a few years back definitely.

Virtual Skid 8 Premieres @ 7pm on Thursday August 13th 2020 on the Speedway Portal YouTube Channel in association with Iwade Garage. Isle of Wight 'Wightlink Warriors' vs Stoke 'Potters'. Island Machine Examiner Andrew Perring takes charge of the Warriors, with former Stoke rider Jon Armstrong leading the Potters. Fans joining Barry Bishop in the Premiere chat room on YouTube will have a chance to win 2 x meeting DVD's used in the meeting.

I maybe the exception but I always used to love travelling around the country to see some of the big "Prestige" individual events... The Pride of the East, Barum Trophy, Golden Hammer, Brandonapolis, Coalite Classic, Olympique, Golden Gauntlets, Blue Riband and probably others... never made it to Ippo for a 16 Lapper or Star of Anglia, it's just too bloody far away Some of these were still being held until the late 90's/early 00's. I think the problem started around that time when riders would pull out, often at short notice, the BLRC is a prime example, where for whatever reason riders took the p1ss.

Adams speedway teeth were cut on the uk. He’d done grasstrack in France and a few practice speedway meetings but his first “real” speedway was the British youth championships at Eastbourne and Scunthhorpe. It’s a pain that young UK riders struggle for kit but clubs seem to find sponsors for several brand new engines for the latest foreign “superstar”... even these days

Anyone who has been to Isle of Wight Speedway will laugh with derision at that ridiculous statement.

Black Lives Matter should have been All Lives Matter, everyone is equal.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, in general, nor do the majority of white people. Speedway's main problem is trying to get anybody of any background to watch it. I'm sure all the promoters would be delighted if any ethnic minority adopted it as their sport.

I do agree with the sentiment. What I cannot get is the mix messages. Today through until the 23rd masks are not necessary and all the data shows that cases etc are at a low yet come the 24th masks are necessary to go into shops. I can however go to a pub, restaurant, lido or theatre but cannot stand outside in the fresh air with a mask and watch sport be it Speedway or any other sport. Amateurs can go ahead but professionals are prohibited from working. Poland and Sweden can run but the U.K. cannot. Boris and the government have totally lost the plot and frankly it is time that the majority of law abiding citizens told these amateurs to f... off. They have cocked up the pandemic, the Brexit negotiations and left the country with a huge financial debt. Thankfully the 60 and 70 year olds are not to blame this time it is the morons and younger generation who lack any business acumen added to which you have the career politicians who have never held down a job in the real world and have mortgaged the economy up to the hilt. All those who bang on about government financial help, where is it suppose to come from, someone will have to pick up the tab. You rep what you sow.

Ipswich offering full refund or carry over until 2021

Think this is the correct decision can now focus on 2021 with the same teams, hope all clubs are able to run