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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!

Lots of crashes in the first two rounds, another one in Västervik where Noel Wahlqvist crashed and fractured wrist and collarbone + a small fracture in his back. https://m.dagensvastervik.se/sport/speedway/e/61382/trippla-frakturer-for-noel-valdigt-trakigt/#.XzWpbReSbIg.facebook

Rolling over season ticket to 2021, hoping the Covid situation will improve, on the face of it seems ok but that’s just going to cause a major cash flow problem next year as many clubs survive on season ticket money coming in before the start of the season to finance all the pre-season set up costs. Kicking the financial can down the road will clearly have serious consequences. The way things are going I fear some clubs will really struggle to get through to 2021...and that’s assuming speedway meetings will be able to take place with a crowd by then. Realistically there’s still a long way to go with this dreadful crisis and the fall out!

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!

Nail on the head, mate! That's exactly what I was getting at! As I said, on the face of it, I "prefer" World Finals because of me going to Wembley, but as a "speedway fan", I want to be open to ALL speedway. Sure, some meetings I watch are crap, and I will say it. However, PLEASE do me a favour and watch last year's Wroclaw GP. It had everything. For old people like me and norbold to say how incredible it was, that should tell you something.

I remember that I really disliked Charlie Monk....but, for the life of me, I can't remember why now!

Sadly I didn't start going to Cradley until the end of the 1968 season, by which time Ivor was injured prior to his retirement. So I never got to see him ride. I guess the major hate figure for any young Heathen at the start of the 70's was Ole. I suppose as a young kid we were very black and white so it was probably more hate than respect. Not only did he ride for Wolves, but he was bloody good. The local paper also never seemed to miss an opportunity to sing his praises, whilst our Bernie was never given the same plaudits - or so I felt at the time. By the time the Penhall/Carter rivalry came around I was a bit older and never really bought into it. In fact I quite liked Kenny. In later years I probably like to see riders like Pedersen and latterly Lindgren get their comeuppance, but that's a long way from hate.

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 was at the World Long Track final at New Plymouth - New Zealand & went along to Ivan Maugers pre-event presentation at a local hotel. From my understanding of his statements he was not a fan of the GP series & much prefered the one off system. He said he liked the idea of waking up on new years day with a motor cycle, a licence to race & a dream to be the World Champion at the end of the year & that would not be possible in the GP series. He also dismissed finals saying that if you score full points in your 5 rides beating all the other racers in the event why should you risk loosing the title in a winner take all final. This statement was to carry a heavy weight as Kelvin Tatum led the championship going into the final, He was leading the final until his bike failed entering the final lap & he was passed by his greatest rival Gerd Riss who went on to win the race & the title while KT hunched over his machine on the infield.

Don`t forget to hide behind the sofa before heat 11

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

GIVEN his number of SGP wins I think Emil already is ...

Confirmed teams for the other matches tonight- from around 5.30pm. i will post the Masarna v Indianerna teams in full. Rospiggarna v Vetlanda https://ta.svemo.se/Public/Pages/Competition/DrivingSchedule/CompetitionLiveResult.aspx?Branch=Speedway&Columns=CompetitionInfo,Branch,Name,Arena,FromDateShort&Datefilter=Today&pagesize=6&CompetitionId=12131 Vastervik v Lejonen https://ta.svemo.se/Public/Pages/Competition/DrivingSchedule/CompetitionLiveResult.aspx?Branch=Speedway&Columns=CompetitionInfo,Branch,Name,Arena,FromDateShort&Datefilter=Today&pagesize=6&CompetitionId=12129 Dackarna v Piraterna https://ta.svemo.se/Public/Pages/Competition/DrivingSchedule/CompetitionLiveResult.aspx?Branch=Speedway&Columns=CompetitionInfo,Branch,Name,Arena,FromDateShort&Datefilter=Today&pagesize=6&CompetitionId=12130

Completely missed the whole point of this :-(

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!

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 !!

I doubt it too. He showed last year and with his scoring this year that he is clearly still improving.

I think this may have got mixed up with my Wally Loak thread-but here goes. My most hated but respected (along with the Newport crowd) was Ivor Brown- he was the most hated visitor to Newport In Prov. League days-because he was so good, always smartly turned out-he would be booked for second halves just to get the crowd wound up. Hard rider indeed , but off track was the nicest and most mild mannered gentleman. It was a dam shame when he got injured early in 1965. I always think of Ivor as the epitome of our wonderful sport- I can still see him in my mind's eye-what a great bloke. And a wonderful advert for speedway in his era.

There has been a change at #15. It's now Jordan Palin replacing Lill!

When you take on Clarke Osbourne it tends to end up one way .. cant be long before you hear talk of another staduim as they build houses on this one

We move on to round 10 on Friday and Sunday with the Polish Extraleague riders championship sandwiched in between them on Saturday( see separate thread) Friday August 14th Gorzow v Rybnik programme start time 4.30pm 1st race 5pm Eleven Sport 1 and Premier Sport 1 (5pm) Friday August 14th Lublin v leszno programme start time 7.15pm 1st race 7.30pm Eleven Sport 1 and Premier Sport 1 (7.30pm) Sunday August 16th Grudziadz v Zielona Gora programme start time 3pm 1st race 3.30pm N sport and Premier Sport 1 (3.30pm) Sunday August 16th Wroclaw v Czestochowa programme start time 5.45pm 1st race 6.15pm N sport and Premier sport 2 (6.15pm)

No Laguta ??

Cant understand for the life of me why you continue watching Polish Speedway. All you ever do is come on hear moan moan moan

To be honest tonight has not been a great spectacle. The scoreline of 43-35 is totally down to Freddie Lindgren. He's got 1 which is unacceptable for a rider of his stature. If he had only another 4 the match is level. Trouble is Czestachowa have someone like him every week at the moment.

Spot on.. A team that has three out of the top seven best riders in the world from last year shouldnt be getting smashed this way.. The system in Poland is fine.. Teams not performing some days is sport...

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

Maybe because Doyle is the type of rider who needs to ride everyday in all leagues and the GPs and that’s not happening so he only riding a couple of times a week

Personally i honestly think he has a hard task ahead of him .and that is last thing we want to see is our team disappear.

You've been told many times that other than similar symptoms the flu and Covid act in different ways. That is why one has reduced in numbers and the other hasn't. When are you going to accept this?

TOO true ...

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.

You sound like you were already done, before the COVID interference.

Then it's clear, if there was Speedway in Yarmouth then it could run but with no-one to race against as other local authorities haven't agreed then it's all pretty academic. How on earth the BSPA can be held responsible in the current climate I just don't know.

Do you really expect BLM supporters to turn up at "White City"

To add to the confusion stock car and banger racing goes ahead at Ipswich with fans allowed in because both are classed as amateur sports. Are you any safer in the stadia because they are not professional paid sports people. You could not make it up.

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.