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Plymouth's communications have been superb throughout the last month. The fact that in the middle of covid (with so many extra things to do) they were able to respond to complaints about lighting and respond by making improvements before the next meeting is quite a contrast with some clubs who can't even fix a PA system after three years of fans moaning.

Couldn't agree more Bob C. My first visit to Plymouth for a few years (last time NL with Brummies) and was very impressed. From the minute I walked in to hand over my e-ticket and be ticked off a list and given a nice free 8 page race Card everyone was friendly and courteous. Very well signed and stewards available but not in your face. I sat quite high up in the new Stand and the view was excellent. Lots of friendly locals and a few from visiting teams too. The Announcer i recognised as Rob Dyer and there was also a Centre Green announcer (I was told he is from "The Speedway Chat Show") an Australian guy who was superb, involving kids in guessing race times, handing out prizes, some in race commentary and a few rider and Promoter interviews too. There seemed to be a film crew there and one of the Officials who I believe was Ian Jordan explained they were filming a documentary for the Club. It just added to the feeling that this was a National League Club behaving like a Premier league Club. I'd remembered the track as dry and bumpy from my last visit and read a lot of adverse criticism last season. Last night it looked and rode smooth and a lovely dirt line later on delivered some stunning action. I've never seen Henry Atkins ride as well, Bowtell looked very assured and several of the Young Lions, especially the twins did very well. Brennan and Palin seemed very subdued on the night, may be exertions catching up with them. Not a tractor in sight all night; just a bit of watering near the end although there was a bit of drizzle and the first 12 heats in well under an hour. Some sidecars to finish too. I can't remember seeing a meeting there under lights before but they explained they are renewing all Track lights with LED and track was very well lit already. A local told me that they have added lights at back of the Stand for safety and supporter benefit since the last meeting too. I ended the night by having a fantastic Polish sausage roll at an open air BBQ, served by a Polish chap I got chatting to who told me Plymouth are very friendly towards his Community. The Referee howler was quite funny, didn't spoil the night or the result fortunately. My only disappointment was the realisation driving home listening to the Radio was that this may be the last live meeting with a Crowd in 2020. A shame because so much effort is being put in there. I'd love to go back and see the Brummies down there and hopefully this upwardly mobile Club can get the stage their efforts really do deserve. 10/10 Thank you everyone at Plymouth Speedway for restoring my faith.

I think a lot of the issue goes back to to the lack of a 'tribal' following now within Speedway.. Why follow with passion a team when over a season your own riders could prevent their own team qualifying for the play offs by scoring points for competitors? Imagine if Poland did the same thing? If they did, you could guarantee crowds would plummet and sponsors would leave overnight. . Betard would be delighted I am sure for Woffy and Majic to have top scored for Lublin in a win during the season and those points ultimately cost Wroclaw a play off place... The hundreds and thousands of Euros they put into both team and individual sponsorship would soon be pulled and disillusioned fans would leave the stadiums empty.. Over here, Speedway has very much become a 'just go and watch the racing' night out for many who, given the way the sport is allowed to be ran, and the lack of kudos in winning anything, don't take the team aspect too seriously Unfortunately these (and I include myself) fans will usually be ex regulars who go far more infrequentlly, as watching on TV delivers a similarly 'emotional' experience as being there.. Meaning sitting in your living room with a beer in hand offers a pretty decent night in (whoever you're watching), without paying out anything like the costs incurred of attending in person. . Get some 'tribal rivalries' back (as a team sport should have), give winning a UK Speedway title some credibility and reward, and maybe then being there will become the "only" choice to make rather than being sat in front of the TV just appreciating the racing that you're watching..

I remember putting a video of a race featuring Tommy Johansson on YouTube a few years and got a message from his daughter thanking me and saying how he had loved seeing it.

There are many instances I can remember Michael being sublime, probably one of the earliest was when he was first started riding for Boston against a top Newcastle outfit. Riding high at the top of the second division, it was only ever going to be a close encounter. It hadn't been a good meeting for Lee scoring only a handful of points, but the whole meeting rested on the final race. Tom and Joe Owen off gates 1 and 3 with Lee off 2. Their intentions were clear from the off., squeeze out lee then team ride for the 4-2 for victory. Their plan worked a treat.. Down the back straight , Lee was well last. Lap 2 he moves into third chasing hard. As they start the last lap Lee dives inside the team riding Tom, the crowd could sense a tight finish. Taking to the boards on the last corner Lee rode round Joe to acclaim a stunning victory. This was truly amazing for someone barely 16 yrs old. Everyone there that night knew they had witnessed an awesome talent....

His son often comments on Facebook and what a nice guy he is.He often seems a bit surprised on how much his dad is remembered and respected as a very good rider in this country he certainly was.For me he is in the Jiri Stancl, Toni Kasper,Edward Jancarz, Zenon Plech, mould of all were all unlucky in a certain way of not being able to show there true worth.

Just read this and it’s really annoyed me. Cynicism played no part in the demise of Rye House, the track where I watched my first meeting, the team I supported. You don’t have the monopoly on feeling hard done by Rob, neither are you any better of a fan because you play the tune that you tried to help. Rye House has died because the club was run beyond it’s means. Any other explanation is false. The team ran out of money mid-season. There are further reasons for that of course but that is the black and white.

I said last time that I would happily congratulate Mark Phillips in person on a meeting well controlled. I did exactly that last night. This meeting was just as efficiently organised as last week. The new lighting for the fans is superb.Makes a huge difference. The only time I left my seat was for the loo and get a tea from the track shop on bend 4. Once at ground level, looking up at the lights really sets the arena off. Quite impressive. My only complaint about the evening is that, apart from referee Christina Turnbulls howler in heat 10, theres nothing to complain about! Everything so far is right on the money. Christina got ht10 completely wrong. She excluded Joe Thompson for foul riding on Alfie Bowtell. It wasnt, it was his brother Dan! Going into bend 3,Dan tried an inside lunge on Alfie. It didnt work and they touched, with Alfie falling. Incredibly, her decision was to exclude the innocent Joe who was minding his own business in 3rd place! Baffled everyone around us. Good to hear the dulcet tones of Rob Dyer acting as Master of ceremonies. That said, he did get the Thompson boys the wrong way round in ht3 and 7. Thats why clarification of the lads points were called for. Another very enjoyable meeting from start to finish. Well done Mark and his team.

I was fortunate to be there that night with Michael, when he totally destroyed Kenny Carter.. In both Golden Helmet races he won by the proverbial mile, each time breaking the track record. in the process. Such was his dominance that night, there was suggestion his bike was unlawfully quick. Following speedway for many years, I am always questioned about my opinion of top Riders, when I will always i say that Michael Lee was up there with the VERY BEST of all time....

Received mine the other day and read every page. 100 edition, lets hope for another 100 and many more. Well done to the team who produce this and keep fans like me still in touch with the sport while racing has temporary stopped

Vetlanda used Wozniak in heat 1 instead of Palovaara.

Very well done to all at Plymouth Speedway for putting on another great show. I am really enjoying my 450 mile round trips down to Devon and back and judging by the number of other familiar faces, many of whom were also at Scunthorpe on Sunday, there are quite a few long distance travellers making the most of these socially distanced meetings. Let’s hope they can run next week also.

1. 52.21 2.No time Awarded 3.52.75 4.53.06 5.54.59 6.53.78 7.52.28 8.52.00 9.52.44 10. No time Awarded 11.52.00 12.52.28 13.52.91 14.53.53 15.52.71 There were 4 x 500cc sidecar races afterwards, but didnt record any details myself.

We wrote this is off a few weeks back. Now that schools and uni`s have started, were heading crap creek again...

Anyone daft enough to be heading for this meeting the capacity will be only 2000 people and 2000 tickets have all been sold for Sunday's meeting.Still 500 tickets left for Fri+Sat meetings also is compulsory to wear face mask while inside Svitkov Stadium

IT'S NEARLY TIME | Buy your Live Stream pass before midnight TONIGHT to grab our our early bird price of £10. And the best bit? If you can't watch live, the meeting will be available on demand for anyone who has bought a pass! Sept 24, 7:00pm That was tweeted by belle vue. So if you buy it you can watch it any time

For me you just can't beat being there live, there's absolutely no comparison. It'll be interesting to see how the new streaming takes off for the BSPL, at the moment they seem to think that £13 is a fair price, I suppose market forces will decide what the price should be. For me that's far too much and only around a £5 saving on actually being there and having the "live" experience. I know there's other costs associated with attending a meeting but for me I'd often make a day of attending meetings further away from home and pull in some other local attraction. As a one off I will be re-investing my £20 to watch this weekend's British Final as I've paid it out already and want to help them covering their costs as they've been done up like a kipper but in the future I think £5 - £7.50 would be my limit for a streamed match, compare this to Eurosport, BT Sport or Premier Sports and it's poor value, and before anybody comes back to me explaining the costs involved, I know this and all I'm really interested in is the cost to myself.

Must admit Steve i did not see that much of Bernie either a very underrated rider like Bengt Jansson.Even after the Briggo incident i never disliked Bernie he was in a era of a group of great Swedes ( ie) Anders, Bengt, Tommy, Christer, Soren.

Not interested in televised sport Sid. I've gone back to my roots by doing non league football. Last night was my 9th ground since the new season started. How long i can keep going is another matter.

It's 29 september and 1st october.

Many thanks for that BOB. Yes he's a tidy rider, and I told him to ride it like Brough, but with much shorter straights. Amazing that he has completed two meetings since a horror crash on Saturday at Edinburgh. Following Harry Mc he decide to take him, but Harry locked up and Archie clipped his back wheel and he hurtled into the airfence square on. He fortunately tried to jump off the back, otherwise it could have been really serious. Very mature kid at 15, he's at least a year behind the rest of the Lions Select team. Look out for his progress. Hope you are well, and it would have been nice to come down with Archie, and see you at the same time. Maybe next year, take care.

Try the beer tent & I'll let you off... Never been a big biccy man but a pint man & now wa talking...

South Park v Bognor Regis Town tonight, hopefully it won't be my last match this year.

My first Speedway hero. 1969 was my first full season and Bernie quickly became the darling of Dudley Wood following his arrival from Coatbridge. His Cradley career sadly petered out in a plethora of missed meetings, but in the early 70's our Bernie was, for us, the greatest. So close to winning at Wembley in 1972. RIP

Great meeting, track was excellent and new lighting in the Coliseum adding to ever improving facilities

I used to quite like individual meetings Sid, but in the days before it was regularly televised. In those days you might only get to see the top riders once or twice a year so it was something special to see them. Now that they are on TV every few weeks it’s not quite the same. I used to like the qualifying rounds for the old one day world final so you could support your home riders to see how far they got.

Yes need riders like jack in the gp next season .not the same pick like most seasons

This would also rule out any rider with a very long nose.

Finnish Individual final is booked for that so it’s a no go.

I think it’s likely the front wheel has touched the tape well before the peak on a helmet. Seems the helmet peak catches when they have gone through the tapes with the wheel and carried on.

It's incredible when you think that possibly the 2 most boring sports in the public eye are the ones that give you the biggest buzz throughout the whole game / meeting. England's T20 & Speedway offer so much. Unfortunately for speedway, especially up & down the UK finding those thrilling race meetings are very few & far between. Would be lucky if it's 1 in 5 meetings of any significant quality I'd say. How that could be improved on though really is the impossible question except for turning every track into Belle Vue, which also is impossible.

I met him some years ago when he was on official FIM duty at the Ice speedway in Inzell. A lovely guy and of course I saw him in his riding days. Great rider as well

I don’t disagree with either of those posts, and I have always been able to go to a meeting as a neutral and thoroughly enjoy it, but there is no denying that the tribal element of supporting your own team and then favourite riders within the team adds extra sparkle, to the meeting. Sooner or later I will probably find another meeting to go to but it is the team element, the team support that keeps the crowds coming back on the regular basis that the sport needs to survive, rather than casual attenders. And yes I agree the people you meet are a big part of it. It’s great when you turn up at a meeting, find yourself chatting to the bloke next to as if you’ve known him for years, but there seems to be less and less of that as crowds get thinner, but also because lethargy is like a disease and it spreads. I am not one of those that want to go back to the old days but the sport has lost some of its magic for me, not the racing, as I said but when it’s run in a way that makes feel the administrators couldn’t care less if fans turn up or not, it somehow takes the incentive away

Couldn't agree more. I have nothing but happy memories of following the sport over a thirty plus year period. Met some great people on the terraces which also added to the occasion.

I have to agree a lot of what is being said about Michael on this thread. He was brilliant at the age of 16 the like of which I have never seen in any other rider in 50 years. In my view even the extremely talented Darcy Ward was well short of the level Michael was at as a teenager.

Postponed new date Monday 21st September. Start time 4.30pm UK time

Each to their own.

I am very curious to learn what it was that you did to try to save the Rockets ? Did you offer to be the new promoter ? Or offer cash ? Every post I read from you seems to indicate that Speedway is on its knees because all your expert offers of help have been declined. In the days when Arena and the Rockets were in the same league, I was often a visitor to Rye House. I don't remember you ...should I ?

Just seen a post on Facebook from Karl Fiala saying Cradley legend Bernt Persson has sadly passed away.

Should just scrap the british final now as it's becoming an embarrassment to the authorities