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Over 80 so they should have had their Covid jabs done at least... Regards THJ

Unbelievable signing. If Crumpie don't pull the crowds in, nothing will!

Anyone thinking that young Hancock is ready for a championship place in the main body of the team needs to seriously wobble their head . He's miles off that level at the moment. In a team that's going to have a seriously long tail Plymouth will need someone with more experience even if there average is low .

This is the nail hit on the head - What a signing and opportunity this is for Plymouth. This has to be one of, if not the biggest signings in the second tier of British Speedway ever. Assuning everything goes to plan with covid etc, I bet there will be a massive crowd at the first match. Assuming they win their home matches the crowds should hang about too. Best of luck to them and intrigued by the final 5 signings

If we are allowed to watch....never thought I would see Scotty v Crump at Central Park. Great signing for the Championship supporters.

It obviously will be but it will give every team in the championship its highest crowd of the season and a massive boost for speedway at this level

I really don't understand why people have such a problem with doubling up.

Sadly what we have is the obvious legacy to years of running the sport with a very narrow insular view which, when added to a lack of any clear direction, resulted in what we have today.. And you wont solve these issues 'overnight', however.. There does appear to be more of a forward thinking collection of promoters out there nowadays, who can see the bigger picture that they desperately need to follow.. This year might end up "a bit Mickey Mouse" given teams may end up sharing riders all over the place to get meetings on... But let's be honest it's been "a bit Mickey Mouse" for many years hasnt it? So lets give them a bit of slack this season with the hope a 'new dawn' is around the corner..

"One, Three, Five, Seven, Something To Shout About in Devon!" Truly, "A Field Of Dreams" moment - If you build it they will come! The most positive Speedway News in over twelve months. Well done Plymouth.

Surely after the first set of averages, Plymouth will be able to bring a stronger rider in to help the bottom end ?

Fantastic signing for Plymouth and for the Championship.

Ordered it yesterday afternoon, it came today before 2pm.. Always liked Kelvin, even when he seemed to be less than a favourite of many of the English fans.. (Although to be fair to be him, many of the fans at that time seemed to think they were all Americans).. And for me, does a great job on the commentary with Nigel P... Not everyone's cup of tea, but who cares, they sell the sport fantastically well...

But why is it "why out of hand"? With no clashes in fixtures anymore what the difference in a rider doing Ipswich & Plymouth than a rider doing Ipswich & Wroclaw for example?

I'm not Josh's biggest fan but he is seriously entertaining round the EWR . Please remember in modern speedway a high average just means you can gate really well plus it's none of your business who our last rider is so trot on back to the Plymouth thread

ah but the thing with josh auty is that he is a CLASS ACT around the ewr, so at least the scorps fans get entertainment value.

Understatement. He has only ridden one senior meeting, and he is only 15.

we were there 3 times in the nl the last season we rode 2019 twice called off once for rain once for the track but they did try to fix it but just made it worse third time track was good raced well it’s a really technical track good home advantage very tight but there will be plenty passing with more experienced riders and a good track man great set up for viewing good luck to them

Good Luck to Plymouth and their promotion - certainly got everyone talking about them, All this fuss about how much it is costing and finances, these are very different times to even two seasons ago, so who knows what deals have been done, I personally think that both these riders are not looking for big paydays and are more likely to just want to ride and enjoy their "twilight" years. I don't know and have no inside knowledge, but I bet their are other riders in the Championship on better deals

I dont think the comets threw the money around just 7 lads who clicked and had a hell of a season.

I remember around '05 to '07 Plymouth were one of the best attended NL clubs getting around 1400 fans regularly & that was with a poor infrastructure of a stadium that, also, regularly flooded due to the high water plain near the club. A lot of these issues are now sorted with a decent sized grandstand & bends banking, I see no reason why they shouldn't surpass 1400 again with those 2 top riders, irrespective of the other 5. The high averages will only be for team building purposes so when Crump & Pedersen get their true averages for the Championship, I would expect changes to be made.

Forgive my technical ignorance, but what is the advantage of using an app, as opposed to just accessing a website?

Good luck to Plymouth, but I thought speedway was bankrupt ?!! Hope it does not end in tears like at Workington

I dont know what the capacity is, but if Plymouth have to worry about Capacity then im sure the management will be thrilled. Their is from memory open banking on the 3rd and 4th bends, that in itself will hold a few thousand.

Not necessarily a comeback but it was a massive shame Ipswich didn't resign the cowboy in 97 and again for 2001. I think 97 was very close to happening and Cook went on record in during an interview after his short stint with Lynn in 2000 that he fancied riding for the witches again. That after a mighty impressive 13 points at Foxhall for Lynn.

Told you ..even if Crumpy & Pedersen are both 40+ at this level surely thats some serious artillary and a real statement of intent by Gladiators ? As they say "Gladiators are you ready" ? YES ! "Scorpions are you ready" eeerrrr am not so sure ?

Don't wind up my scunthorpe friends they are a very envious sensitive bunch thj !

Nice to see some agree with my views! Look's like the promoters are going wholesale against number 5 nearly all riders in the Premiership also riding in the Championship - what's the difference? only the admission charge, gives speedway no credibility.

I much preferred you when you frequented the NL threads

I do not see that those now in control have seen fit to mention this on their site

I’m sure that any ex rider offered all of that ( over fifteen grands worth of kit there ) would seriously think of making a comeback.As talented as he might have appeared at one point you sure someone would offer that to a youngster who’s walked away from the sport twice already ?

Quite likely. As with Mr Bridger im sure if someone fronted up a couple of bikes, some engines and a van he could be tempted back.

Again from memory Olle had an easy style that took up a lot of track but as hard as nails when he wanted to be. Regarding the Rick France incident, I was stood by the stock car fence on the third bend looking directly down the straight watching these two blokes genuinely kicking hell out of each other. I think, though my memory may be wrong here, the other Sheffield rider (Reg Wilson?) had been excluded after a fall following a robust challenge from Olle, he then carried out something similar to France in the re-run which lead to the kung-fu, both then fell, France was excluded giving the Witches a 5-0! Olle would have been around 44 years old at the time!

It’s a fair point. Fixed race nights have made a big difference. Originally it was just for British riders at reserve and ideally I would restrict it to Brits but I think it’s got to a point now where phasing it out / down would take many years.

Different posters keep on saying we should have one big league but I remember when Bomber said he would have to pack up if he only had one team to ride for as no way would he be able to make enough money. I would have thought that if Bomber couldn’t then most riders wouldn’t be able to. Maybe Haza’s idea might have some legs if they ever did decide to go with one league.

You just been on the Plymouth thread yourself so get back in your box like a good boy

Very sorry to have to bring this up, but does Olle Nygren's sad death mean that Mike Broadbank moves into the Top 16?

Not sure why you think that someone with dual American/Swedish nationality would be able to ride in Britain except on a visa/work permit

That's very sad news. One of the greats in my opinion and helped greatly to get Sweden on the map speedway wise. Will always cherish my time when I attended one of his training schools at King's Lynn. RIP Varg-Olle.

I'm working thru' the book and there appears to be more emphasis on his Longtrack exploits which is understandable, I guess, considering his success at that particular discipline of racing but personnally I have little interest in Longtrack racing and would have preferred to have read more about his times at Wimbledon and Coventry, in particular, which was quickly brushed over.

Quite, he may well be top of the averages in both leagues but nobody knows after nine years away from European racing.

Last minute nature? Its been on the calendar for two months...

Well it's a bold signing that's for sure but one can't help think the owners are throwing their money around with more focus on winning a trophy than focusing on managing the finances. As someone else has pointed out Workington comes to mind. Very risky for a track that has been operating in the National League and still would be if it had not been for Somerset deciding not to run. I wish them luck but I really hope this doesn't end up being a reckless move that will bankrupt the club. British speedway has lost enough tracks over the last decade without losing any more.

Glasgow v Plymouth if the season starts!!

What a statement from Plymouth signing a three time world champ can't get any better than that alongside Bjarne those 2 will surely be getting 6 rides a meeting so the majority of heats should be covered. Average wise if the conversion is in place of 1.5 from what I've heard so I think Bjarne is 10.36 (6.91) and Crump 10.50 (7.00).

Amazing signings and will surely bring the fans in. Not just at Plymouth but every other fan will be looking out for when Plymouth come near them!

Well, wrong again it seems ... at least they don't have to depend on Pedersen now!

The thing is with only 6 teams the pl is a joke decent UK based riders need to be busy imo

Same here

So other potential top twos; Kurtz & Wright/Bewley Crump & Klindt Masters & Schlein Batchelor & Holder Harris & Pedersen Would have been happy with Cook and Riss, hope we can replace Erik with somebody who can compete in heats 13 & 15.

Takes one to know one as you would say.