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Absolutely everything to do with professionalism of the sport. The situation should have been taken out of both clubs hands. Take Etheridge out of the equation and you still have two guests and R/R fit the first match of the season, should have been rescheduled by the governing body as soon as that became apparent. People go on and on about racing, the bikes, track prep etc but the biggest problem we have is unavailability of riders. People want to see 7v7 of contracted riders wherever possible!

Am I one of those folk who needs a shake? I’ve bought merchandise, bought a season ticket... I pay into the supporters club 5-1 draw. I’ll continue to turn up every week to ensure I do my part in supporting the club but I’ll have a moan if I want to thank you very much. That doesn’t make me any less a supporter. Aye, just getting to be back trackside was great in itself, normality as such on the way, but people saw lots of ifs and buts in the line up pre COVID too I’m afraid! And it showed! And by the way, take a look at those you say “are moaning”. They’re ones who’ve been going for years and will continue to still attend as long as the speedway is around! We just happen to care and want to see the promotion rewarded for the work they’ve clearly put into it!

Although the " racing" was fast it was follow the leader, jye lifted coming of turn 2 hit fence race stopped hence his exclusion.on the down side stood on back straight most people didnt wear a mask and was free to walk round the stadium might need to look at that , and ofcourse the chip shop was closed but the pie and chips in stadium were not too bad.enjoyed the night 2.45 hrs drive home so will do again .

Black tyres matter

SpeedwayRUS on vk (russian facebook) is a good source: https://vk.com/speedwayrussian?z=video-53550004_456240987%2Fvideos-53550004%2Fpl_-53550004_-2

Can only wonder why the referee put crump back 15 metres,for protesting at autys tyre warming? He spoilt what was potentially a damn good speedway race, Scunthorpe had the meeting won,but he should have used his discretion and not penalised him.again the paying public get short-changed because of one act of lunacy by the ref..

But that is 100% the frustrating issue... It clearly isnt an 'impossible situation' to run the sport properly.. Running with three riders you 100% know will be missing is 'self inflicted' nonsense.. As is every meeting they run on nights which mean guests when the FIM already have a meeting in place.. And invariably on 'FIM nights' the missing riders are the better ones who, by definition of being at that qualifier or final, should have been one of the 'main fan attractions' at the league meeting.. The promoters will no doubt argue when in their own 'echo chambers', that... "No one in the stadiums complain about the make up of the teams". And that may be 100% factual, however.. Its the 80% empty terracing at the vast majority of tracks that they should "listen" to.. That "deafening silence" from those who still keep a keen interest in the sport, but are no longer prepared to pay out their hard earned to UK Speedway, is the 'noise' they should be listening to and learning from.. As has already been mentioned, this year was always going to have some 'travel chaos', (you didnt need some superhuman psychic skills to predict that)... So therefore why run with their usual operating model when it was so obvious huge logistical challenges would exist? Why still run with 7 man teams? Why still run with a plethora of overseas riders? And, if running a wider NDL league as they have planned, why not instead do a combined level league using an amalgam of British based Championship/NDL level riders, rather than run the two leagues seperate, (which no doubt will result in even more fixture clashes where riders have to be in 'two places at once').. Not 'impossible situations' at all... Just more of the same self inflicted nonsense which has gone on well before the pandemic, and no doubt, will continue a long time after..

Even though it is rather stupid rule Home riders get 5% added to their average for guest bookings meaning even though Aarnio's average is 6.85 they can have a guest up to 7.19 so Howarth (6.97) is allowed.

Disappointing reslt for the home fans. Some of those riders need to have a long hard think... I enjoyed the NL match more, Greg Blair was the standout entertainment wise. I didnt see any difference in how the track was riding after all the hard work put in. Bandits will have to get their act together if they don't want crowds down to an unsustainable level

Well Brum offered Berwick to change the dates like Edinburgh and Newcastle did but Berwick declined so what could Brum do apart from choose guests which they were entitled to do

First match of the season. 6 man Berwick team 39 Championship Select 51 And this is supposed to be a professionally run sport!!!!

The riders that didn't beat an opponent were very poor out of the gate,scunny were on it and we were well beaten, but I'm optimistic we will improve

Perfectly acceptable then that Kent were allowed R/R, here`s me thinking there was something iffy.

Track has been flooded. Funny how it’s been sunny since the last race. Has the away manager got a screw loose not using Miskowiak in heat 15? What a thrilling and extraordinary meeting this was.

I watched young Mulford on my computer at Glasgow on Friday. He was taking Daniel Gilkes place in the Kings team. I was highly impressed with him. Bear in mind he has very limited experience at National League level, none at Championship level and he faced a tough team on what was A very wet and heavy track he'd never seen before. I'm looking forward to following him progress at Central Park. He is one to take note of.

Just the usual bullsh#t in speedway.The fans are treated with contempt .You hear a different story from each Promotion.Take or leave it seems to be the answer.

https://youtu.be/aC2r6GJZ95g

Two guests and rider replacement on first night. This is why speedway can not be taken seriously. Only the die hards going RN4L

Unfortunately, there isn't an answer to the problem of riders missing meetings, and this is not just confined to foreigners - British based riders also miss their club matches when they have a preference for more financially lucrative continental bookings, and they will come up with the same excuses (and more often not, will get away with them!) Even if all clubs only employed British riders, the same situation would inevitably arise. What is needed is a complete re-evaulation of how speedway is run - with only British or British-based riders employed with watertight contracts compelling them to ride exclusively for their British team, but can anyone see that ever happening? We would all like to see our teams contain only our own contracted riders who only ride for us, like football clubs do, but speedway has gone too far away from this to ever be able to contemplate doing this. What I am saying is that there really is no answer but to try to make the best of an impossible situation.

The main thing is you enjoyed your night.This is a forum where people post their views,you gave yours in the 1st paragraph,positive or negative it’s only people thoughts.That’s Social Media these days.

That’s like having a 6 point average rider out injured and being allowed to replace him with a 7 point average rider. Only in British speedway this could happen.

pretty sure he is in for the next match at plymouth great guest

I refrained from posting last night! That was a very very bitter pill to swallow! And already, even though it’s only the 1st meeting, a 12 point home defeat is not a good way to start! Some may see this as moaning, but trust me, I speak as a very long time genuine fan of Berwick. I’ve spent thousands following my club over the years, sacrificed family holidays, made excuses to miss birthdays just so I could get to away meetings #imabadfriend We are seriously going to struggle using RR for Coty. Nobody knows when the South American borders will be opened and even when so, he’ll have to quarantine over here! IMO, that needs sorted ASAP! We need Dany G on rubbish hot home form and that was sadly not so last night as can be said with Spud too. Losing Jye was a big blow for us... immediately throwing more pressure on to Leon and Kyle in the process. Our 2 reserves definitely showed huge promise though. Leon scoring 9&2 which should have been more but for his bike failing when leading heat 4. Racing in the 1st meeting was not brilliant... going to have to turn it around against Scunthorpe! on the upside, I did enjoy the NDL meeting against Belle Vue where there was actually some memorable passes... Greg Blair being the stand out!

I can't obviously speak for the person concerned but I would be surprised if it was... Because, over the years, my team (or should I say my 'select'), have lost ( and won) in such contrived circumstances, and therefore, the outcome of the meeting didn't matter enough to be disappointed (or pleased).. And when followers of a team sport have an attitude of '"the result doesn't really matter" due to way the teams are contrived, then it really can't be a good thing...

Is this sour grapes

Exactly that, it’s not Birmingham’s fault but it’s the system that is the problem. I’ve said it many times over the course of the winter but it’s blatantly obvious now that the system should of been changed to be 6 man teams. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by 7 man teams with guests galore everywhere.

This is why the guest rule is rubbish. Should have to run R/R and not just guests

The late Danny Ayres was the master of celebration and that was one of the many reasons he was so popular. many riders said they wanted to honour his memory this year and for me the best way is to celebrate like Danny !!!

He was class his first heat if I remember correctly he was leading then got shunted to third and then his craft and skill got himself back into the lead for a deserved win

Fair enough - I had a message from someone stating they were!! No loss as it was only the Pussycats

I’ve said for a few seasons now that the track is nothing like it used to be...yes it’s very smooth and easy to ride but as for going into the dirt line for overtaking and getting past opponents it never hardly happens as shown today because the amount of effort that the riders put in to overtake there’s no grip whatsoever and it’s so frustrating for us spectators never mind the riders.

Couldn't have put it any better myself! For example Newcastle wouldn't be allowed Craig Cook as a guest for an injured Ben Barker just because they're 4 odd points below the limit!

Quite correct, its not as if they haven't had enough time to sort all this. Not my original thought but by the end of the night six teams will have completed meetings in the Championship, only one will have tracked their declared one to seven. Scunthorpe and Plymouth are the latest to enter the guest fest with Berwick`s Leon Flint taking the place of the injured Henry Atkins while Kyle Howarth takes the place of Tero Aarnio who would rather ride in Poland this afternoon. Barmy.

Berwick were advised by Birmingham that Grobaur was taking part, or at least on stand by for the SEC meeting the Czech Republic last night, the rider didn't take his place in the meeting nor it seems was on stand by, so should Birmingham have had their guest. Taken from last nights programme. " Fellow German Valentin Grobauer had Polish league commitments last night is is also on stand by for the SEC in case former Kings Lynn man Kai Huckenbeck fails to recover from an injury picked up in Denmark last wee " Huckenbeck didn't race in the meeting but then neither did Grobauer who was supposed to be his replacement, would that not take away Birmingham`s facility for a guest.

Ipswich had a crowd at least as large as normal on opening night. In the lucky position that the capacity still allows a crowd the envy of most at the best of times

Regarding kemp, he was thrown in at the deep end in his first 2 matches. They kept swapping the reserves round giving Rowe the easier rides meaning kemp kept going from the tough gates in the tougher races

Reading CVS' programme notes from last Monday I would think that any meeting that can be realistically deferred to after June 21st with no crowd restrictions is almost a certainty!! Not just at Wolves either...........!!

Nice Comments Not great night then for Berwick but backs to wall early on? You could be right with the few regular 'Glass Half Empty' contributors!!

Nicholls score suggests he wasnt really on form

The bottom line is whether your a super speedway fan owner of a stadium or just a Business person earning money out of such a facility, if the moneys right you'll sell out! Lets say that you own a stadium which earns you £250,000 PA from the various activities taking place there after costs have been deducted. - Then you get offered £5 million from a housing developer to sell the land to them. - That amounts to 20 years (5 million divided by 250,000) income, working to keep the stadium running given to you in one hit which you can then invest and be financially secure for life without the hassle of running a stadium or having to do any sort of work. When you look it at like that it would be tempting for anyone I suspect. This scenario is probably close (different figures probably) to what happened when Cradley was sold in the 1990's and when the Ochiltrees sold Coventry to Sandhu who obviously had longer term plans to sell to developers. Indeed the GRA (alleged greyhound racing association!) made it their primary Business plan selling of their Stadiums to developers. Stuart Balmforth selling Belle Vue stadium in 1987 is another example like the previous poster states. No doubt his family are still very wealthy through this? This also happened in the 1960's to two of the biggest speedway clubs in the Country, Southampton and my beloved Norwich Stars. Combine this with Councils bending planning rules which are meant to protect sports facilities from being built on and thats where we are at now. - Apparently the Custom House home of West Ham speedway was meant to have such protection but it was gotten round by stating that people living in houses built on the land would have TV's which counted as leisure! I suppose that Odsal being in a bowl, an ex quarry which then became a landfill tip site wouldn't be good land for housing which could ensure its future as a stadium? - Just need a very brave person(s) to reopen speedway there! - Though in reality if it was viable speedway would be reopening there this season?

First of all it was so nice to see live speedway after so long without it but the racing at Berwick hasn’t changed at all after the track changes! Gate and go ! I can count on one hand how many passes there was last night. Harris was excellent and well done to Birmingham

Brummies asked Berwick to change the date Berwick declined. How do you suppose Brummies or Berwick could have known Etheridge was going to get injured in his first ride. Sour grapes from you and an own goal from Berwick, who could have easily just put on the NDL match Nothing to do with professionalism of the sport at all.

leon Flint

A big loft

Stadia U.K. don’t want the stadium open full stop. It was only the intervention of the council and legal threats which forced their hand. The argument was, the stadium has been left to the people of Poole as a Sporting venue. So why are the company running the stadium only running it as a car park business with no intention whatsoever of re-opening the stadium to sports? They have no interest in using the stadium. 500 car park spaces at £7 a time 5 days a week with extra at the weekend is good enough for them with just two staff. They don’t want to employ anyone. Don’t want to open the bar, the food outlets, so the last thing they want is to hold events. It would mean spending money and employing staff that they have sacked. Saturdays are going begging and if we clash with a Saturday club, Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons are free. Those days would certainly attract bigger crowds than mid week.

Not blaming Birmingham at all and well done to them.It's just the rules of speedway which need looked at.Maybe if there was a chance to have a year off racing it would be an opportunity to sort the sport out for the future - or possibly not.

Sorry about the speeling Tel. The grammar was non to good either. Is the team Manager there to win matches or give riders, rides? If they need rides let em have a blast round after the meeting. The bloke is just making himself look a dick. Just hold ya hands up and say I messed up. People would have more respect for him.

No I am not getting muddled. I went to the St Austell v Poole meeting in 2003, which we won. Harris was riding for them and I think we had Boycey and Zoro. Like going to the moon. I think it was a Plymouth v Bucks meeting which was rained off. I didn’t make the rerun.

I’ll be there Steve. In my seat on the home straight. Looking forward to your match report afterwards I’ll provide the balanced one later ....

From next Friday Premier Sports will be broadcasting some Friday meetings starting with Gorzow vs Torun