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You only have to read the farce surrounding Jack Holder missing the meeting on the Ipswich v Sheffield thread to realise why theres so much negativity nowadays

Is that a question for the fans or the riders?

I'll be there for you....does Jack Holder know the way. I'll be there for you...not if it's Ipswich in May.

I just can't understand all the negative comments on here!

Fans with money, which promoters mainly are, should not be able to run the sport. They annually admit to being at the helm when their track loses thousands of pounds and learn enough to do the same the next season. Surely any bright spark would fathom out that, one day, the cash will be gone and the track will be in trouble. Living beyond your means has been speedway's problem. All the SKY cash went on keeping star riders happy, and then they all f**k*d off when it ran out. My feelings on the way the sport has been run are well documented on here. It is sad the way things are going, but I told you so.

If its r/r on both sides 3 guests v 4 guests and 2 NL juniors, would you advertise it?

This is deffo a case of Jack picking and choosing the tracks he likes. should be a 28 day ban but im sure i read because of covid they were going to be lenient with rules, in which case gives riders the the chance to pick and choose there meetings, this wont be the last time it happens

Dackarna v Vastervik will be Tuesday's TV match.

But it still doesn't matter,,, he is contracted to race for Sheffield on Mondays and or Thursdays,, so he is with holding his services,,, and I'm sure that comes with a 28 day ban,,, or it used to. I would imagine a conversation went something like,,,,, hello Simon it's Jack,, I'm really awful at Foxhall,, even on my last visit I had to fake injury, so maybe you should use rr for me and I will stay in or go to Poland, it should be okay cos speedway fans are mugs and will buy the BS and turn up anyway.

Wow that was quick.He didn't want to be there tonight you could see that.His gating in ht 13 was atrocious,he didn't want to start with the other 3.Proctor has to follow though. How much i like Iversen i hope they aren't doing a deal with him,he seems to be going downhill pretty rapidly.I said at the start we should have had Lawson instead of Proctor hopefully that will follow.

wasn't there but looking at updates there seems to be "giving up" when at the back from riders .. something i hate within speedway is not racing for 4 laps if you are able, shortchanging supporters, and what happens if someone packs up at the end of a race? possible wasted points

With Rowe and Kemp Ipo have got a really good pairing of promising young Brits. Looks like the experience gained in Poland is paying off already, it certainly seems to have brought Bewley and Adam on as well.

Good to see Adam Ellis scoring well, let's hope is a sign of further progress for him and maybe team GB

Do the same as we did last year is the only plan they ever have.

You would hope that the closure of yet another track would make those running the sport take notice and ponder "does anyone amongst us actually really think we are doing things right"? Unfortunately it is hard not to think that the first thought of some when hearing the news was "quick get on the blower and see if we can sign 'so and so'" for next season".... I think that is now seven tracks gone in the past four or five years... In no particular order.... Coventry, Buxton, Rye House, Lakeside, Somerset, Workington, and Stoke... With only a rarely built new stadium saving Belle Vue from joining the list this year and Swindon still waiting for 'summer' to start so the builders can build their new facility... WOW!...

Seems like your bike is set with the wrong gear, So you'll need to injure your foot, your ankle, your knee, or even your ear! @Presenter Any chance of "I'll be there for you" by the Rembrandts on the playlist tonight please?

Rubbish. I’m fairly certain that riders in Poland are being required to submit their covid test in Poland 24 hours before their matches. That means, he must be in Poland on Thursday to test to be able to ride Friday. I’m not saying it’s right but that’s the way it is. Peoole quoting Britain getting priority on a Thursday and then bowing down to the Poles are deluded. This again is a knock on effect to the balls up to the team building rules set out. Anybody riding in the Esktraliga shouldn’t of been allowed to ride in this country due to the commitments of Friday fixtures in Poland. No Esktraliga riders and 6 man teams for this year.

Well at least Batch will be there - unless he has realises the Friends reunion airs on Sky One at 8 and changes his mind.......

Yep, what little credibility British speedway had left has eroded away a little more with this. It’s a shame as this was a good opportunity to reset and start afresh with some proper integrity.

The loss (??) of Isle of Wight is very different. That is purely down to the incompetence and selfishness of certain members of the BSPL because had due and correct procedure been followed they would almost certainly be part of the National League. I am, however, saddened to read of the loss of Somerset Speedway and have little doubt that the circumstances indicated by Debbie Hancock are true. Perhaps the loss is greater than normal because the OTA's reputation as a fine racing track was much deserved. For me, I'll never forget an astonishing night in 2015 when Plymouth Devils turned up and battered the Rebels, much to my amazement and the delight of my pals from the south west.

A sad situation for the supporters etc and a blow to speedway in general but from a business perspective one can only bang your head against a brick wall for so long. It is seemingly the right decision for the family and it is after all their money not the sports or the supporters and perhaps you should applaud them for sticking at it for so long. When you look at the governing body, the state of the sport with lack lustre decision making or reformatting of the sport in what is a difficult ‘trading’ year, why would anyone throw money away at a lost cause. This really should serve as a wake up call to the cohorts who run speedway and have overseen its decline for many years. We should thank all involved with Somerset for their contribution to the sport and move on.

And this is exactly why hardly anyone takes speedway as a serious sport. One big fat farce after another. And they wonder why fans keep walking away.

Well here's the first one and its been a long time coming 06/06/21 1600 Newcastle v Edinburgh (C-KOC) Followed By 1800 Newcastle v Armadale (NDL) The teams for the KO Cup meeting should consist of the following riders Newcastle; Ben Barker; Connor Mountain; Max Clegg Adam Roynon Matthew Weathers James Wright and Joe Alcock Edinburgh: Sam Masters; Nathan Greaves; Josh Pickering; Kye Thomson; Richie Worrall; William Lawson; Joe Lawlor So this Knock Out Cup clash brings back a couple of old Newcastle favourites lining up for the Monarchs in Worrall and Lawson and I can see this only going one way (unfortunately) The NDL meeting however at 1800 which sees Newcastle v Armadale (NDL) will be a different matter and should provide a good home win for the Gems The teams for the NDL meeting should consist of the following riders Gems; Max Clegg; Ryan Terry-Daly; Josh Embleton; Joe Alcock; Kelsey Dugard; Archie Freeman; Danny Smith; Armadale; Nathan Greaves; Tom Woolley; Danny Phillips; Sheldon Davies; Lewis Millar George Rothery Gregor Millar So this brings us (or me anyway) on to what was our biggest home defeat by the Monarchs over the years and consulting my copy of the History of Speedway at Brough Park Newcastle 1929 to 2018 (as compiled by Joe Wake) the biggest ever home defeat at the hands of Edinburgh was dished out on Monday the 10th of July 1961 in the Northern League where Edinburgh went away with a 24 - 54 reverse and the scorers were as follows... ND. Don Wilkinson 10 Slant Payling 4+1 Russ Dent 4 + 1 Norman Johnson 3 Vic Lonsdale 2 George Glen 1 Freddie Fewsdale 0 Stan Pennell 0 EM. Doug Templeton 12 George Hunter 11 + 1 Wayne Briggs 9 + 3 Willie Templeton 8 Bill Osborne 6 Alf Wells 5 + 1 Jimmy Tannock 3 + 1 Newcastle ended up bottom of both the Provincial and Northern Leagues in 1961 so lets hope the Diamonds of 2021 can put on a better show some 60 years later... Oh and just for reference our biggest ever home win against Edinburgh... well that came in the October of 1983 in the Quarter Final second leg of the Supernational when Joe Owen posted a 5 ride full max and Rod Hunter Bobby Beaton and Martin Scarisbrick all got 5 ride paid maximums and Bernie Collier got a 4 ride paid max in a 16 Heat 75 - 21 victory for the Diamonds and the main resistance came from Sean Courtney with 8 and Roger Lambert with 7 + 1; both scores off 7 rides... to date and although over 16 heats this was the biggest ever win for Newcastle at Brough Park in the history of the club... oh happy days... My predictions 35 - 55 in the KO Cup match with Worrall; Masters and Josh Pickering who posted an excellent score in 2018 for the Monarchs at Brough and seemed to like the track somewhat proving to hot to handle at the top end of Edinburgh for Newcastle to get anywhere near. However in the Gems meeting I fancy them to win 50 - 40 in the NDL Meeting... Got my tickets and I am raring to go... looking forward to it starting... Oh and a quick message for Rob Grant "put two Hogg roasts on cos I am saving myself from now" so one for everyone else and mine... and all you need to do with mine is just wipe its backside; give it a shave and slap it in the bun cos am ready for a feed... Regards THJ PS. Many thanks to Joe Wake for allowing the use of the information above from his excellent book "History of Speedway at Brough Park, Newcastle 1929 to 2018"

Got my ticket for this. Is it likely to be on? I fancy a narrow away win

Was doing some research on the head to head record of Peter Craven and Ove Fundin (ie ) the golden helmet (ect) .Unfortunately never got to see Peter wondered if some of the older brigade on the forum have any special memories of there battles .Compared to most Peter fared very well against the great Ove ( and being a huge Briggo fan it does touch a nerve )great man though and a great rider Ove.

Us that don't attend anymore have paid in thousands over the years & we have good reason to moan. It's quite clear thing's haven't changed to convince us otherwise. Pi$$ poor promoting Pi$$ poor manager Pi$$ poor team Pi$$ poor race track All at pi$$ poor prices If you're still happy with that, crack on, but some of us feel we deserve so much better & we have a right to voice that opinion, like I said, after spending £1000's over the years. Maybe those that are so blind might start to see the light with regular beatings at home. Going back in to my memory bank, the complete set up currently reminds me so much of Wagstaff's last season, catastrophe. Edit:- For the record, even though I'm never there anymore, I can assure you seeing these kind of results still hurt. It's my home town, fans over the last 3-4 seasons have deserved so so much better than they're getting.

Terrible team on paper , slightly worse on the track.

I didn’t expect them to lose at home by nearly thirty, or for Cook to score three! But it always looked like a 6th place side. I’d persevere with Bridger, he’s been out long enough to be given more time but Proctor and Kinsley should never have been signed really. No idea who would find in for them but there must be better options. There is very little time to waste on a twenty meeting season.

Has got better as the night has gone on. Lovely outside 1st and 2nd bend in 13 to pass Crump. Apart from Howarth only real resistance to the Witches. Edit ... just did same to Crump in heat 15 too

I think we can safely say that this Lynn team is a fair way short of being good enough unfortunately.

I will be there

If they couldn't make it pay why not let someone else have a go? I can only think they have already agreed to sell the land.

It was announced today that outdoor sports games/meetings will be allowed to have 500 spectators from 1 June and then if things are looking good it the will be increased to 3000 1 Juli and no limit at all from mid July.

On Sunday, I hung around a bit in the stadium to let the stampede out, about 10 minutes, then ventured to my car & left the car park. There were only 2 or 3 cars at the traffic lights & they changed to green straight away. If you are coming to Scunthorpe via the M181, on using the orbital road then up the hill & if you have google maps or tomtom, turn left at the circle up the hill & go round the industrial site(fairly easy). As you approach the circle on Normanby Road, some people park their cars there & take the short walk(approx. 150m) to the stadium.

I think Ove had a lot of respect for Peter, more so then any others of the top 5. Whilst Peter was at BV I was a fan of him. I only saw OF and PC race together at BV or Wembley world final. Peter was always a clean rider, a gentleman in general, and when they rode together I never saw Ove try anything dirty toward Peter. Their match races at BV were always exciting and close, so very close at times, but total trust in each over, that was clear. Such a shame the sport lost Peter whilst still youngish, a good few years at the top still in him. He was always a great sport, very approachable with fans, and ready to have a chat with them. Of the two, Ove was the most consistent, you can see that just in his record in the world championship, that’s why he was called Mr Perpetual Motion. Peter still ranks with me highly in the all time greats though.

Would be interesting to hear his take on things. It wasn’t that long ago he was on the radio saying about assembling a team for next year as Somerset would be back and would be looking to hold the pairs this year. Maybe he’s been strung along like everybody else when it was pretty clear what was happening? I expect to see him back at Poole fairly soon. Good luck to him as he’s one of the most astute team managers about.

This is definitely not a case of Jack picking and choosing tracks, this is purely Jack picking and choosing which paymaster he pleases and the amount he is prepared to spend to do so. As anyone can see it is possible to get from England to Poland on Friday morning but there is only one chance and probably would involve a lot of logistics with travel and therefore expense. Add in covid tests time spent travelling and how prepared he would be once arriving in Gorzow. He wouldn't land in Warsaw till midday, how long to get through and out the airport etc??? Then it is a 5 hour drive to Gorzow. For the money he is paid in the UK to race compared to the money he could miss out on in Poland its a no brainer

I was at Exeter when they closed and migrated to Somerset. I've made some good friends at Somerset including Najjer, Mr T , Ian (Statman) and all the boys on the back straight. I've some great memories and photos . Thanks Debbie; Bill; Gazza all the track staff and those behind the scenes. Thanks Ian H

I might agree with you but how are there going to actually be any guests? A quick glance at June’s fixtures shows that eg on the 7th and 21st there are three matches, ie all six teams are racing. If there are a few injuries it will be impossible to stage some of the matches.

Gutted. Was a regular supporter from the time I was attracted back to speedway just missing a few weeks from the very start. Barr the odd meeting due to holidays, never missed any despite being the only one left out of a crowd of original regulars but making new friends there instead. Will miss DaveT, Statman, Bish, Najjer and my new friends Brian and Liz as well as loads of others I chatted to but never got to know their names. RIP Somerset Speedway.

At the end of the day it's their land and they are entitled to do what they see fit. Business is business. However the loyal Somerset fans who have spent their hard earned cash at both the speedway and the clubhouse over the years deserve honesty. The Hancock's would have more respect out of this if they were just honest and said "look, we've had an offer on the land we can't refuse and have sold it". Disappointing yes but at least honest. Hiding behind the Covid curtain and blaming it all on that is just a blatant lie. I was in the area last month and went and had a nosey. The land was being dug up and most of the signs for speedway were being removed. It was fairly obvious what was happening. Honesty goes a long way.

Sad news indeed - a fantastic race track and some really lovely people involved! Fair play to Debbie for making a detailed statement - but not sure too many people will buy the as if by chance conversation etc! With Bungalow Bill holding a high rank locally, he quite understandably has cashed in on prime land, who can blame him in current times! I'm also sure he could have got planning applications through around speedway and use if he really wanted too, so part of her statement has tarnished things a bit for me! Just be honest and say we are making a tidy sum by flogging the land, instead of losing money running speedway! No one can blame them for that!

This is the nail well and truly hit on the head. Many promotors tried before the Hancock’s (Hewlett, Toogood, Golding, Pavitt and even Mark Saunders and co from Sharp amongst others) but ultimately if the Hancock’s can’t make it pay, or can earn a lot more from other avenues, when they owned the food/drink, car park, land and just about everything else in between - then there is no chance of leasing that to someone else. Somerset has I feel been somewhat in reverse and on the wind down since our final season in the Premiership. A very attractive team and the World Champion in a bid to conquer everything didn’t come cheap and was, in my opinion, the beginning of the downward spiral to where we are today. As I said earlier, such a huge shame for it to end this way.

thought they didn’t want anything to do with anyone’s comments on social media lololololol

Funny no one has mentioned the fact that Berwick have a rider named in their 1-7 that they have no idea if/when he will be allowed to travel and enter the country, but that's OK. Teams in the same situation have made changes, so no need for R/R or guests.

Jack isn’t very good at Ipswich. Last time in the play off semifinal he faked injury so Poole could use R/R in his last two rides. trouble was he limped on the other leg he claimed firstly a toe injury and then it was his knee. more chance of Ritchie Hawkins riding at Edinburgh than holder at foxhall

It filters down doesn't it..... BSPA >>>>> promotions>>>>>riders>>>>fans

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.

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!

And then reinstated every year since then... And then removed sometime every year since then.... And then reinstated again.. And then removed again.. Etc etc etc . All in the interest of Speedway obviously...