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Congratulations to everyone who has contributed, Newcastle have hit their target.

It really does. Almost like two different sports in a way Some of my most vivid memories are the queues, the packed terraces and trying to find a place to sit at some of the big meetings like the Internationale, Division 2 Riders Championship or one England v USA test. And of course the atmosphere when the lights dropped and the track was lit up, the colour of the fans with their rosettes, hats and scarves and flags. There was a buzz about the sport that made it feel important and you was part of something special There is none of that today. For me at least.

Giving the poster, I`m afraid yes.

Is there any need for such pathetic arrogance ?

Would be nice to see Dan Bewley as a WC for one of the Wroclaw rounds!

This thread makes me feel so sad. I feel honoured to have watched the sport in the 1970s and 1980s but it's so depressing to feel that those glory days are well and truly over and it's never coming back. At least I've got all my speedway magazines right back to the 1930s and can read about it at my leisure, but it was a massive part of my childhood and teenage years and I sort of feel a sense of bereavement about speedway as it is today.

Over exaggerated cough that No.10 is prepared to ruin businesses over. UK Cases - 4.57 Million UK Deaths - 128,000 As I said earlier far far far more likely to recover than die from yet people are prepared to support businesses going under for this rubbish. Country needs to grow a set and go back to normal again rather than running scared of the sniffles.

6400 at the rangers game when they were in the 3rd division. Regardless of what percentage if you want to go get a ticket early . It’s really as simple as that. Some folk on here should thank their lucky stars they have seen and looks like continuing to see speedway when home fixtures are run. Clubs are closing and stopping racing all the time. With the amount of work put in by all associated with Berwick speedway maybe some should stop being a keyboard warrior and back them

Brilliant that mind I am well impressed... Well done and you can always keep going it will all be welcome... Regards John

I have seen on BBC or Sky that they are looking to lower the employment restrictions over time. Same with Brits going to Aus. If you get a job visa's will be granted without restriction, including minor any criminal records. Believe the government are looking to do similar with New Zealand too. The government (quite cleverly imo) are trying to reattach themselves with all the previous commonwealth states again. A great thing & could be huge for the UK

You would be surprised how many riders would compete for just £10 a point if they knew that is what is on offer across the board. Expenses would be a must though given the current distances between tracks along with some sensible fixture planning so avoid as much midweek as possible. It may mean that some opt out but for the league to sensibly survive semi-amateur is the way forward as a pathway into the sport. Very few riders enter the NL expecting to make money, most are looking at some funds to help cover the losses for a season, if the pay is lower then riders will choose where else to edge out costs. Gate money can come down and just maybe crowds will start creeping up?

Therein lies one of the main reasons why speedway has declined so badly : taking its supporters for granted (not allowing patrons to take food in, taking heavy handed action to stop them and charging ridiculous prices for appalling food and drink remains one of my few complaints about Belle Vue). I am certain that a lot of your issues (while remaining totally valid) were the fault of the stadium owners but there's doubt that similar circumstances have applied at virtually every track in the country, including those who own their own stadiums. I have certainly heard such accounts many, many times and, indeed, have experienced them myself. Worse still, when we do get a track that is remarkably customer focussed the BSPL make their position so untenable that they withdraw. That would be funny if it wasn't so serious, Humph. It was still possible only a few years ago, albeit travelling a bit further afield. I used to do Birmingham or Kings Lynn (Wednesday), Ipswich, Peterborough, Swindon or Isle of Wight (Thursday), Plymouth, Somerset, Lakeside or Weymouth (Friday), Eastbourne or Rye House (Saturday), Mildenhall (Sunday) and, on occasion (or a bank holiday) Wolverhampton, Kent or a TV match on Monday. Then there was Redcar (Thursday), Edinburgh (Friday), Berwick or Workington (Saturday) and Glasgow (Sunday). The thing that used to annoy me was that Weymouth, Plymouth and Somerset all rode on the same night

Also worth noting that the Kent promotion aren't complaining about losing money every meeting. That's because the team is built to a budget. Far better to finish bottom half of the table but still have a club the following season, then to win all the trophies and have to close. I am sure Workington fans would hand back those historic trophies to have weekly speedway again.

It's not always what you say, it's how you say it. The club management said: “There is no fallout with Craig and we sincerely wish him all the very best for the season ahead. “We want Craig to go away and become the Craig we know he can be. He’s a great rider, but sometimes you have to make decisions which you feel are right for the club and for the rider. “We will be finalising his replacement overnight and updating supporters accordingly.” This to me suggests Craig was ok with being dropped & he needed to go a find himself again. Whereas Craig says he's clueless to his sacking & was happy. King's Lynn are in a seriously bad place under the Allitt & Schroeck management. Of the original 7 I think only 4 justified a starting spot. Cook, Jorgensen, Kerr, Riss. Proctor & Bridger we all knew was wrong but was just hoping, benefit of the doubt & all that. Then Kinsley as 'Rising Star' was a madness. The club from top to bottom is embarrassingly run. Poor team building through to embarrassing in match tactics is just making King's Lynn a laughing stock. Our owner has knocked up a better side down the road, it's shocking.

As a "statto" it's got to be Joe Owen as the best NL rider. Records prove from the breakthough 1975 season Joe was dominant rider in the seasons he rode in the NL. No sooner Joe took the step into the BL in 1977, Tom Owen then took over the role as the best rider in NL until his broken leg ended his dominance - this does raise the question how long would have Tom dominated barring his injury ? Joe's 1976 season performances remains certainly the best from an individual rider at NL level. The facts speaks for itself - just 1 point dropped at home in league, 14 points dropped in 31 league matches, winner in 8 (out of 8) NL individual (including the NLRC) and 1 pairs meeting winner. Holder of the Silver Helmet all season - run on a monthly challenger basis at the time. These facts are taken from a statistical point of point of view as I wasn't a regular fan until 1978. However, upon Joe's "forced" return to the NL in 1982, his dominance continued although his average dropped by half a point from 1976 to just over 11 (!). It should be remembered the strength of NL was a lot higher from 1976. As an Ellesmere Port fan I saw Joe a number of times as a Diamond in 1982, I remember the excitement at Thornton Road when Joe raced as EVERY Gunner wanted to beat him. When Joe "burger" joined Ellesmere Port in 1985 after a season with Newcastle in BL, it was a big money signing that helped the Gunners win the NL. By the end of the season Joe's average had "dropped" to 10.5, but again the standard of the NL was higher than the previous season in the NL in 1983. BL standard riders such as Mike Ferriera, Stan Bear, Kevin Smith, Kevin Hawkins, Gordon Kennett, Roger Johns and Neil Middleditch were now riding in the NL. As a regular visitor to the away tracks, Joe was still the rider to beat and every opposing rider wanted to beat him, as a result this put "bums" on the seats when Ellesmere Port came visiting (Alas not at Thornton Road). Tragically his career ended at Birmingham at the end of the 1985 season, but I am certain he would be remained in the NL for the remainder of his career. it should be remembered that riders such as John Louis (1971), Phil Crump (1972), Mike Ferriera (1981), Andrew Silver (1987) and Jason Crump (1993) all attained over (or near) an 11 point average in their final Division 2/NL seasons, all of the above took the "leap" into British League (with varying degrees of success) after reaching the above average so the opportunity to dominate at Division 2/NL level was "lost". A final thought, what would Joe have achieved if he hadn't had the serious injury when he was with Hull in 1978 ?

What a line-up!

It is unfortunate that thousands of people have died,many of these have died with covid though instead of from covid.The stats worry so many people but it is very misleading as usual from the Government.There are many,many more people dying from other illnesses now as a result of all of this.Plus the more people that are suffering from mental illnesses as a result of these lockdowns.My heart op was delayed by 7 months,how many more people have had ops delayed and may have died as a result of this.

It's Eurosport. It was always going to be an inferior production to Sky or BT. To be fair, considering it IS Eurosport, they're not doing too bad - although they do need to ensure they get the score right as it is a pretty key part of the meeting.

This league is unfortunately going from bad to worse. First thing - they are allowed to use RR without any serious reason. Just like that. Click RR, click no RR. Second thing - what happened tonight with wrong helmet colors in heats 1 and 2 and then again in heat 14? Was referee completely blind? Then Dackarna manager nominated riders for heats 13 & 14 incorrectly, of course because stupid bonus points count towards nominations which makes it look even more stupid. Few solutions for the future to make it look more professional and avoid situations like this: 1) full lineups for the night should be announced at least 3 hours before the meeting, with RR explained if used 2) dont count bonus points, nominate final heats using real points scored 3) wrong helmet color - rider excluded, like in other civilized leagues Eleven Sports bought rights for Elitserien 2021 from Cmore but I'am afraid if it continues like this they will not want it again in the future. The same applies to Premier Sports. Enough is enough. What used to be professional league, now is turning to be a big joke.

Not until after monday night ok, when Panthers go top of league , then if no more meetings are run in 2021 champions declared

For years now most teams have been living beyond there means and the Senior Teams have been surving mainly due to TV money, now Covid has brought up the inevitable Crow coming home to roost so to speak, the BSPL have for years avoided taking decisions that would help the Sport survive and maybe prosper, any household or business simply cannot go on year on year making losses and ignore the simple maths lesson of paying out more than what is coming in, how is it possible to employ foreign riders cheaper then british riders ?, answers on a postcard please. I dont know the answer but one thing is for sure things cannot carry on as they are, if it means going back to basics with Teams made up of british riders then thats the way we have to go short term loss for the long term gain, no Premier League just 2 Leagues with the NL being the second tier, and no stupid payments to riders.

The comments I actually made Phil , Was about coverage the week before at Wolverhampton and the Peterborough coverage was a lot better. I just wish Steve would sort out with his OB provider Cloudbass what is going on with the start line camera as it looks like it’s coming from a 90s mobile phone so blurred and out of focus

Yes Buster owns the AFA. And no doubt Lynn needs less fans to break even. But He has had his beloved Lynn for over 20 years. Buys Peterborough, and neglects (imho) Lynn. Where the loyal fans have supported his team for decades. It don't sit well with me i'm afraid..I'm probably not the only one.. I'm not blaming Peterborough or their fans. Buster made the move by himself. But If he keeps things as they are with the two teams, some Stars fans will not bother, myself included. Lynn's team selection was shocking, and i suspect a good bit cheaper too.

Thanks goodness I have a supply of tea bags...

A criminal record used to be compulsory to get into Aus lol

When i asked on Tuesday, the Leicester match was definitely on. I don't blame them for cancelling. The margins are too fine to take a guaranteed loss.

Only previous season riders - I can’t see a problem with what’s being suggested.

CMore Sport I believe Although on screen it says "Sport Kanalen"

Whilst the forecast was bad,i'm all for at least waiting until the morning of the day to see if it has changed which on many occasions it does.We will never know now if Holder was going to be there or not

Medical team currently dealing with a member of the crowd who has taken ill. Currently trying to clarify the confusion over helmet colours too - the updates on the Svemo site are incorrect too.

Have been told today that from now you will be able to pay on the door, so that's got to help.

Sunny in Gislaved, track being watered.

Danny Smith or Archie Freeman would he excellent replacements for the injured Sam McGurk!

I’d imagine you’d have to contact the club privately to find out such important information. They dont engage with fans on this forum, apparently.

Well, a think you just failed on the first part.

I think it will be, and makes complete sense (unlike the extension of lockdown which has no sense whatsoever).

Seems very much like they got one team very much right and one team very much wrong. I would think Buster signed off on both teams even if he wasn’t directly involved in doing the donkey work in putting either side together.

Has always been the case that you can get any visa to Aus with a minor criminal record .

The annoying thing is that they’d got Lawson, Wells and Mountain I’m in the first place instead of Proctor, Bridger and Kinsley it would have been a half decent team. And the Wolves result wouldn’t have happened and Cook wouldn’t have been released. Opportunity missed.

Looks like the thought process that went into team buiding at both clubs is very similar , Peterborough's team is built the same as Lynn's with mostly riders who have had previous links to the club , only main difference now is Pedersen and Lawson , but it seems that the Panthers linked riders are just that bit better than those associated with the stars

Agree with Waco. I loved the racing on Tuesday. Right out of the top drawer. I note that a lot of Warriers on the link are talking about how strong the team needs to be. They all have already completely forgot that at the very beginning, the management reported that this was to be regarded as a learning process for them and clearly did not expect to win anything. The early loss of Nico Covatti gave an immediate problem and with so few riders now on the scene, I, for one, did not expect the team to be among the leaders. So long as the racing is exciting......and it certainly is...I am happy.and we have a couple of the best youngsters in the UK who will only get better.

Gonna be a nightmare finding dates when Jack isn't in Poland/washing his hair/walking the dog/at an anniversary meal * * delete as appropriate or add you own lame excuse to suit

NO . its the same Paul Hurry.

As most have said, probably going to Speedway five or even six times a week and it wasn't expensive. Our usual was New Cross (just the early '60's), West Ham Hackney, Wimbledon, Wherever West Ham was racing on the Week-end plus Romford, Crayford, Canterbury, Eastbourne, Rye House all within easy reach. Not to mention where Internationals were, that was big time back then. Best memory for me was the GB v USSR @ Wembley in 1964. World Finals @ Wembley....ahh yes quite the event. Watching my childhood hero in the early '60s, Peter Craven. I could go on forever!!!!!

Not sure about that but I heard Rob Godfrey has been to a seance to try to get in touch with the living.

There was some exceptional racing that night, the previous night was raced in torrential rain if I recall correctly.

Yet, when a track is in danger of being sold off or left to rot, not a councillor to be seen

It was changed to Wolves so didn’t have to show Peterborough 2 weeks on trot. Eurosport seem to be useless at keeping their teams who look after TV guides and adverts etc updated.

Its rumoured to be Pete Adams auditioning for the next series of the Masked Dancer

What exactly is the Wolverhampton mascot these days? "Rory the Roadkill"?