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And yes wouldn't most people like to see a league campaign but the fault does not lie with Barry and myself, but firmly at the doors of the BSPL Board of Directors who imposed rules on our operation without any consultation or agreement. You try running a business with your hands tied behind your back with all the financial risk being yours. The current situation is far from ideal but a number of people believed in what we were doing this year and we have tried to be loyal to them in the best way possible by coming up with this programme of meetings. Yes there are some omissions but our season has been curtailed by bodies not operating in the best interests of the sport so it is shorter than was anticipated. Apologies if the programme doesn't suit you personally but we are trying our best to put on events that will please and entertain, and will also aid the development of the riders who come through our training sessions. Martin Widman Co Promoter Wight Warriors

Mike How many times have we discussed this and you are preaching to the converted here buddy... self-interest to the detriment of everyone else only results in overall harm to everyone even your own business... Stuff you Jack we are alright is okay if everyone is awash with cash (like football) but when you are in a niche market who rely on those other businesses to support your business it’s like a race to the bottom... What do these promoters want? We won everything because we were the last business running (or standing)… There are viable clubs currently who will still be viable in the future and one or two clubs may come back such as Bradford and Oxford but on a severely diminished pool of riders it will be very difficult. There are other clubs who could possibly be viable if they weren't in this arms race where riders hold all the chips... Fans have voted with their feet as has been mentioned and that is because they want to see top riders like Woofy Lindgren Pederson Lambert and Bewley in UK teams; however the UK can’t support the salaries that these guys demand and I doubt clubs will ever be back in the position to do so. The business model has to be on the terms of a financial fair play model: Clubs who can afford to run a top team should be pushed up into a top league; possibly Redcar Glasgow Poole Edinburgh Leicester and Eastbourne are championship clubs who can compete with premiership clubs on team build strength; crowds and finance: which will all level out in the top league and as a result the wages should also become more realistic because its ridiculous for a rider in what is in effect a second division earning more than what they get in the top league. This was why there was such a drive on the NDL/Conference league to stop clubs at that level paying more to riders than they could earn in the Championship and as ever the BSPL go about things arse about face and as usual. instead of sorting out the top end they strangle the bottom end? Anyway if the better off clubs go up a level it will leave the rest; Scunthorpe Berwick Kent Birmingham Plymouth Newcastle Mildenhall and the IOW to form a lower league where costs can be radically cut and hopefully make them financially viable. The NDL can then become the training pool the BSPL want it to be without having riders on massive guarantees resulting in them not wanting to race in the league above. There are not enough riders to run 1BL however there are enough to run a beefed up top league with more sides in it and a lower league with the odd one or two riders doubling up; and the kids being given the opportunity the BSPL profess that they need and deserve; however the pyramid is upside down at present. The favourite cry is that fans don't want to see the "product diluted" but we are where we are and I would suggest since the Polish leagues have risen to the top we will be in this predicament for a very long time if not forever now going forward. As for the product it is as week as pish... So the only way to combat a "diluted product" (hate that term) is to provide highly competitive racing and close matches with the riders you have available and bringing back the excitement to the sport. However when the second division is only a pseudo first division it makes a mockery of what you are trying to achieve IMHO... Regards THJ

Never understood no offers for a tv meeting,,,, extra 500 people for a fiver or no one at 19 quid,,, no forethought as usual

I completely agree with you, quite how people can post negative comments regarding the fixture list I find quite surprising, when it's not even known what riders will be participating. Yes, it's very different from the conventional team matches, but at the end of the day, it's still four riders turning left for 4-laps, giving it their all in the name of entertainment, something that is lacking at certain tracks in recent years. If I lived on the island, they would get my 100% support every meeting, and if I was a holidaymaker the weeks they were running a meeting, they'd also get my 100% support. In this day and age when British holidays are almost a thing of the past, 2021 is an exception to that rule, and if you check out the IOW website for things to do of an evening, you'll find nothing, with the exception of a theatre doing a show one night a week, and speedway, the only other thing on offer is if you take your family trolley racing round the aisles of Tesco at Ryde until 10.00pm. The people that sit on the top table running our sport, have seemingly done everything in their power to close this forward thinking club down, and thanks to the determination of Messrs Bishop and Widman, have failed. As many supporters round the country know, once their club closes down, seldom does it ever reopen, finishing up as a housing estate, or another supermarket. So I hope it is a success for them, they've put a lot of time, effort and money, travelling from different parts of the mainland on almost a weekly basis to get the stadium into what looks a lovely venue to visit, and you have only got to check out the cost of the Wightlink Car Ferry, let alone the cost of fuel in reaching Portsmouth, in their determination to ensure that Smallbrook Stadium isn't added to the defunct tracks from 2022 onwards. Bravo to all of you concerned.

I work for a major UK and Global retailer and I do absolutely loads supporting the shops around me as without them the High St suffers and my trade dips.. I am also involved in the local Chamber of Commerce and Trading Associations.. As we will stand or fall together in the Community where my store is.. As an example I have hundreds of car parking spaces that are often empty, therefore the local hairdressers, take away's etc, and even the local Saturday food market inform all their customers that I allow them to use it for up to two hours.. Guess what? Many also then come in to shop with me when they go back to their car.. Very, very basic business acumen.. New promoters dont even get to vote on their own future in Speedway let alone get fully supported by the wider organisation in their infancy.. An utterly ludicrous way of running an ever shrinking enterprise..

Last nights showing was one which one again raises the question as to why we haven't adopted the Polish 'two-minutes' rule where you actually have to be ready to race at the start line, not ambling round to the start and doing your gardening and ignoring the Start Marshall!

That was a brilliant night of speedway. Great effort by buster and the gang to get the track that good. Why Eurosport bother with the little tracks I have no idea. Proper speedway at the show ground again last night

This from Bandits' HQ: Tickets for this Saturday’s match vs Newcastle Speedway are live folks https://www.berwickspeedway.com/tickets/ If you’ve never been to the Speedway or not been for ages, get yourselves a ticket via the link above and get behind your local club. The talent running through the club at the moment is as good as it’s ever been. From the Academy, the Bullets and the Bandits there is a real buzz around and a vision for the future. Bars & Snack bars are open as usual and there is plenty of space to enjoy your night safely within our stadium.

Why? Because going to speedway is a habit and for some it may be easy to slip out of.

Best of luck to everyone down there.. Hope it is a success.. Lots of fans in the UK certainly admire and respect what you all do down there..

Mike I know exactly where you are coming from and I used to work for a Ball Bearing company in the North East whose main competitor was a Yorkshire company called the Ball; Ball and Ball; Ball Bearing Company Bradford and we both made Ball Bearings for the Car Industry and as such neither company could make enough ball bearings so we used to support each other on short falls on various contracts because at the end of the day it is what it is; a steel ball and even though we had the same clients and worked in exactly the same markets I used to support (and collude) with my opposite number at the Ball; Ball and Ball; Ball Bearing Company Bradford called Kevin Wankbrake who was a great lad and had been at the Ball; Ball and Ball; Ball Bearing Company Bradford since he was a boy and worked his way up through the ranks and many a time we would ring each other to support both businesses because if we had not the Japanese would have stepped in and snapped up the business and the contracts we had and that would have been the end of both companies; and the Ball; Ball and Ball; Ball Bearing Company Bradford had two massive factories in Bradford and yet we still couldn't make enough of these ball bearings to satisfy the market between us and as it was a 24 hour operation the more we made; the more the car companies would take; and like I said we could never fully satisfy demands and I remember once because it was so busy I rang Kevin at one site and not knowing if that was the site he operated out of or not; I said to the receptionist who answered the phone "do you have a Wankbrake there" and she said ".WankBreak? Love we are that busy here we don't even have a Tea Break never mind a .WankBreak" True story that (cough cough)… but all jest aside it needs collaboration to a mutual benefit not screwing over each other... Regards THJ

Having sat through the scintillating displays of England's football team for the last three matches, it is difficult for me to accept that speedway does not give better value for money, at least on occasion. Not entirely true. Up to 2017, I attended about 80 matches a season at tracks all across the country without supporting any of them. Based upon his posts here, Cityrebel is the same. Completely agree. Unless exceptional circumstances apply, a meeting should take no longer than 90 minutes and I have no problem if it takes an hour as I go to watch racing, nothing else. I can recall going to an early season meeting at Birmingham a few years ago. It took over 2 hours on a freezing cold night, with fans standing around getting frostbite. You could almost hear the anger when it was announced that there would be 'a short interval'. Another was a bank holiday one at Kent against Mildenhall (which remains probably the worst I have ever seen - it was when, infamously, they refused to bring the ambulance on to the track to treat an injured rider) that took almost 3 hours. What compounded that was how things dramatically speeded up when they realised they might break the curfew. Unnecessary delay is, in my view, a total disaster. Riders put before fans yet again. Its one of speedway's greatest failings. They are paid to perform, I am paying to watch so what I want comes first every time. As I said above, I go along to watch racing, nothing else (a bonus is the opportunity to see friends). There are enough gaps between heats without creating any other and which give requisite time for announcements and interviews. Give me a meeting over in half an hour any day (although the shortest I can recall is about 75 minutes) over one that takes five times as long as that with endless tractor racing, totally unnecessary intervals, announcers and presenters who think they are the star of the show and riders doing precisely what they like.

I thought the racing was good tonight! The wider Ipswich track has been very poor for outside overtaking but tonight there was plenty! Ipswich woeful apart from King, Rowe and Starke. Crump quickly realised he shouldn't have ridden. Allen and Cook were out of form. Kemp, again the reality/ results isn't/aren't nowhere near as good as the hype. If he doesn't learnt to start mixing it more and riding harder he won't go further up the ladder.

Jesus was born in a stable, didn't mean he was a horse.

What? We've got three away matches before the next home meeting after Scunthorpe (Redcar on 25 July), so any income will help pay for those three matches, so how does calling it off "make business sense"??

He should commit to GB Speedway now then... if he progresses in the sport then GB should benefit from this and not Australia

Think I have said it until I am blue in the face, but the "main event" of British Speedway should be a British Grand Prix Championship rather than the one-off British Final Use this event for Eurosport, have it sponsored, decent prize money, see if Eurosport could change the TV slot to other days i.e. weekends perhaps Most riders domestically are aiming for Poland, realistically not many will get there, if they do only a few make it pay, so why not have a British Championship for British Riders that is the pinnacle of British Racing and offers the prize money that will get people racing Speedway, should over a number of years (with the correct investment in youth speedway with a clear path to Semi Professional & Professional racing) increase the number of British riders coming through the system League Racing should be 2 leagues (British & National)

What an idiot

Down to the riders "4 laps standing clutch start" couldnt be easier, last nights show was awful watching riders gardening and then jumping start fining them they will soon stand still!

Don't mention league titles... I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it

Saw this round the back of turn 4... are the promotion trying to send a message to Chris?

If I chose to do a 600 mile trip knowing it may finish in 45 min, yes I would be happy. But in the years I went to matches non were as quick as 45 minutes nor do I expect a match to be, more realistically between 75-90 min, 90 is quite enough. What I don’t want to see is excessive gardening, pit gates open mechanics out at false starts, chain tensioning, numerous practice starts etc.

In fairness I was not overly impressed with this year line up when announced and did state on here we would beat Plymouth ( much to Lewy,s disliking) and Newcastle and couldn't see much past that. But the team has been fantastic around the EWR on every meeting I have seen (missed Leicester) with the racing getting back to its best yesterday was brilliant. I did eat humble pie and tell Rob as if you can criticise you have to be man enough to be mocked when your original thoughts were way off long May it continue

15 heats....says it all really. In my days, not that long ago, it was 13/15 heats and a second half of at least 8 more heats. Sometimes a Rider of the Night comp, sometimes a junior match , sometimes .... heavens above....both. If you were lucky you even got 3 Golden Helmet races thrown in as well.

Too few races and too many delays sums speedway up. The whole show caters for the riders, not the suffering fans that pay to watch it.

According to BBC Met Office site any rain (and that's only 40% chance) isn't due until 7pm and that's 3 hours after the start time.

Great to see Connor back thought initially he was struggling like everyone financially..Great to see him back see him ride only twice he is very decent will be good pretty convinced he has a good career ahead of him.

All but Smolinski nad Ptr Pawlicki.

I know Kevin..

Thought not, totally out of touch with the younger audience you attempt to speak for, you are clearly old don't try and pretend you have the first clue what young people are like.

No. Totally different sports. Thought it was a speedway forum. Like asking do I prefer Frank Sinatra's version of My Way or the Sex Pistols' attempt.

Its possible that the teams that have issues with crowd restrictions now and cancelling home matches might have a slight advantage later in the season over those that have continued to run with the unbalance of home to away matches to be completed

Is Paul Starke one of them or does he have a team in both leagues?

Speedway matches would end faster if "promoters" actually worked on the track before the crowd was in the stadium and not during the meeting, referees chose not to call a restart umpteen times a night, and the gaps between heats were cut and didn't actually cause concern whether the club had gone bust since the last race.

Probably has cataracts

Everybody is entitled to their differing views on what Speedway should offer that is one of the things that makes it great and also one of the reasons why its currently in such a mess. The fixture list is likely not how Martin & Barry want it either but given the short notice and restrictions they have faced it looks decent enough to me and great to action on track this year which hopefully means in years to come also. If you fancy a Speedway reset give the Handicap meeting a try as it guarantees interesting racing in every heat.

The affordable level of the sport in this country is semi pro... Teams in the top league should pay out no more than an average of £100 a point across the team meaning £12k needed per home meeting to pay VAT and riders for one home meeting, and one away at a 90 point average.. Meaning £4.5k a night salary target to be divided up amongst the riders when agreeing individual points money contracts.. £16 admission and one thousand fans gets you £16k, to pay for a 'Championship Plus' level. (Not far from what we have now in the top league).. The second tier should be a "Championship Lite' league were an average £50 a point across the team is paid meaning £6k per home meeting needed to pay for VAT and riders.. £13 admission and 700 fans gets £9100 A £2.25k a night salary target to be divided up amongst the riders when agreeing points money contracts. The third tier shouldn't be much more than expenses paid.. Entry level motorsport is very much "pay to play" for most, with prize money often generated by their entry fees, so there really shouldnt be any more than an average of £20 a point paid out to anyone at that level.. 90 points for both home and away matches at £20 means £2160 to pay riders and VAT. At £10 admission a crowd of 400 would bring in £4k... I dont think the promoters realise just how little those of us who still follow the sport care about who wins their championships give the ridiculous operating model used and how they allow such manipulation, yet they pay out fortunes to try and win them, expecting riders to pay even more ridiculous amounts to get the best kit available.. Kit that also gets used (and subsidised by promoters by the way), to assist their own individual ambitions.. Let riders DU as much as they want to but only pay out a standard amount per team per night.. The bottom line is not many fans care who wins titles, so stop trying to out do each other to win something which is not far from irrelevant, and work together for collective success, which for many could simply be survival... One thing for sure is that closures within any industry can never be seen as a resounding success of its overall operating model and business plan..

That meeting was better than most served up this year. The camera work / director was poor. Witches don't seem to know where or how to ride from week to week. Last night there was an outside line , 1st time this year. Poor crowd...possibly only season ticket holders and after last night can't see that many wanting to go next time. Comment from a non speedway fan that watched last night on tv.... " whats with the Witches manager.. doesnt look like he cares and not wants to be there. Totally disinterested, Looks like it's rubbed off on his riders "

I will gladly pay FULL price and think of my Club a bit more than myself on this occasion. Hopefully 700 or more think the same.

It was. Some though will always have their “couldn’t watch that cr@p every week” readied before the tapes even rose in heat 1.

Don't disagree with that comment but one big league isn't the panacea for Speedway at this juncture... and many fans don't want to see it that way... It will need about 4 more teams to go pop to push the agenda on for one big league because doubling up is what is sustaining riders... If it goes to one big league the sport will stop being a proffesional occupation for many riders and many will throw their hand in... and rider shortage is an issue now... If they do go down that route you may see the rise of clubs in the NDL... that's if the BSPL haven't destroyed the NDL as a competition... Regards THJ

Think majority of fans would have liked to have seen 1 big league,using young British talent to fill all reserve places.It would have weakened the product but might have raised the standard again in future. Look at Ipswich v Wolves it was not much better than a Championship line up in both Teams. British Speedway is just giving mediocre riders a chance to maximise their earnings to the decrement of the sport in UK.IMO

But you used to. Oh forgot certain belle Vue fans have short memories

more passing tonight than at the national speedway stadium this year

They were involved with the No Limits programme from day one when they were only 14 I think, and are now involved with the GB Academy. As someone said, they are a year behind the likes of Rowe and Flint but are showing great strides. They are still only 17 so time enough to get involved with the Young Lions. By my reckoning, they’ll still be eligible for under 19s until 2023 and under 21s until 2025 so still plenty of time

So fans should accept an expensive sub standard product and be grateful for it. This is 2021, people generally expect and demand value for money. Unless speedway promoters look outside their tiny little bubble, it hasn't got a chance.

Kings Lynn is an absolute dump where you would see complete no names Norwich City are offering a cheapest season tickets for £500 which works out at the cheapest ticket of about £27.00 per game, the two stadiums and the general experience are a million miles apart. Speedway is an over priced sport for what is on offer.

OFFICIAL BACKING FOR WIGHTLINK WARRIORS The Isle of Wight Shale Track Racing Club has been given the green light to push ahead with their summer of sensational two wheeled sport. Warriors’ bosses Martin Widman and Barry Bishop are celebrating and relieved after the British Speedway Promoters’ Limited (BSPL) Board of Directors backed their plans for a full programme of events at Ryde’s Smallbrook Stadium. Warriors’ co-owner Barry Bishop revealed: “Martin (Widman) and I are absolutely delighted to have secured the support of the BSPL for 2021 which goes some way to easing the pain of the last months. The Island club withdrew from the National Development League (NDL) and the BSPL earlier this year after a fall-out over decisions made over the NDL’s future which, they believed, impacted severely on speedway’s future at Smallbrook, however the co-owners affiliated to the Island club to the NORA Motorsport organisation who licence clubs and riders in a variety of different forms of off-road disciplines on two and four wheels. Bishop added: “We have received an email that confirmed ‘at a recent Board meeting the Directors and the BSP Ltd discussed your advertised amateur events.....The BSP fully support you running amateur and practice events with Nora 92.’ “In my view this is a huge step forward for the Isle of Wight and the sport in general. We are of course saddened that we had to leave the Speedway Control Board (SCB) and BSPL but we feel this is a good start to improving our relationship with each other for the betterment of the sport, our riders, fans and overall product. “Martin and I, along with I am sure everyone else associated with our club, fully welcome their decision and we have informed the SCB, Auto-Cycle Union and BSPL of the amateur NL standard team we intend to have, that BSPL fixtures will be given priority over ours in the event of a fixture clash, and that we remain fully open to an SCB/ACU track inspection at any time that will enable the Isle of Wight to host the fantastic Great Britain Young Lions training camp in February annually and a round of the ACU British 1000cc Sidecar Championships should either express an interest to use Smallbrook Stadium. “Now we fully look forward to opening on Thursday, June 24 with an excellent season ahead, and we wish everyone involved in speedway and shale track racing the most wonderful of seasons and I implore all fans to get behind their clubs in 2021.” The Warriors have already announced an 11-meeting season, racing every Thursday (with one Tuesday exception) between June 24 and September 2. Events will include five National League level challenge matches; three rounds of the Island Masters Championship, two American-style handicap meetings and a Best Pairs. In additional to conventional speedway there will be additional attractions at every meeting, including sidecars, Formula 2 speedway, youth events for riders aged from 5 to 16, and challenges between riders on a variety of different engines, both lay-down and upright. Full information on the calendar of meetings is available at www.warriorsspeedway.com

Quite agree about progress and magical gains. Unlike some on here I don't even think of comparing young riders with others in the past who got to Poland and world championships. Riders all have their own ability, which as you say can be enhanced with fitness, nutrition, life style, coaching, competitive racing, etc, and it's by following that sort of path that riders and their supporters can gauge how far they are capable of getting to in our sport. Looking at Palin, Kemp, Thompsons twins, Rowe, etc and only thinking they are successful it they reach the world stage is foolish. If say any of them reach contesting being British Champion, I would say they were successful even if circumstances mean they can't go to the next stage. There needs to be a more realistic assessmeant of the next set of young riders.

I think the marginal gains like fitness, diet and psychology are really important nowadays too, Woffinden and Lambert like most other to riders recognise this and they are two very good role models for our youngsters to aspire to. They both rode in all three of our leagues as teenagers as well as getting experience abroad as soon as they could do the example and the pathways are there for Kemp, Rowe, Palin etc to follow if they want to be the best they can be.