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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.

At least England will name the line ups before kick off

Patryk Dudek used 69 before he got into the GP series as well. Once he was there he changed to 692 as Doyle already had 69.

It originates from Motocross numbers i think, some pick their own or choose one around date of birth etc, obviously a crossover in age groups and different countries

That is obviously of some concern to us and the reason for not having a late FastCat is currently because hospitality places aren't fully open yet. In fact some haven't opened at all like many around the country so according to Wightlink the demand isn't there. We are hoping for some good news when the Government hopefully decide to open up fully.

Thank you HtG for doing what I just could not be bothered to do. I feel that an "industry" that would like you to give them your custom should make it easy - much easier than it currently is ( from your experience ). But that is speedway UK and that is part of the reaon it is slowly dying. May well try a match from Glasgow and possibly Poole. I would also be happy to buy in to a Polish stream for league matches there but cannot locate the How To. Amazingly after Eurosport 1 & 2 failing to show the SEC, I see that they will be showing the next round this Saturday at 6 pm. Looking forward to the GPs on BT. Armchair speedway is amazingly less stressful and more than adequate for me. I can see more than when I was in the stands at King's Lynn.

A dry day forecast for tomorrow. Looking forward to this but think it will be a 55+ score for Pirates with Nicholls doing most of the Kent scoring.

Seems some disagree, going to the reaction to my last post. Some are still happy with the tedious delays and then wonder why new, younger fans with zero concentration levels aren't swarming to the sport.

2 and 4 were the best gates in the last half of the meeting and had won the last 3 heats. Very easy to see why.

Poland seem to have it right, but they have not always been in that position, that country has a history of being held back and yet still they have risen our sport to levels far exceeding our own, there must be lessons we can learn from how they turned that around. We have a massive rider shortage, 75 odd years I recall a story of clubs especially Wembley having mass try outs to find future riders and stars, that is what we probably need to do, invest in getting new riders to the sport, but you have to get other things in place first, the equipment needs to be more standard and cheaper to run, it needs to be more viable for new riders or grass track/motocross riders to get involved. As it stands, one "big" league will happen eventually anyway because clubs will continue to close because what we have is unsustainable, our leagues are going through the motions continuing to be bleed money.

Obviously your not at showground

We really need to look at making a change, or 2 or 3! Wright was a strange signing and just isn't doing the job, Batchelor has just been poor through most of the season and Sedgemen has only shown a glimpse of class. Good team on paper but hasn't clicked on track.

How can a youngster ‘choke’. he has already more than done his job. His gating is superb, same as last at Peterborough. He isn’t expected to be this confident and good at this stage of his career.

Jack Smith has been released by Glasgow. I know he's not liked at Kent but could he help strengthen the team somewhere. Don't know how it would fit with averages and team limit?

15 races taking 2 hours or more is not on. It’s ridiculous, certainly not entertaining, bores people stiff, how on earth are promotors going to attract younger ones (or anyone) on that basis. They are not, but they don’t seem to understand.

Wightlink Warriors Summer Spectacular Season Is Go! Fixture List for 2021 It’s been a while coming but Shale Track action will be returning to the Smallbrook Stadium as Martin Widman, Barry Bishop and former Wightlink Wizard Ben Ilsley supported by their dedicated team of volunteers are delighted to announce there will be a magnificent SEVEN meetings taking place during the Isle of Wight Summer Spectacular shale racing season – almost all in the major holiday weeks. The seven amateur meetings outlined in the fixture programme below - some of which will be in a team format featuring sides from across the UK – will include other motorcycle disciplines including a three round Island Masters individual competition. The action kicks off on Thursday July 22nd with Round One of the Island Masters that will feature 12 riders in a Grand Prix style meeting, along with Pee Wee bike action and 125cc youth races plus Category B 500cc speedway team racing with the Wightlink Wizards. The Wightlink Warriors have planned a bumper action-packed kick-off meeting and there will be no shortage of great entertainment. The programme for the whole season is designed to be as entertaining as possible with every meeting filled to the brim with motorcycle action, fun, and family entertainment. Co-owner Martin Widman said, "We are absolutely delighted to finally announce the seasons’ entertainment for summer 2021. It's been a real struggle as we faced up to new challenges almost every day, but we have navigated a way through them and we are confident of providing "top drawer" entertainment for all the family. Barry and I would like to thank Ben for coming onboard to help with the Island Masters Series which features some top-class riders from the world of grass and long track racing, and we could not have done that without him, but we also want to pay a special tribute to our volunteers who, despite all the problems going on behind the scenes, have been steadfast in getting the stadium perfect and ready for the season. We hope that their efforts will be well rewarded with the action we have prepared for everyone, and we cannot wait to see all our old friends and lots of new ones." Here is the fixture list and the Club hope to add more fun motorcycle disciplines too such as the infamous ‘Chicken Chasing’ mopeds: July 22nd Island Masters Round 1, plus a Wizards team match, Pee Wee bikes and 125cc youth races July 29th Warriors V Oxford V Cradley team challenge also featuring Uprights GM v Weslake, Pee Wee bikes and 125cc youth races Aug 5th Island Masters Round 2, plus a Wizards team match, Pee Wee bikes and 125cc youth races Aug 12th Warriors V Oxford V Cradley revenge challenge also featuring Uprights Jawa v Weslake, Ladies Match Race, Pee Wee bikes and 125cc youth races Aug 19th Individual Handicap Speedway plus ‘The Old Boys On Track’, Pee Wee bikes and 125 youth races Aug 24th Warriors V Oxford V Cradley ‘Final Showdown’ team challenge also featuring Uprights Jawa v GM, Pee Wee bikes and 125cc youth races Sept 2nd Island Masters Round 3 plus a Wizards team match, Pee Wee bikes and 125cc youth races Admission pricing will be announced shortly.

FORGET race nights FORGET crappy little or large stadiums FORGET admission charges. What can be changed ....... STOP gardening at the tapes STOP practice starts all over the track prior to every race. STOP riders jumping every other heat causing a restart STOP delaying every heat until the ref puts on the 2 minute warning STOP delaying meetings waiting for riders having 2 races in a row STOP delaying meetings for endless grading of the track. Tell the riders they are paid for by the spectators , tell them they are there to ENTERTAIN, not piddle about re adjusting chains back wheel nuts, cooling clutches, and refuelling the bike after every false start. IT'S BORING TO WATCH.

They are like subcontractors, with a van full of different teams race jackets.

Nicely put mikebv. Said it ages ago, but was ridiculed by others on here who now agree with it. Speedway is not a team sport anymore. Riders have become agency workers just trying to earn a living riding for money and not caring whose colours they wear, and fans are being robbed - or those fans are who still believe it's a team game. I would feel like Matt Hancock's missus if I supported a team that contained riders I knew were also getting their oats somewhere else and not serving my needs fully when having a bad night.

When I started watching Belle Vue, it was 13 races for the league match , with 10 races in the second half... 4 with the seniors, 3 junior races and 3 novice races. Start 1900 hrs... all finished by 2100 hrs at the latest... with an interval of 10 mins

Fingers crossed that those riders with Island connections make the first leap. Plenty of ex Warriors and away riders who made the most of the extra laps available to them. Will only take a brave few to get the ball rolling. Just hope riders remember those who have provided opportunities to them in the past.

The twins are involved with Team GB and Young Lions but with riding for a Saturday home track and having already had away matches at Scunthorpe,Berwick and Newcastle over weekends hence they have not been involved in any meetings on the continent. I think it’s fair to say that in their first season of professional racing they are doing well but are probably a bit behind the more experienced riders like Kemp,Flint and Rowe so when limited places are allocated in meetings then places go to these riders.

Strange decision to put it as a double header when Newcastle have plenty of spare Sundays some even before that date in August.

What an absolute beauty...

And it is only 3 because of some air brained reason that clubs like reading,Weymouth,Milton Keynes, and others are not allowed to join because they don't have a track of their own.

Superb talent and remember him bursting onto the scene well. I think it would be fair to say with his talent at a young age , he should of ended up with a world championship medal. was arguably the most exciting rider in the world around 2004/5/6ish.