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I was at Newcastle for the Poole & Plymouth double header and sincerely hope Newcastle is saved. One thing I don't understand is how negative all the media is surrounding this meeting and the future of Newcastle speedway. Just look at the headline in speedway star, Diamonds not Forever. There's not even a question mark at the end of the headline which I think is bang out of order! Talk about kick a club when it's down!

It's on a night like this that I really miss the input from the late, Great Philip Rising. Offering a blanket defence of BSI and Castagna's every move to 'improve' international Speedway by abandoning the SWC for this bastardised hogwash.

I surprised nobody had thought to combine the PLRC & CLRC using (where possible) all teams No1’s as a one-off for this season Possible line up:- Dan Bewley - Belle Vue Danny King - Ipswich Richard Lawson - King’s Lynn Michael Palm Toft - Peterborough Jack Holder - Sheffield Sam Masters - Wolverhampton N Busk Jakobsen - Berwick Chris Harris - Birmingham Richard Worrell - Edinburgh Craig Cook - Glasgow Scott Nicholls - Kent Nick Morris - Leicester Rory Schlein - Poole Bjarne Pedersen - Plymouth Charles Wright - Redcar Adam Ellis - Scunthorpe You would have a Rider’s Championship where all teams (& supporters of those teams) would have a representative. Riders would be in team body colours of the team they are representing. The fans from all teams would have a reason to attend, the CLRC at Sheffield is always well attended, combine that with supporters from Premier League teams and hold it at the National Stadium, it would have the makings for a bumper crowd, ideally on a Saturday Night/Sunday Afternoon (if Pos). The only team to miss-out would be Newcastle, by virtue of their Number 1 having the lowest average.

Whist , Bingo and WI ???

Watched this on the live stream an it was a very enjoyable match. Riders missing on both sides but those there gave 100% effort. Kent more affected by missing riders but this was evened up by George Rothery's machine problems all night until he finally came out on borrowed machinery to win his last heat. There was heavy rain early on but these NDL lads just got on with it. For the Devils Danny and Tom were rock solid but I've been very impressed with the improvement in both the Millar boys this season - especially Gregor. This is exactly what this league is supposed to do. For Kent, Alex Spooner and Vinnie Foord caught the eye with battling and skilful performances.

Shame USA arnt in the 2nd semi, would do them good to be at Belle Vue

If this meeting does go ahead because the forecast now doesn't look great... but if it does I am hoping to have a beer in the top bar to talk to anyone interested and maybe update a few folk on where we are at... Regards THJ

To find out why so many fans of the sport don't go to UK Speedway anymore, the Promoters would first have had to notice that their crowd levels had dropped... And I can only presume they haven't quite noticed this yet as otherwise they would have stopped doing what has driven so many away and started doing something that would entice them back.... Although there could also be a sneaking suspicion of course (given their penchant for doing the 'same old, same old, ad infinitum) that they don't see anything wrong at all with the way the sport is ran.. And it's the many missing fans (who still closely follow the sport), who are just delusional...

A bit like what happened to your team this season.

Maybe so but if you want a future ......always look on the bright side of life? Any club/business, given the right management, can be transformed. So I'd like to think that someone will come in there & get things back on track

Just watched that without actually knowing the result, described on the BSPA website as 'sensational' and after 2 laps I'm thinking they must have made a mistake! Outstanding ride from Harris.

I think people are right when it comes down to crowds and atmosphere... Racing wise matches up well in a lot of meetings but it was the atmosphere back in the day that really helped.. Turned a dull meeting into a pretty exciting one..... My favourite race was Rob Maxfield being team rode to a 5-1 by Peter Collins over Ole Olsen who was by far the best visitor around Belle Vue at the time.. there was no passing and probably if you saw it on tape it would look ordinary but at the time the roof nearly came off the stadium and the atmosphere was incredible.

Sheffield have been badly let down by Batchelor…Holder and Ellis have done their jobs and so have Howarth and Pickering but you cannot win when the rider you signed as number 1 scores like Batchelor has and you have no real reserve strength.

There’s more chance of my hair growing back than that happening again.

Nora licensing only works for amateur events. If the National Development League did what it ought, and returned to amateur status, then that whole league could run under Nora 92. In my view, this is something that could work at Eastbourne, Newcastle and Birmingham, though maybe not under the current promoters. It is also my view that BSPL would then be mad to threaten those riders riding in a Nora 92 NDL with exclusion, as has happened this year, as they’d then struggle with rider shortages.

First time I have tried streaming and thought it good value @ £9.99 - I know Glasgow and Edinburgh do this also but more expensive - If this is the way forward for those living away from the track then I would be happy to pay for 3 meetings each week @ £9.99 a pop - Maybe others have ideas about the whole issue? - Getting back to the meeting Leicester much quicker out of the blocks for the first half but a good comeback from Redcar and really good close racing throughout - Pleased that home teams can use a tactical substitute as it made this meeting more exciting for this neutral individual and also in the event of a draw the away team gets a bonus point - Thank you Redcar

To fart?

The prime object of SON is not can fans predict the top three correctly, is to give smaller speedway nations a chance to join a competition. Like it or lump it, that’s what it is about. Someone, or some committee at FIM need sacking. The track was not fit for a world championship event. It was dangerous, riders could have got seriously injured, even contenders in the individual world championship could have got seriously injured meaning they could have missed the last two rounds. Heads should role. It’s no excuse saying they want smaller countries to hold world championship finals, it was dangerous. The track the GPChallenge was held this year was not dangerous but it was a useless racing track not fit for such an important meeting. Very possibly the same person or committee making the decisions.

Poland Denmark Australia Sweden and Britain should be seeded straight to the final let the other nations contest the semi with the top 2 going into the final are is that too simple lol

Hopefully they will announce that they will be scrapping the SoN & this crappy SGP points system.

For anyone who wants to watch paint dry I ve just painted the underneath of my caravan lol

Don't expect those that end up in any "assistance pot" would hang around for the odd booking, so how would they earn more? Likewise how would 6 man teams reduce doubling up/down unless you capped the number per team. If this was introduced would also reduce earnings potential of some of those who rode in both PL & CL, but no longer able to do so.

Could be damp though, all those tears on the night

That can be interpreted in so many ways… He’s not in anyway connected to the federation, but he basically calls the shots at the Kaanaa track and with an impressive catalog of spares and bikes on sale, he has in the past couple of years really become one of the few people that actively push things forward.

Pearson and Tatum will be now saying they have been the best team in the league after spending a few weeks bigging up Wolves,

Would prefer Nicholls at reserve if we can get to the final and face Wolves

Yeah,,, something like that, but think its bridges not necessarily trains. Think I had O D'd on cider last night and was heading off into a different dimension.

We can but we won't. We'll let Wolves take care of Belle Vue.

Leicester and Glasgow can't both get maximum points from remaining matches as Glasgow are racing Leicester on Sunday, I think.it is safe to say that Poole will finish top and it depends what Leicester and Glasgow do in their remaining matches as to who finishes second. Can't see Redcar beating the pirates at wimbourne rd

What a complete load of shyte, it’s not hard to see why their is no one there. We watched the first 6 heats and that was more than enough, as someone said watching paint dry is better.

Yeah but it's not working and the Clerk of the course is not independent.

Yep, there's definitely a frequency bias. I saw a lot more of Shawn Moran race than I saw of Kelly Moran and I always find it a little surprising that plenty rate Kelly higher of the two.

Maybe. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....and tbh, I am utterly biased in this discussion having grown up watching Mort at Hyde Road. His World Final record is shocking. No arguments on that front. But doesn't really fairly reflect where he was at. Not many riders have a CV like this... World Pairs winner (as top scorer) World Team Cup winner (as top scorer) Intercontinental winner BLRC winner British Final winner 9 times in BL top 10 averages (six times with a 10+ average) 2nd most capped England rider ever, over 100 Seven times World Finalist note: I'd also say that all of the above where achieved when there was no dilution in quality in those events, which came later on Like Mort, I don't think you could ever say that there was a year when Adams, Crump, Moran or Knudsen were the best in the world. But his CV is at least comparable and arguably better than most of those names. And it's certainly better than Ashby or Schwartz.

Links for today`s 1st semi - live on BT Sport 2 programme starts 4.45pm 1st race 5pm http://kergel.ucoz.lv/ http://www.maniak.tv/mk5 http://www.drhtv.com.pl/drhtv-2.html http://assia.org/live/mix-sport6/?lang=pl https://daddylive.me/stream/stream-73.php

Yeah the 2nd part of the paragraph

Is this the same promoter who was involved with is before? Or is there another former peterborough promoter who has redcar ties?

Ok, maybe greed and envy then, whatever makes the pie thicker.

Yep Cook is the obvious choice at home. It's away that is the conundrum.

You Peterborough supporters need to have some confidence you ve got Sheffield and kings Lynn at home if you don’t win both you don’t deserve to be champions when you pick Sheffield in the play offs it might be better if you had a bye and save us all some money lol

He probably wouldn't get a license off the BSPL.

Having observed how Godfrey's mind works over the last few years, he'd have probably gone with the results between the two teams... you beat them 52-38 at your place and they beat you 54-36 at the EWR. Ergo, Scunny qualify having scored more points over the two matches this year. However, that wasn't needed, so well done. Hope we can join you in the playoffs.

Used to be one of the highlights of the season when it was the SWC. But I guess it just shows the lack of depth in the sport these days A lot of these riders shouldn’t be anywhere near a world final unless they are in civvies, rather than kevlars But as I said, maybe for the lesser places it can provide some good racing

Practice makes perfect. This was before the accident.?

With Harris, Worrall and Masters riding hard, fast and high into the airfence last night, it just proves Redcars stand off last week was unjustifiable.

Going back to the Poles, they're very lucky that their "councils" and people have always supported the sport, if they had things against them that we do it might be a different story. Our promotions have had to fight for themselves to keep their clubs going to a certain extent. As crowds have fallen, riders have chosen not to race in the UK etc so their job has gotten even more difficult. They have always tried to keep teams even, unlike Poland! hence the need for the complicated rules, Poland have never needed such rules, it's a free for all over there apart from the Polish Under 21 rider rules? Their clubs have often done the dirty on the riders by not paying them of course, so it hasn't always been professional!

Yes there was an Ian Scott who was a good player for Town in early 1990's....guessing it's the same 'Scotty' then. And yes he did sign for Leeds Rhinos, wish he hadn't though ha, ha. Re the Ian Thomas/Geoff Brownhutt intro of Speedway to Derwent Park in April 1970 I have read of that attendance being anywhere between 4 and 6 thousand......I remember the queue being massive....I know exactly which 'pipe over the river' you say was used to get a freebie....never used it myself though...honestly. Also on bend three people used ladders and planks outside fence to watch for nowt every meeting....the fence was raised to counteract this....but they just brought longer ladders... the evidence of those freeby folks escapades is still visible to this day....sadly no speedway for them.

JK`s excellent SON semi`s racecards Friday semi 1 https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2021/SoN2021-1.pdf Saturday semi 2 https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2021/SoN2021-2.pdf

Derek Timms once told me about a rider who gave his engine to someone claiming to be a tuner. It was a set up by some of his team mates as he was constantly moaning about his bike. The "tuner" did nothing more than polish the casings, cylinder and barrel so the engine had a mirror finish. The guy fell for it and claimed it was a lot faster than it was before!

Thanks Martin for the information - Deflating way to lose out on the title - Thankfully cars and vans much more reliable these days - Back then a lot of the guys would put the bike in a frame on the back of the car - Remember seeng Bobby Beaton and Graham back in the day, not sure about Frank - I had the great pleasure of meeting Ivan when I was down at Lydd in 2000 - I would go there with one of my sons on sundays for his practise and racing and like most fathers did we helped out on the track by track grading, carrying red flags, painting the boards etc - On one occasion I was track raking at speed and someone shouted ‘Ivan’s here’ and everything stopped and I thought what is going on - we all walked back to the pits and there he was - the great man - apparently he knew the club patron and had asked to come along and see us all - Ivan started talking to us but I think pretty much everyone was starstruck so I thought it best to interact with him and it seemed to put him at ease and afterwards ( and I will never forget this) he came walking across to me with his arm outstretched to shake my hand - it just seemed unreal - and we spoke one to one and I apologised for booing him years before which made my friends laugh but he laughed and then kindly said he took all the boos as a mark of respect - He was the consummate professional with immaculate leathers and bikes - a great man - Lovely to be able to share the story -

It's not even close. Bristol, Milton Keynes, Reading & Torquay United are all awaiting a new stadium from Mr Osbourne as promised. At least the new Swindon stadium is built & safe in storage at a Unicorn farm in Wales