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If Glasgow want Craig Cook which I’m sure they will then Glasgow would be his first choice , if on the other hand we don’t offer Cookie a contact for next season then I wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to Edinburgh. I personally think he will be our number 1 again next season , as for Jenga on a fishing trip he couldn’t catch a bite at a fish farm with a trawler net.

Don't come and watch them then

How do we know that its been 'very successful' on IOW, other than by their own generated publicity? No criticism - Just asking!!

I think any crowd increases would be led by the 2nd Division clubs who basically had 1st Division riders which must have encouraged a few extra to go... Unfortunatley having no clear demarcation between the leagues is one of its major issues that hold it back, and Div 2 teams are not likely to accept their "real place" in the peckng order any time soon I would suggest.. Hence RS's have been disbanded already in Div 2... The RS plan was a laudible one, but clearly should have been aimed at 2nd Div teams so any 3rd Div riders could progress into those places.. And going back to those "increased crowds"... The sport lost Eastbourne, and almost Newcastle, whilst Birmingham took a sabbatical mid season and there isnt any guarantee they will be back this season.. Add to that the start of "Go Fund Me" pages and I would suggest the sport still faces serious challenges, which, as has been shown for a long, long, time, the approach they use in running it, wont ever solve..

Demographic information on viewers/crowd is only good if the figures are helpful. Based on my first hand experience as Advertising Sales Director of the then broadcast partner (which is over 15 years ago) speedway fans are to old, to male, to poor and come from the wrong socio-econimic profile to be attractive to most advertisers. By comparison and based on 2019 broadcast information the average netball viewer is 30 years younger, and earns twice as much as a speedway viewer. Where Demographic information would be helpful is in developing the product to attract a younger more affluent audience which will be more attractive to commercial partners within the stadium.

His golf swing suggests there is absolutely nothing wrong with his shoulder…

The same could be said for the vast majority of the UK population.

Broke a collarbone on 13 June 2019. Seeing as everyone missed the 2020 season, I doubt he'd get a reduction. He was also New Zealand Champion in 2020, so rode that year anyway.

I think there has been plenty of thought put into this team, they've built it to always have a strong reserve, they went out and signed the best visiting rider from last season and they've brought a rider back to the UK who has been absent for a few seasons. And in those two they have signed two all action riders to increase the liklihood of good racing. There is obviously once again a strict budget but certainly no lack of thought, the question as always is will the riders be good enough. On paper we probably look 6th best but much closer to the other teams than last year when we started with massive risks in Bridger, Proctor and Kinsley. No reason if things click that we can't get into the Play Offs and from there who knows?

@Sings4Speedway In 2021 there was only 1 meeting all season at BP that started with BOTH teams having their declared 1-7 which was Scunthorpe in KOC 12/6/21 but it didn’t finish 7 v 7 because Josh Auty had a season ending crash with Dan Thompson & was withdrawn from the meeting. In total Leicester used 4 guests & used R/R 2 times . Opponents used 15 guests & R/R 6 times . Leicester started 9 home meetings with their declared 1-7 The only team to have their declared 1-7 start a meeting was Scunthorpe in the above mentioned KOC match. So at Leicester there was 19 guests used in total with R/R being used 8 times.

A lot of Sheffield fans wanted Pickering back, he scored well at Lynn last season and I imagine Sheffield would have probably wanted him back. Team is solid compared to last year, i think the team could lineup with the top 7 GP riders and you still would find something to complain about.

Very chicken and egg though Martin. No tracks no riders no riders no tracks what came first?

Not sure what the costs will be...but IF they run, I think £20 plus a free programme would be a reasonable shout to me. I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion/s. I'd also like to see some changes to the rules, especially the movement at the start ? (I know it's not going to happen/change...) But allowing movement at the start adds to the excitement IMO....giving the 'lesser' rider a chance to anticipate a rolling start makes for a better race, especially when the more skilled/quicker rider has to chase....also, it would even out the gate advantage...especially when gate 1, or 4 has a clear head start...... Racing is far too processional and this only adds to the monotony of a lot of speedway meetings. I asked a friend of mine if he ever watches speedway on Sky/BT and he said no, simply becoz 9 times out of 10, 'first one to the corner' usually wins.... 'WE' (speedway fans) know that this isnt true, but it's easy to see why 'NON' speedway fans would assume/think this IMO.

Particularly with all those road works around the stadium. Definitely deterred me from visiting last year.

Hamlet? Sandi Toksvig?

If Belle Vue, one of the best tracks in the world can't pull in the punters, what hope is there for the rest.

Plus promoters spend that much on riders and rent there’s then no cash for advertising and presentation. The final two are what generally contribute getting people through the turnstiles.

I would imagine the vast majority of residents in Birmingham and the surrounding catchment area have no idea that it exists

Agree,plus you are just seeing the same riders most weeks riding or guesting for other Teams.Pick and Choose is probably the best option.

Don't think so; Cook is bargain basement. Heat leaders are Holder, Ellis and Musielek.

Totally agree.The final averages should have been published a month ago.

Whilst central park seems gone for now, it does seem like there is a distinct possibility of retaining a National League side running out of Iwade. Hopefully if the venture comes off it gets the support to make the club viable and potentially keep the door open to a central park return in the higher leagues in the future.

Interesting reading about several riders have not been paid for matches ridden in for Birmingham during the 2021 season. Surely these riders deserve payment, be it from the bond with the SCB/BSPA or sale of assets (if any) left at Birmingham prior to any proposed sale of the club. Very disappointed that this is still occurring and hopefully every rider at both Birmingham and Eastbourne get their due monies before Christmas. We all live and hope!

He should be I’m guessing because he rode in the national league for Eastbourne ..

Take it from me it a huge success I visited it this year and there more fans there than what was at Birmingham on the following Wednesday, and the handicapping made excellent racing

Full meeting Grand Prix Qualifier from Glasgow 2021.

Yes, that is true we didn't really 'need' to give him extra rides apart from at Edinburgh.

None have a team at the mo. All have a go. 1 DOUGLAS 8.31 2 PACO 5.52 3 THOMAS 5.72 4 SHANES 5.01 5 AUTY 7.34 6 ROYNON 5.21 7 RUML 4.00

Interesting. I went to the England Training Centre at St George's Park, just over the road, before lockdown and went to have a look but it was all barricaded off with concrete blocks preventing access. Looking at Street View in January of this year though it seems accessible again. I literally passed through just a few villages en route, but that was from the M1 so maybe a bigger potential fan base to the west.

Clubs will do better with streaming their own meetings. The only way to do this and make a profit is for it to be in house with volunteers. Expenses then would be very, very small. £12.95 for a stream. Buy 4 streams get 10% discount. £46.62. Plus access to watch online indefinitely.

The camera work at times was very shoddy and please split Tatum & Pearson up! They're like 2 squabbling school kids! Graphics were back to front for one meeting, aven't they got the technology to correct during the meeting? Graphics are very old school with a 2D picture and small writing! Where's a big impact face/body scan image with big impact letter fonts! Even the cricket as a quacking duck with it's bat walking across the screen when someone is out for a duck!! Yep, crap!

So now your saying Kildemand is the only 'outside the box' signing.Is that the only positive signing then in your book? Although i wasn't too pleased when Jorgensen signed,primarily because his scores away are awful.But he is good to watch at home.Kildemand imo opinion is another rider who i like to see race as he is all effort.And after watching Pickering last year another similar rider.Those 3 alone should make the speedway worth watching around Lynn. Do you know Pickering and Worrall had no other options apart from Lynn?I don't know whether you do. You still have this beef with King's Lynn like you have for several years. I don't agree with everything Lynn or the management do,but i don't disagree with pretty much everything they do like you because you have a grudge.

Think the BSPL don’t really care what any fans think.Everything is rosy to them.

Agree but let's hope the track allows them to.

See changed ticketing partners, maximum refund timescale for postponements down to 7 days from 28. Good to see promotion listened on that front

Tell that to newcsstle

Just a theory: Is it possible Ipswich have been told by the BSPL that if you want to class Anders Rowe as your RS, that you have to subtract 1.5 from the team limit of 39 due to him obtaining an offical premiership average this season ,was this a compromise for an agreement to be made , ?

I've placed them 6th as they have no riders currently!

Value for money rider & character, very popular with the crowd @ Plymouth & Poole.

See what you've done there

Oxford

Maybe they are low income, unemployed. I'm not rich but food on the table or a night's speedway, I would 1 million percent, go for food. These people, who keep saying clubs will die if you don't attend, get in the real world £40 for speedway or feed a family for a week, it's a no brainer really aint it

Yes I've been invited on many occasions I dare say the price will be going up another pound next season. I see if you get a season ticket,,, it's another 25 for a seat.

Probably not gonna win the league but it’s definitely a more exciting team than last year’s debacle

The amusing part is Poole fans saying he's available if we need to make changes during the season. Like he's just sitting about with no offers and will turns down money on the off chance Poole need him. Absolutely priceless

Tbh given cook could’ve been fit in place of any of Heeps riss and batch it’s a pretty damning indictment of his up and down form and effort last year, cookie at his best a few years back undoubtedly a class rider - can he get his right again to be consistent at a higher level Louis obviously didn’t seem him worth another gamble

Going by facebook after Sheffield announced their team last night i thought you already had Dan

I'd rather take a gamble on Cook,, any day of the week

He would loose you 4 meetings at Ipswich and Wolves for starter's as has no technical skills just a throttle jockey.

Breaking News** Si Kellow, the new promoter confirms Kent will be racing at Iwade in the NDL in 2022 via Facebook. Some will point out its a massive step backwards from where we were a few months ago, to those I say it's a massive step forward from where we were yesterday.. League Speedway in Kent lives on.