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This is a fair comment...although, may be its my age, but I'd rather see us lose 46-44, than see us win 75 -15, providing it was close/exciting racing..... No disrespect intended, but I don't think Poole supporters would settle for this mentality, simply because they are used to winning.....and we're not! We've won nothing worth mentioning since 1974 IMO and even then it was only division 2. As I've got older, it's not about the money, it's about time becoming more precious and wasting a Wednesday evening. So far, the team looks steady, but we do need a number 1, even if only to draw the neutral in every now and then.

Whatever team they have i am sure Mark Lemon can find a way to not win the league!

I here Edinburgh are willing to loan us Willie Lawson dad for free.

The local councillor (Green Party) is fully up to speed with developments at The Showground, I have had many conversations with her on this subject. She is adamant that the future of the Speedway Club must be assured, either at its existing location or elsewhere and that this must be a part of any development plans, I also understand the full council generally also supports this. She attended a fixture last year at The Showground for the first time and loved it. Additionally I understand the plan for 1600 houses is merely bluster, and has no chance of progressing as the infrastructure of roads, schools and health services could not currently support such a development. In short, she is on the case and will vehemently fight the Panthers corner. I should also add that I have put Buster in touch with the councillor and I believe they have spoken.

It would be excellent if British racing can get Tai back in the league for the full season and hopefully additional sponsorship can be found to make the deal happen. Tai and his family are having a new custom built house built at present in the UK as his daughter is due to start school in September so he will be UK based when he can. My understanding is that Tai did let Wolves know of his intentions to return to UK and what sort of deal he was looking for, They decided against it as did another Northern PL club but BV believe that they can raise some additional sponsorship and that he would attract extra fans . BV fits in well to Tai’s schedule as can fly in on Monday from Wrocław his UK full time mechanic is based in North Derbyshire so close by as well

For what it's worth as Glasgow fan whose watched great successes and dire failure I have tbh and say the most enjoyable days and exciting racing was probably during the dire failure. In the magical years of the double double 93/94, whilst being successful was great the racing at shawfield was pretty average at best. Most teams were beaten before they showed and cricket scores were the norm. Bowes and Lyons were always good to watch but most meetings were over by heat 8. Similar in 2011 most home matches were a walkover with the off bit of entertainment from screeny, Josh G and some erratic riding by nick Morris. However, the years in-between were probably the best racing I'd seen, watching Les Collins, Mick Powell, Jimmy greives, Shane Parker and George stancl was a pleasure and some of the moves by messrs Parker and Collins had to be seen to be believed. And although never finished much in the top half giving the so-called fancied teams a bloody nose in a last heat decider was as good a feeling as you can get. Now there were a few spankings along the way, Swindon scoring 60 springs to mind, but we were still back the next week for more. Hopefully Birmingham fans can have that feeling this season even if it's not to be a successful season in terms of trophies

Well there wasn't a problem in the early 60's and the formation of the Provincial League, when there were loads of 50's riders swinging their leg over a bike to ride again.

Not really brum have signed some entertaining riders so far and you get to watch the opposition who will also provide some good riders,at Plymouth last season we finished 2nd to bottom and I enjoyed every meeting.

Title contenders if he was too come back.

No idea where this rubbish about tai has come from. Absolutely no chance tai will be riding in the UK. Do you really think he’ll risk himself riding against very inexperienced riders? He has had some nasty injuries over the last few years wouldn’t be surprised if he just does Poland next year

Mort and Gordon’s efforts over a period of years were enormous. The way they were treated was disgraceful.

Definitely Mike Bessent. Born 28/01/55 - Died 11/06/21 of a brain tumour. British Clubs: Crewe (1974) Eastbourne (1975) Crayford (1977) Year..Club..Meetings..Rides..Points..Bonus..Average..Maxima 1974..Crewe..1..2..0..0..0.00 1975..Eastbourne..3..7..7..1..4.57 1977..Crayford..30..91..72..23..4.18 Was married to Wendy. Had daughters Katy and Hayley and a grandson. The two people on the programme are wife Wendy and daughter Hayley.

Why are you posting something from 2020 ?

I hear you. As odd as it sounds i enjoyed watching the dire belle vue teams of the early 2000s. Lyons and Laukkanen were bankers around Kirky Lane and then it was a nervous wait to see if Karger could manage four laps before falling or if andy smith, glenn cunningham, kev doolan or neil collins could chip in at all. After the Peter Nahlin debacle the few home wins belle vue managed in 2000 in the end were brilliant to watch

Would be good for all clubs,,, as surely it would put extra bums on seats when he visits

Unfortunately that's the flip side of signing three number ones. For me Kemp has more natural ability and potential than Hume and possibly Nielsen but he needs to start fulfilling it, moving to Wolves and Poole might be the catalyst he needs. I actually think the Cooks look more vulnerable than the reserves, a lot of pressure on them as second strings. I expect changes will be made during during the season as often happens but on paper this ain't a league winning team

The Provincial league was a pirate league set up in 1960 by a string of promoters with Mike Parker and Reg Fearman plus others. The then British League was struggling, but it was the league that was recognised by national and international organisations. The situation came to an impasse in about 1964/5 when Lord Shawcross was appointed by the RAC to furnish a settlement which resulted in one British League, with all teams to be built to the strength of the winners of the Provincial League in 1964 which was an Ivan Mauger led Newcastle team.

A few well respected pundits north of the border plus some Edinburgh fans would have liked to see Drew stay with the Monarchs, so you may be surprised.

wasn't a problem 68/69 either

I am not quite old enough, but I believe the 'Provincial league' was a 2nd or maybe 3rd division league? I was speaking to a friend of mine recently, who keeps up to date with non-league speedway stuff and it appears there are many non-league riders looking to ride. Yes, many 'wobblers', many up-righters, which might mean some 'old boys', but they are out there. I think speedway needs to look 'outside the box'!

I barely missed a meeting at Arena Essex in the first eight years it ran and the season I enjoyed the most was when they finished second from bottom as every match was very close score wise although sadly too often the Hammers snatched defeat out of victory. For close matches it is much better to have a team in the lower half of the league.

It's actually interesting Or I'm sad lol

"A touch more"??? What do you earn a week for not putting life & limb on the line? To make it worthwhile, how about the following calculation? An above average start point, say £35,000 Plus £500 x number of meetings = £15,000 minimum (based on 30 meetings) Thus, would you expect any rider to look to earn less than £50,000 to make just taking part worthwhile for them? Any less than that, and a career as a plumber or a bricklayer would make much more financial sense.

With the Kent connection already at Oxford I'd take a stab mulford going there?

I witnessed the hard work Mort put into selling bricks at Cardiff IMO there would be no NSS without his efforts ,I can't understand why he is not involved in some way in the sport now .I have read all that went on but firmly believe that he acted in good faith and in the best interest of the whole project ,IMO he is one of the all time greats of British s/way and has been treated appalingly .His name being honoured somewhere in the NSS is the least that could be done .

Think you will find max is 15 in July not 16 please do your home work ...

Last years news

What about Jim Airey as a stylist-my nomination for the most UNSTYLISH has to be Clive Featherby

Mike Sampson rode from 1971-82 so doesn't fit the narrow time frame. It could just be a junior. Mike Bessent. He had 1 match with Crewe in 1974. 3 matches for Eastbourne 1975 and 30 matches for Crayford in 1977. He died in 2021.

Also on Kemp perhaps some forget he won 2 races in the KOC semi at Poole where he beat Basso in 2 races. Paid 9 from 6 races pretty good considering he scored 6 in his first 3 rides (both wins). Also he scored 6 paid 7 in his first 3 rides in the first leg. Again he beat Basso so that was 3 times he beat Basso over the 2 meetings. Maybe Danny/Matt saw something in those meetings alone irrespective of him being still a promising young rider. Not everyone matures at the same level. The fact he has been signed also by Wolves and in POL (Gdansk in Lge 1 as an U24 rider) means that potential is still big in many eyes. As I finish, looking at some of those last meetings he also scored 9 from 5 rides against Glasgow and 8 plus 1 from his first 4 rides also in another late meeting V Glasgow. Add in a 9 plus 3 bonus from 5 rides against Redcar. For sure October looked a decent month for Kemp. If he can continue in that form I think Poole have a decent signing and let's not forget he was only 19 in August, so still plenty of time on his side. For sure he needs to improve at tracks like Glasgow but its important we win our home matches and keep where possible within 6 points in the away matches where possible. Hopefully with some wins at the weaker teams.

Would absolutely agree with that.....Lynn dominated the PL as it was at various times between 2005 and 2009 with two trebles and two cup doubles but home meetings were rarely thrilling. However in the eighties and early nineties when we were crap most of the time some of the racing was brilliant and winning meetings was such a great feeling as it didn't happen every week.

The Poole side seems a similar build to our team last season. The 3 heat leaders and the Cook brothers chipping in with 4/5 each should win you most matches. I can understand the doubts with Drew as sometimes he can struggle but trust me, you will not be disappointed. He’s a great young lad with a lot of talent, hopefully he can find some consistency this season and push on.

It was acceptable

Yes you are right about the return of the Dons venture, I remember him saying the same thing to me.......and you could well be right about modern Speedway...we both did have a few "beefs" with it at the time.

I'll say it again - its not how you start its how you finish!! We didn't get Basso til end August in 2021 but still did pretty well prior to that. I would wager that the Fords have their eye on someone similar to bring in if required mid-season - in any case it keeps the starting 1-7 on their toes - whoever they maybe?

I'm not sure about Kemp. When he started he looked like the next British superstar & at 15/16 he was head & shoulders above those of the same age range. As he has got older his progress has slowed & in my opinion last season went backwards. I wonder if he has reached his potential & now is in a position where he is beaten before the tapes rise. This season at Wolves he will be with one of his biggest rivals in Leon Flint so maybe they can draw the best out of each other.

Max Perry announced this morning.

Yeah don’t think that would happen. I’m surprised Glasgow haven’t put together a development side, would only be good for speedway. He did indeed, was very impressed that day he has come on massively this season.

Trousers, shirt & waistcoat

I paid good money last year and only Harris and maybe paco on his day turned up, waste of my fuel and evening. So hopefully big names won’t ruin them this time around

That's what I was trying to politely hint at. Surprises me that Leicester couldn't find a 3 pointer of at least equal standard closer to the Midlands.

You may need more shale than last season when you make the track bigger to accommodate the soccer pitch,allegedly this is what's being planned

I've got a BSPA rule book..... but I think it's well beyond repair!

Both items have been quoted in copies of the Speedway Star dated Dec 18 & Dec 25 in Mr Oakes pages. I remember Lloyd Goffe he had a motor cycle shop in Berkshire I belive in Twyford just outside Reading it was very popular with the whizz kids of the 70s & 80s

One rider, Vic Duggen, did not have his initials for a good reason. He just had Vic on his bib.

Harringay used Initials instead of letters for awhile. I've got Lloyd Goffe's Racers jacket in my collection.

If your'e prepared to say it's not a rumour as it came from a Championship promotion, then i'm afraid as far as i'm concerned then it remains a rumour unless you name the promotion.

I will make a very brief return to clarify some points made here. Yes, I do have a very detailed knowledge of what is going on, having served throughout this saga as an advisor to Steve Ribbons. We have been friends for many years. I have therefore read and advised on all correspondence between the Rye House Action Group, the leaseholders, Carter & Bailey, the land owners, The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the planning authority, East Herts Council and also the SCB. I also supplied information to the public via the Speedway Star and social media. I even trusted this forum to accept the information I was sharing in good faith. Sadly while most responses were intelligent and respectful about our efforts others saw personal vendettas as far more important. At the point where I ceased posting here I also told Steve to 'leave me out of the loop' for some time while I dealt with my own ill-health. After a good break I hope now to resume assisting. I will however keep postings here to an absolute minimum. Here is the current situation: All is on hold until the planning application is heard by the council. We hope that this will not be delayed too much further. We have issued a detailed proposal which would see the speedway track restored and racing resume. This was at the invitation of the kart promoters who even suggested that we might be able to resume racing in time to join the NDL in 2022. They subsequently changed their position to say that our proposal was now to be included in a list of options to be considered after seeing their planning permission granted. Much work has taken place. The stadium and race track have been modified but not irreversibly. We have engaged specialists to assess the way to reinstate and crucially the cost. We do have access to funds that would pay for track reinstatement and entry to the NDL. We have the technical, legal and financial resources to see this project through. Steve is a key player but far from the only. We are not dreamers but sadly right now we are in the hands of the kart promoters. THESE THINGS TAKE TIME. I am not going down the road of this being a starting point for what is too often damaging and ill-informed speculation. Our priorities lie with the job in hand, not satisfying the egos of the darker side of the BSF. Sorry to the decent contributors. Rob McCaffery. (51 year fan)

Paul is so enthusiastic and a tryer, he and his dad work feverishly in the pits if he struggles in a heat and to me fans like that, rather than that aussie trait of looking at their engine, giving up when trailing behind. Just my opinion I know but I'm pleased he's back, and for what it's worth would have kept Jake over Cam and don't start me on Batch

GHT to sponsor the Bullets in 2022