Leaderboard

It was the right call, the forecast was horrendous. Anyway it’s raining in Alwalton now, not a lot, but it is raining. Riders often have a rain off guarantee written into their contracts (if they’re smart ) to cover any wasted travel costs should they arrive in the country before a meeting is postponed. It used to be (not sure if it still is) that if you call a meeting off post midday you still had to pay rent to the Showground. It can be very expensive to call a meeting off after midday. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

The hindsight weather forecasters will be disappointed to learn that it’s been chucking it down in Alwalton since 7:30pm.

The Poles have it right. Ring fencing their bottom two positions for U21 riders.. And that is in their top league as well as others.. The 2nd and 3rd tier over here should do the same with the top league, given a so called lack of riders, running six man teams of "established" riders Meaning a glide path to follow for the GB U21 riders into the top tier, and some surplus "established" riders for Div 1 replacements... Those "special U21 talents" eg Dan Bewley, could just simply be a Div 1 rider, which would also free up a place for "lesser lights" in lower leagues..

Reading what everyone is posting is very interesting how ironic that the club that has done this to a young English talent who was very good against my team last Tuesday is run by the person who is the chairman of British speedway I feel sorry for joe Thompson I really do.

Like you say they will be at the “Top Table” dominating the sport for many years to come.When you look at the Multinational and Conglomerates sponsorship involved in the backing of the sport other Countries have very little chance of competing financially at the top of the sport,and they are making sure that the best riders will be there in the future.When you see the presentation and the Media coverage they involve in EVERY meeting you can see why.Very Professional.Some of the racing might not be any better than GB,but the credibility is there to see.

You would like to think that it was also the "common sense" way of doing it.. Putting young lads up against some of the World's Top 10 without giving them the safety net of not being dropped is ludicrous to be honest.. Putting career pressure on young lads to score points against the likes of Doyle, Emil, Bewley, Fricke, and Holder simply helps no one, neither team, nor individual, nor watching fans.... I often hear Promoters bemoaning all the advantages the Poles have re their continued "conveyor belt of talent", and I get that owning their own tracks and/or having access to them at anytime is an advantage... But I can pretty much guarantee that if four U21 lads rode at 6 and 7 in every single 2nd and 3rd tier meeting that took place over here, with 3 rides a meeting each guaranteed like the Poles do, you would have a much larger "conveyor belt of talent" over here.. You could even add to the "ring fenced mix", those aged 21+ riders who are "newbies" to the sport, as some of top riders down the years didnt start riding Speedway till well into their 20's.. I thought the Covid break would have given those who run the sport a huge opportunity to implement the radical change in operating model that is so clearly required... Sadly they passed up the chance to move the sport forward long term, just like the promoters did when the Sky money was just used in the main to pay for GP riders, rather than increasing the awareness of the sport through marketing, and setting up a proper development programme for young riders.. Ring fencing four U21 lads per meeting to take a minimum collective 12 rides out of the 60 on offer, just may, (will), unearth GB riders to fill places in 1 to 5's down the line in the 3rd and 2nd tier's at the least.. And it also wont throw them in at the deep end without arm bands to help them float like currently can happen..

The Poole leg is still in the fixture list but Leicester need to sort out a new date for theirs. This feels familiar from last season!

Great post and is totally the right way to go

Don’t know why they would drop Thompson a promising young Brit to accommodate Clegg a journeyman reserve who has been round the block a few times.That’s GB Speedway though,all these so called training days then nothing at the end for the youngsters.The up and coming talent will be heading for Poland like the young Aussies,and giving the GB a miss in the future.

Call it off

Me to so the younger lads get to compete against there piers . Sport really missed a trick in 21 after Covid should have made huge changes for the future but sadly didn't. Never mind though we can always get a 27 year old Aussie in the NDL on a 3 point average and support it

The club is clearly following The Four Stage Strategy as explained in the first episode of Yes, Prime Minister - we're at 3.5 now: In stage one we say “nothing is going to happen” In stage two we say “something may be going to happen but we should do nothing about it” In stage three we say “maybe we should do something about it, but there’s nothing we can do” In stage four we say “maybe there’s something we could have done, but it’s too late now”

Unlucky but don’t think it would have made much difference to be honest.Alcock talks a good story but doesn’t produce.

Get cleggy back,guaranteed double figures every meeting and pairs up superb with Ben.

Good stuff but,,, it fell down in the first sentence, ("common sense").

Anyone else bored of the silence from the club now, no number 1, everyone saying we need to start kicking up a stink regarding show ground re development but the club haven’t even said anything about what exactly they want the public/fans help with regarding this. If they want to tackle it on their own that’s fair enough but at least say something ! We’ve got to the end of this week to get a number 1 or the season is all but done, I know we will keep getting a facility for nicki blah blah but surely you want a team of 7 and not 6 plus who ever is available on the night, it’s getting pathetic now

Which is the wrong way to do it and makes it look like a load of points have gone missing. If a rider is ineligible and wins three races, your penalising the rider who finishes second each time when actually he’s WON the races and you’ve taken 3 points off him. Just ignore anything the ineligible rider scores and promote up each rider behind him, simples ! or even better….don’t use an ineligible rider ! Theres a reason the MDL is virtually dead and the NJL has been running for 13 consecutive years, get with the times, get 125 kids involved, there’s so many about now the BYC class is having to be split into separate rounds !

The forecast has been wrong most of the last 2-3 weeks. It was a guess

The thing is the changes we talk about are easy to implement, but nothing will happen until the ppl tht run the sport change sadly.

I do..but not as much as I used to when I see such lack of effort leading us..

I believe Bobby Schwartz is still racing in America

There's probably not more than 25,000 semi-regular speedway fans in Britain nowadays, and that's being generous. There's an ever diminishing number who 'used to go' - the Cardiff GP would suggest 10-15k, plus a properly promoted Wembley might get the interest of a few thousand new spectators willing to give it a go. I'd agree London is much more accessible and arguably more attractive to foreign fans, so you'd probably also pick up a fair few more there too. But I don't realistically think you'd get more than 50k, maybe 60k absolute tops. I'd agree with you about the air of hostility in Wales. I don't want to over-generalise as I go to Wales a lot and only once have directly experienced any issues, but there does seem to be an underlying air of menace in even small towns there. I don't think it's particularly directed at the English because the local youth mostly seem to want to abuse each other.

As well as the risk of a reduced crowd I expect clubs/promotions don't want to risk flying riders over for a rain off and the costs incurred by that. These early decisions are becoming more and more common and I'm pretty sure it's all about costs.

Proctor out and Joe Thompson in

Admission prices for the meeting on Saturday 13th May. CASH only if paying at the gate on the day. Adults £13.00 (18 and over) Child £1.00 (over 5) Child FREE (under 5) Family £25.00 (2 Adults + 3 Children MAX) Children MUST be accompanied by an adult

I'm gradually losing complete interest in a sport I used to love. I think the surface of our track can't absorb much water now that Chapman has put all that crap on. Proper shale drains much better, but of course that's more expensive. Enough said!

I didn't think you cared

I think there is potential for a big crowd to attend a Wembley GP, on the following basis: 1. London is easier to get to for most people than Cardiff 2. International fans can easily fly into London. Cardiff airport, surely, has limited destinations 3. London has more tourist appeal (in my opinion) than Cardiff 4. I have only attended Cardiff once, the first, and when I left the stadium, walking through Cardiff, some Welsh men seemed quite hostile. I was with my wife and felt a bit threatened, although nothing happened. Yes, that could happen in Wembley, but in my opinion, unlikely 5. Wembley stadium must carry more prestige than Cardiff's 6. I'm sure the riders would love to be able to say, they have ridden in Wembley stadium 7. With good marketing, I reckon it could at least equal 1981's gate. I won't be going to Cardiff again, but I would definitely go to Wembley!

David Howe didn’t actually

They’d bank on losing less money from doing double headers rather than stand alone NL meetings, but set the price so high that it put people off attending anyways, imo.

I’m not against an early call off based on a weather forecast, but again, at least wait until the morning of the meeting to get a much more accurate forecast. Are we now at a stage where we’re all accepting and happy for meetings being postponed more than 24 hours in advance based on a ropey forecast? Never used to happen.

Roads from Helsinki to Varkaus are excellent, and generally quiet, but there are speed cameras everywhere, and Finns know to their cost that the speed limits must be adhered to. If the limit is 100km/h and you are caught doing 101km/h, you will be charged. Fines are related to income, so the richer you are, the more you are hammered.

Yes, I wouldn't have thought so. Not in England. Not among some English men.

Yes must be.

It rained for most of the morning (not heavy, but constant light rain). It stopped about 1-00. If the meeting had been scheduled for tonight, it might have had a chance, but not for a lunchtime meeting.

Hans Andersen Ben Barker Chris Harris Niels Kristian Iversen Krzysztof Kasprzak Danny King Simon Lambert Adam Roynon Rory Schlein Charles Wright James Wright Matej Zagar Probably quite a few more too

Only other sales are pre purchased season tickets at this stage.

Promotion needs to sign up and coming riders not ones that’s on the downhill slope.Sorry but Proctor, Wright, Pearson and possibly Nielsen need to go. A total muck out needed.

This one million percent

Swiningham??

I'm sure I'm right in saying that Sir Authur was quoted to say that as long as he was alive there would always be a place for Speedway at Wembley? If I recall he died whilst on a cruise?

In the "Good Old Days" speedway was the main sport at Wembley when I think I'm right in saying that other than the FA Cup Final and a couple of internationals Football was very much in the minority? Didn't the England national football team often play their games at other grounds?

2 massive meetings at home for the Bandits, within the next 10 weeks, let’s hope he’s okay.

How can you possibly comment when you have no idea what it's like to follow a club that has been run into the ground by a guy who runs our rivals and don't give a crap..ooh let's all be positive because Ianb says so!

Every time there is a rain-off or a threatened rain-off, the subject of track covers comes up. Yes, using track covers can save a meeting sometimes, but unfortunately, people just won't come out when the weather is doubtful, so would it be worthwhile spending time and money laying covers and saving a threatened meeting, if the turnout was going to be poor?

I'd blame Plymouth personally! It is how they used the system last year which is why it has become more strict.

Heard it arrived but they couldn't find a left handed screwdriver so couldn't fit it ....

I'm not sure what you mean. If a temporary track can be laid in Cardiff, why not Wembley? I know people say the Cardiff track is not a proper racers track, as it is temporary, but that would be the same for Wembley. It would be an opportunity to have speedway staged in the most prestigeous stadium in the UK!

Andrew Bain, a local business man. More details here: A talk with Andrew Bain – Workington Comets Speedway

A true legend...brilliant stuff!