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They could literally have "The Masked Bandit" on parade and get the thousands on the terraces chanting: Take it Off! Take it Off! Take it Off! And then reveal if it's Craig Cook... Or Rider Replacement for the season.

Schroeck: “It was the Bomber (Harris) show. He wanted to make a statement, which is what we expected. When you take him away, it was pretty level between the two teams.” That's an idea for next season. The losing team can request that the opposition's top scorer has their points taken away.

It will be Bomber.. (As always)....😁

that clearly shouldnt have happened but at least morris took ownership of it and admitted he got it wrong

Morally, if everybody knows the rules at the start of the season, then I think it's fine, when the play offs are fiddled at the end of the season that's where things start to get iffy... but don't get me started on all that again!

Ticket sales still seem to be going well, since the one-day options went on sale this morning. Glad I got mine last Friday. Obviously the main grandstand was already a complete sell out last week, but there were one-day tickets for both Friday and Saturday on the back straight standing at 10am this morning. They all appear to have gone now. The temporary East stand still has tickets, but the middle sections have pretty much all gone for Saturday.

Bit awkward when hes going to be team manager at Berwick as well? Cooks probably on another bender. If your team manager is trying to get hold of his number one and he isn't replying to him, surely the only solution is to get rid of him? Regardless of whether replacements are about on not, chances are he will be a no show for Berwick many times this season even if he does say he is starting the season.

Riding in England is completely different to Poland

If that was me winning the 100m title I wouldn't give a toss how I won it as decades of dedicated training and sacrifice had come to fruition.. Empathy for my rival, but delighted none the less.. However, comparing winning an Olympic Gold Medal to a UK Speedway domestic title victory is somewhat ridiculous... One is at the the highest level of sporting achievement, and the other delivers minimal publicity and awareness, hardly any financial rewards, and actively allows you to bring in a "ringer" at the end of a season... However, after a season whereby dozens of qualifying matches for those play offs have had their own "ringers" brought in, it provides perfect synergy for me, and is 100% in keeping with what has gone before... The year after Bomber was parachuted in for TWO different teams in the play offs... Presumably getting a winners medal AND a losers one!!😁

First team meeting for me since Leicester Vs Sheffield in late August 2023, and of course first time back at KL since June 2023. Different perspective standing on turn 4 for the first time. The track was just how the Lynn boys would’ve wanted it, smooth, consistent and the starts ripped. I would like to see a bit more dirt on the track and maybe scratch the outside line to give a bit more grip but Bomber certainly found the pace. His style suits Lynn so well by letting the bike run deep into the corner and turning it hard and getting his wheels in line quicker than anyone else - such a difficult skill. I only wish I could’ve got him over the line when I was there! You can only beat what’s in front of you and I fully expect Lynn to go through after Thursday, but it was great to see them start with a strong win. As so many have said, much bigger tests to come but I really look like the look of this side, I pray it’s finally Lynns year for some silverware, although I fear our ‘friends’ in Suffolk will have a lot to say about that. Final point - Good to see a solid crowd. Whilst the racing wasn’t the best (Bomber aside) winning will keep these crowds going - let’s hope for more of the same next Monday against Belle Vue - reserves will be difference again in that one I hope.

Adams comments about bike set ups, I am no mechanic but just how much of a set up does it need for almost every rider to consistently miss the gate over 15 Heats ?, we are talking professional speedway riders here not some 16 year old just starting out, we know Perry Barr is a gaters track so they need to sort it out for the next home meeting, next Monday would have been ideal to have held the Alan Grahame meeting either as an individual meeting or a team meeting to get some much needed competitive practice in, but what do we have? we have a National Development meeting, someone at Brum needs to get the priorities right.

During the war Uncle Albert!!!

In all honesty you can't win with this meeting. If you have it at the start of the season with a full strength line up, people are moaning that riders haven't even ridden for their club yet and it doesn't feel right and if you have it at the end of the season, riders pull out and people complain.

You could say one or two of those look a bit conservative as well so it’s difficult to make a case for Belle Vue but who knows, early season and first meeting back at home can be unpredictable. Don’t think any of us predicted a win at Belle Vue on Monday let alone such a comfortable one. As I said at the start of this thread I’m always a bit reluctant to be over confident because you could end up looking daft and we all know who’d be on here after the meeting smashing the multi quote button 😁

I don’t think it would be a brazen prediction for say doyle 12 danny 8 adam 8 tom 8 Emil 11 dan 7 jordan 4 they could all struggle like the normally imperious at home belle vue lads did Monday but I don’t think it’s likely

Ipswich arent the only team to suffer misfortune, we lost out in the play offs when Bjerre broke his leg and we couldnt replace him, Kurtz injury at Peterborough and going back farther i can remember Les Collins at Sheffield in a league match and his ef on the last lap cost us a win and hence the title that year. Thats not to say we would have beaten Coventry with Bjerre or Peterborough with Kurtz, we all know who should win meetings games etc but it doesnt always work out as it should, Liverpool v Wimbledon for example if Liverpool had a catalogue of injuries when Dons won the cup people would be saying Liverpool would have won with a full team but they didnt. Ipswich could also have come up short with a full side ef/injury/ exclusion etc. Stop feeling sorry for yourself weve all been there.

Probably none if I’m being honest.

Not sure about the 16/20 point win shouts myself. I think Belle Vue will be smarting after Monday and determined to show that it was just early season gremlins and that there isn’t actually much between the two sides. Not sure they realistically believe they can go through, but they’ll want a fighting performance to prove a point.

Sam Hagon to take all of his programmed rides?

you would choke to death on the bones, unles they fillitt it.

That’s a valid view to hold, however speedway is not alone in its approach. Rugby Union amongst many others adopts play offs to decide on the Premiership Champions. Promotion to the most lucrative league (Premier League) in the world is not decided on merit going to the team who came third in the league but by play offs between third to sixth. Broadcasters will always prefer a play off approach as it creates excitement, draws viewers and creates revenue for them. They also create revenue for those clubs participating.

I don't think your far out there TTT. I'm sure going through with no injuries will be the first thing on Robs mind. But a win will be good for building team spirit also. A couple of points either way for me.

With Brown sauce!

I wouldn’t bother with that low life if I were you. It got a swift block when insulting my better half and saying fans like it when opposition riders get injured. Coupled with his inaccurate posts (trolling) he’s another Ipswich “fan” that needs to be avoided whilst they have their time in the sun

Because Belle Vue were the best team in the play-offs, weren't the strongest team throughout the season, but they didn't have to be. They're probably not gonna be the strongest team this year either, but regardless of injuries, if they win the play-offs then they'd be deserving Champions.

By that logic Zmarzlik shouldn't celebrate winning the world title because he didn't beat Laguta or Sayfutdinov, or we could question why Bewley celebrated so much when he won at Cardiff, when he didn't defeat the best 15 riders in the world!

Not to mention the year when they had to get Robert lambert in.

Everybody knows why you won it last year. You’ll need to jump on someone else’s poor luck again this time otherwise you won’t stand a cat in hells chance.

So students get in for £12.00 but no concessions for pensioners , Were these prices worked out by Rachael Reeves by any chance???..

So pleased to see Dan Thompson going well, I would have liked him at poole this year but unfortunately we got Kerr, big mistake in my view.

Since it opened in 2016 you’ve lost three opening meetings at home and won 5 including last year against Sheffield. That isn’t doing what you “do most” is it?

While it's a great start for Lynn, Oxford won't be their toughest opponents this season & it'll be harder once Harris isn't at reserve. But whoever replaces him at reserve should also do well (but not scoring maximums). But after 5 poor seasons, Lynn fans must be feeling more positive than they have for some time.

For Lynn to have a successful season, then they need to be prepared to drop Boughen from races when he's done no wrong. While it may seem harsh, no point in having a powerhouse reserve if he doesn't get extra rides. So far the TM got it spot on. If the aggregate points are already won or lost before heat 14s, give Boughen his 4th ride then.

Next street next to stadium 2 min walk to stadium 👍

It is on the belle vue speeedway website with all the premiership tickets

Just booked the train on Friday from Hexham to Manchester and return on the Monday £45.00 for 2 people.Save Our Future in Space lol

Based on your post then you simply don't like speedway.

Pints on Sunday and thirsty Thursdays

I suspect that a lot of speedway fans are approaching the age where they start to consider their bucket list. I am personally, & this event is on mine. To be worrying about bus times to the stadium is a bit of a mystery to me. We will order a taxi to the stadium, & get one after the meeting to the city centre.

Cardiff had to go because the crowds had dropped off so much. Speaking to my old man who went most years after Newport shut down, he reckons year on year the crowd got less and atmosphere in the City on the day wasn't what it was. I saw last years on TV and you could tell it was time to move on. BV is still a decent place for it, the stadiums as good as you'll get for purpose built in the UK atm. If the impossible happens and crowds start picking up everywhere again then it would make sense to move it back to Cardiff I guess but I would say its done now. Cardiff was perfect because you could literally walk out of the pub and straight into the stadium, and then the train station was a 5 minute walk from the stadium. The only issue I have with the whole thing is the ticket prices and how a handful of fans are defending it. If Phil the ace had to pay those prices at Poole for a GP, what would he think then?

Just for clarity, are you referring to temporary bars at the fan zone when you say 15-20 minute walk? If you quoting 15-20minures for 0.7 miles to the fan zone in Cardiff, then it's over an hour to walk into Manchester for the city's bars and restaurants. I think the point being missed here is that it's not just that people want to get beered up. In Cardiff, the Speedway had a presence throughout the city on GP day. All the bars & restaurants full of fans from all over, street vendors selling merchandise on street corners etc. Speedway took over the City for the day and people enjoyed that celebration of Speedway with fellow fans. With the limited capacity and distance to the stadium, I can't see that being recreated in Manchester city centre. I've only been to one other GP venue other than Cardiff. We went to Prague, and yes, there were bars and restaurants galore, in a beautiful city, which we loved, but apart from one advertising poster & seeing Kelvin Tatum in an Irish bar, I would have had no idea that that Speedway was happening. At least the metro system made it easier to get to the stadium though. It lacked the atmosphere created in Cardiff and both myself & my wife (who isn't a fan, but always wanted to come to Cardiff) felt that it fell a bit flat compared to the Cardiff experience.

Socialising and the fanzone will be just fine imo. Parking is on a par with Cardiff. Just incase anyone was put off by the bus comment these are the actual times a 10-15min walk from the stadium. (The duplicate times are when 2 buses are available). Buses 192, 201, 202, 203. 19.00 19.02 19.02 19.07 19.09 19.12 19.14 19.17 19.22 19.22 19.26 19.28 19.30 19.31 19.35 19.40 19.44 19.48 19.50 19.52 19.52 19.57 19.58 Later hours are very similar. I take on board your other points and respect your decision.

You just said it yourself. That use to go. 40k people attending stopped years and years ago sadly. As an event it became stale. Show by the stay away numbers

I think a packed NSS will give an equally or better communal feel than a third full Principality stadium. The fanzone on City Hall Lawn was 0.7 miles from the stadium using google maps. This equates to a 15-20 walk. I would imagine the fanzone this year will be a lot nearer and with the addition of festival style marquee bars and catering it shouldn’t be too difficult to replicate the booze, food and social aspect of Cardiff. If you do fancy the 15-20 minute walk as has been the norm then there is loads of bars to choose from. One other advantage of Manchester is the nightlife following the event as this is at a different level to Cardiff. A short trip on public transport would have you in the heart of the city where, if you want you can party on until morning.

When Cardiff was dropped and Manchester was announced 90% of comments, threads, posts etc, were all about the social side which suggests most people that went went for the social side.

Over the years the powers that be have made some weird decisions but this one tops the lot ! Holding a major riders championship before many clubs will have even started their season Words fail me

Regarding Cook: Never fear, I’m sure there’ll be an exclusive interview with ‘Lanno’ about ‘my demons’ in the Star over the next couple of weeks. With plenty of flowery language but not actually saying anything. That’s the usual sketch.

Personally I would say he is a self-serving **** (word begins with a C) regardless of nationality, but that's perhaps a topic for another day.

Only just seen this thread. Shocked. Wonderful memories of Poole 1968 when Odd joined a team badly hit by retirements and injuries and they battled match after match to secure enough points to stay off the bottom of the league. Great matches week after week with the crowd 100% behind them. Then league title the following year. RIP Odd