Leaderboard

He also said we had a chance of winning the league

Don't think his list about who he does or doesn't like? It's about his experience at the Club? ( i could be wrong) To leave people off is a polite way of saying what all Brummie fans with half a brain know already! H Man has closed his chapter with dignity!

So after 4 seasons as a Director & Shareholder that's my time with Birmingham Speedway at an end. An eventful, at times stressful, at times farcical and at times enjoyable experience! A huge thanks to the small but loyal Brummie fanbase that put up with season after season of under performing teams, you deserved better! Full credit and my upmost respect to Nigel Tolley, he wasn't far short with the figures he quoted in the recent speedway star interview with what he invested in the club (there was also a six figure investment from other shareholders during the period I must add). Nigel is as mad as a (top) hatter, but I really like the guy. My only criticism of him (and he knows this, I told him enough times) is that he allowed himself to be influenced by others who failed to deliver for the club! Seeing the day to day finances and operations of the a Championship and then Premiership club is a real eye opener, so a massive thanks to Financial Director Tracey Smith, who somehow managed to juggle the finances to keep everyone happy (most of the time) a truly lovely lady, she has been the glue in a massively disjointed operation, which would have fallen apart without her. Some priceless moments over the 4 years on the management zoom meetings / race nights - I could write a book! You also learn a lot about riders, some smashing chaps around Paco Castagna (legend) Freddie Lindgren, Tobi M, Leon Flint, Sam Hagon, Jason Edwards, Thompson twins all really good guys! No comment about some mind Made some great friends, I will miss Guesty, Dave Rowe, Pete & Dan Ballinger, Chris Adams, the guys and girls from the supporters club and fellow shareholders Steven, Jake and Vic. Such a shame that Birmingham Speedway is no more, but without Nigel it wouldn't have got into 2023 let alone 2025 and for that alone he deserves the respect of those who knock him! Give us a B.....! Cheers Paul

Emigrate to Poland

But they do have plenty of water!!!!

Clubs losing money need to seriously look in the mirror, Plymouth who are hardly world beaters and have a very limited track and space have upped their crowds considerably by the looks of it through some savvy work on social media etc. Granted in some cases things can’t be avoided but I absolutely think there would be a lot to be said for promotions being less insular and less of the ‘woe is me’ attitude.

Agree but perhaps giving the punter what they want with a weekend race night does possibly reduce the odds of losing so much money. Speedway use to be a good weekend sport but alas circumstances dictate that it is not possible albeit NDL teams seem to cope. This is possibly why a rethink is necessary and perhaps go backwards first in order to progress. I would rather go to a Saturday evening meeting or a Sunday afternoon meeting than go mid week. Thursday is OK but after that having been brought up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday meets I would not bother with any weekday/ mid week racing. Just my view and others may feel different but promoters should race on nights which give them a best chance of a return on the asset/investment.

For what it’s worth here my thoughts on Championship.Scrap BsN Trophy 2home2away fixtures K0 Cup.Guests only for injury.Nothing for riders missing while riding abroad (FIM events excluded) No8 or NDL rider only.Top 4 Play Off.Time limit applied to rain offs or points awarded.(TinHat on).

His reactions to situations are the best I have ever seen... That is why he goes into places that others would never dare to.... Early in his career I thought he was being, at times, reckless, and would eventually pay dearly for his high risk, high reward strategy... Now, I realise he was (is) just very special so was supremely confident he could handle these situations.. I would say only Trick is up there with such lightening reactions where they both could almost lock up to avoid incidents, but still keep momentum and speed... You can never accurately say who is the best ever, given so many variables down the years, but he is certainly a very special talent...

This subject ranges far beyond the Championship. There is already a similar topic running in "Speedway News and Discussions" Maybe the above comments and contributions could be transferred, and people interested in all three leagues couild follow it?

Hopefully some radical changes to the present set up which obviously is not working, what have we got to lose by trying something different. One league,smaller teams etc,we all know what can be tried.

It started from around ht 2 from a group beside the pit entrance, the security did go and speak to them but it didn’t seem to do anything really they just got worse as the meeting went on

I know for a fact the Clerk of the Course informed security and words were had. They stayed pretty close the rest of the meeting.

Could Scunny make a shock move into the Premiership to keep it at 6 teams, sounds mad but Belle vue, Sheffield, Leicester and king's lynn would be decent crowds. Tai, Douglas, pickering, mpt, Allen, z.cook.

£8.14 to get in Gorzow tonight, just tucking in to my polish sausage, loving the build up, crowd buzzing, bikes warming up in background, jeez there truly is nothing like speedway when it’s done right

Probably agree lewy,but he does a lot of work for the club, so not as simple as jumping in Gary's car one night a week

Come to Plymouth, ride down with Garry you'll be made welcome and appreciated at our happy little club.

It sank due to the amount of water on it. It's now been declared a Dam !

This has been pointed out many times not least of all by Keith hewen even though he was talking about riad racing but the same applies, back in the day Olsen briggs mauger Collins etc they are far superior equipment to the rest of the competitors so they always had an unfair advantage, that is not true today nobody in the field has anything better than anyone else so it’s harder to win a world championship today than it’s ever been even if you think the field itself is weaker

Only takes a crash/injury/exclusion etc. Weather, especially at Vojens in September could have a huge bearing... anyway it'd be nice to know in advance what happens in a tie instead of waiting for the results of an impromptu FIM Jury meeting behind closed doors and having Armando Castanga trying to explain things to everybody 😂

Doyle and Lindgen have been past their best, the new guard Holder, Bewley, etc havent as yet stepped up to the level of consitency required, Lambert looks way off too, there are wild cards that really shouldnt be at the level getting qualification due to their nationalitly not ability, far from the days of world finals when several riders in the field could be seen as realistic winners. Only for Brady there is nobody stepping up. Then you have the scoring system where you can afford to score say 8 points win the final and collect 20 yes its the same for everyone but my point about eras is riders couldnt afford to drop so many points and have a hope of being crowned champion, Loram for example became champion without actually winning a round. No one is doubting Zmarsliks talent on a bike but to say hes the best that has ever sat on a bike i dont agree with. The best of his era definately.

And plenty of scenario’s if both fail to reach the final.

Another sticking plaster no doubt.

Super heat surely 😂😂😂

Looks like we will need 5 man teams with a limit set at around 20 then....

Unfortunately we have people with no brain cell’s running the gps now 😀

Absolutely ridiculous, and just one of many decisions that defy sanity made by the tools in charge How can anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together support a system where some riders are credited more points than they earned, and others less. Just allocate points earned during heats, and for the final.

Promoters can’t really win these days unless it’s guaranteed dry.Riders dictate and just want to put the bike in the van at the slightest raindrop.

Holder scores 7, finishes with 14, Fricke scores 11, finishes with 7! It's so wrong!

Depends if he wears the right suit

So does Kurtz need to win Vojens with Zmarzlik 3rd? Can't see anybody ahead of Zmarzlik other than Kurtz... today's sprint may come back to haunt Kurtz!

UK speedway was never ran professionally & the great chance of creating a future was blown when the Sky money was wasted. The fact that the poles have a product that attracts huge crowds, investment form business & more than one tv company broadcasting the league live is down to their hard work & running the sport professionally.

If it didn't take too much of my day I would love to come down, do like Mark and Gazza

As I said that is his opinion. There were many others who put hours of their time and energy into birmingham speedway who have now walked away also with dignity quietly.

Also for Leszno v Rzeszów: https://vk.com/video-53550004_456242411 https://vk.com/video-220089063_456247301

That’s the problem Clubs losing money.Why! Riders dictating when they can ride,wanting more money than the Clubs have incoming through the turnstiles,reducing the meetings does not help the sport,fans want to see regular speedway(whether it be weekly or fortnightly).Back too basics product wise and riders wages would be a start.I’m sure the entertainment factor wouldn’t be any worse.The sport needs credibility too attract new fans.IMO ps Im talking Championship Speedway here. the Premiership are a different story ( their fans seem too think it’s Ok)

They also showed that report on BBC South Today on Friday I think it was.

No substitute for class eh?

Don't know what's best for the sport but having to deal with certain people I'm seriously thinking of walking away.

I know its just your opinion and you don't have to like who does what but to leave off your list the people you don't care about or like is an incomplete list .

It seems they are making a concentrated effort to diminish the championship, while inferring they are doing the opposite. I watched my local team at home today beaten 2-0m deservedly so as they were crap. Not only because they didn't make the effort, but also because they didn't seem interested in making the effort. Watched this GP and they same thoughts entered my head One of the reasons you know the GP's are diminished is, back in the day, you would get 40 to 50 pages of comment regarding a meeting, now you're struggling to get 10 pages. Says it all really, when folk don't have anything to say

Its crazy. That the BSN Trophy. Has not been ridden. Qualifying meetings in April/May. And still havent had the Final. Complete farce.

You can't... But.... This lad would be pushing any of the all time greats..... Given he is already one of them...

If you are referring to Holder I’d say Zmarzlik rode more into him and Holder held his line. Bad decision from a 5 time WC to go gate four. I was happy holder held his line and didn’t just let him do what he wants, more people need to race hard and not bow down.

Ridiculous that these stupid sprint points could decide it.

Who the fraud now, winning the one that matters!

Congratulations Glasgow, I had to take my Monarchs hat off and applaud the balsy racing of the Tigers. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and acknowledge that the best team won. The partnership of Ben & Leon is genius. The new guy Nagel is a find in a million and coupled with Kyle last night was speedway at its best. It was a good job for us that Bomber and Freddy had bike issues 👏👏👏

Plymouth would be mad to move up and does anyone actually know for certain what will happen with Sheffield, all sorts of things are being said ranging from complete shutdown to Nigel Tolley coming in but dropping down into championship to not risking his own money anymore, it seems as usual that it’s a mess and the fans are yet again left in the dark, something has to change and if it is one league without gp riders then so be it but at least it’s regular meetings and variety instead of stop start season and usual suspects at the top

When the sport was "successful" it had only the top riders as fully pro... The rest rode part time for very, very decent money when compared to their other job... With second strings earning more in one night than they earned in a week in their "main job"... Now we have pro juniors.... But we also have crowds one tenth of the days of when the sport was successful... And we also have promoters quite happy to indulge Poland and have their leagues lack credibility due to playing second fiddle to them.. We also have promoters happy to indulge riders when it comes to their own individual ambitions by simply running a meeting anyway and borrowing from elsewhere when these riders are unavailable... They even sign riders from Denmark who cannot race on Wednesdays..... For me, all the things many of us have regularly said as being ridiculous on here, have been allowed to actually become part of the fabric of the operating model, so I truly cannot see a way out in all honesty... It has been a slow inexorable death by a thousand (self inflicted) cuts... Three times major radical changes should have been made... 1. When the GP's started to impact domestic Speedway... 2. When Poland started to impact domestic Speedway... The sport should have built its own destiny, instead it fudged and appeased other organisations and riders, meaning the fans got pi$$ed off watching guestfesf after guestfest and voted with their feet... And the third time? Covid... What a chance for a reset, thousands of die hards and thousands of even more lapsed fans eager for the sport to start up again... And what did we get? Well, the current situation clearly shows the answer ..

Not quite on the same lines as the other posts but I bought some photo's off Vinted from Newport that were taken on the corner I used to stand with my old man after a few too many sherbets last week. The lady kindly put in a host a of old programmes that her uncle had left, opened the package at my old mans and they turned out to be his old programmes dating back to the early 70s and up to 2004. He'd sold them on just after Newport closed and I've somehow managed to get them back. Great Sunday afternoon reminiscing over lunch