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Now this is where I have a problem with this 8% rule, the rule has been made up by the crook which we all know by rob godfrey. The BSPA statement literally says, “It is hoped that this will provide some assistance to riders who have taken time out of the sport, and who are now once again seeking team places.” Abilitt, hasn’t been away from the sport, he refused more than one team place last year at championship level cause he couldn’t be bothered travelling that far north, plus rode NDT with Kent last year. Yet qualifies for this silly rule. That’s not a rider that’s been lost or taken time out. No wonder everyone gets fed up with Speedway guys like Godfrey killing the sport for a selfish gain.

Like you say no way should Ablitt should be given a reduction. Same should apply to Garrity given the reason he was lost to the sport. The sport is becoming a laughing stock and cannot be taken seriously anymore,certainly not going to attract many newcomers.

But in this case it’s cause he didn’t want to travel that far nothing to do with what he got offered. The whole point is the rule is corruption by the guy in charge once again. Knew the second it was announced you knew which team it would affect right away.

He turned down offers before the season started though.Cant have it both ways surely.Introducing rules that can be manipulated as usual.

It would be fantastic to have a team from Northampton in the league (40/45 minute drive from Alwalton), however, I hope those in charge of Speedway ensure they have a good team that can compete, in fact it is essential. No new team/club in the top flight can be allowed to be making up numbers as Birmingham were and to a slightly lesser extent Oxford were. Teams need to be equally balanced and yes I know there is a points limit, but we all know that never really makes teams equal. I really hope Northampton happens for the future of Speedway in this country.

He may have refused a team spot because what was on offer was very poor. Riders shouldn't be penalised for refusing poor deals.

Just listened to Rob Godfrey in full... Fair play to the host who asked all the right questions (eventually 😉) and also to Godfrey for responding to them. That's all I'm going to say about it really as there was a lot of "there's a lot going on behind the scenes" which I've heard too many times before in this sport only for nothing to materialise. Not filled with confidence when Godfrey couldn't even remember the name of the former MP that has joined SFL and he kept referring to SFL as "them" when he's on the board! Like I've said before Godfrey does a fine job at Scunny but should be nowhere near the top table of Speedway in the UK.

Can't see much about him, but appears to be an exciting prospect from what I have read and given he finished 5th in a strong Danish U21 Final last year on 11 points ahead of Villads Nagel on 10. This definitely the type of signing I like to see the club make, it's gut wrenching when you sign a rider like Lambert or Starke that you know will just disappoint!

Count me in, I'd probably go when the Lions aren't riding, like I used to Peterborough, Peterborough was a race track worth travelling for though...

OUCH would be creaming his pants at the chance to spout his drivel about the virtuous benevolence of Belle Vue if this were to happen

Only 15 minutes in and he’s comparing speedway to potentially doing something similar to Wrexham football club. The amount of delusion is absurd, I have no faith in anyone currently in position to get the sport out of the mess it finds itself in

Our main weapon is surprise!!

He also won the Danish U21 semi final meeting outright on 13 points plus then winning the 3 way run off. Ahead of both William Drejer and Mikkel Andersen, who both finished in the top 5 of the SGP2 series (5th and 3rd). I know nothing about the guy, but at least the results on paper give a quite a level of optimism at his age 🤷‍♂️

I don't think most people would of heard of whoever the 5 point rider was, if you dig through the results he had last year in the Danish Semi-finals and U21 final, he seems a rather exciting signing for me. It's been 3/3 success in terms of the three 5 point assessed riders we've signed exceeding their 5 point average so far. He's been in much better company than the overall level in the Championship so I'm sure he will be very competitive and learn a lot

I think the thing is these farewell meetings pull in fans from other catchments areas nearby take P.Boro farewell I bet plenty of die hards from Lynn, Ippo, Mildenhall and maybe some midland tracks came over for a one off but wouldn't make the 3-4 hour round trip on a regular basis.

Kemp is too cocky for someone who hasn't achieved anything in the sport

all this rumours of signings people clamming there in the know is all part of whats wrong with speedway if theres something to announce just announce it dont start tales off 2 days before hand also the trusted few who are leaking stuff shouldnt be the ones in the know

Strangely quiet since the demise of the Colts 🤔

He doesn't come across as the most professional or polished administrator does he? As you say forgetting names of key people for something which has been going on a fair while is pretty poor. However I'm an optimist (a cautious one seeing as its British Speedway we are talking about) so my glass is half full regarding what could happen in the near future. We shall see.

It would be fantastic to have a team from Northampton in the league (40/45 minute drive from Alwalton), however, I hope those in charge of Speedway ensure they have a good team that can compete, in fact it is essential. No new team/club in the top flight can be allowed to be making up numbers as Birmingham were and to a slightly lesser extent Oxford were. Teams need to be equally balanced and yes I know there is a points limit, but we all know that never really makes teams equal. I really hope Northampton happens for the future of Speedway in this country.

I thought the final decision rested with the Speedway Control Bureau ??

I thought that a while back but didn’t wanna be seen as ruffling a few Belle Vue feathers 😂 Perhaps there’s an agreement between all parties including Brady himself, that IF Northampton joined the party, he’d go there to give them the star name to start off with, otherwise if it didn’t come off he’d stay at Belle Vue. Could explain why Brady hasn’t been announced, and why they’ve held two places back until they know how many points left they’ll have to play with. Could be way off of course and he signed ages ago and they’re just dragging the announcement out!

I certainly can’t see how there can be any criticism of BSN , you bought a package your were watching do roughly £ 5 a meeting. Race coverage was generally 1st Class and the Presentation Package on the night was excellent,unlike some Presenters on Discovery( no names) who hadn’t a clue on what to ask a rider.

Can’t praise BSN enough; they’re almost single-handedly keeping the sport in the UK visible and accessible. I hadn’t attended Ashfield for many years until I heard about BSN and tuned in. Two years later, I’m a track regular again; all because of BSN. As such, I cannot get on-board with any criticism of them. I’ve been a season pass holder for two years now and I think they’re adapting to each venue and improving the product every year. I don’t think you can ask for any more. They’re good people too. They’re authentic. I think Ian and Greg (Brennan and Blair, if I recall) are great.

I see we have the u21 final well done redcar

That’s where he needs to be and stay then.

How pathetic.

He’ll be on an assessed average of 5.00

Call Tolley "Nige this will need £250k min to set up ", Nigel "hold my beer"

Maybe he was thinking of established clubs having to fork out big on points money for their riders when they win away at the new club and thrash them at home?

Don't disagree but there are lots of long intervals where knowing the language helps 😃 What I notice is how much a difference having a large vocal crowd makes. But what is it with this desire to have numerous planned delays? Swedish league is the same. Momentum is lost and this shouldn't be a time for a bovril sport. Those breaks must be difficult for even experienced broadcasters. How do you fill for 15 minutes if you've only seen 5 minutes of speedway, of which there might be 2 or 3 incidents worthy of discussion/replay. I imagine a much better product would be much easier to present. Just a thought, but if BSN was my business I'd reach out to broadcasters or Universities with a view to providing them with an opportunity to train their staff/students. I know Sky have an 'academy' to train presenters, reporters, commentators and technical staff of the future. What greater way to learn than by being given the opportunity to produce a live sporting event. Sure you don't get the finished article but you do get enthusiasm and raw talent trying to improve their skills. You also get on the broadcasters radar, The broadcaster might even pay for the training opportunity or at the least you get access to free resources. Realise speedway is a bit niche but the skills required to take part in a live broadcast are all the same.

Based on predicted attendances…….Northampton Nomates!

took him 5 mins 😁 to ask his 1st question

I’ve just listened to RB’s drivel (I know he won’t mind me calling it that as he told me so on the interview) and I endured it to see if he mentioned the NL ! Thanks to Rambo who asked him he mentioned it once, briefly. To save anyone the trouble he thinks they’ve got The NDL 2026 just about right

Yes Rayleigh did but the club was always well supported with the main stand usually full and the stand on the back straight had a good few with the 1st 2nd and 3rd bend embankments having a good smattering of supporters. Back in the day the local rivalries with Romford, Eastbourne, Canterbury, Crayford and Ipswich always guaranteed bumper crowds and on bank holidays whoever were the opponents you got good crowds. I still have some news paper cuttings with pictures of the action and the stands looking packed. I think back then because so many teams had characters riding you always looked forward to a protagonist visiting like Jack Milne, Brian Foote, Ted Hubbard, the Kennet brothers, Arthur Price and many more and that also tended to boost support. Probably a bit more tribal back then.

In response to this I believe Scunthorpe won’t release the names of the final 2 riders until the BSPA sanction Nathan Abblits application for an 8% reduction for missing a full season of racing in the Championship . Once that has been approved the 2.5 %reduction for been British will give him his average plus add Simon Lambert’s average together and that will be your 7 riders for the Scorpions for 2026

Watch Polish speedway for free on the internet/smart t v . Keep eye on the International section where Racer & Royals and Stewmac are excellent in providing the links for the various matches. Unless you speak Polish the commentary might be an issue but to listen to how animated some get you do not need to understand the language.

Will definitely get the Varkaus stream.

Not only does the website, Speedway Champions correctly identify the 1930s Paris-based World Championship results recently endorsed in last week's Sp.Star, (and now corrected on a well know encyclopaedic site,) - detail and results are also included of the other World title competitions, both in Argentina and in Australia - their unofficial 'World's Championship Series' and their less familiar ACU official 'World's Speedway Derbys' which ran until 1942 when war in the Pacific brought the competition to an end.

Yes and ultimately it has led to a culture of entitlement, where you get mum and dads crowing that’s it’s costing them a fortune to set their kids up in the sport, yet if they chose motox or enduro or road racing then it would cost them 5x as much and unless that kid is something special and wins things they won’t get a penny back

Think how much he could have increased it by if he'd scored in those 12 heats! And Speedway is not all about averages, it's about ability, attitude and machinery as much as anything else, he certainly has the ability, machinery questionable, attitude... terrible at times.

Things are now that desperate that Vatcher is ringing recently ‘retired’ riders ( one’s that have simply given up through lack of opportunities and rising costs ) to see if they would make a comeback ! When will they realise that they need to start at the basics by having open days with free ‘ Try it ‘ experiences to try and entice kids to come and have a go. The pool of riders is fast running out so where is the future plan ?

Job interview..... 1. Do you know where the keys to your glovebox are? 2. Can Polish riders ride in the NL?

Years ago the ones that were built around armadale complained, but the council told them the speedway was there before the houses, so you should have known about the potential noise before you moved in 😀

Tapes up TV have PPV’s of next Saturday’s qualifier in Sweden and the European Championship from Varkaus on the 21st February.

I notice you're always quick to jump in when someone criticises BSN Ian - you're welcome to your opinion however! I'll say this though - your reply states that the free stream was a lesser quality because it was free? Not exactly a great idea from a business perspective is it?

Krayzy!🤣

Personally I hope it's all on BSN. I think they do a much better job than Discovery tbh.

Only 6 teams confirmed is a travesty, but the bigger issue is only 1 home / 1 away per team, a total of 10 meetings per team. This is absolutely nowhere near enough meetings for the youngsters to develop. Why not 2 home and 2 away?! I know this was a very long time ago but in my short stint in the mavericks we rode 24 meetings in one season.

Pains me to say it but that team has to be the GOAT.