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They would be new followers of British speedway to find that strange, us seasoned fans understand it to be totally normal for British speedway 😂

And then keep employing that crap Aussie 👀

https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/blog/latest-news-2/team-news-zischke-joins-aces-295

Fair point, some clubs are synonymous with their race night, Wolves on a Monday for example, Poole on a Wednesday, Ippo on a Thursday. Obviously you ride on the night you think you can get your best crowd... unless you're in the PL of course 🤷‍♂️ To suggest that all clubs riding in one league be limited to a Monday or Thursday is madness.

Kvech and PHB are very far from top riders but are the type of foreign riders that UK Speedway can currently afford. And as for having NDL level riders in a one league format meeting is the ideal way to develop young riders, that's not to say they should be riding against the likes of Kvech and PHB but certainly riders around their level. Monday and Thursday clearly doesn't work for the fans even though it may for the riders but the tail is wagging the dog.

Or they could simply have maintained the minimum 4 point average for non Brits That change only really seems to have been made to benefit one club

Aces? One fans attitude.

Belle Vue are the only team allowed to have bad luck, you should know that by now.

There’s two northern based premiership clubs with Aussie no.6’s on 3 point starting averages this years isn’t there? 👀

Only way to stop it, Is to bring in a rule stating that both reserves have to be British Riders which would leave Clubs looking something like the following. BV -> Mulford and Cairns KL -> Rushen and Scott LEI -> Kemp and Gilkes IPS -> Jenkins and Edwards SHE -> Harrison and Killeen

They’re the Bastions of UK Speedway I’ll have you know! Every move they make is to the benefit of helping others whether that be other clubs, or riders themselves to the detriment of their own aspirations. They wouldn’t even dream of dumping a young British rider (Mountain) for a crap Aussie in the hope of gaining any sort of on track advantage. Nope, not the wonderful Belle Vue Aces! They leave all that shenanigans to the other desperate cretins like Ipswich and Chris Louis who have a win at all costs attitude, apparently.

Belle Vue are like Penelope Pitstop and everyone else is the hooded claw.....

The Abbey Stadium planning applications are scheduled to be decided upon next Tuesday (10th) from 18.00. The SBC Planning Officer's Reports recommend the applications are rejected.

Exciting news!! If you can produce a 2026 PL fixtures list, that exactly matches the one about to be produced by BSPL, you will be entered into a draw (a "top draw") to receive a free 2026 season ticket for Northampton speedway! Competition closes at 5pm this Friday. Terms and conditions apply.

Surprised Lidsey isn't at Ipswich.

All valid points. We had a long dry spell with no one, other than Tai, coming through to challenge Bomber and Scott Nicholls for a place in the GB Team. And even with only three decent riders, we had boycotts and fall outs over pay as well as a lack of professionalism in preparation. But, over the last 10-15 years, we’ve had several initiatives to help bring the next generation through. Neil Vatcher with the British Youth Championship deserves much of the credit for this but Phil Morris and the late Graham Reeve were also heavily involved. Bev and Marcus Williams in Australia set up the scholarship - some called it boot camp - in their house and Ian Sinderson of ATPI and Richard Cotton of Rentruck got the No Limits training programme going. When the efforts of Vicky Blackwell and Rob Painter are added to this, you can see how individuals are the ones that have created a set of circumstances that have moved us out of the doldrums when it came to developing riders. From a very lowly position, as well as the GP stars, we’ve now got several decent riders chasing for success. Like Tom Brennan, Dan Thompson, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson, Dan Gilkes, Leon Flint and several more. Each and every person who has helped to create this, and, of course, Simon Stead is part of this, deserves recognition and thanks. BSPL and many individual promoters are the villains in this - taking but giving little in return. Turning the Development League from amateur to professional was a huge mistake, driven by vested interest. The bottom league should have been a ride for expenses league, but who remembers the year Adam Ellis - and no slight on Adam intended - turned down a championship role because the NDL was paying him too much? For him, it was the right thing to do but it should have been a wake up call for the promoters. Coming back to the original point, the GB Team has been more than the individuals involved, whether that’s those that operate in plain sight or those in the background. But its strength has been because it has operated as a team and Simon was part of the team. Of course GB will regroup without him, but that doesn’t mean his departure shouldn’t be regretted.

I would add Lidsey

Where's Ipwsich?

Exactly my point... A continuing downward spiral of short term reactions, that means UK riders get replaced, become disillusioned, and then give up... If genuine World Class talent was coming in, then fine... However, invariably, for the last 30 years or so, most overseas riders have been nothing more than journeymen using a revolving door... And all done to win something with little kudos or relevance given the operating model used... Maybe ensuring more supply than demand for riders could mean UK Speedway gets ran authentically like other nations run their version of the sport..? It certainly won't happen with so many teams not even bothering to take UK rider development seriously, and also not protecting those who are on the lower rungs of the professional ladder...

With just about a month to Opening Night, there does seem a vibe about the club this year. The regular Total Access podcasting by Greg Blair is refreshing, not least since he has sorted out the sound with a proper mike. A few lesser podcasts are more reminiscent of two cocoa tins and a length of string.

Added Thanks. This side is better than Ippo’s

They could use a boat to get to the UK... Just like their great, great, great grandfathers used to get over there years ago... Hopefully they won't be chained up the same way, though. Edit: On the plus side, it did qualify their great, great, great grandchildren to ride NDL..

Jordan Palin was great and took a fine paid win in heat 7 against Brady’s replacement. The panthers then just had to solider on by using their two top scorers (Harris & Nicholls) in Hans’ last two rides. A real backs to the wall performance from the beleaguered panthers against the perennially lucky Aces.

Spot on as always Iain. They have clearly realised that you have to cut the cloth accordingly. One thing I will say with the race nights is at Ipswich which are somewhat rather fortunate in that Thursday has been our race night for all eternity and I have always thought that the media coverage in this area for speedway has in fairness always been top notch. Even back in the late nineties Tomasz Gollob used to do a weekly column for the local rag.

But as has been said, there’s two sides to every story. We don’t know to what extent he was in the plans do we? I also read the Star this week where he says his average wasn’t a low as they thought it was. Maybe they assumed he’d get the 25%, and he’d be in on the provision they managed to get a number 1? Ok you could say they should know the rules, but let’s face it they’re new to this game and the rules are hardly crystal clear. We also don’t know how long Paul Hurry has been in place. Maybe they started to build the team, and then Paul Hurry came in and decided to change things. We just don’t know.

This Ipswich side may do better than we think. The owners have by the sounds of it written this year off. The fans have low expectations so the pressure will be off.

Who is this Rushden geezer? His name is Cooper Rushen

That doesn’t even make sense, no work at the stadium will even start till a deal has been done to run speedway otherwise you’re paying for work for someone else, any work done at the stadium has been for the stox

Meeting starts at 3pm UK time. Decent line-up. Zmarzlik Kurtz Janowski Lindgren Zengota Lebedevs Tungate Dudek Kubera Prem Pawlicki Vaculik Drabik Ratajczak Piotr Pawlicki Madsen ???

link to story here. https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/25903099.plans-demolish-swindons-abbey-stadium-recommended-refusal/?ref=cprfa

But that’s the point,,the general public react to sound bites, you have proved the point, you’ve watched Bracknell,I’ve watched it and can’t stand football but I watch it because he is a parady and sometimes funny ,nobody outside the sport would give Richie Hawkins a view because he is dull, he may be a great team manger or whatever and he deserves a place in the sport but he is dull in interviews, that interview I watched this morning he may aswel of been explaining algebra

I dont disagree with you i was reacting to a generalization not you directly

Where was this energy when Mark Lemon dumped Jake Mulford for Tate Zischke @ No.6?

After sitting through that Richie Hawkins interview on YouTube and just about managing to stay awake it occurred to me to me that what speedway needs is a Steve Bracknell type character,I know he is a parody but you have to make people want to watch content

Apparently not priced out of every budget!!

Fair point.

Yeah but they are all socialists over there! 😈

Typical Aces attitude, never their fault, bad luck only happens to them.

For Home meetings I'd go. 1. Brennan, 2. Lawson, 3. King, 4. Nicholls, 5. Musielak Lawson would get an inside Gate to start the Night and visiting Riders won't get much change out of a King/Nicholls partnership around Foxhall imo. For Away meetings I'd mix it up based on how Riders go at particular tracks. When visiting King's Lynn and Leicester 1. Brennan, 2. Nicholls, 3. King, 4. Musielak & 5. Lawson Brennan and Lawson go very well around both King's Lynn and Leicester and we can end the night with Brennan & Lawson (13), Musielak and Hellstrom-Bangs (14) then Heat 15 with two from three (Brennan, Lawson and Musielak) When visiting Belle Vue and Sheffield 1. Brennan, 2. Nicholls, 3. Lawson, 4. King & 5. Musielak We'd struggle either way but Musielak is a former Sheffield Rider and Brennan a former Aces Rider so it's the strongest pairing we could put out in a Heat 13 around those tracks considering Nicholls is likely to struggle around both of those tracks as well as King, Lawson doesn't like the NSS.

Great news for UK Speedway... Yet another overseas rider being given a chance to take up a spot that a UK rider should have got... And on, and on, and on, the Great Plan goes.. Well, if it ain't broken, and all that!!!

I think the Peterborough guest only scored one and Andersen was injured withdrawn in his first ride, so a terrific Panthers performance.

Yes I think it is safe to say the individual has several accounts going. It is equally quite sad and amusing that they crave so much attention. Hey we're a nice bunch here on the forum. Perhaps we can have a whip around and buy this person a Labrador puppy and satisfy their attention seeking needs 🤣

Agree and what the other team members will get is invaluable experience of a rider who has seen it done it and can make the difference to one or two riders in the team. A true professional who has served the sport well and never gives up. He may not be at his peak but in reality he can steady a ship if things start to go awry so a good signing and it will be good to see him one more time as Witch. As to the rest of the team, give them a chance, no point in decrying what was and what is, a wheel has not been turned and Ipswich know as well as most what unfortunate injuries can do to what was suppose to be an unbeatable team. No one ever wants to see a rider injured but in a split second fortunes can change. Fingers crossed for all participants but in reality racing as these guys do in various leagues across Europe, the risks are undeniable. Let’s just see how things pan out.

TNT is moving to HBO Max on 26th March

Ipswich...5th If Northampton come to tapes...Then Ipswich 6th Top 4 is a different proposition, they will all look to win at Foxhall, some will, Ipswich could win some, and we know the team can change quickly. and they certainly will need to,but 1st Sheffield 2nd King's Lynn 3rd Leicester 4th Belle Vue To be fair those 2 could swap places

1. Kings Lynn 2. Sheffield 3. Leicester 4. Belle Vue 5. Ipswich

I don’t understand all the cynicism here. GB was a joke of a team year after year but Painter, Blackwell, Allen, Stead, Vatcher plus the professional team around them involving fitness, psychology, physiotherapy and media profile have produced some world beating performances. No more pizzas and beer but pride in the job instead. And top class sponsors. It’s not been just a one day job either with qualifiers and finals in the same week resulting in the squad being together for 4 or 5 days. GB has team spirit, team uniforms and, allowing for 2025 being a hiccup, great results since it changed to the current management team. Olly and Simon have worked well together but they will acknowledge they are only one part of the whole set up. When domestic speedway in UK, especially the way the top league is going, is a clown show, and is working its way down and down, the national team has shown that we still have good people with great skills in this country. And Simon has been one of the key players. We should be thanking him and not making smart ass comments about his wish to devote more time to his family, his job and Sheffield speedway.

I predict that the top 4 teams will be in a play off. The 5th team Ipswich will finish bottom ! 😲

Chris Harris and the Steel Shoe band...