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Still this one, the orgainal and going over 30 years! https://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/ The British Speedway Forum has been bringing fans together for over 30 years. During that time it has been far more than just a discussion forum—it has been a community. Members have shared countless moments of fun and enjoyment, formed lifelong friendships, including marriages, and, sadly, mourned the loss of fellow members. Through all of life's highs and lows, the forum has endured and continues to thrive, remaining a place where speedway fans can connect and keep the community alive.

Moderation on this forum ? Yes please, it would see the back of you with all of your aliases with any luck. I live in hope.

Following the unavoidable -- in no way the fault of the speedway promotion -- postponement of last Saturday's BSN Series Semi-Final, speedway roars back into Berwick (OK, Tweedmouth if we're being accurate) this Saturday, with Plymouth's Gladiators storming the Shielfield fortress. Huge kudos to promoter Jamie Courtney and the good guys at Landels Electrical at East Ord (01289-331545) for putting in the hard graft necessary to restore the stadium to its full electrical glory over the past few days. Remember Landels Electrical if you have need of sparky assistance, domestic or industrial, in future -- always try to help the people who help speedway! Although both clubs are in action on Friday night (Bandits at Oxford, Plymouth at Edinburgh) they hope to be at full strength on Saturday night: BANDITS: 1. Peter Kildemand, 2.Jye Etheridge (C) 3. Victor Palovaara 4,Jordan Jenkins 5. Nick Morris 6. Jack Smith 7. Reid Battye. GLADIATORS: 1 - Danny King (C) 2 Joe Thompson 3. Daniel Kilma 4 Ben Barker 5 Scott Nicholls 6 Azne Grmek 7 Ben Whalley. The appearance of the amazing 48-year-old Scott Nicholls -- a 7-time British Champion -- in the visiting line-up is a huge attraction. Ever since he appeared in third place in the 1989 British U-16 Championship at the age of 11 (racing, and beating, boys up to five years his senior Scott has proved one of Britain's best, as well as most durable stars. Recent maximum performances tell us Scott remains very much a speedway star -- as ever, it will be pleasure to welcome him, and watch him, at Shielfield this weekend.

Even when I started going in the mid 80's every winter 2-3 clubs would be on life support but some semi rich fan would step up and keep the club going for 2-3 years before rinse and repeat. I had stopped going by the time Sky stepped in and as many have said it was a huge opportunity missed for a reset but the promoters let the number one's hoover up all the golden eggs. From my time following the sport 84-93 in truth I'm amazed it has still survived to present day , I think as others have said probably the only chance of survival moving forward is to become a feeder ground for Poland.

I guarantee uproar from the supporters of any team that signed him until he scores a bagful of points , then it will be jason the hero he's done his time give him a chance . and far more uproar from the supporters of the teams he takes the points off , however that of course is all hypothetical now , because his second chance went out of the window on a nothing technicality , brought about by the very people who gave you the rape gang cover ups !! and courts that let violent rapists and murderers walk free

Interesting that he says "Poland + One League" next season means exactly that... Not "Poland and One Country"... Which means DU'ing for many, should they decide to ride over here and not Sweden or Denmark, will not be an option... As for his ideas for Speedway in the UK?... All very basic, and common sense, however, they are exactly the same as has been discussed ad nauseum on here for around 20 years at least.. And are all clearly needed... Hence, you can only presume that those running the sport are acutely aware of all the issues they have themselves caused by their lack of vision... But that they simply don't have the capability, be it either financial or the individual leadership skill set, to unpick everything that obviously will need to be unpicked.. Because, given how glaringly obvious the issues are, they would have already started to do so if they were capable people wouldn't they?.. Having personally been fortunate to work with CEO's and Main Board Directors of one of the world's largest retailers, for many years, Richard Coleman comes across to me, as someone with the same political nuance and "bigger picture" skill set that I used to see and hear from those at that rarified level... Not sure how the significant number who are quite happy in their own insular, hobbyist world will receive him though... As his positive vision for the sport in the UK will be a million miles away from theirs..... Best of Luck to him though, UK Speedway is certainly as low as it has been for probably 60 years, so what an opportunity for positive change.. Should those who run it be open enough to allow it..

Hurt himself? He put Reid Battye out the game for nearly three months!

I signed up to the new one after seeing a post on facebook saying that this one had ceased to exist and that the new one was replacing it. Clearly this was misleading - I won't bother with the "new" one as this one has far more history, members and banter.

Cook has let this team down masively this season missing them early crucial meetings which we could easily have won if he had been bothered to turn up. Just a pity Klindt was not available a couple of weeks earlier as I agree Kemp is not the same quality. I think Jackobsen is a decent rider but needs to just calm down a little and be patient instead of making stupid attempts to pass, he going to really hurt himself if he keeps that up.

so absolute major crime then !!! and definitely worth all the hatred he's going to get . went into an area he shouldn't have by mistake or deliberately . so hang him from the highest tree !!!

I have to disagree with the batch comment. Batch has been our best rider of the last 3 years. This season he's had one or two bad performances snd the rest acceptable. I would've brought batch back this season as well after his performances as number 1 last season. Hind sight is a wonderful thing but im sure the promotion probably thought jeppesen and cookie would be 1 and 5, with batch at 3.

And whose fault was that ?we had a massive opportunity when Sky was on board but 0% investment by promotions - they just took the money and ran - every track should have could have invested in track covers should have could have invested in junior racing like in Poland Sweden and Denmark - track surface should have been improved better grading equipment investment in stadiums so much that’s should have could have been improved so little wonder Sky Sports walked away

I posted what I believed is ideally required not what is realistic or possible

Today’s Speedway Star. He’s been here all of five minutes and he already knows. We need more Richard Coleman’s to come in here, because sadly I fear he’ll be a lone voice and he’ll be completed ignored. “Ipswich chairman Richard Coleman believes British Speedway’s model of self governance must change as he calls for the Premiership and Championship to move further apart in Standard for 2027”

B ) is not and never will be an option. No TV deal in 2027 would pay out the numbers to make top tier Speedway "exclusive". It's not just the BSPL that needs to give their heads a wobble, it's very evident fans do too. It's why a a whole, we don't get listened to either. The concentration has to be on maintaining and/or expansion of what we have. There's still this mentality amongst many fans that we're a big player and we're not, it's not even close. Banning doubling-up (if it's 2 leagues) and guests would be a catastrophic move in such a weak position the sports in. Selfishness is what is killing our once loved sport. It's as simple as that. Me, me, me, me, that is all that's the focus for promoters. Doubling-up and guests is not, never has been and never will be the problem. That is such a fickle issue to this sport. Years gone by, we owned the sport. Everyone wanted to be here and 1000's would turn up to watch. Terrific atmospheres up and down the country. It's now Poland's sport. We need to get over ourselves and embrace being their support act. I've said it before, we can really strengthen our position by being a feeder league to those guys and it's us fans and Promoters that need to get their heads out their ar5e and work with and alongside Poland. Only then, could the pendulum swing back or way. Switch the mindset away from rules and regulations. They will absolutely fix nothing for nobody.

Hope he does get a team place somewhere and can get on with his life, he's paid his dues.

yes zack cooks fault

Or a tactical call off,rider availability??

Teams are built at the start of the year within the points limit, but more importantly are built to come within a budget, Don't know if you've noticed but our crowds could be a lot better, unless your gonna put your hand in your pocket to help out the promotion. Just be thankful we have speedway to watch at which is probably the best race track and viewing in the country 😀. I was at Poole last night they had a crowd of 1500 - 1800 so they can afford the best riders

In the Richard Coleman YT interview he mentioned how difficult it had been for Mark Lemon to put a team together... Quite an incredible scenario in reality isn't it?...😁 Sometimes, the lack of outside media interest, and therefore scrutiny, isn't the worst thing in the world...😁

Yeah they’re all good points mate. It showed with Batchelor on Saturday, it was evident to everyone you needed to be on that outside line and for someone with all his experience, he elected to stick to the curb. Your home track needs to be an absolute fortress. But, it doesn’t help when it seems every rider licks there lips when they’re visit 😂 I’m 50/50 with vuolas, no doubting him at home he’s reliable around northside, but away he looked like an amateur at times. It doesn’t help his average is inflated with how consistent he was at home. Vinnie is out of his depth at number 2, which I know is a hard number to ride at, but we’re basically running with 3 reserves and long in the tail which is what seems to have been the recurring theme for the last 3 season.

Spot on its telling that most on here desperately want the support to succeed but I would guess 90% of us no longer attend and I must admit even if I had a track close to me it would take a lot to tempt me back even though I still love the game. The last four races from the world team cup where Poland pipped us in the last race were everything the sport can be brilliant racing, all four nations still in with a shout going into the last four races and the place going mental in the final heat brilliant stuff.

Dwindling support? Definitely not, we see some of the best speedway in the country, in what is the best and most competitive league!

Think they're missing out there. Richard Coleman said the stats for the Ipswich steam show it's people well outside Ipswich who subscribe, plus those not fit enough to attend any more.

I get the sentiment, however, to many Promoter's, they are doing "their job"... Which, to them, is to put on a Speedway meeting with, (hopefully and ideally), 14 riders in attendance.. Any 14 riders within some ultra flexible adhoc framework... To the majority of Promoters they see funding their hobby, giving riders a chance to earn money, and putting on a Speedway meeting for people to attend, as being their contribution to the sport in the UK... Moving it forwards isn't on their agenda... Independent governance, jeopardy and consequence of meetings, prizes worth winning, and scrutiny of your infrastructure, costs money...

He’s a very impressive figure. Those that sometimes get the Speedway Star but not always, I recommend picking one up and reading the full piece about British Speedway as well the SGP and his thoughts on Emil/Laguta.

I think it's fair to say that given his actions since commiting those horrible crimes that Garrity has no respect for the rules & that's why he finds himself back inside. Only one person to blame for this.

"committed exclusively to British racing between March and October". I think you will find that's restraint of trade & I doubt that a club will be able to show that it has been signed to protect confidential information, trade secrets, client relationships or goodwill. Therefore would be unenforceable. Also do you seriously expect a rider to forgo higher value contracts in Poland, Sweden or even Denmark for 40 UK meetings? Say a top rider is on a guarantee of £3k a meeting thats £120k per year for a mechanic, three bikes, van, diesel, spares and servicing. I think most riders would turn that down. You need to remember that is it no longer 1968, the world and even speedway has moved on

It’s this and NSS he was always going to struggle on. We’ll see though you never know.

Who would be a promoter eh? Afterall we all know what we think we might or should do - but of course most plans don’t survive first contact or in a speedway sense everything works until the tapes go up!

Not the same. He had unexpected mechanical gremlins at redcar that they desperately tried to sort out. Yesterday was a mistake on Foords behalf when he pulled forward to the tapes about a second too late

Well, well, well...... the same happened at Redcar on Friday !!! Making a bit of a habit out of it ???

Did the football club help towards the cost of bringing the Electrical Firm in, or did the Bandits have to fork out the cost themselves (I'm presuming Landels didn't do it for free, of course, if they did, good on them) ?

I seem to have vague recollection of them doing the voting thing a few years back. I can't remember how it worked exactly, but it was another of those "try it for this season and the scrap it" things.

Not racist in the slightest! It's just you trying to get attention by bringing up race. Clown

His own airbags 😁

To be fair there were a fair number of overtakes but generally Poole on Worky, good ding-dong race with Rushen (on Cluff?), Lawson was definitely not on any blue line as he rounded Jeppsen in heat 15. But Workington were abysmal, riders kept making errors & falling, not clearing track etc, tactical substitution wasted. Over from the start. On the positive, did get meet up with Neila good to put a face to the name and the wind-ups.

Well what can I say 🤔 as predicted, but on a dusty track the water cart only came out in 2 of the 4 grading breaks, the last few heats were like watching through a dust storm, granted Lawson's pass in HT 15 was good, but the rest of the racing if you can call it that, was not exciting. But the pilots fans will be happy. On a brighter note was good to meet up with a few names on here 😃 and I'm now an honorary member of the NID corner 😄

Completely fair and no disagreement from me - Lidsey is a bit like Brennan at Ipswich you felt they had the chance to step up and so far they haven't made it! Hopefully both will. You would likely keep Lidsey on potential tho as you feel he will get back to where we think he can get / be. I did expect more than 4 from him however.

Let’s be honest… nothing will change. This conversation happens every season and still the BSPA serve up this tiny little “Premiership” league. The fact they were originally willing to run this season with a five-team league should tell you all you need to know. Whether Sheffield run or not, the powers that be will continue to bury their heads in the sand until the inevitable “we can no longer financially run a league structure in the UK”. It’s very bleak.

Janowski replaces Jack Holder. A reminder of the PPV details for Saturday. live updates https://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/1137/fim-sgp-world-championship-challenge-terenzano.html

I've given up, posted not long ago about how I haven't attended any meetings this year. Shame and sad. Reason one is money, I'm saving and losing speedway hasn't bothered me too much in the slightest, I only miss the chit chat. Speedway is now expensive to attend. Reason two is the lack of importance, Its sad that I don't care if my team wins the cup this year. I honestly couldn't give a monkeys about it. I could probably put another dozen reasons why I've given up but all of it has been mentioned previously. Until they implement real change I'm not going back. What does the change look like? I'm not sure but I want them to TRY something new at least. Its still the same boring usual suspects in the play offs with the same teams on crap tracks followed by tractor racing. God I could rant on but you don't need to read it. Oh and for those supporters still claiming the premiership is necessary, just look at your attendances, how many clubs are closing or losing money and if the sport is better off with it. I personally have completely given up with it. The premiership DOESNT WORK.

Can we shut this thread.

This is such an uplifting forum. When I’m feeling a bit down I love coming on here to read everyone’s cheery positive thoughts on the ol Speedway 😁

I’m on a mission fella!

I have no interest in buying a stream. I've no idea what is going on any more so why would I? When there were matches on TV, and I knew the teams, I might occasionally have enough interest to buy one - but even that has gone now. No speedway on TV has killed it off to me. It's hard for me to believe now that I was once obsessed with this sport.

I liked what they were trying to do at Leicester on Monday v Ipswich but it all fell apart when some of the riders broke cover and started to do some gardening at the starting gate and others were putting helmets on before their name had been called. Seriously guys, just don’t, show some respect to the paying customers. aaargh drives me nuts!

99% Not a fan of the flag, especially if it stops the rider doing a wheelie or some other such trick

I’ll also add, taking a victory lap after winning a race. Riders, just bloody do it, it costs you naff all and you’re doing it for the people who contribute towards your wages. Take it a step further collect the team flag every time and take that on your victory lap with you.

Yet again these deluded idiots think they have a chance. What does is take to get through to them? ITS NOT VIABLE.