Leaderboard

So if a rider has alcohol on his breathe and is tested after the meeting and fails - no action? A bike is tested and found to be over size after the meeting - no action? Sorry. I don't care who "moves on" and its not because its Poole, there is absolutely no justice in the way the rules are structured and how this has been handled.

It’s over and done with Scunthorpe have accepted it so should everybody on here.

Isn't it refreshing to have had these two matches, each with packed stadiums, and no back-biting or moaning from any direction? Two big -- huge, by today's standards -- travelling supports, no complaints about refereeing or accusations about team tactics, just great backing for their riders and appreciation for the opposition. Well done everybody!

Standard 3,0,0,3 he’s usually first or last 😆

Has there ever been a rider who generated so much hassle while possessing so little ability?

It’s not about people accepting the result, it’s about what can be done to prevent such instances again and making sure the authorities have things in place accordingly.

There weren't any payment issues this year

But they do have things in place... It's called the referee with rules for them to follow, and implement... The ref either just didn't see that the rules were broken, or maybe didn't understand the rule given the "on the line/over the line" ambiguity... What bafffles me more is why an appeal got held when, as was said in the statement, the result couldn't be changed anyway... What a complete waste of time if that was the only course of (non) action that could be allowed....

The story is about an exhibition in the village of Arlington which features the stadium. It is an historical thing - nothing about future of speedway at that site.

But people want to know who was at fault. Your options are: 1. It was Poole, it always is. 2. It was Zach. He deliberately rode a tight line/crossed the white line to gain an advantage. 3. It was the referee who, with the aid of the replays, came to the wrong decision. 4. It the rule as written by the SCB. 1. Don't be silly 2. I don't believe Zach took to the centre green on purpose. Nor did he gain an advantage. Picko let him by with a view to trying to slow down Richard Lawson and get MPT into 3rd place. 3. The referee interpreted an ambiguous rule and came to a decision on that basis. 4. The SCB in its own post meeting announcement said they declared a breach of the rule after they'd reviewed it. So it was ambiguous.

I support your thinking for the most part. However, inherent in the SCB statement is the strong implication that they declared a breach of the rule only after they'd reviewed the rule in question. In other words, at the time of the breach it wasn't clear (maybe) that the rule was clear enough for the referee to come to same conclusion. Reading this one way means that the SCB has thrown the referee under the bus and used other rules to prevent a change to the announced result. As I've said elsewhere, the SCB could simply have said the rule contained some ambiguity and that the referee ruled on the basis of his interpretation at the time. I think there would have been a much greater acceptance of the result standing.

Wasn't there originally an maximum age stipulation for Doubling Up?? Maybe I am wrong, but I seem to remember it was Scott Nicholls who challenged it... It used to be only a max two per team also wasn't it?.. And then, of course, promoters saw the benefits of sharing rider costs, whilst now employing a level of riders previously unaffordable, so the floodgates opened .😁

So you are saying that on the line constitutes crossing the line? Other than by just writing out the regulations again can you evidence that that is the SCB's interpretation? Eg is it documented anywhere ? Is that the interpretation that referees are trained against and is communicated to clubs and riders? And let's not go to the point about which part of the wheel has crossed the line. I suspect we all take that as the part of the tyre in contact with the ground, but that isn't what it says. I understand that you may think I'm being pedantic, but regulations should be able to withstand the scrutiny of a pedant! Plus, I don't want such an occurrence to happen again. I'm going to Belle Vue on Friday. Given that the inner edge is of a completely different construction at the NSS, I hope the referee, clubs and riders have been fully briefed and are clear about what crossing the inner edge of the track actually means. The SCB could clarify this today and give certainty, and I'm pretty sure the regulations will be modified for next season.

100%... The "talent pool" is thin enough already, as is shown by the weakest team each season, therefore stretching it to seven teams currently can only dilute it further... And bringing in two compulsory U21's will already do that given the lack of U21 talent who are not riding in Poland and are not Scandinavian.. A six team league this season has one team clearly adrift before a wheel was turned, and a seven team league the year before had two... Wasn't the plan to make the top tier clearly stronger than the second? If so, sticking with six teams would be the more logical way of delivering this.. If Eastbourne do come back, starting on Fridays/Saturdays in the second tier would seem to be the best "first step" to see how that goes..

Don’t think this will be too far off 🤝

If it is for u21s then why not u24s? That would open up way more possibilities for clubs to recruit decent young riders. I have no issue with the poles giving us more riders for experience but riders under 21 narrows it down massively

I agree - it's not about development but about giving young poles more experience so they turn into better riders for Poland. I think the dictate has come from them and they must be wondering why, after all the money thrown at Polish speedway, they've still only had two world champions in the last 50 years. Stipulating u21 is pure ageism and if I was denied a team spot, as Joe Thompson reflected upon recently, I'd be considering a case under the equality act. what they should be doing is counting race experience like pilots hours and using that to offer development places, if it's about development.

If it is to be Eastbourne, I hope that gets confirmed sooner rather than later. What we don’t want, is this dragging on all winter again and getting confirmed on the eve of the new season leaving yet another team hastily cobbling together the scraps left on the table. Eastbourne or anyone else that comes in to the top flight, need to be protected and the others need to play their part here by not quickly hoovering up all the top number 1’s. Help a newcomer by directing a top rider their way to help them be competitive while they settle in, even if they all have to contribute financially themselves. Northampton got away with it this year with a decent crowd sticking with them until the end, not sure that would be the case at Eastbourne.

Personally speaking, i don't think much blame can be put upon the referee, it's a poorly written rule that is open to so much on the spot analysis, hard to spot in the split second it took place and has any photo actually proven that ZC crossed the line, bearing in mind the rulebook does not clarify which is the edge of the track and how much of the wheel has to cross it to mean an offence. I'd say the rule should be rewritten along the lines of the wider part of the whiteline is the marking for the inside of the track, if both tyres touch the inner edge of the white line or further onto the offtrack area then an exclusion will be given unless it was due to taking avoiding action etc.

You're having a laugh.

Did Berwick host a development meeting this year? Or was it second halves that (NJL) that covered them? Just thinking if they had a stars of tomorrow meeting & gave fans the opportunity of taking a selfie with the KOC trophy, may have helped the attendance? Also a good reason not to race the BSN & KOC finals so late in the season. I imagine crowds would be up for the following meeting (if they had one)?

Flint's rolling away average is 8.00 and was only bettered by six riders who did the whole 2026 season. I'd also argue that he still has improvement in him too.

A chance to meet the Cup-Winners and touch the trophy -- everyone is welcome this Saturday night in the Black & Gold, 7 for 7.30. Rider interviews by Greg Blair, music later from Steve Hayward. Admission free, but donations towards Jack Smith's hip operation will be accepted the door. An End of Term Party to end the best of terms!

I said the same thing to my lad earlier... With the two victories in the fastest two times of the night!!!

Winning Teams need 1 strong reserve it gives the Team Manager options throughout the Meeting.Really think the Heat Format and tactical situation needs to be revitalised.IMO

Would take Vinnie at Berwick,just needs some guidance think there is a rider in him .

The Regulation says, splendidly ambiguously: "012.1.11 Leaving the Track A rider whose machine crosses the inner edge of the track with 2 wheels must be disqualified ..." It doesn't even say "with 2 wheels at the same time", which is what everyone interprets the regulation as meaning. Even so: "...it's been explained that both wheels had gone on the line he therefore left the track." is totally incorrect. If that was the case, riders would be excluded in just about every match.

Health and Safety probably comes into it.

Zischke is at Scunthorpe for 2027 so I’d rule him out of the team building plans. Heard Dan T and Rowe both agreed terms for 2027

It was doubling down that was the issue 😁

Mistakes have been made in many big Sporting Events.Lesson will be learned is the common answer.People do have to accept the result though ,how many BIG sporting events have you seen replayed.

100% this despite my initial doubts crowds have been good at Northampton even allowing for a weak team but as you say both them and Eastbourne will need help particularly if Eastie have to run on a week night. The idea of an eight team top league is sound but it might make more sense to stabalise Northampton in 2027 with a view to getting Eastie into the league in 2028.

I get your point, we're a league desperate for raised levels. But let's be honest, the majority of our own U21s are NOT top league standard. So why should we expect the same from foreign U21s. What the BSPL are enforcing here, is another back door way of reducing costs, overall a lowering of standards. We'll also see (as I understand, the U21s don't have to be reserves) the bigger clubs will have the best U21s while poor (crap) clubs will just use them at No6/No7. The gulf from the top to bottom of the league will be huge. With the Premiership currently made up of only 6 clubs, we could end up with (being harsh here) the crap clubs being whacked at home week in week out, let alone away. That's just not good for anybody.

lemo not ruled him out, but id probably say klindt will be the guest

lets look at options, rushen in poland so couldnt do it batchelor -you would moan MPT - injured RR - not worth the risk

Holy Christ, that wouldn't have got the occasional fan to turn up if it was. They were proper intimidating on a Bank Holiday Monday. Sam Ermolenko couldn't ride Cradley until 91 when he became almost unbeatable around Dudley Wood until closed, Simon Cross broke his back in 90, he was never quite the same after that. Both at their peak would have been duel. In the mid 90's when time Hamill & Hancock were at the top of their game, Cradley were better at Monmore v/s Wolves than they were at Dudley Wood. Andy's Philips & Graham were also tidier around Monmore than Dudley Wood and Scott Smith would inadvertently take some Wolves rider out at some point so going around him wasn't an option, not that overtaking him on the inside was difficult.

Congratulations Scunthorpe the true champions this year, the fords, middleditch and havelock should get together and hand that trophy to Scunthorpe, the real Poole fans would accept it,who would to be the owner/ manager of a team which just aren’t the winners, the referee should get a horrendously long ban as well

In lemo we trust

I still can't work out why the SCB had this meeting, and published there findings, if they were never going to reverse the result in the first place

I’m not sure Chris Holder has any value with that average, I’d move on Rowe, Chris and Picko on from this years top 5, know sourcing two heat leaders is easier said than done though

Notice he hasn't posted since Ukraine hit the bot farms lol. A bit like most reform supporting X users lol.

I agree don’t think they should allow front wheel over the line. That’s what the line is there for, it’s the inside of the track.

Nice touch by the Comets management with a message on the electronic sign at the Ramsey brow junction at the end of the A66. Saying thank you to the fans and sponsors supporting the comets in 2026 😄🏁🔵⚪

Heard at Poole last night, Dan Thompson back at Glasgow next season

Completely disagree, the Lynn hardcore have shown over many years and decades that they'll turn up whatever the team capability and league position. Crowds were up this year from what I could see which is probably the Fricke & Rushen factor but whatever happens next season folk will be there again in 2028. If they finally get it right then we'll see more crowds like the Ipswich one in August.

I think once they knew who their top 3 were and found 2 of them had averages less than 8 but other teams like Redcar and Glasgow relied on two 8 point riders they suggested the rule particularly knowing they had Rushen and cairns at reserve.

Small part of an interview with Jamie Courtney on BBC Radio Oxford lunchtime news today. He confirms its Championship for Oxford in 2027. Full interview will be on the Heat 16 podcast at 6pm tonight. You can listen again afterwards on BBC Sounds.

Don't you mean 'the people in charge of Premiership speedway'?

Masters will never ride for Glasgow & rightly so after witnessing him giving the middle finger to all the fans in the main stand once whilst riding for the monarchs. Pickering very much an eastender also so non starter.

Yes your owners have the money but for any business man you can't just throw large amounts of money at things without standing back wondering if it's worth it 🤔