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Think it’s worth mentioning how enjoyable last night’s meeting was. I’m often critical of Wimborne Road, but that was a great speedway meeting last night and a fantastic advert for the sport. It had everything, from close racing to dubious decisions, on-track-action and post-race interview controversy. Congratulations to the Pirates on another trophy and also Redcar in giving a fantastic account of themselves. Special mention to Will Cairns and Jake Mullford. Never lose that fire in your belly, boys.

I would say why is the GP final being held when Berwick are at Home 🤔😂

Nope. See for yourself: Rule 14.7 (b) - Club Superiority Exemption A club may approach any rider contracted to another club where it can demonstrate that it has: A. a superior racing track; and B. more handsome supporters In such circumstances, normal restrictions on rider approaches shall not apply.

Why don’t you take your protest further and boycott this forum as well.

People spontaneously combusting on here and social media that Coleman has “taken an GP away from Belle Vue and given it to Ipswich instead” are not surprisingly way off yet again. He very much wants the GP at the NSS but there are issues that he’s trying hard to resolve. Everyone is in full agreement that Belle Vue holds the best possible racing. In an ideal world and this is just my opinion, they would have one GP at the NSS every year as standard, and then move the other around different parts of the country for variety and giving supporters from different parts of the UK a chance to go and see a GP without major travelling. Win win.

Good to hear Coleman addressing the supporters at the end as well. Again dangling the carrot of things being much better next year and exciting times ahead at Foxhall. He can certainly talk the talk, and he deserves the chance to walk the walk. Grateful that he stepped in personally and gave us speedway again this year.

Interview with Andrew Bain in this week’s star sounds positive, he plans to keep improving the track including fitting the flood lights. He said he is going to do his very best to make sure the comets are at the tapes next year. Fingers crossed he can make it work. No one wants to lose another team.

Back on the 30th of January, I posted on here about making the Eddie Wright Raceway my regular track after moving to Lincolnshire. I said back then “Regardless of where we finish in the league, I’m massively looking forward to the new season. Let’s get behind the lads and hopefully spring a surprise or two” after being written off. Well, look where we are tonight. Whatever happens at Wimborne Road in the second leg, Scunthorpe have had an absolutely brilliant season. Taking an eight-point lead into the Grand Final decider against a side like Poole is massive credit to every single rider, promoter, and volunteer at the club. Do I think they will pull it off tonight? Hand on heart, probably not. We all know how tough Wimborne Road is and how well Poole are around their own patch. In fact, it’s one of the biggest frustrations in British speedway for me right now: every year it feels like a foregone conclusion. You can pretty much pencil in the league winners before a wheel turns, and the entire championship boils down to “who earns the right to get beaten over two legs by Poole.” If the Pirates overturn the deficit and lift the trophy again, nobody will be shocked. But that shouldn't take an ounce of shine off what Scunny have achieved. I’ll be following tonight with everything crossed and if they do it, it’ll be one of the best nights in the club's history. But even if Poole do what Poole usually do, the Scorpions will still be winners having proved pretty much everyone wrong.

Awwww. Martin Ashby. What a rider. I was totally obsessed with the guy as a teenager. I remember the first time I ever went to Swindon Speedway. Swindon v Wolves in 1974. I stood on the apex of the first and second bends. First race I saw - Martin Ashby of Swindon beating some foreign bloke called Ole Olsen and breaking the track record. Amazing. He had the best style of any rider. Take any picture of Martin Ashby riding, and you could put it into any other picture of him. He always looked exactly the same in every picture. So stylish, but possibly not aggressive or ruthless enough sometimes, which probably cost him a place in my first ever World Final in 1975. That race with Ray Wilson was over 50 years ago now, and I'm still traumatised by it! I even took my FS1-E to his garage once for a service - just so I could say my moped was serviced by Martin Ashby. After he retired, he was regular supporter at Blunsdon. Always in the same spot - near to the tea hatch going into the first bend - as though he were just another supporter. No heirs and graces at all. RIP Martin Ashby. What a guy!

I’m sick of dusty tracks, it’s not just Poole it seems to be everywhere in current speedway and ultimately it makes for crap racing, put some god damn water down and if the riders moan tell them to sod off and do something else, it seems no consideration is given to fans getting covered in dust these days, Poole attendance levels are maintained by their winning ethos but for a play off meeting I thought that crowd was poor

Gutted tbh, the lads gave everything and we’ve had a remarkable season for a team ‘destined to be bottom’ its sad really that over two legs, poor officiating is talked about and key shock moments, like mpt in heat 14, won’t be in the limelight it should be

Gutted for Scunthorpe. Had no right being in that final, but dug so deep to achieve it, only to be outright cheated twice. Stevie Wonder could see that Cook’s wheels were over the white line, but hats not up for debate is Cairns’ warming his tyres on live TV in the first leg. If the rules are applied correctly and Scunthorpe aren’t cheated, it doesn’t even go to a race-off last night. As if British speedway isn’t in enough of a mess, we’ve now compromised its integrity.

We’ve been putting our case forward since closure. They are aware of this, some councillors desperately want us to naff off, we’re not going anywhere. If anything our case is getting stronger. I can’t wait to speak in front of a proper independent knowledgeable government planning inspector, our council are going to get their backsides kicked hard. They have massively under estimated us and our supporters who I must say have been magnificent throughout this process. I am more confident now since closure that Speedway will return to Peterborough.

I'm sorry, but if there is a growing dispute between two riders at the tapes, the starting marshal should intervene and sort it out. That is one of his jobs. For this to end in one rider pulling the others cut out is unforgivable. Surely this amounts to delaying the start and should lead to an exclusion. In fact I think it started out as 6 of 1 and maybe both riders should have been excluded for the delay of start. Instead of which we had this pantomime where an innocent party ends up getting thrown out.

We could call it the BLRC. The both leagues riders championship.

Let’s be honest here as an Ipswich fan. Ipswich got lucky to be in front at the interval on Thursday & Belle Vue pulled it back & deserved the win. In terms of Ipswich 2026 the late take over certainly put a spanner in the works in terms of team building. Ellis & Doyle were both spoken too but couldn’t hang on to confirm their 2026 arrangements & you can’t blame them. Danny, Tom & Jason Edwards were all able to hold on & Edwards was announced before Christmas. At one point I believe that Mayfield were hoping to be able to announce the take over & the team before Christmas. However there were issues around confirming their lease on the stadium which made it impossible to announce anything. The team was put together last minute & certainly after the top riders had already made their plans for 26. personally I went into this year happy to have a team & with no real expectations. The amount of criticism thrown at Mayfield in terms of the team & lack of changes is just laughable. This year was always about keeping the club going & putting plans in place for 27. They have done a lot of work off track in terms of attracting new sponsorship, the deal with Wroclaw, witches TV etc etc. All of that is far more important than the 26 team issues to ensure we have a club in the future. I have nothing but respect for what Coleman has done this year & I have no criticism to put his way. Now if we have a team along the same lines next year then we are then free to criticise & demand better. Finally I don’t blame Louis 1 jolt for getting out. If you’re heart isn’t in it anymore then there is no point in carrying on. 26 has been a come down after 3 years of the Emil & Jason show however it’s a year of taking stock & rebuilding for the future.

If only there had been a fantastic summer of hot, cloudless, evenings to run Speedway... And a plan to get the cup comps sorted early in the season...

Nora is the correct future for the national league and has been for a good few years now but will the scb/acu let it go ?the national league around the early to mid 2000s when the national league (Plymouth, Weymouth, Wimbledon cradley )started pulling in bigger crowds than the top leagues measures were put in place to decimate the league and it didn’t take many years to reduce it to the debacle it is today, short sighted, jealousy and bitterness and in some cases incompetence are rife in the bspl so don’t expect anything to change anytime soon, anyway a big congratulations to Martin and everyone at the IOW for an enjoyable short season that happily attracted good crowds

This made me think we’re coming up to a year since our happiest hour for many a year, quickly followed by our darkest when we headed in to the winter not knowing whether we even had our club to support anymore. This time around, we go in to the dark winter months knowing we’re in very safe hands, WILL be coming to tapes next March, having our track upgraded, a GP to look forward to, and the promise of a much more competitive team in 27. Been a whirlwind 12 months and a huge rollercoaster of emotions, but bring on 27.

You go to a pub on Friday night. You walk to the bar where the barman is in conversation with three other customers. What is their history? What have they done together? Have any of them been to prison? You don't know them or anything about them but you stand next to them & drink your pint without question. The difference is Jason Garrity is someone who's name you know & you didn't like him before he went to prison. if you want to use him as a reason not to attend speedway events thats your choice but you don't need to share your hateful message with the rest of us. He done the crime & he's done the time. Now live & let live

I think Richard must come on here… Best of luck to him... Others have gone before with pretty much exactly the same observations and plans... Hopefully this fella gets the cut through needed...

If you’ve heard bumbling Rob Godfrey on one of those podcasts and you know this is actually the “chairman” of the BSPL, as well as a “director” of “speedway futures”, then I’m sorry but nobody can be the least bit surprised at the absolute state of British Speedway currently. Its an incredibly sad state of affairs.

That interview sums Cairns up… If you want an example of how to entertain both on and off the track and endear yourself to fans of other clubs and not just your own, look no further than Cooper. Pure class. 👌🏻

Another reason for any TV deal to just do a highlights package using the club streams... Too many times meetings don't happen due to weather predictions, riders not liking the track or just simply rain offs.. The sport needs to build a reputation for professionalism, and "live Speedway" going out often doesn't always paint that picture... Time to edit the best highlights, and interviews covering rider commitments and lifestyles, can start to build that reputation..

Is anyone actually running British Speedway? Tomorrow is the Championship League Riders’ Championship at Sheffield. A few years ago, the CLRC was genuinely one of the jewel-in-the-crown individual meetings on the calendar. Top riders from every club, proper prestige, packed terraces, and real buzz. Fast forward to tomorrow, and it feels like the authorities wouldn't care if the gates didn't even open. First off, the scheduling brilliance: putting it directly head-to-head with the penultimate Grand Prix. I know people will say "you can watch on demand afterwards" but Speedway fans want to watch major meetings live don't they? With Brady Kurtz right in the thick of the World Championship, Belle Vue fans and general fans across the North who might have fancied a Saturday night out at Owlerton are far more likely to stay glued to their sofas cheering on their man. Nothing beats being track side, but supporters choosing between a live GP and a domestic individual championship is sheer amateur hour. Then there’s the non-existent advertising. If you don't buy the Speedway Star, you'd be forgiven for not even knowing the meeting exists. The official British Speedway website has offered virtually zero promotion other than a couple of standard-issue, token soundbite interviews with Leon Flint and Josh Pickering. Sheffield’s own website just has it quietly listed as their next home fixture at the moment, no special push, no fanfare, no effort to pull the casual punter through the turnstiles. Outside of the Star's pages, you can't even easily find the confirmed line-up. How difficult is it to put a proper graphic on social media and hype a national individual title? To top off the farce: one of the leading contenders, an Englishman who should be a headline draw for the CLRC and one of the favourites is reportedly pulled away to race in Poland instead!! The domestic season's marquee events are treated as an afterthought not just by the wider public, but by the sport’s own hierarchy. I guess the die-hard, hardcore regulars will turn up as they always do.

What a horrible and sad way to end an incredibly exciting climax to the league. Scunthorpe were clearly robbed by another joke of a decision by a referee. Paul Carrington bottled it and wanted to leave Wimborne Road in one piece. Unfortunately all it does is bring the sport into disrepute and British speedway loses even more integrity which it can ill afford to do at present. This is just another of a long line of absolute clangers being pulled by referees who either need more training or more help. It’s also hot on the heels of Christina Turnbull’s decision to let a heat go ahead last night when the riders were clearly in the wrong gates. It just looks amateurish. Scunthorpe are champions in my eyes. They put up a fabulous rearguard action to take it to the Super Heat led by Picko who has been on another level this season. For me, they DID pull off the impossible.

Disagree wholeheartedly Dean. Failure to apply the rules as intended is cheating. Compromising the integrity of the sport does not render it “the winner”.

Would that of been the reason the start marshall stood in a dangerous position to hold the broken tapes back the other season when Poole riders were in the lead because the ref told him to via his headset.

It's also disgraceful to force someone to ride in a league that they may feel is financially unviable.

Has anyone seen Godfrey & co since Coleman’s interview on Friday or are they still trying to get up after that knockout?? Coleman clearly knows the issues & with a very successful career in motorsport knows what’s needs to be done. That interview was worlds apart from Godfrey in his caravan.

Could you ask Poole why they scored 57 points against Edinburgh? I would have liked a 8-10 point lead for Poole to make the second leg more interesting.

Your opinion is your opinion. Personally, he was a deserved winner and was right to show some emotion. He was never really 'in British Speedway' he had to go to Germany as a kid to start his professional career as he was already too good for the level that he could ride at over here then completed his apprenticeship before moving onto the big stage - where he's made a life and his growing family are. Every man and his dog knows you have to be in Poland full time to get near that top 15, he's got there and done a very good job getting there. He may not ride in our Micky mouse leagues but he puts that Union Jack on every year an rides his balls off in the world team events..or would you prefer the nice guy Harris who's made a mockery of the Uk system for the last 20 years trailing around at the back? And if I was top of the tree and they played that nonsense I wouldn't have sung either.

The centre green is being lowered by 600mm with new drainage and the inside of the track lowered by the same amount to give much better banking. obviously the majority of the track will be removed to allow for a much lower sub base and then a new shale surface will go in replacing the awful clay surface. spedeworth are demolishing the existing home straight stand and replacing it with a three tier building right up to the first bend. At a cost of £1.75 million. There will be a tunnel through the stand to enter the track. new pits area as current ones will be in the way of the new lengthened stand. But like you say minimal track changes. 😆

I’ve put this link in the 2027 thread but it’s worth putting here too. A few tasty little nuggets on the Witches in here including plans for the track.

Just got back from a very entertaining meeting at Poole. First of all commiserations to Redcar who put up a decent defence of their 6 point lead. Thought Charles Wright was quite brilliant. And to the handful of Redcar fans who travelled all the way from the north east to support their team. Racing was tight and Redcar battled well until the rumpus of heat eight when Mulford started kicking out at Will Cairns. Ref really messed up by putting on the Red light. Newman thought 2 mins had been cancelled and pulled away to the bend. But the Red lights went out and the clock kept ticking. Kyle arrived 2 seconds too late and was excluded. Very unfair. In fact ludicrous. But the Purates were then fired up and took control of the meeting. People moaning there is a lack of characters in the sport. Then along comes young Will Cairns who speaks what he thinks and it’s moan moan moan. Cocksure, should be taken down a peg or two, too big for his boots, etc etc etc. Will Cairns is perfect for speedway. A young lad, who is clearly heading to the top, causing waves. More riders should be like this.

Will Cairns is everything this sport needs,voted him BSN rider of the night just for his antics and interview

The meeting the other week against Sheffield was very good, some excellent racing with lots of passing. But most of the riders were having a whinge on both sides that the track was “tricky to ride” and they were struggling a bit with it. Tonight most of the riders were praising the track because it was smooth and easy to ride, but was serving up next to no entertainment to the supporters. Give me the track like it was against Sheffield and tell them to get on with it!

Not everyone is the same though are they? Brennan held on, so did King. Plenty of others didn’t including Ellis and Doyle. And I don’t blame them or anyone else for not gambling on the takeover being completed. Riders have to put themselves first as they should. “They could have built a stronger team” well not really! Coleman has already explained this. Conversations WERE held with Doyle but they couldn’t offer him the guarantees he wanted and he gave up. Conversations were held with numerous GP riders, they all had their season planned. You have to cut them some slack they were severely up against it this year. If similar happens next season then criticism will be fair game. I’m confident that won’t be the case but actions speak louder than words. It took Louis how many years before landing a title? He even took us down a league for donkeys years and we couldn’t even win a raffle down there!

If its true that they are looking to increase the points limit All clubs must run an U21 British Rider at reserve All clubs must also run a Foreign U21 Rider at reserve If they can get the ITV4 deal over the line which sounds like the more lucrative deal being worked on Perhaps that's enough for the likes of Glasgow to give the top flight a chance, and I think if the TV deal goes through, you may see Oxford move up again but obviously not do the Championship aswell this time around. Could see the following strength sides, put together for example purposes

Whats schlein talking about regards kerr. No way is jenkins at fault

I hope he signs for someone next season just to keep all you moaning old f***s away.

Well, if the shoe fits, Arthur. You’ve had a cheating incident as recently as your last meeting. You’ve also got a Rushen riding for you. No-one else has been allowed one since the Ukraine war.

Could you elaborate please, Steve?

Rushen did nothing wrong there, he’s due an apology from Staechman, who was babbling nonsense that he’d done something really dangerous (and who didn’t have the guts to correct himself when the replay showed him to be way off).

I attend few domestic meetings, but do attend the play off finals that the Aces are in.. Why?.. Not because I see the winning of a UK Team Speedway title has any major relevance in its current guise, but the finals do provide some atmosphere which you associate with a team sport... In short, they are something worth attending if you like live sport... 400 or so Aces fans at Sheffield, stood on turns three and four, a few years ago, meant a superb night of watching sport, with the racing only being "OK" at best... Standing with 200 or so at Leicester a couple of years ago on the first turn also made the evening a great spectacle... Plenty of banter between rival fans, plenty of pee taking of the opposition managers, and riders, and no malice in sight... If UK Speedway had that many away fans at EVERY meeting then it would be in a hugely more successful position..... Your Team. Your Riders... Win, lose or draw, that is how a team sport should be if you want people to emotionally engage with it... Glad the Aces got Sheffield as several hundred will descend on Owlerton next week... Should be a great atmosphere...

With that attitude it certainly will be. There are however, people who still believe in the product (Richard Coleman the latest) who are trying hard to pull the sport up by its bootstraps and get it upwardly mobile. Your club and others like it, may well be happy with their slippers on, reduce costs annually and see the sport descend even further in to the abyss as an amateur sport in front of a couple of hundred people. Mr Campbell and the rest of the OAP dinosaurs are entitled to have that mindset. Others, like the mentioned Coleman and Mark Lemon, would prefer to at least try and get the top tier moving back upwards as a serious sport. You may think they’re wasting their time, but they obviously don’t so let them get on with it. Enjoy your thriving product in the lower league.

Comfortably 2,000 imo, probably 2.5, although kids go free of which there is always a lot at Shielfield. No words re last night, great set of fans Plymouth have too, brilliant. Shielfield was electric all night, from the second Morris got announced for 27, to the riders going round on the victory parade, if speedway was like that every week, there would be no problems across the sport.

It was literally cobbled together a few weeks before the season started as everyone including “Rob” knows 🙄 It’s been a crap league this year with two of only six clubs being out of it before a wheel was turned in anger and it’s been done to death. Belle Vue realistically only had ONE challenger this year who then lost their top rider and couldn’t replace him. Hopefully Sheffield will get Fricke in for the play offs so a Belle Vue-Sheffield final is at least mildly interesting.

We do have the second leg to go but, due to other commitments, there's a relatively high chance that Monarchs will have to run fan replacement in my absence. I plan to serve my 28 day ban in November.

Links for tonight: https://vksport.vkvideo.ru/live-53550004_456242858 https://vkvideo.ru/live-81427162_456239820