Halifaxtiger

No. His first meeting - as has been pointed out - was for the Colts at Cradley. I was there and remember texting a few people about him afterwards.

I am not quite sure what that has to do with your continual - and utterly unvarying - criticism of speedway. Bewitcher, Tsunami (who I count as a very good friend) and I have crossed swords on this forum several times. They are, however, at least worth arguing with because they attend meetings and retain a passionate interest in modern day speedway. They, like me, recognise the many faults that the sport has and have been extremely critical on occasion. However, they also recognise that four blokes on bikes without brakes can be as good as its ever been - indeed, on occasion, its better. They give credit where credit is due. You don't. Period. By your own admission, you don't go, have no interest and wouldn't attend even if it was free. As such, Bewitcher's EastEnders post - in your case - is just about bang on.

'Was' being the operative word. Absolutely no interest now other than to be critical.

Not too sure about that but they were fancied.....And Workington were only thought decent !

Sheffield Leicester Berwick Eastbourne (based upon rumoured signings) Sheffield are the stand out team but otherwise its pretty tight.

The problem is that the BBC are (and it might be argued, have to be) politically correct. That means if by far and away the 5 greatest sporting achievements were made by white males one of them at least would be dropped to accommodate a female and someone from an ethnic minority. It also means that the awards will never have the credibility that they should, even if the allegations of vote rigging are untrue. The sadness of that is it damages the achievements of female and black sportsmen, because they don't know if they are there because of what they achieved or because they are female and black. While you might - and I think you have a point - object to netball, I would say that skeleton racing is far more of a minority sport in terms of UK participants and spectators. I nevertheless suspect that there would be few who would deny Lizzy Yarnold her nomination as Britain's greatest ever winter Olympian. For me, and in terms of achievement, I would say that hers has been the biggest of all. You'd think, though, that others who were the greatest ever Briton in their field - even if that is a minority sport - might at least have been mentioned. Humph is spot on, though. Just don't watch it.

That hasn't worked and it should have been obvious that that would be the case. In fact, we are seeing developing riders forced out and NL professionals getting places. In addition, it is entirely possible that the intention in forcing riders up was to lower costs in the Championship - in other words, the motivation was selfishness. There's a surprise No rider in the NL is a full time professional and as for paying silly money I would have thought that representatives of the Championship and Premiership would be the last to lecture about that. In terms of finances, I have no doubt that the NL is in better shape than either of the other leagues.

Given that with 10 teams in 2018 promoters apparently wanted a raise in the limit, it is ridiculous that with 8 teams it is lowered and inevitably there will be riders unable to gain a team place even if they are most deserving of one. I think you are probably right - part of the motivation for Birmingham and Eastbourne moving up was the low points limit. It should also be remembered that the rumoured limit was to be even lower. My understanding is that the limit was set low to force riders up into the Championship but I believe that to be stupidly flawed. For a start, the best young riders don't need to be forced, they will do it as a matter of ambition. Secondly, it hasn't stopped NL sides from filling their line ups with 'journeyman' NL riders (Ayres, Wallinger, Perry, Wilson, Campos etc -hat isn't a criticism of the riders or the clubs, just of how the policy has failed). Finally, young riders deserving of a place are already being left out (Smith and Lawlor come to mind, but there will be others). Simple truth is that NL clubs did not want a reduction and the apparent motivation for it is nonsense.

Flint will be 16 at the start of the season and is one of British Speedway's best prospects, averaging 8.5 in his first year. Given also he is based in Berwick (and hence the other nearest NLtrack would be almost 100 miles away) it is pretty much a no brainer for both him and Belle Vue to sign for the Colts and I suspect many (if not most) Belle Vue supporters would prefer him to Smith. 2019 will be Phillips' 8th season of NL racing, his average last year was 6.75 and under 2.00 for Scunthorpe. He'll be 23 during the season. It will be Smith's 4th season, his average was 8.41 and 2.88 for Sheffield. He'll be 20. No question about whom is more deserving of a place in the NL and it is ridiculous that a rider of that age and potential is forced out of the NL by the points limit (and it is most unlikely that he will be the only one). While there can be an argument made that due to the reduction for new riders from 3.00 to 2.00 means that the limit remains the same, that is dependent upon all teams finding two such riders - or 16 altogether. Are there 16 ?

That's the stupid points limit rather than Belle Vue. It is entirely probable that a lot of the high averaging young riders will be forced out of the NL. Had it been the same as last year, they could have Smith rather than Phillips (Smith is younger, less experienced and is deeply connected with Belle Vue). Decent Aces side and a most attractive Colts one. Monday night racing is not for me, though.

Completely agree ……..with one issue. Young riders of their level shouldn't be frozen out so they can be accommodated. That, however, is more of a matter of the points limit. No-one in their right mind would say that having Jon Armstrong (now well into his 40's) in the NL is a bad thing. I don't recall you objecting to Mark Baseby and when Ellis joined Eastbourne he was way beyond NL level - evidenced by a final finishing tally of 10.98 and the fact that at one point he was topping Poole's averages.

That's my understanding of it. It is an indictment of the BSPA that they have forced a decision on the NL against the wishes of everyone in that league, a league in which they have no financial stake. What's worse, its entirely possible that that decision was made for their own selfish interests. I was very impressed with the Colts team last night but, as I have pointed out on that thread, had the points limit remained the same they could have had Smith rather than Phillips. A younger, less experienced, seriously Belle Vue connected rider has been dumped in favour of someone older, more experienced and with little - if any - connection to the club.

Had the points limit remained the same, the Colts could have had Jack Smith instead of Danny Phillips. Smith is younger, has less experience and of course has the Belle Vue connection through riding for the Aces and Colts and his father. Its still a cracking line up any way.

I think you are absolutely right. Riders at NL level in particular (and especially the NL professionals) do it because they love competing in speedway. Having said that, there's also the matter of ambition. Many of the youngsters believe they have the talent to go further, so while they might love it they also race because of the possibility of fame and fortune. I'd also say that if there was no payment at NL level some (again, the NL professionals) would quit. Moreover the standard would drop, as funds were not available to meet the high costs of equipment in the way that UTB has said.

I don't think anyone actually hates Glasgow. Some are jealous, certainly - I can remember a particularly vicious piece in an Edinburgh programme shortly after the Facenna's took over the club. I don't think it really matters that much what others think, either. But this forum would be a very dull (and mostly empty) place without those thoughts.

Teaboy said in a post recently that Buxton had failed to move on. I think he has a point. It seems to me that many seem to forget that an NL speedway club is a business. As such, they need to pull in enough revenue to meet their expenses which, aside from rider costs (a big chunk, admittedly) are no different from any other track. Rent, ambulance cover, insurance, BSPA fees, track preparation costs - they are the same (or so) regardless. In order to get that revenue, they have to a product that is attractive enough to entice paying customers and, through that, sponsorship, Otherwise they are history. When Rob Godfrey ran a very weak NL side a couple of seasons ago, every single home meeting was a double header with the PL team with a couple of quid banged on the entry price. Its not difficult to work out why he did that : run them as stand alones, and they would attract a handful of fans only. It would be slightly different for the likes of Kent, Mildenhall, Plymouth etc, but there's no doubt a weakened product would affect attendances and, through that sponsorship and, from that, the very existence of the team. Its why I have no problem with the so called NL professionals. Looking through last years starting line ups, most teams had just 1 or at the most 2, and they were nearly all 7.00 or above riders. None of those would take a 2point youngsters place. The way I see it, the NL has done an excellent job of compromising between development and viability. Make no mistake, a low point limit is more likely to put clubs out of business than a high one, which is probably why Mark Phillips has stated that they were all against the reduction in points this season.

Looks like my source was right after all...……….

Certainly in my case - and I suspect many others - its not a case of 'bitterness' at all. I suspect that some fans might be a little envious of the financial resources that Glasgow have but, as you rightly say, they would all want the same for their teams. However, it sticks a little in my craw that in one minute you have the Glasgow owners spouting about 6 figure losses season on season and the possibility that 2019 might be the last one for the Tigers and then throwing huge sums of money about - and I don't think there's any doubt of that whatsoever - in building a team for the forthcoming year. That, to me, seems to me to be the very point that many are making, and that's not 'bitterness', its merely condemning hypocrisy and irresponsibility.

Mildenhall said it was very good, Isle of Wight said dangerous.

I wanted Tungate to stay (and I think you are wrong about his away performances) but it would be very difficult indeed to suggest that he is a better option than Bjerre, especially given their starting averages.

Ayres, Wallinger, Coles, Perry, Chessell, Priest, Campos & Halsey all signed. Smith & Lawlor out. Its not often I get it right, but I just might have here.

I always thought that anything you heard second hand was hearsay. My source is usually very reliable indeed and, let's face it, given Glasgow's spending record its entirely believable even if they weren't.

Not what I have heard. The rider in question was offered a staggering amount but apparently turned it down.

Dead right. The stupid decision to lower the points limit in the NL - according to Plymouth's Mark Phillips, completely against the wishes of the clubs - is likely to backfire spectacularly. Doubling up is a blight on British Speedway but there will be few who will object to a youngster having a place in an NL team and riding for a Championship club, the lower league aiding confidence, the upper league aiding ability. Added to that, Championship clubs haven't always had a good record of patience with young British riders. If they get dropped, there's every chance they will leave the sport as they are unable to gain an NL place and will have nowhere to go.

If that were the case for everyone, the stadiums would be empty. This forum's main occupation - often, most reasonably - is BSPA bashing. Given the ludicrous points limit that has almost certainly been forced on NL promotions against their will - Mark Phillips has made it clear that they wanted an increase in the limit, not a reduction - I suspect that many in charge of tracks at that level and their supporters will agree with some - if not most - of what Kevin Jolly said.