neil3065

I sincerely hope that a deal can be done to ensure the future of the club, and hopefully, finally establish some stability and get out of this dreaded cycle of questioning the club's future on an annual basis. It would be fantastic to see the club saved and keep the current squad together to find out whether they can win the honours they'd been well and truly in the hunt for - but in order to do that a quick solution would need to be found with regard to the ownership, so that riders do not have to look for other clubs to see out the season with.

Would be a great shame were Mildenhall to fold, ironically in a season when a very good side has been put together, after it was kept running with such weak tmade eams in recent seasons. Great strides forward have been made in terms of the competiveness and therefore entertainment value in the last third of last season and then again this year. I'm a little surprised that the management of the club seem unable to rally round and keep it running at least until season's end - I thought John Adams had a co-promoters licence which may have made that a possibility. Obviously, you'd like to believe there's someone out there willing to step in and save it - although these are tough times financially, which reduces the likelihood of that and Mildenhall have been in this position far too many times in recent seasons. I guess ultimately, it comes down to Dave Coventry and whether he feels its worthwhile keeping Speedway running at the stadium.

I think we cant overlook the fact that the current make-up of the 'third tier', ie, with established riders who have experience at a higher level and youngsters who have come through training schools, DOES benefit those younger riders development - by giving them something to aim at to increase their ability, that they would not get by just racing against others from their own age group. You then see those riders who are ready and able to move up to a higher level. Of course, you get many experienced riders at third tier level who gradually find themselves priced out of being competitive, as equipment costs rise and make it harder and harder for them to sustain their racing at a competitive level, with other demands on their money. For whatever reason, there are a surplus of experienced British riders, who cannot get regular PL team places and making the third tier a purely development league would force many riders out of the sport. In terms of Aussies coming into NL teams, irrespective of individual circumstances - how many are we talking?! Without saying whether its 'right or wrong' to go down that route, in truth, it isnt THAT many riders, is it?! You've also got standalone tracks who need to produce a competitive team to sustain crowds at a level which enables those clubs to continue to exist. So, its difficult to develop a solution that keeps all those with an interest in this level of Speedway happy. It does strike me that as soon as a team has any sort of success at this level, people associated with those teams who are less successful look for some morality angle on why that success is undeserved - only to then be silence when their team's fortunes improve. You didnt see Scunthorpe fans complaining about anyone else's set-up when their team was sweeping all before it at CL level a couple of years back - yet now they are not so powerful, they are complaining about other teams. Even Buxton, well reknowned for developing young British riders, are getting stick for using young Aussies this season. Uncle Len, who has championed development of young brits in the past (but has suddenly filled his PL team with several foreign riders) is now thinking differently. Why the insistance on supporters taking 'holier than thou' approaches and attempting to dictate to other clubs how they should structure their teams in any case. Sure, we dont allow 'foreigners' in this league (other than the odd 'Aussie', on a british passport, or work visa's now, it seems)- but shouldnt clubs be able to decide for themselves what approach they take to team building, within those parameters?! Maybe the solution is to have a more structured development level below the current third tier, that is some sort of regional YDL set-up, that's run as a second half league of mini-matches, ie, six heats or so. I think any issues within the third tier are the tip of the ice-berg, for me a greater problem is the willingness of promoters at higher levels to overlook British riders in favour of (especially in the PL) low averaged foreign riders. This leaves a large number of Brits who have nowhere to ride, but the third tier, or be lost to the sport.

Somehow I doubt you'd be quite so bothered about it if he'd been riding at reserve for the Saints.....!!! :blink

I'd seen Jon's score at Weymouth, but had not seen the other recent double figure scores he's got - its good to know he's running back into something like his best form after his struggles with injury of recent years, not only for his prospects as guest for Mildenhall this week, but mainly just because ts good to see him getting a change of luck after coming back into the sport following the injuries he had. Will be great to see Jon back in a Fen Tigers race jacket this weekend - a true Mildenhall legend!!!!

Another excellent result for the Fen Tigers in their bid to keep hold of a coveted play-off place, against a very useful looking Bournemouth line-up. The result must have made it all worthwhile for those who, unlike me, chose not to stay away for the damp squib that was the England game!!!! Fair play to them all!!! As Halifax said the continued good form of Olly and Joe is very pleasing to see - long may they continue to back-up Jerran and Barrie with decent scores like these. We all know what Matt, Luke and Nick can produce when at their best, so let's hope they can get back to that kind of form in the very near future.

Point taken, England did have every chance to have won the group and ought to have been playing tonight, therefore avoiding overlap with Mildenhall's fixture tomorrow - that said, there always was a chance that this situation would arise

It is highly ironic that after several eweeks without a home meeting, this one comes on thje same day as England v Germany. Tricky one - would the stadium owner consider opening the bar early enough to show the match in full, I wonder?! Even so, there will doubtless be many people who wont be in any state to drive to West Row after watching the match in the pub. Not even sure the rain will be around to intervene and save the situation. With changes to the promotion in the offing, what I would say, with all due respect, is that Mildenhall need to become more comercially proactive.

My sincere condolences to Ray. As with others, Jean and I did not always agree in terms of our views on Mildenhall, but it was clear to anyone who knew Jean that she loved Speedway and the Fen Tigers.

Pundits, eh?! What do they know?!

Any results/scorers from this meeting?!

I believe this is in addition to track time for our PL riders to ascertain match fotness/try out engines following the main meeting. Good that Mildenhall are now including some section half action to develop young riders and also to give existing PL riders some much needed practice time. Will Jon Armstrong be getting a few laps in following the meeting this week, Laurence?