torpointfanatic22

The man in the know will be Lewy, but my understanding is that we don't currently own it the land. However Mark was looking into ways that he could purchase the land that would allow him the ability to complete further track work and potentially utilise the land where he could earn further income. If I recall correctly, I believe there was an article a couple months back either in the Speedway Star or the local rag that said something to that effect.

Appreciate this is an example but promoters shouldn’t be building to anything until the AGM, so bigger fool them if they have made assumptions. As I say appreciate this was an example but you know full well some promoters are in cahoots to get ahead of the game and agree to support one another before they get around the table.

Would see Plymouth bottom of the league again.

Think Kerr could be a shout, the promotion do seem to like him. Barker will inevitably be back so that could be the top 2. Pearson and Trigger maybe, don’t see Gilkes or Howarth returning.

The problem we have every year and it has been the same for the last 10-15 years, is that promoters will always look after themselves. Not saying they should or shouldn’t but that’s the reality. So they will always do what suits them best regardless of what we as fans think or what is logical. The BSPA is run by promoters for promoters so nothing will change because if they are surviving that appears good enough. I can’t see TV money continuing to come in where it’s the same teams week in, week out and I just don’t see the attraction to new supporters to see the same teams and riders over and over, and that’s not counting guests. It has to be one league, one standard where it’s competitive with variety. 14 teams would be great for the product and for supporters. Reality is it will be as many have said; two leagues, six and eight teams with Mickey Mouse cup competitions to fill blank race nights.

I find the article in the local rag to be the usual fluff to be honest. How any promoter can come out and blame people on social media for dropping a rider is utter twoddle. Anyone that knows Mark knows he does it his way and that's the end of it. Plymouth also probably has the lowest number of social media posters in the all the leagues, I can only think of about three or four Plymouth fans that post regularly on here and the Plymouth forum is absolutely dead! The team assembled was always likely to struggle given the weakness at reserve, completely agree we had horrid luck with injuries and the form of a couple of riders at the top end let us down but it's time to own it and stop shifting the blame. Hopefully mistakes have been learnt from. I sincerely hope Plymouth can return as it's Mark's passion for the sport that's keeping it going in the west country and fingers crossed we can bring in someone who can generate the sponsorship required. Saturday's could be a good move and may entice a few more riders down to Plymouth given they won't be travelling south west on a Tuesday! If we are back, it will be interesting to see the sort of team assembled. I imagine Trigger and Barker will be on the list given they are local, Barker is a relative of Mark's and Trigger I assume was given this season as a stepping stone to better things in 2024. Outside of that I wouldn't be surprised to see five newbies.

A sadly embarrassing end to a dreadful season for Plymouth. Two wins from 16 and the wooden spoon, can't help but wonder if we'll be back next season. Fingers crossed we are.

Who is Matt Marson? Edit - Just seen he rides NL for Belle Vue.

I really feel for the Plymouth promotion on this. I don't agree with everything that goes on at Plymouth and I think things could be better but the injuries and then the Barker fiasco last season and now Worrall this is just such bad luck. I fear for the future of the club (and speedway as a whole to be honest).

It comes down to track prep, plain and simple. Whether it rains or not, the track needs to be prepped to suit the conditions.

Completely agree, if you're the home team if you want to rip up the start line, the bends, the straights whatever, it's up to you. As long as everyone gets a chance to have a look prior to racing starting it's fair enough. I'm shocked all teams don't do it, I really am.

Much more encouraging, Redcar are one of the strongest in the league this year, but need to kick on and get some wins.

Agreed, there a few better out there than May, Plymouth are very lucky to have him.

When your dad is the reason you have equipment and calls the shots as a result, you don't really have a choice!

It's the easiest excuse to say riders aren't bonding when a team is failing, it detracts from the promotion and management. I'm not saying they are btw but if they were looking out for themselves maybe they'd at least win some races. The reality is we're approaching July, 6 matches in to a 16 match league season. We've lost 3 out of 4 at home in the league and if you count the cups, we've lost 5 out of 7, last season we lost 1 all season in the league and 2 in the cups. Riding as a team or not, the riders aren't delivering what they should be. The Turner gamble hasn't paid off, he can clearly gate but it's not that he is finishing last, he's just not finishing, you can't fault the effort but he looks like an inexperienced NL rider when turning the bike, Trigger, while improving (which is great to see btw) is a season away from being competitive at reserve, Howarth looks a different rider from what he has been the last couple of years and Barker and Worrall have really inconsistent. Gilkes is the one shining light and he's finding his feet again after his injury which is fantastic. Morley was obvious and easy replacement for Starke who struggled, but isn't going to score serious points in the main body at this level. The team is sitting bottom of the league for a reason and it's because it was built with an incredibly weak bottom end and the 3 heat leaders haven't produced what they were brought in to do and most on here thought they would do. When you build the team top heavy, you put a lot of pressure on those guys because they know the points aren't coming elsewhere in the main. I get the management could not have anticipated such a downturn in form from the heat leaders but they are responsible for how the team is structured and the weak bottom end. They are also responsible for how the track is set up, is Mark listening to the riders when he preps the track? Or is he doing it his way? It's easy to point the finger at 'team unity' but they'd get a lot more credibility if they also took on the chin that they made errors too! The only way Plymouth will improve with any significance is to make at least 3 changes imo, but who can you get at this point in the season? Truth be told Plymouth's season is done as far as playoffs go so the promotion might as well try something new.

Completely agree re the fixture list, it's a farce. Simply not enough meetings, I don't see how any team can make any real money from such few home fixtures and they wonder why clubs are going to the wall.

It's not up to Garry and never has been, only one person calls all the shots at Plymouth, the promoter. But I agree, it's a rip up and start again job if Plymouth want to get anywhere near the playoffs this season. I'd say favourites for wooden spoon on current form.

Bad to worse! Like Ben a lot, but not an improvement. Going to be a tough season for Plymouth unless we end up rebuilding with 3 or 4 changes.

Don't think Roynon would be the answer even if he were dropped by Poole. I believe Batch was asking silly money in the offseason, whether that has changed now I don't know. The way the team has been built leaves very little room for tweaking. Three changes probably needed to see serious improvement unless we unearth a 2 pointer out of nowhere or a random 4 pointer that could do better than Turner.

The worst thing about tracking a team that doesn't win at home is the crowd will walk away. Crowd numbers don't look as good as last season although that's looking on the stream so I may be wrong on that. Starke and Trigger need to be replaced, as much as I see young Ben having a good future in the sport, he's just not there and needs a season or two in the NL to be top rider there first. Starke has disappointed, I had higher hopes but so far just nowhere near it. Unless the promotion do something significant Plymouth will be more wooden spoon contenders not playoff ones.

Have only managed to catch the one meeting so far this season which was Poole away and that combined with the results so far unsurprisingly show the reserves are the weak link. Problem is who else is there that could fit and by all accounts Turner gates really well and just needs to settle down on track. Think it's probably a bit early to look at changes but the way the team has been built to make any significant improvement I think you'd be looking at two or maybe three changes.

I didn't catch the meeting last night but fair to say it feels an ominous start (purely based on results) for Plymouth. The team is built on the top 5 all needing to perform and if they don't this is the likely outcome at most away tracks. Howarth is normally dynamite at Poole but doesn't seem quite dialled in this season and I know Barker blew an engine at the Starke testimonial so fingers crossed he can get going. You'd hope the others will improve with more laps but lots of improvement needed across the board if the Glads are compete for a playoff spot when the league gets underway.

Cheers very much

Does anyone know if Plymouth will be streaming home meetings this season?

Correct!