Bagpuss

If Poole ever dropped down they’d be the biggest fish in that pond and would have no trouble attracting whatever riders they wanted and would start the season as one of the favourites I’m sure.

Those eight seasons 2003-10 were some of the most enjoyable I’ve experienced as a Lynn fan. The enormous home wins wore a bit thin at times but we had riders who really got involved with the fan base, won several trophies and had some great weekend away trips.

I’m sure I read on this thread yesterday afternoon that rain was due to hit at 6pm but yep I accept that the forecast changed late and people would be on their way or in the stadium by the time it arrived. To be honest my gripe was mainly with folk who watched the meeting on telly and saw the track awash before it started yet sat through the whole thing and complained that the racing was crap. As if it was going to be any different. I didn’t watch every heat (first and last four races) but thought it rode reasonably well considering.

The subscription thing is a fair point, but did you expect anything other than what it was? The issue that we should all be complaining about is the authorities leaving it so late in the season so there was no choice other than to run in on a wet night.

Same principle with those who paid to get in, the forecast was pretty clear. You pays your money and takes your choice. It was always going to be a quagmire. But I’m not disagreeing with whether the meeting should have happened or not. Unfortunately the window for getting these meetings raced is shrinking because British speedway is so disorganised and quite frankly a mess. We shouldn’t be scratching around in mid October trying to get semi finals raced.

Feel sorry for Wolves, given normal track conditions they would have been much more competitive last night but it is what it is unfortunately for them. Swindon deserve credit for doing their job though. Those people moaning about the track and the racing had the choice to turn off as soon as they saw how wet the circuit was once the broadcast began so don’t really understand why you would watch it and then whinge. I do agree however that these meetings should be scheduled early in September and the whole thing over and done with long before now. I appreciate recent Octobers have been decent weather wise but with damper, shorter and cooler days compared to 4-5 weeks ago I think you run the risk of encountering problems the longer things drag on. I just hope both legs of the final have good weather as the rain has affected both semis (although not the Ipswich leg where Poole crumbled).

Ten years ago I could understand your viewpoint but the difference between the leagues is as small as ever now. I’d wager if it ever came to it would would go even if it was occasionally.

Can’t imagine Riss, Nicholls and Cook busting too many guts for this with far bigger fish to fry later in the week.

Absolutely. But we should be getting seven or eight rounds like that every year. And could do if they used better circuits.

That’s a fair point. It could just as much be my own issue as that of the series. GP speedway just doesn’t give me the buzz it once did.

The 2020 line up may be fairly close to the world’s top fifteen but with a very similar field to this year and with pretty much the same tracks it doesn’t fill me with great anticipation for next year. Smacks of more of the same which, for me at least, wasn’t a particularly vintage year.

The paying customer has the choice to not go. Have never understood people going to a speedway meeting when there has been loads of rain and then complaining that the track was wet or it doesn’t go the distance. Pretty straightforward if one is a meaningful fixture and the other a dead rubber. Common sense.

I’d have thought it’s time to move on from Worrall.

Predominantly due to two massive crashes. But I agree, not ready based on this year.

Probably none but it’s easy to lose track I admit

I’d suggest the chances of Mick Norris not being at Swindon next year are virtually nil.

I’m surprised it’s that close too. And surprised Saddlebow to Foxhole is so far Football pundits never understand the Norwich/Ipswich rivalry because they are 40 odd miles apart but this part of the world is relatively sparsely populated and it’s essentially Norfolk v Suffolk, certainly in the case of the Old Farm Derby. Something similar with Lynn v Ipswich back in the halcyon days of speedway Id say. For the record I’ve been to Cradley v Wolves and the return fixture way back on a bank holiday Monday in the early nineties, can appreciate the ferocity of the rivalry.

Agree, as popular as those two riders are we have to be tough and address the awful away form for next year.

I can remember a Lynn v Ipswich meeting in the late eighties when I would have been around ten years old; we walked as a family from the home straight around to the back straight and had to stop to watch a heat on bend two in front of several hundred away supporters, the language and behaviour was pretty strong and football hooligan like, pretty nasty stuff for a youngster to hear. Can specifically remember Bo Petersen being called a ‘f*cking egghead c*nt’. My parents should have known better really and it was certainly an eye opener for a sheltered Norfolk lad haven’t heard anything quite like that at a speedway meeting since thankfully.

Surprised Bickley didn’t have five or six rides. Somerset certainly paying for woefully weak reserves.

This is like the ‘which is the greatest local derby in football’ debate, to the people involved their derby will be the one others can’t match. There are several fierce derbies in speedway, to East Anglians the Lynn v Ipswich derbies of the 70s and 80s were the ultimate meetings. I’m sure Scottish fans would say that nothing beats Glasgow v Edinburgh etc etc.

I think as a season opener they work quite well because people are keen to see some speedway after a long winter. As for the memorial meetings they don’t have to be individuals, if the riders are carefully selected I think pairs or challenge meetings with some different riders during a gap in the fixtures could work well.

No reason why the season couldn’t open with the PotE with a strong field, riders want practice laps early on. Disappointing that the Ashley Jones and David Nix memorial meetings faded away over time, they should be held at Lynn every year IMO.

Hans’ average has been badly affected by numerous injuries and pile ups this year....yes he’s past his best but he will make a good second string for somebody on that figure, maybe even at reserve if their team was built correctly. He’s not the answer long term but next year he will be for somebody.