Albert

Welcome Stefan.. Good luck lad. Great signing (Pending ratification of course)..

Read again.. I wasnt suggesting that we change Wilko, hypothetical question... It was a question fo Berwick fans.. Would they take that swap if it was offered or would they put their faith in Berge?

I won't happen.. nor am I suggesting it does... but out of interest, would Berwick fans fancy a swap deal... say Berge for Wilkinson?... Wilko's going pretty well this year, averaging about 6-7.

Despite the defeat and the margin of the score... there was some fantastic racing to keep the punters entertained. After a few FTGs, we witnessed some stupendous heats, some fantastic riding. Without Auty and Kerr, Scunny were never gonna win..they started well.. but after heat six... and when Edinburgh had got Davys rides out the way, there was no looking back. The strength of the Monarchs top guys began to show and they inevitably ran out easy victors. I was particularly impressed with Josh Pickering, a bit wild at times but fast and exciting to watch. Bit puzzled as to why Scunny couldn't get a guest for Kerr... Berge was Ok, but was he the right choice for this meeting?...Surely using RR for Auty would've been a better option, at least Tofty and Douglas would've been able to take a ride instead of having to use the reserves and Wilko. Anyhow.. look forward to next week.. hopefully we'll have our full 1-7.. including a new number 6, whoever that might be.... we await with interest. One last observation from todays meeting... the famous gate 4 only produced three race winners!

Looks like mission impossible for Scunny now.. No Auty, Kerr and Wallner... Plus two uninspiring guests in Berge and Hall, we should be easy picking for the Monarchs today. Pressure is now on Douglas, Wilko and Palm Toft to Score big points. The euphoric feeling after last nights win, changed to despondency in the space of a few hours. But, I'll be there to cheer the lads on, more in hope than expectation.

Great Result for The Scorpions.. Bit unexpected, would've been pleased with a point but to collect three, fantastic. Hope Lewis Kerr is okay after his spill.. we need to build on this win... to have Lewis, Josh and Fritz out injured tomorrow would be a big blow.... Fingers crossed he's ok.

Barker was his usual entertaining self... a joy to watch.. as was Garrity. I didn't see anything untoward, just very good racing from the pair of them. Very lacklustre from Scunny today... we'll struggle big time until we get the reserves sorted.. Wallner would've made the difference, that I have no doubt. The sooner the averages come out and changes can be made the better. After a few drab opening heats the racing improved immensely .. most Scunny riders had one good ride but their individual performances lacked any form of consistency. For the Bears, Wright, Garrity and Barker were good value, young Perks also impressed. I would've loved to see Auty line up in heat 15, he would've been our greatest chance of victory... but I guess he was still feeling the effects of that heat 11 pile up... To be honest, didn't see anything other than a 5-1 reversal when the heat 15 line ups were announced. A bit disappointed and despondent tonight... but fair play to Redcar, exposed our weakness at reserve and thoroughly deserved their win.

Rumour is the club shop is to become a medical room.. not sure if that's true or not. I guess if that's the case, should the club produce any merchandise it could be sold from the new clubhouse. Not sure where Dave Rat is this year.. has he retired?

I think there was several ragged starts.. same for both teams, but maybe favoured Scunny a bit more to be fair. But I applaud the ref (Graham Reeve) for allowing the meeting to flow so well.. Green light, tapes up...go. No one touched the tapes... no time wasted on restarts.. It was so refreshing to see.

Nice to finally get some points on the board. Great meeting.. swung one way, then the other, then back again.. Some fantastic racing too from both sides. Josh Auty was pick of the bunch for Scunny, although the whole team contributed vital points. Richie Worrall shone for Glasgow with both Bewley and Scunny old boy Lunna impressing. Hope Matty Orange is ok after his awkward looking tumble.

Fine margins.. Fritz had a bit of a mare, one to forget. Had he given 100% instead of 150%, stayed on his bike and chipped in with his usual points tally.. Scunny would of won, simple....but we all love a trier and wouldn't want anything other from him, he's an entertainer, a joy to watch on his day. That said, you have ride the conditions and occasionally you have to take advantage of the other teams misfortune...Peterborough did just that and deserved their win at the end of the day. Starke was the match winner, couple of great rides from him, joy to watch.

Sadly I can only see another big home win here... Hope we can perform better than last years poor showing, I bloody hope so. Can't see many, if at all any teams getting any points at Glasgow this year. As for Scunny holding up the league last year.. that accolade went to Redcar.. closely followed by Lewi's tactically inept Plymouth. Hard to believe we didn't come bottom...thankfully there were poorer teams than us .

Good p&p lastnight.. New clubhouse is awesome, so much bigger and better than the old one... well done Rob, let's hope people take advantage of it...investment like that deserves to pay off. Greasy track but most riders took the advantage of a little spin, one exception being young Josh Bailey whom isn't quite ready... I believe he's just had some metalwork removed and is looking at possibly next week before any practice (?). Fingers crossed he'll be ready for the seasons opener.

No denying that crowds have dropped over the past five years or so.. but that's not something unique to Scunthorpe. With the exception of a few clubs, I would suggest crowd levels up and down the country have generally declined, regardless of how successful a team is. Scunthorpe's crowd has declined to what I would now consider its hard core fan base.. I can't honestly see it dropping any lower.. If it does I guess the promotion will need to rethink. Hopefully with some positive promotion and continued infrastructure improvements we can encourage more to attend. After all, we are blessed with an excellent product and one, if not the best racetrack in the country. I assume income from our Amateur Meetings, Training Sessions, Mini Track Sessions, Track Hire, Bar takings, Café Takings etc help subsidise the running of league speedway at Scunny... That's something most tracks don't have when it comes to balancing books. On a slight down point, which I hope can be viewed as constructive criticism .. is the seating arrangements at the EWR. What seating we have is sparse and difficult to navigate, the steps are a tad steep and rickety, for anyone not to good on their feet it's like an assault course. A member of my family used to sit there with friends, sadly she no longer attends because of these difficulties. It would be nice to have the access steps lowered/improved and seating actually completed, this would stop people standing and obstructing the views of those that choose to sit. A roof over it would be nice but I guess that would be too much to ask in this financial climate.

again?

Its called loyalty... good rider on his day... he lives fairly local... has always been a good friend to Scunthorpe Speedway and he's a Scunny asset... so it makes perfect sense to use him. Taking nothing away from Stefan Nielsen, whom would've been a decent alternative.

The way the side has been built should see us do pretty well at home... Flip side, think we'll struggle away, particularly at some of the top heavy teams. Maybe play-offs are a tad ambitious, i'll settle for some brilliant EWR entertainment and a mid table finish.

Happy with that ☺... welcome back boys.

Rumours of TJ doubling up at Redcar and Rye House... If true, would that mean Scunny get two lots of loan fees..or does it not work like that?

I reckon Fritz will be a 4.0.... and the side will be the same as the one that finished last season. Wouldnt be too unhappy with that... C'mon Rob, get the team announced... Dislike drip fed announcements, lets be knowing

The tweet seemed a tad cryptic.. Breakfast..Cornflakes.. Other cereals available...Branflakes maybe... Robert Branford?

Speedway as a sport is suffering, sadly, almost every club seems to share the same problems and concerns. I compare 'Speedway' to the 'Pub Trade'... Both have unfortunately seen 'Closure' become the common theme down the years. Both trades have taken hits which hasn't exactly helped... Speedway has seen noise, environmental, rider costs, rents and a host of other obstacles become more prevalent.. Whilst Pubs have had to deal with things like rising beer costs, smoking bans etc... But are these the real reasons for the general decline, I don't think so. What has changed down the years?.. What are the utter most reason's why our sport (and the pub trade) are suffering so badly? I would say its the general reduction in peoples disposal income thats the main issue here. Pay rises, what are they? As a local government employee I haven't seen one of those for about five years (I lie, we did get 1% increase last year... but then were forced into giving it back!). Life evolves... Taxes, cost of living, fuel prices..all gone up....Wages haven't.. Plus, the past few decades have seen the use of mobile phones and satellite television become an essential part of people's lives... Just how much do we fork out on phone contracts and greedy tv subscriptions? It's a significant amount for the average joe bloggs to contend with....and how does he manage it? Something has to give...maybe a night at the speedway or a few pints down the local! Speedway as a minority sport needs to cut its costs accordingly... Riders, do they really need to turn up in expensive vans carrying three ready to race bikes? not really. Do promoters really need the expense of flying so many foreign riders into the county week in week out? Do we need to sell £2-3 programmes when a simple race card would suffice.. Are promoters getting the best deals possible from their landlords?. Are promoters maximising the use of their facilities for training etc, it's all added income.. We have a good product...but in order for speedway to have any form of longevity then all costs need seriously looking at...that includes a reduction on admission prices.

Well... you're right on one thing....you've finished 12th ...

Sorry... original post edited, posted on the wrong thread.

I may be wrong.. but...A couple of drubbings at rye and/or Newcastle will still see plymouth finish above the scorpions... a point at rye would be nice.