old bob at herne bay

Cricket Horse Racing and Tennis . Cannot imagine that any grant would go near the BSPL or SCB for speedway racing - where's the accountability ? ... there's no attendance figures, there's no business accounts, no fixed assets, no contracts with riders once the season ends. Difficult to prove any "actual losses" incurred due to Covid . One assumes all the "staff" have been furloughed and 2 lorry loads of shale can be reused this season. Doubt the self employed riders have been paid a cent last season. The owners of the stadia used might have a stronger case as they have suffered actual loss of income due to unpaid rents.

Would be a first for any Government to GIVE anything to speedway racing. Even in its heyday all they did was impose punitive entertainment tax on the sport that nearly put it out of existence. On a hypothetical note....can you imagine what BSPL would do if they received anything from this fund ?

way to go 28, like you I am hesitant to return at least until after 2nd jab, and even then I would need to understand the "COVID 19" measures being implemented at tracks before returning. This is I agree a matter of personal choice ,and personal circumstances, and some will be keen to return whatever the situation at their local track, but some respect will need to be shown by promoters to build confidence amongst fans that their tracks are minimising risk. Speedway is living in "cloud cuckoo land" if it believes 2019 level crowds will flock back to the tracks from day one of the re opening post Covid. Two tracks that I frequent I use as examples:- Sittingbourne, there is plenty of allocated seating that could ensure social distancing, but the entrance and exit to/from the stadium is always very crowded and gives me cause for concern. Similarly, Eastbourne has allocated seating in a backstright stand the could ensure social distancing, but also has a compact congested entrance turnstile area, and a crowded stadium exit.

Come the end of a very short 2021 season , everyone will have improved their starting averages , and lots of back slapping saying how well the new lads have done.....the reality is that they will have just improved racing each other ....and not advanced one iota.

"Admittedly the cut to 35 for team build is harsh and has led to some unsavoury measures to allow teams to come under the limit but it had to be done ." What a load of tosh. So every season you chop the team building average drastically - losing half your previous season's side in the interests of fitting under the new points limit. Dont see any savings here for the clubs the NL has a fixed pay limit. We see either stars of yesteryear appear on some assessed average , or rabbits sprung in to the league on an invented minimum average . Its a race to the bottom. The NL seems to be heading back to the days of watching the air fence being repaired 15 times a meeting - watching novice riders practice their mistakes. To charge fans to watch this stuff is an insult. It's not entertainment.

How long before a "promoter" lodges an appeal and rides "under protest" against Plymouth for tracking Jason Crump in their team ? There's a few " promoters" that come to mind who would do this ...... no names no clues .

Not a lot to get excited about there then... just six teams with one rabbit per team, to be 2 rabbits per team next season ?? Or maybe the last season of the present league structure ?? 7/6 admission with a 3d.programme with a league match and a full second half would seem to be reasonable value for money. If we were running a full length season surely 6 teams just doesn’t work. Home and away twice gives only 10 meetings a season. Championship has more appeal.

Plenty of stadiums Chris 116..... Rye House, Isle of Wight, Coventry, Oxford, Lakeside (its still there) , to name but 5 that still have a track. Not sure that anyone is mad enought to try and promote the sport within the "BSPL"

BSPL aren't doing too well at "Promoting" the sport. Their record at losing speedway clubs once a canter is now turning into a " who's next to go ? " stampede. There will soon be more dormant speedway tracks in the UK than active ones.

Seems Glasgow and Edinburgh will/might be be running to a different set of rules - although not too sure whether the Scottish Nationalist Party has made up its mind yet on sporting events. ......

Given the rudimentary crowd safety conditions that passed muster for "speedway stadia" in the UK long before the pandemic, not sure the HSE have shown any interest in spectator safety in UK speedway. Borne out by the ludicrous capacity alleged by Dale Allitt at Kings Lynn. Surely this information will now have to be published and verified ? Guess a crowd of 750 to 1,000 would be viable at £20 a head to watch the 2021 economy class teams now being presented. So a stadium capacity of 2,000 would be sufficient.

Who has ever seen a published figure for the "capacity" of any UK speedway stadium ??? (NOT the Rugby Stadium in Wales)

Too many "ifs and buts" . Long way to go to May 17th Just as well Arena Essex isn't still open. Seating capacity of 3 (Ref Timekeeper and Announcer)

Sad news indeed. RIP Varg "Olle" My parents first met Olle at a New Cross supporters club meeting at Fred Mockford's cafe at Eynsford Kent. One of the first Swedish riders to ride in England. A real fiery young Swedish rider. Lived life to the full and up until recently rode a huge touring motorcycle with his former Norwich team mate Ove Fundin all over Europe.

There's one team who have already signed up 7 stars..... whether they are falling, rising, shooting or wandering I'll leave that for others to debate. ;-)

Hostile response there H Gould ......and you can be as hostile as you like to me BUT until the Government allows spectators to attend sports then it WILL not happen. You may well have gone to Plymouth and non league soccer ..... but that was when spectators were allowed (albeit briefly) to attend. You raise supermarkets .... well the ones I have visited are marshalled to regulate numbers - one customer at a time, form an orderly queue to be let in. We agree on one point........that there is no reason once lockdown has been lifted and spectator sports allowed then speedway can start. My opinion is that minor spectator sports such as speedway will not be high on the priority list to be re opened. And yes, I have been vaccinated and will make MY choice when I see the crowd management measures put in place as to whether I want to resume watching speedway.

for any team to be able to line up as expected ...... fans will have to be allowed to enter and leave the track viewing areas in an organised manner - so crowd marshalls will be needed. Limits will have to be put on how many fans can congregate in their favourite areas (e.g. start line , first and second bends ) Tracks with grandstands will have to tape off seating to ensure spacing, tracks with grassy piles of mud will have to be somehow provide spacing between spectators. Access to snack bars will have to be marshalled. One COVID case and the entire sport will be closed down with racing behind closed doors only. Lets see if any spectator sports get the go ahead for fans to attend before May.

I saw the Ivor Brown Ove Fundin incident at Wimbledon. 6 of one half a dozen of the other in my opinion. Brown had a reputation as a "hard rider" in the Provincial League but unfortunately came up against an even harder rider in Fundin. My memory is that Brown on the outside gate tried to move across onto Fundin, expecting Ove to give way .... Ove was never going to shut off ... and hit Ivor hard who was catapulted into the safety fence. Sadly, it effectively ended Ivor's career. Back to the present day .... my vote has to be firmly with Mr N. Pedersen who quite honestly, is lucky to be still riding , given the number of riders he has managed to knock off. Bad tempered , hot headed, lacking judgement or just plain dirty ..... to Mr N. Pedersen its always the other guy's fault. My lasting memory of Mr N. Pedersen is when one evening at Eastbourne he rode into Adam Shields and sent him flying on the the 3rd bend at Arlington. Pedersen just looked on and nonchalantly rode back into the pits adjusting his gloves as though nothing had happened. Only problem ...... Adam Shields was his Eastbourne race partner. I am not/never will be an Eastbourne supporter, but how Mr N Pedersen continued riding for Eastbourne after that dreadful incident amazes me. So many of these dirty riders listed are not "dirty" at all , just bad tempered and usually lacking machine control. e.g. Sean Wilson, Andre Compton.

Guess Poole will be making "an offer he cannot refuse" to Jason Edwards after losing Josh McDonald ?

Swindon Fans might be advised to start a "save our speedway" group now to keep an eye on the planning processes of the local Town council and to se how quickly the "build new speedway track" disappears off the application. Many other groups can ghelp i am sure, Rye House , Oxford , Coventry to name but three. The success rate isn't good I have to say.

Got to admire the BSPA for coming up with yet another version of compelling teams to track a young junior rider.The intent is good....but don’t see any signs the “rising star” system has been thought through. It’s a 5 year system apparently .... how does that work? 2 3 and 4 star grading sounds like a recipe for endless dispute between rival promoters. What happens when your rising star rises to a heat leader does he stay at reserve.. or into the team ...where does he go at the end of the season ? If your rising star sadly fails or is injured ...can he be replaced with another rising star? Think everyone will be pisces’d off halfway through the season when ad hoc rules are invented to manage rising stars who are all over the solar system.

But on the positive side there are new youngsters coming into the sport....... Paul Hurry, Lewis Bridger.

Todd Kurtz

Go to Kent and see Scott Nicholls Paul Hurry and Ben Morley

Fans with long memories will remember the National League of the early 60's. It ran its final year with 7 teams in 1965, racing ina National League and an identical Britannia Shield format, so racing every team home and away twice. In 1966 the National and Provincial Leagues amalgamated and formed the British League. That saved British Speedway. Should have amalgamated the top two leagues years ago......would have been far more resilient to the whims of other speedway federations whims and ambitions. Sadly with our current crop of promoters it was never going to happen. Too many egos out there wanting to race in the "top tier"