tyler42

I agree 100%. The majority of riders back then, as well as training schools, came from the grass tracks. Nearly all our big stars of the 70s and 80s came from the grass tracks. PC, Morton, Wigg, Doncaster, Loram, Screen, the list goes on and on. As you quite rightly say, a lot of the young riders of today have not reached the standard required to ride in the 2nd div, but we are so short on riders, they are thrown in at the deep end; Scoring the odd point off each other and then getting hammered when they go out against the main body of riders, is not good for them and neither the pay in public. Over the last 15 years or so nearly all our young riders have come through, the Neil Vatcher school of speedway. Rushen and Cairns have been fantastic finds. Also, riders like Howarth, Flint and Rowe have turned out to be useful league riders and, to a lesser extent, Edwards and Kemp. Harrison, Piper and Scott are fine young riders, but international stars of the future? I don't think so. I hope they prove me wrong, because Rushen and Cairns at the moment are our future International stars. Let's hope someone might step up to join them.

I would say the introduction of air fences, has definitely been a factor in riders going on into in to their 40s. Riders bodies in the 80s and 90s took a lot more punishment with solid fences taking no prisoners, hence imo thats why a lot of riders didn't make it past their mid 30s.

Spot on, A throwback to when riders rode and worked.

So you think a rider who is 26, Current Avg: 1.42. (Lowest in the League) Should be retained? How many seasons does he need to develop?. There is a paying public that Plymouth have to think of. Tom is obviously out of his depth in the Championship. It's not fair to him to score no points week after week, and it's not fair to the paying public. Sport can be hard, but being dropped is all part of it. imo he has been lucky to last this long; It's only due to the lack of riders that has kept him in the team.

Yet Kennett still beat the up-and-coming British star, Leon Flint?, Even though Kennett hasn't ridden at this level for a few years. If he ain't up to it, don't say too much about the others then!!

I would have thought he would have worked that out pretty quickly after watching other heats. Alas, he just kept blasting around the outside to no effect.

When you say better temperament, I take it you're talking about Lee? Mick Lee, at 16, finished his first season at Boston with an average of 9.13. The following year (17), he finished the season with an average of 9.22 in the British League Division One, which, imo, was the hardest league in the world at the time. He was also the British U21 champion that year. Following season (18), topped the averages in the British League with an average of 10.64. Also won the senior British Final and was part of England's winning World Team Cup, and made his 1st world final. Cooper is a great talent, but a bit premature to say he's the next Mark Loram or Mick Lee, imo.

"By Golly, where's my strepsils"

This is his third full season in the championship I agree about Hagon. imo, this year's British U21 Championship is going to be a much stronger lineup than last year. Scott, Cairns, Harrison, and possibly Rushen. These boys, imo, are the future of British speedway, with Dan Thompson, Flint and maybe Luke Killeen. Oh, I forgot to add the young lad at Scunthorpe, Ryan Ingram. He looks very promising.

Well done, spot on, and there I was thinking the Tigers might have given the Pirates a fright! Apart from Bomber and to a lesser extent Flint. Glasgow were pretty woeful. Hagon didn't score a point and never looked like scoring a point. Hodder and Smith didn't beat a Poole rider between them, but it was great to see the two Poole youngsters strutting their stuff also Luke Harrison never giving up. Glasgow have always had a good team, but to be in with a chance of the playoffs, they might need to make a change.

When Exeter came into town, back in the day, most clubs thought the same about them. On paper, it looks like it could be a hammering for the tigers, but nothing is won on paper. Sport has a habit of turning up a few shock results over the years, so you never know!!

Not as much of a joke as Dan Bewley going unbeaten with 18pts at the German GP. A guy scoring 8 scraps into the silly last chance saloon and ends up with 20 points, 2 more than Dan. Now that is a joke of a system.

4pts from three Oxford riders. Bowtell beat one opposing rider. Morley none. Vale failed to score. Was that the best team Oxford could field? Surely, Simon Lambert would have been a better option if averages were ok.

Also, naming Rushen at No3 means he can be called into action at any time. Could be a masterstroke. Denmark, Poland and the Aussies, on paper, look like the three fighting it out for medals, but GB and the Czechs (on home turf) could upset the apple cart.

😂😂😂😂

100% agree, but his third place would have put the meeting out of Glasgow's reach. An experienced rider would have known that and settled for third. His fall kept the Tigers in the match, but as you say, you can't knock a rider for having a go.

Basically, he was on for a safe third when he seemed to get a tad close to the rider in front of him. It unsettled him, and down he went.

Back in the day, Howarth would have been a marked man. Someone would have put him through, and rightly so. Someone like Martin Goodwin was a hard rider, but fair and like other hard riders back then, could give it, but also take it. Howarth must think he's a bit of a hardman. After watching his performance with Pickering, I would suggest otherwise 😂

Unfortunately his inexperience showed. He has a good third place. No doubt he will learn from that, and not let it happen again.

I do agree with you, but Workington fans were saying Perry was the answer to their reserve problems. He had 4 rides yesterday at Workington and had four lasts!. He's been let go by both Poole and Glasgow. It just shows the standard at the lower end of some of the teams. As for Hagon. I'm sure Glasgow signed him on the back of his two u21 Championship wins. (which made sense) Riding down at reserve after being No2 at Berwick last year, also looked like a good move by Glasgow. Besides last night's meeting at Berwick for Berwick!, his actual best score for the Tigers has been 5+1!!

Thank you. Good old Egon 🤣

Thank you. I'm surprised riders turned it down. They are always saying they are skint !!

Why did Edinburgh go with R/R last night, was there no one available or was it to save money?

I know it's the system and all the riders know it's on the final, and it's 2026, not 1976, but I wonder what the list of speedway world champions would have looked like under this system? For those older enough to remember, would you agree that Dave Jessup, for one, would have been a world champion? Billy Sanders maybe. Of course, the cream rises to the top, and the likes of Mauger, Olsen, Fundin, Penhall, etc. would have still gone on to be world champions, but off the top of my head, Kenny Carter is another who, imo, would have won it at least once. As proven last night, score eight points, and you're in with a shout of winning. Yes, it's over ten rounds, not one, but you get my drift.

So, from yesterday's meeting till today, did we have a lot of overnight rain? If not, why is it like a waterlogged ploughed field tonight?