New Cross Ranger

I appreciate that, I feel for the riders and their mechanics when they cover great distances only to be disappointed by cancelled/abandoned meetings. It's not the first time I've driven to a meeting only to find it's been cancelled and won't be the last I dare so we've all been there. Hopefully we'll have better luck & better weather next week.

Drove from Bromley to Sittingbourne on Monday evening. I wasn't overly optimistic of the meeting taking place as the weather was foul on the way down but in the distance I could see clearish skies which spurred me on. I was checking my twitter account every few miles or so to see if the meeting had been cancelled but no word so still I soldiered on. Yes just ten miles to go and I was through most of the bad weather with clearing skies above and as I pulled into a surprisingly full car park at Central Park the sky was positively mediterranean. The time was 6.25 and just as I pulled into one of the last available parking bays the doors swung open and the spectators spilled out with glum looks on their faces. MEETING CANCELLED! 80 mile round trip in cold blood.

Gutted to have had to miss 'The Kings' first proper victory but I hope this all bodes well for the future. Congratulations to all concerned and I hope I can be there to witness many more victories to come.

Encouraged by the score but would've been royally pi**ed off if I had attended as planned and then seen the meeting curtailed even if it was by only a couple of heats. It sounds as if from previous posts the whole event was rushed through with little or no track grading all because of the curfew and the lateness of the paramedic which can't be right. Of course speedway meets get called off from time to time through 'acts of God' but to have a meet curtailed because a someone can't get there on time just stinks of amateurism and it's not as if the promoter hasn't been around the block a time or two so maybe he should seriously consider guarding against this kind of thing in the future. For an outfit trying to build a fanbase and attract fresh support this is no way to carry on. Hoping to get to the next meet all being well, looking forward to watching Mason & Boxall together. Up the Kings!

What was the crowd like for the Stoke encounter? What size of attendance do 'The Kings' regularly need to keep going? How long will the team/management be given to achieve those attendance figures?

Got mixed emotions about last nights result. Of course i'd like to have seen the Kings take a first 'competitive' victory but seeing as I was unable to attend it means that I could still be there to witness it when it eventually happens, and it will, soon. Good luck lads and well done AK.

I think you're missing the point, ALL children accompanied by an adult should be admitted at a much reduced cost not just some.. These are austere times, some people are limited in what they can afford to pay for special events like these and speedway should be encouraging children through the gates, they are 'tomorrows' lifesblood of the sport and you have to get them early.

As has been previously stated an enjoyable encounter. When Steve and Benji both gated in Heat 15 I too thought we were on for our first victory but Charles Wright was not only quick but smooth all night. Instead of sitting in the main stand I decided to watch from the top bend instead where strangely enough considering there's no cover it seemed a little warmer. From where I was stood I thought the crowd was possibly a little down on previous weeks although a few more meets like last nights and hopefully news will get round and pull the punters in. A good effort by the boys, victory get's closer week by week.

Any updates on Jack Kingstons fitness after his big 'off' on Monday?

I was always of the assumption that the GP's in Cardiff were almost always a sell out with very few if any tickets available on the day, these posts have really opened my eyes. Not so much to peoples greed, that's a given but to the lack of foresight shown when promoting a sport to let's face it an ever dwindling audience. Where are the fans of speedway going to come from and how are the kids going to get interested in the sport if you charge ridiculous prices for kids to come through the turnstiles to watch their idols perform? Mind you some promoters are only interested in making a quick buck rather than the long term 'health' of the sport and nothing proves that more than charging £45 for a child who lets face it may not even be old enough to attend school.

I must admit that after taking everything into consideration especially the start time, I thought the crowd on Monday evening to be quite a healthy one. Obviously not as good as the bank holiday crowds but then again you wouldn't expect them to be. I arrived at around ten to six and to be perfectly honest I was surprised at how many cars were already in the car park. Looking forward to next Mondays meet and hopefully a first win for the Kings..

A decent evenings speedway although the 'Young Stars' led the match from heat 2 onwards and you always had the feeling they had a race in hand on the scorecard so to speak. Talking of heat 2 Jack Kingston was catapulted into the fence on the first bend at the start of lap 2 in what proved to be his first and last heat of the evening in what looked a horrible high speed off. Thankfully after lying prostrate on the track perimeter for about 10 minutes and after being tended to by the paramedics he gingerly got to his feet and managed to walk very carefully back to the pits although we were later informed he was taken to hospital. The Kings managed to keep it competitive for almost the entire evening until in heat 13 Steve Boxall during a night of mixed fortune packed up when trying to chase down the excellent on the night Lewis Rose. I thought it was a decent sized crowd as well considering the early start time. With the Kings still finding their feet I think all they need is the confidence of a win and a little better luck and they'll be up and running. The track seemed much better tonight especially around the final bend and that can only bode well for future meets.

I'm not sure if any of the the clubs do a £20 family of four (children U12) ticket but that's the kind of initiative that needs to be looked at. You need to get them while they're young and impressionable, I can still remember the 'buzz' I used to get as a kid all those years ago when I was first taken to speedway and although I never attended for many, many years for one reason or another that memory never left me and that is one of the reasons i'm so interested in trying to get back into it and introducing my grandson to the sport.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Sittingbourne experience on Monday and will be trying my best to get to Mondays league encounter. I just hope the time constraints put on the event aren't a problem and they manage to finish the match. Fingers crossed for the weather.

I took my 7y/o grandson along on Monday for his very 1st speedway meeting. I myself have probably only been a handful of times since the closing of New Cross back in the 60's when I wasn't much older than he is now. Firstly i'd like to say how impressed I was with basically everything from the stadium itself to the standard of some of the riders. Of course there are going to be one or two teething problems like the announcer being almost impossible to hear if sat outside in line with the starting gate about half a dozen rows from the front as we were, afterall it's a new set up but hopefully these problems will be looked at. He did get a little bored by some of the drawn out delays and it would've been good if I could've taken him down to the pits to see the riders working on the bikes close up the way I used to but maybe that's something for the future. On the team front thought Boxall, Compton & Morley showed that with a bit more track time they could forge the basis of a very tidy team especially when added to the enthusiasm of Kingston & Kirby. I drove down from Bromley and will be doing so again before very long although making the 6.30 start maybe a little problematic what with all the traffic but rest assured I will be returning very soon and so will my grandson, but maybe he'll have to wait until the next afternoon meet which I think is August, school comes first.