crescent girl

We'll see. Remember this post.

Wrong threàd. They wont be Championship.

By mid-summer, Bomber and Leon will be virtually auromatic selections for Heats 13 and 15........ Looks like Saturday night could be quite a Party!

That is correct. The figures I quote are those these two riders will have applied against them, should they join a Championship team in 2022. All other riders' averages have been adjusted accordingly, and will hold averages which avoid any Eastbourne involvement in their figues.

The only riders with averages above 3.00 who raced for Eastbourne (but didn't go on to confirm pukka averages elsewhere after the closure) were Eddie Kennett and Kyle Newman. Ed would be 8.62 if he comes back in 2022, Kyle will be 5.16.

I think you'll find Berwick are a little more financially circumspect in such matters

Too many to mention, but not all will be serving after ten on a Tuesday.... Except maybe Wetherspoons.,.,.

Getting the bus into the city from airport will be easy, and the town will have its hat on to welcome you... Well, maybe the welcome's for Joe Biden, Macron, Erdogan, Trudeau, Boris, Prince Charles, etc and the 25,000 delegates, but..... So just walk about a fine Victorian city centre and enjoy the ambience. Plenty of restaurants and pubs, etc. As someone said, you need face-masks to go into shops, onto public transport, etc. Take a taxi to the track, cheap as chips for the short journey. Enjoy the city!

Bandits' fans being urged to vote for Rider of the Year per club website now, trophy to be presented at End of Term Party on November 6th. Tickets for party also on sale on website.

It isn't the first time a promoter has "done a runner" and left a financial mess. But when a track has been viable before the carpetbagger came to town, it can be so again under better, more-prudent stewardship. Hopefully, a responsible promoter can step up, forge a deal with the stadium ownership and BSPL, and allow speedway to continue -- perhaps at a less-ambitious level -- at Charlie Dugard's lovely little stadium in Sussex for many years........

Yes, the latter part of October has been exceptionally wet. However, there is too much hysteria over the clogged-up Championship play-off schedule. In any normal season, Championship clubs would all have been running matches from around the fourth week in March. Because of Covid, the first Championship matches were not run (at Glasgow and Scunthorpe) until May 21st. This means these clubs lost around eight dates on which league matches could have been presented -- two-thirds of their home schedule! Worse, Plymouth, Kent, Birmingham, Poole and Newcastle did not stage a home league match until June -- losing another two or three race nights. All of this was down to Covid. Not the BSPL, not clubs being guilty of calling off matches too soon (although this may have happened) and not because of any poor scheduling. As most understand, the need for a play-off schedule remains a necessary part of speedway promotion, with profitable crowds the norm (look at the Premiership finals) and any efforts to return to the old, sadly-sometimes-boring "first past the post" system wouldn't be a good idea in a time the sport needs every big attendance it can attract. The Covid pandemic has been the worst, most-disruptive and world-changing influence of our lifetime. To blame any other factor for this unseemly struggle to run off the last few meetings, in this truly exceptional year, is a senseless knee-jerk reaction. IMO

Plenty of precedent to elongate the season if weather has intervened. Edinburgh/Berwick KO Cup Final was rained off (l think) three times and finally staged on November 6th!

Grobauer's travel costs wouldnt add up to much, he was hardly ever there.....

Zach Cook was at Edinburgh on Saturday with Ben

Bomber's debut as a Berwick representative will be at Redcar tonight, alongside Leon, Jye and Spud (in his final meeting)......

What makes you think that? I've found the NDL to be an exciting, refreshing and innovative competition this season, having watched meetings at Armadale and Berwick, both standalone and as part of double-headers. The young riders involved have made giant strides since the season began on May 1st and I'm already looking forward to 2022, when there will be at least one brand-new standalone circuit applying to join the NDL. On its knees? Don't you believe it!

Always happy to have a good discussion on here.... My point is that play-offs attract people to speedway, create considerable revenue and keep the sport viable. Regarding the "top team wins the title" argument, the rules are laid down before the season, so everyone knows what's what. Taking it a stage further, what about this past weekend? Are Poland the "real" World Champions, with Denmark on the silver medal? Or were those last two races not worth the admission, or TV money alone?

Did nobody clock the crowds at Belle Vue and Peterboro last week? These massive roll-ups will have doubled, even trebled, the respective promotions' revenue over a regular meeting. Similarly, what about the huge interest in the soccer play-offs each year as clubs battle for promotion in their various leagues? Or the full-house attendances at ice-hockey play-offs at Nottingham every season? The revenue from being involved in play-offs is a massive boost to any club's financial year, and in some cases could make a difference between failing or surviving. Regardless of the "fairness" of it, they are here to stay, and the season-long league table is a qualification process, no more, no less. It is up to the promotions at every track to make their regular matches bright and entertaining enough to keep them close to their budget, while aiming for a shot at glory in the play-offs to put icing on the cake. Yes, speedway is a sport. It is also a business. Run a straightforward league with only one winner and see if you can stay in business. Money talks.

On Sunday at the Son, all four riders in the Final were still gardening as the clock ran down. Would the referee have survived with his life, had he disqualified Lambert (again) or Zmarslk and decided the gold medal?

There is also the little matter of Keynan Rew not currently qualifying for an kind of work permit/visa to race in these sceptered isles.......

She isn't, but you still don't want to mess with her! Or with Leon's mum, come to think of it.....

You have to think Sedgy might have been better......

Going to be a big day in Glasgow! As well as the Test, Celtic are now playing Ferencvaros (Europa League) on Tuesday afternoon at 3.30!

Long John Silver?

Ben Barker on standby in case of finger trouble