Steve Shovlar

The last rider to get a guarantee at Poole was Greg Hancock. Riders get paid points money and any sponsorship they can garner.

That’s a pretty rubbish Berwick team. I was watching Rory at the press conference last season when he had “finished”. Everyone was,patting him on the back and saying to him to enjoy his retirement , but his body language and facial expressions gave off a completely different vibe. I always thought it was a couple of seasons too early and clearly it was. He has sat at home in Aus brooding and missing the racing. Riders are a long time retired. Clearly Rory thinks he still has enough in the tank to continue and so he is back next season. Surprised? Not in the slightest. Berwick though? A strange choice but if they have made him a decent offer, why not?

Has to be believable to work though. Why would we release our top rider, who we have just swapped Basso for, to go back to Glasgow?

Thank god Nigel Leahy has had a lot of practice with it.

Not now. Too much water under the bridge and the team is built with top heat leaders in their prime, backed up with second strings and reserves who have to put points on their starting average. As much as I like Kyle and was disappointed when he lost his place, the club has moved on.

Poole would never go with 2 two point reserves. They would be there all season, no chance of reserve swaps if one of the top 5 had an off night. Need one decent scoring reserve.

Not enough meetings. 11/12 is not enough meetings. Means many weeks with nothing going on. Should have been two home and away. Scrap group comp. Dear oh dear very poor call.

Think Danny Hume lives in Hertfordshire.

Ben Barker at 3. Danny King at 14 below Brennan. Think you need a better algorithm.

Heat 14 Drew lost most of his spokes when Thompsons footrest smashed through them.

Agree with this, even though Poole used it twice at home this season.

Agree Steve, it means the away side doesn’t give up am]nd chases the bonus point. Doing away with it could leave to average manipulation as away sides lower their averages.

The reports of the Leicester track and the reason it was aborted, wasn’t because of what it looked like after the work had been done. It was because it was spongy going into the bends and therefore not safe for the riders. With no chance of getting this moisture out the decision was made to move it to Kings Lynn. Reported on BSN on the stream.

So you are saying a promotion would illegally stream from BSN? I don’t think so! Image if they did and word got out.

If 100 Leicester fans had turned up at the clubhouse to watch the screening, the promotion might have been liable to £1195 to BSN.

Tough decisions to be made but let’s savour the moment. We went through the whole season without a single change to the lineup and our heat leaders were pretty much rock solid. Our second strings were exactly that with up and down meetings (mostly up) and our reserves battled. People have been on Drew’s case as he seems to take every race defeat as a personal insult but he has increased his average by a fair amount. A shame he couldn’t keep his early season form going. Don’t think riding in the premier league helps him to be honest at this stage of his career. He needs to be concentrating on getting consistent in the Championship and build his confidence.

That’s very true and I was one of the dissenters. He won me over with his attitude and professionalism and after having a few short chats with him in the pits, he came over as a likeable guy who had time for the fans.

Tell us more Gordon!

Yes well remembered. Knew the name in the back of my mind but was struggling to place it. 98 is a great innings and most of us would take that if offered. RIP.

Poole are not the highest payers. But they pay, and riders know they are in with a shout of a title. Richard Lawson said last night that was the first trophy he had won in his career and it means a lot to him. Imagine going through a whole career but no trophies to show for it? Nearly all riders in their career win very little individually. A very few win the odd title. An even smaller amount win a national title and we are in to thin air with world championships. To win a club title is very important to most riders, and they know if they are lucky enough to join a club like Poole they are in with a chance of just that. For riders like Kemp, Ablitt, it has come early in their careers but might not happen again. When they retire they can look back and remember they were part of that team. Poole don’t pay a guarantee. They do pay riders points money which is affordable to the club. As for some on here saying the playoffs sg]hould be scrapped and it should just be top of the league is champs, imagine if Poole next year went through the card and the title ws decided in late June. We would have clubs putting out weakened teams at away meetings to save money, robbing the public, because the club have no chance of catching the runaway winners. The playoffs have been going strong for 20 years and will not be dispatched with. They bring in huge crowds, keep the league alive and keep the fans interested. And I for one love them. As do many others.

Nathan is a nice likeable lad and not scoring doesn’t seem to get him down. He is young and raw and it’s no surprise another promoter would take him on if we don’t.

Re: Drew. He clearly has ability it’s there for all to see. But he seems held back by his temperament. He rarely smiles, seems withdrawn and if he has a bad first ride seems to sulk rather than geeing himself up. His head tells him he can win heat 14 and he normally does. But often it is too little too late. Last night he was in a great battle until the spokes were ripped out of his wheel. But it caused him a massive strop, enough to miss the celebrations. There’s no doubt the ability is there but being held back. Perhaps having a course with a sports psychologist might be the way for him to overcome the issues he seems to have during meetings. His temperament definitely looks to hold back the potential.

Poole won the league. And the KO Cup. There is no argument. Leicester won nothing however you dress it up. Poole are deserved Champions!

I might have mentioned it to them before the meeting. But then again I am pretty sure they had done their homework and knew their stuff. Record viewing figures for them last night. They have invested their profits back into their budding business with new equipment and it shows. I would say they do an excellent job. But they need to improve their website. It’s a little confusing and a viewer can go around in circles looking for what’s coming up or to buy a stream. BSN need britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk, not “watch.Britishspeedway.co.uk” They have done a great job.

A long day for travelling Poole fans who made the arduous journey to Kings Lynn yesterday, but worth every mile. An early start to the meeting and few delays after heat one meant we were able to celebrate and leave the stadium a little after 9pm, meaning I was back at home in Poole by 1am. What was surprising was the similar size to the Leicester and Poole fans in attendance, considering the distances having to travel. Only about 5-600 there with the difference being made up by the local supporters. A real shame but not unexpected that the crowd was so low. But a special mention to Buster who laid on a proper racetrack that gave the riders the opportunity to race and pass. Best I have ever seen it and harks back to the racing of the 80’s videos on YouTube. Would Leicester have won the title if the meeting taken place at their home track? I don’t think so. Perhaps I am bound to say that but the Poole team would simply not be denied last night. There was utter determination from the Poole riders and after about heat 7 the Leicester riders heads dropped. Special mention for Richard Lawson who shared his knowledge of the track with setups and on the track walk pointing out all the racing lines. As for the Cooks, both on their first visit, astounding to be honest. Ben Cooks double pass of Dan Thompson and home track rider Richie Worrall in heat 6 was quite incredible, then repeated in heat 8 and 15. And let’s not forget Middlo, who showed why he is the best in the business. Another title to add to the many. Top bloke as well. I think next season Poole will retain two of the three heat leaders with Ben Cook coming in as third heat leader and Zack as second string.