Sings4Speedway

Tip my hat to you for pure dedication and these levels of excitement for fans is what the sport is really all about. Here's hoping your trip is enjoyable & entertaining.

Is Hume riding? I see he is out NDLRC so potentially last match of the season for him if he cops a ban for the Kent leg? Either way keeping fingers crossed for a good forecast and a great match up. A 8-10 point Cubs win should keep the tension building nicely. RTD & Rowe will be the two difference makers as both been hugely in the points recently and an off night for either could swing it.

Takes deep breath...So Plymouth cannot manage to send a single rider to the event and Cradley can only manage one so presume there is a Mountain of doctors notes being produced or riders picking up the 2 match bans? Then the icing on the cake that Wally gets a ride when he is unattached (yes he has ridden for 50% of the clubs in the league) but surely any credibility this event has left will evaporate IF an unattached rider wins it.

I would certainly go along with the above and i do concede that deciding the league winner prior to other comps may take the stuffing out of some sides (although it would also give a team that struggled early but strengthened something left to fight for?). There will never be a happy fit for all but i would certainly like to see the best sides being able to compete in non contentious conditions and serve up entertainment for the loyal supporters.

Surely one of the big issues with the sport is that the insistence on using the approach that "its always been like that" is still in play. Because nothing is evolving its falling behind. If promotions cannot draw spectators out later in the year when its cooler then they need to look harder at the product they are serving up.

Im certainly not arguing to make it shorter, i am merely suggesting that the most important fixtures (league & play offs) are sorted first and then then the additional competitions (KO cup, Nat Trophy, grudge match challenges etc) at the back end of the year so at least a 'proper' league (play off) champion can be crowned.

It does but it will probably get pushed back twice due to the forecast....

Whilst i whole-heartedly agree in a sport that has seen riders miss meetings due to transport issues, pre-arranged family dinners, family cycling holidays and multiple other allergic reactions to travelling to tracks that they are just not keen on i shall await the final line up with baited breath.

Given the NDL play off has been pushed back until the 21st i ca imagine there a couple of Kent & Leicester riders who don't fancy two important meetings back to back & i would imagine a couple of nervous promotions / managers. Get ready to update the list of comedy excuses......

Whatever the outcome it could be a huge move for the league as a whole. One additional team may be the difference between a functional NDL and not. Then add in the possibility of Connor Dugard & Barry Bishop driving things forward at the AGM and maybe the sport won't be doomed.

Quick fire turnaround is good but Perks missing for the Kent leg really devalues this for me. Not sure of chosen guests (although would be mildly staggered if its not Ben Morley). Reserves on either side could turn both legs with RTD looking strong at Leicester. Would think if the Cubs can keep the gap to less than 10 on Monday night then it could produce a cracker of a 2nd leg.

Not really the Piper just denies being hit in the face nothing about not being hit full stop. It is still irrelevent to the original issue though. The fine for Parr was / wasn't justified but the value of it was in the correct region. Cook's fine was appalling and another case of the nonsense that is trotted out to attempt to keep loyal supporters in the dark about actual pay rates.

Given that four riders are heading into the corner and a small piece of track should there be contact between two riders simply because there isn't really enough room then it should be all 4 back team mates or otherwise. Should a rider fall alone due to error on the corner and bring another down then an exclusion is fair. The riders should be treated as 4 individuals rather than decisions made regarding which team it affects.

Thats the one. Hopwood already signed but not announced, Bowen & Clifton announced the the limit was lower than expected so neither Ayres or Shanes would fit and Stoneman was included rather than Ayres/Shanes and a 3 pointer .

I remember Kent having built a team a few seasons ago and announced Luke Clifton among others in advance. When the agm happened and the points limit was lower than Len expected it meant that James Shanes was frozen out of the side as his average didn't quite fit. Had it not been announced in advance Clifton would have been quietly released Shanes signed with another 3.00 rider an potentially trophies at Kent before now.

Yep completely nuts. Do unofficial deals behind closed doors sure but public released riders is a little bonkers. Cynical other promoters could conspire against a strong early team build and set the rules accordingly.

So far we have haf farcical play offs in the PL & NL with only the CL being spared by so much rain that the fixtures have been constantly put back. Every year we repeat the same mess, start with league fixtures get them through and run the play offs then once the title has been completed move onto the lesser comps like KO cup & whatever trophies you like (if home league fixtures haven't been completed by a hard cut off date then its either refunds on season tickets or prevent those clubs entering the KO cup).

Names largely irrelevant the fine is unnecessary, the manager went above and beyond (although not knocking the youth rider but is unlikely to make it in the sport with the fearful attitude), the referee was entitled to ignore the requests so providing no bad language was issued it seems a harsh punishment ......however the wording of the referee's report / complaint will be the most telling item in this.

A therein lies one of the great differences between current speedway followers. Some are happy to watch a meeting whatever the circumstances & conditions whereas others are looking for more than riders going round an oval(ish) track for their hard earner pounds. I take nothing away from the riders last night (although lets face it many have been well backed this season and certainly want to keep their respective clubs sweet) they put on a meeting that i agree would not have started at higher levels but my personal choice was to stay away as i didn't see it as an attractive meeting and at £15 riders slipping about in puddles and a constant threat of an early call off was never going to get me anywhere near the track.

Yup. Will definitely be a fixture on Monday (weather dependent). Swindon win its at Ipswich and Perks would be there. Should Wolves win then its at Wolverhampton but either way we have play off final vs televised play off final.

The Clever Dicks don't want the unattainable what they would like is to see two well matched sides compete on two tracks that allow the talented riders from both sides to do what they are capable of and that is race as hard as their abilities allow. Sadly due to the early season National Trophy matches, KO cups etc we are facing a race to get fixtures completed on cold, dark and wet nights. If the fixtures were due in August and it rained as can happen there would still be plenty of usable dates left to reschedule. Instead the paying public have been short changed over these two legs and may well suffer the same again in the finals.

All because of the ridiculous decisions to run the play offs so late in the year. As much as im willing Swindon to get through if Leicester have to head into one of the biggest meetings of the year without their number one its makes a mockery of the sport.

Due to the wonderful decisions to run the play off so late in the season its quite possible the the Cubs could be without Perks for the biggest meeting of their season......and the governing bodies wonder why fans get fed up.

Personally my biggest gripe is the gulf of ability between the riders on track. Teams built with 10 point and 2 point riders going to the tapes at the same time and still expect entertainment. If teams were forced to build strength in depth many meetings and races would be far more entertaining.

A blend of better and more accessible circuits. Lets face it there are plenty who love Cardiff but consider it far too expensive and are looking at / travelling to the other rounds. However the Polish rounds can be travelled to easily, Prague obviously but racing can be dull. Then there is Slovenia & Germany which are a mare to get to and the expensive Nordics. If venues are considered that are easier to travel to then atmosphere will increase in them all and that will reverberate to the riders.