MajorMauger

Yeah sure, I think Eastbourne will win most of their home matches simply because the tight confines of Arlington will offer a lot of home track advantage and many away riders will overshoot the corners which will allow the technical riders like Mason and Johnson to get points just by holding the line. But away from home the team could find getting harder with Mason the No1 a definate "homer" who doesn't travel well. But many fans especially those who've seen Eastbourne win the top flight on a number of occasions and be the stand out team of the mid to late 1980's 2nd Division will be very sceptical about 3rd Division racing and will no doubt only take to it if Eastbourne are seriously challenging at the top which at present looks unlikely! Nowadays for the worse I think, winning has become the be all and end all in League speedway. I remember watching Norwich in the early 1960's when we had 2 reserves called Reg Trott (latterly rode for Eastbourne in the early 70's!) and Derek Strutt who never scored much at all particularly away from home but stayed in the team for a number of years cause in them days we liked seeing regular line ups. In modern times both of them would of lasted a season at the most!

David Mason has been a tremendous servant to the 3rd Division through all of its various incarnations over 20 years, indeed one of its best ever riders and I'm sure he'll score more than OK around the tight confines of Arlington which I suspect will catch out many of the throttle merchant inexperienced riders, but hes not a No1 nowadays! Look at last season with Kent. He averaged about 9 at home and about 5 away where many of performances were poor at best! I could understand siging Mason as a back up to a strong No1, but with Eastbourne dropping down they needed exactly that, a No1 capable of being at the top of the League averages and a team capable of seriously challenging for the title! Like I've said before, I hope the venture into the 3rd Division works out well for Eastbourne speedway because surely the future of speedway at Arlington depends on it, but the team has a very unappealling, mid table at best look about it!

This side has a 3rd Division "Dad's army"/never will be's/ journeymen look about it! Marc Owen is the only one out of the 4 signed that can say with any honesty that he can realistically look to move to a level beyond the 3rd Division and hes been riding for a few years without be one of the top youngsters around! I presume one of the last 3 remaining places will go to the Dugard boy who rides and the other 2 have to be young up and coming 3-4 pointers who have serious potential! After 23 years of continuous top flight speedway, before that 16 years of 2nd Division speedway with a 5 year top flight spell in the middle of those 2nd Division seasons, regulars at Eastbourne have had a rich diet which means that next years move into the 3rd Division has to be done with a decent team challenging at the top of the League to ensure crowds don't dip under the 400 mark!

Brendon Johnsons a decent nice lad whos friendly, professional and reliable, but he's never going to go any further than 3rd tier level (please prove me wrong Brendon!). That said hes got lots of experience at Eastbourne, can turn a bike hard so should be able to score well at Arlington! Danny Warwicks also a decent guy whos approachable. Hes also very quick especially on the big tracks and on the grass and beach racing. It will be interesting to see if he can get used to the tight confines of Arlington although even if he doesn't he'll still be able to get the better of many riders there! Fingers crossed that National League speedway at Eastbourne on a Sunday can be sustainable. Crowds of 500+ should be achieveable on a Sunday afternoon especially on a nice day!

I think the racing at Ipswich is better than King's Lynn which is one of the most over rated tracks in the Country nowadays!

Yes the tricky nature fo Wolves can often be a problem to riders well above NL standard but the main reason why Cradley have ran away with the League was cause they get massive crowds, have a very generous and large supporters club all of which combine to give them more financial muscle than any other NL team which enables them to assemble the strongest team they possibly can!

I wern't compaining just stating fact that most people involved with speedway and Ipswich in particular will know all to well! That said despite Chris Louis' obvious social shortcomings, I respect that he does know what hes doing speedway wise and Ipswich must be one of the more stable clubs in British speedway!

Great that so many clubs are interested in running NL next season but where are the extra riders going to come from?

And how much do you think NL riders get paid? Most would be on deals of under £20 point I reckon! Now if all 7 riders in a NL team were on £30 per point then if the team scored 60 points at home one night that would be £30 X 60 = £1800! I know the promotion have to pay the away riders points money as per the NL standard which is ? Like I said before 300 adults paying £12 to watch NL speedway at Perry Bar = £3600 which would cover the rent plus a fair chunk of the rider costs! I'd say their would be at least 150 OAP's paying lets say £9 to get in. This equates to £1350. This is without including children! These figures suggest that with decent sponsorship NL speedway Perry Bar could be viable!

And when has Chris Louis ever been open and easy to talk to? Parallel universe?

Erik Riss the teenage World Longtrack champion son of Longtrack legend, ex Witch Gerd Riss I presume? Have you heard something? Great Longtrack rider but has only ridden in the German League which is a lower standard than the PL and is on mainly big wide tracks! Would be a bit of a risk but an interesting one! Yeah Richie Hawkins has a middle of nowhere average that will likely mess him up for a Witches team place next season. Shame cause I think he's a good captain and always puts in a hard trying shift every meeting!

Will be interesting to see what happens at Rye House after Uncle Len retires from promoting! We all know he's a contankerous old codger who won't delegate but without his financial input and knowledge Rye House likely would have never reopened at Hoddesdon in 2000! After he sold Rye House at the end of 1985 to Ronnie Russell, the club saw a slow but sure decline until the 1993 closure! Hopefully Rye House speedway will be around for many years after Len Silver!

Yes but with the much reduced rider costs, the costs of NL racing will be much lower even allowing for smaller crowds! Say Birmingham get 300 adults paying £12 to watch NL racing that equates to £3600 which would cover the rent plus a reasonable chunk of the rider costs!

I like Danny King as a rider but he's like a lot of British riders in that he flatters to deceive and has reached his highest level! That said he wouldn't be a bad signing for Ipswich!

Peterborough United FC only get crowds over 5-6000 on a good day so they can't be classed as a big club and that's also worrying for speedway cause if the Countries most popular sport can only get those sorts of crowds in a City with a 200,000+ population what chance has speedway got? The nearby King's Lynn is different in that its a small town, the speedway team gets bigger crowds than the football team, theres not so many things to do in KL compared to Peterborough, the Norfolk Arena is closer to the town centre than the EoES is so therefore the speedway gets much more focus and King's Lynn speedway gets more co-operation from the stadium owner than what the Panthers do! That said Peterborough speedway in the PL with a strongish team running on Friday nights including the big crowd pulling Good Friday night can surely attract average crowds of 700-1000?

Needs must in these desperate times for Cradley and Birmingham speedway! I think Cradley and Birmingham both running at Perry Bar in the NL could work as long as both had teams with strong teams, and 4-5 of Cradley matches at Wolves when Wolves weren't riding on a Monday including the Cradley V Birmingham match! Remember that the finances needed at NL is a lot lower so the breakeven crowd figures needed at that level are much lower than EL!

Absolute no brainer - Cradley running out of Perry Bar in 2015! This is in order to keep speedway going at Perry Bar and for the ultra successful and well supported Cradley team to keep going. This will also have possible long term postiives cause Cradley may find a new home of their own while Birmingham eventually revert to the sole team at Perry Bar! Either 2 options for Cradley running out of Perry Bar - Cradley in the PL with Birmingham running in the Midland development League. Or both clubs running in the NL. I think the former option would be the better one because Cradley have outgrown the National League and with rider numbers at that level very stretched as it is, running two NL teams at one venue may result in the quality of the 2 teams being very watered down which wouldn't help to attract viable crowds.

Agree with everything you say bar the last sentence Brummie Kev! Cradley have outgrown the NL and the Brummies need more than NL to capture the imagination, just look at the poor crowds last season in the top flight that led to the mid term closure! I know fans from both clubs feel uncomfortable about a Cradley team running out of Perry Bar but believe me this is better than no speedway and would give both clubs a better chance of operating independently and on their own tracks in the future!

["BBuck"] There is no real animosity between Cradley and Birmingham supporters even though we are less than 10 miles apart, but there is the normal resentment at some levels (not connected with speedway) of a small town next door to a big City. "Birmingham Heathens" or "Cradley Brummies" would be a total non-starter. It would have to be Cradley Heath racing at Birmingham - like it or lump it. As a lifelong Birmingham supporter I fully appreciate that. This is not to suggest that such an arrangement wouldn't work. I think it would and although it isn't the solution that either set of fans really want, it would at least be a lifeline for both of us to hang on to, and perhaps eventually the time will come when we can shake hands, wish each other good luck, and go our separate ways as two distinct clubs again? To make this viable though, we would all of us have to accept it as a fait accompli and give it our support. Both sets of supporters have to give it their full backing and not take the view that "I'm not going to that place" or "I'm not supporting any team not wearing yellow and red." If too many take this attitude, then this will just lessen the long term chances of survival for both Birmingham and Cradley. If the combined attendances from Monmore and PerryBarr can be maintained, then speedway at Perry Barr would be a profitable undertaking. We need each other - and never more than we do at this moment, so please, please supporters of Cradley Heath and Birmingham - give it your backing if it does happen. The alternative is what we Birmingham folk suffered for 21 years, and you Cradley people for 15 years, so does anyone really want that to happen again just for the silly rivalry over a name? I hope not. 25yearfan As ever Mr Birmingham speedway, you speak a lot of sense! While the Phillips regime had a lot of faults, its fair to say that Birmingham speedway running at Perry Bar struggles to be viable even with a decent promotion. Tony Moles reluctance to finance a revival is firm evidence of this! Although all is not dead. - There maybe others interested in reopening the Brummies at Perry Bar though this would be unlikely. The most likely solution would be the Cradley Heath Heathens speedway team running at Perry Bar, Birmingham. This could work if done properly, which its fair to say, exactly what the current Heathens promotion have done during their successful spell at Monmore! Its a no brainer really, Birmingham have a decent stadium, hardcore support and decent track with no promotion, while Cradley have a successful promotion, support and team but no track! Cradley is under 10 miles from Perry Bar, so its nothing like Cradleys situation in 1996 when they raced at Stoke. Indeed I know that after Dudley Wood Satdium was lost in 1995, Perry Bar was a venue mentioned as a possible new home for Cradley! The teams name would have to stay "Cradley Heathens" but the operation would be Birmingham speedway hosting the Cradley Heathens. The Cradley racejacket could show some recognition of the Birmingham link by having a small red Brummies "B" incorporated into it and a red and yellow trim round it! Obviously in a perfect world both Cradley and Birmingham would be running in either the EL or PL in their own stadiums but that Eutopia is not where we are at present. Cradley running at Perry Bar would keep the hopes of both hopes of both club alive. I'm sure if Cradley eventually get planning permission for a stadium in their own Borough then they would go for it which would then leave Perry Bar free for a possible Birmingham Brummies revival? In terms of the 1996 "Scottish Monarchs" operation that ran out of Glasgows Shawfield stadium, yes it was a financial disaster but it kept both clubs hopes alive and in 1997 Glasgow Tigers returned to Shawfield and Edinburgh restarted at Armadale which ironically is twice as far from Edinburgh that Perry Bar is from Cradley Heath! Like I said before a complete no brainer cause it keeps both clubs chances of reopening alive and in the case of Perry Bar, the GRA are notorious for not being very speedway friendly so any lengthy period without speedway would very possibly make the GRA even less open to a speedway return.

Birmingham Wheels could still to this day be an excellent venue for NL racing and a National training centre!

Nonsense! The stadiums in the middle of an industrial estate! You can't even see any houses anywhere near the stadium! Sad indictment of our not so Great Britain!

Regular Friday nights! No substandard foriegners! If the above two factors are carried out then Peterborough speedway can be viable!

Sorry but too complicated which has been a problem of the rules and regs of British speedway for a long while now! I'd say a large % of people who go to speedway don't know and don't give diddy squat to the ruoes and regs and just go cause they want a night out at speedway! My proposal - 10 team Elite League. Ride each other once at home and once away. Plays off top 4. 3rd V 4th one of meeting. Winner of the above meeting to ride away at the 2nd placed side. Grand final - home and away V 1st placed team with the 1st placed team at home last. Amend the tactical ride rule. Teams can use the tactical rule ride for double points when 6 or more points down if the chosen rider is 15 yards back and its after heat 4. The rider used can be using his own ride or taking the ride of another rider. This can be used twice in a meeting between heats 5 and 15. Another tactical ride can be used when a teams 10 or more points down when a chosen rider of the line can replace another rider. Reserve tatcticals stay the same. Elite League cup to be ridden over two legs. If a tie is level after the 2nd leg then then sudden death applies. This is two riders from each team against each other. Whoever gets a heat advantage wins the tie. If the heats are still all square after 3 races then a sudden death run off between one chosen rider from each team will take place to determine the winner of the tie! Two 5 match test matches can arranged on Elite League tracks between Great Britain and two other Countries on Elite League tracks. This would give Elite tracks one more meeting each cause each EL track would have one test match. Two Polish, Danish, Swedish teams can be brought over at the start of the season to ride challenge matches at all EL tracks to give the track another meeting. Look how popular the King's Lynn V the Polish team was at the start of the season, I believe King's Lynns biggest crowd for a King's Lynn match! I'll get onto the PL and NL later!

Their has been many instances of NIMBY's ringing up to complaint about the noise from the speedway on a particular night when in fact there wasn't any! Most sad instance of "NIMBYism" is the one guy who raged a big campaign against the very popular Romford speedway in the early 1970's despite his son being a regular, succeeding in getting it shut down and then moving away from the area not long after. The Brooklands stadium where Romford raced was then demolished about 5-6 after speedway shut down! Sad and pathetic really cause if they looked at the bigger picture, they'd investigate how speedways run and respect the fact that an outlets is being created for people of all ages to indulge in a fully affiliated, controlled leisure outlet! Kent speedway at Central Park is in the middle of an industrial estate, not a housing estate. Its been a great success despite its odd midweek starting time! Allowed to grow and prosper it can be one of British speedway hotbeds which would greatly benefit the local area!

For a track that's situated in the middle of a large industrial estate, near a go kart track that runs 24/7 I believe, with a massive main stand that acts as a massive acoustic barrier with no houses in sight, its bewildering they have had such major issues about the noise! The fact that Kent get such good crowds when they run on such a non fan friendly racenight and time surely gives them great scope to try and make their business better. Surely the Council can see the speedway is good for the local area and one nights week speedway with about 15 minutes of noise isn't no inconvenience for anyone? Ideally a 7.15pm parade with the 1st race at 7.30pm with a time curfew at 10pm would suffice?