21st century heathen

Track record is out of date on that page. 53.94 now! The 1,300 figure could be the indoor capacity.

Heathens' crowds are healthy, all things considered, but any suggestion of in the region of 2-3k on a regular basis is wildly optimistic in my opinion. I would put regular crowds in the region of 1,200. Broadly speaking the crowd for a Heathens meeting is about the same as a Wolves meeting. Jokes about pulling bigger crowds than our old rivals may be taken a bit too literally, and probably exaggerated, by some people. I've been to Monmore on consecutive nights and seen one or the other club pull a slightly larger crowd, and I've seen it pretty much the same. The main reason it's difficult to judge a crowd is that we don't ever see an official figure so we have no frame of reference. Also, 1,200 at Monmore will look a bigger crowd than 1,200 spread out around somewhere like Swindon.

No problem. Glad you spotted it.

Oops yes, sorry. It's Tue 16th rather than Mon 16th as I've suggested. My main point remains though. There should be plenty of dates that the stadium is available.

It's provisionally the 9th, according to club press release. Wednesday is reserved for speedway at Monmore Green as Wolves' alternative night (see link at the bottom of this post). It's has been for many, many years but is almost never used. I genuinely can't recall the last time Wolves had to resort to a Wednesday meeting. (I've been to more meetings than not at Monmore since '97). I see no reason why the stadium shouldn't be made available to Heathens as well as Wolves on a Wednesday should there be a need. It's also worth noting that Wolves' relatively poor season means the only remaining Monday meetings are v Belle Vue on 1st Oct and the Olympique on 16th Oct. http://www.wolverhamptonwolves.co/page.php?5

It is, and should be, in my opinion, the stepping stone between the amateur/MDL meetings and the PL. Using the Heathens as an example as I watch them regularly, the club has given Morris and Perry three years of riding against a better quality of rider so they can improve and they have raised their game to the point that they're now regular PL reserves. Without the NL as it is now they would either be riding amateur level or perhaps a much weaker NL than it is now. Had that been the case they would have not had the level of competition required to improve and get the PL places they now hold. Also, Ritchings and Greenwood have been given a taster of PL action but come up short this season. Hopefully next season they become the next big improvers and are able to gain, and retain, a PL place. The experience that older riders have can be very valuable to those younger riders prepared to listen. I remember Hancock/Hamill stating they were still learning from Les Collins back in '96 when we raced as Cradley & Stoke. I also believe that having to chase down PL quality riders that are doubling-down is important as it gives them a 'marker' as to where they need to be to compete at that level. For example, Roynon may well be one of he best riders to have ever ridden at this level but he's only a 3rd heat leader with a 7-point average at PL level. Knowing where you are in relation to someone like him (or R Worrall, Birks, Haines etc) really is important to a rider wanting to progress to a higher level. Quite a few NL riders have ridden PL this season. Surely that's the aim. We should be developing our own talent through the various levels to a point that they move up through the PL hopefully on to the EL. This should reduce the need for foreign imports and reduce costs throughout the sport in this country. I fear that without this valuable stepping stone to the PL fewer Brits will be riding to a level where the PL Promoters sit up and take notice. Would Perry, Morris, Greenwood and Ritichings have been given PL outings had they not been impressing in a strong NL? If it were a weaker league the PL Promoters may look at those riders and think ok 'x' is averaging 10 but who is he really beating? Now all of that said I acknowledge that it's a slightly strange league in that clubs have different agendas and it's not easy for some clubs to make it pay. It's not, nor should it be allowed to become, all doom and gloom though. Buxton, as a good example, may operate on a shoe-string but the club had great success recently. Swindon attract a good crowd but haven't won the league since God was a lad. I would hate to lose Buxton. It would be a very sad day indeed as I believe what has been achieved there in the past, and hopefully in the future, is fantastic. But having had recent success it's clearly not the league structure that is the root cause of any problems there. There may be problems throughout the leagues and some action may be required but I do not believe weakening our product, at any level, is the answer.

You cannot just keep extending the deadline. As I've stated a couple of times it's my opinion that if a club cannot complete it's fixtures it has a 0-75 awarded against it. I believe this has been done in the past, but cannot recall a precise example. What I would be absolutely against is a club being fined. Things are tight enough without the fat cats squeezing clubs in what has been the wettest season in the sports history (in this country), or even for other legitimate reasons. If there were a repeat offender then perhaps further action should be taken. Off the top of my head something along the lines of KL (just as an example) are given an 'official' warning this season. If they fail to complete their fixtures by the deadline next season they start the following season on -5 league points. That provides motivation to move heaven and earth to get the fixtures in but does not directly impact a club financially.

Yes. The riders race for financial gain.

The date has been changed once. I reiterate my opinion stated last week when considering IOW could miss out through no fault of their own - If clubs cannot complete their fixture list then a 0-75 should be awarded. It's harsh, but is speedway a professional sport or not? It's long-since been rumoured that the Heathens would choose Stoke in the PO semi. Frankly, I think that's utterly ridiculous and it would serve us right if we were knocked out.

The NL is viable in my opinion. There are a number of things in all the leagues that could do with being looked at but I hope we don't see any silly ideas or reactions to problems with fixtures this season. The 2012 season has been the wettest season speedway has ever known, to date, so fingers crossed it will be a long time 'til we see another like it. My point really was just that IOW, or any other club, should not be denied the chance to make the POs because another club cannot fit its fixtures in before the deadline.

To the best of my knowledge no funding has ever been sought, nor would it be. That said I don't have any insider knowledge, just what we (the fans) have been told over the years. The Council representatives said from the off that the Council would back speedway as long it didn't cost them anything. Easy to scoff now but to be fair the then Council did turn down the initial planning applications for Barratts to build houses on the Dudley Wood Road site. The problem has not been funding as such but rather finding land the Council consider suitable and then jumping through the variety of hoops that appear just as you think you're on to a winner.

Yes, it is harsh on any club that has legitimate reasons for not getting all the fixtures in. But it's potentially a lot more harsh on a club that misses out on a play-off place through no fault of their own. I'm not having a dig at KL particularly, it's just happens to be KL involved. In a case such as this KL have nothing to lose by not staging the fixture but it could cost IOW dearly.

If a home club cannot stage a meeting before the cut-off it should forfeit the points, particularly if the result could have affected the play off places. If the KL v IOW fixture does not go ahead IOW should be awarded the 4 points.

It's a shame but I fail to see any link with speedway in the area. Significantly less visitors can almost certainly be attributed mostly, if not entirely, to the very wet Spring and Summer.

I see the club statement dated and time stamped Tue 4th 20:13. This is around the time we, at Monmore 'Wood', had his absence explained to us as due to illness. That seems somewhat doubtful. Typical speedway. Anywho, I've no problem with the signing itself. It's before the cut-off, his average fits and there's time for the declaration to get the nod in time for the big meeting/s to come.

Just to reiterate what others have said - It's was in jest (though as an in-joke I wish I spotted it so I could have posted to clarify earlier). Dan actually quoted it on his Facebook page yesterday with a "haha", and part of my opening post too. Dan has pretty much daily banter with the Heathens (and others I'm sure) fans through his Facebook page. He gets a lot a stick for his steel shoe problems (which came up again last night as he was 'worried' about it happening again ) and the fact that he posts more 'selfies' than a teenage girl. Top bloke and well liked by the Heathens faithful. He seemed a bit down after last night and very quickly had lots of support. I wasn't worried and of course we were huge favourites, which I stated. But last season we had some dreadful results, even at home, when we were huge favourites. They just had to guard against complacency and make sure the points were secured. Everyone involved has done a good job of making sure our riders stay fully focussed and do not take their foot off the gas. Of course the fans enjoyed it. We were without a team for a very long time and are enjoying seeing the very rare sight of a group of riders all clicking and improving in the same season. It's an absolute pleasure to see in particular what Tom, Ash, Dan and Darryl have achieved this season. It's such a shame that some are so blinded by their petty sniping that they can't take a moment to acknowledge these young lads. Porky announced at the end of the meeting that he was okay other than a cut to the head. Starke and Warwick did well at times and forced the Heathens riders to work very hard, especially early on in the meeting. Unfortunately they weren't able to reproduce their generally good starts in the latter heats so the entertainment tailed off for the last few races. Starke in particular rode with his head as much as his throttle and knew exactly where to put the back wheel to block numerous attempted moves by Tom and Ash a couple of times, though ultimately beaten all-but once. It was a tricky one. I can understand the management's point of view. IOW and 3rd in the league and they wanted to show respect to them as being a pretty decent team. Also, how many times do you hear fans moan about not having a full 7-man team out on track? I can also see the view that it would have been a chance for our riders (4 at least) to get an extra ride). It was a bit of a no-win. --------------------------------------- There was some decent to very good action at times. I would say off the top of my head that at least half the races saw a visiting rider make a good start and a Heathen have to make an early move (first corner or on the first lap) to hit the front. A few races were very good value with three races involving Starke standing out. A quick mention for Darryl who recorded his second successive maximum and for Dan who rode very well indeed and was disappointed not to get the nod for heat 15. It shows just how far he's come in a year since his return to the sport. I was very pleased to see James pick up some good points and look better last night. Well done all.

So the last league meeting rolls around for the Heathens, and all-too-soon. It brings with it the opportunity to top the pre-POs table for the second time in the three years since joining the league. Take the points tonight and there's nothing Mildenhall can do to catch us, so little if any motivational speech should be needed ahead of tonight's meeting. Obviously we are massive favourites to record another straight forward home win, but after some of the results I saw last season I will take nothing for granted. The boys have to turn it on every time they go out on track, and cannot approach the meeting with a 'turn up and we will win' attitude. Ashley Birks has been booked as a guest for Adam Roynon so it's clear the management team are also of the opinion that we have to respect IOW and approach the meeting in a professional manner, and make sure there are not silly slip ups at the last. The boys were flying last week before the rain off. The only concern has been James' form as it seems to be slipping. He's put his average up a touch so he's doing his job, but his confidence seems to on a downer for some reason. He can still make some lightening starts but doesn't seem fully committed to the corners. Ahead of the POs and KOC Final I'd like to see him post a better score and start riding full of confidence. He still has such an important roll to play. I'd like to see Darryl keep the ball rolling after his first maximum last week, and Dan scoring big and keeping his confidence up will be very important come the big meetings too. A big welcome back to Dan Stoneman tonight. He's very popular with the Heathens faithful and will either get one of the biggest cheers or the panto boos. Either way Dan will love it. Back in June Dan topped scored for the Islanders (incl bonus points) with paid 9. Here's to another good pay day for him, as long he doesn't inspire his team mates too much. Is anyone making the long trip up? Can any IOW fans give us the low down on how the boys are riding of late?

I've not changed my opinion. I believe he should ride NL. Not because the competition will sharpen his skills but because our tracks are probably a lot different to what he's used to in size, shape and surface. Of course the weather is different too. He will face very different conditions here. A relatively easy time in the NL, if only for a year, will help in the long-run I believe. It will give him a chance to get used to the tracks and give him chance to play around, to an extent, with the bikes so that he's more ready for the step in to the PL. Don't tell me that any youngster can't learn a thing or two from some of the old uns in the NL.

Apologies if I'm mixing him up with someone else but I thought he'd dropped his average a fair bit.

I noticed his Tweets too. Sounds as though he's a dead cert to be back for the next GP and no re-break for Jason so he should be there too. Good news all round. I'd have thought Hampel is nailed on for a permanent wild card pick next season. It'll be interesting to see who else gets one because there are quite a few that have impressed when they're ridden a GP. Unless any of them put together a stunning end to the season and qualify by right then it certainly should not be Andersen, Harris, Pedersen, Ljung (although he's done better than expected at times to be fair) or Bjerre.

No Jacobs or Reade? Branford is a strange one to me. He's not having a great season, is he?

It's true to say that there aren't enough meetings for the NL riders that haven't picked up a PL place. Some of our riders have had the same problem at times this season. Somebody like Ritchings, for example, is a great prospect but just isn't getting enough meaningful meetings. He's just finding his form over the last few weeks, though some blips along the way, and the season's end is nigh! I do genuinely expect some of the visitors to give our boys a real run for their money. They will need to have their gating gloves on though because it will most likely be a hell of a struggle if they give our boys a head start.

The only action in British Speedway tonight sees the Heathens back in league action at Monmore 'Wood'. Following the disappointing performance in the final 8 heats of the 4TT on Sunday I consider this a bigger meeting than it would otherwise have been. It would not be biased or cocky to suggest we are favourites to take the points, especially with r/r for Garrity (gutted he's not able to ride tonight), but the actual performance is now important. The league meeting last week was a little shaky in some areas so I feel we need a very solid performance throughout the team. I think we need to put down a marker as Mildenhall could be building some real momentum at the right time. We should not have to worry about Roynon, Perry, Morris or Bekker when the big meetings come around. I feel we will succeed or fail on the scoring of Greenwood, Ritchings and White-Williams. With that in mind it's these three riders I'm hoping will score well tonight and get some confidence ahead of the POs and KOC Final. It's Perry's last meeting at reserve, thankfully, so that means either Ritchings or Greenwood will drop back to reserve. Perry will be fine in the 1-5 and either of the others will be better at reserve than in the 1-5. There was not much between their averages and I'm not sure who is in line to drop down. I'm hoping that Ritchings has overhauled the ¼ point (ish) advantage that Greenwood held as I feel Ritchings coming in to form will be better equipped to take in the roll of a number 2 (most likely position). Back to tonight. As I mentioned Rye come with r/r at 1 which is not ideal for them, and a let down for us as speedway fans wanting to see as competitive a meeting as possible. Chessell has some Monmore 'Wood' experience under his belt and can be a very quick from the gate. He doesn't keep the rubber side down as often as he should but he could easily prove to be nuisance value if nothing else. Morely, Hazelden and Sarjeant should give our top end and middle order a real work out. There's real scoring potential there and we will have to be on our guard to see them off. I can see there being some great racing between these three and the Heathens riders. I'll be honest and state outright that I've no idea what to expect from the reserve pairing of Tokley and Coles. It's a lovely late summer day today with no threat of rain later so after the even watering the track will have had yesterday I hope for a cracking night of speedway tonight.

I don't think there is a favourite to be honest. It's too close to call. Mildenhall have proven so far that their top end can more than match ours as they've taken the two major trophies on offer, but I would accept an argument that we may have a slight edge at reserve. It's only a slight one though as JWW is not in good form and needs to turn it around quickly. If I remember rightly the two recent league meetings resulted in a one point aggregate advantage to Mildenhall. I know neither team had their first choice 7 (let's not open that can of worms again) but it's still representative of how closely matched the teams are. Comparing like-for-like through the teams from 1-7 there's nothing in it. Perhaps where people might see the Heathens as favourite is by looking at some of huge scores recorded at times, but that doesn't take into account that Mildenhall are far superior to those teams we beat comfortably.

Close call with some dark clouds knocking about but the rain remains just to our west. Still no rain at all today. Dry but dull. *edit* Sun is having a go - 16:03 *edit* As above. Safe journey. 16:28