Harry The Goat

Yes, but not on Wednesday, when Ashley Morris - riding *against* us tonight - will be riding *for* us against Swindon.

I just hope Somerset can do better than last year's visits to Wolves, where we got hammered each time: 28-62, 34-56, and 31-59. Lineups have changed since then of course, and I'll be hoping Somerset can come away with at least a point tonight.

Agree. Although it's worth pointing out, talking of the Premiership, that only Somerset, Swindon and Leicester charge £17. The other five are all £18! (the racing must be better at those stadiums :-) )

Thanks Najjer, didn't know that. Shame to lose what was quite a good viewing spot though.

Good points. And I see they've removed the entire grassy bank by the 1st/2nd bends and made the ground level. Anyone know if there's a plan to build something here?

A photo showing all 7 riders wearing similar suits may look good, purely as a team photo, but it's worth bearing in mind that speedway *isn't* football or rugby etc. By which I mean the whole team is never out on the field, as it were, 'in play', at the same time. Just two riders from each team, in each race. For which there are helmet colours and starting positions. The modern trend of covering racing suits in adverts/sponsorship baffles me. Does this advertising really work? Does anybody read these markings? They're a distraction.

Agree. If Lindgren maintains this sort of speed and agility in the upcoming GPs, Doyle is going to have to work extra hard to retain his world title...

From time to time the subject of crowd size crops up. Here's a bit of Unofficial Oaktree Arena Research which may (or may not) be of interest. During all the tractor racing and hanging about at the 2nd May Somerset-Poole meeting, I did a quick visual head count in different areas of the OTA. Here are the results: Home straight = 168 people First bend (between the exit gates and the clubhouse) = 132 Outside the clubhouse & takeaway = 64 Back straight = 279 Third bend round to the illuminated score display = 60 TOTAL = 703 people If you add in a number of uncounted people moving around / inside the clubhouse / in the toilets or the track shop etc then the real figure will be a bit higher. Is this more or less than you'd have thought? I was expecting to reach four figures myself, but on reflection I don't think I'm very good at estimating.

Nice match report there, and yes, that cold wind was evil! Looking forward to seeing more of Holder & Jeppesen. Very good signings I think. Think your last word should read 'fortnight' btw. We've only got seven home meetings due in three months (April-May-June)!

Yes indeed.

I was watching too and thinking similar things. Some great riding from JH. Interesting that he holds the current track record at Torun. That must be no mean feat.

Nine (count them!) wins from Gate 3. Four wins from Gate 1. Only a single win for each of Gate 2 and Gate 4.

Agree, very good video. Well worth watching.

Very true mike, you're right. Things change and evolve, and times are obviously different now to what they used to be. But I do miss the days of once-a-week home meetings.

This, and talk of gaps, reminds me how times have changed. Just been digging through some old programmes from the 70s. Here's one: 'Meeting No.34' - the 34th home meeting of the season, running every single week from mid-March to the end of October. Count them. More than twice what you get now. And of course you had second halfs then, too. I recall it raining on occasion, but not that many rain-offs. Back to 2018, and I was really hoping to travel to several meetings over the past week. All postponed!

Superb clip, that! Love the all-too-brief shots from the rider's POV. Nicely done. Question (because I can't remember): when did riders stop wearing those type of face masks?

Weekly speedway can be a chore? Really? Each to their own, I suppose. I personally would like the opportunity to attend far more home meetings. Back in the day it was regular for teams up and down the country to have a home meeting almost every single week of the year from mid-March to the end of October. Think about that. It's a total of around 36 home meetings year - versus about 15 (plus a few more assuming KOC/playoff success) at present. This is one of the massive differences between then and now.

Unfortunately no, this somehow passed me by, but thanks Adonis, I'll go off and do some googling. It all sounds mad. I don't know that part of the country very well, but I did call in and see a meeting there last summer, thanks to being in East Anglia for a while. As I drove out for what felt like miles along small roads in the middle of nowhere, I remember thinking it was an ideal location for a stadium and couldn't possibly have any noise complaints. How wrong I was! Whereas at Swindon, for instance, from the track you can now almost look into people's living rooms...

Amazing to hear this because Mildenhall is surely one of the most remote tracks, right out in the countryside. I wonder if the people who complained about this also complained about the local RAF airbase which is much, much closer to a built-up area! And what about all the many houses built right next to busy roads where there's constant rumbling traffic noise?

If demand isn't there for the full price, then the full price is too high. Simple as that. A lower price needs to be applied on a regular basis, not just as a one-off. The aim of a promoter, from a business point of view, is surely to maximise the gate receipts? Not just to keep blindly charging the same as last year + £1 (not counting increases for parking and programmes). Unfortunately, in the manner of HM Government wrestling with the Laffer curve, this would require some testing at different prices, and for different periods of time, to see what would happen, and I can't imagine any clubs would bother to try this.

Good points, although I wonder if the bit I've highlighted should be the other way round. Higher admission costs = a dwindling fan base.

2016 - Admission £15.00, Car Park £1.00, Programme £2.50 2017 - Admission £16.00, Car Park £1.50, Programme £3.00 2018 - Admission £17.00, Car Park / Programme not sure yet I've been printing my own racecards since early last year, when I turned up for one meeting and they'd sold out of programmes. Since I always want to score the meeting, it seemed the only sensible way to ensure I wouldn't miss out again, and it's now become a habit. But if they offered cheap racecards at the OTA (instead of or in addition to the full colour programme) I would probably buy them.

Thanks for updating and pinning this thread. Very useful for reference.

Well done Somerset. Really looking forward to seeing this new-look team in action.

Is this true? You'd think a forum of dedicated fans would - or at least could - provide vital feedback for any promoter. Re Barry Bishop's words, I'm hugely impressed and wish him every success. If only I was within easy striking distance of the IOW.