HGould

Rules are CRYSTAL CLEAR...PL have priority Monday and Thursday and CL other days. When the Fixtures came out Birmingham were away at Eastbourne on Good Friday at 3pm. Poole decided to run an "off PL day" so face the consequences, well done for once to the BSPA for playing fair.

BSPA have stepped in and told Swindon that Brummies have priority as Friday is CL priority day.

Great meeting, good crowd, we lost, speedway won!

never really understood VAT and sport as not clear on sports tickets that you pay at gate. So if I go to Monmore Green and pay £28 for me and the missus to get in and £3.00 for a programme are you saying Wolves have to pay 20% the the VAT man (£6.20), christ that's a huge chunk, and if they pay VAT I assume no way of claiming back??... No wonder Speedway clubs are going bust....

Raised this the other day, Eastbourne match has priority as BSPA have confirmed PL only have priority on Monday's and Thursday's; absolutely cast iron CL takes priority on a Friday; so would think it's Swindon who will be needing Guests and not us. James is our asset too, bit trickier with Zac as he is a Swindon asset. Been in our Fixture list since they were issued so seems Poole or Swindon or both have not taken heed.

Biggest load of rubbish I have ever endured....and I am one of the few who understands the accents. Funny at first, just cringe-worthy now.

Counter that with Heats 2 + 8 + 14 where our strength in depth could be decisive as they have long tail with Kurtz, Atkins and Rowe

So Swindon will need Guests??

I'm off down to Arlington again on Good Friday for KOC match and be interesting to see if we get as close/closer than we did in Shield Fixture. I'm tempted by the free Easter Eggs they are promising to first 100 kids so grandchildren are coming in their Brummies gear as that'll save Grandad a few quid for ice creams later on. Just trying to work out how James and Zak can ride at Poole though and for Brummies at Arlington on same day. I thought PL had to ride Monday + Thursday so who will have priority there for their services??

Respect all riders, some more than others obviously. Some guys never a minutes trouble, others as in any sport, trouble seems to follow around. Always struck me as being potentially great rider but with a screw loose somewhere in his ability to think laterally in terms of career. Seems to have very few PL options left, seems to have burned bridges in Poland and Sweden and now all his eggs in a basket that openly admitted may be in their last season under current Owners. A shame but only himself to blame imho

I'm thinking same as you very tight, Covatti will be back but Paco likely to want to put his marker down. Brummies can still nick this group with 2 home wins especially after Eastie tanked Rebels last night

Clearly Somerset had an off night but may be some credit has to go to Eastbourne. They have signed 3 excellent Heat Leaders, Lawson will be strong everywhere, Kennett at home and Kerr I alsway felt on a good average. They refrained from signing unknown or journeymen foreigners and invested in British bottom end. Morley and Bowtell were 1-2 in NL Individual 2018 and have a bit of CL experience now, Wood for me is make of break this year, permamnet NL or 1/2 decent CL career (who knows) and Brennan I think is as good as Kemp and those 2 are next generation of "special talent". Be very interesting for the Group to see how Rebels recover at Brum as Eastie have a big points advantage at moment and anything could still happen in Group.

I went to Kent 3 times in last 2 seasons and normally quite good at guess a crowd, probably 600-700 tops both times, that's decent for NL but by no means a big crowd. I doubt he could on that basis go up to PL (Mondays) or CL (any other night).

You have a very good website and nice to see an independent (non AP Media) one.

Read somewhere that our Brummies Paco (Castagna) is riding in Italian Championships this weekend, would Covatti be in them as although Argentine born doesn't he ride on an Italian License and therefore mandated to fulfil Italian commitments??? - would weaken Rebels unless they get a top Guest.?

Always been impressed with Henry Atkins and he knows the track, I think possibly a year too soon for Anders Rowe based on NL form? Been told Covatti will miss most Saturday Fixtures Somerset have?, if true will be a big blow to them as he has an average that belies his form and won't be easy for them to get good Guests if Berwick; Leicester and Eastbourne have Saturday matches, will only leave a few Teams and a small number of riders to choose from.

Disappointing gate according to my mates who ventured down, they guessed about 600, they are usually pretty accurate don't know how???, they guessed 600 at our opening meeting and usually spot on there; and they guessed about 1000 at Eastbourne on Saturday was 1100 I believe? , must ask then what's going to win the Scottish National on Saturday

As a neutral I love it. It's technical but because of that you get lots of passing inside and out. It's usually very well prepared. It's a thinkers track and not just wind it on and ride the fence. Good riders can ride anywhere and usually do well there. Bomber i think will find lines round there no one else can and Schlein will do very well.

Damage limitation against Harris Schlein and Covatti Don't much rate Kurtz and the German is a complete unknown and I think our reserves will eat theirs, so mixed feelings. I'd be happy to get closer than we did at Eastbourne but doubt we will as think we caught Eastbourne on a night when Morley and Bowtell were learning the track and Wood looked very nervous and under-powered compared to his NL form 55 - 35 my prediction tonight.

I thought Lawson and Kennett looked untouchable v Brummies, Kerr and Brennan impressive as well. Yes Schlein and Harris are better than our Heat Leaders but may take a race or two to get the set up's worked out. I am in London for a family reunion Saturday, might even try to get there as a speedway fan any chance to see "Bomber Harris" is a treat. I can't make Somerset tonight due to work commitments. How Bomber rides Arlington will be worth the admission fee as there was plenty of passing on Saturday when Brummies were there and could be a great meeting for any neutral, place was buzzing last week, made Perry Barr seem very quiet.

There is one main reason Lakeside and Workington closed and it's nothing at all to do with Friday and Saturday's. The fact they had to ride so many Fixtures in October mostly against each other was a huge factor. The other factor ROB GODFREY - cancelled Lakeside Fixtures in summer as them riding on a Friday stopped him booking Guests for Scunthorpe and cancelled some Workington matches too. The success of those sides unfairly affected them. Had Godfrey not cancelled Lakeside matches at a few days notice they would have ridden fewer Fixtures at Rye House and not lost huge amounts on last few matches there. Also a fact they lost their Track to developers, that would have whatever day they race on. We absolutely need ONE BIG LEAGUE of 14-16 Teams giving variety and whatever level that finds can and should be marketable until the Polish bubble inevitably bursts and Riders have to accept that "getting paid in UK" is better than not getting paid 5-10x more in Poland...". Some sides are having a real go at PROMOTING the sport, others are living in denial and negativity.

Although we lost i really enjoyed that. Kennett; Lawson and Kerr will win Eagles a lot of matches home and away. Zak and Paco undoubted stars for Brummies. Some very good racing on a very cold night in front of what looked like a big crowd, the upstairs seating area was packed, usually a handful in there, someone local told me he thought over 1000. Encouraged by way Brummies stemmed tide and were only 6 points behind after 10 or so heats, both teams could do better than a lot of people think. Will go back for our KOC on Good Friday I only hope its a bit warmer. Meeting Presentation was very slick.

Some great racing at Arlington last night but boy was it cold. LOoked to be a very big crowd based on my NL visits there with Brummies in recent years and the atmosphere was very good. I don't know who the Meeting Presenter was but h was excellent. Eagles Heat Leaders look very strong, Brennan went well. Zak rode best of the Brummies and Paco showed some excellent touches, we packed the places but lack of heat leader strength was crucial. One nice touch I thought was Eagles Management walking down long queue outside to apologise for delays getting in and explaining that it was because a number of their staff were at Football semi final, they needn't have done that, most clubs wouldn't but little things like that matter and a few home fans in the queue explained how positive things are with the new Promotion and Management.

Not sure whether you are being a bit mischeivious there ?? LOL I'm pretty sure if you cut Jon Cook in half he would be an Eastbourne man, isn't that where he started out and made his name. Lawson; Morley and Bowtell from Lakeside will do well there, Eddie Kennett is Eastbourne through and through, Kerr just loves to race and the others are NL riders moving up. Be interesting whether my Brummies or the Eagles do best of the Clubs moving up. What other "personnel" have followed Cook from Lakeside to Eastbourne, Geer and Bellerby the Promoters are long term Eastbourne men aren't they??? I do agree its great to see a Professional team from South in Speedway, they should have a huge catchment area, especially on a Saturday night from their own, Lakeside, Rye House, all the old London Clubs too - especially South of the River. They seem to have done some very good marketing and having a real go, good luck to them.

Yes they do. (source Speedway Star of last week)