HGould

It's an interesting point you make; as years ago speedway fans would rush to wear anything with club logo's on it. It's a brave and innovative move, prices look about right compared with other clubs merchandise. As with many things Glasgow set the bar high with their website and online merchandise and this new Eagles gear looks competitively priced and more lines than Glasgow currently, so as you sat time will tell.

Heard BW-D going to Brummies after first averages. Suppose BW-D will be linked with everyone at some point, likely first heat leader injury BW-D will be in (sad but that's speedway).

Another impressive effort from The Eagles. https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/merchandise/ Reading through it seems these are the guys who supply BRDC at Silverstone who own the Track and F1 License; and Corporate gear for some massive Blue-Chip Global and National Companies; and the Company Boss is an ex F3 driver. Company based in Tamworth, somebody at Eastbourne is doing some serious homework and making great contacts, this Company is on the doorstep of my Club the Brummies and also Wolves and Leicester, why aren't we in there getting deals done.??

Feel sorry for Scunthorpe fans, surely as Mr Godfrey sees himself as "Mr Championship" you'd think he would be eager to be the best / up with the best of all aspects of running a CL Club, seems the opposite is the case in terms of communication, effort and outlook. Shameful!

Birmingham - in Dave Mason and Laurence Rogers 2 guys who want to provide entertainment and to improve their Club. Based on where you live however, I would say Eastbourne, been so impressed with all they have tried to do this winter, as the previous Poster said, their new website and link with Speedway Portal sets the bar higher than anyone apart from possibly Glasgow and their social media. I think if I lived down there I would certainly give them a try but try Brummies first!

Looking at Bickleys website you'd have to say "more hype than substance" at the moment. He sis go to Australia in the winter but seemed to be outshone by Wajknecht and Brennan. I don't see him as anything but a reserve all season at Glasgow but may increase his actual average from his away average (as this will be a new track for him and very different from Workington) in 2018 of 1.13 to around 3.00 overall. Is he a better long term option than Joe Lawlor, frankly not sure??

Back on topic and I think it is crystal clear from the article and other comments over the years that what Godfrey really doesn't ever want is one big League, I have always thought he sees the Championship as a Northern League and the Premier as a Midland ( south of Belle Vue) /Southern League and probably wants an 8/8 9/9 type split and 2 home and 2 away. I'm not sure how close he and Buster are, but it looks a bit of a dictatorship at the moment The fact that it took so long apparently for Birmingham and Eastbourne to be ratified to the CL in the winter and in that 5 page article he could not mention Somerset; Birmingham or Eastbourne once again proves the point. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2019 and what the reaction to either One Big league or a North/South split is in 2020 as it seems a few Clubs already "hanging on" like Redcar / Newcastle (Nissan) and Swindon (Honda) plus others in Midlands (Wolves / Birmingham / Leicester) could be hit by sudden collapse in Car Industry and associated supply chains; and any even small loss of core support could impact on pretty much every Team, with very few exceptions.

Richard - I think both Grahame Brothers and Andy Smith and others of that era suffered due to outstanding quality of American and Danish Riders in that era. Alan would have been no 1 in many sides in his pomp but had Penhall; Gundersen; King; Pedersen around him, likewise Andy who would have ridden with Neilsen and others. If either Grahame brother were around now would be no 1 in most sides in PL.

That's probably the first and only time Ledwith and Kennett have been mentioned in the same sentence; in terms of pedigree and ability anyway. Does seem a strange signing but if your old enough your good enough works both ways I guess. Would be great to see our Andy and Alan Grahame v Gordon Kennett and Martin Dugard.

A bit off topic but I have long been a believer that a "Veterans League" attached in some way to actual matches and a Junior League - so say 2 heats of U16 and 2 heats of veterans with a bonus point - added to aggregate score of those 4 extra heats may be something worth trying in Shield or something similar. Run 1 Junior and 1 Vets Race each - between Heat 6 and 7 and Heat 12 and 13??... aggregate winner of those 4 races gets a Bonus Point in mail League Table

who said there was anything wrong with lady riders?, Rachel improved lots during the season, we had an older chap at a few away matches - will find out the name. Nothing wrong with that either!

S4S very much respect your views and sentiments, I think we'll have to agree to disagree though about a Club subsidising another that is 100+ miles away. As there are Clubs much closer to Reading that seem to not wish to help. I do think BSPA have to take accountability here, happy to collect Bond money and presumably sit on it, or may be if they took Loan Fees from some of the displaced Riders they now own and invested that in Junior Development Leagues. One issue with SDL/MDL/NDL is they are more "amateur" Leagues now than Development; we certainly had a few 40+ year olds and a wonderful lady rider at Brum last season!

Why should any Club in PL or CL subsidise a 3rd Party SDL side? If they were branded as Eastbourne then yes, but why should they subsidise Reading or Weymouth? Isn't it right they should pay to use the track? Eastbourne have picked an all British 1-7 and promoted 2 NL Riders to 6 + 7 and top 2 in NL Riders Championship to 4-5 berths. That's developing British talent! They have offered facilities to Reading on a Sunday when Reading and other SDL riders are likely to have far more track time as a result?; and if Martin Dugard is around some expert tuition. Track time is surely what they want at SDL level not rushing 6 heats at 10pm at night in the freezing cold. Got to think too about the track staff at all Speedway venues, most work for nothing.

Curfews will always be a problem if MDL/SDL/NDL are run after main events. I went to Eastbourne 2-3 times last season and they ran youth races before the main meeting and SDL after the main meeting (Reading SDL). It got a bit too much for me. The racing went on from about 6.30 to 10.15. I would imagine they not Reading had to pay for Medical cover and Referee so it seems to me that John Cook has decided that he wants to cut costs of Track and Paramedic cover before and after League Racing. If Reading run there on Sundays they will presumably pay for Paramedic and Referee and one big benefit is any SDL/MDL should get 2 lots of track time racing and practising before the SDL/MDL match and have no curfew issues.

Have to agree, both great riders, Mavis was flash, brash, great gater ; Gordon was Mr Consistent, best white line passer I think of that era, so close to winning WC in 1978 and like Peter Collins couldn't gate, PC went round the boards and GK round the line. Hard to split them but would agree Steve GK was more complete rider for me.

I visited Wimbledon, White City and Hackney quite a lot and Crayford once. I loved Plough Lane, facilities in those days were excellent and the quirks were positive - the staggered start and finish line, the lights over the track rather than on the fence, the track was better than some gave it credit for in my opinion and truly a team of legends over the years. Great atmosphere from what I remember. Hackney however many times I went i always got lost, one of my favourite race tracks, fair and fast and Len Silver always put on a great show, sadly missed. Saw Zenon Plech ride there and always though Bo Petersen rode it better than anyone and of course Barry Thomas. White City, saw both WC/Internationals and League Racing there, some of the League crowds would have been decent anywhere but as been said "lost in the vastness"; a shame it could not have been saved and re-vamped as would make a superb venue now for 30-40,000 capacity major meetings, would have allowed us to have an English and British GP. Main gripe there was Car Parking from memory. I went to Crayford once but for a Dog meeting and could not believe how small the speedway track looked. Shame i never got there to see the Costa Mesa of UK speedway at the time, would it have been about same size as Plymouth?

no I'm saying Len liked to get one over his biggest rivals at the time - shock horror! Not implying or proving anything, just stating the blindingly obvious. Like Toons and Mackems, Dons and Hawks, Bees and Heathens; Tigers and Monarchs....

East End Fan - not suggested he did anything as grand as affecting stadium or anything, more in the way shall I put better "loved to get one over"...got massive respect for Len Silver especially his Hackney days, a great race-track sadly lost. From what I know of pLough Lane which is limited any blame there is GRA and Council not anyone remotely involved in speedway racing.

East End fan appreciate your views. I have had 2 visits there, one badly affected by curfew and the other track was dusty and badly rutted. If you go more often, I respect you will have better experience I must have been unlucky with meetings when visiting. All the best with Lakeside, hope you get back on track. H

Plenty of Clubs doing great things to attract kids that I saw with my own eyes in NL in 2018 at my Club Birmingham, Isle of Wight, Plymouth; Eastbourne. May be the NL Clubs have to work harder but Brummies have attracted some, I was staggered at what IOW do and its been widely reported, Plymouth have kids running race at Interval and a Mascot going round throwing sweets and when I went to Eastbourne for KOC Final there were about 100 kids being shown round before the meeting given a Tour. If you don't try it won't happen.

Sings4Speedway makes a very fair point about teams being "too strong" as processional racing is not entertaining and can soon wear a little thin. At Birmingham last season (before injuries hit) some of the racing was very boring, once the team was weakened the actual entertainment value rose as it was closer and more competitive. Of the other NL teams in past few years have noticed a decline in attendances when I have been to Eastbourne and Belle Vue, who would often pummel sides at home in NL. No disrespect but if you know team are going to hit 60 every week, you will pick and choose. I don't think its a particularly good race track at Kent either, fantastic facilities but the track not great for entertainment.

Agree would not make much commercial sense to compete with your nearest geographical rivals when one could race CL on Saturday and the other NL on a Monday or Friday to probably attract a fair number who would go to both. Len Silver though has only ever bothered about Len Silver and nobbling rival Promotions has always been part of that plan. Just ask Wimbledon!

I found it completely depressing. The boss of the CL and yet he can't in 5 pages mention my team Birmingham - Britain's 2nd city Club moving up and does not warrant a mention. He can't be bothered to talk positively or even mention 2 x KOC winners in 2018 from other Leagues moving in to the CL - Somerset down but adding to the quality and Eastbourne up, a Club with a very recent Elite league tradition. Does he actually see the CL as a "Northern League"??. I'm sad Workington and Lakeside won't be lining up, but he can't be bothered to talk much about those Clubs who will enhance the Championship! his comments about protecting Friday nights for his own Club by stopping Lakeside race on a Friday are as much to blame for their and Workingtons Fixture backlog as any amount of rain and bad Fixture planning. Time he took some responsibility for that. I get that all Clubs have to tighten their pockets and that does not make great news but overall it was typical Godfrey - ego ego ego. I just wish the guys at Glasgow and Edinburgh and other successful Promotions could join this "top table" or is it just a closed Club. Snide comments too about some Clubs seeking a lower limit to survive.

saw a lot of Drew in my travels around NL last season. Very impressive although he did have a long spell at reserve (right up to end of June) as Mildenhall were very clever with Fixtures and at Cradley too he spent long time at reserve. His form and scores when he moved up hardly wavered either. He was sometimes far better in early heats in main Team towards end of the season and after MIldenhall had injuries he was regularly mastered by Wood and Brennan in the Eastbourne clashes home and away but that could have been pressure of carrying injury affected Team. I think Brennan is on a par with Kemp and a look back at their Youth careers indicate that. Drew had more CL experience last year than Brennan (who had none) but Swindon fans seem mightly impressed by Brennan in 2 appearances in PL / PL level so be interesting to see how they compare v each other in CL, and both still in NL. Don't think any of the others moving up close to those pair, saw plenty of Leon Flint and was very impressed but not in Kemp/Brennan league consistently yet, Mountain and Wood I think won't ever be better than CL 2nd strings, young Atkins at Somerset could surprise a few, never really been that impressed with Bickley at Birmingham certainly and easy to forget how young and progressive Shanes and Wajknecht still are!

with BW-D very hard to fit him in at many places as most have 2 point reserves, so Somerset would have to ditch one of top 4 as an example. Many Teams close to 38 point limit too. If a rider with higher average than BW-D gets injured early he is a shoe-in candidate you'd think. I still think he will go to one of 3 most southerly Clubs - Birmingham (for Castagna or the Danish lad); Somerset or Eastbourne (for Morley maybe?)