FromBendThree

R.E.F. is a strange concept. You have professional speedway riders being given money to buy the tools of their trade with the money coming from fans through such event as an auction. Would there be an auction to raise money if you were a professional carpenter and broke your saw. I know all the arguments about rider's costs but that's another issue and I know R.E.F. is long established and perhaps harks back to the days when the riders were semi-pro...I also felt the same about spontaneous collections if a rider was fined by the ref.

For a top 3, I might want to swap Mildenhall for Kent - sorry, teaboy279. I would make the Colts favourites because at this level the NSS track is too fast for most visitors - they just dont have the horsepower. Ablitt could emerge as the man to beat.

I do think that things said on this forum may affect chances of sponsorship, especially if it is from a non-speedway company. Before spending money on sponsorship they would conduct "due diligence" which at a minimum would be an internet/social media search – and the BSF discussions would pop up. Of course, fans who sponsor, would not be affected. They will know the history but for all concerned a period of calm would not go amiss. Now is the time to move on and look forward.

There still seems a desire in some quarters to pick over the bones of what happened at Eastbourne last summer. Admittedly it was all very upsetting and people lost money. However, it is probably for the best that this doesn't go on for too much longer as it just may taint the activities of the group trying to get the sport back into Arlington for 2023. They are certainly going to need all the positivity they can get. Of course, the issues Birmingham seem to be having in completing a team should be a worry for the whole league. If Birmingham can't get a team, how would Eastbourne fare in 2023 when they need seven, having no assets.

Think these maybe introductory prices....bet they will be a lot more if you sign in October

I am not in favour of seeds. Two semi-finals with top 8 from each going forward. More chance of shocks/upsets. that was the beauty of the world championship when we started with qualifying rounds in April -- some big names fell by the wayside which made those meetings so interesting.

Hope Lewis Kerr has a great day and a big turn out. He deserves it.

Some clubs seem to be working on the basis of every other week for home meetings.

Seen him swamped so many times going down the back straight at King's Lynn. Nose in front out of turn 2 but nowhere by the time one circuit done.

It didn't make me click through - the 'sell' was hopeless. Anyway hearing cap'n Josh is now debating Esso or BP for his trip to the garage for diesel.

BREAKING: Skipper Josh mulls whether to buy diesel for his van today or tomorrow. #exclusive

Easily pleased

Afraid so. That doesn't show very good PR skills, does it. Sometimes you have throw something up into the air knowing a few days later that you will swipe it down again but it gets people talking.

From the club Twitter: King’s Lynn skipper Josh Pickering is ready to book his flight back from Australia to the UK for the new season. That really is wringing every last ounce out of a story. He's ready to book. Do people expect in February that it has never crossed the rider's mind to book a flight?

Ablitt could be a dark horse from the little I saw of him last year. Not sure what his gating is like.

If I was a promoter, I wouldn't let anyone stream my meetings unless they paid. That would go for video stream or audio stream. You can't give it away.

Makes sense. Worry is that the clubs already in existence might not see the big picture and want to hang on to what they have, which would be a shame to say the very least

One suspects the price of a match will be near to the cost of stadium admission. That would make sense. You still save on travel, cost of programme and cost of warm beer and cold chips.

Yes you are right about what the course covered. It is a pity that someone called it an apprenticeship when it wasn't. It gave people totally the wrong impression. Don't get me wrong, I think what Poultec did was excellent and very valuable for the riders but it was never intended as an entry-point for young speedway riders; more a way of teaching the lads business, fitness etc. But it was never - and wasn't intended to be - an apprenticeship. Eastbourne wrote about Tom Brennan and Jason Edwards at Poultec in one of their flying high magazines last winter.

They were widely called apprenticeships but they were not apprenticeships in the official use of the word. You won't find a speedway apprenticeship on the government website, for example. They were really diplomas in speedway business skills. Yes, they learned a bit on track but the whole purpose was to help the youngsters with running their own business - not how to ride a speedway bike fast.

It appears to be a Ltd which makes it a private limited company. That doesn't make it a PLC A PLC designates a company that has offered shares of stock to the general public. The buyers of those shares have limited liability. Meaning, they cannot be held responsible for any business losses in excess of the amount they paid for the shares.

Which shows the ending is Ltd not plc

SpeedwayGB website shows last Glasgow home match on August 5. Leaves room for cup progress and play offs. One imagines Glasgow will challenge for honours in all competitions.

Told the new promotion ditched the club's long-serving programme editor and press officer. Is that true? Why?

OK, let me know of one great bit of creativity and innovation in 2021 from your volunteers which reached people who had never heard of speedway before. AND, most importantly, how successful was it? That means, in plain language, how many new fans did it bring into the stadium and what was the retention rate?