DaveWayne

Why is it smoke and mirrors ? The rule quoted was from the British rule book and was in relation to racing in the British league. Yes he was declared for 2025, but never rode in the British league before he was injured again. Nowhere does the rule say that the period missed has to be related to the same injury. Therefore, by the wording of the rule, he has missed more than one full season due to speedway injury.

Depends on the interpretation. More than one could be taken as anything from 366 days to 2 years. As Tai didn't ride in the British leagues due to injury from the end of June 2024, so that is "more than 1 full season" as a season can't be longer than 12 months and by the time 2026 starts it will be about 21 months since he last rode in the UK.

2nd time he has done this. Started 2023 at Kings Lynn and ended it with a winners medal at Sheffield.

Both riders made a mistake at the same time - Douglas locked up and Emil found some grip and lifted his front wheel. Unfortunately for Emil, it was him that made the contact so he had to go.

So a Leicester team containing Masters, Douglas and Becker bottle the final for a 2nd year running. Who could have predicted that after they were all part of the Wolves team that didn't turn up for the semis against Sheffield in the previous 2 seasons ? 🤔

The post that I quoted from you said that Tigers were not the team who lost the least. That is an incorrect statement. I have no dispute with Leicester having the beating of us this year. That was definitely the semi final we didn't want.

Seeing as you keep posting this, I think you need to double check your facts and figures. Yes, Leicester won the most matches, but Leicester and Sheffield lost the same number. 😉

Why do people say Sheffield fans are thugs based on a minority ?

Nobody is going to suggest that. The cut off was stated, the matches weren't completed in time, and we have to accept that. But let's not pretend that we only finished top because your riders weren't trying tonight. We finished top because of the result at your place at the start of the month. We were unfortunate that the way the playoffs fell pitted us against the only team to beat us over 30 heats this season (super heats not included). Had the playoffs fallen any other way we would probably have made the final, but to win them you have to beat everybody and we didn't do that. Hopefully the final will be as exciting and close as our semi final was - you seem to be quite evenly matched so it should be a good spectacle for TV and whoever takes the trophy will be worthy winners.

Never done it on 2 wheels, but having raced many shale tracks in a car I can honestly say it was the most enjoyable. Yes it is fast, yes it is narrow, yes it was messy if you got it wrong. But also, yes it was exhilarating, and it gave immense satisfaction when you got it right. I think the problem when it comes to opinions on tracks on here, and this is not meant disrespectfully, but people who have never raced anything will never understand the mindset of a racer. The risk element is part of why you do it and there is a lot of pleasure in conquering that danger.

The only reason the 'other sport' (stock car racing) was kicked out was because they needed a large piece of land for pit space, and with only 3 or 4 meetings a year, a prime piece of land was sitting dormant most of the time. That land is now being used for something to do with solar energy storage, creating an income source 365 days a year. The greyhound side of things is very lucrative, so no the stadium is not under any threat of redevelopment. Therefore, there is no reason to suspect that speedway can't continue there. Just a case of people on here making 2 + 2 = 5.

Totally agree that the deadline was the problem, and that playoffs should have been delayed till all league fixtures were complete, but I think TV had some influence on the dates ? I'm just getting fed up with the constant snidey digs from people that the fault for it raining in August somehow lies with Sheffield !!

So what are you suggesting ? All league fixtures should be programmed for April to July, leaving August free to cover any rearrangements ? Then we potentially have a whole month of nothing prior to the playoffs. That will really build up the excitement.

Nobody knew that we were going to have a record breaking dry summer when they were planning the fixtures. From the start of the season to the date of the original fixture, there were only 3 Thursdays where neither Sheffield or Ipswich had a match, and one of those was the day before the British GP. I doubt anybody looking at the fixtures at the start of the season was concerned that a meeting in August Bank Holiday week was likely to be rained off.

The original fixture was 28th August. It was rained off. The rearranged match the following week was rained off. When do you suggest they should have held it ? Should they have looked at a long range forecast in June and pulled it forward ? Blaming Sheffield for the weather is laughable.

Yes he was poor last night, and yes he is a heat leader, but he is on an age related decline. This has been one of our problems this season. With Holder senior slipping, and the loss of Tai, a rider who started the season as 4th best in our team is now having to ride at number 5 and deliver against higher level riders in heats 13 and 15. Picko has stepped up admirably, but it has massively increased the pressure on him to deliver.

He's 37. Do you still expect him to ride like a world champion ? Not many do at that age.

I have to agree with your comment about Flint, but I'm not going to slate him for it as he has been superb this season. Many said he was a gamble, but something has clicked for him this year and he has surpassed all expectations. As the playoffs approached, it was obvious the worst case scenario for us was the semi line up being the one we ended up with. Leicester have been our nemesis this year so would prefer to have avoided them. Ideally, we would have liked Belle Vue in the semis as I am confident we would have beaten them over 2 legs (awaits the inevitable pile on !!). I would then have been crossing my fingers that Ipswich won the other semi, as I felt we would have more chance of beating you than Leicester, but either would have been a good final and a close result either way.

I'm sure you will find a way to blame our dangerous track or dirty riders for any racing incidents that happen on Thursday. Looking forward to your detailed unbiased review of the meeting. 🤔 Of course, if your riders want to stay safe they can always just ride round at the back. That way they might also lower their averages and then you can keep your 'all conquering' team together for next season.😉

It's just the Ipswich fans can't wait to have a dig at Stead, completely forgetting their own manager comes across as a whining man baby when they aren't winning, and has been known to 'go missing' after a loss on TV.

But as has been pointed out every time you mention it, other people have experienced exactly the same at other tracks. It's not just a Sheffield thing - every team has dick heads !!

Makes me laugh when people think being cocky and arrogant is a bad trait in a professional sportsperson. You generally don't get to the top level if you don't have that mindset.

Yes extremely childish. He had just won a fantastic race on the last lap and was full of adrenaline. Do you not expect a rider to celebrate ? Admittedly he was poor for the rest of the night, but maybe he knew that himself and he was trying to psych himself up.

Holder's gating has been poor all season.

First corner incident ? Why excluded ?