PersonalResponsibility

Not really that difficult to understand, is it? Almost guaranteed trophies, a stable club, doubtless a good financial/sponsorship package. I assume it's also one of the closest Championship tracks to him, too, which helps being a 16yo. I know Glasgow fans are still unhappy about the track in the PO final, but if you're in Rushen's position and Poole are interested then it's very easy to see why he'd go there.

Seriously competitive league next year. Piła look like whipping boys at this stage, but most of the rest could be anywhere. Bydgoszcz's juniors will be sensational, but their top end isn't the strongest in the league. Can't wait for a good season.

What is it?

It would be quite cool if they relaxed the points limit a bit and made the best out of the 5 teams left over. If you could get Musielak/Rew/Wright/Janowski/Tungate into each team in place of their weakest rider, plus any other riders who weren't here last year, it would be a very strong competition. Lots of reason as to why this won't/can't happen, I'd imagine.

They probably wouldn't have done, which isn't ideal for him, but that's how it goes. Either accept the lottery of the RS scheme or accept the lottery of opting out. It would've been a shame for a young Brit to miss out obviously, but why bother with any sort of rules if you just don't apply them? I think we agree on the general point, the intention of the concept was a good idea, but it was bungled again by the people who created it. As you say, why bother announcing a rule that they don't bother following? I just wish they'd properly review the rules and regs and then stick to me, no budging. Too many times it's the tail wagging the dog or they've painted themselves into a corner like this.

That just reinforces what a daft system it was allowed to become. It is really classic speedway that something as straightforward as a draft can end up in a mess. X clubs, X riders, everyone picks one each in the reverse order of last year's league - how can anyone possibly mess that up? It's amazing. If Jordan Jenkins didn't want to lose all of his local sponsorship - which is absolutely fair btw - then he had the choice to opt-out of the RS scheme and wait for Ipswich to sign him. If they didn't, that's life. How many other riders have to go elsewhere up and down the country to get a job?

I thought it was interesting at the SON that Marcelina came across as a lot more natural than Abi often does. Maybe she's just a better presenter, but it is clear she's genuinely a speedway fan. There was one point in an interview with Kurtz that she recalled his league debut at Torun. It was completely minor at the time, but it stuck in my head. Does Abi have a clue who most riders are riding for outside of the meeting she's at? I feel like that depth just adds something. It might be team mates in Poland facing off, a rider's Polish/Swedish track compared to that meeting's track, etc., it would get that whole close-knit family aspect of speedway.

In fairness, if you've enjoyed the highlights enough to actually visit your local track (e.g., Poole), then that experience probably would've been decent, regardless of how much racing there was. Sadly, as you also mention, the usual 'experience' is crap, and sits somewhere between a Sunday League football match and a working men's social club. I agree with the rest of the posts on here, highlights might be the way forward + an actual modern social media presence. It's the perfect sport for the new generation with no attention span. Incredible action in 60 seconds and if it's rubbish, just wait for the next race in 3 minutes.

Krakow signing Nicki P would be... interesting.

Superb meeting. The Superheat was probably the most boring heat of the tie somehow. Disappointing from Glasgow. Well done to both sides, it takes two to make it. Speedway the real winner tonight.

Great final for the neutral. I think Harris and Howarth will have enough to win it for Glasgow here.

Strange decision from Lawson to bail out. Not a single bit of contact, it wasn't even as if he was right up to the fence either.

I think most people just don't like 'winners', it feels like a very British mentality. I'm old enough to remember when Glasgow had the likes of Lee Dicken carting around a dusty, shack of a stadium and nobody gave a toss about them on here. Everyone has always disliked Poole so you'll need to find someone older than me for a view on that! What the Facennas have done to Glasgow - as a club, track, team - is incredible really, and it shows what's possible when someone with a decent business mind and a lot of money can achieve (even if Glasgow fans can get precious about the money bit). They haven't just tarted up a downtrodden stadium, they've practically reinvented the sport in Glasgow to some degree - the increase in fans is testament to that. In terms of Poole, I'd love to know their secret. I don't imagine they're paying buttons, but equally, they're on for a treble with riders like Tobias Thomsen and Lewis Kerr, hardly hidden gems. I think it's a combination of their winning mentality and a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy (win more > attract good youngsters/better riders > etc. > etc).

Not sure if it's a typo, but it's driving me mad on a boring Friday workday: who's Thomas M?

This is the sad part about Poland. If they actually worked together, they could basically halve rider's wages overnight and very little would change. The riders would still be earning several times more than anything in Sweden or GB, and the clubs would become far more sustainable. It might even be a good thing for the rest of world speedway. As it is, it seems it's only going one way long term, and the bubble will burst.

Agreed, but I'd hardly call preparing a track on the slicker side to benefit your own riders as extreme as 'doctoring'. The track was perfectly raceable, just didn't produce a lot of entertainment. As far as I can see, that was Glasgow's best score at Poole this year. Maybe they should've asked for it even slicker.

Spotted this quote from Polish rider Marcin Nowak. It would appear nobody really knows what's afoot. "I am currently looking for a club in the Swedish league, I am waiting for events in the British league, where there is a plan to merge the two leagues"

I'm no fan of Poole's, and it's hardly controversial to say the track is far from what it used to be, but there have been way more boring meetings than that last night. There was still at least a handful of passes and that is a handful more than you'd get at some other places. It also gets a bit tiring listening to Harris whinge on about tracks being "diabolical" because they aren't 2ft deep in dirt. He's done it before on BSN with Leicester. You're a former GP rider in the Championship, a slick track shouldn't prevent you from beating Tobias Thomsen. It's a PO final, the track is set-up to win a meeting, not an exhbition to watch Harris flying around the outside of reserves. Overall, I think Poole will have enough. Kerr and Cook at 3/4 will probably see to that. Neither are very exciting, but they'll find their way to 7-9 each and that will probably be enough.

Chris Harris, Dan Bewley, Tom Brennan, Paco Castagna, and then a pick between Fricke/Emil/Doyle. In my experience.

Plans for a 1,500 homes and leisure village development on the East of England Showground are like to be rejected when they go back before councillors next week. Councillors will be told that the failure of the applicants the East of England Agricultural Society (EEAS) and its land promoter the Asset Earning Power Group (AEPG) to put together a Section 106 agreement means the development would not provide the necessary infrastructure to make it acceptable in planning terms. So members of Peterborough Council’s planning and environmental protection committee, which meets on October 21, will be recommended by officers to refuse approval for the development. It comes after more than a year after approval was given for the first outline planning application for 850 homes and a leisure village on part of the Showground. A second outline application for 650 homes on an adjoining part of the site was initially rejected by later approved. Both approvals were made conditional upon a Section 16 agreement being put in place. The move to reject the applications is likely to be welcomed by hundreds of people who had opposed the development of the 164 acre venue. In particular, there was huge opposition to the fact the development would mean the end of more than 50 years of speedway racing at the Peterborough Panthers track. However, the refusal does not automatically mean a return to the venue for speedway. The meeting is being held after the developers missed a number of deadlines to finalise the Section 106 agreement which sought to ease the impact of the development on the nearby communities. Councillors will be told there has been a disagreement between the Society and AEPG A report to the meeting states: “At no point up to the Committee decisions did either set of applicants fundamentally question the section 106 requirements. "More recently however, it is understood that the promotion agreement between AEPG and EEAS was not continued beyond March 2025. "EEAS have since taken a more active role in the applications as the section 106 has progressed, and it has become apparent that there is disagreement between the applicants on the head of terms as carried through into the draft section 106 agreement.” It adds: “However EEAS, as joint applicants and landowners, accepted the fundamental terms agreed by Committee and are seeking to introduce clauses which significantly deviate from them or are not material. "The Council’s position has been set out clearly and Officers do not consider that there is scope for further negotiation on these fundamental issues and therefore that there are no extenuating circumstances which justify a further extension of time.”

Love watching him ride, I just hope the leg off the footrest style doesn't hold him back. Bridger used to have a similar style. I'm not saying that's what stopped him becoming world class, but I don't think it helps a rider at times.

Genius idea. Go one better and make another series of that Harry's Heroes. Get Loram, Floppy Norris, Dean Barker out of retirement for one last rodeo.

Crazy to think that we had the Skybet Elite League, the top riders, a 10(!) team top division not that long ago really. It just so turns out that Terry Russell and co weren't quite the promotional gurus that Eddie Hearn is. Who could've guessed.

Great news that nobody is seriously injured. I hope they're all back at a track very soon. Equally good news for BSN subscribers, feels like it's ages since Redcar v Poole has been on.

Will be giving this a listen. We had Nigel on a podcast we did, funnily enough, and he was a good listen. Proper speedway man. Always enjoy your posts on here, Deano, and I'm sure Robbo is equally good value!