False dawn

The story I heard was that Sam helped to peg out the design and then went to the US for a visit. When he came back, the layout had be altered to what we have today and he said he wanted nothing further to do with the project. The design remained, so Sam did not.

Probably not getting any takers because it's the wrong number plate Seriously, sort of, I'm reminded of the chap who puts a perfectly good fridge on his front lawn with a sign saying free to a good home. After a week he'd had no takers. A mate offered some advice and as a result he changed the sign to say £50. The next morning the fridge had gone.

I know you are joking. But don't write off Scotty just yet. Once he's got his shirts sorted for the GP punditry, he get his mind back on racing for a living.

Nothing new there then.

The defence will be, "under the standard BSP Ltd policy for abandoned meetings". I don't know chapter and verse on this policy but any ruling that says it's okay to charge £10 for two races needs ripping up and rewriting. Surely, there has to be some sense of fairness inherent in any rule covering such eventualities. I know the rule is based on the number of races seen, but even under the old rules, it was recognised that until you got to heat 7, no meaningful meeting had taken place. Look at this way, let's say there were 1000 fans there. The temptation to scrape through two races is enormous in that the promotion save £10,000. I know that's not what happened in this case, but it does demonstrate how nonsensical this ruling is.

Not so, sorry. I took my daughter to Brandon when she was 11 days old.

Very sad indeed. A true enthusiast. RIP

Given that this meeting has been completely sold out for a while now, you'd have thought it was perfect for streaming. No potential loss to the live audience and a chance for others to witness an historic reopening. I don't know if there is a stream but if I had to guess....

I am definitely a speedway fan first and a Bees fan second (just). Hence why I'm doing missionary work over in Leicester while the madness surrounding Brandon is sorted out.

They use a 6 pair format in the European Best Pairs Competition which was last run in 2018, I think.

I think any rider showing complacency in a team managed by Stuart Dixon will get his a**e kicked.

That's exactly right. It's a development league that gives riders track time in a competitive environment. Jason Crump was the guest speaker at the Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club last Thursday and he said that British Speedway has the best strength in depth that it's had for many years. Click here

I don't think browsers mind capitals. I use Chrome and it doesn't. And I got into this website okay??

Whereas now, he is much older and a bit wiser, eh?

Thank you for the correction. That's what you get for trusting Wikipedia eh? But despite the erroneous logic, I still think "The Peterborough Pensioners" has a certain ring to it

Admittedly Luke didn't rider for the Bees but he did ride for Coventry. The Storm that is. Joe was a Coventry asset but a little too young to ride in any league when Brandon was open

Funny thing. I just read on the Belle Vue thread, something about someone with that name not wanting riders back in British speedway. The lengths some people will go to eh?

I think we're talking about two different things. What's happening in Ukraine is undoubtedly a war. What's happening in the sporting community is politics.

You could be right. But then, "A week is a long time in politics", eh?

FIM quote: "The FIM board’s decision on Russian riders’ licences can be changed at any time with immediate effect – depending on the evolution of the situation in Ukraine." What does this mean? Are the FIM saying that Jack Holder and Dan Bewley could be pushed aside mid year to allow Artem Laguta and Emil Sayfutdinov back into the GP series? Surely not. Either they have a place for the whole year or not. Or are they treating the "temporary" absence of two Russians like they would were they injured? I think the inclusion of Jack and Dan is, in these circumstances, a real mixed bag. It's a great opportunity, of course. But knowing the investment required in terms of cost and backing from sponsors etc. it does seem like a bit of an open ended chance to make a real impact. I hope I'm wrong and the two riders concerned will just burst into the GP series and show us what they really can do on the world stage.

A funny thought occurred after talking to Rob Lyon recently (see above). If the Panthers were Dad's Army last year, what do we call them this year now they're a year older? Well a cursory look into the history of teams that have won the "top league", back beyond the formation of the British League in '65, has revealed that the team that won the southern league in 1929 was the Stamford Bridge Pensioners. So there we have it. "The Peterborough Pensioners"

Time to make a friend, in the queue.

A GP at the NSS is possibly a viable financial meeting. However, as I've said before, I'm fairly sure that the Welsh tourist board put a deal of money into the Cardiff GP on the understanding that it remains the only GP in Britain.

I think they changed the rules 2 years ago that the next in line from the Challenge don't now get promoted.

There are just the early signs that Poland may relax their rules next year and we could see more riders back in the UK. Who knows how that will shake out but we have to hope that it will be good for the sport in the UK.