False dawn

Serious point......A well informed analysis. Your knowledge of youth racing is impressive. Slightly less than serious point..... Perhaps we should stop all this short term year-on-year planning that drives all us loyal fans mad and look a bit more long term. I'm sure we can find a suitable encouragement to our brightest and best to institute a breeding programme. Then 15 years (and 9 months) from now, we'll have the best young riders in the world.

Fair comment. But how do you explain the continued success of the Olympique at Wolverhampton?

It will be interesting to see what entrance prices are set by Kent now they are running two teams. One would expect the loyal following to go with the Championship side meaning the entrance price for the NDL team will need to fall. But it remains to be seen I guess. P.S. it wasn't my intention to hijack the Poole thread with Kent discussion.

Did these postings fall out of the Twilight Zone? I remember Zenon Plech in 1973. He was young and talented; a dangerous combination. In fact he was supposed to be the next great Pole, even tipped to be the WC that year, the final being at Katowice (or Chorzów if you wish). Being a relatively new fan and having seen only one final (Wembley 1972) I and a friend decided to go to that final by Interail. A pole did win that year as we all know, just the wrong one. And I was an Ivan Mauger fan

So here is the 2020 thread with a few of the postings from the back end of the 2019 thread that should have been here in the first place. Leicester seem slow to build their third tier team. Any thoughts?

As they used to say in exam papers back in my day.... "Compare and discuss"

Sorry Wee Eck, to find fun in what was a very sensible post. Call it my warped sense of humour. But a political rally at a speedway stadium seems eminently appropriate as politicians are very good at going round in circles.

You and me both. When you start stressing over what Kent are going to call their two sides, you know you're having withdrawal systems. It was about now that I used to start looking forward to Telford and contacting a few speedway friends I hadn't seen for a while. Now we haven't even got that one on the schedule. Very sad. Just worked out it's about 80 sleeps to the start of the season. Even that doesn't cheer me up. Oh well. Back to the silly season. As I say to my missus when I'm trying hard to change the subject, "Who's going to win the cup?".

It took you 14 years to come up with that question?

Many thanks. It's amazing how many places information is available.

Talk about looking in your own backyard! Many thanks

Are there any published statistics covering Danny's time with Carmarthen? I've tried the Carmarthen website and Live Updates (and speedway researcher)

There has always been the fundamental problem with season tickets in that if you're looking at the price per meeting compared to paying once a week, it only makes financial sense (for the punter) if you go to absolutely every match. Even the most committed fan doesn't go to every match due holidays, sickness, family weddings etc. Miss 2 or in some cases 3 home matches and you're out of pocket and you had to pay the whole amount upfront. The introduction of other benefits such as the £10 entry to away matches is a welcome sign that promoters are realising that they have to make the purchase of season tickets more attractive. At Leicester you also get preferential treatment when it comes to coach trips to away matches and there is a weekly draw in which you are automatically entered.

Tai Woffinden? I'll get my coat [edit: whoops, old thread and I'm getting old. Repeating the same joke!]

I should have had a bet on it, except the odds would have been rubbish

So, (again) I have no axe to grind. Let's save ourselves the trouble of reading two threads when one will do and shift over to the Championship version of all this. We'll draw a line under this thread.... _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ although I doubt it

I've no axe to grind but Poole are in the Premiership in 2019 and it is still 2019.

Might be tricky, but why not link up with someone and swap tickets between meetings? Might be possible to do that on here.

At least that has the merit of being truly alliterate. The name should be spelt with a kicking K rather than a curly C.. Whoops, my new career is showing through

I have mixed feelings about anyone "owning" multiple clubs. Oh, I know all the arguments about keeping the Premiership alive. But still. I am a bit disturbed (ask my wife) about said clubs operating some sort of floating squad system. This is reminiscent of Rider Control.

Now that is a Freudian slip

That was obviously a failed attempt at humour, on my part, based on a misspelled word Seriously.... I'll say this to my Poole friends. My history (continuously since 1970) is with the Bees. We were, for many years, the one team that all the top riders wanted to be with. And we had our share of success (even over Poole!). I am, of course, heart broken that the Bees are not (currently) racing and their beloved home lies empty and rusting. But there is always a way. For a real fanatic there are still clubs out there racing. For me it meant putting aside my feelings for the auld enemy and supporting Leicester. Not only that, I had to accept racing in the second tier. For sure there was some justification (excuses) in that Leicester had borrowed a few of our own. But the reality is that I quickly formed allegiances with individual riders (not just the former Bees) and I looked forward to my weekly fix with enthusiasm. Moreover, I became an enthusiastic supporter of racing at the third tier. Oh, I know what you're thinking. It's easy to support two (new) teams when they winning everything. And yes, that was a factor. But despite my pride in the Bees, during the past 50 years there have been some dark times when we couldn't win a fight. I can tell you, for a fan with a long history of following and watching racing at the highest level, racing in the Championship is a joy. The commitment of the riders and their management is no less and the spirit is good. So I'm now a genuine Leicester supporter with some real loyalty for the club(s)....... until the Bees come back

I think that's what's called a Freudian slip given the prediction of lower crowds now Poole are in the Championship.

I too, would love to see speedway back at Oxford. I frequently visited Cowley as a Bees fan and enjoyed the racing there. However, I cannot ignore the linkage with greyhound racing. I should declare my position. I own a greyhound. He isn't an ex racer (possible hare coarser) but I have strong links with the ex racer community including a local greyhound rescue centre. The greyhound racing community have had a long time to clean up it's act. Greyhounds are treated like a commodity and many hundreds (looks like thousands) are destroyed each year simply because they are or have become "too slow". And it's clear from those animal that are rescued, that many racing owners don't treat their greyhounds with any great kindness. Greyhounds, by nature, are gentle loving creatures, that make excellent pets. Those rescued following a racing career are often painfully timid who can take years to adapt to "normal" life. You should meet a "domestic" greyhound. You would encounter a happy, kind creature who you would be pleased to spend time with. Believe me, they deserve better.

Recycling a thread after 16 years. Impressive.