IronScorpion

This meeting had nothing to do with finishing 9th in the league. It was the KO Cup!!!!!!!!!!!

There were quite a few Scorpion fans there, not just on the back straight but in the grandstand & on bend 1. As I said, just 5 minutes for the fans. As for the winners, yes you won on the night & we won on aggregate getting through to or first ever KO Final. As for missing the fireworks at the end, I was not too bothered as there was no fireworks(entertainment) on track just the excitement of the Panthers fans in closing the gap. I do enjoy my meetings at Peterborough not just as a Scorpion fan but as a Speedway fan as a neutral sometimes but why the track was prepared like that, warm weather & not a hint of rain so why was there no dirt to have the usual multi line racing rather than a gate & go bore fest.

What a meeting that was and now I have the utter DISGUST AT THE PROMOTION AND MANAGEMENT OF PETERBOROUGH SPEEDWAY AT THE DISRESPECTFUL ATTITUDE shown to the promotion, riders & fans of Scunthorpe Speedway. At the end of the meeting, all we wanted was the riders to come round on a lap of honour to show the fans how grateful we were in the end getting through to our first KO Final. What did we get! 2 laps of the Peterborough riders on the truck & promotion on the bikes. Then the interviews started. With that I walked over to the pit fence & saw our riders, still in gear, sat or stood in the away pit area. I went back to the bend 1 area to where our fans had congregated to tell them what I saw & some of us started to walk back to the car park. On arrival at the car, we were greeted with the sound of fireworks exploding in the night time sky. THANK YOU PETERBOROUGH FOR OUR 5 MINUTES OF GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As others have pointed out, it is a numbers game but it is about the number of teams & number of riders available. The Polish leagues are 8 teams with squads of 10 riders or more & some of these are never used. That is around 240 named riders that do not double up. I posted earlier that over these last 2 years we have used around 65 3.5+ riders so 8 rider squads could be used with 6 man teams. I also think NL riders should not be riding in the PL as there are not many of the likes of Bewley that can make it but bringing them through steadily, league to league, gaining more experience is the way to go. The likes of Kemp, Brennan & Flint are next in line but we have seen NL riders struggle to adapt in the CL this year. If we make new plans, let us stick to them & make them work as over these last few years with the EDR(should have been used in middle league not top), 2 British riders per team(should still be in place or increased to 3) need time. The changing of rules really need thinking through by the SCB & the BSPA & tweaking to make it rigid & not half hearted(an example this week with the use of guests Morris & Ellis). Learn from previous years mistakes, rewrite them & set them in stone. There must be an unbiased group of ex referees & riders set up to sort this mess out.

I have been looking at the Polish thread on fixtures & noticed they run from April to September. They run a 8 team division having 14 matches in a 21 week period. They only run twice in June & twice in July (1st & 29th) thus having a break for Speedway Of Nations as it involves the top riders. We could run similar by having an 8 team league only racing on a fixed night of Monday. This takes away the problem of riding on a Wednesday which is the night of the Danish league. We do not have many top riders over here we do not need the break in July. We could have 6 man teams thus giving riders 5 rides each earning 25% more than now. If we make it more of a TOP league then lowest average rider is to be not lower than 3.5 or 4. We could use a named squad of 8 or 9 riders with the extra riders only used for injuries rather than a guest system. The team make up would still be based on averages but to 45 as the 15 heats are guaranteed rides. In 2017 & 2018 there have been about 65 riders used with averages of 3.5+. The Premiership could consist of Belle Vue, Kings Lynn, Leicester, Poole, Somerset, Swindon, Wolverhampton, Ipswich or Peterborough keeping it southern based. Make rules much more simple such as tape touching. Straight forward exclusion, no 15m, no replacement as in a better performing reserve. Rider suffers, team suffers. The Championship is run similar to how it is now but with an increase in numbers with possibly Lakeside/Rye House, Birmingham, Mildenhall, Kent, Eastbourne added to the list. The National League could consist of the remaining teams plus junior teams from the above leagues

I was looking forward to the 2nd leg after being to Kings Lynn a few times this year but after reading all the pages on here mainly with the use of guests, I find it unbelievable that lessons have not been learned from last year. Scott Nicholls was a rider used by Sheffield in both legs of the KO Semi final last year(all above board). In the Final, he rode for Peterborough at Peterborough then for Ipswich at Ipswich and this raised eyebrows to how it could happen but, again, all above board & within the rules. We have had t/r & now t/s used in the league but not in 2 legged matches. A rule was put in place this year allowing a guest to only ride for 1 team in a 2 legged KO Cup Match. Obviously, we now know it should have been put in the section covering guests for all 2 legged matches & an amendment rule has been put in place. Poole did nothing wrong in picking Morris & Ellis to guest after Brady Kurtz got injured. Kings Lynn did nothing wrong in choosing Ellis to guest after Iversen was injured. Now, the BSPA have come out with a statement mentioning the credibility of our sport & going against rules in place because of the event at the weekend putting Tai & British Speedway in the news spotlight. This just shows that rules can be broken at any time with permission of the BSPA. We, at Scunthorpe, were trying to do something by removing a rider in the best interest of his mental health & suffering but was after the transfer deadline. We were only doing what a few others had done in the past but were not choosing a specific rider to replace him but by giving other young British riders a chance to see what they could do. Most of the replacements were below his scoring average in the NL so we were not seeking an advantage as others have perpetrated. Even the rider himself has come out & said he made a mistake by saying he wanted to carry on.

who's to say I haven't met/seen you already a fortnight ago.

You're asking a bit much, aren't you? Regarding r/r for Bewley, your success has been down to strength in depth, not having a recognised no1 but riders that can win races but also come 3rd or 4th. This has led to any of your top 6 being no1 or a reserve. Klindt, Jensen & 2 from Campton should cover r/r.

'cos you will be buying from either of the "2 witches" in taylorj or shazza which they have been called lately(appropriate time of the year) Other than that they are the programme sellers.

Well replied David. This guy is just a jerk!

Towards the last part of your post is just similar to what the Workington fans were saying after their abysmal performance at Edinburgh and look what happened 24 hours later. A good start could put a bit of pressure on but our riders, in the clubhouse after the meeting, know & said it is only half time. Some of our fans have been in a similar situation in 2011 when after winning 62-32 in the 1st leg of the NL Final we then travelled to Mildenhall & lost 59-31. It was only a last heat 5-1 by Ash Birks & R Worrall that gave us the win & title. Members of that team that shared those moments were Steve & Stefan so they have been there before & know what to do. A terrific performance by the lads on a difficult night & racing surface noted by the race times. What dirt which was on the track was moved to the outside & gave us some heart stopping moments riding close to the airbags. Throttle control seemed evident as the riders seemed to skid into the corners before trying to turn. It was nice to see a happy, smiling Gino in the clubhouse afterwards as the practice showed up some flaws that he sorted with paid 14 from 5 rides & seeing Stefan back on song as well gives us the 6 riders that can score the points to, hopefully, bring us some silverware.

As he has said "One League Meeting" it is not hard to find. Just go to your website & click on results. It was the last meeting in June on the 23rd. http://www.workingtoncomets.co/results/

Forecasts can be slightly out as I could have posted from the weekend that this meeting would probably not been on as rain was due to arrive before noon & continue through the day meaning no track prep or racing. Up until yesterday it was looking like it had changed time wise & was going to hit later but looking now the rain & wind direction means this meeting could be on & finish. Hoping the practice has blown away the cobwebs through inactivity for most of our riders as I went past at 1ish yesterday & the gates were closed but the twitter pictures meant they were there in real time practice in the evening.

Depends which hand he is using to hold/lift the glass. If he is in Torun for the GP that rules him out of racing Saturday.

Just been reading Ippo 2019 thread & wondered if Campton is in the same boat as Douglas last year in that his long term visa has run out & having not achieved a 7 point average will have to sit out a year irrespective of how he might do in the Aussie Champs this winter.

But he knows he can score points(wages) at Scunthorpe too!

It says a lot, though, when ALL teams did not turn to him during 2018.

Remember Scunthorpe winning the NL in 2011 & PL(Premier) in 2012 & pleased to say I was there for all 4 final meetings(at Mildenhall & Somerset)

This is a point raised quite a few times & as of this season the strongest reserve is at 7. A no1 rides against the oppositions no6 where as a no 5 rides against the oppositions no7. A point that should be realized is who he rides with. A no1 rides WITH a 2nd string 3 times where as a no 5 rides WITH a reserve 3 times.

Thought it was later than ours so only looked back to 2012. When I could not find it then thought, it was not Sheffield but thanks.

Too true Julie. Back in 2011 in the NL Final Scunthorpe Saints 62 Mildenhall 33 then in the 2nd leg Mildenhall 59 Scunthorpe 31 & it was only a last heat 5-1 from Ashley Birks & Richie Worrall that gave us the 93 - 92 win. I thought there was another 1 between Sheffield & Edinburgh where there was a 30 point margin in both legs.

and probably by many others that do not frequent the forum. Dandelion, have you actually seen him try & race this last 4 months or more?

That would make it a 5 man team as both Steve & Stefan were both out for 3 months.

Can only have a maximum of 7 rides not 10

edited for accuracy