Grachan

That, I believe, is a new club record for consecutive wins.

Shows how Rosco knew how to put a team together using this points limit whereas Poole went the other way and made a complete pigs ear of it.

Swindon have made complete mugs of everyone this year, and it's all very well people saying it's because they Mae changes but they have made fewer changes than anyone bar Belle Vue - and even lost out on their original assumed change to The Aces. Plus their sudden metamorphosis into a good team began before the signing of Musielak, with the Doyle and Morris-less win over Wolves so it's not onl because of their changes, although that has certainly helped. I do feel that that there is an element of Swindon doing well because everyone else is collapsing around them. How do you judge the best ever? In terms of the strength of the riders it's nowhere near. The league is very weak this year, but Swindon got the team building spot on while everyone else took the mickey out of us for keeping Jason Doyle. There were even Swindon fans, not so long ago, moaning that we probably wouldn't beat Glasgow in a relegation play-off. It's good to see us having a purple patch, but most of the opposition is so uninspiring that it's hard to get too enthusiastic.

An unfortunate situation, but Tungate announced himself fit and then withdrew. Too late to find a guest and Belle Vue were already using R/R so that wasn't an option. It's not stupid at all that he had to still take 3 rides. Otherwise any team with a high scoring reserve could just withdraw a poor scoring rider and give thevreserve loads of rides instead.

I never knew about Eric Boocock. That would have been weird. I always assumed Dag Lovaas had been a replacement for Bob Kilby, but with Lovaas formerly being a Reading rider I guess that makes sense.

Oxford v Cradley in 1975 - another walk out. Cradley walked out in the snow. I think it ended up 58-14 as Oxford went round on their own.

Nope. It was in 1975, I believe. JD signed for Reading and Oxford were granted a guest facility to cover for him. Who better to call on, eh?

Troy Bachelor.

John Davis riding as a guest for Oxford to cover the absent John Davis.

Reading was my local track for many years. Had my first meeting been in 1973 or 1975 I may well have ended up supporting them, but fate took me to speedway for the first time in 1974, so, as a result, Reading... BOOO!!! My own favourite period at Smallmead would have to be the early 90s, when I went regularly and saw them almost on equal terms to the mighty Robins. Almost! Not quite!. 1. Anders Michanek. It was amazing to go to Reading in 1975 and see Anders Michanek riding. He was, like, World Champion! 2. Jan Andersson. A great club man who I got to be on speaking terms with after seeing him in the queue dressed up as a chamber maid at The Rocky Horror Show in Oxford. 3. Per Jonsson. You think you have him beat. You're just getting ready to cheer. Last bend. Still beating him. Damn! He got past. 4. John Davis. Much fun to be had booing John Davis on the back straight. Then he signed for Swindon and you realized he was actually alright really. 5. Armando Castagna. Always made me laugh when Armando won a race an Nessun Dorma got played. 6. Dave Mullett. Proper club man. 7. Martin Ashby. Because he's Martin Ashby. Special mentions to Doug Underwood (in case the track needs sorting), Dave Steen (in case the electrics go wrong) and Eugeniusz Blaszak (in case you need something from the shops).

Yeah. Luck could have gone the other way and they lost their number one and solid scoring reserve instead.

But apparently Belle Vue recently voted to keep this rule. I agree that it is crazy that you can't have a replacement, but everyone clearly thought Poole would bring in Chris Holder and voted to keep it. Poole probably wanted to bring in Chris Holder and voted to scrap it. Everyone voted for themselves rather than seeing the bigger picture, which is the possibility of teams full of guests and r/r come the end of the year. I actually agree with you. You should be able to sign a replacement. But everyone complained last year because Poole and Wolves brought riders in, and this is the result of that. I'm agreeing with you.

It's been perfectly clear all year that this was the cut-off date for ANY changes. As soon as it was announced I could see that it was not a good thing. But why is this rule here? Because the very people who are upset that they can't replace an injured rider complained last year because Poole did just that, so the rule was brought in. Anyone could see it was a daft rule apart from those who thought it up. But think it up they did. It's a stupid rule. The very nature of speedway is that you often get season-ending injuries - as we have now seen at Swindon and Belle Vue and could happen to anyone else at any time. But it was brought in to appease the very people who now don't like it because it had affected their own team. It's called karma.

This is getting ridiculous now! Fifty away from home without Doyley and Zach! Swindon could go top tomorrow. It seems nobody wants the fourth play-off place though.

I think King's Lynn will win this. I can't help thinking of how things were at Swindon when people were criticising the side and we had to take on Wolves without Doyle and Morris - and we beat them. It's often matches like this - where people are dubious about the side - that turn out to be really good meetings. King's Lynn to win by about 3 points and their fans to be on cloud nine tomorrow about the changes!

Chapman must have accepted Batchelor was injured otherwise he wouldn't have used r/r.

Make them think twice before riding in the UK, you mean.

NO!!!!

This had occurred to me, too.

If he has a son in the UK then hopefully he would have some sort of family visa, although, the way the UK government are with visas these days he may not if he regularly travels back to Australia for long periods. A Polish or Swedish visa wouldn't, in itself, allow entry to the UK. If you are working in the UK on a visa it is the responsibility of the sponsor - i.e. Chapman - to inform UKVI that you are no longer working for them. After that, you have 60 days grace in which to either change to a different visa type or leave the country. https://newlandchase.com/immigration-insights/newland-chase-blog/tier-2-sponsorship-what-happens-when-you-leave-sponsored-employment/ No they don't. You can't ride in Poland or Sweden on a UK work visa.

Swindon have Doyle, Morris, Musielak, Bellego in the current side. Who else? Anders Row. Sedgman perhaps? There is an advantage to having assets as you get first choice when team building rather than hanging round to see who is left.

Maybe because Zach is on 3.12, but next month will be on 3.49, so we can get a guest at a higher average than a signing? Dany Gappmaier is on 4.79 in Div 2. Does that make him eligible to guest?

Teams need to have their own riders rather than guests. There are far too many guest riders these days and it makes the sport less enjoyable. I don't see how a team being able to choose the best rider depending on what track they are at is a good thing for speedway, although, in fairness, none of them would be anywhere near as good as Zach if that were the case.

At least Swindon still have a chance to sign someone. What happens next week if soneone loses a rider? It's a crazy rule, brought in because some teams didn't want Poole or Wolves to win the title. There has to be an allowance for injury replacements. Fans don't want guests and many will be put off. The nature of speedway means injuries inevitably happen.

Zach is impossible to replace. Started on a 2 and been scoring around 5 points a meeting lately - genuine points not gifts. Such a shame, and this could happen any time to any rider in any team - proving the July 31 deadline a bit crazy.