uk_martin

Wow. That's more than even the top Polish teams attract. OR do you mean it takes 18 meetings to accumulate a total of 20,000? If so, you're cheating as most will be the same people week after week.

Camels are pretty good at being camels. They are not very good at being horses though.

I go back to my "horse designed by committee" comment.

Why should RUGBY Couincil go out of its way to help a team bearing the COVENTRY name? What's Coventry (City of Culture) Council's role in all of this? Are they really as bad as their neighbours in Dudley Council?

What will be his license situation? Will he ride under an ACU license or will he get a German / Polish license? Will he be eligible for the OneSport events (Pairs, SEC etc) and will he be cold-shouldered by the BSPA / SCB when it comes to the SWC?

Looking at Robert Lamberts Facebook posts, it doesn't look like he'll be racing in the UK in 2018. If this is the case, who gets the blame? And will the fans turn on him like many turned on Tai?

Interest In interview with Mr Mason in the local paper. Reading between the lines, there seems to be an intention to have JPB back in the Brummies team when the Brummies are operating in the same league that JPB is heading towards. Whether that means that the Brummies are heading to the CL in the medium term or the PL in the long term will probably depend on the footfall through the turnstiles, but that ambition was clearly evident in what was said.

Nicholas Saint.

There are those who say that the NL shouldn't be a development league, but for as long as it is I wouldn't be adverse to a ruling limiting a young rider to one season at any one track. Broadening knowledge and experience only adds to a riders skills abilities and development. Fans of NL teams need to accept that a team in the NL is only a stepping stone for a riders career progress, not a home for them. When these fledgelings fly the nest they should do so with our best wishes not with acrimony.

Will Leicester's 2nd VII ride as "Coventry Bees" or "Coventry Storm" - or is that also subject to confirmation? And when is that confirmation to be expected?

Check out Tom Perry's Facebook posts. All his stuff is up for sale because he has no team place, and presumably because he doesn't want to be ready if the call comes in when the first team changes get made.

You wish...

Looking at their Facebook comments both Tom Perry and Ryan Blacklock seem to be without team places in 2018 and are offering their equipment up for sale.

Hi back! I saw Leon in Güstrow last year. Was well impressed. If Leon is in Güstrow again in May and you follow him out there, give me a shout and I'll get you a beer in :-)

Well, good luck all round. I hope for your sake that he doesnt get bored or fed up by the time all his mates are off to play around in Ibiza, because that was about the time ladt year he seemed to lose interest.

...and the people who vote for the people on the council, and the people who object to planning applications...oh dear, that means most of the people of Dudley. Your friends, your neighbours, your colleagues at work, your family, the people in the check-out queue at the supermarket. Yes THEM. Nigel Farage got Britain out of the EU by forming a political party that campaigned and campaigned until he got his way. If you want Dudley to have speedway you will have to do the same. Form a political party and stand on the issue at the forthcoming Council elections. Then you can see how much actual support speedway has in your borough. If you get enough Heathens voted in, you can do something to improve your plight. That's how democracy works. Or join with other sports campaigners for a general increase in sporting facilities. It may not happen overnight, but it may be the only way that it will ever happen.

Which basically comes back to Hampshire being to blame...his equipment is his responsibility. See above comments about investment and work needed to keep a bike competitive.

Not really. Hampshire looked like he had lost interest in the last few months of the year. He and Cupitt need to learn a lesson before they sit on a speedway bike again, that application and dedication are for life not just the first few weeks of a season.

How's the progress on the new stadium? Is it coming along at last?

The riders have to fit in with the aims and objectives of the league, not the other way around. Too many years of the tail wagging the dog have done the sport no good at all.

Let's not kid ourselves. If a NL rider is good, by which I mean really good, then they shouldn't stay in the NL for very long. They need to develop in increasingly more competitive leagues. So let's wish JPB a successful spell in the CL at Glasgow. Hopefully his career can progress there and it won't be long before he's in a PL team too. Let's also hope that equally promising talent can be found that the Brummies can provide a springboard into a promising future for. Yes that will mean waving them goodbye when they outgrow the NL, but that's the nature of the beast. Hopefully if the crowd levels improve at Perry Barr, making it viable for the Brummies rejoin the second or first league again (whatever they are called by the time we get there) we may see these riders again, when their potential has fully blossomed.

What? And deprive you of your favourite pasttime of slagging off posters to this forum rather than reading and replying to the message that they convey? This is the season of goodwill, got to give you something to bite into. Discovering the message yourself and seeing what other people (not just the died in the wool converts) have to say about the sport may just help it sink in a bit more. Only when you see the problem rather than what the situation "could and should be" (to use your words) will a chance emerge of being able to rectify the problem. But then of course, your problem isn't with identifying and solving problems, it's with those people who dare to speak up about them. Merry Xmas RMC and Prosperous New Season to you

The relevance to this thread goes back to the second post. If JPB is not wearing the big red B next year, then we shoudn't mourn him. Let's hope for his sake and for the sake of the sport he can find his feet in the CL for 2018, to accept and flourish in his new environment and to continue to improve, which he'd be unlikely to do when faced with inferior opposition in the third league. We have a 39 point limit, and lets hope that this opens the door to budding new talent to be signed that can also progress, and when they outgrow the NL and fly the nest, let that be with our best wishes, not with some kind of resentment that the Brummies have lost a star.

Co-Op Funeral Services?

Not just Darts, but I can recall Rugby Union being in the same category of 1980s second-division sporting staples. It goes to show that sporting fortunes CAN be turned around, IF the right people adopt the right policies and make the right decisions.