cyclone

Tigers fans are fortunate to have such altruistic benefactors, whose plans to transform the whole stadium are breathtaking. I am also impressed by their intention to encourage and develop local youth to become speedway riders. As a Monarchs fan, best wishes to the Facennas in succeeding with their vision, which should benefit Scottish Speedway overall. My reading of your response, infers that Mr Blobby is obtaining his snippets either directly or indirectly via Alex Harkess. If this is the case, then I suggest that AH should be more discreet in whom he discloses confidential information, as Mr B appears to be more leaky than Glasgow Rangers defence were on Saturday

I'm surprised by the negative comments re Steve Worrall on here. Having seen him riding home & away for the Monarchs, he was a smooth performer who formed a good partnership with Max Fricke when he moved up to number 4. He is a good gater who goes about his business effectively and I would not be surprised if he raises his average further in 2015, given it appears he will be reducing his workload by no longer having NL commitments.

My first foray was Old Meadowbank in 1962, and since then I reckon I've seen organised meetings at 55 UK tracks which are no longer operating :- Barrow (Park Road) Belle Vue (Hyde Road) Berwick (Berrington Lough) Birmingham (Bordesley Green) Birmingham (Perry Barr Greyhound) Boston (New Hammond Beck Road) Bradford (Odsal) Bristol (Eastville) Buxton (Stadium) Canterbury (Kingsmead) Carmarthen Coatbridge (Cliftonhill) Cowdenbeath (Central Park) Cradley Heath (Dudley Wood) Crayford (Stadium Road) Crewe (Earle Street) Edinburgh (Old Meadowbank) Edinburgh (Powderhall) Ellesmere Port (Thornton Road) Exeter (County Ground) Felton Glasgow (Blantyre Sports Stadium) Glasgow (Craighead Park, Blantyre) Glasgow (Hampden Park) Glasgow (Shawfield Stadium) Glasgow (White City) Hackney Wick (Waterden Road) Halifax (The Shay) Hull (Craven Park) Hull (The Boulevard) Isle of Wight (Smallbrook) Leicester (Blackbird Road) Linlithgow (Heathersfield) London (White City) Long Eaton (Station Road) Middlesbrough (Cleveland Park) Milton Keynes (Elfield Park) Milton Keynes (Groveway) Newport (Queensway Meadows) Newport (Somerton Park) Newtongrange (Victoria Park) Oxford (Cowley) Paisley (Love Street) Rayleigh (Weir Stadium) Reading (Smallmead) Reading (Tilehurst) Rochdale (The Athletic Grounds, Milnrow Road) Scunthorpe (Ashby Ville) Scunthorpe (Quibell Park) St Austell (Claycountry Moto Parc) Sunderland (East Boldon) Wembley (Empire Stadium) West Ham (Custom House) Weymouth (pre 1985, Wessex Stadium, Radipole Lane) Wimbledon (Plough Lane) I've watched racing at the Gyle, Edinburgh, but that was practice/training only. I know a fellow Monarchs fan who can top my list as he has also been to Barrow (Holker St), Castleford, Motherwell (the one Speedway mtg held in 1972), and the last Weymouth Track, though I don't think he ever got to Crewe..

Wunderbar - looks like we will continue to blitz Ashfield with a Panzer pairing now

Maybe Poole will use their asset directly alongside his elder brother ?

It does not appear there are any promising German newcomers based on 2014 results. If this where we recruit from, fear we may end up with point loss maker á la Marcel Helfer / Danny Maassen

Does anyone know if the new owners will be installing floodlighting in order to offer evening racing ?

Being realistic, anyone with an original is likely to achieve a best price via an auction site such as eBay, rather than a private sale to a sole bidder.

Signed and made other like minded friends aware.

Sissis apparently has dual nationality (Greek ?) and his EU citizenship will explain why he can enter on 5.00. Berwick appear to be under the same misapprehension as Somerset regarding Jake Allen's starting GSA being 5 instead of 7, though they have yet to announce their full team. Note you do not question the veracity of Steve Whitehead's statement regarding the information provided to all Promoters at the BSPA AGM, including those present from Somerset

Noticed on another thread it has been mentioned that Sissis has dual nationality (Greece ?). If he comes in on EU citizenship, he does not require to meet eligibility criteria for Australians. Remember him doing underage second halves at Armadale on a 500cc bike and was mighty impressive then.

If correct, and other Promotions have based their 2015 team plans on 7.00 for non EU newcomers requiring visas, then the BSPA will be obliged to enforce the higher start GSA within the 42.5 limit. However if the UKBA were to subsequently agree to a reduced figure of 5.00 before the season starts, this will present the BSPA with a dilemma:- Do they reduce the proposed non EU newcomers to 5.00 immediately or defer the reduction until 2016 ?

If that is correct, does this mean if messrs J. Holder, Sissis, & J. Allen require visas, they will have a start GSA of 7.00 ? Hope Somerset, Sheffield, & Berwick were aware of this

I seem to recall that when there was talk of Chris Kerr changing clubs, then he would revert to a min GSA of 5.00 for a new club.

Have to agree with others that the best performance in a single season (1976) at second tier level, was Joe Owen. Liked watching his distinctive style which along with Rye House's Bob Garrad, were the most pleasing on the eye.

Which would appear not to be the case according to the following comment you omitted from the same post that you quoted.

If you had taken time to read my comment in the context of the complete post, that was not what I inferred. I cited the situation that if an SGP calibre rider, based in the UK (Batchelor) was now currently without a Polish contract for 2015, was it likely the Poles would be offering a contract to Craig ? Where did I say "riding PL will make Craig a better rider than Troy Batchelor" ? If there are no opportunities to earn abroad, and the probable contraction of the EL, are you seriously suggesting he should forego doubling up in 2015 ?

Going by recent events in both Sweden & Poland the demand for UK riders is diminishing. In Sweden, one top tier team has already dropped out and in Poland, Troy Batchelor's 2014 side are not re-signing him for next season. One of the few (if not the only one) Brits expected to be riding in the top tier in both Poland & Sweden is Woffinden, and he is making noises about ditching his Elite League commitments. You only have to look at Lewis Bridger who has ridden exclusively in the EL and dabbled in Poland, as an example of someone whose career has not prospered along this path, to the extent that he is now taking at least a year out from Speedway. At the end of the day if there are no berths available on mainland Europe, Craig would be wise to continue with his dual PL/EL schedule which will no doubt disappoint those who hoped he would not be inflicting further punishment on the rest of the PL in 2015

Afraid not my cup of tea. The interruption of the main event with second half races can ruin the continuity of a match, especially if it is a close run thing with the tension building. Also where the completion of the main event is jeopardised by the weather, curfews, etc., to hinder the completion of a team event, would not go down well.

Agree, that was one hell of a side which contained the likes of Karger & Bo Petersen who were outclassing everyone else . You knew from day one that, barring any mishaps, they were going to flatten the opposition.

Firstly is was not a run off, it was ht 15 which is subject to the rulebook. The above previous post by ls fully explains the situation, namely Craig Cook had completed two laps before Michael Breckon stopped the race because of Aspgren failing to clear the track. As this has been pointed out several times, you are either deliberately trolling, or have insufficient mental capacity to comprehend the facts or you are in catatonic shock after Birmingham City's 8 - 0 horsing at home by Bournemouth at St Andrew's yesterday

All the best for the future to Captain Marvel whose career reached a fitting climax as the skipper of the most successful Monarchs team ever. Hopefully we'll see you around Armadale next season, inspiring and motivating the 2015 Monarchs team from the sidelines

While Edinburgh improved on their previous score at OTA, the Rebels also look better equipped for the return at the Dale.. Replacing Allen who scored 3, and Brady Kurtz 1, with Armadale specialist Summers and r/r should yield a greater points return. For the Monarchs, they will be hard pushed to replicate Worrall's elven point points from his programmed rides, although Fox should hopefully improve on guest Max Clegg's zero tally. IMO Monarchs will be hard pushed to claw back the 12 point deficit, but I'm sure it will not be from want of trying.

Though everyone would have preferred both sides at full strength, imo the r/r & guest changes probably even out. Re the pros & cons of the Play-Offs, every club is aware of the the situation, irrespective of final league table positions. Somerset were top of the table in 2012, but lost out in the Play-Off Final. If Monarchs had beaten top of the table Somerset in 2013, I would have happily accepted the trophy being won by my team. So if the Rebels are the winners this season, here's one Monarchs fan who wont bleat about the unfairness of it all.

Average home score at OTA is greater than at Armadale, whereas average away score for Monarchs is greater than that of Somerset.