cyclone

With Edinburgh unlikely to run in 2023, expect the BSPL to try to exploit this & coerce Tigers to join the Premiership. If the Facennas agree, don't expect them to be offered any assistance in assembling a competitive side from the current PL members who will prioritise their own self interest.

Good to hear WLC are still helping, despite the numpties alleging "brown envelopes" & "corruption" of them, without producing a shred of evidence to back this up. Apparently one house builder reviewed the site and considered the land unviable for developing for housing. I believe there was suggestions of historical ground contamination of the site due to the dumping of waste slag earlier from a then nearby foundry.

Agree you have no idea, and suggest you actually go to a Devils match to appreciate that it would be unrealistic to expect running @ Ashfield to be anything other than loss maker.

You do not necessarily need to restrict the name as "Edinburgh" to a location within the boundary of CEC. When we ran at Powderhall, there was significant home support from the surrounding Lothians. When we moved to Shawfield, I would suggest we lost big chunk of our support because the increased travelling & also those whose exclusive affinity was with a team called Edinburgh Monarchs. Would you still follow Hearts if they moved to Dalkeith & rebadged as "The Harps" ?

Have you been to any actual Devils meetings @ Armadale this year? If you had, you would be aware that they have been sparsely attended. So, to expect the Edinburgh Promotion to run a team @ Ashfield next Season imo would be financial suicide. When the Edinburgh Promotion ran as the Scottish Monarchs from Shawfield in 1996, as the only Speedway track in Scotland that year, it was admitted that it nearly bankrupted them. If there is to be a NDL team competing @ Ashfield in 2023, then surely it will be run by Glasgow themselves, and it ain't going to be called the Dale Devils! For the Monarchs to return at some future date as "Edinburgh Monarchs" I reckon it would have to be at a location nearer the Capital, not further away, to attract viable attendances to support its existence.

If correct, what other income has it been generating for the owner, other than rental from the Monarchs, car parking, bar & catering? The only other possible "benefit" I can imagine is that a reduction in rates paid for an unoccupied stadium, outweighs tenant occupancy & use, during the Speedway season?

Will it now be appropriate to still run the 3-legged Jubilee Final, given the sad circumstances?

Well done Redcar, best team over the 2 legs. Even with a normal Masters performance, imo we would still have lost on aggregate. Re the play offs & Bears limited choice of guests, hopefully they can up with those who can perform up to the standard that Erik Riss would be expected to, home & away.

Hope that Fjelsted don't have a match in Denmark on 7/9, or Plymouth might need a further guest to replace Hans Andersen @ Poole also.

"Following tonight’s result at Plymouth, it is now confirmed that What The Fork Monarchs will face Redcar in the Championship Play Off Quarter Final. Dates to be confirmed very soon!"

Superb from Sam. All the more praiseworthy considering the injuries he is carrying and then being able to recover from the nasty crash in the first running of the final (courtesy of a nudge by Kerr), to win the re-run.

IMO Alex Harkess should have offered Ht 15 to Paco who certainly justified his inclusion based on his performance on the night. Got the impression when interviewed on his Rider of the Night presentation Paco was disappointed not to have been included for the last race. Everyone I spoke to agreed that they thought Sam understandably tired as the meeting progressed, and putting him in ht 15 done him no favours in his recovery from his injuries.

Believe the selection criteria is based on highest GSA rider available of each team, then the remaining six slots are allocated to the 2nd highest GSA riders per team. As Poole already have King & Lawson in the field, Worrall is therefore ineligible as he must 3rd highest GSA for Poole.

Watched Grinsted vs Sondjyland(sp?) on live stream yesterday & came off in his 2nd ride. TBH didn't look too bad, but he withdrew from meeting. Fingers crossed, nothing long term.

Or in other words your beloved Redcar who are the visitors next week at the Coliseum, could then benefit in the race to be in the top six

Scrub out Summers also as he guested for Glasgow last Friday.

Confirmed on Edinburgh FB that Barker, Palm Toft & Andersen all scheduled to ride tonight. Glad that Barker has been exonerated of any drug/alcohol misuse, and the internet vultures on this forum can now remain silent. Edinburgh FB have now amended Plymouth FB lineup to Tom Woolley @ 2 & r/r for Barker @ 3. Assume Barker still in limbo re result of lab tests?

Poole have an uncanny knack of visiting teams when they are having problems (in the right place at the right time). However even if Masters was fully fit, outwith Masters & Pickering, Monarchs 3 - 7 will struggle to beat their counterparts, apart from Ablitt.

Current details of the Project proposals, including fundraising/debentures can be viewed at:- West Lothian Community Stadium | Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway | Official Club Website

Reliably informed that the Edinburgh team manager saw Sam's foot injury before the meeting @ Scunny, & it was badly swollen. Sam is very loyal to Edinburgh and found it too painful to continue during his second ride. Despite the comments by the would be "medical experts" on here, it's not unknown for the recovery process to improve sufficiently 48 hours after the injury occurred in Poland, to be able to resume racing. It also should be noted that r/r would have been the only option otherwise for Wolves tonight.

In what way have Edinburgh jumped the gun? They have publicised their proposals they are submitting and thereby making their fanbase full aware of the situation. This gives the fans the opportunity to support the application in advance, be it financial assistance, lobbying local councillors, etc. Nothing wrong with that approach which are commonplace with those who are seeking permission to introduce new developments. As I previously stated, the Promotion have acknowledged the planning deadlines and that there are probably other interested parties in acquiring the site, so how has it led to people believing its in the bag?

Remember Sarjeant & Fredriksen have been sidelined with injury since 20th & 27th May respectively, and the outcome of this match may well depend upon how they perform on their return to action. Think the result will be far closer than some are predicting.

Some relevant points disclosed by the Projector Director have been reported in the Edinburgh Evening News include:- "Prospective buyers of the vacant site at Deans must submit their proposals to West Lothian Council no later than July 28" "There is a process through the council where they select their bidder and that is ratified, so all of that will happen in the next couple of months." "Through word of mouth there is competition for the site but we believe we have a strong case" As the above confirms, the Promotion have been transparent in their Proposal & Plans, that acquiring the site, together with appropriate planning permission, is not yet a fait accompli. Personally I'm highly impressed with their approach, which will hopefully encourage all fans to support this either financially or with other means of assistance. Reported feedback from local councillors indicates they are aware of the local community initiatives that the Club have been involved in for many years, and hopefully these will be considered favourably when a final decision on who is offered the site is taken.

That blunder by Alex Harkess in ht 6, when it was obvious to bring in Pickering as a TS. instead of Hook (who could have later taken Complin's 4th ride instead) as R/R, probably would have denied Oxford the 1 match point they ended up with. Given the tight race for the final top 6 qualifying spot, tonight's managerial howler could crucially benefit Oxford when the league fixtures are finally completed.

Still need to replace 25yr old Lewis Millar who has been racing since 2016 and has the second lowest GSA in the NDL of 1.50, the lowest being 18 yr old Eli Meadows who is making his NDL debut at Plymouth. Should try for Kyran Lyden who made his NDL debut for Devils @ B.V. & scored 3 pts finishing in front of homester Freddy Hodder & the pointless LM twice. Nothing against Lewis, but he has now been racing for at least six years & has not shown any improvement & if anything has become less competitive in the home matches I've seen, often ending up well behind the rest of the field.