Lewis

Yes Gary is a rider who we all appreciate at Scunthorpe. I left him out of my suggestions not because I dont want him at Scunthorpe, just that I think he does struggle with quality machinary & doesnt yet ride away very well, I also think he will struggle to up his average. I think there are better options out there for Scunthorpe including our other own assets Stephan Nielsen & Tom Young. Anyway thats just my opinion & I think Scunthorpe have treated Gary very well after what happened with Denholm dumping him at Worky.

I dont think he would ride for Newcastle because he thought he owed them, with that logic he would choose Scunny for bringing him into Speedway BUT I do think Newcastle are favourites for him as I believe he lives local? He could also end up going somewhere completely different if the money is right, for certain the riders decide now & being a Scunthorpe asset may make a slight difference but not much in the whole scheme of things. I would love to see him back at Scunny though

I'd go with a similar line up with a couple of changes... Auty 8.09 Birks 5.59 Jorgenson 6.42 Skidmore 6.13 / R.Worral 5.78 / Bunyan 5.14 Howe 7.89 Toft 5.21 Stephan Nielsen 3.0 Averages taken from BSPA website Auty has already stated he likes riding both EL & PL as it keeps him sharp. I love watching him ride & he is still developing (on his gating I hope!). Birks has had a great season & will get better. Jorgy first name on the team sheet. Howe, put Scunthorpe speedway back on the map & has been a great servant for the club, will maintain his average at the very least. Toft has been in awesome form lately & providing he doesnt try to change engines again! he should go great next season. Nielsen, I can see him being the next Richie Worrall. I do think though that he will be nailed on at Ippo even though he's our asset, its on his doorstep. For the last place; Richie Worrall - as Im sure most of the Newcastle fans will attest too, he is just a fantasic racer, I dread to think what his average would have been if he hadnt got injured. Probably prefers Newcastle due to location but who knows what will happen. Skidmore - Generally rides Scunny well, seems settled at Sheffield but may want a change. Bunyan - Has been a great guest for us at the end of the season, think he has taken well to the track.

Taken from the Edinburgh forum website.... EdinMonarchs Scotwaste Monarchs open their Play Off campaign against Scunthorpe at Armadale tonight. Afternoon showers have avoided track so all ok Hope it remains so, wanting a Scunthorpe win but most importantly all riders stay safe & the meeting is good. Prediction 44-46

For me its not so much the cost but the frustation of travelling 100's of miles to watch my team away & be subjected to endless laps of tractor racing or dragging out the meeting for 2 1/2 hours. 15 laps of speedway should be done in 1 1/2 hours, I can then keep interested throughout & more importantly stop the kids from asking every 2 mins "how many races to go".

Didn't see that coming June, though Steve Jones was rider of the meeting for me, didnt expect anything from him WOW! Thought Clegg was going to drown in that water in turn 4, he rode great as well, in fact they all did! Well done to the saints.

Looking forward to seeing Tom Young again, he gets better every time, he might even get a couple of rides in the PL meeting beforehand. Cant see us (Saints) winning this but will be interesting to watch the progression of the riders. Hope all keep safe & we have some good racing.

Im hoping Tom gets a ride for Scunny in the PL next season, he is coming on leaps & bounds already, I think he could just about make it now but will be more assured if he gets a little more experience.

Lets look at Scunthorpes team now; Irving, Hart & Worral; hardly old men are they, Irving & Worral both came through the ranks at the saints to get PL rides with Worky & Newcastle, Hart was brought in to replace King who got himself a PL berth - so in fact 2 guys who rode for the saints the last 2 seasons & a like for like swap. Then we have effectively 4 x 3 pointers to go with them. Giving a massive total of around 38pts, a mix of experience and riders learning there trade. You know 4 out 5 of todays British U21 team have come through the saints ranks in R.Worral, S.Worral, J.Haines & K.Howarth, the management does not get hardly any credit for bringing riders on. Add to these T.Woffinden, J.Auty, A.Tully, A.Morris etc who all started at Scunthorpe or improved whilst at Scunthorpe learning their trade it makes me mad when you get purile nit-picking posts criticising the management, I am sure some posters wouldnt be happy unless they had seven 3 pointers riding. Scunthorpe is now set up solely to bring riders on, in the past they were stand-alone and needed to win matches like Stoke, Dudley etc do now & thats great, it takes all kinds & the league is better for it, of course there will be times when you bring riders on that you end up with a tremendous team as they peak and reach the level to move in to PL spots. Rant over

I think you know what I mean e.g. riders that are renowned for passing, not gate & go merchants.

It was my first visit to Leicester to watch Scunthorpe there last week, I thought the actual venue was fantastic, very professional & the fans very welcoming. I will definitely visit again the next time Scunthorpe are in town. Only criticism I can have is that the bends are too tight but saying that the meeting did have some passes but mainly from the racers e.g. Kauko, Auty, Jorgy - these guys would have been trying to pass on any track. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable evening so I wouldnt be too downbeat about Leicester. Hope it works out for you guys with Boocock / Taylor.

If Auty hadnt crashed out i dont think you would have had the win over scunthorpe, so I wouldnt say there was massive plus's with the team management but now you maybe able to move forward with Boocock.

Will be interesting to see Scunthorpes last 2 riders, I am very pleased we have gone with some good new talent but I am slightly worried that we will get absolutely hammered, we have 23 pts to play with for the last 2 riders, I hope rob's finances allow us to get a good number 1 to nurture & assist these young lads. Dont get me wrong I suspect we lose money on the NL & it is run to bring on talent, I am very pleased we even have a team running this year Who would I like as no.1? no idea!

I am really surprised by some of the heartless comments on here, shame on some of you. Your actually nitpicking & arguing the cost of oil, diesel etc, in reality if they get the cheapest in the UK it will only reduce costs a few pounds & the lad will still lose money. I dont know the Stoneman family but I really hope you get fixed up with a club & some modest sponsorship to help you out.

Thanks for clearing the rule change Malcolm. My opinion is that the Worral brothers, Irvine & Birks will all put 2 points on the there average. That would be enough to take the league if the others maintained there average. Anyways will be a competitve team if nothing else & should be good racing at the EWR yet again

Woo hoo !! Just been informed I've got to go back to sea on March 7th so this news has made my day, absolutely fabulous, cant wait to see him fly round the EWR when I get back.

Coops has already been at least twice to Scunny since his accident practicing so it sounds like a man who wants to ride. Apparently he was a bit tentative first time but flying the second? I wasn't there, just what Ive read on here. Anyway I guess we will find out shortly who the last man is

Well scunny have over 12 points to play with so I dont see why Cooper couldnt fit?? he has a PL average of 5.12 (from the BSPA greensheets). I dont know how much it costs to have a PL rider at NL level racing, I really hope that Scunny can afford him if they want him & Cooper wants to do NL racing for a season as well. I think Rob was saying an announcement was to be made shortly, I'm keeping everything crossed

Im sorry but yet again Im not getting this attachment with Hull to Scunthorpe or Sheffield except that they are the two closest geographical tracks, an example to me would be to change the Belle Vue NL team to say Bradford even though they dont race from there. I would love Hull to come back into the sport & I'm sure a lot of promotors would help them out if they had their own promotion & plans for a track. This situation is inherently different to say Dudley who have their own promotion & race at different tracks. Scunthorpe already have an existing team & the same promotion,there is no case for changing the name to Hull, of course Sheffield or Prowlers name may come into it in the future as this will give the fans something to cheer but I would say for now they are more interested in the riders than the name. Like June after following the Saints from inception I would prefer all things stay the same but I've also noticed the crowds drop off dramatically over the last 2 seasons, being a realist to the harsh realities of the current finaincial climate this joint venture to me makes more sense than having NO NL racing. There are also many positives to be gained from a Sheffield tie-up; notably the large track experience, the possibility if the crowds return for cup matches, the ability to get a decent number 1, losses reduced etc. I do realise this wont suit all but I just cant see how we could have carried on without heavy subsidies from the Stock cars.

My take on this is that whatever name/names are decided the fans will watch, its another speedway fix through the weeks. There will also be Ashley Birks riding (I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Coops too) for the sheff fans to follow & the remainder for the Scunny fans. With the increased PL matches, the Scunny fans will although lose more NL home matches but gain or maintain the same number of combined (PL + NL) home matches. I dont know exactly how many people from each sets of fans who will travel both ways but I will be one of them, the Scorps will always be my first team but I am looking forward to watching the Saints/Prowlers at Sheffield too.

29 miles to Hull from Scunny -you must go the scenic route less than via the A1077/A15. Lol too, I just put it in AA route finder to get a distance, being from Barton the A1077 is definitely the route for me too

I can understand the reservations of some of our supporters & lets not forget the likes of June & Albert are good fans & have balanced sensible views & have made interesting posts on here on many occasions so I think there opinion is very valuable. With the scorpions having more home matches this year & HOPEFULLY a more balanced schedule without the extended periods of no speedway, this will mean we dont lose any matches to watch but gain a few at the EWR with the chance of an extra 4 to wach at Sheffield. On this occasion I personally am really looking forward to the tie-up, anything to make the riders more successfull & better prepared for the future is positive...any chance of Cooper riding as #1 to bring on the youngsters??

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/sport/Saints-squad-link-Sheffield/article-3205613-detail/article.html this is the link confirming the home match will be split between Scunthorpe & Owlerton. I see some feel let down & I can understand the sentiment BUT I do believe that as it was running the Saints must have been operating at a loss, with the stockcars covering the cost. Tying up with Sheffield should give a bigger catchment, 2 different tracks to specialise in, potentially more fans, split costs (profits or losses). I dont know anything about the name changing but it would make more sense next year maybe to have some form of name-tie up to encourage the Sheffield fans as they could hardly be exepcted to support Scunthorpe even if they are riding at Owlerton. Regarding the Hull name, I dont think this has anything to do with Scunny? geographically you could say we are the closest team, at 29 miles though & in a different county you could hardly say there is anything in common? Dont get me wrong I used to watch the Vikings as a lad, thoroughly enjoyed it & I know Scunthorpe have supporters from Hull & I would like nothing more than for them to compete again, in fact I'd even go watch but to associate them with teams 29 & 65 miles away doesnt make sense to me.

Whatever the in /outs which have happened, Im just very happy to see Mildenhall track a team, good luck for 2011.

Scunny / Sheff promotions as far as the fans are aware have a very good relationship, we often see Machin & Hoggy often does the announcing. A couple of home meetings at Sheffield would be great for me & I'd go to watch. I think in the future the NL team may well be a talent production line where there is not going to be enough places in the PL team (like this season with Birks / R.Worral at Sheffield/Newcastle respectively) & hopefully in future seasons there maybe even more riders capable of doubling up into the PL, Machin working with Rob Godfrey may give Sheffield a tie-up advantage in terms of first refusal Anyway just my opinion I have no inside info.