IainB

Lenny Lion, Yeah, there were some good tussles on track but as a contest between 2 teams it was a non event really, you can only beat what is there though I suppose. I must admit I don't hang on the announcer's every word, what I'm getting at is the fan experience, now I don't know if you're on the paid/volunteer staff but as a punter paying £17 you have to ask if you're made to feel as if you're watching something special. Because winning the Championship title is something special, double special if you're a Leicester fan I would say. Rather than it being mentioned by chance by the announcer where is the big banner on the entrance to the stadium "YOU ARE ENTERING THE LIONS DEN - LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!", where is the parade music, Queen - We Are The Champions... cliched I know, but it does what it says on the tin, so cliched it's not a cliche... Why isn't Ryan Douglas coming round on parade every week holding the trophy aloft? As for the parading of the trophy... Are you referring to the cubs match the night after Glasgow? Now if I'm honest, I saw the lads get presented with the trophy at Glasgow as I was fortunate enough to be there, if you're really trying to suggest that showing and sharing with the Cubs fans a trophy that was won by the Leicester Lions is reward enough for the Lions fans... you're sounding a bit like a politician caught with his trousers down lol. Judging by the crowd numbers there are a lot of fans that don't attend both teams matches. Where is the opportunity to have your picture taken with the trophy? All of that costs nothing, except maybe the banner, which you could get sponsored. Where's the self promotion? We seem to be ashamed that we won the damn thing!

Yes, I noticed that... was watching the grader going round during the interval and there wasn't much to grade... And I assume that the unholy noise coming from the grader was it scraping the base of the track. It's not been the same since Glyn Taylor went, whatever happened to him I wonder? ... but surprisingly there were some good on track tussles

Pretty much a no contest last night with the Newcastle team being woefully understrength... took me back to watching the Invaders in the mid 80's. Both the twins really impressed with Joe being a bit more on the pace this week and both of them showing a real knack with the Leicester track. Presentation was better this week with the riders leaving their helmets in the pits for the opening parade and although there was no victory lap at least the riders came out to the centre green for a chat to the fans... All they've got to do now is acknowledge that we're actually the reigning League Champions, wasn't mentioned once last night, perhaps some of the smoke that is blown up the special one's bottom every week could be spared for the club that won the championship. Maybe with the return of the 2019 skipper next week it may be the ideal opportunity to show the fans the trophy that they paid for the club to win?

It's Ben Barker, the original rider being replaced, right?

What's up with Worrall?

It wouldn't be so bad if there was something else on that "trumped" Speedway... even then there's enough free airtime to show a delayed transmission

I take it he didn't sustain any long term injury and is fit to ride then?

I know the last one was... didn't realise the whole series was... they can get stuffed.

Wasn't it Tero that carted off in an ambulance last weekend at Glasgow?

Is this not on British Eurosport TV?

The Champions take on Newcastle tonight, the weather looks set fair with it due to be quite pleasant by tapes up. Will be interesting to see how Connor Mountain goes on his return to BP LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Ty Proctor r/r, Kyle Howarth, Tom Brennan, Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Joe Thompson. NEWCASTLE: Thomas Jorgensen, Adam Roynon r/r, Connor Mountain, Max Clegg, Matthew Wethers, James Wright, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn.

That's what I am referring to yes, do they mean it'll be easier for property developers to build on stadiums sties or more difficult... what's the general gist of it, do you know?

#covidcu*t

Do the new planning regs effect the situation at Cov at all? If I'm honest I don't really know what the regs are about... but a lot of people seem to be getting their knickers in a twist about it

No, absolutely not! I've been to Leicester, Belle Vue, Scunny, Peterborough & Kent so far this year and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. It's been great looking at some of the young British talent that we've heard so much about over the last couple of years. All of the stuff the OP has mentioned have always been issues with Speedway the only new inconvenience are the Covid restrictions and that's all they are really, an inconvenience

A good point, well made lol. Is it KL he rides for?

Can't help but think that the Leicester track and Ty's riding style are not a great match, he tends to full gas it down the straight and then fling it into the bends with a sharp turn. I can imagine that if you're consistently not making starts things could soon get on top of you around BP. Has he stood down from Sheffield?

That's how I remember it

We'll see... he's too good and at 36 still too young to retire

We signed him up on the 3rd of September 2018 http://www.leicesterspeedway.com/news.php?extend.31276.1 “He’s a great prospect, a rider who is going in the right direction and someone we should look to nurture for the future.” We binned him off by not including him in the 2020 or 2021 teams after a cracking 2018 & 2019. Connor got fixed up with Newcastle but they binned him off on the 21st of January 2021. Leicester replaced Perks with Bates on the 11th of Feb 2021 after Somerset's closure, while club asset Mountain was still searching for a club. Imo he should have been in the 2020 & 2021 teams

Rumours of his demise are greatly exaggerated! Was glad to see him riding in the Swedish League last week, as I mentioned earlier I think a spell in leagues with less pressure will do him the world as good as he's still very much a quality rider with years left in him yet

Then send them round on a bike, it's so easy to do Are you referring to the Mark Thorpe incident at Swindon around 30 years ago? I believe a rule was introduced after that, that a rider couldn't be on the track at the same time as a tractor... nothing to do with helmets and parades. 2019 at BV the riders used to come round without helmets on and line up in front of the grandstands so the fans could see who they are and what they look like, more important than ever these days with them all wearing the same race suits, or they may as well just be robots. The parade at Leicester the other week saw all of the riders wearing helmets with the exception of Josh Auty... bizarre!

at Peterborough and a few other tracks I've noticed when they're lined up being introduced in front of the crowd, the first riders introduced can't be @rsed to wait for the final riders to be introduced and start to be pushed away while the last couple of riders are being introduced to the crowd... totally amateurish and an insult to the fans really. Some of these riders really need to wake up to what's going on!

You've hit the nail on the head there Pieman72. Take Leicester for example, current league champions (2019), I followed them home and away over a complete season and most fans still haven't seen the league trophy that they paid for to watch them win. If the promotion can't even be bothered to make a big deal about winning the league why would the fans? Look at the homepage of the website... would you know Leicester were league champions... for the first time ever! Last Saturday at home to Redcar... rider parade, all riders come round wearing their helmets, a hard earned home victory with an outstanding match winning performance from Dan Thompson... no victory parade! None of this costs anything to do and is free promotion... and yet it's not done

Maybe a find for you... But we (Lions) found him a couple of seasons ago, was one of the riders of the season for me, signed him up and then decided to bin him off in favour of Josh Bates!