screm

It wouldve come in handy for most teams this season giving the rain we have had,but as WJM points out if we have a real summer theres the prospect of having your stadium empty once every month.

Troubled times ahead for the Monarchs,and as others have mentioned theres other clubs looking at their alternatives for the 2013 season,it might just be the PL will be looking very different come next March.

The play-offs in the PL and EL have turned into a shambles thanks to the weather,this is probably the least worst decision. Anyway I consider Newcastle Diamonds to be Champions,they finished top with the most points,what more do you need to know.

Which,lets face it,isnt excatly alot.

Dear God. I dont blame Woffinden for accepting the GP invitation,he`d be mad not to.My problem is with BSI,it appears that Woffinden is in as the token Brit,IMO the 2013 GP series on form shouldve been a Brit free zone.

Congratulation to Tai Woffinden on being next years token Brit,I see nothing in Woffindens league scoring that scream out GP rider.

Some of the anti-Bowden posts have been a bit OTT at times,and thats not me having a dig at you personally,just answering your post.That said,giving some of the statements attributed to Bowden,I can well understand the ill-feeling toward your current promoter.

Then I hope thisfternoons meeting all goes well and Plymouth Speedway can look forward to a brighter future.

You leave my hypocrisy alone its fine as it is.

Your right,though we have no public right of reply to his column,sad he has to hide behind Berwick Speedway to air his views when you think a username,password and post would let him share his views with us all.

As we know Mr Barrie is not a fan of this forum,doesnt go on it he says,never reads it he says,he may just be on here more than he would have us believe.

Can we take it theres an agreement with Bowden,seems little point in meeting the landowners if there isnt.

Is Ben Fund meeting being given to Berwick is well deserved,obviously the air-fence helps,but it seems the fact that Berwick have been one of the best or the best for Ben Fund collections over the last few seasons.As things stand right now its about the only thing thats guaranteed for next season.

Back in the late 1980s,a nice wee man called Eric Stead - grandfather of Simon - was the promoter down the road at Brough Park,Newcastle. 1987 wasnt a great year for the Diamonds,and a section of the Brough Park fans,sighting the glory days of Mauger,Olsen or the Owen brothers,were impatient for success. Although in these days there were no forums or Facebooks by which to vent their annoyance,there was still a great deal of public sniping and complaints from a small but vocal cluster of critics about Eric`s team building efforts prior to the `88 season. Supporters` meetings,fanzines (the forums of the day) and letters carried moans (behind his back of course) as he manfully laboured to service the demands of his garage in Sheffield ( a business which was funding his devotion to running speedway) alongside preparing to launch another season on the Fossway. One day in March,with the season nearly upon him,Eric was doing one of the many unsong treats which befall someone stuggling to run a speedway -- probably shivering in the speedway office (no mobile phones either,back then) while trying to persuade a rider to join the Diamonds at a reasonable rate of pay or even working down a hole at the track in the freezing rain,unblocking a drain or something. Whatever he was doing it wasnt fun,but it was something which was needed in order to move the club forward into the new season.Hard work,funded out of his own time,money and the love of his sport to allow the turnstiles to start clicking in a few weeks` time and give the loyal speedway-going Novocastrians their summer entertainment. At that point,just a couple of weeks before the season was to begin,he was informed of the latest attack on his efforts by some so-called "fans".Totally - unfair criticism which took no account of his problem in balancing the books,his physical drudgery or his stress.Such people,some perhaps with private agenda,had no real conception of what speedway promotion entailed,but just thought it was clever to put the boot in. Well,it had an effect alright. Eric Stead considered their words and walked away.He climbed out the drain,or closed the office door,and thought "sod it".He notified the league office that Newcastle would not be running that season and shut the operation down there and then.No speedway on Tyneside in 1988. Think about it. The above is taken from Barries`s notes last saturday,looks very much like its directed at fans,and especially fans on this forum,the media arent even mentioned once.

Oh dont worry I read it,maybe it might have been directed at supporters like me who dare to have an opinion different from the promotion at times.If he`s suggesting via his column in the programme,that Berwick Speedway could do without those supporters then he`s playing a dangerous game.

Well what a turn up. Few of us thought Redcar looked well capable of winning here tonight,but they were blowing away fair and square by a very impressive Berwick team.The actual meeting was better than the score suggests with some very good racing at times,also,there are those who would do away with the tactical rides,well Redcars two tactical rides kept them right in the meeting,first with Ostergaard in Ht5 and Doolan in Ht12. To many Redcar riders had a night off tonight and three heat winners all night tell its own story.Wilkinson looked decent,Doolan and to a lesser extent Kus kept things tight,but Im afraid thats as good as it got for the Bears. As Ive said Berwick were very impressive with all the riders bar Jacobsen seeing the chequered flag at least once.Berwick lead by Alden,and if the has been a more impressive 15pt maximum Id like to have seen it,our captain was on awesome form tonight and I wouldnt be ruling him out of winning tomorrows PLRC at Sheffield. Excellent news that we will be hosting the Ben Fund meeting at the start of next season.

Its on the offical site now that McKinna does replace Dilger,Kus is still named in the Redcar 1-7.If its the Kus that guested for Berwick a few weeks ago he`d be better off in Czech,if its the Kus we saw last year at Berwick,Redcar could be in for a very good night.

As most people know,we have a watch seller in Berwick and Im sure they could fix Cresent Girl up with one.

Some supporters,me included,need a bit of convincing about the Albin signing.Massive gamble for me,lets hope it comes off as it would be a big mistake to start next season carrying a rider,been tried already and it doesnt work.

Dry overnight and dry now,forecast to stay that way for most of the day though showers are around for late afternoon into evening,hopefully they will miss Berwick,though it might be an idea to get with the racing 7pm prompt.

Reading the Speedway Star over the last couple of weeks,the amount of promotions worried about their crowd levels is a alarming,all of them say that costs need to be reduced.We lost Newport last winter,Plymouth look like changing hands,Workington could be up for sale,hopefully we will have at least the same number for next season as this,that,at least would be a start.

A 4pt score away from home is a 4pt score away from,being beat by 10 yards or 10 miles all means the same,its perfectly true to say Coplins scores away from home bare no comparison to his scores at Berwick,but that should not take anything away from the fact that entertainers like Complin are a dying breed in speedway these days and the sport is all the poorer for it.

He`d better be,it on our offical site.

Berwick 1 Nick Morris 2 Micky Dyer 3 Robin Aspegren 4 David Bellego 5 Seb Alden 6 Klaus Jacobsen 7 Nicki Barrett Redcar 1 Ulrich Ostergaard 2 Carl Wilkinson 3 Kevin Doolan 4 Aaron Summers 5 Matej Kus 6 Max Dilger 7 Jade Mudgway Redcars team looks well capable of winning this meeting,and that would secure their place in the Final of Premier Challenge,and that would mean this is Berwicks last meeting of the season.Weather forecast is decent,which is just aswell as its piddling down right now and has been most of the night.

We`ve probably had better riders at Berwick but I doubt we`ve had a more exciting rider to watch than Complin.You kinda felt sorry sometimes for the rider infront,you knew Complin would always get him round Shielfield.Its fair to say Complin wouldve cut himself a reasonably successful career in the PL,but a full-time job,regular income,especially with a young familly to support was always going to be the right decision. Thank you for your time as a Berwick Bandit.