FoxesFan#1

Incredible performance after losing first leg away at Sheffield 57-33 and then last night to win the home leg 57-33 to force a Super Heat race basically to decide who goes on to lose to Belle Vue in the Grand Final! Very proud of the riders, all raised their game especially Joe Thompson having his best night ever in the top flight. Great crowd with a a lot of Sheffield fans too That's it until March next year, been another great season winning the KO Cup, finished second in the league and almost got through to a third Grand Final And oh yeah before I forget we got a British World Champion this week too. Well done to Robert Lambert for taking the title to make him the best rider in the World, winning it in Torun Poland last Saturday night

Perfect summary, and most importantly hopefully you were treated well in the away end today and enjoyed coming down. Our goal certainly lived a charmed life today, I think you had 15 shots and dominated the game first half in particular. Harborough looked very good and you'll be one of the favourites for sure Great away following too (167), will be one of the biggest this season. Maybe Chester or Morecambe will be bigger but great to see a following similar to mid table NL teams which is a real credit to the young club. Good crowd of 928 too, when I started the norm was 600 about 5 years back and ten years ago about 400 in this same league whilst regularly in Play-off positions for best part of ten years. Will take a while for Brackley to settle with such a new team, but this will do them good having to defend for almost 90 mins. Main aim is to settle in mid table as team need a season to gel. Just listened to your manager speak, sounds a real good guy. Sounded flabbergasted that the goal never arrived. We would have accepted 4-0 down at HT if I'm honest! Hopefully we'll be up for the return fixture

My pleasure, nice to share a bit of pre-match info, if I'm going to be honest I expect Harborough to be the favourites tomorrow whilst we find our feet. Oh yeah last year was something else for fitness. Only Truro and Brackley were Part Time in the NL last season and it showed with fitness in last 30 mins We'd literally compete well and then you could see the FT teams were well drilled and would win games in last ten minutes quite easily sometimes. I think it was Woking at home where we were 0-0 after 60 mins but by 70 mins we were 0-4 down! Similar with Southend, went head to head all game and they put three in last ten mins. Most of our games felt like they were lost in last 30 mins of the match. PT players found it real hard last season but tbh I'd rather not have FT players that puts a club in financial jeopardy one day. Enjoy the game, have a safe journey and be kind when you get three goals in last ten mins!

The Lions secured their Play-Off spot last night beating King's Lynn 52-38 with two home meetings and one away to go. Some decent racing again last night with another close on perfect performance from Ryan Douglas. He only dropped one point to Max Fricke who was Leicester's #1 for the past three seasons, and he knows his way round our track like no other. They're comfortably in second behind Belle Vue (easily the best team in the league) and we have so far won every home match in all competitions which is quite some achievement. Belle Vue at home on Monday will be very hard but we beat them in the Cup and in the first league fixture which was an incredible match. Play-offs for the title are late September (weather permitting) and they have a great chance to make their third play off in a in a row. Well worth a visit for the Semi Final which could well be Ipswich (or possibly Sheffield) as the table stands. Since the KO cup win it has been a tough few weeks with Kyle Howarth taking a break from the sport, and then both Dan Thompson and Nick Morris took a real bad crash together at Northampton a few weeks back. Thankfully both are fit and rode well last night. With 7 man teams, losing 3 riders can massively alter the direction of a season. Covering for injuries is quite hard as teams do not have squads. They have development teams but the difference in ability is like you and I lining up against Argentina or Spain in football! Not many break through to top level Speedway and stay in the amateur league or drift away normally.

I'll be in the home end at the el-classic tomorrow for Brackley v Harborough Town, very much looking forward to getting into football again after what feels like a long summer break. The game is segregated which is a rarity in NL North down here as most are mixed. Away end is a bit shallow so better to get right behind the goal rather than to the wings. For Hebburn Town we stood at both ends and I don't recommend getting too close to the corner flags as you won't see much of the goal mouth. You also get half of one side too which has a small cover - in fact you get three stands! Tbh as a home fan which I am now, it is a super little stadium and the club house is exceptional (sadly as it's segregated it will only be home fans this week). But it's been a real tough summer for the team with almost a brand new squad. Only two regulars remain from last season and one returning loanee from Reading. Crowds have been very good considering it's still a small club and mid-week v King's Lynn we had nearly 1000 which considering last year much of the increase in attendance was down to away fans and not home fans. Teams like Southend brought close on 1000 away fans in crowds of 1700 to give it some perspective I'm sure Harborough fans will enjoy their trip, it's very easy to access from the A43 and the town is nice for a beer too. If you're travelling down, enjoy the game!

Yeah definitely, it helps a lot having good riders come through. We can't keep rolling out Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls! They're nearly as old as me! I was listening to Jason Edwards speak, a young British rider that rides for Ipswich and said that if it wasn't for having Lakeside, Rye House and Eastbourne holding open training sessions he'd not have got into racing. Sadly those three tracks are now gone, as with anything in the South East (or South in general) it is at the mercy of property developers. Thankfully tracks like Iwade and Lydd still exist in South East that are more for training or amateur speedway. In fact Iwade looks to be doing very well and is just one field away from Danny Dyer's caravan park advertisement boards! Cairns looked real neat, confident and quite assured already in the two meetings I saw him last week. Tailed off in the Belle Vue meeting but definitely one for the future. Rushen looks like he's pure determination and is some Gater (for those wondering it means a fast starter) too. It took a lot of effort for the more senior Leicester riders to get past him and I bet next season he'll be pushing for heat leader status in the top flight. He's quite a character too and for a 16 year old has gone old school with 1970s style tassels on his kevlars! Leicester has two good local lads in the Thompson twins! Dan is really coming good now and it won't be long before he's leading the team. His spell at Ipswich riding with Jason Doyle for two seasons brought him on from a rising star to potential heat leader status. Joe is improving too and having a much better season turning in some great performances. First leg tonight in the Cup final at Ipswich tonight, hopefully keep it close for the home leg on Thursday

We'll all be hoping Kurtz wins it for the first time and I think if Bewley hadn't got injured then he was in with a superb chance I see Robert Lambert won the GP Challenge yesterday which secures bis place in the GP next season. Two superb 16 year olds coming through the ranks that we can hope will be as good as Bewley and Lambert in 3-4 years time being Cooper Rushen and Will Cairns. I saw them both race this month and they look good already, scoring good points all ready and looking the part.

That's so sad to hear about Jersey's lack of life etc, I'm with you fully, we need to appreciate the smaller spectator sports or it will just be football and other key ones left I'm sure as a kid in the 80s they used to have sandtrack speedway on the beach in Jersey. Probably with Grasstrack bikes but I bet it's just too hard/expensive to get all the kit over + local authorities hate anything with bikes these days. Similar with Isle of Wight, they used to compete in the Championship and National League Speedway but now just operate under the NORA format now which is more an amateur level of speedway not governed by the FIM/BSPL etc.

Oh yes I remember you said you went and enjoyed it, always so good to hear that Speedway is my first love, grew up with it in the 80s/90s and it certainly has gone through a lot of tough times but it's still here and the product is still a fantastic spectacle. I was just thinking that a Tenner entry would be really nice but for 1st team matches for the Lions it is £25 (adult) and for the Development League for the Cubs on Sundays it's £15. Best for any newcomer is to go straight to a Lions match as we're treated to the best riders in the country at that level. Since 2021 alone, they've been in the Play-Offs for the league below (Championships) 2x and the top league (Premiership) 2x with likelihood of play-offs again for title this September.

Last night's meeting was something else, as Leicester took on Belle Vue at home in the Premiership Basically it was 2nd v 1st in the table and Belle Vue are the team to beat this season especially with the likes of Brady Kurtz in their team being the World #2 Both teams haven't lost at home this season and after 5 races we were losing 9-21 and were actually looking out of sorts heading towards a huge defeat... but my word the Lions came back strong and won 46-44 with a last heat decider. Incredible racing too with Ryan Douglas in top form. He is a real pleasure to watch. The bravery and skill these riders have is incredible. Douglas hunted down Kurtz in heat 13, lined up move after move to get him on the inside but on the last bend switched it to overtake him in some style. That race alone was worth the admission money. To overtake the World #2 who is in top form himself takes some skill to say the least. Next week it is the KO Cup final (Speedway's FA Cup, sort of!) and Leicester have Ipswich home and away to decide the winner. 1st leg is away with the home leg on Thursday night (7.30pm) Leicester hold the title from last season and should be favourites again, but it won't be easy. If you get the chance it's worth heading down to see them race

Season Ticket announced at my local club Brackley... £200 if bought early (by end of June) £8 a game for NL North is incredible compared to on the gate price of £18 Sounds like they were very disappointed by last season and wanted to thank fans with this offer. Just ordering mine now, second season of having one after following them since 2020

Not anymore, he sold Leicester to Paul Cairns in 2023. His son is a fantastic prospect and rides for Poole Pirates in the league below

It was a horrendous crash, I have never seen anything so bad in my life at any track I have visited since the 80s If the lad can make any normal recovery that will be more than good enough. Been a real tough week for riders getting injured especially on the continent. Real nasty crash at Northampton last week too but thankfully the riders should be fine. With all that being said Leicester have had a very good start to the season, already through to the cup final in July and have won 4 out of their first 5 meetings. Decent crowds too especially the Sheffield meeting but they do bring a lot of away fans. Fingers crossed the Polish rider makes a full recovery

That's a really good point as to who really goes because they still love the game. I think very few if they were honest would admit they love the modern game. My folks neighbours keep going but really don't enjoy it anymore. It becomes a habit for vast majority and no wonder crowd atmosphere is dying. If it wasn't for myself moving 55 minutes away and finding a new club to follow I'd have given up football completely. But in fact watching my local non-league team rekindled my love for the game as opposed to the multi millionaire version we now have that has no genuine link to the community anymore. I'm also bemused how anyone thinks a 2 year old wants to go to the football! My word, it took me 7-10 years of life to want to go to football even though I supported Leicester as a kid and I looked forward to the day I'd go as I approached double figures. I only started going in my teens mid week when I could get to the ground and I loved those mid-week games. The attention needed is quite something else as it's hard slog for kids. Plus the poor child is barely out of nappies in a facility that is not good for little kids but middle class World is getting more and more bizarre these days to say the least. If I still lived within the county, would I still go... possibly I would but I'm not convinced I would. Tbf the season ticket offers great value and perhaps that's why we have too many fans locked in which eventually gives us the decline in supporter base, not in terms of numbers but in terms of any output especially noise. They just turn up now. And one thing for sure, it's not our club, it never has been, and never will be - we simply rent a seat or a space - it's a perfect place to keep us in our place in society if we're really honest about why clubs were formed!

After watching a few seasons of NL North I think any team on the up will do well in it so I expect Harborough Town will be fine. It's the league above that which is a step too far for a lot of small clubs At Brackley we're seeing massive upgrades to the playing surface (not plastic grass thankfully as I'd stop going if it wasn't grass) with new drainage and I imagine they have the aim to be like Boreham Wood that secures a NL spot properly and then can aim to kick on. Trouble is there's a huge queue of clubs wanting the same and just looking back over history of the 5th tier it is littered with small clubs lasting 1-2 seasons and then going south afterwards in terms of league placings and/or worse sadly. The NL is a league of three distinct sections with the ex-football league clubs generally dominating it whereas in the NL North anything is possible! The year Brackley won the league they were struggling for first three months looking over their shoulder at that time before going on an incredible run. Some real big teams in NL North that have big followings like Kidderminster, Hereford, Chester etc. Don't expect a big following from Brackley! 50-70 max I'd say. A pity Curzon got relegated as you get to know their 4 away fans quite well! Should be an enjoyable season and it would not surprise me to see Harborough in the play offs next year