Soundbites: 1st October 2005

Nicholls	Jensen

"Money can't buy the sort of enthusiasm we have in this team. We have had a fantastic team spirit and that passion and determination has pulled us through. It is the reason why we have been so good away from home - and why we have won the league. "
Coventry's Scott Nicholls

"We want to go into schools with our roadshow and encourage kids and their parents to come to see speedway for an extended period without paying, so that in following seasons they will want to become paying fans. Several other speedway tracks look as if they will close next season and so radical action is called for to try and save the sport. If the scheme is a success and we get another agreement with the GRA we will run the scheme in a different local authority area each season, until hopefully we get massive crowds and everyone is happy. "
Wimbledon boss Ian Perkin - Planning ahead despite the current uncertainty

"One thing is for sure, there is no way I will entertain the idea of continuing at Oxford unless the new agreement is right for Nigel Wagstaff. I also need to talk to prospective sponsors to see if we can gain some extra commercial backing. There is no point in even considering continuing next season if that's not forthcoming."
Nigel Wagstaff

"Coming back to Peterborough sounds very good to me. I have a great relationship with the Wolverhampton promoter Chris Van Straaten and I am sure he would be happy to allow me to go out to Peterborough again. I am obviously a Wolverhampton asset, but it is a few years since they have fitted me into their plans so I'm sure it won't be a problem. Colin (Horton)has done wonders at Peterborough. The club was going nowhere and suffering from small crowds and in half-a-season he turned it around. He is very ambitious, it is great to work for him and I believe we can use this season as a platform to better things."
Jesper B Jensen - A Panther again in 2006?

"I am so proud of the whole team and it is such a great feeling to be league champions. This is such a young side and they have gone from strength to strength this year after a poor start. I am so pleased for the fans as well, they were incredible last night, and credit too must go to Colin Pratt and Peter Oakes, our two team managers. They have worked so hard for this. It is a fantastic achievement and it makes up for the disappointment of finishing second two years ago, and then being bottom last year."
Avtar Sandhu - Delighted to own the Elite League champions

"I'm not even thinking of the semi-final until we've got through against King's Lynn. I haven't spoken to anyone from Berwick about dates but I've had a message from them which indicates we've got them in the semi-final if we get through. That suggests Rye House, as champions, have chosen the winners of Sheffield and Edinburgh so I suppose there is still a possibility that we could have a repeat of the Premier Trophy final against the Rockets."
Workington promoter Graham Drury on the Young Shield

"At the end of the day, the racing was terrible. We were lucky to get the meeting started. We all agreed to try and get through, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. The track was just getting to quite a good state. Then the rain came down and saturated it and, in truth, we didn't need much of it to make it unsafe for the riders."
Mark Loram on the abandoned Poole v Arena Craven Shield clash

"We really missed Charlie Gjedde again tonight. We badly needed the normal ten points he scores at Blunsdon. Unfortunately the lower end did not really function tonight and as a result we were always struggling. I hate losing against Oxford but with a full side I am sure we would have won but I doubt if we would have gone through in the Craven Shield."
Swindon boss Alun Rossiter

"I'm extremely disappointed to have lost my licence. Okay we didn't have a good season on the track and I was team manager, so that's down to me. But I had no control over the financial side of things, and that's what's brought the team down. I've no regrets about anything I've done in my life. In hindsight, though, I could've done things a lot better, but you can't just come in and expect everything to work perfectly. If I had a second chance at it, things would be different."
Hull manager Dave Peet

"We were well beaten in the away leg, and we knew that we had left ourselves with the proverbial mountain to climb tonight. Unfortunately the task proved beyond us but we wish Rye House the best of good fortune in the rest of the competition and personally speaking, I think they'll go on to win the Shield."
IoW boss Martin Newnham after the Islanders crashed out of the Young Shield

"I think we have picked the toughest team to race against, but it should also be the most entertaining. It will be great for the guys to take on Shaun Tacey and James Wright once again, while Workington are also allowed to use a top guest for Carl Stonehewer, a rider who usually struggles around Lynn. They now have Tomasz Piscz at reserve, a former Elite League rider from Peterborough, who looks like being a real trump card for them."
King's Lynn manager Rob Lyon looks forward to tonights clash at Derwent Park

"Paul has been very down about it all, mainly because there has been so little progress since March. All the treatment meted out so far appears to have had little effect and they are basically going to start from scratch. My understanding is that after the operation in October, they will use those external fixators in his arm again. It's not a pretty sight, but it's also very difficult for Paul to get any decent rest."
Dave Tattum passes on depressing news of Paul Pickering's condition

This article was first published on 1st October 2005