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Hi everyone, This is a very interesting thread to read and a great post here, although of course I wish that I wasn’t reading it. Anyways, these are very useful when I am doing research into speedway and the general feedback about it. It is clear that there is a lot of frustration out there and I know this thread is dedicated to trying to identify what has gone wrong as opposed to the all the successes it has too. If I look at the points and how it affects my own club (when I write my, me or I, I always mean Martin Widman and myself) there are some very interesting comparisons.... For example, I completely agree about the darts - we watched it on the box last night and I said to my Lisa, how on earth did darts get so good - what took it up to this level and why isn't it possible with speedway. Of course, we all know that it is possible to do it with speedway - we try to put on as much "quality" razzmatazz as possible on race night, the build-up, and all our social events because speedway is no longer just about speedway. However, in my view, the main difference about darts and speedway is anyone can nip down the pub, pick up some arrows and throw them, you can’t for speedway and that the darts we see on the box is the elite players in a conference centre packed with fans, PLUS one-time attenders who are there for the social and fun factor and not just the darts. What we do not see is the regular dart league games. So that is a huge difference – what we are saying is that we want our league matches to have the fun packed adventure of, for example the PDC darts scene, and this is something on the Island we strive to do each week – so aim high. But, there is more… I can play darts easily but I cannot ride a speedway bike easily can I?.... uhhh well actually you can. Come to My First Skid on the island for example (or one of the other great schools across the country). Why have I added this bit…... well because I can prove that people who know nothing about speedway will come to our speedway school with little Johnny or Evie and try riding a speedway / twist and shoot bike (we even have a bike with stabilizers on). Then when they have tried it and realise that they have signed up their baby to ride a bike without brakes and watch some of the more advance riders a flying around their interest is caught... and this has been a big success on the island for us. I cannot begin to tell you, but I would suspect it has put at least 20 families on our gate each week over last year. Attendances.... our attendances last year increased for every meeting bar one... but it was hard work to achieve this.. My First Skid, shows, schools, scouts, you name it we went there. We held a free meeting too which attracted a lot of people but our core focus is on making speedway part of a bigger show that involves kids, rider interaction, fun, up to date music, slick presentation, and for us, this has really worked. While of course we value massively our senior supporters, for example the nice story about Ann Barrett, but at the same time we focus on tomorrow's support too and what makes them want to come to speedway. The truth of this in my view is 2 fold... one they need to feel valued, be entertained, follow a team and receive value for money. (I am not sure I agree with what is the right price to admit someone to speedway thought - but I do know that what you charge for entry must reflect what the person receives. This actually applies to everything – if you received a Micky D’s burger in a Michelin 5 star restaurant you would have cause for disappointment – yet both at the right price offer value to their customer. In other words, if someone leaves and thinks to themselves, that was awful, I didn’t get value, they will not return) and secondly, community.... we now have groups of kids running around the stadium of different ages, going to different schools, from across the Island and the first time I saw this I thought "yes.... that's it". Because I know as a child attending speedway I had different friends there compared to sea cadets, or school... and the truth is I still do. Fixtures... without doubt for us, we run every week and we are expected to run every week and this is vital, in our view, to the clubs success. Admission - we do offer lots of offers for free entry to newbies... but this comes at a “cost” to them. We would like them to give us feedback and to tell us their thoughts. This was another area where we won lots of new fans over the last two years. Integrity.... agree totally. However, I am not sure how we ensure it as I am sure that rule manipulation has always happened. The difference of today vice yesterday is social media and the ability for anyone to find a problem and declare it to the world - I am not suggesting this is wrong of course... it is just very different to how things were, and the sport needs to adapt to this accordingly. Correct it’s not just speedway - it is a fun family night out.... or as we say a fun packed family adventure. We want to entertain from entry to exit and this includes up to 10 mascots out on track for 30 minutes prior to the meeting, open pits, centre green visits, rider interaction, kids cycle race, me getting on a loudhailer when we were losing... and what is interesting for me last year when we had such a tough season not one person said to me - "Barry sort this out", they said, "thanks for another great night loved it.. we will win next week...." (I try to say goodbye to everyone after the meeting). A business plan and a vision... you know when we looked at bringing speedway back we needed a business plan, we still use it, it is a vital part of our daily life, but it also enables us to look at what worked, what cost what, and so on... but all this is encompassed by a vision and when you have a vision you need your sponsors to share this with you (otherwise why would they invest in you and your club), and you need your fans to not only share it but help you achieve it and you need to prove it. When you prove it tell the world about it. We made a promise to never charge for kids 16 and under and we will not (but interestingly I know have people writing to me to offer to buy kids tickets to social events - we never charge for them and they say we know, we want to just help... amazing hey?). Our second promise was to find riders from the island and we do this through My First Skid and we will enter the SDL league with the Wightlink Wizards with a team of students from the school. Finally, I view you coming to watch the Warriors, Wizards or attending a My First Skid session as though you are coming to visit my house. I would be totally gutted if you didn’t have a great time, it’s personal to me, you have actually invested in our club by coming and that is important. Of course we can never get everything right, but we do listen and we do read lots of information on forums and social media, as well as asking our fans for their feedback on how we perform. We never lose sight the we are not millionaires and without a healthy sponsorship and fan base there could not be speedway on the island which is why we put every effort we can to make it succeed. Anyway, thanks for the feedback on here about your views, we appreciate it..... if I could make one request as a promoter, fan, ex-rider, school instructor... is try and match your concern with positivity too because there are lots of it... if we all collectively talk our sport down, it will only go down, nothing will be able to bring it back up, but if we focus on our positives, while working on our concerns we can return our sport to the level it should be at. I know this works.. when kids come through the school… everyone cheers them for their first ride, they are my superstar every time they go out, we educate, we are disciplined but we have the most fun and you know what…. They come back… but you knew I would write that didn’t you. Positivity does work, trust me. Thanks again and I hope to see you trackside in 2018. If you come to the island grab me for a chat I am always in yellow and blue, probably with kids all around me as I look like Mr Tumble, or screaming with the fans. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and thanks again for supporting your club wherever that may be.

Fans and riders not singing off the same hymn sheet. Fans want teams...Riders want to be 'Individuals' Fans want continuity...not team changes every season. Costs to run the sport too high...riders wages, maintenance, track prep etc Facilities poor compared to other sports of similar entrance fee. Overpriced and poor quality food and beverages. Way too many rain offs. Never found a way to run a meeting in the rain or facilitate covers. Poor standard of entertainment before and between heats. Ever increasing priority on having to make the start. Not enough passing or strung out races. Ok in the past, but far more entertainment choices out there for the public these days. Bikes not compatible with many British tracks. Has become sanitised...sound, smell and sight all less than before. Viewing the 'action' in the pits should be visable to all fans. BSPA run like an amateur organisation. Should have a independent body. Riders and Promoters delusional...trying to run and impersonate a high end motorcycle sport, on a garden shed income. Speedway should have gone 'standardised' many years ago...instead of letting costs spiral on the never ending pursuit by riders to create a faster bike to the point of breaking.

How refreshing to see a Promoter take time to come on here and make comments. I've watched IOW from afar and have always been impressed with their commitment and ethos. It just goes to show, you can follow your team, have a great night out, feel part of the club and involved, without it being the 'top riders' in the sport. I'd be happy to follow such a team and set up if it were local to me. We've lost our focus and direction...it's not all about having the 'GP type' riders at your club and all the costs and problems that brings. Great...he's got fast bikes and expensive gear...and can go 4 seconds faster around the track...big deal. I and many other fans would rather watch four riders of equal ability on lesser equipment, racing week in week out...and if they have other jobs like the rest of us to get by...so be it. Fantastic...we can relate.

Some great info from the Isle of Wight bloke....makes me want to go and check it out next season. People like him deserve to be a success.

Great posts Barry, Looks like you tick a lot of boxes when it comes to customer care and knowing what they want.. About, what seems, 100 years ago now I got a degree in tourism marketing, focusing on the Leisure industry, ie hotels, museums, musicals, shows, gardens, stately homes, fun parks, water parks etc etc,. A highly competitive area where each fight against each other for the 'entertainment doller' of their customers.. I was very fortunate in that the lecturer I had had retired at 45, a very wealthy man who had spent his adult life working successfully within, and then advising many major 'Leisure' oriented businesses on how to be successful and used his lecturing as an opportunity to share his knowledge for, as he described it, "his beer money"... He always made a point of differentiating between price and value for money as the key determinant of what people purchase. With price often the short term reason and value for money the long term reason for repeat purchases.. He mentioned often how important effective communication was in relation to customers and how repeat visits were key to the continued growth of any business, but particularly in the Leisure/Entertainment sector. He advised all his clients to have a database of their customers, which in those days amounted to telephone numbers and addresses as a basic, and birthdays, anniversaries, kids names and their birthdays in particular, as an add on 'to make the difference'. He even used to make notes on each family who attended his hotel, ie if they ever mentioned any 'memorable occasions coming up' he wrote it down on their booking forms so when they returned the following year one of the first things he asked was for example 'how did little Johnny do when he went for his 'tying a knot badge' at cubs?" A very, very powerful tool in winning the emotional loyalty of your customers, all within seconds of them visiting your establishment.. He also sent out through the year Xmas cards, Anniversary cards, Birthday cards (with small gifts for the kids) as one of his key messages was 'always make sure they remember you even through the off season'.. Now meeting and greeting every fan at Speedway would be unrealistic but targeting the kids as so few attend at many tracks would be possible. As would, in this modern age, getting email, and mobile phone data of every adult in attendance to target market them through the season and off season. Eg How many clubs push their mechandise at Xmas to their fanbase? Maybe an odd 10% off voucher sent electronically would get them interested? How many clubs know who has actually attended the match every week? In this digital age it wouldn't be difficult to know and then target anyone missing a few weeks with direct marketing.. His final two bits of advice was 'never be afraid to know the truth' and by that he encouraged all his businesses to 'pro-actively' seek feedback, as what you think you may be providing is sometimes very differently perceived by your customers, and always make sure customers went away with either a positive memory or a tangible souvenir (preferably both!) to remind them of their visit.. First and last impressions are so very, very important.... As someone who was a 1970's follower of the Sport so saw the 'great days' of Collins, Mauger, Olsen et al, I have to say that today's racing is, in the main, often of a not too dissimilar standard to what I witnessed back then (and at the NSS I see some of the best racing I have ever seen in over 40 years of watching the Sport ). So from a racing perspective I would suggest that the 'core product' is more than acceptable. The biggest difference is nowadays you often watch 'contrived meetings' full of Guests, in three quarters empty stadia rather than packed in on the terraces watching 'your team' like we did, in the main, during the Sports 'halcyon' days... A BIG crowd can certainly make an 'ordinary' meeting 'special' and vice versa, a poor crowd can make a 'great' meeting appear no more than 'ordinary'... It seems on the Isle Of White at least you are trying to bring that BIG crowd in to deliver that virtuous circle Speedway so desperately needs of.. Big crowd = More Atmosphere. More Atmosphere = More Customer Satisfaction. More Customer Satisfaction = Bigger Crowds... And delivering it too through some clear, modern thinking, pro active marketing allied to a customer focused operating model,... So more power to your elbow Barry and Team down there. .! Hope it continues to be a success, and maybe a Blueprint for others...?

This quote intrigues me, as it imo, proves what is wrong with Speedway. When you say 'better his career'...how so? Individually or as a team rider? What are speedway riders...individuals looking out for their individual glory, or team riders wanting to be the best rider they can for a team? For me...this is the biggest problem in speedway. How many riders early in their career, focus on being the best team rider for a Club? Or do they dream of individual glory, and doing their utmost to use teams and clubs, to further their career in Individual pursuits like the GP's. It's confused thinking, and tantamount to the downturn in Club speedway over the years imo...which after all is what most fans watch weekly. I personally wish Speedway never ever had Individual world Finals or the GP series. I'd prefer World team Cup finals and Test match series. The focus in speedway is too much on individuals rather than teams imo. It's all about teams and Clubs for me...either International or domestic.

How could a Redcar asset (as he was at the time) be instructed by another team to ride for them. A team who didn't ( then) own him?? Newcastle wanted to sign him on loan originally but were forced to buy him in order to use him. Sorry but your first sentence doesn't make any logical sense, especially since Redcar wanted to use him that year.

Ah, Huddersfield, the reigning Premier League Champions, like Swindon! While Poole are rapidly disappearing into history, like Notts County.

exactly right, speed is relative to the others in the race. Close racing, with incident, strong characters, fan interaction and kids involvement is what we strive for.

Total cobblers then.

Thanks Neil. I'm off now to google what arcane means.

There are many reason like admission is too expensive, a collection of stupid rules like doubling up but for me the 2 biggest factors are ,1 we don’t know what we are anymore , speedway has always been a working mans sport a bit like stockcars but it’s trying to be a poor mans F1 and we are stuck somewhere in the middle and don’t know who our fans are anymore .2 there has always been a bond between the fans and riders and for whatever reason it has been eroded away to the point now that it barely exsist , have a read of the Preben Erickson bit in the speedway star this week , it hits the nail on the head , the sport has become a individual rider sport that is focussed and directed at the riders and the fans seem like an after thought but are expected to pay for the privilege ,

1. Marketing/Hype. - No marketing of the Sport nationally yet millions paid out to riders who patently didn't maintain the crowds interest or numbers. Look what Barry Hearn has done with darts? Look at how the PDC is marketed v the 'other' organisation the BDO? Its the same game! But that is where the similarity ends. Hearn marketed the Sport, and the players incrementally earned more as the Sport grew organically. He didnt pay out huge money before he had it coming in! In 1993 the Winner of the World Title earned £64k. This time he will get £440k.. One is loud, brash, colourful and very, very succesful. The other tries to match it (badly) and tries to be all things to all men from grass roots to World Champions.. British Speedway is the BDO to Poland's PDC, stuck in a time warp of a by-gone era which has no linkage to today's society.. 2. Attendances - Not spotting that an ever growing older demographic was your only dwindling customer base. (Just like Woolworths, and we know how that went). And even if they did spot it, doing absolutely nothing nationally as a colllective about it (see point one)... 3. Credibilty. - planning fixtures to suit riders needs rather than the requirements of the fans. Resulting in disjointed schedules, and a plethora of 'Mickey Mouse' meetings, full of guests, which render the whole competition a waste of time and loses any emotional involvement a fan should have following 'their team'. And if a competition is a 'waste of time with no credibilty', simply "why go to watch it?" 4. Admission Costs. - Maybe due to costs they cannot be lower? But quite simply, you will not attract a regular crowd every week/fortnight/tri-weekly/every fourth Wednesday if the dogs isn't on and we can get Greg over (delete as applicable). There has to be a way of reducing entrance fees. We who are left are used to paying inflation busting admission fees, now circa £18, but any newbies (which the Sport so desperately needs) will be very reluctant to dip their toe in the Speedway water at those prices. Remember, most won't have a clue about the Sport other than via TV or YouTube. Forking out £50 or so for a family not knowing beforehand if they will enjoy it or not is a big ask I would suggest. And one not too many will take.. 5. Integrity - Far too many rules and regulations mean the more switched on will invariably find loopholes to gain an advantage. All this does is frustrate fans of other clubs who either follow the rules honestly (or maybe are not savvy enough to do the same?). Assessed averages based on performances from previous years? He can ride in that division on an 8.00 average/But Him on a 6.50 cannot? He is Swedish, but blonde, but also left handed, so is a 5.00 not a 6.00? etc etc just paints the Sport as an insular nonsense. Self policing is often no policing and as long as those who make decisions have a vested interest in that particular decision, there will always be suspicions of things being contrived and manipulated. Not a great way to encourage fans to 'buy in' to your Sport with emotion (and cash).. 6. It's Not Just The Speedway - As years go by and times change, people want more from a night out. Except in Speedway where the policy seems to be 'if it was good enough for Great Uncle Jack, it's good enough for them today'! Many it appears, simply opens the gates and expect thousands to flock in. It's the same tired old routine at so many tracks with absolutely zero extra to enhance the evenings experience. People want more bang for their buck these days! Speedway's well meaning amateurs unfortunately are not equipped with the relevant skill set to deliver it.. In Summary TMC. For me there are far too many self inflicted wounds compounded by a complete lack of vision and adaptability over the years to turn the Sport around. It is crying out for modern thinking, dynamic and clear leadership from someone who understands marketing and customer needs and wants. Always struck me as odd that as 'Rome has burned around them' the 'Nero's' who have run the Sport have paid over the past 20 years literally tens and tens of millions out to riders, who by their presence havent even maintained crowd levels never mind increased them, yet haven't paid a penny to any professional marketing company who maybe could have hyped the Sport enough to get it on the wider community radar... An incredible business plan..

The people who do care...have stopped going to watch speedway. You have been left with a minority. More people have left, than watch. Speedway has slowly strangled itself. You can only have one winner in a league...and generally like Swindon last season, when doing well, crowds go up. You then have the majority of the rest of the league where crowds average out. Towards the bottom they may even go lower than average. True...all sports have 'glory hunters'...but in general people want to be entertained and enjoy good close racing. As Deanmachine said in a previous post...most fans wouldn't know whether the riders were on standardised equipment or not. And when you say 'best riders'...are they really? So much of todays riding is reliant on good and fast equipment. Stick many 'middle order riders on the best equipment and you would see some differences. Many riders are of similar ability...the quality of tuning and set up and equipment helps some rise to the top. Others don't have that opportunity. Put every rider on standardised equipment, and you will find the 'best riders' right now, may not be what you think they are.

I think those regional title meetings worked when each team visited only once a season so it might offer another chance to see a top star at your track

An average he should live up to....

Heard the Czech would come in on a 1.5 average. A reduction on his 2.5 average for each year he hasn't ridden here.

This is really interesting to read.... strange we do give away bits for example free sweets every week for kids and we will extend this to include fruit this year too. We "give away" used tearoffs and the kids love it... riders sign them of course. I take note of your digital communication and we all to often use social media as the "main tool" but now when texts are mainly free there could be an opportunity to increase our communication flow to those who have mobiles but do not use social media. Atmosphere is really important to us and this does increase the crowd interaction. Something we continue to work on and improve. Thanks for inspiring the grey matter and the advice, appreciate it. Barry

For me, personally, the period it started going wrong was in the 90s. I remember being passionate about speedway even then, although there were times I started questioning how loyal the sport was to me, the average fan. It was about 1994, a run-of-the-mill Four Team round at Kirky Lane that had to be delayed while riders were held up dashing back from Swedish commitments the night before. I had turned up, like the other thousand or so that night, in sufficient time before start in case I missed something... and yet the full cast wasn't there as scheduled. To me, at that time. I was merely part of a crowd that was supplementing another paynight for the riders who were en-route, and I questioned their true one-club loyalty. Riders had other irons in the fire - not on the individual front, but for other teams, other countries.That the Polish and Swedish leagues were now importing what had been primarily British-based riders didn't seem right to me. How could riders be team mates in another country and yet opposition over here! That wasn't the rivalry I grew up thinking speedway was about... from now on it was simply riders earning a crust, whenever and wherever, getting the best out of being self-employed (as Scott Nicholls described himself recently). They were putting too many fingers in too many pies. Then over here we had the ludicrous doubling up and down, here, there and everywhere rule, which further took away my belief in team speedway. Even when SKY began doing live matches in 1999, I still adored the sport. My adoration continued being smacked about though. The Golden Double, in which riders purposely slowed down to allow a team mate through and so to earn the double points, the World Cup in which Pedersen and Crump tried to stage-manage their race position so that one country couldn't operate the Joker in the next heat. The last 10-15 years have made me realise that speedway and its ethics have placed a huge cloud over my belief in the sport. Riders spreading themselves too thinly have taken away the true value of a team sport. Thankfully the double points rule has been confined to the sport's tried-but-failed old-rules shelf. albeit 15 years too late.

its what the whole sport in this country should strive for - big names do not necessarily equal good racing in fact the opposite is often the case

I think the key factor to remember is that this is a "different" redcar to the one Kus wanted away from, I think he is very likely to be back and with a positive attitude, the right promotional and team management behind him he will do a good job. we all want better, but at times you have to take a) what you can afford and b ) what is available - applies to life in general

Spot on Either reassess everyone or nobody its not difficult. No issue with Woryna on his low average but then leave riders like Tai and Zagar on theirs! Not rocket science

Odsal is just cruel and unnecessary. As for the final team place i have a suspicion that a rider is already lined up. The club will certainly know who they want roughly. The show us what you can do is a way of boosting winter school numbers with others entering the market.

spot on as usual, funny how you make the same incorrect statements as Matt Ford Fan!! You must get the same voices in your head!

1. Times have changed and live sport in general struggles for attendances. There is much more competition for peoples time and the majority of it can be had without leaving the house. 2. Speedway made a dogs dinner of their TV coverage and failed to use the income wisely. Many sports have survived decreasing crowds by using TV coverage to bring in sponsorship but Speedway generally hasn't bought in a lot of good sponsors. 3. The facilities at some tracks are appalling. 4. Not enough local riders or teams that retain riders for consecutive seasons. 5. The fans talk the sport down and want home wins when good racing is what will attract new spectators. Very much an underrated factor in my opinion, not only the fans but some promotions as well tell everybody that Speedway is a struggling, dying sport. 6. There are too many meetings in a too long season. Double edged sword as need the meetings to cover the track rent in most cases but even football is generally a bi-weekly event for most fans. Effectively doubles the cost for many supporters or leads to them picking the best meetings and not being bothered if they miss a few when the weather is dodgy. The season used to be Good Friday until the world final in mid September. Much better chance of decent weather and less weather ruined meetings.

We actually employed community service (you have to pay to have them unless you are a public building) and I was amazed that of the 20 or so lads that came to help us tidy Smallbrook none had been to and most had not heard of the sport. After we explained it to them, showed them a bike... they were really interested to come pay us a visit and I know of at least one who is now a regular. True story that...

LOL Mystic Meg you aint ! More like Septic Seb !!

spot on as always! why the forum puts up with trolls is beyond me

This rob mac has always been a moaning old knob to be honest.

Amazing the difference a year makes, Last year Swindon couldn't wait to get rid of Batchelor, and were glad he was gone. Although we welcomed him with open arms, nobody away from Lynn had a decent word for him. Yet a year later everything is forgotten and he's welcome back to Swindon . Fickle Lot !!!!

He could be as average as he likes if he's the fifth ranked rider! Agree about the reserves though, no team with two 2 pointers is going to 'romp' any league.

i said everyone had the opportunity .... not that they had one ............ and I will state again .... I cant recall the league having so few heat leaders ..... 12 between 11 teams given last year there was summers over 8 and bridger deemed over 8 ............ there were around 19 heat leaders between 10 sides if u read my posts I want a more fairer league ....... and I would be complaining if we had 2 heat leaders there is still too much self interest and not enough working together to create a competitive leagues and support and nuture british talent - look at the latest ruling ........ foreign riders are now on 5.20 ........ and what a surprise Edinburgh have the Swedish under 21 champion in at 5.20 ............ bloody joke

To be honest I've got no issue with Woryna or the other Pole's name who I can't spell keeping their previous averages. It makes things a lot easier if everyone keeps their previous averages. The problem then comes when they have re-asssessed riders like Tai Woffinden and co. They either had to re-assess all of them or none of them... not some of them!

Have him at Sheffield your a man down

I agree with all of your comments here Rob but the last paragraph does you little credit. Basically, what you are saying is that you won't go because of one person's attitude towards the older fan - a person that very rarely even attends meetings. Bluntly, that's a childish reaction because, as someone who does go, I can assure you that no older fans are 'despised and sneered at'. Quite the opposite, in fact. The view that older fans are all chair bound with woolly hats and flasks and hate any change or innovation is complete stereotypical nonsense and the overwhelming majority are absolutely nothing like that at all.

They weren't harsh, they were grossly insulting - and yes, they are untrue. They are also typical of someone who rarely actually attends speedway because you don't seem to realise just how much the sport needs its older clientele. As someone who does go and goes regularly across the country, without them speedway would be finished. For right or wrong, they represent a substantial part of speedway's attendances and alienating them without ensuring that new supporters are being attracted in their thousands is, unquestionably, more than stupid. Take my friend Kirky Lane. Belle Vue season ticket holder, attended at least 70 matches across Britain last season. Pensioner. I also don't believe that to attract new, younger fans you need necessarily get rid of the older ones. From experience, the older ones are just interested in the speedway. They don't care what music you play or what happens in the interval. They also wouldn't care if you billed it as an extreme sport. Indeed, many of them would embrace change because they know only too well that the sport needs new blood on the terraces. Once again, I will point to Isle of Wight. One of their main priorities is attracting youngsters and they put in an awful lot of time and effort in doing so. In the process, they do everything they can to retain their existing fan base and one of the reasons for their success is that they view speedway as a family sport. In other words, it is for all ages.

Are you his brother Wayne?

I hope Pipe didn’t get it he will ruin the NL, if he got his hands on it it would become a glorified mdl/sdl

99% of fans wouldn't even notice if every rider switched to factory standard sealed engines, the general public maybe do want to see the best riders but the equipment they use is totally irrelevant to fans, it only matters to the riders , speedway is not like other motorsports ,its more like a team sport on motorbikes

In my case everything is. No idea why I've gone upstairs or out to the garage until I start from the beginning again. I must spend ages aimlessly walking about.

We had some good riders last year, it seems that with the exception of Ben they've all gone elsewhere.

Thanks for the update of Roberts location. Its puts a different angle on it, but had he wanted to ride this wouldn't have stopped him. I have no problem with the tickets being sent out that late, but expected some form of confirmation before then. I have ordered 2 tickets for people who will have to travel down and have day off work. Have they to wait until the tickets arrive before booking that day off work?? Having ordered them early, I feel a confirmation Email would have been so easily arranged. I too believe THJ will be more than capable of attaining a decent average. They say form is temporary, where ability is forever. and few can doubt his ability. Most of his bad scores could be attributed to poor machinery, and using borrowed equipment , but I sure with a settled team, and decent bike he will more than hold his own..... Apparently he is a wonderful rider to have in the pits and always wanting to help and encourage others.... Something a close team desperately needs........

Glad to have Batch back. Was getting a bit worried by all the K K talk. Good top 5. Just a temporary no 7 to go now.

Which riders have started at the My first skid school? There's Jamie Sealey, Finn Peacey I assume, since he's from the IOW, who else might we see? My goal for 2018 is to see EVERY team who fields a team at least once, including all the development league teams, Good luck to all involved!!

A hard choice was made, but I feel it was the correct one. Both are cracking riders and both would of been excellent at No1 But Bacon is more settled and age wise more mature. Wishing JPB all the best for next season.

So you are saying that riders like, Georgie Wood, Ben Hopwood, Mark Baseby, Jake Knight, Matt Williamson, Ben Morley, Jon Armstrong, Kelsey Dugard and Danny Ayres should be banned from riding National League because they are clearly not going to make it to the top now because if they were good enough they would have done it by now (best of luck telling Danny Ayres he can't ride). Also riders like Danyon Hume, Connor Mountain, JPB, Tom Brennan and Jordan Jenkins should only ride CL next season if they want to improve ? First of all where are all these 3 point riders coming from to replace the riders who shouldn't ride National League ? Secondly who is going to pay on average £12 per meeting to watch I'm sorry to say youngsters who don't have the experience to compete at that level yet and end up getting seriously injured? It's all well and good saying how things are in Poland but over there Clubs own there own tracks youngsters can go practice when they want Day or Night over here how many clubs here own there own tracks ? Also the sponsorship over there is far greater for young riders than it is here youngsters over here you have to remember have to stay in education until they are 18 meaning a Saturday job is not going to go very far when it comes to buying equipment etc and not every rider has rich parents to back them. The National League needs a mixture of ages and abilities to run Thats just my opinion

The 8 point rule is irrelevant. When you can compete financially with the Polish clubs, then you might attract some riders back. Until then, they will always be under the control of their Polish masters, who can request them to return for training sessions and miss meetings at the drop of a hat. So for now, concentrate of breeding young local talent to fill the leagues.

That is downright offensive. Perhaps if instead of your ignorant ageism we have someone post some equally obnoxious homophobia and see how you like it. Comments like that destroy any respect for the rest of your occasionally intelligent comments. Just because you post in detail and some are taken in by it all doesn't mean you're in the right. I've worked damn hard for speedway in my time and it would be good to think that I could still go to speedway without facing obnoxious comments from yourself about people in my age group. Anyway, hopefully I'll be dead soon, eh? Uteerly disgusting. We should cater for all not just overgrown children like you.

Jack Holder showed contempt towards the Championship and its fans in his actions to ride in Poland. Its just a shame that any club has chosen to give him a contract in British speedway in 2018

This forum is mostly for 'experts' from the other side of the air fence. I'd try on of the facebook pages. Just search 'speedway tips'.