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I think you might be wrong about Jensen & Bach. They're better than those averages. As to the other 4, I think you are right. Cutting back on fixtures this season but have just spoken to my chauffeur about our 2018 journeys to the Wild West. Wouldn't be the same without a few trips up to Dodge City.

It is quite a breathtaking level of arrogance that has been shown by those who run the Sport in this Country that they have continually ignored the feedback of their very own patrons for so many years.. I would say that since this piece was written crowds are now approximately 20% of what they were then, meaning 80% of its customer base has been eroded either sadly through natural causes or the disillusionment of an ageing fanbase.. You cannot have any greater help in running any business than your customers telling you what they like you doing and what they dont, and Speedway through various weekly and monthly magazines during the past thirty years, and obviously the Internet in the past 10 in particular, have had literally thousands of pieces of 'feedback' which incredibly have been completely ignored... The frustration for the few fans that now remain is that the feedback the governing bodies have received has been year on year very, very, similar in content with many common themes running through the fans' discontent... When the mantra should have been "We are listening, thanks for the feedback , we will change" it instead became "We are right, and you fans have absolutely no idea what you are talking about". "British Speedway, now reaping what it has sowed over the past thirty years"... That would be a good strap line for the 2018 season....

Well dropping last years, excellent, 2 British riders rule hasn't helped!!!

That’s crazy about Ellis Perks. Just like Stefan Nielsen this year. I can’t believe Championship promoters don’t prioritise British talent. Why isn’t there a rule requiring all British riders under 25 who have achieved a 4 point average to be signed? Ellis might not be the big improver that wins you the Championship title this year - compared to the new 5.2 point Scandinavians - but he will be a solid, cost effective investment for years to come. It’s also crazy that Premiership teams have dropped the two British riders rule.

Cutting the ribbon at the new Poole cafe?

You'e a proper fan Win,Lose or draw cheer your team on. You had enough seasons without a team. Cherish it now they'e back

what is a pub ichair? Have Apple moved into the corporate furniture business?

WROTE the following in an edition of Speedway Star in June 1981. Could have repeated it every year since including the present one. SPEEDWAY in this country is facing a crisis which threatens the foundations on which the sport is built. Unless something is done to stop the squabbling, the wastage of money, bending of the rules and, in some cases, blatant breaking of regulations, speedway will lose even the support of the hard core of fans. Vast numbers of followers are becoming disenchanted either with the way speedway is run or by the attitude of riders who seem prepared to bite the hand that feeds them. Any rider who doesn't fulfil his commitments is cheating the public. It is as simple as that. Speedway has got itself into such a mess with foreign riders that there is no easy way out. But a remedy must be found. First, however, the promoters who run league speedway in this country must put their own house in order. Speedway desperately needs a clearly defined set of regulations which are strictly adhered to without exception. The rulebook as it is at present is bent, manipulated, rewritten, ignored or changed at will. That cannot continue. Sadly, it seems it has.

He's only available to come to Panthers if he wants to ride for them and as he has is heart set on Sheffield he's most likely to go there, regardless of where Laura wants him to go the rider will get the final say. Or as they say you can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be lead.

They may be not world stars ,but they have shown there loyalty to the club instead of taking off for pastures anew as soon as soon as better terms are offered elsewhere , they have stuck by the club when others like B.Barker . C. Harris , P. Starke , J.Holder have all turned there backs and moved on. That's why they stick by them because they are reliable and dependable and put the club first , regardless if they are the best options or not loyalty must go a long way.

human beings , cant work with them , wont work without them . so throw some names in the pot and lets see what you come up with ! if you are a worky supporter , support the team . as long as they all put on a good show and dont do a sarj on us . i will be there and happy . so lets have your team then !

Plus their brother ... Chance.

That reminds me of the that comedy act Norfolk and Good.

So much for the " we have to have doubling up as there's not enough riders " argument . 5.2 seems fair for an untried newcomer . If he flops then you move for someone else and if he's a bargain on that average then the club , whomever that is , deserves credit for doing their homework on him .

1) To be open honest and transparent 2) Fan interaction - the majority of this forum for example is team building thoughts through the winter And when changes are needed in May then then both 1 and 2 apply again

Very true but perhaps it's long overdue to make some radical changes and nurtre uk rider's

The thread's title is "Things Don't Change." Happy New Year, BWitcher!

It does seem farcical that British riders do not get the nod over new untried imports. Ive been saying for years that i would like to see all British riders get a 1 point reduction on their average at the end of each season to make them more attractive signings

I'm sure ged will make plenty once the season has started..if the past is anything to go by.

At least we have had some actual info on how averages have been set for newcomers - Thanks Edinburgh promotion for providing this. Just need to know now how some existing averages have been reached!!

So you keep saying like a broken record.... what exactly did he say then, as you keep missing that bit of information out?

It's the ultimate example of how folks look back and forget the dross. If that meeting was a Grand Prix now it would be being slagged off.

Cant wait to prove u wrong

I have always wondered why the 1981 World Final was looked upon as the best ever. Playing back the video (yes remember them?) confirms to me that apart from 3 or 4 races it was as boring and processional as all the rest.

Which is true, it certainly wouldn't be. But at Somerset when I was there (three times) in 2017 the programme contained far more than the race listings and adverts. There were pages and pages of off-beat and entertaining articles by good writers. To me, the Somerset programme is very good value for money!

If the BSPA were shown a scatter graph they would take one look at it and scatter !!!!!!

Lebadev on 4.50 it seems. Like Musielek last year and Woryna this year.

Polish U21 riders are a gamble especially when they are with the top clubs like Wroclaw and Leszno as they are the vital members of the team. Maybe a rider over 21 could be worth taking on and one Pole that has a low average but cetainly improved vastly last season is Jakub Jamrog at Tarnow who had a brief spell at Coventry but struggled big time.

Ulrich will end up with the same average as he starts with, in my opinion. That will do for me, as he gives 100% every race, & is a bit of a nutter on track. He is very entertaining, & a brilliant captain, something lacking in a lot of riders.

I know the promotion already do get out and promote to the holiday parks (we have a Somerset Speedway sign in place at Brean Leisure Park/Brean Golf Club). We do need to change the sign though as it states Friday nights! I have also known Debbie to stand in the Leisure Park car park (with the owners agreement) handing out leaflets on weekends before too. I remember one weekend I had their Speedway advert trailer plonked outside my shop window too! One issue that has hampered this a bit is the fact that Friday became changeover day at many of the Parks in BOS/Brean. A family arriving to the area on a Friday with kids probably just want to get settled into their holiday surroundings rather than turn straight around and head back to the OTA for a speedway meeting. With the change to a Monday or Wednesday racenight this might open this avenue up a little bit more for holiday makers to attend. I have also suggested a 'speedway flyer' bus service might also be a way to get more holidaymakers attending but as you said ideally the Park owners want that customers £1 to be spent with them.

There is plenty of recorded speedway on You Tube

If Han's is confirmed then this is the strongest line-up the Lions have had in years, plus with the influx again of ex-bees riders there should be a lot of Coventry fans willing to come and see some top racing at Beaumont Park. (Shrewd move by the management & marketing Team imo).

why Do Peterborough keep sticking with ulrich and lambert both terrible riders now!

Glad to see Rene back in British speedway , a class act

Kangaroo skins per chance!!

Certainly agree with the principle and sentiment although 1 whole point is huge

So it seems that the rumoured re-assessment of certain assessed riders has indeed been re-assessed. The original 'independent' assessment has been assessed as being wrongly assessed so has been re-assessed for the coming season. I expect to see an announcement about the re-assessed assessments fairly soon. In fact I would assess that it will happen sometime before March - although I may well have to re-assess my assessment.

who wrote that J.K ROWLING !

When morten first come over to England..he really did look like he could make it big...Unfortunately that didn't work out. Good luck to morten in his future.

Kyle would be a good number one, let’s face it! Howarth 8.62 and Perks 5.08 takes us to 42.44 and means Lambert starting at reserve with Grondal

Worky have named their full 1-7 and so cannot stop Howarth riding anywhere he wants now and can only demand a standard loan fee and nothing else

Looks a team of second strings... whos winning races?? Think Bewley will end up as number 1 by the end of the year

great post mikebv -

One thing Aces fans can be sure of, Rphan Tungate and Max Fricke are winning meetings for fur Down Under right now. Bang in form for the Aussie Title series starting this weekend.

Let's just give them a chance and support them. Looking forward to this season. Up the Comets

So we've signed Luke-Sky Walker, or whatever his name is. This is the National League. What did you expect? Tai Woffinden?

Well, I have seen 46 years of almost continual decline, in terms of support and numbers of professional tracks and the riding talent employed in the country. While this last point, as I have argued many times in the past is not as vital as many would think, it is a reality. To say that because the sport is still here then it's always been like this does seem rather odd logic. I have never claimed that "The sky is falling in" and predicted British speedway's doom. I am fully convinced that it will always survive at least in a semi-professional or amateur form, say today's Championship or NL level but I have had my severe doubts about sustainability at the fully professional level for many years, and certainly since its loss of Saturdays and now Fridays too. Outside speedway my academic background and my consuming interest still is in aspects of economic and social history. I study history in many forms, both through books and magazines and by video. I occasionally also visit source material when I can. I think I am in a fairly good position to be able to judge how aspects of society change over time. I certainly don't subscribe to the view that the past was automatically better. I'd like to think that despite having enjoyed many things in the past I am not in possession of 'rose-tinted glasses'. I do not lament lost youth. However, I do know what I enjoy and have enjoyed, and equally the reverse. I have seen wonderful things arrive such as the very technology that allows me to make this posting. I have equally seen matters develop that appal me such as the rise of social selfishness and erosion of basic human respect and consideration. I have no doubt whatsoever that British speedway has declined appallingly in that near half-century, mainly due to the impact of SGPs and Poland. I didn't see the disaster years of the 1950s but I did start about six years after the 1960s revival brought about by the creation of the BL. Off the top of my head there were about 36 professional tracks in the top two divisions in my first year, 1971. Now we have just over half that number. Nobody can suggest that is anything but a disaster, despite the existence of the theoretically amateur NL. In 1971 there were seven first division tracks running on Saturdays, over a third of the league. These included Wembley, the old Belle Vue, Coventry, Cradley and Halifax. All are gone. Outside London it could be argued the backbone of the sport has been lost. We have lost all speedway in London as well. No, things are far worse than they were in 1971. As for racing, that is subjective but while I feel domestically that racing has picked up slightly in recent seasons, viewing my videos of the 1980s I have no doubt that racing has declined, principally through the decline of outside passing. For years I watched racers take the brave challenge of opening the throttle and going for the outside pass only to be let down by cheaply-prepared or maintained tracks that failed to give them the grip to reward their bravery. There is still some. but not enough, and if a speedway lover like me sees this, what do you think the attitude of the casual supporters is. Id'd ask them if most hadn't voted with their feet. In Poland and the SGPs I feel the racing has recovered to the standard I once knew here, but feel that is a product of expenditure on tracks and incentives for the riders. Here though neither exists significantly enough. Just by bringing back GP riders you won't get GP racing without money. Yes people have warned speedway about its foolishness continually for years and have been ignored. I'd suggest that many who did have long-since found other things to occupy them. Claiming that just because the sport survives these messages are invalidated does nobody any good, neither the sport or contributor. The biggest problem with people or sports involved in a negative spiral is to convince them they haven't got a problem, whether they be a drunk or a sport that's lost its way. Speedway should be grateful that some still care enough to put over reasoned and constructive criticism. Certainly it does little to encourage such loyalty and carries on in its own complacent way, occasionally telling supporters off for not attending..... The fact that Philip can justifiably level the same allegations 36 years later is not a failing of his.

Just the aces. He' back for Colts

Video of the 2017 European 500cc Sidecar Champs in France - the complete Meeting of 12 heats C - B - and A - finals with some truely great racing ! [media] Line-up # 1 - Kevin HÜBSCH & Michael Burger (GERMANY) # 2 - William MATTHIJSEN & Sandra Mollema (NETHERLANDS) # 3 - Mitch GODDEN & Paul Smith (GREAT BRITAIN) # 4 - David CHAMINADE & Stephanie Vedelago (FRANCE) # 5 - Martin BRANDL & Hermann Brandl (GERMANY) # 6 - Christophe GRENIER & Vincent Bertoneche (FRANCE) # 7 - Dave CARVILL & Cameron Gooden (GREAT BRITAIN) # 8 - Markus VENUS & Markus Heiss (GERMANY) # 9 - Shaun HARVEY & Denny Hogg (GREAT BRITAIN) # 10 - Guillaume COMBLON & Chloe Agez (FRANCE) # 11 - Josh GOODWIN & Liam Brown (GREAT BRITAIN) # 12 - Markus BRANDHOFER & Tim Scheunemann (GERMANY) # 13 - Joel SUDNIKEVITS & Johan Paabstel (ESTONIA)

and nothing wrong with barker at no1 im sure a few clubs wouldnt mind him as there no1