Leaderboard

Perhaps if you asked nicely rather than making demands of a stranger on the internet you'd have got a more polite, helpful, response. There are 26 teams in Britain for 2020 (19 senior, 7 NL/amateur, whatever you like to tag it as). That is 182 team spots and 182 riders needed. A little bit of digging in places where the information is easy to find (BSPA website) shows that there are 77 British riders assigned to team spots across the leagues. There are also currently three team spots yet to be filled in the National League - these riders have to be British. Newcastle also have a National Trophy team adding a further six British riders who are unattached to another club. This gives us 83 British riders that are spoken for for 2020 already. Next, we look at last season's green sheet averages to see the Brits who rode but aren't currently attached to a team for the 2020 season. There are another 20. We're up to 103 British riders who have been active in league speedway here within the last year or are due to ride this season. Lastly, riders who competed in second half league racing last term. This information is readily available on this forum - and adds a further 53 British speedway riders. Our running total is 156 British riders who have thrown their leg over a bike in the last year. At this point I also need to factor in a British rider who didn't race here last season, Tai Woffinden. This leaves a total of 157 British Speedway riders. As an added bit of context here, I have omitted Shelby Rutherford and Connor Bailey here as despite riding NL last season they are from New Zealand and Australia respectively. Rory Schlein is included as he races as a British rider now. Of course, of that 157 there will be some who have retired, but there will also be others who have picked up Speedway in the off season, or turned 15 and are now eligible for National League competition. There will also be those who competed in other forms of second half racing or amateur meetings so in reality the figure will be higher than 157 but let's use that as the working number. Now we need to fill the team spots. As it stands, due to doubling up (19 riders are due to pull double duty between Premiership and Championship, 11 between Championship and National League) the 182 team spots across the three divisions are filled by 142 riders. 142 is less than 157. There are enough British riders to go around, albeit at a much watered down standard (as I already pointed out it would be). It is worth noting that I am in favour of riders from all nations racing here, I'm merely proving my point that there are enough British riders to go around under the current doubling up rules if, hypothetically, the league had to be run with Brits only. I acknowledge that the standard of riders would be a lot lower of course. My personal hope is that doubling up will eventually be scrapped, one of the common stock responses when that is mentioned here is "there aren't enough riders." And that response is in terms of Speedway riders from any nation, not just British ones. There are enough riders.

Apologies for misleading people, I was alluding to resizing and posting photos ("if anyone can do it") definitely not riding speedway, something I would never joke about. However I have had a go and your right, I am tall, here's a Mick Kilby pic.of me at the Mike Broadbank training track '67.

Would YOU buy a used speedway from Ford? ;-)

You do accept that over the years as the standard of the leagues have dropped so have attendances? Likewise, the Premiership on average gets better crowds than the Championship and the Championship on average gets better crowds than the NL? Therefore, this approach would be a race to the bottom. As for people being die hard supporters, no, people who cannot stomach a drop in quality, pick and choose meetings etc. are not die hard supporters. However, speedway cannot exist on die hard supporters alone, as recent years have shown. In my opinion, this idea would see speedway quickly relegated to a similar level as grasstrack. An amateur sport where die hard fans watch riders racing round in a field.

Dan Thompson was taken to Hospital on Thursday 26th of March with appendicitis. He had the operation to remove his appendix on Friday and is already back home and recovering well! His family wish to pass on their gratitude to the Hospital staff, who they say, "were brilliant" in looking after Dan.

Got to know Dakota when he lived with Carl Blackbird for a season, & found him to be a really nice down to earth lad. Could have been a top rider in my opinion.

He did mention Newcastle. I watched it again just to make sure. I do agree with tsunami that I imagine it’s a late payment rather than a non payment. Newcastle promoters have always had a good reputation and were in the game for a long time.

Never could work out why the Internationale was the only thing they wanted. However, in later years Grandstand developed an interest in grass-track, which was surprising, and Murray Walker did those.

I always loved the Polish rider Szymon Kielbasa - Simon Sausage. What a name...

Whenever I hear Ford speak I have this terrible urge to check my valuables, then my fingers....

People say the product has been diluted over the years but if you take say the last 10-15 years I've probably seen the same number of heats per season that I thought "wow what a race" diluting of product isn't necessarily the quality of riders on show, as the odd GP has shown in the past, on a poor track the racing is just as dire as any other meeting. Speedway has ploughed along more or less the same as it was at the start, all I have seen over the years are either slight tweaks to the same format or just rebranding names of leagues I.e. covering dog poo in a quality street wrapper. Think the sport needs a massive overhaul in an attempt to bring new fans in, I say attempt because you can't fault someone who tries, if an effort is made then so be it if it doesnt attract new fans because either way the sport probably is on it's way out over a 5-10 year period. I have my own thoughts on a way forward which is different to what it is now, it would mean less teams (as we'll likely lose some tracks due to this inactivity) it would also mean losing the few top end riders who ride GP and Poland etc.

Hmm...difficult one that. Especially deciding between Crump Jnr and Youngie for no. 1. Apart from Fundin, Crump Jnr is the only rider to finish on the podium in ten successive seasons which should make him the no.1. However, I would say that at no time was he clearly the best rider in the world in the same way that Young was. Young dominated the early 1950s in the same way as say Rickardsson did in the 2000s. To offset that however, Youngie was not in or around the elite for as long as Crumpie. My instinct would be that if we are looking at Young just in the first three or four years of the 1950s, then he would be top. If over their whole career, then Crump Jnr. So, having weighed all that up, I would go for 1. Crump Jnr 2. Young 3. Adams 4. Sanders 5. Crump Snr.

Do you agree that over the last decade there has been a gradual reduction in quality across British speedway and in turn a gradual decline in crowds? If so, what makes you think that a significant reduction in quality won't have an even more detrimental impact on crowd numbers?

https://youtu.be/9DFENfV8Ou8

Don't forget the "sugar-in-the-tank" episode at the 78 British Final... That could have been four on the bounce.

My greatest football memories were watching those great early 1970s teams of Leeds Utd play.There were a great team but in reality underachieved badly they were on quite alot with Keith Macklin commentating.Then after that those great Sir Bobby Robson Ipswich sides Sir Bobby was years ahead of his time he helped mould Cooper,Burley,Mills,Beattie,Mariner and my favourite Eric Gates he was a legend of a manager.That masterstroke of selling Brian Talbot for a huge fee and then getting in Muhren/Thyssen Muhren was one hell of a player even when ageing he was some player for Man Utd great days great football.

Yes remember him doing all the Midland games when it was Wolves Billy Wright also co commentated.

The rain !!!! it was p.s ...g down when we got there at 6am in the morning.I can remember seeing locals eating raw fish with the heads still on grose.The track i quite liked but it was not a great meeting to watch one moment stuck in my mind from that meeting was that Sanders should of been mega tough on Muller in there meeting he wasn't the rest is history.

I personally doubt that. Late possibly.

With that name and some decent chatter he could probably get some lucrative sponsorship deals.

Bob Danvers-Walker did in a Pathe News clip, I know that.

Never heard of a Bagshaw.

Totally agree Steve even the great Chris Harris win at Cardiff was not the same as all of my Wembley visits.I think mainly it was so special for me because i went with my dad ( who was not a fan). To spend time with him was special usually overtime stopped my dad doing much with me over the years i can still remember dad prounoucing the great Ivan MAUGER rather than MAJOR.

It’s a well known fact that Polish speedway has a lot more than anywhere else. Polish riders get their engines re tuned way , way more often than Brits etc. and this comes from a couple of riders who have rode in Poland , Sweden and the UK. you only have to look at how much better they are kitted out than any other country.

Not easy Steve he rode a faultless line against Ivan, such a shame Barry gave Bernie the bolt that hole on the inside to exploit.For me though it was a irresponsible move and he should of gradually moved through on the line not bulldoze his way through like he did.I think Barry to this day has never forgiven Bernie for that crazy move.

great post Ben and well done for trying to calculate things.

https://www.bt.com/sport-support-options That page gives you the option of choosing the donation or one-month credit

the flag man at workington got hit by mal mackay and geoff maloney during a tight finish as a result he must have got some insurance because he started a taxi company but more inportant he was the first on out street to get a colour tv so all us kids went to watch it,the picture wasnt that good but worse my hero ivan was wearing black leathers to blend in as he said later.watching now on utube its great to see ivan wind bernie up before the run off colin pratt allways maintains ivan should have been excluded, now if only the grand prix had that much atmosphere .

Great post thanks for making the effort Ben, i for one would be willing to see a lower level of competition if i had to.Speedway is four riders in a race that are of all levels you don't need four champion's in a race to entertain us i have seen that at NL level.Are people who could not stomach a real drop in quality die hard supporters?? i think not some people think speedway is an expensive night out yet people are willing to pay 20 pound for a pizza.

So annoying Steve the late great Bob Radford lent me a Polish version of the 1972 final and it had the Briggs v Mauger clash on it.As you commented the ITV coverage?? never showed it crazy when you think back.I am convinced Briggs would of won that meeting but my heart tells me that Olsen was the best rider on the night but he made a huge mistake and he didn't make many over the years ( he did bring Ashby off once ) Thinking back Wembley was not much of a track really but the atmosphere was electric i saw a European Final there in 1974 Collins won the meeting and that was a super night full of drama as well Lovaas qualified i think.

The league would have to be pitched midway between the current Championship and NL level in order to be competitive.

Named after an aeroplane!

Very informative Ben91 thanks for taking the time to check those figures out, I stand by what i said that no more than 50 senior riders from the Premiership/Championship would be the highest count of British riders, give or take one or two, how can that be enough for 19 teams ?.

Nope

Truth !!!! not sure it`s as simplistic as that- wonder how the question ( or questions) was phrased ?

It was s night of great 'ifs'. Briggo having beaten Mauger...Olsen dropping it after doing all the hard work coming from last to nearly first...Olsen passing Mauger after Ivan had left a great hole after taking the Russian out...Lofqvist running a last and was only one ride away from being a potential champion...Michanek (one of the favourites) falling off in his first ride....John Louis almost grabbing a rostrum place during his first year in the top league...great 'shoulder to shoulder' race involving the two Eastern Bloc (of which there was still some mystery and/or suspicion attached) riders (Waloszek - Poland & Chlynovski - USSR)...Persson running into Briggo and the Russian high riding it...Persson being 'mugged' twice by Mauger...and, of course, the strange disappearance of some of the Russian bikes prior to the meeting to which it was later found that rider Tony Clarke had a part to play...a great night of drama and I'm glad I have the highlights on DVD (although the Briggo - Mauger race was never televised?) and I every so often dip into it. Great memories!

Would have been nice if Ivan had won in 1973 as he was riding a long-stroke, longtrack JAWA engine and was pretty much passing for fun that day, though it has to be said the starts were, interesting. I only got to to see the meeting years afterward but imagine the tension if it shown on live TV (don't think it was) : a winner take all run-off between the current World Champion (Ivan) v local rider in the form of his life (Szczakiel), just as Ivan is about to make his move they clash, and we all know the rest....

June possibly July.

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everybody involved in producing the Speedway Star, despite the current crisis. To be able to fill nearly fifty pages with things to read about our beloved sport, even if a certain amount of it is nostalgia stuff, is a credit to them all. With businesses dropping by the wayside at a fast rate of knots, I think it's important that we speedway supporters do our bit to keep the company going, and at just £3 a week, is that really asking a lot, when you consider a match day programme usually costs £4 these days. I appreciate that social media provides most of the information we require these days, but this is about trying to keep the only weekly speedway publication up and running, even if we only take up 6-month subscription for £60 until the current coronavirus crisis is hopefully behind us. Such a lot of the older generation who need the help of those who are more able bodied to be more flexible in the way they are living their lives with shopping etc., don't have access, or can't afford the luxury of the internet, and rely either being at meetings to keep up to date, and purchase their magazine from the Track Shop, or use the subscription service. So please, if you are of the younger generation, and can afford it (It's cheaper than a Smart phone package), take out a short term subscription and help the elderly and vulnerable. I don't work for the Speedway Star, and these are purely my personal thoughts and feelings. Thank you for reading this, and if you don't agree with my posting, then please don't post negative comments about it, as I'm thinking of the older generation that to a large extent keep our clubs open as most promoters will tell you, and at the same time, it keep the staff of the magazine in employment. STAY SAFE EVERYBODY

Gossip is cheap but informed interviews and opinion from experienced journalists are priceless. Someone I knew at the BBC said "We may not broadcast the news first, but we get it right". Thanks to all at Pinegen. Keep up the fight.

You can also use your fingers to wipe your bottom when there is not a toilet roll in sight, but a crumpet in your hands is a thing of wonder!

Attending a World Final, not knowing at the start who was going to win, seeing it all unfold, and the new World Champion being crowned. Those feelings, emotions, have all been lost, thanks to OOFC and its successors. Yes, there are good GPs, some great meetings, but they’re not much different from any other good or great individual meetings. World Final night can never be replicated - they were SPECIAL.

Doesn't look like I was far away with this prediction with the BSPA announcing that "With the latest information from the government stating high risk groups of people should stay at home for 12 weeks, it is unlikely that that there will be any British Speedway events taking place before June 15, at least" The big worry for me is the last two words of "at least" as the realisation that not only will this virus be around for longer than folks are predicting but the other issue what no one seems to have mentioned yet is once we have got on top of this outbreak how the hell will we switch everything back on? Will Boris just suddenly announce "that's it we have it sorted open the pubs"? Personally I don't think so... it will take weeks and possibly a couple of month or more the get things back to as near normal as possible once we have this situation under control and that's if we don't have the predicted possibility of a resurgence of cases once these measures are relaxed. Is Speedway (clubs in particular and possibly riders) ready and able to just hit the ground running and start a new season from fresh in the middle of June? and when would be the time to call it quits from the Championship clubs perspective and write the season off because I am sure that must now be in the back of promoters minds. As much as I don't want Speedway not to run this season there must be a cut off date when the BSPA say its just not feasible. However if that is the case what are the options? Could the season be extended to the end of November (obviously weather permitting) Would there be any value in running a couple of mini leagues 6 teams north and 6 south with 5 home & 5 away fixtures in the group and the top two of each league play across each other so 2nd north vs Top south and vice versa with the two winners playing for the championship title or if there is a shortage of riders due to travel restrictions still being in place what about running a series of four team tournaments on a league basis or as a last resort a Championship GP type series of individual events... Tough times and it may need some creative thinking if we are to get some Speedway this year... Regards THJ Another quick edit "The British Speedway Promoters Ltd (formerly British Speedway Promoters Association) made the announcement" Must get used to calling them them the BSPL rather than the BSPA.... sorry

Well said Barry, thank you and you and yours stay healthy and safe.. Slightly off topic British Speedway has never needed a man to oversee the Sport for the benefit of the sport as a whole any more so than it does now, however as usual the BSPA cant see the wood for the clouds or is it the Trees ? , to my way of thinking Barry Bishop is head and shoulders above anyone on the present management committee, and would not be afraid to make decisions that would benefit the WHOLE sport not just decisions that benefit the few, he should be leading the Sport in this hour of need..

Hey, The challenges for a club such as ours are many - for example we have already spent for 40 AIr fence banners, plus A frame and trackside banners, we have invested in new media equipment, track equipment, we have undertaken Ferry TV and Newpapers marketing campaigns (although these are suspended), and there are many other expenses associated with the season starting insurances, pbs, machinery hire contracts and more... its pretty tricky right now. Luckily, we havent processed any season tickets and not all sponsorship agreements, but the worry is that if our sponsors pull out or reduce their sponsorship it could provide a much greater challenge moving forward for the sustainability of the club (as you know speedway is not my main work). I am sure that our club is not alone when I say that we have already had contact from sponsors raising such questions about the seaon ahead and what's happening and how that might reflect their sponsorship contribution. Nothing said in a bad way... just enquiring because for sure, they will also be hurting too and worried about their bottom line. It is a heartbraking situation for us all and even more so for anyone who has to make considerable financial investment to bring speedway to the public in the first place.. Riders, Promoters, Management, and I am sure our govening bodies too. But all this really does not compare in the effort of our nation(s) right now to protect us all against Covid 19 and I wish you all well and keep healthy and safe. As to the question of if we can all survive this... I am always very positive about the future and what lays ahead but it will take an effort from everyone involved in speedway from our fans to our governing bodies to ensure that we succeed. Promoters and riders cannot do it alone... never could, but even more so after this. Keep safe, check in with your elderly relatives and if you need a chat reach out to me anytime. No need to be lonely.

Sorry but I don't see what's remotely delightful or funny about having to use the phrase " window lickers" ( wherever they may originate from). Given that the phrase is extremely offensive I would have thought Mr. Dodds would have been castigated rather than lauded

You didn’t prove it, because you don’t know who has decided to retire or who wants to ride in a national league. You just counted every Tom, dick and harry who competed locally or ride a meeting last season