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Didn't I read somewhere that a group of serial BSF doom and gloom merchants went for a drink together and spotted a sign saying "Happy Hour" so they all left ?.

I think to be fair to any of those who run the sport, they are not 'proper' sports' administrators... Just well meaning people who find themselves leading others of the same persuasion.. The top sports have a separate leadership team from the owners of the clubs, which means professionals can be brought in to strategically move the sport forwards. With their performance being measured by the owners.. Many of these people will get their positions through previous experience in similar roles and (possibly most importantly), a list of business and media contacts who can get the cut through needed to generate the right financial backing and publicity.. Speedway (in the UK), has never countenanced such a notion, preferring to keep everything 'in house', within the 'speedway bubble', therefore we have what we have.. I seem to remember, (maybe last year), a measure of success quoted was 'all clubs surviving'.. Maybe, even though appearing to be an incredibly low aspiration, that is indeed an achievement given where the sport currently sits in the UK within the wider sporting arena? Whoever is 'in charge', without all the wide and varied infrastructure needed, and a team of people around you with the required skill set to 'run a sport', leaving you to plan strategy, and be the figurehead, it must be a difficult, and maybe even a thankless task..

Which brings us back to the fact the Sport as it is now can only support Semi professional riders, maybe the Premier should be for full time riders, with the Championship being for semi professional riders, with riders salaries to reflect that they are NOT professional, however its always difficult to police what promoters actually pay riders, even if books were verified by accountants, promoters can always pay cash or in kind..

I have to be honest, I'm a mere layman when it comes to everyone else's expertise and knowledge with Covid 19 on here, oh how I wish I had the analytical nowse and scientific qualifications to keep up with the rest of you wonkers.

one of the side effects of the lock down is the effect it will have on the economy, this will have a huge effect on people's health and mental health...lets hope the cure isn't a bigger problem than the problem itself.

Funnily enough that was the rule of thumb in the past in fact there were only a hand full of full time riders in the top league Mauger ,Briggs and co , second strings and reserves were semi pro in that league as well.Saving holidays and riding for team that best fit their day jobs which I am sure could be done today plus if we had more wkend teams that would assist with this issue and maybe more fans .

NICKI Pedersen talks about racing in SGP events at Cardiff, Paul Burbidge gets a variety of views on whether rider and bike weights should be co-ordinated and we reveal why a railway yard in Poznan has some connections with speedway ... all in SS this week as we battle to get through these difficult times.

Think some of the wage demands from very average riders didn’t help their cause.

Most world championships are held in one country each time, aren’t they? Football, rugby and cricket world cups, athletics, swimming and cycling world championships and the Olympics!

Then give the Domestic riders team places, Check out the riders that have disappeared totally from the sport these were half decent National League riders from 3/4 years ago; Lee Payne, Rob Shuttleworth, Matt Williamson, Jake Knight, Mark Baseby, Ben Hopwood, Dan Greenwood, George Hunter, Danny Halsey, Jon Armstrong, Lee Dicken, Mitchell Davey, Tony Aitkin, Luke Priest, Jack P Blackburn, Liam Carr, Taylor Hampshire, Darryl Ritchings, Richard Hall, Ben Wilson, James Cockle, Zak Wajnecht, Alfie Bowtell, Adam Roynon, Steve Boxhall, Benji Compton, Olly Greenwood, Joe Jacobs, Rob Branford, Kyle Hughes. Im not disputing the fact that some have retired after long careers, but most have given up because they got peed off trying to obtain a place in a higher League, granted none of them were ever going to be World Champions, but most of them were capable of winning races in a higher League, but promoters often decide to overlook them and go for a foreign rider that may prove to be the rider that is an 8 pointer on a 5 point average, whereas these mostly young British riders were only going to progress steadily.. Its down to the Promoters to give domestic riders Team places rather than filling the sport with often mediocre foreign riders..

IAN offered to tear up the rulebook and rewrite it with far less pages ... pity the BSPA didn't accept it then and it is even worse now.

I cut my grass yesterday in readiness for this soggy spell. The joys of staying indoors!

McNAUGHTON, Harold A Hastings based garage owner, Harold was a late starter to speedway and made his debut at the Sussex track in 1949 whilst in his late 30s. Despite this belated beginning, he wasted no time in making his mark on the sport, scoring eleven points from four rides on his second appearance for the ‘Saxons’ at home to Yarmouth, and recorded an average of over five and a half points per match in his debut season. This turned out to be the last season at the Pilot Field track and he moved along the south coast to Southampton in 1950 where he performed most creditably in Division Two. He was going so well in 1951 that, when Southampton pulled out of league racing in mid season, he was taken on by New Cross but found that the step up in class was too great and joined Ipswich for the start of 1952. Finishing as the second highest scorer behind Sid Clark, Harold had two productive years at Foxhall Heath and was due to continue his career in Suffolk in 1954. However, on the eve of the season Harold was forced to pull out of the side, reportedly due to a heart complaint and was not seen in the sport again. Year Club Division M R P BP TP CMA FM PM 1949 Hastings NL3 26 82 98 15 113 5.51 - - 1950 Southampton NL2 19 67 86 15 101 6.03 - - 1951 Southampton NL2 9 38 52 6 58 6.11 - - 1951 New Cross NL1 12 30 20 3 23 3.07 - - 1952 Ipswich SL 37 152 269 7 276 7.26 1 - 1953 Ipswich SL 28 108 164 24 188 6.96 1 1

Ok, that’s all well and good saying that but he should explain exactly what he’s “working so hard” on what are future plans and let fans judge if he’s doing a “good job”. As I said history shows he is incompetent and way out of his depth and hasn’t done much to promote British Speedway.

What are you basing that on? As a "critic", "armchair fan" and "keyboard warrior" all I see are the outputs, which are very little. It is also interesting to see that the BSPA had to engage outside help to secure the Eurosport deal. At least with GoSpeed the money stayed within speedway.

Realistically, what's the alternative? The British leagues cannot afford to run behind closed doors. Therefore there will be no speedway until social distancing rules are relaxed, which will be June/July at the earliest. Then at best it will likely be a reduced calendar. Or, if you're offered a team place in Poland, you get a full season at an albeit reduced rate. Logistically it will be a bit of a ballache, but realistically how many nights a week do you think Doyle spends in his own bed during the season? Seems like a no brainer to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3wsSo5Ei2g

Formular 1, Motocross, Moto GP, Rallycross, superbikes etc world championships are held in multiple countries. To have the world speedway championship over several rounds just in Poland would hand the championship to a Pole, especially if Emil/Doyle etc decide not to take part in the Polish league.

Yes Sam won representing Sheffield when Louis had an engine failure

The facts remain however that a lot of the symptoms are ‘flu like’. In fact I’ve read comments from those who have had it and recovered (non hospital admission) as being like a really bad flu. What we are yet to see is how the virus responds once dormant and people start to return to some sort of normality. I know only too well from my experience as a nurse when a serious flu bug goes around that I’ve been exposed to it several times and sufferered accordingly. When I say flu bug I of course mean virus. I don’t think even from the off that anyone underestimated how bad this virus was given what we knew of it already.

Fair point but it’s the fans (customers) who pay to keep things going and it’s a very poor business that ignores the customer. The proof is there for all to see...Speedway is bust and that was the case before the virus crisis!

Because people with medical diplomas keep telling me that via newspapers and tv...

Just off the top of my head ... that once someone is charged then the case becomes sub judice. Anything discussed that may affect the outcome of the trial or interferes with the selection of unbiased jury members - depending where any trial is heard. Also the possibility of slander/libel if he was not charged/found not guilty.

The rulebook wont become any more simple until you have enough domestic riders to fill the teams. With no riders you need all the d/u and guest and them rules to have a chance of full teams in meetings. The problem is not new at the top league, it goes back probably 30 years.

..and make them all sweat so each of them weigh 72kg and not one 1 gram more or less. Also for aerodynamics the shorter guys need to wear higher helmets so the "drag" is equal on all.

Been told today that France has cancelled tourist season and Spain is waited to do the same. Germany might do something about that and so on... Also Sweden is an interesting place at the moment, I'd say they've closed their borders and kept the party going resulting way higher amount of deaths than we have. Not that it affects the Forssa meeting in any other way, but how would riders come here with ferries closed for tourists? U drive through the covid mad Sweden up to Haaparanta and back down? Through Germany and Baltic via St Petersburg and Russia? Not really sure how it can be done? And then possibly be quaranteened here for 14 days before the meeting and in your home country when going back for another 14 days... And all the info I've posted might be outdated in 2 hrs if China is back in trouble and they bother letting us know... So actually in my own opinion, cant see Forssa going ahead. Varkaus has recently cancelled the U21 EC semi. Think they went public with it with the wrong reasons, but still the best option was to cancel it now. We are in talks of having at least some of the speedway season even with the 500 limit, since that's not a problem crowd wise in Finland. Also since everything else is not happening, we might get some publicity.

Welcome to my world!

It is pouring down here in the Deep South... Richard's post can be put down as subtle humour on the cricket season staring...

Excellent post mikebv.. I have to admit i didnt realise Speedway had any particular strategy except survival, i did attempt to take a look at its rule book some weeks ago, then i realised it has more than 100 rules, i think it was something like 130+ so even though it has no strategy it seems to have rules for everything else. The BSPL were asked in the ask the Chairman online session recently about having someone other than the BSPL oversee the Sport and his reply was, seeing as the promoters are the ones putting the money in, they are the ones who should say how things are run, that was Rob Godfreys opinion.. so it seems they are reasonably happy surviving rather than drawing up plans to move forward, Though they do seem to have made some progress by engaging Hatfits to find Commercial deals for the Sport, though they need to realise its not just a matter of finding sponsors, Sponsors need to be worked with in order to continue those Sponsorships/Partnerships in the years ahead..

So? Do it with riders that are willing to come.

I put my trust in you and that "other geezer" getting the maths correct as it's getting beyond me!

Don’t worry, Steve, you know where to see the statistics if you want to!

Staggering to see some sticking to their guns on this. Some nailed their colours to the mast early doors on this virus with their “glorified flu” nonsense and clearly don’t like to admit they were wrong on the internet. It’s ok to hold your hands up and say you misjudged just how bad this horrible virus was/is!

Problem is I do think most would still moan if the bspa came up with a eureka moment

Well it was a ‘statement’ although it didn’t really tell us anything and yes the situation is difficult but I suspect that is because nothing has been done or planned. The lack of information and leadership by the BSPA chairman & co isn’t unexpected as historically Godfrey and Chapman have proved they haven't got a clue.

And long may it continue.

Might be a more recent fixture against Lakeside, 2nd September 2013, Poole 62 Lakeside 28 although I'm not expecting to see the Rye House match from 2017 anytime soon. You know the one: Poole 30 Rye House 60!

Perhaps he's not the Messiah (He's just a Very Naughty Boy)

I suspect the other thread got closed down rightly so IMHO by the venomous personal insults being thrown around - not connected in anyway to JG!

Hang on , are people honestly classing riding a motorbike stoned just as bad as robbing two vulnerable people with a blade ? Jesus Christ.

As others have mentioned, there'll most likely be a shorter series, all in Poland, if it happens at all..