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I do sometimes wonder to myself what it would be like if a couple of BSPL members went on the Dragons Den with their operating model and business plan.. "We only can open our doors when our employees dictate to us when we can do so, because we share them with other similar businesses, some of which pay them much more than we can, so they get first call and our employees prioritise them" "We are in the entertainment industry but will open mainly during the week rather than at the key times for the entertainment industry. (weekends and bank holidays), to allow our employees to work in their other jobs".. "Our customers tell us we are too expensive to attend as regularly as they would like, but we need to charge so much because our employees expect us to pay them a certain amount of money to turn up, this results usually in a downturn in customers annually so we cover the cash shortfall by increasing prices to keep paying our employees the money they need".. "Our opening hours won't be consistent, but will be subject to constant change, and we may even go weeks without opening at all, with the key summer school holiday time in particular seeing several weeks of closure due to not being able to staff the business, as many of the staff are elsewhere" "We will use many overseas employees whose own personal agendas we constantly work around, rather than use mainly local people, they are admittedly more expensive in the main, and have less flexibility, but overall we think they are of a higher standard (possibly) than the local people who are available" The Dragons would be fighting over each other to invest wouldn't they?

There was an old adage in Speedway years ago...you make your own stars within 2 months....Always listen to what your customer wants..imo people want 1. Entertainment. 2. Value for money 3. racers not riders..4. decent toilets and food. 5. team members who are yours and neither borrowed or racing for another uk team. 6. A Team..not made up of seven people whose name you can't even pronounce. 7. get rid of race times..it impresses nobody and puts nobody on the gate 8. Standardised equipment..Obviously riders wouldn't like it..but if it saves money they will quickly come round...9. Never let the tail wag the donkey..10. The NL concept is the road map.....entertainment again..

I remember when I first saw Jason Crump race at the old dog bowl... He was truly incredible... He 'howled' into the tight turns at a speed not seen before, and one night smashed the track record by miles... As a long time fan of the sport, and someone who could therefore really appreciate the level of ability, I was truly in awe of what he could do and felt quite privileged to see him do this time and time again every week.. However.. If I had been there watching the racing as a potential new fan of the sport, Jason winning races by such huge distances wouldn't probably have motivated me to go back and repeat the experience, and as for anything else that happened in the races he won 'by miles' I wouldn't have a clue.. And after watching him do this time and time again it did eventually become 'quite boring' to be honest and you started to hope he would miss the gate and have to pass.. And also, even though one of the true 'all time greats' of the sport was in attendance every meeting, (racing against other top stars of the day), crowds dropped away annually... An entertainment industry needs to consistently entertain to be successful, and Speedway entertains through close racing where ideally (but not specifically) riders pass each other. And to do that is simply down to having all riders of a similar level racing against each other. As an example the Youth Championships served up great racing from Jordan Palin v The Thompson Twins in particular, easily on a par with anything else served up at any level. With the simple reason being their similar ability levels. It really doesn't need to cost promoters a fortune to provide great racing. It's the similar levels of the riders that's the key to entertaining racing, not the names on their kevlars..

They're hoping to build the new Southampton Speedway Track between Locks Heath & Fareham. Infill land just off the M27 is now in the process of being bought by a former policeman, and planing permission is going in shortly to build the speedway track . Infill land means houses can't be built on it, and noise issues wouldn't be a problem. The initial plan so I'm told would be for use as a training track along with amateur meetings, which are becoming more and more popular.

100%... "Superstars" didn't start out as such and sadly are now out of reach for day to day UK Speedway, so now is the time to set about finding other "Superstars" and that doesn't have to mean global ones but could be a rider who gets a large following at his local track and becomes "a large fish in even a very small pond"... He would benefit locally through sponsorship, and the club would have a rider who locally gets known and can 'pull a crowd in"... The more GB riders the better, and the more chance GB will have to try and reach the best team in the world status, which has to be the No1 aim of the BSPL, well above all and any individual team success focus, as this attracts hardly any national attention at all, whereby consistent GB success would.. The promoters have a 'free pass' from supporters to try new innovative and radical things given the pandemic issues they face so let's hope they go for it.. Four (mainly GB) lads per race, all of a similar ability, racing on a well prepared track, on a day/night that provides the best crowd numbers for that track, and in competitions that are ran with credibility amd integrity, and all delivered at an admission price that reflects true value for money... Can it be done. .?

Funny isn't it. Absolutely nobody would expect Sainsbury's to tell them five months in advance exactly what is going to be on their shelves, who'll be on the checkout or the name of the delivery driver. Yet when it comes to sports we simply all most know everything the exact minute the decision has been made despite us having absolutely no rights to the information and that knowing or not knowing this information right away makes no difference to whether or not we attend [noting that advance season ticket sales would be the only reason to make the information available early]. I think it's a form of FOMO and because we're all a bit jealous that we don't get to have our ideas implemented. And because we know they'll come up with something daft. But the truth is that us knowing what is going on behind the scenes is of no significance. We'll find out when we find out and decide if we like or dislike the outcome at that point. Doesn't matter if that's hot off the press last Thursday or in 4 months time.

as a rule of thumb, the tv director will be watching what's out front, no good if it's just one rider on his own, tv was there to try to encourage people to go to a meeting not turn it off. one rider is not what i want to watch. the old NL in the 80's had it right (before Rye House put a spanner in the works) using British & Commonwealth, something like that with the occasional American's/Europeans if they qualify is ideal as long as they're committed to the British League and live here. supporters cheering their team because it's THEIR team is what i grew up with (until World Final night), it can only benefit the clubs, track shops, riders, and as mentioned more likely to get sponsors. fair play to those earning big money elsewhere, get it while it's there, but if they're not riding in GB then it's extra special seeing the GP series, and could boost Cardiff attendance if fans aren't seeing those riders on a regular basis.

this is what people want to see surely, entertainment. not riders so far ahead of the rest it looks boring we're constantly told that riders don't have a connection with the club or fans when they ride, well now is the ideal time to have a league with committed riders and build from there

You can only imagine that one, or maybe more, teams think they are sat on a 'killer team" which will allow them to win the league.. A victory that may even see them mentioned in the local "Gazette" or "Tribune", with maybe even a photo of them (possibly even in colour!), being put in just below the local Darts and Crib League results.. Who knows, their local mayor may hold a "buffet lunch" for them (post Covid obviously), which could attract up to 100 or so followers to attend and celebrate such a momentous, globally resonating achievement... Name in the local paper? With maybe a photo too? And a buffet lunch with the local mayor? Now that's got to be worth potentially f×××ing up a whole seasons Speedway for hasn't it? Hasn't it?

NORDIN, Göte Born: July 2, 1935, Falun, Sweden. A Swedish speedway legend and one of the best riders in the world never to win the World Championship, ‘Gentleman’ Göte Nordin was a complete stylist and was much respected by fans throughout the U.K. He had started his career with the famous Gentingarna club in the mid-1950s and quickly progressed to the international side, making his debut for his country in October, 1955 against Poland at Stockholm. It was not until the early part of the 1960s that he became an automatic choice for his country and he made his league bow in Britain in 1960, joining Belle Vue and averaging over six points per match in the National League for the ‘Aces’. He hit the big time the following year - despite riding just one match for the ‘Aces’ - as he qualified for his first World final – the first ever to be held outside its traditional home of Wembley. The final took place at Malmö and Göte crowned a superb night for the host nation as he finished third behind the champion, Ove Fundin and runner-up Bjorn Knutsson. He was now firmly established as one of the top riders in the world but rarely appeared in league racing in Britain as he preferred to concentrate on domestic speedway in Sweden and the lucrative continental scene. Further World final appearances followed in 1962 and 1963 and he was part of the Swedish World Team Cup side that dominated the competition in the early part of the decade. Finally, in 1964, Göte was tempted to ride a full league season in the U.K., joining Wimbledon as the ‘Dons’ looked to fill the gap left by the retirement of Ronnie Moore. He had a superb season at Plough Lane, averaging 10.33 points per match and finishing second in the league figures behind Barry Briggs. The non-resident Swedes were frozen out of the newly formed British League in 1965 but Göte was back the following year for what was probably his most memorable season in the U.K., riding for the Newport ‘Wasps’ at Somerton Park. He was absolutely magnificent that year as he proved to be almost unbeatable at home and regularly chalked up double figures on away tracks, boosting his average to almost ten and a half points per match and drawing in the crowds wherever he rode. His beautiful style and impeccable fairness won him the deserved ‘Gentleman’ tag and the next team to benefit from his point scoring abilities was Poole, for whom he again turned in an excellent season. By this time Göte had reached his mid-30s and his chance of the World title had passed, with the 1967 campaign at Poole being his last as a full-time British League rider as he quit the ‘Pirates’ after just one match in 1968 to take over the running of the JAWA franchise in his home country. Over the next few years Göte faded from the international scene somewhat and became a man that British clubs would turn to when they needed an experienced and accomplished rider to get them out of an injury crisis with short spells at Coventry, Wembley, and finally Halifax in 1972 where he replaced the broken leg victim, Dave Younghusband. His last appearance for Sweden came in the World Team Cup final at Olching that year and soon afterwards the curtain was brought down on the career of one of the finest and most popular Swedes ever to have graced the sport. Year Club Division M R P BP TP CMA FM PM 1960 Belle Vue NL 15 69 91 18 109 6.32 - - 1961 Belle Vue NL 1 5 7 0 7 5.60 - - 1962 Norwich NL 2 9 26 0 26 11.56 1 - 1964 Wimbledon NL 14 60 154 1 155 10.33 4 - 1966 Newport BL 32 146 367 14 381 10.44 10 3 1967 Poole BL 34 147 356 11 367 9.99 8 - 1968 Poole BL1 1 4 11 1 12 12.00 - 1 1969 Coventry BL1 3 13 25 3 28 8.62 - - 1971 Wembley BL1 11 46 101 3 104 9.04 - - 1972 Halifax BL1 12 51 97 7 104 8.16 - - Individual Honours: World Finalist 1961 (3rd), 1962 (8th), 1963 (5th), 1966 (6th), Swedish Champion 1965, 1971. International Honours: World Team Cup winner 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, World Team Cup finalist 1965, 1966, 1972, Swedish international 45 caps, 379 points.

That's spot on. The thing I struggle to understand is that the so called global superstars are only superstars within tge existing speedway fan base certainly as far as UK speedway is concerned. Those names won't draw in sustained extra bums on seats week in week out. What you need is an exciting league with commited riders sensible rules something that can be properly promoted to a wide audience.

Difficult times, beyond anything faced before, even WW2 didn't stop Speedway taking place... Therefore... Time to all come together and compromise if needed for the good of the sport as a whole, (it might actually only be one year of 'doing something different' after all?)... Every team that is left actually coming to the tapes, 'whenever' the season starts, has to be the objective, with every team having an opportunity to put out a competitive team being just as important.. From what you say, I can only presume there must be some involved in Speedway who are not aware of the pandemic yet? Or maybe some just simply didn't get the memo sent around 'working together'....

An Undertaker is what the sport needs if the BSPA keep on with the idea of league racing this year. Why not go with 4 Team Tournaments or open meetings. Let amateurs ride if necessary ; forget team racing ; Grasstrack racing has survived, always with open meetings. If only until the Pandemic disappears, lets just have some speedway on the tracks that are available. Who knows, the racing might well be better with individuals pitted against each other. You could also have different classes depending on experience. But you must have some fans to make it viable, and this is the biggest problem.

i still think mirror the Danish route, and for rider availability etc THIS is the reason we need to have committed riders. i signed contracts to ride March - October, this has to be the way to get riders looking at where they actually want to be. i feel for the riders that are coming through and want to break into Poland for the money, but it really is a difficult time and back to basics is the only way to go forward

Well said James, exactly what many supporters have been saying for years. FACT IS there has never been a better time for major changes to be implemented but will they happen? My guess is we will be presented with minor adjustments to an already not fit for purpose GB league set up, things like 6 man teams to save money, it's been tried & was hated so why would you try again. A TOTAL TRANSFORMATION IS REQUIRED OR WE ARE DOOMED.

Göte's name always seems to come up when "the best riders never to win the world title" is discussed.

My sources tell me that no decision was taking on the biscuit front. An EGM is being set up as we speak to make final decision after which they will start on more mundane matters such as points limits, rider availability, rules and regs etc.

If so no more wet track meetings at brum

If everything in the world was 'normal' and Swindon came to the NSS on the same week they came the year before, but this time without Jason Doyle, I can virtually guarantee hardly a change in the numbers in attendance such is the way so many tracks now have 'regulars only' most weeks, and the lack of 'pull' of any rider.. If there was any difference (max 50 to 100 either way I would say) it would be down to either inclement weather if a drop, or down to it being a nice spring or summer evening if an increase.. And that's the reality, a nice spring or summer evening can bring more "extra than normal" fans in than any rider appearing can.. Another reality is that The Aces had Matej Zagar for many years at both tracks but if he went and knocked on the doors of every house within a mile radius of the stadium, hardly anyone answering the doors would know who he was, or what he did. .. Yet the Aces (and probably every other club), spent many years planning inconsistent fixture lists around the timetables of their No1 rider. And the Aces, again like others, used to visit tracks without their No1 and use guests instead, which did nothing but leave the competition they were competing for open to ridicule and the inevitable fall off in attendances... Sheffield would no doubt have got a 'dead cat bounce' with Nicki P for a few weeks but slowly home crowd levels would drop back as the novelty wore off and settle (at best I would suggest), around 100 to 150 more than the previous season without him, and when they ventured away the second visit wouldn't have matched the first visit for crowd numbers... A consistent fixture list, using weekends and all the Bank Holidays, and using riders who can commit to all dates, has to be the way forward, and if that means 'lesser riders' on show then so be it, but if it means more UK riders then so much the better.. Just provide a race format and team strengths, that have four riders of pretty equal ability in every heat and the racing will be close, regardless of the lack of 'GP' names in the programme...

damned if they do anything and damned if they don't, many will moan if they postpone the season, the rest will moan if they don't

Or roll their eyes collectively and say "what does he know?"...

James, you have hit the nail firmly on the head, IMO someone like yourself would be an ideal person to oversee the sport in this country and bring the promoters into line. Though when you did your presentation and mention your background in the sport Fan Sponsor Former Promoter and Team manager Successful businessman, and the amount of market research of supporters from all over the place that you have carried out over the years. I still think they would find some obscure reason to say you were unsuitable for the role

Fair play for still believing that winning any UK competition actually has relevance or kudos. You are, I believe, in an ever decreasing number but can't knock you for keeping the faith... But as for all starting level? A myth sadly. As always happens, within a month the team who everyone on here will have said that they have 'no chance' before the season starts, will be cut miles adrift and spend the rest of the season changing riders but never actually improving (due to the restrictive rules), and, again as always happens, will end up finishing bottom 40 or 50 points behind the top team.. For me, if ever there was a season when absolutely everything must be done to create a Speedway season where every race, never mind every meeting, should deliver a positive for the sport then this is it.. Whoever may win the 'titles' is pretty much irrelevant (particularly this year), and should be very much secondary to every team putting a competitive unit out on the track every meeting, and winning any title should also be miles behind delivering entertainment that inspires fans to want to go back and attend the next meeting...

But to the fans, riders and management it "could be" a once in a lifetime/career happening, something that will be remembered forever. For me a league win is a total club "thing". Of course everyone involved would hope for adulation from the media but at the end of the day it's special for the club and all involved!! This year, if we go racing, there will be winners and losers as always. Our leagues are all about starting relatively equal and that's a positive we have over ALL the rest ..... don't fret!

Yi best rethink it

I just want to know what this "new concept" is when the b.s.p.a release the fixture list.in my honest opinion I would be surprised if we saw a speedway season again this year.

So there is talk of teams needing to have British reserves at Championship level.... ... It just shows utter contempt yet again for the fans with all this secrecy and “details to be revealed soon” bull$hit. If it’s been sorted at the AGM why invite speculation instead of just releasing the facts and keeping everybody informed?

I did. Helped me considerably in getting that off my chest...

May have been 'Briggo' but I recall him saying that Gote was a bit like Anders Michanek...a gentleman off the track but hard as nails when racing hence the phrase "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" which, I think, he coined?

Another good article with jacko in this weeks speedway star, on about his various battles in 2020, good news that he is still staying healthy and safe.

During lockdown I watched a lot of videos from The 1997-2003 era at Newport. Anders Henriksson was a pure fans favourite and the way he bonded with the crowd is like nothing you see today. There were a few others also, Neath and Eldridge. Eldridge was nothing more than a 3.5 reserve for Newport but the fans absolutely loved him because he was a tryer and an entertainer.

Same her wouldnt have a tablet, got to be books each tells a story inside, the covers tell another allways keep them can tell where and who was with when read

so what would people on here do if it was your own money at risk, would you run this year or not take the chance?

and a Hammer. Jonnie Hoskins was the master showman. He really understood the value of entertainment.

Still looking positive for Eastie after the BSPA statement. Whatever the exact makeup of the teams, points etc, with an all British team policy since we dropped to the NL to date, with Brennen, Kemp and Edwards our young British rider gateway is already in place, build the team around those 3 would be my choice.

I love it when people try to correct somebody for their grammar and then get it wrong themselves. Next you’ll be using big words you don’t understand because you think it’ll make you look really photosynthesis.

as i have said before - the product is the racing, not the names. The general public don't know who the hell anyone is anyway so whats the problem

I entirely agree that the sport should be a weekend only event from now on. Friday night/Saturday and Sunday. If there are no riders who ride in Poland and over seas riding in the UK, it should not be an issue. Fans, after a while, will forget the top stars being missing has watered down the league. There will always be a top dog. If that is someone like Daniel King, so be it. If he is the top rider in the league, fans will look forward to seeing him. British Speedway desperately needs to start again from the bottom. If not, there is absolutely no hope at all. One big league, only one competition (league). A riders championship at the end of the season with each teams top averaged rider. And maybe a pairs event. Just no tournament that requires qualification meetings as there will be way too many fixtures and fans get fed up of seeing the same team visit each season. It has to be worth a try as absolutely nothing else has worked so far. No air fares, no prima donnas, no living expenses for foreign riders etc will mean clubs can charge a lot less for entry. Speedway, like it or not, is a ten quid sport. There would obviously be way more planning involved than this but its the basics of a restructure plan that needs to be put in place. Two clubs have dropped out before the AGM outcome has been revealed, how many more are going to be announced as closing by the time the outcome of the AGM is known? Id guess at least one more. Probably more. Youd think that half head Godfrey would be pushing things for the better to sort the sport out, I hear Scunthorpes crowds are low more often than not.

Somehow in the past teams were put together without averages being used. Simply put it was 3 heat leaders 2 second strings and 2 reserves. If promoters can for once come together for the sake of the sport and put aside their own interests then maybe, if the season can start, get a semblance of a competition going. Who will really care who rides for who so long as it gets speedway going and I’m convinced people will want live entertainment after so long away from the sport.

I can't see how. I guess if there's enough objections they might not be allowed to put football pitches there but that wont bring Speedway back. It might be that the landowners could force them to reinstate the track but I'd have thought that was between the freeholder and the leaseholder, nothing to do with the council.

Just hopeful that the season could start in May!

Good luck getting this past the Ekstraliga. NOTHING stops the Ekstraliga. Well, except rain.

How about a generic combination of both sports, perhaps Speedogging Avenue, or something similar?