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The answers won't come from people on this forum, nor will they come from the pages of Speedway Star or any current promoters. Everyone is too damn close to the sport to see its fatal flaws. It needs fresh, independent authority given the latitude to make major strategic changes. I don't subscribe to the opinion that the racing was better in the 70s and 80s. I think some of the modern day racing in the GPs and at good race tracks like Belle Vue is as good as, if not better than any racing seen before. But, I'm a speedway fan. Like everyone else on here, I am biased. The unpalatable truth is the product is not good enough for the general public outside of the ageing speedway bubble. Doubling up, relegation/promotion, lay down engines etc....nobody outside the sport gives a monkeys toss. I've said it before and I'll say it again...speedway's problem is not that is has changed since the 1970s. It is that it has not changed enough. Every successful sport that attracts a good following is light years away from what it was 40-50 years ago. Speedway isn't. Football was a weekly ritual avoiding (or seeking?) a punch-up and the possibility of getting p*ssed on by some idiot who couldn't be arsed to go to the stinking bogs Rugby was watching 30 (or 26) roly-polys rolling around in the mud Cricket was 5 days of watching the likes of Geoff Boycott painfully make a century to draw Boxing was a night at a sticky York Hall where you risk being hit with a flying bottle or caught in a riot Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit...but all of the above have modernised their products massively to appeal to a wider audience...and if they served up a similar product to what they did in the 70s, they'd be in the sh*t like speedway. Yet, speedway looks back and thinks if it could only recreate the 70s, the crowds would come flocking back. Dream on.

Been obvious for a long, long time hasnt it? Letting employees dictate to their employer when they will attend, and when they wont because of working elsewhere, so the owner becomes restricted as to when they can open for business, isnt on any of the many successful business plans I have seen used I must be honest.. Maybe opening when your customers want you to do so, just might improve things ever so slightly?

Speedway has moved on, but only in terms of the Grand Prix. League racing, in this country, has gone backwards, in so many ways. I agree, reverting back to the 70s type set-up won't save speedway in this country, however, what was good about the 70s was speedway was more affordable for the rider, the promoter and the fans. Until that bit is sorted out, it will remain on the life support machine, I'm afraid.

The management committee could always bring in a rule that any team that receives a grant from the Scottish government will not be allowed to compete in the UK league because its not fair.

I see your point too. But I am not sure Belle Vue are representative of British Speedway as a whole. They are the only club who can actually deliver a modern sports facility experience (although I admit I haven't been to the revamped Glasgow?) and in a city centre location have a much bigger target market to aim at. I think we need to see Belle Vue as a lucky one-off...what other council in the UK can anyone ever imagine ploughing millions into a new speedway facility? Where I think there is a real lessons to be learned is in the Bank Holiday difference in crowds. I have long thought that British speedway needs to forget about working itself around Poland and Sweden and riders commitments and work itself around peak times that families are most likely to attend. This means weekends and bank holidays. Families with kids of primary ages just don't venture out on a school night. So, already you are cutting off a big chunk of your potential crowd.

Football's modernisation was forced upon it by the Disasters at Valley Parade and Hillsborough. Even non league grounds are light years away from what they used to be. Speedway charges champagne prices, but serves up lemonade. Until the facilities reflect the profile of a so called professional sport, it hasn't got a chance.

Didn't take long for the usual "cheque book" crap to surface eh Lionspride?

Of course, as we know with most, if not all motorsports, seeing it on TV is nothing like being there. It's the same whether it's F1, British Superbikes, Moto GP or indeed Speedway. Speedway has mostly been 'first from the tapes' forever, but most fans accept that, but now and again, you get a cracker of a heat! You say that yesteryear meetings on YouTube wouldn't be entertainment now and yet, there have been fans on this forum who have said they enjoy National League meetings more than the higher leagues. Fans are not only looking for spectacular heats, they are looking for the atmosphere, the sound, the smell, the camaraderie, the riding improvement of the second strings, the sportsmanship and in many instances, a nice pint and a tray of chips!

100% agree.. The cost to compete and the cost to spectate is the absolute biggest hurdle standing in the way of the sport growing.. Promoters will want riders to have the 'best kit' so riders will ask for the money that let's them buy the 'best kit'.. The Promoters will then have to pass this expense on to the public if not enough sponsors are forthcoming... The triple irony being that winning any domestic Speedway team title has been rendered pretty worthless by its operating model, and the 'best kit' is often actually needed by the rider himself to pursue his own global ambitions, with these ambitions then restricting the club's fixture planning to a narrow window of nights that are available.. Growing your fanbase significantly at circa £18 a ticket isnt going to be an easy sell I would think, yet those ever spiraling costs wont allow for any much needed reduction in price to get the "goneaways' in particular back interested again.. And for me, getting those that 'used to go' to attend again, has to be easier than attracting a newbie to regularly take up the sport.. Its currently a fair old race to the bottom between promoters and riders unless some better plan can be unleashed..

Open and honest about pricing and pricing aspirations too. Excellent treatment of season ticket and 10 in advance ticket holders. Also standalone prices for NDL are exactly where they should be for the level of racing. Eastbourne leading the way once again.

Poor racing in front of a huge crowd will deliver far more atmosphere and wanting to attend again, than great racing in front of a poor one would.. I think the overall standard of racing nowadays is easily on a par, (if not better when you watch the SEC, SON and GP's) with any eras racing I have watched... Put simply, watching Peter Collins and Ivan Mauger race in the 70's in front of "one man and his dog" would have left the sport struggling back then just as much as it is today.. Those massive crowds elevated enormously what these two superstars, (and others), delivered..

Can't see us replacing Theo prior to the season starting unless like the post above states one of the Scottish teams don't run. Personally think he will do,a decent job especially at home

Not really, all it would take is Swindon restarting and one Champ team wanting some TV exposure and it’s back to eight. You really should cut out all this ‘us and them’ stuff, it benefits nobody.

They have tried to sign Martin smolinski according to the man himself on childsys check in on Instagram last night

Bullets might be pushing it to finish 11th, but Bandits will be much higher than 9th......

It’s less than ideal and I’ve always criticised the product and people who put it on when necessary but I think the fact that we are going to have any speedway at all in 2021 is by far the most important thing. A six team league is a fair way short of satisfactory but it is what it is for 2021. Needs to be two or three teams bigger for next year.

Cook or Masters assuming Crump doesn’t roll back the years, nobody else in the frame IMO.

A lot have lost their jobs too, which will make their minds up for them, in addition to the reasons you've given.

See your point, however.. I look at my local team, Belle Vue, and their crowds can swing from well over 2000 (and even 3000), on a Bank Holiday, down to circa 1000 to 1200 on a 'normal night'.. A pattern pretty much mirrored around probably every club.. Therefore, there are still more than enough fans out there, it's just that not enough of them attend enough times per season to truly make a positive year on year difference to the sports' coffers.. Getting these people who by definition of their sporadic attending know what Speedway is, and are quite happy to attend two or three times a year, to increase their visits even by just five to ten times more is, for me, the key to success.. They are alive, and well, and sat at home knowing that 'the Speedway is on', but haven't been sufficiently enticed to leave that armchair..

In that case, you'd better getting digging. Most of them are dead. You know those failing tatty old pubs who pander to a hardcore group of ageing locals, refusing to change even as their clientele dwindle and die? That's British speedway.

Berwick are going to be busy?

Probably better off not knowing for as long as possible....saves the disappointment being dragged out

Wish we would know our proposed starting 7 ?

Agree....Wish Kent was so forward thinking. Also wish would do the 10 meetings tickets? And £10 is the correct price for NDL...imho.

You will find that both Scottish clubs will be running now the have been given a grant by the Scottish government so they will be able to run behind closed doors.

Congratulations to Eastbourne for being first to publicise their arrangements for managing meetings for the start of the 2021 season under Covid 19 guidelines.

If that is true, he will become very popular with Kent fans. My gut feeling has always been that a trier will always be more popular than a rider who gets all his points from the gate. I'm beginning to become a bit more optimistic about results at Central Park. We might just surprise a few people.

Whatever way it's dressed up, they are still charging the public an increased price for a product, the majority don't want. Delays are part of the reason crowds have declined over the years. A well run meeting, done and dusted within two hours, should be the target for all promoters.

Good point. I had a terrible dream last night. I had died and been reincarnated as an air fence. Woke up sweating and screaming when I saw Bates and Roynon rolling up to the tapes!

Personally, i don't like double headers. They are far too long winded. Too many late night marathons at the White City have scared me for life. It was only 26 heats in those days as well!

Exactly. £24 is a lot for speedway, let alone middle and bottom tiers. For a couple that’s nearly £50 just in entrance fees before food, petrol etc. The hard core fans won’t be bothered but it will make the take it or leave it fans think twice, or attend less regularly especially when Covid has hit lots of people’s finances.

The Rising Star scheme is another of the BSPA s poorly organised b#lls up.

If ever anyone deserved a medal its jean , didnt know her but after reading wilko's book she came across as a god send.

So sorry to hear that. She dedicated her life to him, especially after his cruel accident. Wonderful woman who is back with the man she loves RIP Jean

Lads can't win. Take a leap at developing their career by riding in stronger leagues in Poland and they're turning their back on British Speedway. Ride two British leagues and they're milking the UK gravy train. I think Ellis and Bewley have made the right choice by picking PL and Poland. Hopefully scoring heavily and maintaining confidence in the UK and taking that confidence on to the continent for tougher challenges overseas. Should the opportunities in Poland be limited then consider a CL place. For which they'd no doubt get stick. Imagine having the freedom to do whatever is best for your own circumstances.......

It is. Believe it or not , not everything is about the money.

Should be top team goes into play off final, with 2nd and 3rd placed teams, to fight it out to join them imho.

One thing really noticeable for me having watched lots of old racing (60/ 70'/80's in the main) on YouTube lately, is how much the entry speed into the bends has increased, and how much more "sideways" the riders get as they scrub off that speed to get round the bends. . The older stuff had riders much more 'open' as they went around the turns which meant they kept a much smoother line around them... Maybe the harder tyres were the reason? Maybe the deeper tracks? Maybe the engine location in the bikes? Whatever it was, there certainly seemed to be closer racing and more potential to overtake the rider in front through track craft and throttle/grip control than currently exists today where riders seem to just hit an apex on full gas, drift up the track, lock up before hitting the fence, and fly down the next straight to repeat the manoeuvre... The width of the tracks at some circuits appear irrelevant as only the same part is used in virtually every race. .. As you can only assume bikes are not going to get slower, then the only solution it would appear is to change the track shapes if we want racing similar to what the likes of the NSS, Peterborough, Somerset and Scunthorpe deliver regularly. .

Ah...I understand. You are actually a KENT fan who converted to Arena ? Now back "Home". I went to Arena simply because it carried the name of my "birth" team , the West Ham Hammers of Custom House from the days when Eric Chitty was captain. Did enjoy my time there although the stadium, if you could call it that, was very basic. At the old Custom House track I was able to go upstairs to the big seated grandstand and I like Kent because it is very similar.