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Spot on. For some reason speedway in this country seems to not want to even attempt to change. Why that is I'm not sure. Clearly there are some people within the sport who understand professionalism. My team Ipswich are one. The race suits matching bikes, and a real feeling or brand identity within the stadium on racenights is lightyears ahead of what it was even 15 years ago plus the Ipswich website is possibly the best out there. So why does none of that travel further up the tree especially given Louis is a director of the BSPL

Been banging this drum for a few years now, British speedway is run by the riders for the riders and until someone somewhere within the sport realises the fans are the be all and end all the sport will continue to die

God works in mysterious ways.

Hmm... this year is Connor's 10th in the sport, so is probably due a testimonial, he's 28! I don't want to do the lad down but i don't think he's going to "make it". For me, Connor and riders like him should not be riding in NDL teams but should be riding in the main body of CL teams as a good club journeyman, instead CL teams prefer to use PL riders. Connor is not one for the future... he's one for now.

Cracking meeting, with respect to Birmingham and Newcastle, this was easily our best away performance of the season. A very well earned point that could easily have been more. Not sure why Newman was put off -15 after touching the tapes in heat 3, Ruml had just won heat 2 and ended up having only 6 rides. MacDonald still looks unfit and with Thomas likely to be out for a period, R/R offers limited manouvering with an unfit reserve, although Batchelor does get an extra ride. Anybody thinking of going to Redcar should go, been some great racing on my two visits this season.

One of life’s losers you pal. Grow up.

I am sorry for the dust, we had been watering from this morning, but due to the strong wind it was drying as fast as we could get it on the track, we pretty much ran out of water, if you noticed I was even trying to get water out of 2 of the drains between meetings. Apologies!!

This must surely be changed in the morning when someone sees sense. The guest choices are OK but ffs why would you make life any harder than you need to against Leicester?

At Scunny last night Conor blew an engine and told our scorpions tv commentator about "thats all he needed with a double header coming up," with him accepting a guest role he is within his rights to change his mind, No conspiracies, i quess the 2 discussed the situation and came up with Edwards and Conor stay for the cubs

Forget all the Glasgow internal disputes perhaps the Scorpions just rode well and had a good win!

Zarnovica Result 1 - Martin Vaculik - 14 2 - Dan Bewley - 13 (after runoff) 3 - Robert Lambert - 13 4 - Rasmus Jensen - 12 5 - Peter Ljung - 11 6 - Luke Becker - 10 7 - Dimitri Berge - 9 8 - Jan Kvech - 7 9 - Jacob Thorssell - 7 10 - Eduard Krcmar - 6 11 - Matic Ivacic - 5 12 - Daniils Kolodinskis - 5 13 - Tero Aarnio - 3 14 - Max Ruml - 2 15 - Daniele Tessari - 2 16 - Erik Bachhuber - 1

You would think Discovery would be the ideal partner.. The only concern would be that they would be used to dealing with fellow ultra professional organisations, who have individuals well versed in dealing with people of the same standard.. The GP's will have that given the level of organisations that have been behind them.. And you also have to have the concern that the Promoter's fierce desire to completely control the sport would ultimately scupper any company coming in to partner it/take over.. It would be game changer though if a huge global organisation got the opportunity, and autonomy, to lead the domestic sport out of it's current malaise, and into a bright new future.. Hope springs eternal...

Basso certainly isn’t the issue doing perfectly fine the issue is our second heat leader and senior reserve. One that can’t hold position due to riding a lawn mower and the other is consistently inconsistent.

We can argue till the cows came home about what was said but it doesn’t get away from the fact that the team is poor, one way to get fans back on side is go out and make some statement signings people will soon forget what was said in the star by & by whom, as already stated by others they are out there

The "tipping point" of it being a credible offering in a Team Sport guise went probably a couple if decades ago, when 'Guestfests' started to appear regularly... Usually to accommodate the individual aspirations of the top riders as the FIM grew its competitions.. Then along came Poland and to a lesser degree Sweden, with their "lands of milk and honey" and suddenly there wasnt enough riders of a level that the Promoters steadfastly (or maybe stubbornly?), wanted to run their clubs at.. Hence we jumped into 'Doubleupfests' taking place every night, with the obvious knock on effect of making even more 'Guestfests' when these riders were either needed in two places at once or got injured, meaning two teams (and for a time three teams when 'Trebling Up' was in place), needed covering with riders from other teams.. The answer to this issue was an obvious one.. Realign the leagues into 3 clearly demarcated ones, ensuring that each team had an even share of what "upper level talent" remained, and reduce the numbers in the team to at least six, thus ensuring each team came to the tapes at the "correct level" for their infrastructure with the reduction to six per team meaning enough riders were available to be competitive at thier 'natural level'.. With the number six riders in the top two leagues being "RS' level to ensure development of UK talent existed.. Instead. We had "let's do fixed race nights so the top names will come back"... Which (as anyone with half a brain could foresee), didnt happen, and became "let's do fixed race nights so loads of riders can ride seven nights a week for any team that needs them, restricting clubs to nights on which they may not actually make the most money, and restricting the potential number of fans who attend given what should be a 'weekend sport' has now become an any night one".. When it needed vision and a radical plan for 'stand alone' future growth, it just got more of the same fudge, make do and mend.. Sadly A truly GREAT product, held back by ridiculous infrastructure..

My father and I came down to this meeting and we brought with us a speedway 'newbie' who expected us to win after we had talked our beloved Pirates up so much. After the meeting he said "maybe next time, bring me along when you're riding against a bottom of the table team." Anyways, we blame him for the loss....the newbie jinx and all that

As THJ says someone from the club who actually tells the truth on what is happening. You've got to think as well our fan base probably like most clubs is a very ageing fan base who probably some don't have mobile phones or internet access and the only way of finding out what is happening with the club is to buy the speedway star you'd think the club would make every effort that whatever was being printed in the speedway star had been checked, checked and checked again. You've got the (supposed) number 1 saying one thing and then the club saying something else to then say what was in the speedway star didn't come from the club, well where did it come from then? It just smacks of being so amateurish.

Another example is the England Test team and how they have almost single handedly made five day cricket become a two or three day affair over the past few years... Giving their own fans terrific value for money in a short space of time, as they get to see England have two full innings, while the opposition fans only get to see their team have one...

On various videos I watched years ago from Edinburgh, I always remember the commentator being so biased it was unreal. Any time a home rider was passed or beaten, there was always a "valid"excuse.

What do you mean …. Newcastle won tonight

Am not that old John, a vaguely remember 'Bambi' at Gossy and, Jaws and Moonraker at the Odeon.

Most would agree but some fault does llay with many supporters who for reasons best known to them will rarely turn out for anything other than a team league or cup match. Go back a good few years and you had a number of prestigious individual meetings and for local interest, three and four team tournaments (e g Eastbourne, Rayleigh, Canterbury etc. In the south east ) and admittedly a good few years back in that example but fans did turn up. League racing played a part but so did the array of other meetings which made up a seasons entertainment from March through to November but I guess the difference was that the sport had its villains and the good guys and that was not only the riders but the promoters so the entertainment value was on and off track. The promoters will not gamble money putting on a meeting knowing that they are unlikely to make a profit and with the lack of sponsorship for the big meetings which might attract the top names for the right money racing on a night when you will almost fill a stadium (Friday, Saturday or Sunday particularly when Poland take a summer break) means supporters are left with what you have today. The lack of large corporates/household names willing to underwrite a meeting is understandable as no one with a decent brand will want to be associated with a sport for all the reasons quoted by many of the more knowledgable contributors to this topic. So many issues arise be it from the state of the stadiums and facilities through to rider ability to rules. You then have the restrictions on rider movements between the U K and Europe so the sport has a lot to deal with but it is not helped by the custodians of the sport having failed miserably to grasp the post covid opportunity to reinvent the sport by trying something different to attract lapsed punters and new ones too. It will continue to experience a decline in interest from joe public until the promoters decide to look inwardly at what they have and stop looking at the sport through rose tinted glasses.

These days, less is often more, the success of T20 cricket shows this and then they went even lesser with The 100, even Golf is at it now with a 54 hole tournament with all the players teeing off at the same time... where as Speedway seem to want to artificially extend a meeting to beyond 2 hours by using tractor racing as a distraction as they think that punters will feel short changed if they've not had 2 hours "entertainment"

Your not wrong, looks like I have come home with a fake tan.

You can't read too much into the Green Sheets. The starting set were based on last 20 matches (or minimum 4 home, 4 away). For June, they are based on the last 18 matches (or minimum requirement). As an extreme, two very good or bad scores could have been dropped from the overall figures - and BSPA confirmed it's last 18 matches, i.e. not necessarily 9 home and 9 away. For July it's down to 16, August 14, September 12, and the Final averages will be based on the last 10 matches. Some figures could well change dramatically over the next 3-4months.

Gutted to miss out by just a point for a point but only scoring 1 point from reserve has done us tonight but congratulations Leicester let’s hope we can get something away at Birmingham on Wednesday.

Excuse me for breathing!! roflmao

Nice win for Bewley over Vaculik, there...

I think that was exactly what the discussion was about

In case it's escaped your notice, Connor Coles will not be riding for the Lions after all tonight and Jason Edwards has been brought in instead.

Fair point. Just glad I'm not a TM, eh?

13 points away from home but cooks the issue ? Yeah he's not the dominant best rider in the league he once was but still scoring to his average which I believe is what was asked of him at start of season. Ulle is most definitely the biggest issue, riding on Willie Lawson level machinery it looks like. Broc scoring 1 from reserve totally unacceptable, getting beat by Connor Coles of all people. Connor probably a weak link at 2 just now away from home as well. Several

at last some one who can see the problems @ Glasgow. , most can see this , butt the stripes (red cross) gang cannot see the wood for the trees !

Done bottom of the table already! Maybe vs Scunny then! Do not bring them vs Glasgow though!

Chrome/Edge with add block plus extension = zero adds

I use Firefox with an adblock. No annoying advertisements!

Well done on the 6 - 5 away win at Edinburgh. Jack Smith made the difference.

Surely you can change your rising star if he's out long term?

I read somewhere that Germany will be in the semi-final in Norway, replacing Denmark, who are already qualified for the final. It would make sense if it is Norway v Sweden v Latvia v Germany in the second semi-final at Elgane, and only the winning team qualifies for the final. Poland and Denmark are seeded, and Great Britian qualified as the winners of SF1.

No payment involved it would be voluntary. I recently became Pits Marshal at Brough and wouldn't be able to make notes during the meeting properly and once we've tidied the pits up it's often after 7pm when I get home, meaning, even if I made notes, it would be a rush to meet The Journal deadline and that's when mistakes are made and I wouldn't want that.

No John everything I put out for Newcastle Diamonds in the past came from the Promotion which was the same at Workington and still is for that matter... Steve Park has been accused of being a mouthpiece for the club but Steve is the same he only deals in facts and puts out what the club are posting on other forums to keep fans informed as to what is going on at the club... Whatever I stick on here you can take to the bank because all I gave was the Promotions response to rumour and innuendo... usually from chancers like your good self who if they didn't know what was going on they were more than happy to make something up Regards THJ

Bald Bloke has clearly posted in good faith but if you are intent on being a mardy bum about it you might be best served putting him on ignore

I thought this was the Glasgow v Scunthorpe League meeting thread when I first started reading it, but it has turned into the TeamGB v RofW thread.

It is ultimately everyone from Promoters to Riders all racing to the bottom though isnt it? Clubs subsidising their riders own individual aspirations through their salaries... Individual success that will have zero positive impact (or very little at best), to the Promoters own business.. Fans then having to pay increased admission fees to get in to watch riders who have spent £30k and more on machinery.. And all to try and win competitions that, due to the way they are ran, will send hardly a ripple of recognition through the conurbations on their doorsteps, never mind have any impact on a wider national level.. Literally millions will be paid out across the 3 Divisions by riders, promoters and fans... Therefore. You do have to ask "Why?" When the growth of the sport seems to get no forward or upward movement out of such a huge ongoing annual outlay...

100%... And you can also add that the ego of some Promoters impacts far too much on how the sport is ran... eg. If you want to use Div One HL's, then put your team into Div One.. Or. if you cannot put on a show strong enough to compete in Div 2 then drop down to Div 3... You should ride at the level you are "organically" at, and not the one you decide gives you the most chance of (misguided use of the term that it is), "success".... The sport in the UK does come across as nothing more than a whimsical plaything for those who run it, and a way of allowing many of the riders to make as much money as they can so as to not need to work for six months of the year... Regardless of the impact to the overall credibility of the brand, and its competitions, that this clearly has...

Amazes me that folk can't/won't/don't ignore the wind up merchants. Response is the only reason they carry on!

So, what is the solution? Promoters get the blame, and some of them are certainly part of the problem, but none of them has been able to find a solution to reinvigorating the sport. Everyone knows that the Polish business model of town/city and even national subsidies will never happen here, so what’s to be done? Elsewhere, others have commented on the shocking crowd levels at Danish and Swedish meetings, so it’s a problem that goes beyond UK. UK promoters are an easy and constant target on here, but even the professional ones like Glasgow, Redcar, Poole and Wolves are struggling to make a decent return for their efforts.

Too time consuming.

Impressive effort from Steve after not racing since 2005...Unless it was Sam you were meaning? (sorry, couldn't resist) I agree with your main point that the amount of riders in both leagues is a joke and along with the amount of guests used, totally devalues the "team" element

Looking thru' last week's Speedway Star I saw that the list of top averages for Premiership and Championship. Top of Premiership: Steve Masters (Wolves) Top of Champoonship: Steve Masters (Edinburgh) Are they related???? Should the Leagues be renamed; Monday & Thursday League and the Rest Of the Week League??? Finally should Chris Harris represent every team at the League Riders Final??? Team sport has certainly been wrecked in Britain.