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I have been invited on to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire at 8:00am on Thursday 31st August (tomorrow) to discuss the Showground development.

The trouble is, self interest and short sightedness sees promoters doing the best for their own businesses and killing their competition off at the same time. Then all of a sudden they have no opponents to race and their business dies too. Guesting is as bad an evil as doubling up. But doubling up is a huge cause of the “lack of riders,” which isn’t true by the way. There just aren’t enough riders of the standard British Speedway tries to run at. Why? Because the existing riders are taking up all the team spots, so there are fewer left for up and coming riders to fill and develop in. The team element of speedway makes it unique to other motorsports. That should be embraced, not scrapped. In any other sport you can’t be a full time professional unless you are very good at your sport. That isn’t the case with Speedway and it is a huge problem on multiple levels. If you want to ride you should be prepared to pay your way and invest and graft until you reach a level where you can turn it into your profession. Otherwise if you need an outside job to help fund your hobby then so be it. If a rule was put in place in the winter where riders were allowed one club only then they’d have to cope with it and long term it would help the sport massively. But nobody has the bollocks to do anything for the greater good, only for their own short term benefit, all the while the cancer spreads.

I appreciate everything you are doing Mick

Nice of you to admit you steal from us

Agree. It is time that those with balls (such as IOW) break away and give the punters what they want not some contrived form of entertainment which is rarely held on days when the club can maximise the numbers through the gates and yet allows clubs to provide opportunities to a range of skill levels (second half racing for those who want to show their skills with the chance to break into the team). It currently panders to Poland and a half baked media channel with Eurosport and apart from one or two teams, meetings are held when few want to attend. Unfortunately whatever anyone says on the forum, the muppets in charge are not interested in the punter or the wider audience. You have Riders who think we all owe them a living and clubs buying their way to success with eleventh hour team changes. It is a joke and the only way is for the likes of Kent and even Plymouth and others to look again at the IOW model and any team that owns its own track should not be dictated by the BSPL and start to run the business that suits them and generates income. Vatcher and co need consigning to history if only to save the sport.

What am I whining about you clown ,I’m asking why the guests backed out and we struggle to get them and others don’t, might be because we are so far down in the country I don’t no,what are you banging on about Nora league for a lot of people have said things about you on here not me before now but I can see where there coming from now.I said there was some unhappy punters walking out tonight did I say me? No I didn’t I’m very thankful for having speedway to watch, but it’s been hard seeing defeat after defeat, because I really thought we’d win tonight.

Is that the sound of the nail being hit on the head? It's totally obvious you run on the night when you can get your best crowds. British Speedway really could have its cake and eat it. It's been shown at Leicester this year that running on Thursday's with the big stars in town really hasn't added the extra amount of fans needed to pay for it. There was a big crowd at Peterborough last night, was that because of the riders on display or because it was a Bank Holiday? The latter I would suggest and it was a local derby of course. The British League(s) need to run credible teams on the race night that suits them, this is not rocket science, they need the riders to commit to a full season, contracts to be honoured and if the riders aren't in... they're out and the league(s) structures are adjusted accordingly. That's the having your cake bit. The eating it is putting on open individual meetings with your Emil's, Bewley's, Woffy's etc. Like the PCMT has shown crowds will flock to these when there's a decent competitive field. Test Matches, crowds used to love to turn out to watch the national team ride and as the national team are doing so well we don't get to see them at all this year in the UK and the extra publicity this would bring

That is true . Everyone deserves a life , just that a few prefer to lead a very sad life and spend a lifetime complaining even though they do not attend . Probably complain at the price of a hooker but hasn’t had a hard on in years

There will be a major shake up at this year's AGM though,,, they are swapping from Sainsbury custard creams to Aldi digestives

Speedway is literally in the same boat as the dogs, prostituting itself for tv money with zero thought for its supporters. On a previous thread i posted about no saturday track bar berwick, theres an enormous gap in the south /midlands for any track to grasp the nettle, hopefully in 2024. TV deals are all well and good but its to the detriment of the sport as a whole . The best supported club in the land are safely cocooned in the championship racing on the night that suits them .

Weather is getting better. Nothing is going to stop Laguta.

I agree. Regarding your question I think that that is also in danger of withering. I am completely bored with it - I much prefer team events.

To many of them now want to be classed as professional speedway riders which is at times the problem. Go back to the likes of Steve McDermott had a 9pt average but still worked a normal job and ofter arranged holidays around Bandits away fixtures.

The biggest issue with league speedway is the way it’s ran. The operating model isn’t fit for purpose & is massively contrived. The issues stem from years of poor management & no real desire to grow the product. The golden ticket was during the first sky contract, a tv partner who wanted to invest & paid a very good sum for the broadcast rights. That came at a time when the majority of the worlds best still rode here & the gp came to Cardiff. I still remember Mark Loram being featured on the back page of the sun newspaper on a Saturday. But instead of investing the promoters at the time spent the money on propping up what they had been doing for years, With no hope of a return on the investment or any signs of progress the money Sky have slowly declined until they binned it of altogether. To have a meaningful league structure that allows emotional buy in guesting & doubling has to stop & it has to be ran properly. Now that’s where the issue is it’s now to late to save not enough venues not enough riders & far to few spectators.

It was said he penned a Speedway novel called "Low Expectations" that was never published!

Nonsense - it’s sport and it’s a competition. Sheffield have made changes to make sure they are as competitive as they deem that they can be. That goes for any job in the UK. If somebody isn’t performing as they should, they don’t have a god given right to keep that job over a foreigner because of their nationality. That is irrelevant if they aren’t meeting the required standards.

In addition to what you have said, even the Poles don’t support individual events other than the main Polish Championship. Anything that isnt their team they aren’t interested. I watched one of the events at Poznan earlier this year and Buxton probably got bigger crowds than that one.

A few teams have been struggling to book guests lately not just Plymouth. I think that's good as R/R should always be the first facility available.

What team sport has a trophy etc after every match etc.. Does Football the popular sport in world ? Of course not its not how team sport works.. Poland is packed with fans watching league racing with big tv rateings . I could find about 20 examples..Speedway in the uk is in trouble because its been poorly ran and terrible choices it's taken over a number of years. .

There’s no rule that you have to go to speedway to be on this forum though?

Along with all speedway fans from around the UK and more hopefully.

The points limit is suppose to level the playing field, yet we still see naff teams. A lot of fans walked when season after season their winning team was broken up. It also helps pull forward rider retirements. Perhaps it’s time to try a season without a points limit.

How Mickey Mouse is it then for all riders being allowed to ride for every team in one country..?...

The other thing about those Coventry ones I attended was the riders really wanted to win it or qualify so the racing was often frantic

A few weeks back I had a free weekend, wife was away visiting her father down in Devon, the was 0 meetings on a Saturday for whatever reason, I think Redcar were running on the Friday but I didn't fancy driving up there on a Friday after work and there was also no meeting on the Sunday within a reasonable drive.

In London Victoria in plenty of time to av me Costa flat white Looking forward to seeing Ben Cook & Joe Thompson ride, not forgetting the rest of the Pirates. Watched both the Thompson's progress at Leicester & I never thought I'd see one of them in Pirates colours. Joe is certainly at the right club for support after being messed about this season. It's great to hear all the fans getting behind him like they did with Nathan Ablitt. Great to see Joe getting the results on track. Josh Pickering I'm sure will be amongst the points for the Brummies but the rest I dunno. Both Sedgy & Batch are disappointing when they should be better, I think Nielsen & Fergel Starkey pose a bigger threat. Pirates to be clear in the distance with my predict-ometer reading 57-33. C'mon the Boyzzzzz

Test Matches might get some interest..? When Speedway was in its halcyon period the success of the 'England" team and iders were the reason so many attended domestic Speedway. . Hardly any domestic Speedway was shown but fans knew of the sport via what they watched on TV on Saturdays... Individual meetings and WTC.. The RFU and ECB grew their domestic sport by centralised contracts ensuring that the top players prioritised the national team. They knew that whatever success Leicester, Saracens, Lancashire and Yorkshire cricket etc etc etc had, it would have little impact overall, and not grow the sport... Maybe an "elite" Test Match series could help generate domestic interest the same for Speedway? It could definitely get more wider media coverage, and maybe a decent sponsor.? Bomber couldn't represent Australia or Poland though if he didn't get picked for GB. GB v Poland at the NSS, Poole and Glasgow for example, would deliver the best crowds in years I would suggest, and paint the sport in a very positive light via the TV. ..

This is probably more relevant to those that know me personally...........it's 245am and I'm just getting ready to leave for WINborne road. Message for Val.....I've cleaned me teggies and had a shave Out the door at 315am to catch the local bus into the city then hopping on the National Express arriving Bournemouth 1210pm and finally the local bus over to Poole I will av a snooze on the way and also me Costa in London Victoria. Love Pirates Love speedway

I believe that it's tomorrow.

The cut-off was 28th August, effective 31st August so the 1st September averages do not come into it.

Hackney in the then lower league in these days was probably harder than todays Premiership.IMO

With some of the decisions made and resulting outcomes, you had me fooled….

I really hope that either Belle Vue or Wolverhampton win the play offs. Along with Ipswich, they are the only teams that have not chopped and changed all season. Leicester, Sheffield, King's Lynn & Peterborough are not really " teams", just a random selection of riders bought together for a few matches. If Leicester or Sheffield win the play offs, it will make a complete mockery of the sport. Would be nice for Wolves to win, in what looks like their last season. They are the only team that have shown any loyalty to their riders over the past few years .

Good statement from the club owners. I know this season has hurt them immensely as it has all those involved and support the Bandits and Bullets. Great to put all the silly rumours that has been floating around recently to bed and Speedway is back for its 56th ( I think ) year in 2024. An amazing achievement for a small town like Berwick. Good luck for the remainder of this season and beyond to everyone involved with Berwick Speedway

A petition was started yesterday to save Peterborough Speedway. If anyone would like to sign it the link is here: https://www.change.org/p/unjust-removal-of-a-pastime-and-sport-precious-to-thousands-over-the-world?source_location=search  Please also share amongst your social media connections if possible. Thanks.

AEPG have prepared a document about the loss of the speedway site as it relates to the Local Plan and that has been given to the Council apparently. Mick and I have seem their summary which isn't that good or impossible to argue against. I can't say more than that. I guess that their full document will appear publically at some point? The local paper today conveniently fails to mention AEPG & PCC's responsibility under LP30 so perhaps best to keep banging that drum and then deal with how AEPG think they've dodged it.

Probably no groups. Just 18 qual heats with each pair having 4 rides. Then top 4 to semis.

Go well Mick.

Just trying to think along different lines, which is what the original poster was asking for. As an old relic myself, this does not come easy. Many sports, or variants of them, feature elimination, whether that elimination is during the event itself, or happens over a longer period of time. Speedway GP's and Leagues have it. But to meet the challenge set us, we don't want to create a new individual competition/event, nor do we want to create another league of teams. Remember the requirement is for made for TV variant. We can still have teams. I think that's important. Just not formed into the traditional league format. So maybe look at teams of 3 or 4 riders. None of them aligned to a particular track or club. A tournament which runs throughout part or maybe even the whole season. It has progressive elimination built into the format, so that by the final event, you have maybe three four of them left. Riders are graded 1-4, and in the event of injuries, riders from teams eliminated in previous rounds can be drafted in as replacements. But no team changes otherwise allowed.

Nice pic

I believe that will come with the ever-improving streaming by BSN and others. A one hour weekly highlights programme provided ideally for a Sports TV channel, with all production costs taken away from the TV company, having a regular time slot but also repeated several times during the week. Those fans who still want to see the live broadcasts and pay their £12 (or maybe a little more to cover BSN's extra costs?) can do so, and I bet would also watch the highlights package.

I agree to a large extent... But. You would think that those in charge would at least try something different before it inevitably happens wouldn't you? Post Covid really was a huge chance to make the radical changes needed, completely missed.. A gift horse passed up... Presumably, you can only think, it was passed up due to everything being "all good" in the eyes of the Promoters? . Which probably explains a lot, if that was the case.

If they wanted to progress in the world championship they had to.

The trouble is the riders feel they need super tuned rocket ships, wheel rims with their names on and a chair in the pits with their logo on and all this costs, so they have to be professionals. Standardised equipment also needs to be looked at... but we've been through all this before and it's all getting rather tiring now

Sorry repetitive strain syndrome. Must be excitement at that win.

Well we have a multi round individual event in Cardiff this weekend let see how many people bother going to that. The attendance is getting lower each year because people don’t seem to be so interested in individual speedway. I think you let your hatred of team speedway cloud your judgement on this one. Speedway will only survive at a very few tracks if it becomes more about the competitors rather than the spectators.

I know it's a full moon but this is ridiculous... I'm entering you into the nipple of the thread play off final along with @TheScotsman and @Fortythirtyeight I would say it was pretty farcical in the fact the rules weren't followed, the winner should have been excluded twice and they handed some replacement memorial trophy lying around to the winner on the podium. I asked the question about tyres and instead of coming back with a sensible answer @Fortythirtyeight decided to act like a sociopath. Anyway the draw for the Golden Nipple will be made during the interval of the Championship Pairs Championship Memorial Trophy this Friday... Good Luck

Since CJ bailed. Buster has got Vadim. Paddy, Bomber and Laguta. MT was going to turn you into the "Man City of speedway" . I'll leave it there.

Probably right with Cardiff...interesting if Discovery have an opt-out clause in their contract...how the series misses the light accomplished touch of Paul Bellamy

I cannot see why every rider cannot be tested before a meeting and not just the odd one now and again. I used to work on very large construction sites and EVERY person on site was D&A tested before they could start on said site. When the site was up and running EVERY new starter was tested before they went out onto the site, if they refused they didn't start end of story. Before being tested they were asked 1) when did they last have alcohol 2) have they taken anything that might not allow them to pass the test and 3) a list of any prescribed medication they are taking. Also there was a computer that gave out random names each day for routine testing and these could be anyone on site from machine operator, to a receptionist to the site manager They then peed in a special test pot which was then sealed, snapped into the crystals below and shook up and depending on the colour it turned showed a positive or negative reading. Negative reading ........ carry on working Positive reading ...... you were sent home to wait for further testing of the sample to be carried out. This involved pouring the sample into two sample jars that were labelled A and B and the person was offered either of the jars to take away and have tested themselves if they wished. The sample was then sent away to the labs for more vigorous tests with the results normally back within 48 hours of test giving what the failure was or the fact that the person was taking a combination of prescribed medicines that gave a failed test result so was ok. Mind you most people who failed expected to and just said ok bye. What I am saying is that basic D&A testing kits are relatively inexpensive and could be carried out by the stadium doctor / paramedic so riders would know and expect to be tested prior to a match. If a rider has nothing to hide then they have nothing to worry about.