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Wooden spoon

Clubs used to run every week with a 16 club British league,and still have spare dates for cup and individual meetings.

Interestingly a top six of Museilak, Basso, Tarasenko, Klindt, Iversen and Lambert would come in at just under the 40 point limit. However if there was an opportunity to get Wojlydo in at reserve rather than Simon I think they should go for it, as good as Lambert was last season.

The 1st one of those 6 has signed, welcome back Ben Cook

No I don’t blame him but he’s bought a lot of it on his self - all saying is when you have a gathering like Saturday to protest the closing of the showground and the current owner of the club doesn’t turn up it’s not a good look - it says to me the true owner of the club is the fans and the real owner couldn’t give a rats arse if Peterborough Speedeway continues.

With the comment of "the sport doesn't attract young fans I beg to differ, yes the sport can always do with more fans young and old but the problem is how do you get them to attend the sport? Back in the 60/70s when I started going it was mostly a family outing, these days how many family's do things together apart from watch tv? The first meeting I attended on my own was Wembley 71 and I could walk from home to the stadium in 45 mins and the same home again after the meeting. I was 14 that year and lets be honest how many of us would let our son or daughter do something like that these days? Yes the latest generation need to be tempted to speedway but exactly how? In 2022 my grandson was gifted a couple of free passes for Sheffield speedway by the Bluebell Woods charity and he asked me if I would go with him and his family to a meeting as he knew I was a speedway regular at one time. From that meeting in May that year to the end of the 2023 season I think we have missed one match and we have also attended a few away tracks as well. He is obsessed with the sport and on the phone to me daily with speedway updates he has found out, AND to go with his obsession he has a subscription to the Speedway Star and he had a 2023 subscription to BSN. The lad is not into football as much as he is his speedway and its all down to Sheffield speedway and the Bluebell woods Charity for those couple of tickets.

Ben cook first signing and new captain for next season.

1. Robert Lambert 7.61 2. Rory Schlein - 5.89 3. Luke Becker - 7.03 4. Chris Harris - 6.36 5. Sam Masters 7.13 6. Lewis Kerr - 5.31 7. Jordan Jenkins TOTAL 39.33

Bit of a shame for Sheffield fans that Tobi isnt back, rather have him than Tai personally

If points limit had of been 41 instead of 40 then Jye would have had the number 6 race jacket at Sheffield

That's great to hear my friends lads 14 and doesn't get to go as much as he likes and always watches the live streams with me also, but as a brand obsessed 14 yr. old he's rarely not got his oxford shirt on absolute loves it. I think speedway as a has a bigger growing youth support basis than they realise I see the same kids week in week out at oxford all with there horns etc.

think the last time he ride for us his machinery was pretty good it was his crash just before the playoffs and 2 broken wrists that were the problem lol

Do you blame Buster for not turning up ? He's been publicly slagged off repeatedly by a " consortium member" and others who have basically whipped up a public hate campaign against him, turning everything negative that has happened into busters fault. The term " witch hunt" springs to mind.I wouldn't have gone either if it was me

Time will tell,I personally don’t see crowds flocking back to Championship Speedway any time soon.Be great if they held their own though.Money from streaming more likely needed to keep Clubs afloat.Can’t keep charging more for lesser goods.IMO

I've said it before and I'll say it again you cannot be failed to be impressed when you first attend a Speedway match (Unless you've attended a shambles that we occasionally get). It's when you take a deep dive into the sport as you become more interested in it that it starts to let you down. It'll be interesting to see how your grandson retains his interest as he gets more into it and dare I say it Sheffield don't manage to put a serious challenge in to retain their title

That’s Speedway nowadays.Enjoy the racing.The trophy’s are just a sideshow.

A quick genuine question for all Oxford fans on here. How many of you are intending to watch all three teams in all three leagues in 2024?

Okay.... So everyone thinks that British speedway is on its last legs, largely due to the reduction in the number of tracks. In 2023, there were 19 tracks hosting league action - the same number as in other post-covid years. Doesn't seem like many does it? Particularly with the loss of Peterborough and Wolves. Are you aware that there have been a total of 14 seasons with fewer tracks hosting "official" (league) fixtures? A few will remember 1958, when the National League dropped to 10 teams - plus a reserve team from Yarmouth. Everyone thought speedway was dead then. It didn't die. As early as 1935 we had a season with only SEVEN teams in league action - and six of those were London teams! Anyway, now I've eased your worries, let's look at how many tracks have staged league racing since 1929, and how many seasons they have run. That last part of the sentence is the scary thing... I've compiled a list of tracks. When a team changed names (St. Austell, Arena Essex), but rode at the same track, that counts as one. When a team rode at different tracks (Glasgow, Belle Vue) that counts as one. This includes years where a team did not complete the season, but rode in at least one official fixture. Track shares are not counted as separate. 88 - Belle Vue 75 - Coventry 74 - Poole 73 - Sheffield 71 - Swindon 67 - Glasgow 66 - Ipswich 63 - Wolverhampton 62 - Edinburgh, Newcastle 61 - Oxford, Wimbledon 59 - Stoke 59 - Eastbourne 56 - King's Lynn 54 - Berwick, Exeter 53 - Peterborough 46 - Leicester 45 - Birmingham, Rye House 44 - Mildenhall 42 - Cradley Heath 40 - Reading 38 - Middlesbrough 35 - Arena Essex, Hackney 34 - Workington 33 - Plymouth 32 - Bradford, Scunthorpe 30 - Long Eaton, West Ham 29 - Newport 25 - Buxton, Halifax, Southampton 24 - Hull, Wembley 22 - Isle of Wight, Norwich 20 - Canterbury, Somerset, Weymouth 19 - Rayleigh 17 - Boston, Harringay, New Cross, Redcar 16 - Bristol 15 - Milton Keynes

Look at the race suit of the team he'll be riding for next year in Poland.

-25%

That's a shame, think he would do well at Perry Barr.

Obviously first and foremost as a fan you want success and wins for your team. But I am very glad to see 2 young brits given the chance to ride with 5 top riders who will pass knowledge on, and it is a positive move for British speedway. Woffy and Jack two great showman of the sport, both ride Owlerton so well and most away tracks they will rack up the wins. you wouldn’t fancy us to do so well at Ipswich but the larger tracks yes. Josh Pickering the key signing for me, after a bad shoulder injury he got better each month, this is the year I think he will really push on and become that 8 point rider

Bomber helped Leon when they were at Berwick,did notice in playoff final at Glasgow Leon was in the pits with Bomber probably adding 2 and 2 together and getting 5 lol

I'm sure Birmingham could find plenty of second strings & reserves to race for them, I just hope they have a top heat leader to lead the team & (hopefully) bring in the crowds.

Yes it is a Sheffield thread but it was related as Howarth was being compared to Rew.

4 because FT is useless.

Gilkes

Might be best to keep quiet

Would love to see Covatti return ?

We've gone for a strong top three and our reserves may well be among the highest average pairing in the league coming in at just under 7. This squeezes the second strings leaving very little to play with. It may well prove to have been a mistake going heavy on the top three - after all only two are needed for heat 15. Bailey in place of Flint would have left more for the second strings and given us a better balanced side. Bailey may well outscore Flint next year too!

My guess is he'll be at Workington. But that's just a gut feeling, I've not been told anything.

It’s a common system used for drafts in American sports. The worst team in the league gets first pick to help them try and improve. Kind of a moot point in Speedway where the other six riders can change completely from one season to the next.

I've never understood the picking order, why does Speedway punish successful clubs? I find it hard to believe there is an order at times as weaker clubs haven't picked the best riders. As for Belle Vue, they picked Mulford, because they didn't want Kemp, Rowe or Bailey apparently? If they had picked one of these 3, it wouldn't look like they had the last choice!

Agreed, but it tells you all you need to know. His job is done, he's got what he could out of it, left bugger all and a mess for genuine Peterborough Speedway people to try to salvage something from. He's not been interested in pushing anything during 2023 but the AEPG narrative. Unless he had a bombshell bit of positive information then staying well away was the sensible option. If he feels that he gets a rough deal then it usually appears to be well deserved. He can always clarify the situation if he wishes. Effective communication isn't too difficult apparently.

I fully expect the admission fee to be reduced at Ashfield next season as the product we're buying is inferior. Hmm.....

I’m a passionate Oxford fan, but the original closure had a lot to do with crowd levels. Colin Horton’s quote at the time was: “Crowds have been in the region of 400-500 for home meetings and we value greatly the support, but the harsh reality is that we need attendances of double those figures to even stand a chance of breaking even and I just don’t envisage that happening here.“

I’m sure Glasgow will sort him out with some

Before Oxford announced the Spires in the Premiership, Masters was heavily rumoured to be Leicester bound. Last season, Birmingham struggled financially in the Championship. I do wonder if riders might fight shy of joining Brum in the Premiership, fearing that they may have trouble getting paid.

I reckon Lindgren may aSPIRE to be elsewhere

Good solid rider years ago but I suspect the injuries are catching up , This team building to 38 points is starting to look more ridiculous by the minute if that is the rumoured side.

Yep, I'm convinced he's already done a financial deal with AEPG that see's him assist the bulldozers by demolishing the place. 1. Encouraged everyone to give up from the get go instead of putting up any kind of fight. 2. No progress has been made in selling the club to the consortium (I wonder why) 3. Buster couldn't sell the floodlights to Workington quick enough. 4. Buster assisting AEPG by slowly demolishing the place. If he wanted the club to survive then he would've made a quick sale to the consortium who are willing to fight tooth and nail to secure the clubs future, The fact that he hasn't sold the club and refuses to even put up a fight to secure the club's future tells me he's a corrupt pig working for AEPG.

No stranger than having Bomber riding for everyone week after week..

From 'Tears & Glory' : ..... on April 20 [2007] Reading thrashed Ipswich 60-32 at Smallmead in a fairly routine match. At the time comment focused on Kolodziej's first maximum and the pre-meeting withdrawal of McGowan after he aggravated a back injury in the pits. However, UK Sports Council Doping Control Officers were taking samples from three randomly selected riders. [On May 9 it was announced that] One of them – Danny Bird – tested positive. Bird was suspended pending testing of the 'B' sample. Once this also proved positive, a hearing was arranged. Bird's samples revealed traces of benzoylecgonine, an indicator of cocaine. He did not attend the tribunal held in July and received a two-year ban and was ordered to pay £1150 costs.

Absolutely. This is just another episode in the Clark Oborne Takes The Piss Out Of Speedway box set.

They do a decent job of that themselves tbf

Good Point that I hadn't thought of What bugs me is delays to start of the meeting due to people arriving late. In the best part of 50yrs I've managed to get to every meeting I've been too well ahead of the parade nevermind the start of the first race.

I do wish they'd gone with The Rebels if they're not using Cheetahs for the top team. I looked it up and there was even an Oxford Rebellion in 1596. The flag was the flag of Mercia - a yellow cross on a blue background. Perfect for a speedway logo if the confederate flag is deemed unsuitable. I don't know why - maybe just because they were called that when I starte4d going - but I think I'd be more likely to be inspired to go if it was Oxford Rebels. Oxford Spires sound like an NDL nickname (but better than Silver Machine!). Come on Oxford. It's not too late. Oxford "Rebels". You know it makes sense!

The idea that tracks have to have a meeting every week is pretty archaic. You can have too much of a good thing, especially in the current economic climate where people can’t afford to attend every week. I can’t think of any mainstream team sports in which a team has a home match every week either. People are not going to forget about speedway or stop going if there’s not a meeting every week. Look at the patchy fixture lists we’ve been exposed to in recent seasons. There’s a huge novelty factor at Oxford at the moment. The top tier team will become the novelty in 2024 and the Championship team will not be as attractive, especially when fans are picking and choosing meetings. Eventually the top tier novelty factor will wear off too. My concern is that they’re overreaching by making this move.

I think it's a very bold decision given the number of fixtures that need to be run. However it is an idea that nobody has the guts to try but could work. British Speedway's inability to ensure that all teams end up completing the same number of fixtures before the cut off is poor, the number of rain off and number of fixtures that end up being crammed into the end of the year or becoming meaningless is poor. However i also think that it's achievable for Oxford to run that number of fixtures, if they are run professionally and they have an approach of getting meetings on rather than calling meetings off. It is understandable to see comments saying that it is going to be hard to see fans spending that amount of money to support 2 teams on a week to week basis because of the cost of admission prices. However every year you see a significant proportion of Speedway fans saying that they want a regular weekly meeting because speedway should be every week and that a Stadium should be in use. I think it's a reality that fans don't travel as much as they used to, following a Team Home and Away in really large numbers is a reality for Speedway Fans anymore. However watching attendances at Newport dwindle and subsequently becoming an irregular fan at Swindon and Somerset also gave me a much more realistic perspective around attendances. When an attendance figure is mentioned regarding a Break Even point i do wonder what that point would realistically be, if clubs didn't have other income streams Attendance wise a lot of tracks struggle when the weather is poor and other events are on, do well during the summer months and school holidays, and there is a benefit to successfully hosting major meetings are on e.g. Pairs/Fours/Rider Championships. And it's always noticeable during Playoffs that attendances are up However, I think Speedway's viability is entirely contingent on other income sources whether that be Sponsorship, TV Revenue, revenue generated from other businesses or owners who bankroll the sport. That being said, regarding Oxford. They have had good crowds by all accounts, they have been run professionally. Oxford has a sizeable population & people support successful teams. Most tracks have also seen the benefit of Emil joining Ipswich, which did have an impact in increased attendances. It's helped show that more Premiership clubs from a Club/Rider perspective are being run more professionally, and i think that has played a large part in other riders wanting to return to racing in Britain. The other thing with attracting more top level riders back. It has the potential to appeal to more casual fans, TV fans, Fans of defunct Tracks. I applaud Oxford for having the guts to try something different.

Got to love all the negativity from people. British speedway supporters are the gift that will keep giving.