Midland Red

Absolutely spot on, mick! And once they're out of the habit, they're lost forever

Any of this of benefit to speedway in the UK?

Oh dear - I wonder what there was to learn from watching Ward in the pits?

Every point is vital! I hadn't realised that till it was pointed out

Totally agree And remind him that riders do not come out "on a new bike", they come out "on a different bike" For a so-called journalist, he really is poor

Gating tart!

Really made up that Andre is not as badly injured as first feared Pardon??????

Reflections on last night's tv: Sincere best wishes to Andre, that injuries are not too serious and for a quick and complete recovery Good to see Owlerton on tv, made for some good racing (without top names!!!) Impressed with smart appearance of track staff - could other tracks follow suit Plus marks to Sky for not re-showing the heat 14 crash, as the outcome was not known at the time Big minus marks to Sky, though, for their 2013 Highlights fill in, which seemed to major on spectacular crashes - not a great choice for that moment (oh, and 4th is spelt fourth, not forth, as in the clip!!!) And another minus for another dreadful interviewer - not Chris Louis! - where do Sky get them?

Posted on the SWC thread . . . My point entirely, against swerving speedway without the "top men"!

Would anyone take King and Stead to the final?

Why don't N & K pay attention? I know what Bomber pointed at, why don't they?

Some riders who are the best in the sport on view tonight in the SWC on what is reputed to be a top racetrack - not serving up much entertainment so far!

As you've watched, and enjoyed so much televised speedway, has it caused you to choose not to attend any speedway meetings you might otherwise have attended? - and I don't mean meetings which have been on TV

Two have already been mentioned, Mountford & France and Wilson & Storer To which I would add Boocock and Cottrell

I think E I Addio will agree with me that stating that you "object to . . . the same old tired chiched arguments" is not the best choice of words - perhaps you really mean "I disagree with . . ." I disagree with quite a lot of what is posted on this forum, but I don't object to people having their opinions You say you want to see change - ever thought that changing back to something which worked in the past might be the way forward?

Using Brandon as an example, Saturday was/Friday is speedway night You reckon the fans will come flooding back when every other Monday is speedway night Think again, pal And if Sky continue to broadcast live league matches, the armchair brigade will continue to exist/expand, to the detriment of clicks at the turnstiles

I said that the teams riding at Monmore and Kirky Lane wouldn't be able to ride at home on the Monday night My point is, assuming a 10 team league on Monday, five tracks will not be operating each week Speedway fans are in the main creatures of habit and turn up same night each week, stand/sit in the same place, meet the same fellow fans Taking away that regular habit will risk losing some previously regular fans "Oh, on a Monday I can . . . . . ." instead of speedway - because, every other week, there isn't any at the local track!

The British schedule is not unsustainable, it's the jetting off to foreign lands two, three or more times a week that's unsustainable - the answer is riders 100% committed to the UK only Why "of course"? He's hardly a household name outside the speedway fraternity, and I would suggest that virtually all the Coventry supporters there last Friday were at the previous home match, and will be at the next oneOver the years I doubt there's been many riders who would add any sizeable numbers to a meeting attendance Sayfutdinov obviously did so, but who before him had the impact a Fundin, Mauger, Craven, Briggs, Gollob, Penhall had? Oh, and I see you changed from "top names" to Stronger sides" - there's a vast difference!

Belle Vue were at Brandon last Friday Top name Matej Zagar was in the line up Do you think this added to the attendance numbers? No, fans in the main turned up to a) watch speedway support/follow their team/favourite rider(s) The return of Scott Nicholls may have put a few on the gate I was going to mark this as a like, except I'm not in favour of a squad system, but I do agree with the point about racing being available most days of the week

Those away at Monmore and Kirky Lane for two

Why? Surely competitive, entertaining racing is what fans want? I'd much rather see a heat with four riders of equal ability, as far as possible, race against each other How many top names, as you call them, do you want to see in each and every meeting? If there's only a couple, then they're unlikely to get much competition during the match for you to marvel at Remember, the top names in general only do four laps in a couple of seconds less than the large majority of riders Perhaps without them, so they can concentrate on earning their zlotys and krona, and avoid unnecessary early morning dashes to Stansted and Luton, there would be closer, thereby more entertaining, racing for UK fans Which part of "most speedway teams only rent the stadia they ride in, so they are restricted when they are available" do you not understand?

I'm sure no-one took offence! Fortunately I don't have dyslexia, but my fingers do get out of control on the keyboard quite often!

Who is Tia?

Do we need Sky live league meetings? We're trying to get people through the turnstiles, whilst Sky live broadcast encourages stay-at-home fans No more live Sky as a starter!

One night for BEL speedway will reduce crowd levels, if speedway fans are like I was in my younger days! I would regularly attend at Perry Barr on a Monday and Blackbird Road on a Tuesday, finishing my week at Brandon on the Saturday Virtually every week at the first two, and all but the first Saturday in the month at home The idea of single night speedway would allow for only one meeting per week, and for those unable, or unwilling, to travel, one meeting every other week In the "good old days" Saturday night was speedway night at Brandon, and similarly throughout the UK, teams were at home every week - so, it was habit-forming and little else got in the way of speedway spectatoring It helped too that teams were virtually unchanged from season to season, so that fans became attached to their favourites, many of whom were local and known personally to a lot of spectators And with a full programme of league and cup racing, together with regional team competitions and individual meetings, there were enough meetings in the UK for the riders I honestly believe that the way forward is to step back to this scenario, and let those who want to commute to and from continental Europe to race do so As long as there is a level playing field of rider standard, it doesn't really matter at what level that is - do the star-packed Swedish teams provide better racing because of their rider make-up? - I'm not certain they do I well remember the merger of the National and Provincial Leagues - it won't work, they said - but it did, in a very big way As far as TV is concerned, do away with live transmission in the UK, so that those who want to watch speedway have to pay at the turnstiles - by all means have a "match of the day" type magazine programme, showing edited highlights, so that the sport is still visible to potential fans If it means going "semi-professional" then so be it