cowboy cookie returns?

To be honest I'd keep King & Kemp. King he is a dependable heat leader & will probably maintain his average again next year. Kemp the local lad who seemed pumped pre season but for whatever reason seemed to have struggled around Foxhall. However certainly has the talent. Of the rest Allen has been a huge disappointment not sure what's up with him. Is it just that he wasn't prepared to ride this year or is there more to the story. Rowe started like a train but has tailed off would possibly consider him again for next year. Cook has done ok but not for me. Starke up & down but certainly always gives 100% in any normal times I'd welcome him back but the side needs a major overhaul so sadly he's a no Crump came in as the box office signing & I honestly think he would have been ok had he not been injured at Wolves. Hopefully he'll go back into retirement, I don't really want to remember him as a struggling reserve. Of those the rest of the original 2020/21 side Covatti & Heeps both part of the old guard so no thank you. Klint I'd still like to see him line up as a witch but will he be available? It's certainly.gonna be an interesting winter not only for Ipswich speedway but speedway in general.

Well said. First & foremost the sport needs a major top to bottom overhaul with a lot more thought put into presentation & value for money.

Spot on. There used to be a group of us who attended each week & slowly we were driven away by the 'micky mouse' approach. So in the this our local track has lost 8-10 people who attended each week.

This has kind of happened already at double header meetings where a rider has appeared for both his own team & then guested for the other visiting team in match 2. Also don't forget the ko cup final a few years ago where Scott Nicholls rode for both Ipswich & Sheffield.

To be far this is a pretty pointless argument as he has stated that he has zero interest in even looking at speedway. But I'll make the point again that he doesn't own & have full control of any of the venues that he promotes the sports currently under his control. So why would he need that with speedway? If speedway was a big enough draw,profitable to the venues where it was staged & brought money into the local economy via visitors using local business then it would have far more control of the venues it uses. The biggest issue is that the cartel that currently controls UK speedway has no interest in opening up to outside help or handing the administration of the sport to an independent body. They failed to capitalise on the sky investment. They would rather continue with the broken business model they are currently using. The very model that has seen a reduction in venues a massive reduction in riders partaking & an even bigger reduction in spectators.

I don't think trees does Frigbo Take Chris Harris as an example 23rd August rides for Peterborough, 25th August rides for Birmingham & finally 26th August rides for Ipswich. And to cap it all off rides in a Peterborough team tomorrow night that includes 2 guests & rider replacement to cover injuries that their riders picked up riding in the championship against Ipswich, who he rode for last week! Anyone who can't see the issue with that or defends it are part of the reason this sport in the UK is finished it's utterly crazy & provides no credibility end of!! Sadly Trees is deluded!

Take Chris Harris as an example 23rd August rides for Peterborough, 25th August rides for Birmingham & finally 26th August rides for Ipswich. Anyone who can't see the issue with that or defends it are part of the reason this sport in the UK is finished it's utterly crazy & provides no credibility end of!!

No you couldn't in any other professional team sport a rider/player signs a contract to ride for one team for x amount of seasons. Yes they might leave for your rivals at the end of their contract or transferred loaned out part way though but they never appear for another team the day after appearing for you.

Always makes me laugh how bring more money into the sport & have better/more TV coverage is always town up as the answer. Sky TV pumped millions into the sport over what a 15 year period at one stage it even go back page space in the sun newspaper. What did the BSPA do with sky's millions & all that exposure? Answer the square route of sod all appart from propping up a failing business model. The golden ticket to better times for British speedway was so sadly wasted. As for league speedway in this country it's nothing more than a traveling circus.

I think you're missing my point. Riders being employed by multiple clubs through the out of control doubling up rule is another reason the sport isn't taken seriously & lacks any form of credibility outside of the ever shrinking speedway bubble.

What a daft statement! He doesn't own all the venues where snooker & darts are staged. He'd want total control of the club's no doubt but that would cost about 20 grand

I may have done in the 80s and the 90s when clubs had assets that were worth something the riders. Today because of the crazy rules in operation those assets are now worthless. Just out of interest I wonder what the valuation is of the BSPL

It is a very dangerous sport however those in charge are far more dangerous in the fact they have run the sport into the ground with decades of mismanagement. And even as the sport is drawing it's final breath's they won't allow anyone to administer a different treatment.

Millions & millions for 20 licences a few tractors and rakes really? That a hell of a valuation.

Sadly I think you'll be proven right. The most depressing part of all this is the righting has been on the wall for the last 25-30 years and all the BSPA have achieved in that time to move the sport forward is a name change to BSPL

Look at the Ipswich v Peterborough match this coming Thursday for another example why this sport is going down the shutter! Peterborough come to town operating rider replacement & tracking 2 guests due to injuries picked up by their riders while doubling up in the championship, how long is this madness going to go on for???

I believe Barry Hearn has said on more than one occasion he isn't interested in speedway. However the sport needs an fully independent governor & everything controlled centrally. The big question is who?

Some kind of mystery shop feed back would be fine I guess. But there are thousands of pages right on this very forum that if the promotors were really interested in feedback they could look at. However they don't seem that bothered & Seem to regard this forum as something of minority view from people who are negative about the sport.

Problem is trees those who love watching speedway are reducing every year and nothing is being done to entice news people in

I always use 1990 as a benchmark for the decline in UK speedway. My first full proper season as a fan aged 12. I have been looking back though the archives. 1990 saw 26 professional clubs split into 2 leagues the old British league 9 clubs & the national League of 17 clubs. The British championship was contested by 48 British riders starting with a quarter final stage. Compare that to today. 18 professional clubs & a British championship where 16 riders are put straight into the final as there aren't enough to do any thing else. 1990 182 team spots with no doubling up 2021 126 team spots where I believe 123 of those are held by doubling up riders. Also let's not forget that in 1990 those 26 league clubs all had junior League teams with an additional 4 spots per team. 1990 plenty of opportunity to ride, speedway in various formats alongside the league format eg 4 team championship & best pairs. I think that season my track Ipswich had 30 home meetings. Oh what happy days. The only real beacon of hope in that time was the early part of Sky's involvement I think by 2005 so 6 years in with sky it was clear that there wasn't any plan or indeed desire to do anything different....what a missed opportunity!!! Although on the decline it's been the past 10 to 15 years where the real damage has been done.

King Kemp Rowe & Starke plus 3 newbies for 2021, depending on the league set up .

It's truly amazing & unbelievable however at the same time 100% correct. Ignore everything around it and just watch the racing is what I do now. Although this approach has ment at best I attended once a season. The problem is without the rivalry between the competitors, clubs & supporters it becomes 4 blokes on bikes. Which sadly for me Makes it extremely boring!! If you're running a team sport, those in your team cannot ride for every other club at some point during the season. You can't make any type or rivalry and form any form of attachment to 'your team' if those in you team might be riding for the opposition tomorrow or some one from the opposition is in 'your team' next week. Speedway as a proper team sport or as an individual event can still be on its day the best sporting event going & highly marketable. However the UK version at present is a very poor version of what it could be, because you really do have to 'just watch the racing' which sadly makes it very dull & boring!

To be honest the poles are just making the most of the fact they have a product that the general public & big business alike want to be part of & they have the TV baking to make it work. Let's be honest British had the same opportunity in the 70s & 80s & again in the early 2000s with the sky input but did absolutely nothing with those opportunities. Don't blame the poles hats off to them for knowing how to run speedway in a professional manner

Are you a promoter? All that's needed in that statement is "if you don't like it p**soff" Forgetting that the fans also put their hard earned money into the sport week in week out yet are constantly taken for a ride not given value for money & are expected just to turn up and have their feelings ignored or are just told to like it or lump it. Thousands have just walked away because of that very mindset. Bottom line is if the sport was ran professionally giving value for money entertainment the sport wouldn't be in the mess it is. As for fans tearing it apart the vast majority just want to see some form of acknowledgement that what's on offer is no long fit for purpose and that real change is coming. That change maybe too late to save the sport in the UK but at least bloody try!! I used to love my speedway never missed a home meeting. These days for many many reasons all connected with what's on offer for my spend and therefore in the control of the BSPA I attended once a year at best.

Great idea i'd also just stick with the British & National League names.