topsoil

I can only speak for Berwick, who I support, but I'm always surprised at the number of supporters who stay behind after Premier League meetings to watch the NJL meetings. I realise that there will be a fall off from the number watching the "main event" but I can only imagine that fans want value for money and will watch these extra races, although there is an obvious drop off in standard. I would reckon around about half of the crowd stay behind for these junior matches. I would like to see a countrywide effort to have second half racing. Two reasons 1) it gives the fans more value for money and 2) the development of young riders which is vital to the sport. Even if it was regionalised to cur down costs and even if teams raced as former clubs "Exeter, Weymouth" etc. to keep the names of these clubs alive.

I can understand the frustrations of Elite League promoters at signing riders, who are then told by teams in other countries that they cannot ride over here, to practice over there instead. Perhaps the answer is to concentrate on producing our own riders instead? As has been said above you cannot "ban" riders from abroad, but you can certainly avoid signing them. This wouldn't happen overnight and would almost certainly see a reduction in standards for a few years, but if there was a concerted effort to source, then develop home grown talent then costs would be driven down and Britain might once again become a power. The sport as a whole needs to start producing more riders, to avoid doubling-up and riders competing in multiple countries. It won't be easy, it won't be done overnight, but I think it's something that has to be done.

Best wishes to a young rider i've enjoyed watching in the NJL meetings. Hopefully a full recovery.

Might, could, didn't

Justin Sedgeman hates the Berwick track. He still seemed to manage to come up with points for Edinburgh at important stages against us it seemed, but he admitted he really didn't like the track.

I'd rather have Benny Johansson, or Frank Facher

Following on in the great tradition set by the annual Ben Fund collections. Sadly had to miss this one due to a great wedding today, but thankfully a much-needed win in the bag and a promising home debut for the new lad.

Well well, as somebody might say

That'll cure all speedway's ills then

Possibly the best thing to happen to speedway in this area in a long time

Just a few thoughts after reading the threads above 1) Life in Sweden and Poland is not as rosy as it seems, a lot of clubs lose heavily each season and have to be bailed out by local authorities. Chances of that ever happening in Britain? 2) I've often thought that Sky meetings should be free admission, try and get meetings sponsored to meet the costs, get as many people in the stadiums as possible, looks good for the cameras, sponsor gets maximum exposure. 3) The Elite League (and other leagues would be nice) needs a sponsor. 4) In it's current state I can't imagine any club wishing to leave the Premier League to move up to the Elite league, unless you have an owner willing to lose a lot of money, or the club have serious sponsorship backing. In any other sport, the aim is to get to the highest league possible because a) the TV revenue is greater attendances will be increased or sponsorship or corporate income will increase or c) there is some other sort of financial reward. That doesn't seem to be the case in speedway. There is no incentive to want to compete in the highest league.

I only hope that the fans will be patient with the young rider and supportive of the club by introducing a new face, but having already lost twice at home in the league, this season is in danger of ebbing away and all the positive work done by the promotion during the winter and early season could be lost. The best situation is for a young rider to come into a successful team, where any struggles he may have can be covered by other riders. Unfortunately Berwick is not that place right now. Hopefully he will get as many laps in as possible, the more the better. It's a risk the promotion have taken and hopefully it will pay off.

I would be surprised if any sportsman's first thought is 'do it for my country' rather than 'do it for myself'

Hopefully this will be a move which will pay dividends for the future, but I have my concerns for the team in the short term. This isn't a team that can afford to carry any passengers, especially with the heat leaders mis-firing. Hopefully the young lad will come good and be a Berwick asset for years to come, but having lost their last two home meetings, this is a big moment in the season. A very young reserve pairing this weekend anyway.

I've said this on a few occasions, I would like to see all Elite and Premier League teams align themselves with a junior team and provide second half matches. It gives the supporters more racing (I always find it surprising how many fans at Berwick stay behind to watch the NJL matches) and gives the younger riders much needed practice. Even if it is regionalised so that there is a North / South split to cut down on travelling costs. It can only be beneficial to the sport in the long run.

Can't beat a bit of Sunday night dead horse flogging

Good for them

Like you say official figures are never published, I'm purely going on what I've seen on Sky TV and wheat you read in Speedway Star, or on here. It would be interesting to see the actual numbers. The size of Shielfield and the fact that the crowd are spread out round three quarters of the track I think makes the crowd look deceptively small at Berwick. You look at places like Wolverhampton and Newcastle, greyhound stadiums where the crowd are restricted to one area and the crowd looks bigger, but if you put all the fans into one area of Shielfield, I reckon it would be more comparable.

Attendance figures throughout the sport are down, give or take the odd track, but if you look at youtube videos of Shielfield even ten or so years ago, I wouldn't say Berwick's crowds were much bigger then. But these days income can come in different forms, more emphasis is given to sponsorship deals and corporate hospitality. The holiday season is coming up soon and that is when the population of Berwick expands greatly. That's where I think the club need to target the promotion of the sport in the town. As for inviting all previous Berwick riders, yes this is good PR and should give the club an opportunity to expand the awareness of the club by getting photos, interviews etc. of theses riders into newspapers, the club website, social media.

The attendance figures at Coventry Storm do seem to have drawn a lot of attention lately. But for National League teams belonging to Premier / Elite League teams the attendance figures are not the primary concern, that is to being on home grown riders to supply the main team. I realise there is a point where it may not become financially viable to run a National League team if losses are incurred, but surely the promotion would have thought of this beforehand. The National League team isn't there to make money, the "savings" comes in the future, when you have a group of local riders (hopefully) serving the Elite / Premier team. That said, I would have thought that if it was scheduled correctly, the National League meetings could be run on the nights where the main team are either away or don't have a fixture due to GP weekends, thus giving the fans their weekly diet of speedway. It may also be the place for the owners to try out a number of promotional ideas, to get crowd numbers up. I have a lot of time for the likes of Coventry, Kings Lynn, Rye House, teams who run National League teams as well as the main team. I think the sport would be in a far healthier state if every team had their own feeder teams in place. That way we would be producing a lot more local riders, who fans and sponsors could relate a lot more to, than going to the expense of flying in riders from all over Europe each week.

I wonder if any sportsman does anything "for his country". I would have thought they do it firstly for themselves, or their team mates, or their friends and family.

Two time British World Champion. Go on, say it, you'll feel better :-)

Personally, I find it hard to understand the level of attention given to sportsmen and women singing national anthems at sporting events, certainly before the event. You are a professional athlete, you are judged by what you do on the track / field / pitch, not whether you can sing a song. I'll gladly take Tai never singing the anthem, just keep producing where it matters most. A lot of people point to rugby players singing anthems and how because of this they must be very patriotic. But I was interested to hear Martin Johnson once reveal in an interview that he is not very patriotic and feels more of an allegiance to team mates and friends than his country.

Had my Max Boyce moment tonight, Henning Bager won a race at Shielfield, 'I know, cos I was there'! Got to hand it to Captain Marvel tonight, saved us from a right humping. Into the grandstand after the meeting and swarmed with kids. Great work. Thanks also to Danny Ayres, who proved a really good guest for Liam. The rest of the Bandits just too inconsistent, Seb being the epitome of this, brilliant last weekend, poor this. But as usual, lots of laughs.

Going to be a very tough one for Berwick this, almost all of the Sheffield team go well at Shielfield. Need to get their gating heads on this week. Looking forward to seeing Simon Stead, has a great style. Hopefully the cracking weather we've been having lasts all week and for once it's not a three-layer night on the terraces.