topsoil

A big help to British speedway would be if, like Poland, Sweden and Denmark, each Elite League club either owned their own stadium or had a stadium for the sole purpose of speedway. Easier said than done I know, with venues and locations very difficult to find. But until this happens and clubs continue to be dictated to by landlords on which night they race, one night per week will never happen. By the way, I ask because I do not know, how many British clubs do actually own their own track / stadium or is the venue used solely for speedway?

Agree with you that the facilities around the tracks are basic, but the fact that they are used for the sole purpose of speedway is a huge advantage over clubs in Britain who rent stadiums from landlords and have very limited access to not only tracks but are also denied the income from catering etc. The fact that they have time / facilities to run training sessions is something most clubs in Britain can only dream of.

Denmark seem to be running a successful league system, the majority of riders are Danish, the attendance figures seem to be rising each year and clubs have purpose built stadiums, albeit basic, for the sole purpose of speedway, which allow them to run junior training sessions.

British speedway and the way it is run could learn a lot from the leagues in Sweden and Denmark, but I'm not holding out.

Coosty start to what could be a big weekend!!!

Not been the best few weeks for Berwick. The heavy rain coupled with the stubbornness of the FIM officials, the strange circumstances and long hold up last week, then the heavy defeat tonight. Heat 6 summed things up, Claus on a tactical ride, gets out of shape and takes his first of two falls tonight. Hard to figure out David, polar opposite from the fantastic form at Sheffield. Obviously something wrong tonight. One great race tonight between Claus and Ostergaard, who along with Bjerre and Blackbird, were very impressive. Berwick consistently outgated. Hard to place the blame on one individual, there were several under-performing tonight. I'm all for loyalty and allowing riders towork through dips in form, but if things continue the same way some big decisions need to be taken.

Getting some decent crowds at Danish league meetings this season. Does anybody know the reasons for this? General increase in interest in the sport or a result of promotions such as reduced admission prices? Wondering if the promoters in this country could take lessens.

Enjoyed the meeting tonight, even if the track was a bit slick, but understandable, given that rain was forecast, so it made sense not to put a whole lot of dirt on the track. Great to see riders of that standard, despite all the hardship caused by Saturday I would definitely like to see more FIM meetings at Berwick in the future. If it had been a fine day on Saturday all would have passed off okay. Great to see David through to the next round, but will miss him for the Redcar match. Good crowd as well for a Monday night.

daveallen81 those results sheets from your dropbox, just wondering where you got all those from? Must have taken ages to put together? It's a hell of a lot of records though.

daveallen81 brilliant cheers

I've tried all over the internet to look back at these seasons, which I gather Berwick competed in challenge matches (1993) and division 3 (1994-1996). Must admit this was a period of time I spent away from the sport, other things took over. Any help appreciated, results, tables, riders, etc. Cheers

If things in the sport are as dire as the promoters are making it out to be (and we will never know the truth as Annual Accounts are never published, unlike in Sweden and Denmark, where clubs are run as clubs, with AGMs, elected members and Accounts are open to all members to see) then you would think the promoters would come up with some radical changes at the AGM to try and look after the future of the sport. A bit of long term thinking like investing in juniors and young riders. You wont see the benefit straight away but if they are given the chance then perhaps in five or ten years time promoters wont have to spend as much on flying foreign riders into the country. But I fear it could be the usual story. Reduce the points limit, water down the product, put admission prices up a £1, watch numbers dwindle because standards are going down and this time next year the same noises will be heard. My own personal thought would be that every club should have a junior team and have regionalised competitions like the old SJL / AJL and the current Midlands Development League. It gives more racing to a meeting as well. Even a return of the second halves? Riders are continually going on about "testing equipment". This gives then the perfect opportunity. And any riders out of form get more track time. Fans want more racing and fewer gaps between races. It is after all an entertainment business.

Well if that was to be the last Elite League meeting on Sky it has been a rather ironic way to end. Firstly a rain off then a meeting which will be overshadowed by the national football team. I'm unsure exactly when the Sky TV coverage started (was it late 90s?) but what does the sport have to show for around 15 years of TV coverage? Here was a chance to increase the profile of the sport, a chance to give sponsors nationwide exposure, the sport was to get a healthy financial backing. But what followed was a lack of investment in youth, a lack of investment in stadia, a lack of investment in track equipment, track covers, safety fences. The money it seems was spent on signing on fees, flying a select few in and out of the country and faster machinery which requires constant upgrading. Each year seems to lead to the same questions, which tracks will be running next year? will the points limit be reduced? Each year the product is watered down, the fans pay more to see their teams, there is a general lack of certainty about the futures of each club. Unless you are very close to the promoters nobody knows for sure how much TV money was actually pumped into the sport over the years. Sadly because of the structure of each team (basically a limited company) that information and much more, rider wages, income from attendances and sponsorship etc. will never be seen. Which brings me to the core of the problem. Each "team" is effectively owned by a promoted, who set up a limited company. This is done basically because it is easier for a company to write off debts. This needs to be ended and follow the Swedish model where teams are run as "clubs". The members appoint people to run the club, these people are responsible to the members and are put up for election each year. Therefore if they do not run the club properly they are replaced. The club do not outlive their means. Budgets are set and stuck to. Other advantages to "clubs" are that local councils are far more likely to give support. This was evidenced a few years ago when Workington Council were prepared to support a new stadium for football and rugby league clubs, but not speedway because this was run by an entrepreneur for their own profits. Government funding is also far more available to clubs and associations. There also needs to be an independent body to run the various leagues. At the moment the promoters run their own show, decide their own rules. Thankfully there are some bright signs. According to Speedway tar this week both Coventry and Redcar are running junior league meetings. Northside are doing a cracking job with the training rack and a few tracks such as Kings Lynn, Leicester and Scunthorpe run regular training sessions. Hopefully more tracks will learn from this.

Hancock? Crump? Ward? Dont know, who was it?

I still find it funny that Tai might not have been in the GPs this year had the organisers not seemed to insist that a Brit was given a wild card place. I suppose that's what you call making the most of your chance. I only hope the promoters and authorities of the sport make the most of this opportunity to raise the profile of the sport.

Good meeting which hopefully raised a lot of money for a very worthwhile cause. As for the newbies, I think Jacob Jamrog never gave up and his pass on Pijper was superb. Lined him up for two laps then got him on last lap. Then his horrific looking crash in heat 13. How the hell he got up from that and took his place in the re-run I've no idea. Just confirms the thought speedway riders are a special breed. I would love to see some of the prima donna footballers showing courage like that. Berge looked okay in parts. Again looked like a trier. Given his age, he's bound to come on. Hansen looked decent. A heat leader? maybe. All in all a meeting carried out in the right the right manner. The result was just about right. Good to see travelling Sheffield fans supporting a former rider. Good luck Ricky. Everybody is behind you in the biggest race of your life!

Was there a bit of spite from the SGP in the Speedway Star hightlighting the small crowd for the European Championship round in Gorican and the possible absentees for the final round? Surely better concentrating on their own competition.

Any idea if these Swedish clubs produce annual accounts? If so any links to these?

Totally agree. They used to spoil meetings when I watched them on Sky. Then I watched meetings with the sound muted. Can't stand the pair. Scott Nicholls and Steve Day far better.

Agree with what has been said above, a tremendous meeting. Some of the moves on the first and second bends had to be seen to be believed. Full commitment, no quarter asked or given. Very impressed with Gomolski, Pawlicki, Dudek, Milik and Lebedevs as well as Kyle Howarth who did himself proud in vaunted company. Track was perfect, the dirt was even throughout the whole track and very smooth. Great to see how much speed the riders were getting putting the back wheel on the edge of the dirt line. Cant fault Berwick at all on the running of the meeting and would love to see Berwick awarded another FIM meeting in the future.

In an ideal world I'd love to see a World Cup similar to that of football or rugby union. A tournament in one country over a couple of weeks, two team matches, but unfortunately that would cause too many mismatches. Football can get away with for e.g. Italy v New Zealand in the 2010 World Cup but can you imagine Poland v Hungary or Slovakia at speedway? Maybe a divisional type of tournament? Have matches between Poland / Australia / Sweden / Denmark / GB / Russia? in division one, Czech Republic, Germany, USA, Slovenia, Finland, Italy in division two? promotion / relegation? Having said all that the run off and final this year were extraordinary. The level of skill was a big step up from that seen at league level week in week out. It is a big step up for a lot of riders and this is where I feel the British riders miss out by not being exposed to this sort of level of intensity more often. How many riders did we see this week riding above themselves because they were riding for their county? Anybody watching the sport this week had to be impressed.

They used to say happiness was 40-38. Berwick totally got out of jail by getting a 5-1 in heat 15. To be honest though the result was irrelevant to me tonight. Never actually saw Alex's crash because I was looking at Tyson Nelson laying it down to try and avoid Jade. you could tell it was serious straight away though because There was just a collective gasp then a horrible silence. Only hope Alex is okay. As for the meeting Kozza and Pepe were superb for Bandits, Seb and Lee turned their meetings around late on. For Rye House I was very impressed with Tyson Nelson. The race where Kozza went round him was worth the entrance money itself. Great to see Adrian back tonight.

I think the nail was hit on the head before. Tai Woofinden has been over-hyped this season, but only because Britain has very little else to shout about right now and commentators are desperate for somebody to label as the next best thing. I've only seen him a couple of times this season (on TV in the World Cup ride off and live at the PLRC) and he has impressed me. Let him develop in his own time!

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who is too shy to come on here. This year we (4 of us) stayed at the Holiday Inn for the Cardiff GP weekend. Can't fault the hotel, great location, everything at hand. We booked in for next year as the date was announced. Bit annoyed that the prices have taken a hike but I suppose that's the same with everything else these days. What is also annoying is that they stateon the booking form that they only require a deposit of £50 at the moment (gives you a bit of time to save up for the rest). Except that they've now taken the full price of our credit cards. On phoning up to complain about this we were basically told if we didn't like it we could cancel. Just feels like another dig from the hotel chains who seem to be increasingly exploiting the GP weekend. Just wondered if anybody else has had a similar experience?