George Dodds

Think it already happens with a lot of the clubs coming to the north and Scotland. However, savings assume that all the riders live near the track they represent - think you might find that a lot of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Berwick riders travel as far - further in Ben Barker's case - than most of the visiting riders. Accept that it might work from a fan's point of view.

Again we perhaps need to take a leaf from the other motorcycle codes and Premiership Rugby which self-finance highlight packages and then all but give them to terrestrial TV - as a result ITV 4 shows highlights of Moto-GP, British superbikes, Premiership Rugby Union and has Touring Cars and Formula E live while Five has World Rally Highlights. Channel 4 night-time is awash with highlights from obscure car racing formulas. We made the mistake of taking the money from Sky and then allowing them exclusivity when they were the only players in the game - the mistake must not be repeated when a new deal is negotiated, although that sadly is years away. Grand Prix can sort out their own TV problems as most of the money generated from it goes outside the sport in this country.

So basically if the BSPA can arrange for a six-year worldwide war which kills millions, uninvent TV and home entertainment, raze garden centres to the ground, and race in London all speedway's woes will be solved? Even Premier League football attendances stack up badly to those immediate post war years ... but, correct me if I'm wrong Gustix, wasn't it a short-term high? Within 10 years wasn't the sport down to a handful of tracks and even they were on their uppers? The past is gone - it will never return, along with the time when British speedway could afford to pay the rates of money which will attract the top riders here. Instead we should be looking at the likes of British Superbikes and British Touring Cars - two organisations which manage to run profitably in front of large crowds despite not having access to the elite level or racers. Put two or three riders or roughly equal ability on track and speedway is as good as was in the 40s. 60s, 90s, whenever - Berwick against Glasgow on Saturday night proved that. One of the problems with modern speedway is that too often races feature four riders of widely differing abilities - sort that and you have something sellable to the public.

Daft, but genuine, question, but does the rider not get paid for six points instead of three?

Yes England only pick players who play for English clubs - but not necessarily born in England or to English parents. Inconsistent to say the least. It was a bid to stop top players going to the better paying league in France and has been relatively successful in doing so - although a couple (Dylan Armitage in particular and Danny Cipriani when he played for Melbourne) have chosen to take the money and effectively exclude themselves from international rugby.

Totally untrue. I'm a huge rugby fan but the use of residency (six years) to qualify for a country is turning the international game into a farce. At last year's World Cup each country named 32-man squads - only Argentina's were all born in the country they represented. England had three (Mako and Billy Vunipola and Brad Barritt) foreigners, Wales 11 (nine born in England), Scotland 10, France 10, Ireland 5 and New Zealand 5 not born in the country whose shirts they wear. The numbers for Japan, Canada and the lesser nations were enough to give you a nose bleed.

Let's see English ... tick Young ... tick er .... that's it. everything's fine and how it should be, good luck to both riders and get off their backs.

What is the average crowd for the British GP at Cardiff - I only ask because the fact that it features all the top riders in the world must mean that it is a sellout every year with a huge waiting list for fans who will only turn up if "the best are on show". Most of these star riders cannot be seen racing in Britain on any other occasion so they are at the peak of their pulling power.. The fact that Cardiff actually draws little more than an average week of league attendances suggests that they are not the be all and end all that some claim - even to hardcore fans of the sport.

... but what is quality - the 14 highest averaged riders or two teams of equal ability? Speedway's fundamental problem is that too few races feature two or more riders of equal ability. When they do the racing tends to be of as good a quality as it ever was.

There's always some clever clogs who goes and brings facts into an argument on the BSF - ban them for life I say

Didn't she present The Biker Show - which had some BV action - on the little lamented Channel M local TV station in the mid noughties. Good show, the channel virtually bankrupted the MEN group - lost millions in each of the couple of years it ran - before it was sold off the the Chief Exec wandered off to weave his magic on Scottish Rugby. That apart if it is her she certainly knew her stuff. Good call by BT Sports and good luck to them with their coverage. My Saturday night cash goes through the turnstiles at Shielfield Park so I'll not be watching but at least it looks like a serious, professional effort.

No our sport is virtually bankrupt and all tracks rely on promoters and sponsors to subsidise the, already too high, admission prices. One alternative source of income is from pay TV but that relies on people buying viewing packages. If their streams are stolen and published for nothing then there is a decreasing worth to TV of speedway which will be reflected in the next round of negotiations by a lower price or no TV deal at all. While apps and streaming may be of use to those who don't want to pay admission to watch their speedway live they are worthless to promoters whose focus should be getting more people onto the terraces. Additionally it should stop my view of the action being spoiled by some knob waving an i-pad in the air in an effort to film the action for his nerdy "friends".

Surely as a Morrissey Fan you're delighted at being miserable?

No inside knowledge but I would expect that the only on-site presentation would come from Cardiff - if that didn't clash with Moto GP would expect Suzi to be there. Rest presumably is just someone in BT's Waterden Road studio (Hackney is back!). BT have a shedload of capable presenters ... and there's always Keith Huewen!!

Can't help thinking that if the multi-million pound might of Sky cannot defeat the thieves then the BSPA will have no chance

Swindon Town FC average attendance 4-5,000 - Swindon Robins 1-1,500 Newcastle United 49,000 - Newcastle Diamonds 1,500 Middlesbrough FC 20,000 - Redcar Bears 8/900 Manchester United 70,000 - Belle Vue 2,000 and I've probably been generous on some of the speedway attendances. Don't think football has a "divine" right to coverage simply it dominates and most BBC stations reflect that dominance. In some areas of the county Rugby League, club rugby union, basketball, ice hockey and cricket attract crowds which dwarf speedway but get little or no radio coverage. When was the last time you heard a radio report from a stock car meeting at Arena Essex despite the fact that the crowd will have been six or seven times that of a Lakeside meeting?

.. but is there any money to be made or will the clubs merely spend money setting it up only to find that the digital shoplifters proudly tell everyone how to steal the content?

Really. I can offhand think of 70 or 80 football and rugby stadiums and a couple of dog tracks. Sums up one of speedway's big problems as a rule club owners would always rather rent than develop their own stadiums. That leaves them exposed to having their base sold off from under them.

However, Wasps average crowds of over 15,000 per game, Saracens 10,000 sell-outs Leicester approaching 30,000 and Twickenham stages five internationals a season which are 70,000 plus sell outs ... just wish speedway could be even partially as well supported. Oh and speedway's big day of the season involves us half filling a rugby stadium in south Wales!

I was in the pits at Hackney the night of the tragedy so it would have been against arena essex but I must admit I can't remember the name of the other (totally blameless) rider involved but have a gnawing feeling that it might have been Nick Floyd (sorry if I've got that wrong). If Bryn reads this he was Hackney PR at the time and probably knows. As for Southern Africa - I seem to remember the sport was quite big in Rhodesia during the mid-70s (Zimbabwe that is) with the legendary (!!) Dick Barrie making trips and reporting extensively for the Speedway Star from Bulawayo and Salisbury. Also wasn't Denzil Kent (Canterbury?) and Peter Prinsloo at Poole Rhodesian?

People say he was a great racer - I must bow to them because I don't think I ever saw Joe actually miss the gate - especially against my beloved Bandits. Him and Tom had a silver helmet decider at Berwick in 76 or 77 and those three races were worth the admission price themselves ... never mind the Bandits match which followed Dave Trownson did gate on them both in one memorable race at Shieldfield - must have been 1975 - and managed to keep ahead of them for four hairy laps - DT was a wild and wooly reserve at the time before going on to make his name at Edinburgh