tigerowl

I must admit that I've not been every week this season but the meetings I have attended have probably been the worst in the 42 years that I have been going. The racing is terrible (never thought I'd say that about Owlerton), the atmosphere is non-existent and the value fr money has been poor - 15 heats and that's your lot. I can't remember a single Sheffield rider coming round on an extra lap after winning a race apart from Arthur late on, but the fans were so fed up by then I don't think that he even got a round of applause. Some of the racing I've seen on the TV, Poole and Belle Vue for instance, has been pretty good so there is no excuse for the track that is prepared which offers little chance for passing. Last night was as dull as the proverbial dish water.

skj is right. It was boring, yet again. I've had to miss the occasional meeting due to work but I've yet to see a decent meeting all year. I left before heat 15 last night as I was fed up of standing around. In 120 minutes we had 14 heats - that's 14 minutes of watching racing and 106 minutes of hanging about watching tractors, people messing round with starting gates and reading the (excellent) programme for the 100th time. I don't know what's wrong with the track but it's like watching the rubbish churned out at Hull a few years ago.

Think it will depend on those middle pairings. Whoever comes out on top in the Howarth / Bates v Worrall / Barker battles should win. Think the points might be heading north...

I think Arthur Wright should be 3rd reserve at 19 and not Dan Forsberg. 1. Split Waterman (England) 92 years - born 27/7/23 2. Arthur Payne (Australia) 91 years - born 30/8/24 3. Dick Bradley (England) 91 years - born 28/11/24 4. Fred Brand (England) 91 years - born 3/2/25 5. Chum Taylor (Australia) 89 years - born 4/4/27 6. Eric Boothroyd (England) 89 years tomorrow - born 26/4/27 7. Derick Close (England) 88 years - born 13/5/27 8. Henry Long (South Africa) 88 years - born 26/7/27 9. Billy Bales (England) 86 years - born 6/6/29 10. Olle Nygren (Sweden) - 86 years - born 11/11/29 11. Rune Sormander (Sweden) - 86 years - born 29/11/29 12. Jack Geran (Australia) - 86 years - born 10/12/29 13. George White (England) - 84 years - born 24/5/31 14. Ian Williams (Wales) - 84 years - born 4/8/31 15. Per Tage Svensson (Sweden) - 84 years - born 16/10/31 16. Peo Soedermann (Sweden) - 83 years - born - 29/10/32 17. Ronnie Moore (New Zealand) 83 years - born 8/3/33 18. Ove Fundin (Sweden) - 82 years - born 23/5/33 19. Arthur Wright (England) - 82 years - born 14/10/33 Jim Lightfoot and Mike Broadbank are just outside the top 19.

I reckon it would look something like this: 1. Split Waterman (England) 92 years - born 27/7/23 2. Arthur Payne (Australia) 91 years - born 30/8/24 3. Dick Bradley (England) 91 years - born 28/11/24 4. Fred Brand (England) 91 years - born 3/2/25 5. Chum Taylor (Australia) 89 years - born 4/4/27 6. Eric Boothroyd (England) 89 years tomorrow - born 26/4/27 7. Derick Close (England) 88 years - born 13/5/27 8. Henry Long (South Africa) 88 years - born 26/7/27 9. Billy Bales (England) 86 years - born 6/6/29 10. Olle Nygren (Sweden) - 86 years - born 11/11/29 11. Rune Sormander (Sweden) - 86 years - born 29/11/29 12. Jack Geran (Australia) - 86 years - born 10/12/29 13. George White (England) - 84 years - born 24/5/31 14. Ian Williams (Wales) - 84 years - born 4/8/31 15. Per Tage Svensson (Sweden) - 84 years - born 16/10/31 16. Peo Soedermann (Sweden) - 83 years - born - 29/10/32 17. Ronnie Moore (New Zealand) 83 years - born 8/3/33 18. Ove Fundin (Sweden) - 82 years - born 23/5/33 19. Dan Forsberg (Sweden) - 82 years - born 25/3/34 Apologies to anyone left out. Any new information and I will correct the list.

Agreed. It was the most boring meeting I have been to since Hull closed down.

Some of you may have noticed that my Speedway A to Z site hasn't been updated for a few months. I had a bit of a software problem which was impossible to resolve and I have had to rebuild the site from scratch. The new site is now up and running and I will be putting as many profiles on as I can over the next few days, weeks and months. The site address is www.speedwayatoz.co.uk Matt

Sad to report that Bill Griffiths, the former Southampton, Liverpool and Leicester rider has passed away at the age of 91. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and died on Monday. RIP Bill.

Paul Lydes-Uings rode for Arena Essex a few years ago. Then there was James White-Williams at Newport and Ryan Terry-Daley who rides for Stoke.

Hope that next season I don't spend as many Thursdays at home watching TV due to another blank week at Owlerton.

Sorry you missed it Leicester Lion. It was a decent meeting in the end with both teams having a good go in the conditions. There was a fair amount of passing and some cracking racing. Glad I went.

Came across as honest, but he's hardly the visionary we need to take the sport forward. To have so long in the job and to see the sport going down the pan without the first clue to put it right isn't good enough.

Philip Rising gets stick when the Star doesn't mention the ills of the sport, accused of pandering to the promoters, and then gets criticism when he does. He says in his article that 'over the next few weeks we will be canvassing the opinions of many right across the speedway spectrum...' But the same faces want to offer criticism without reaching the end of the article.

I still go most weeks, out of habit rather than enjoyment. It's not the difference in the standard of riders that puts me off. I can remember Ivan Mauger and Hans Nielsen averaging over 11 points per match and our reserves not having a chance in hell of beating them, but I still wanted to see them. What bothers me and is making me disillusioned is that half the riders on my team ride for somebody else. It doesn't apply so much this year but I can think of a rider who rode for my team who didn't seem to put in nearly as much effort as when riding for his parent track at the higher level. I can only speak for myself and give the reason why I don't go as often as I did.

I apologise if you thought I was mudslinging with my comments. That wasn't my intention and, again, I am sorry that I got the wrong end of the stick with your views. Costing an alternative system is difficult as so much of speedway in shrouded in secrecy. We don't know the attendance figures and we don't know what the riders are paid and what sponsorship deals are done. However, what we can all see at most of our tracks that crowds are in a downward spiral. Reading all the comments above, it seems that some people do just go for the thrill of the racing and will keep going no matter what. That does wear off for some though and lots of people I know go because they support a team. It is this that is being eroded. Regionalisation has been suggested and this could work. There are hardly any travelling fans at speedway theses days and some clubs rely on local derbies and the problem is, everyone has different ideas as to how things should go forward in the future. So, I can't submit any costings because the figures aren't there to do it but we need to stop alienating the hardcore fans, because that is all we have left.

I think you may have missed the point. I used the Peter Craven argument as he started of as a failing junior but got his break and made World Champion. How many potential good riders are we losing today because they are not getting the chances due to riders turning out for multiple teams and National League tracks using guests and rider replacement rules against each other? If you are happy with the set up and think that the doubling up and guest farce is a good thing for the sport, fair enough, But looking round the stadiums it seems like others are not happy and are staying away. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why people are not coming to the speedway any more, economics being one, but losing team identity is certainly a reason. As for the Richie Worrall situation, again, it's up to him. But how anyone can be expect to be a full time rider, riding in front of crowds of 500 or so is beyond me, We are averaging crowds about the same level as Conference North / South football teams, in worse facilities, and their players all have other forms of income.

Sorry to harp on but... The answer shouldn't be too hard to find. We have 31 teams over the three divisions this year (lets hope its as many in 2016). That means we need 217 riders to staff the teams to full strength. I reckon that about 130 British riders have turned out in league racing, mainly in the National League this year. So, there are the riders, it's just that most of them are riding at the wrong level. The Premier League shouldn't be for riders like Craig Cook, Danny King, Ben Barker and Simon Stead. If they want to ride there, then fine, but that should be where they ride - not for anyone else. Similarly, the National League shouldn't be for people like Max Clegg, Ben Morley, Danny Ayres, Danny Halsey, Adam Ellis, Bradley Wilson-Dean and Dan Greenwood. You might say that Clegg is averaging only about four points per match in the Premier League. Well, he is, but he is up against riders who ought to be in the league above. I was at Sheffield to watch the Cradley challenge match the other week. There was a lad called Tyler Govier for Cradley who has made three league appearances for the Heathens. He looked a tidy rider and wasn't anywhere near a 'wobbler' I might have expected. These are the lads that should be regulars in the National League, not just scratching around for rides, getting disillusioned and drifting out of the sport. There will always be the natural talents like Collins, Loram, Lee and Woffinden who will make it no matter what, but would Peter Craven have become world champion if there was doubling up in the early 1950s? Probably not, because he wouldn't have been given a chance. The fact is that there are the riders out there. They just need to be given a chance and stopping the doubling up nonsense would be a first step. Sorry. I'll shut up now!!

Don't get me started on the tactical rides White Knight!!

Of course not. What I am suggesting is that the doubling up regulations have got totally out of control and sees many of the Elite League tracks running with four doubling up riders. All this means, is that when one of them gets hurt (Masters, Birks, Robson, Rose etc.) it means that two teams are using guests for one injury. There are about 30 riders riding for two teams at the moment and fixture clashes are inevitable. I accept that injuries are part and parcel of the sport but when a team loses at home with three or four guests when riders have been injured racing for other teams in the UK or abroad, or are riding for some other team they have no affiliation for, is it any wonder that fans vote with their feet. Your next comment might be 'there aren't enough riders to go round.' This is a self fulfilling prophecy as the number of available team places dry up, the number of riders to fill them also dries up. There are enough periods in speedway's history to show that riders can be found when there is a need. In 1947 when a third division was created, in 1960 when the Provincial League was formed and in 1968 when the British League Division Two began, there was the same cry. The lads who have come from moto cross in recent years demonstrate that there is a willingness to move sports if there is an opportunity there. The promoters are all bleating about low crowds but they do nothing to encourage people to return. Fans support a team. They want to feel a loyalty to the riders (Morton and Collins at Belle Vue, Wyer and Wilson at Sheffield, Louis and Davey at Ipswich etc) and this essential part of the sport has been stripped away from the fans as they see their riders turning out for three or four teams per week in the UK and abroad. I realise that the riders need to make a living and they might well be happy with the current state of affairs, but, the most important part of the equation is the fans and it is clear from the numbers on the terraces that things need to change.

If any promoters are wondering why the hardcore fans are getting fed up and they are not attracting new people to the sport, then the below summary of last night's action might help. At Leicester, the home team team contained Thomas Jorgensen who rides for Berwick as a guest for Sam Masters who also rides for Edinburgh, James Sarjeant of Coventry and Glasgow as a guest for Josh Auty who also rides for Scunthorpe and Dan Greenwood of Coventry Storm as a guest for Simon Lambert who also rides for Peterborough. On the other side, Hand Andersen of Coventry guests for Andreas Jonsson, Chris Harris of Coventry guests for Kim Nilsson, Max Fricke of Belle Vue guests for Mikkel Bech and Richard Hall of Berwick guests for Ashley Birks who also rides for Sheffield. Lakeside's three non guests are Edward Kennett who also rides for Rye House, Richard Lawson who also rides for Glasgow and Adam Ellis who also rides for Birmingham. Plymouth feature a seven man side, although number one Kyle Newman also rides for Poole. Their opponents Somerset have rider replacement for Charles Wright who also rides for Swindon and also line-up with Josh Grajczonek who also rides for Belle Vue and Paul Starke who also rides for Poole. Rye House take on Newcastle without their number one Edward Kennett who is riding for Lakeside and replace him with Robert Lambert who rides for King's Lynn, or is it Peterborough? Newcastle operate rider replacement for Christian Henry who is injured and have Rafal Konopka of Peterborough and Connor Mountain of Mildenhall guesting for Simon Nielsen and Lewis Rose who was injured riding for his other team, Swindon. A full strength Workington team includes Ricky Wells who also rides for Wolverhampton, Kyle Howarth who - until a few weeks ago - also rode for Swindon and Matt Williamson who also rides for Cradley Heath. They take on Sheffield who have had a guest all season for the injured Simon Stead and usually borrow riders from their main rivals for the play-offs, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Somerset or Ipswich. Last night it was Danny King of the Witches, but he also rides for Coventry. There is rider replacement for Jason Garrity, who also rides for Coventry and was injured riding for them, with Josh Bastes, also of Wolverhampton and briefly of Birmingham, lining up at reserve. The farce continues in the cup match at Edinburgh where the Monarchs use rider replacement for the injured Sam Masters - the same Sam Masters that Leicester are using a guest for. They also include Craig Cook, also of Belle Vue, Max Clegg, also of Cradley Heath and Robert Branford who also rides for the Rye House Raiders. The Bears have Aaron Summers of Glasgow guesting for the injured Lasse Bjerre and have rider replacement for Stuart Robson, who was injured riding for his other club, Coventry. There are also guests at reserve where Liam Carr of Buxton and Rob Shuttleworth of Coventry Storm replace the injured Jan Graversen and Adam Roynon who was hurt whilst guesting for Arena-Essex the other day. The night is concluded by the relative normality of the National League Cup fixture between Eastbourne and Kent, although the Eagles have rider replacement for Georgie Wood and Martin Knuckey of Coventry Storm guests for Richard Andrews. Poor old Niall Strudwick, the Eagles number 8, can't get a ride despite his team being 14 points up from the away leg. Kent, meanwhile, are the only team of the 12 in action tonight to put out a full seven where none of the side are doubling up or doubling down. However, this would have been different a couple of days earlier had not Ben Morley lost his team place at Redcar. Is everyone enjoying their speedway?

So, the Leicester team contained Thomas Jorgensen who rides for Berwick as a guest for Sam Masters who also rides for Edinburgh, James Sarjeant of Coventry as a guest for Josh Auty who also rides for Scunthorpe and Dan Greenwood of Coventry Storm as a guest for Simon Lambert who also rides for Peterborough. On the other side, Hand Andersen of Coventry guests for Andreas Jonsson, Chris Harris of Coventry guests for Kim Nilsson, Max Fricke of Belle Vue guests for Mikkel Bech and Richard Hall of Berwick guests for Ashley Birks who also rides for Sheffield. Lakeside's three non guests are Edward Kennett who also rides for Rye House, Richard Lawson who also rides for Glasgow and Adam Ellis who also rides for Birmingham. And the promoters wonder why nobody goes to speedway any more!!

Seen today that Berwick have signed Mathias Thornblom as a replacement for Ben Barker who is out for the season. Peterborough have signed Emil Grondal as a replacement for Olly Allen whilst we still look like using guests all season for Steady. It's nice to be at the right end of the table after a few years of struggling near the bottom but the constant use of guests is starting to make that success feel a bit hollow to me.

Simon likes beer?

Thought Ipswich were a bit unlucky tonight. If Heeps hadn't crashed in heat 11 we might have been in a bit of bother. Love watching Danny King ride and I was very impressed with Nielsen. Tungate rode better than his score suggested and Covatti was a bit up and down Thanks to Cookie for another professional job and great efforts from Jason and Andre to win it for us. Bit worried by Ashley and Ty but hope they will come good soon.

Dan Greenwood of Coventry to guest for Coventry!! Only in speedway.