Wee Eck

I suppose it all depends on the professionalism of the promotion. Poole are known to pay less in points money than most similar teams, that’s been the way for many years, but to use sponsors to top up riders’ income. But at the same time, they’ve promoted heavily in the local area (maybe less recently but that might change with Matt Ford moving back to England). Central marketing by BSPA/BSPL hasn’t worked so it’s down to each club to do their own. And my guess is that BV believe that having Dan and Brady gives them a better selling story. I don’t live anywhere near Manchester so have no idea how or even if they maximise this

Just to correct you - British speedway HAS used professional marketeers in the past but they’ve always gone for the cheapest then, when they inevitably fail say “see, we told you marketing was valueless” On the 2 versus 1 GP stars, my expectation is that large amounts of their costs are covered by sponsors, sponsors who probably wouldn’t contribute as much overall to the team (in addition to their “help” with wage costs) if there was only one

Some of the individuals involved are certainly solvent. I have no information on how well funded the operation will be.

That’s my understanding.

My understanding is he’s not

I think he might be the first person you think of. Then add a couple of likely - or perhaps unlikely - lads already involved in speedway and you’re getting there

I think you have 3 out of 7

All valid points. We had a long dry spell with no one, other than Tai, coming through to challenge Bomber and Scott Nicholls for a place in the GB Team. And even with only three decent riders, we had boycotts and fall outs over pay as well as a lack of professionalism in preparation. But, over the last 10-15 years, we’ve had several initiatives to help bring the next generation through. Neil Vatcher with the British Youth Championship deserves much of the credit for this but Phil Morris and the late Graham Reeve were also heavily involved. Bev and Marcus Williams in Australia set up the scholarship - some called it boot camp - in their house and Ian Sinderson of ATPI and Richard Cotton of Rentruck got the No Limits training programme going. When the efforts of Vicky Blackwell and Rob Painter are added to this, you can see how individuals are the ones that have created a set of circumstances that have moved us out of the doldrums when it came to developing riders. From a very lowly position, as well as the GP stars, we’ve now got several decent riders chasing for success. Like Tom Brennan, Dan Thompson, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson, Dan Gilkes, Leon Flint and several more. Each and every person who has helped to create this, and, of course, Simon Stead is part of this, deserves recognition and thanks. BSPL and many individual promoters are the villains in this - taking but giving little in return. Turning the Development League from amateur to professional was a huge mistake, driven by vested interest. The bottom league should have been a ride for expenses league, but who remembers the year Adam Ellis - and no slight on Adam intended - turned down a championship role because the NDL was paying him too much? For him, it was the right thing to do but it should have been a wake up call for the promoters. Coming back to the original point, the GB Team has been more than the individuals involved, whether that’s those that operate in plain sight or those in the background. But its strength has been because it has operated as a team and Simon was part of the team. Of course GB will regroup without him, but that doesn’t mean his departure shouldn’t be regretted.

It’s easy to work out - Mayfield have bought Ipswich, Mayfield are the license holders for the GPs. There’s now only one temporary GP track so, until the World Cup, the GP air fence won’t be needed. And Ipswich wouldn’t have been running that week so they can return it to Poland

I don’t understand all the cynicism here. GB was a joke of a team year after year but Painter, Blackwell, Allen, Stead, Vatcher plus the professional team around them involving fitness, psychology, physiotherapy and media profile have produced some world beating performances. No more pizzas and beer but pride in the job instead. And top class sponsors. It’s not been just a one day job either with qualifiers and finals in the same week resulting in the squad being together for 4 or 5 days. GB has team spirit, team uniforms and, allowing for 2025 being a hiccup, great results since it changed to the current management team. Olly and Simon have worked well together but they will acknowledge they are only one part of the whole set up. When domestic speedway in UK, especially the way the top league is going, is a clown show, and is working its way down and down, the national team has shown that we still have good people with great skills in this country. And Simon has been one of the key players. We should be thanking him and not making smart ass comments about his wish to devote more time to his family, his job and Sheffield speedway.

New???

Not John Perrin. 2013 vs Poole in the David Gordon era. Two riders, Zagar and Zetterstrom (allegedly) missed their plane, and the track was deliberately over watered. Darren Hartley was dispatched by SCB to investigate as he lived locally. My recollection was that BV were fined and told in future they needed to have a referee’s inspection before a meeting was called off

Is it contempt or just incomplete negotiations? We know there’s a deal in place for Ipswich which has still some fine tuning required to make it happen. We also know there are discussion going on with the owners of Northampton which have still to be finalised. As punters, we have no “right” to know the details but what we do know is something is happening. The waiting is certainly frustrating but that hardly amounts to contempt. The parties involved have a right to confidentiality.

Remind me, please, which tracks has Tony MacDonald owned or even promoted that he’s an expert? Or is he just another Matt Ford/Poole speedway hater?

Sorry - who are you talking about? I’m talking about the best speedway Premiership manager.