mikebv

Indeed, lucky for everyone his average dropped enough to replace Jack both home and away...

I attend few domestic meetings, but do attend the play off finals that the Aces are in.. Why?.. Not because I see the winning of a UK Team Speedway title has any major relevance in its current guise, but the finals do provide some atmosphere which you associate with a team sport... In short, they are something worth attending if you like live sport... 400 or so Aces fans at Sheffield, stood on turns three and four, a few years ago, meant a superb night of watching sport, with the racing only being "OK" at best... Standing with 200 or so at Leicester a couple of years ago on the first turn also made the evening a great spectacle... Plenty of banter between rival fans, plenty of pee taking of the opposition managers, and riders, and no malice in sight... If UK Speedway had that many away fans at EVERY meeting then it would be in a hugely more successful position..... Your Team. Your Riders... Win, lose or draw, that is how a team sport should be if you want people to emotionally engage with it... Glad the Aces got Sheffield as several hundred will descend on Owlerton next week... Should be a great atmosphere...

When "engine room" riders in Poland can earn £800+, per point, in Polamd's second tier, you can see why getting even that level of, (non GB and Aussie rider), over here is a big challenge...

Birmingham were always a club with a high number of "colour wearers"... I think an elderly demographic is the underlying key.. If you attend football now it is mainly kids and the middle aged and above who wear club colours... With many of those circa 16 - 40 not wanting to be seen dead in a replica top... A decent money earner for the clubs though I would think..

Apologies....

They wear the club shop!!! They wear the club sho-o-op!!!.. Those Belle Vue supporters... They wear the club shop!!!

He also has a "proper job" too, doesn't he?... Maybe that has gone well this year and so is focusing more on that..? Still a decent season income wise I would think, plenty of bonus points, and an OK season in tier one, regardless of not always getting to the track early!! Plus some Danish meetings...

Probably to do with the restrictions on the number of leagues that riders can race in?.. It would potentially mean that there won't be any Denmark for those UK based riders with Polish contracts (even if it goes to Sweden as well as Poland +1), as UK lads would need to ride here, and Aussies who have a working visa for here need to ride here too.. That would mean potentially Wednesday night becomes a night without any clashes... Could it bring Poole and Oxford up?...

It goes back to "Hobbyists" v "Professionals".. Some clubs organically sit in certain leagues, however, there are not enough (currently), "professionals", hence some clubs will sit in a tier above their level to ensure enough clubs to run two leagues.. "Make do and mend Speedway" has been allowed to become the default method, (given it is a lot cheaper).. Hopefully with "new blood" in the sport, a defined growth path, with clear, incremental steps of improvement, will see the two leagues become seperated with the top tier being an aspirational level, which makes money...

Just ask them the score halfway through a play off final...😁 They'll definitely know there own individual score....😉

All your comments, and others, will be the ones that Richard Coleman will, I am sure, want to either stop or improve, as applicable... With some clear regulations around team set ups, meeting presentation and centre green standards, mechanics in club colours, track preparation etc.. As I say, there is a blueprint to follow in either Sweden or Denmark, who are more aligned to the UK in their attendances, and TV coverage, than Poland is.. One professional league, with scrutiny and discipline, with clear demarcation from the second tier who can just carry on running a more "social sport"... Sharing each others riders, meaning they can keep running fixtures whenever they like...

The FIM put out their calendar in advance and then UK Speedway plan in fixtures knowing 100% that there will be a clash for their riders.... Hardly the FIM's fault... And, as well, tracks go several weeks without a fixture on nights with no FIM meetings that would impact them... UK Promoters even plan in meetings on the nights of UK Championship qualifiers.. The issue is a lot closer to home than the FIM...

Do you mean running the sport like other leagues do?.. The blueprint is there to be used, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden use it without issues.... Denmark and Sweden do focus massively on their top tier, and ensure that the top league is the league that sells their Speedway to sponsors and investors.. That is where UK Speedway needs to be... One "professional league" and one "semi pro league", with the top league being ran properly, and profitably, with credibility and also becoming an aspirational entity to join.. Interesting how Richard Coleman used the term "investors" in his interview, as "sponsors" are invariably fans from already inside the Speedway Bubble, who don't grow the sport organically, and are quite happy to use their support to offset other main businesses costs... Investors are what is desperately needed, and to get them, they will need to believe that the operating model and business plan going forward will deliver something for their investment...

A major contributory factor to the current situation is that so many promoters and owners are either ex sponsors of riders, or ex riders... Hence, they come from within the Speedway Bubble... Therefore, they just see the nonsense that pervades as either "perfectly normal" or accept that "there is no other way" as that is all they have been used to... This then becomes custom and practice, and no one then sees the harm it is doing to the sport long term... New ideas, new pairs of eyes, and a new operating model, all coming into the sport, is long, long overdue..

As it could be "Poland and Sweden and one more", now, maybe home and away twice to give double the matches that Denmark offer?...