mikebv

This looks like entertainment.... It will keep packing them in I am sure....

It just needs one less team in the top division, unless more top level riders become interested... Eg An amalgam of Oxford and Birmingham would have a very decent team this year... It would also be mean plenty of mid level replacements to come in rather than guests being used... Birmingham are not a top tier team given their issues in maintaining crowds, and sourcing "top level" riders, therefore they should be allowed to ride in tier two on Mondays.. Or Oxford just run two teams and remain a tier two team and Birmingham stay top tier using the likes of Magic to ensure they remain competitive.. Six teams would also deliver 2 x 3 team leagues for the KO cup, meaning a minimum of two extra home meetings, with the winner of each group meeting in the cup final.. Do it at the start of the season in the first month.. Salary caps are easily circumnavigated, look at PRS in Football, and how "sponsoring themselves" (through complicit third parties), has enabled some teams to spend far more than their "real income" would allow... Another three top level riders, split one each, for each of the bottom three teams each season, and the league would be very competitive indeed...

And also, you won't get to feel so superior, as well as obviously getting that wonderful satisfaction at laughing at the odd Neanderthal that still roams the world... Seriously though, I think questions should be asked in Parliament about the issues facing the Lions and the Bandits from the Leicester and Berwick Upon Tweed MP's... It must mean so much to the lives of so many of their constituents.... I am sure Sir Keir would take great interest in such a major situation, as it will dwarf whatever else he currently is dealing with... Edit. Sir Keir has just answered a question about the issue and his response was... "Speedway? Is that still going?"...

Not one BV v Ipswich/Sheffield...? Nor Ipswich v Sheffield...? Showing them ride against each other later in the season when all three will already be a shoe in for the play offs takes away from the meeting... It would also showcase top level GP riders, plus Emil and Chris Holder, early in the season... The Aces a week after the BF also isn't ideal as it could also impact the attendance for the Leicester meeting for them...

When the play offs get confirmed so early, it can reduce attendance's at the meetings that are still left to be completed... "Dead Rubbers" against a clearly bottom 3 team don't always stimulate those less regulars that make the real difference financially.... The die hards will be the ones always there regardless...

When you are paid per point I would suggest zero complacency... The Home meetings are where the vast majority of riders make their money, so will "fill their boots" if they get a chance to... The only threat to the Witches this season for me is their own fans getting bored of them hammering teams at Foxhall and then picking and choosing meetings... (5-1's can be some of the most boring races to watch given one rider often just follows their team mate as the rider in third can be miles away)... Ironically though they will attract some good attendances away from home, with their opponents reaping all the financial benefit... I am even debating whether to attend Sheffield when the Witches are there.. And I haven't travelled anywhere other than BV for years as no team match ups have given me any interest in attending...

Disgraceful comments... Alcoholism is recognised as being often directly linked to mental health issues therefore anyone isn't "just an alcoholic"... I presume therefore that a rider must also have let down his team because he has broken his leg? Oh, hang on, that's visual isn't it? He MUST be genuine because we can see the plaster his leg is wrapped in.. It is only Speedway, a very, very tiny sport watched nationally by a very small portion of the country.. And by just a few hundred in Berwick... If he doesn't ride this year, I am sure the world will move on.. No idea what is wrong with the lad, if anything at all, but, if there is, hopefully he can sort it... Best Wishes to him...

But.But.But... Peterborough...? But that was in a league with a lot less GP riders in it than now and they were able to bring in loads of very good guests for Ulrich due to his great early season average, which he couldn't hope to maintain.. Too many top riders are over here now, who race in lots of the fifteen heats, and can swing a match by 8 points in Ht 13 and 15.. The year Peterborough won it was a season of mainly 2nd division heat leaders doubling up...

Red, Blue, White and Yellow....

But if they all dress the same I won't know which mechanic is which.... You could only tell them apart by their mechanicing styles.... Much better as it used to be... 25 year old Monsters Of Rock T shirt, dirty jeans at least one size too small, meaning plenty of arse crack on show when you are bent over sorting out the bike... We don't need progress...

They are using a bloke stood next to the tapes with a Polaroid camera.... It's a colour one mind.......

100%... The big difference isnt the overall racing but the size of the crowds... An "average" meeting (of which most were just like today), didn't seem so average when you had decent crowd numbers who brought noise and a fair few away fans to add a bit of rivalry and increased the atmosphere...

Last season they would still have had to go head to head v the Aces... With a not too good record at the NSS, even with a full team... With the Aces having NKI instead of Cook too.... This year, if they can keep that team together it should be a shoe in.. But, given the injury record of several of that team, you never know... Should injuries strike though they will have some big averages to bring some very good guests in..

A fantastic issue... Scanned first time too... Well Done to all who produce the Speedway Star... Always worth the outlay...

With Brennan, Ipswich have two "number 5's" and with Ellis and King they have two more "number 3's" rather than having second strings... A fantastically well put together team, even more so when you look at their excellent reserve strength where you have a "second string" level rider and a top level RS... If they don't win the league this year, they never will...