mikebv

And if they cannot double up they may retire... Of course they will.... How did the sport continue for probably 90 years of its 100 without D/Uing being so prevelant, why didn't riders with "only" one team to ride for, retire for the first 90 years of the sport? It is quoted that one "big" league couldn't happen as there simply isn't enough riders, yet, there is also a stated desire to bring back those tracks that have been lost over the past decade, and also to open up new ones... Hello!!! I think I have spotted a flaw in the cunning plan!!!....

Especially if was doing a "jazz hands" wave to the camera...

100%.... But. All glaringly obvious... Yet zero has been done to act upon it... Instead of marketing nationally I remember seeing one club set up a decorator's table with club memorabilia on it, in the foyer of a local supermarket... In the Speedway Star this week there is an excellent article with Mark Lemon who mentions wanting to bring others with "broader skill sets" into the sport.. Let's hope, marketing is one of those skills.. The bottom line is hardly any riders will increase crowds by their appearances, (as has been proved since "The Stars" came back a few years ago), so to keep forking out hundreds of thousands in paying them, instead of redistributing this cash into marketing (which "may" grow the sport), is not a great business plan... You can develop the greatest product ever to have existed in the world, using nothing but the very best ingredients, but you won't make any money if no one has heard of you, or your product ..

It isn't difficult to "talk yourself up" is it.... "Speedway riders in the UK can earn millions each season".. (You don't have to say its as a collective).. "British Speedway is Booming! With hundreds of thousands of fans attending Speedway meetings last year".. (Again, collective numbers).. "Record numbers attend the National Speedway Stadium to see the Worlds Best!" (Collectively over two nights, but it doesn't matter).. "British Speedway amazingly only used 198 Guests in 2025".. (Alright, maybe we'll give that one a miss)..

Even Musk would ban it!!!

But there has though been a huge amount of money spent over the past two decades of decline.. The largest issue has been how it has been spent.. In fact, every season, around a couple of million will be spent on all the riders who, with all due respect, wouldn't be recognised even if they rode their bikes stark naked through their local town centres.. There should have been, and still needs to be, a significant marketing and advertising budget to bring the sport into the vision and awareness of a populace with almost zero knowledge of the sport.. If that means "lesser riders" used to free up this money for a couple or three years, then so be it, as these riders will resonate initially as equally as the "top stars" to anyone that a national strong marketing campaign attracts... With competitive meetings that have relevance and resonance being the objective above who actually is riding in them.. It certainly isn't a lack of money spent that has held the sport back over the past good many years...

The meat raffle a definite plus... As would be a "Snowball".... Just like being "down the Legion" for those in attendance.... A non taking the pee idea could be to win a Season Ticket? The first few meetings you could run a raffle for say a fiver... And then run a chance to win blocks of tickets through the season.. I would suggest you would get several times the actual value of the tickets back, with even those not always attending entering through mates who were... Admittedly, 9 matches wouldn't render a season ticket's value too high, which could be a drawback, so maybe a quid a ticket would be more appropriate..?

As opposed to the Oleebo....?

Spot on... They have basically tied themselves up in knots by using short term fix after short term fix, rather than having any vision, strategy and ambition for the sport.. That lack of an independent, no vested interest, voice clearly being missed... They needed (still need), saving from themselves, as they lurch from sticking plaster to sticking plaster to cover major (self inflicted), wounds.. So many well meaning, passionate about the sport hobbyists, being in charge of, and self policing, a national professional sport, with so many widely different needs and wants from the team owners, can never work successfully... Hence it hasn't, and we are where we are.. Is it too late now? It is if nothing radical changes, and quickly...

What sorcery is this?

Just imagine "the half time band".... It would be somebody like "The Spinners" from the 70's doing their folk tunes.... But not the original members obviously... In keeping with where they are playing, they would have guest replacements for those members unable to be there...

How do a similar sized sport in Sweden do it? A country with a similar lack of young riders from their own country coming through.. Probably worth finding out isn't it I would have thought... Denmark run five rider teams due to also having a lack of Danish riders to fill spots and, five rider teams also keep costs down. They run similar sized crowds to the UK... Something else to explore maybe? Or... Just carry on with the nonsense operating model used over here? "They used guests when Speedway was popular" is something I have read on here as justification for them... A great many things accepted 50 years ago in a non instant 24/7 media world, are no longer accepted today... UK Speedway hasn't even come out of the 20th Century yet....

"In the interests of Speedway"... Surely you must have seen and heard that oft used phrase given out as the reason why they, once more, completely go against their own rules and regs.....? Edit... NB. An ironic phrase if ever there was one, as the decisions made "In the interest of Speedway", ie completely going against their own rules and regs, are invariably "NOT in the interest of Speedway" at all, as it complelety undermines the very competitions where it gets used... There are dozens of examples where it has been used but probably the most recent stand out is changing the Semi Final teams for "Commercial Reasons", thus, going completely against their own rules and regs...

Space needed for 20 riders.... An individual event needs space for 18 with the reserves, so I am sure an extra two could be accommodated without too much issue. And tracks that run Stock Cars too would have plenty of room.. Plus, riders getting an "opportunity" would set up in the car park if needs be I am sure....

Development needs to go into overdrive from this season, never mind 2027, to cover the potential impact Poland may have with their "one extra league" rules, and the amount of DU's who are much nearer the ends of their careers than the start... I remember the SJL with, I think, three rider teams racing over six heats. . Maybe after every four heats of every meeting they could run two heats of this level of racing? Four heats, then two heats of NDL level riders, then the track grade for the main meeting to carry on... The NDL level meeting would be completed after heat 12, and running them every four heats would mean the track had slickened off, but still would have some grip, rather than them racing on a fresh, grippy track which may test their capability, or a track, post main meeting, bereft of any grip at all.. Extra races for the punters too, and it may unearth an "I was there" gem... It would be very much an expenses only opportunity for the riders... The clubs have all said they are committed to development, well, they ALL need to show it, rather than only a few doing anything.. The 8% reduction per year missed could bring some riders back, however the hole needing to be filled over the next few seasons isn't going to be small..

Even riders like Tom Owen and John Jackson were never quite able to bridge the gap between the two leagues.. Hence, they became renowned as "stalwarts" of the NNL.. However, giving the young UK lads the chance to move up with an assurance of still keeping their 2nd tier role, should they not survive at the highest level (in the world at that time), was a sensible idea.. Doubling Down was the biggest problem as it meant established top tier riders dropped down.. Meaning fixed race nights were a must... And spaces that should have been used for development were taken by established riders.. I presume for those riders and promoters it was a win/win given the 2nd tier got HL's subsidised by the top tier, and the top tier promoters got HL's and SS's subsidised by the promoters of the second tier.. With the riders benefitting from both the most.. Unfortunately it has meant any injury to a DU results in two Guests to replace them the next meeting for both his clubs in the two divisions, and two more Guests each time if he doesn't return for several weeks, and, as they could be racing Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri and Sat in the UK alone, it has meant Guest numbers have become out of control, as there simply often is not enough time for them to recuperate before they are needed again.. Also, given the age of most of the 2nd tier HL's who double up, there is a huge hole approaching in the not too distsnt future to be filled when they finish their careers...

198 Guests used last season across both top leagues.. When other leagues can cope without a single one, it shows just how poorly the UK version of exactly the same sport, with access to exactly the same riders, is ran... No excuse for such nonsense is there? A "necessary evil" I believe it is said to be....? Using 198 of them suggests its more of an easy cop out, rather than running a team sport properly to ensure you deliver the required emotional attachment to your team.. And if you don't engender that in a team sport, especially in the digital 24/7 news, and the constant social media review, and potential ridicule, of what you deliver today, then you have no chance of being successful...

Whichever ones they had, they certainly didn't need many packets...

They were, I think, Honda engines... Mick Grant and Eric Boocock were behind it... I remember seeing an interview a few years later where the engines themselves, according to those who were involved, were said to have had "potential" but needed more testing... But the experiment was dropped... Ebikes cannot be too far away from being "compulsory" you can imagine..

Maybe... However... The Promoters didn't develop enough riders over the past two decades to fill their teams without the DU riders becoming essential... What first started as "young lads" getting a chance to move up a league to develop their skills against a higher level of riders, whilst still having their "other job" to fall bsck on, instead, became the "main stay" of the UK version of the sport, and a "free for all"... Take the DU's away and both leagues wouldn't fill the 14 teams left without using many NDL level riders... The Championship in particular would struggle given these riders make up the majority of their HL's, and, the top tier effectively subsidise the riders salaries so the riders are "affordable"... A typical short sighted unfit for purpose "fix" which each year got bigger and more essential, rather than it ever being reset, and used for what it was initially set up for...

In the current Speedway Star, Bomber is quite critical of the way the sport has been allowed to drift into the situation it now finds itself in... He said the demise of Birmingham and the non running of Oxford was known "halfway through last season" and they should have sorted the current issues out well before now, instead of "leaving it to the last minute, again"... "It's frustrating, I have said to a lot of people how grown men can't just sit in a room and sort it out once and for all. It's beyond me why it's taken this long. The powers that be knew we were in trouble"...... Still no fixture lists exist? Still no conformation of what competitions will take place? How do fans plan time off work to follow their team? How do riders inform sponsors of what coverage they will get? Incredible really isn't it?

If the one extra league, ex Poland, comes in then it could mean a seismic change for UK Speedway.. The Danes, Swedes, Germans, French, et al, would, presumably, ride in their own leagues plus Poland, (and maybe get forced to as part of their licence?), with only those without a Polish contract opting to ride where the most money will be gained from the other leagues.. With the obvious added concern being they drop whatever nation like a stone if Poland come knocking during the season... Sweden and Denmark, plus the UK, will all be vying for those "mid level" riders, who make uo the majority of riders, therefore, doubling up, like so many of these riders do, could actually put the UK ahead of the other two "main leagues"?... They would certainly get more meetings... The worst case scenario of course is that all the European and Aussie riders riding in Poland give the UK a miss as either Sweden or Denmark have offered them more, and provide better logistics... Not a bad place for these riders to be in from a bargaining position next year I would suggest. Those running the sport in the UK really need to come to the party when it comes to their vision, strategy and ambition for the sport... Finally....

Be interesting to see how he adapts his "locking up" style to the NSS... Any scrubbing off speed around there and you are toast... A shame a younger rider with high potential wasn't brought in on an assessed average..

Nobody down as "Northampton"?

Sounds like the timekeeoers forgot there was another heat, and came running back in, lunged for the watch, and set it going just as the riders were hitting the first bend... Or... The winners were "testing some new fuel".....