mikebv

No! No! No!.... A cheap jibe..... As was explained at the time... It was the track shapes that were so different that meant he could ride over there, and not here.. Which meant he could turn a bike in Poland, but not on the tiny Costa Mesa type circuits we have over here...

They were... But, the Aces crowds dropped quite considerably leading up to the GP meetings given the majority of fans at the GP's were Aces supporters... Paying out circa £200 meant a fair few gave domestic speedway a miss for quite a few meetings...

For me the "big drop" started when the GP's meant weekend matches still got planned in even though ”star men" would clearly be missing... Meaning Guestfests became the norm, and not the exception... Good news for the clubs though as they didn't have the highest earners to pay, but bad news for the fans... Then Poland kicked in and meetings got arranged when the riders could be there, rather than when the fans could be there, or, even more Guesfests took place knowing riders wouldn't be there.... Add in dozens of third rate journeymen foreigners taking the places of fourth rate UK lads (who could have developed into third rate riders and maybe even more), and you delivered an ever dwindling offer to an ever dwindling fan base.... It was quite telling to read in a recent Speedway Star about the signing of Zach Cook for Poole, and how his Polish contract will impact his appearances... His Promoter said that they would do their best to work around his Polish commitments when Poole are away riding at a weekend track, however, "some clashes will be inevitable", but "the most important thing is he will be available for every Poole home meeting"... So, I presume, a guest will come in when he cannot be there, or RR is used.. Some things never change in UK Speedway it seems...

As was always going to be the ultimate outcome from around two decades ago... Short term decision making , after short term decision making, after short term decision making... Years of.... No Leadership, No Strategy, No Vision, and No Growth Plan.... A perfect scenario to deliver precisely what we have today... No surprises though, as what we have today has been called out as the only outcome possible, on here, for years.... You can only presume therefore, that the Promoters didn't see the obvious only outcome of their year on year actions..? Which, given they are the ones trying to sort out the current self inflicted situation, doesn't exactly fill you with confidence does it?

"The Northampton Nomads" could be the sixth team... With, (and here is the best bit, hence the name).. They never ride in Northampton, therefore no start up costs... They ride "home meetings" at the other five tracks by just renting the track off the owner... Eg. They could ride against BV, at "home", on one of the Monday's the Aces are not riding, or even use a Thursday... More revenue for existing promoters/landlords in rent, no start up costs for the "Nomads" promoters, and more meetings for the fans with the "Away fans" attending in numbers at their own track, to watch their own team, ride, but "away"... Just put together seven unattached riders... In fact you could put several "Nomad" teams together, as long as, like Northampton, it uses alliteration, (as that is important).. Eg The Newport Nomads? The Nottingham Nomads? Or? Maybe the Rochdale Rideaways? Or. The Romford Rideaways? Places that once had Speedway tracks could now have their own team again.. You could have a ten team league in no time riding at the five tracks... Think of the opportunities... OK then.... Arm Wrestling with Chas n Dave...? Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank? Monkey Tennis?!!!!

I think being taken seriously isn't a measure that those who run the sport ever chase.. In the recent past we have had a plan to swap guests after the first leg of the top league play off final, meaning they ride for both teams, (eventually called off in the days leading up to the final)... Last season a seven team league couldn't get completed on time so the play offs took place using a cut off date, only for the league to be completed, with the result rendering the play off semis being "wrong" when aligned to the rules of them... And who can forget the play offs being changed for "commercial reasons" with the qualification positions being rode roughshod over, even after a full season of matches being completed with paying customers attending the qualifiers, "in good faith"... Div Two last year saw three guests in a PO Semi and this is a sport that allows teams to swap and change divisions on a "whim" to suit their own agenda, rather than being down to any actual attainment level, or size of club... And there will be a myriad of other examples where those in charge have made decisions which suggest it isn't taken too seriously... To be honest though, I get why being "taken seriously" isn't something high on the agenda given the lack of rewards for being successful, and, given the sport is now pretty much down to the "die hards", (who show that "Any Speedway" served up is good enough for them), regardless of the credibility of the actual offering.. Therefore, you can see why promoters run the sport the way they do.. Many now attend with their priority being watching the entertainment on offer, and also to see a variety of teams turning up, unfortunately, "small leagues" take away one of the "few pulls" to keep them interested..

You do have to seriously question the sanity of anyone who tries to open up a Speedway team at Northampton, don't you? Established, historical, top league tracks often dont even get just 1500 a week, so what type of crowd number would a new venture get? Especially one, "outside of town"..... It cannot be a realistic option surely to open a new track, and go straight into the top league with all the costs involved of trying to be competitive at that level?

The Slough Sliders...

I think Dan knew riding at Foxhall as a home track would only regress his career... Like it has Jason Doyle's...

You can't see why anyone would open a track these days given the massive costs to open it and then run it, and the lack of public interest in Speedway.. Maybe a "Buxton" could work at NDL level with 300 or so fans per week, and it got ran very much as a development team, with rider costs reflecting that... Renting tracks is now very much fraught with the threat of closure, even if you are doing well, which also means those who own their own stadiums have an ever dwindling offering to their own spectators as these tracks close... A five team league anyone?... It will be great I am sure.....

Could still be the "Mother" of all 4 Team Tournaments ahead then? 12 meetings at home for each of the four teams.. Five riders per team, which includes a reserve.. With, to add variety, the teams change helmet colours meeting by meeting.. ie, over the first segment of four matches, the home teams start with Red, but by their fourth meeting at home, they are riding in Yellow, having gone through Blue and White in the second and third matches at their track... This means every team has equal gate positions over a 48 match season.. Sounds exciting I know, but, even better than that. The top four qualify for a Final held at every track... With the top team over the season starting the final with three points, second two and third with one.. (Otherwise all the Qualifiers could be seen as meaningless if no reward for finishing top, and we wouldn't want that would we?) Sounds good doesn't it? Loads of meeting for riders... Loads of exciting helmet colour changes for the fans to follow.. Three lots of away fans at each venue (maybe even double figure numbers attending from at least one of them), and possibly a taxi full from the other two tracks, (not a seven seater one obviously).. And, (and this is the winner for me), you can flog "Quarter n Quarter n Quarter n Quarter" scarves, so lots of merchandising opportunities.. Charge around thirty quid a ticket, running on those hotbed of entertainment nights of Monday and Thursday, plus, (most importantly of all of course, riders can still then double up), and, I think we can all agree, the sport would be on to a winning formula... Maybe they could get a betting company involved to sponsor the league and, every meeting, they could run a book on "Who will Bomber ride for tonight?".. It could be a bit like the Masked Singer, whereby he stands on the centre green in a Wulf Sport Jacket, and the crowd shout "Take It Off! Take It Off'!, and as the crowd reach fever pitch he unzips the jacket to reveal his kevlars... Imagine the scenes?..... Making Speedway Great Again.. Ho! Ho! Ho! Happy Christmas All... It’s a time for miracles so lets hope those in charge can come up with one now, and a few more over the next few seasons..

I think the fact they didn't speaks volumes....

And it is that ignoring "the inevitably" rather than embracing it and planning for it, that is the most frustrating thing for many fans... As soon as 20 teams got hit then I would suggest "one league" should have been the plan.. One season in the planning of it, and then a complete reset and relaunch of the sport... With the aim of every team being competitive for the restart of the sport... Maybe they will do it in 2026 for 2027?...

100% agree, however... A fair few Ipswich fans, three weeks or so ago on here, were, post after post, calling out the Glasgow and Poole promoters for not running in the top league and being prepared to potentially lose money in doing so... I presume these people will now be urging Chris to do the same?....

Like chalk and cheese though... One has jeopardy, consequence, relevance, resonance, credibilty, and delivers a reasonable level of publicity and financial reward... And the other, which delivers none of the above, is British Speedway... Fans stay away from the POQ's because, well, without being too harsh, the whole shebang isn't too far short of being meaningless... Other than to provide riders, and some promoters and managers, with another job, and other promoters an expensive hobby to spend a budgeted amount of money on...

And, you would have to think, put the P+L account looking quite healthy... However, no guarantee of the same this season, or any season, going forwards, so any potential purchaser would not be including those numbers in their bid.. And. No Emil and Doyle? Maybe sponsors money will drop too without the star names?... And with the stars missing, and the same teams on repeat, maybe the average attendance could also be hit? Any buyer would probably need to be a fan with an outside business, and be happy to spend what is needed...

That won't help any bargaining position when selling then.... I would offer £100k less knowing this....

Did Oxford get fined £100k for dropping out?

They should wrap it in red and green sparkly paper during December... That way the Royal Mail will prioritise it....

Jem Doncaster at No2,...... The Lanhams at six and seven.... Only three more riders needed.... Maybe Chris himself at four?

Sweden and Denmark were more his reference I would think.. And, looking at the Danish league next season it does look like they are trying to make a play for 2027 to see if they can attract those riders that have only one league to ride in, outside Poland, come the time....

Jason Doyle in his Speedway Star inteview said... "I need to be racing against the top boys, and it doesn't look like that will be the case in Britain for next season"... Not sure beating the Speedway equivalent of "makeweights" each night over here will appeal to too many at the very top of their trade...

You do have to consider the logistics for these top riders... Having to have machines and mechanics over here, and also just to get here themselves, when they could live in Poland and ride at the weekend there, Sweden on Tuesday, and go into Denmark on Wednesday, and back across the sea into Poland ready for the weekend.. And, over here, all to ride against much lesser opponents than they would find in Sweden and Poland, (and looking at Denmark's level of signings for next year, Denmark too)... They will want to go head to head against the best as often as possible as it keeps themselves sharp.. And, without the TV money coming in, it would be quite conceivable that their pay rates over here will also be "different" next season, from the recent seasons just gone...

With many of the same being those who questioned the Aces fans for supporting Brady Kurtz by not calling out his play off final performance in the 2nd leg of the final, but instead, the Aces fans said he was right to put his focus on the GP taking place 48 hours later..... I think what Ipswich and Sheffield have both shown is that selling a Speedway club isn't an easy thing to do in the current state, and trajectory of the sport...

Or even not turned up when they should have...😄