mikebv

And lots of doubling up and down....

I was there that night at Leicester.. Coincidentally it was one of the last league meetings (in the UK), that I went to... Can't think why... Watching him 'paddle with his feet' around the track whilst getting lapped was a particular "highlight" that night. . Almost as enjoyable as the nigh on one hundred quid hole in my wallet after Petrol, Food, Drink and Admission for me and my lad.. Luckily, I have saved miles more by not attending since so he actually did me a favour. ..

About 20 years too late, but, better late than never... At last it appears that those who have routinely year on year helped reduce the sport to an almost irrelevance at domestic league level by using such a ludicrous operating model and business plan, have either been outnumbered and have no choice but to lump it, or have finally seen the hand in front of their face reality that whatever they did to help their own team win a title, it made zero impact to the sports long term success, as basically, it mattered not one jot to so many given the lack of a credible offer that they provided each week... Getting the GB team successful consistently has to be the overriding priority of the BSPL, with all three of their leagues providing an end to that means, with hopefully also the assistance of Poland and Sweden in providing places for UK riders deemed sufficiently good enough to get those place offers as they progress.. Teams full of UK lads has to be the target for the sport over here to once again get the publicity it so badly needs, and there really is no better way for a sport to awaken the public's consciousness towards it than bringing national success into their homes via the TV and media regularly... Lets hope it's the start of promoters finally bringing some reality to what their roles really are, (which is to grow the sport as a collective), and the end of them feeling that their own team winning any UK speedway title was 'the be all and end all', because it truly isn't... Good luck to all who are giving it go and let's hope any bumps in the road are taken as such and don't get used as an excuse for any abandonment of the scheme.. Who knows, maybe in a few years time the domestic titles in the UK will have credibility due to being ran 'properly' and the teams that win the comps gain some 'proper' national coverage (and financial rewards), for their endeavours, and it will be all down to having generated interest in the sport through having plenty of British world class riders dominating the sport at the highest level.. It will be a long old road, but the journey has to start somewhere...

Great news re bringing on the young riders.. A successful GB team will deliver miles more coverage, publicity and therefore awareness of the sport, than any individual team success ever could.. 5 years though is a long time, and we have had plans of this length before.. So let's hope this time they stay solidly behind the plan.. Although, given some of the people now involved, I think we can have a bit more confidence that such a plan will now get carried through...

Let's be honest the main reason for fixed race nights was simply to ensure plenty of guests for both leagues would be available and provide plenty of Double Up/Down opportunities for riders who need to ride in two or more leagues to make it pay... A quite incredible operating model to devise, nail your mast to, and expect it to deliver a successful business..

However, fixed race nights did ensure that all the top riders in the world came back to ride over here..... Oh, hang on......

Without going down the 'all our yesterdays' route... During the 'halcyon days' of the 70's, teams had 'overseas' riders but they weren't generally (as you correctly describe), the 'modestly talented' ones... They were pretty much the top riders from their own countries, who rode in World Finals, World Pairs, World Team Cups and Test Matches.. The 'elite' of their respective nations.. Many British League Div One team's had overseas "top level" riders amongst their septet but, in the main, most had at least five UK riders too, and that was at a time of around 16 or so teams in the First Division... Whilst hardly a 'youth policy', if it means meetings take place regularly, and thus stop getting moved around to pander to rider's own agendas all the time, then as many British lads per team will be a positive.. And for the long term good of the sport, the more we give opportunities to the 'modestly talented' UK riders to try and improve, rather than their equally 'modestly talented' overseas counterparts, the better it should turn out to be going forward....

Imagine ensuring that having enough guests are available as one of your main priorities when planning a fixture list? Rather than planning one that takes every opportunity possible to run Speedway meetings at weekends... "Please take us seriously fans, media and sponsors".....

I actually think Poland have learned from what the UK failed to do when it was the No1 Speedway league on the planet, and built their plan around not having the same outcome the UK ended up with... Unlike the UK, they haven't allowed a free for all whereby foreign riders come in and take spaces over Polish lads, and by ensuring that young riders in particular get guaranteed slots they have invested in what they hope is future success.... The reason being is that they know how much of Polish Speedways domestic growth has been built on a successful national team which has ignited the interest of the public and, most importantly, meant mainstream media and major sponsors getting involved in the leagues over there.. Their determination to keep Poland as No1 is clear and, quite rightly, will do whatever is needed to keep themselves there.. The UK had its chance, following a system that worked, then opened the floodgates to everyone, and basically spent years training up overseas riders to knock the 'England' team off their perch and they swiftly become also rans on the world stage.. And as that happened, quite naturally, the media coverage and major sponsors dwindled away accordingly... Can't see those in charge in Poland allowing the same thing to happen to them..

A lot of people are telling me that.... Good people.... A lot of them...

Or roll their eyes collectively and say "what does he know?"...

Fair play for still believing that winning any UK competition actually has relevance or kudos. You are, I believe, in an ever decreasing number but can't knock you for keeping the faith... But as for all starting level? A myth sadly. As always happens, within a month the team who everyone on here will have said that they have 'no chance' before the season starts, will be cut miles adrift and spend the rest of the season changing riders but never actually improving (due to the restrictive rules), and, again as always happens, will end up finishing bottom 40 or 50 points behind the top team.. For me, if ever there was a season when absolutely everything must be done to create a Speedway season where every race, never mind every meeting, should deliver a positive for the sport then this is it.. Whoever may win the 'titles' is pretty much irrelevant (particularly this year), and should be very much secondary to every team putting a competitive unit out on the track every meeting, and winning any title should also be miles behind delivering entertainment that inspires fans to want to go back and attend the next meeting...

You can only imagine that one, or maybe more, teams think they are sat on a 'killer team" which will allow them to win the league.. A victory that may even see them mentioned in the local "Gazette" or "Tribune", with maybe even a photo of them (possibly even in colour!), being put in just below the local Darts and Crib League results.. Who knows, their local mayor may hold a "buffet lunch" for them (post Covid obviously), which could attract up to 100 or so followers to attend and celebrate such a momentous, globally resonating achievement... Name in the local paper? With maybe a photo too? And a buffet lunch with the local mayor? Now that's got to be worth potentially f×××ing up a whole seasons Speedway for hasn't it? Hasn't it?

Difficult times, beyond anything faced before, even WW2 didn't stop Speedway taking place... Therefore... Time to all come together and compromise if needed for the good of the sport as a whole, (it might actually only be one year of 'doing something different' after all?)... Every team that is left actually coming to the tapes, 'whenever' the season starts, has to be the objective, with every team having an opportunity to put out a competitive team being just as important.. From what you say, I can only presume there must be some involved in Speedway who are not aware of the pandemic yet? Or maybe some just simply didn't get the memo sent around 'working together'....

Wouldn't that be an obvious part of the BSPL's remit to inform all riders of Brexit implications? Or maybe even the ACU? Surely any umbrella organisation will know the regulations and share them with everyone registered?

In the Speedway Star of 2nd Jan it mentioned a Working For The Future Committee.. Mark Lemon, Chris Louis, Dale Allitt John Campbell, Stewart Dickson and Ben Duffill.. The brief being to deliver some forward looking blueprint for UK Speedway.. Wonder if it (or any part of it) has been used to reach decisions at the AGM? Some of the names on the committee are people who seem to have some modern ideas and understand change is needed...

I do sometimes wonder to myself what it would be like if a couple of BSPL members went on the Dragons Den with their operating model and business plan.. "We only can open our doors when our employees dictate to us when we can do so, because we share them with other similar businesses, some of which pay them much more than we can, so they get first call and our employees prioritise them" "We are in the entertainment industry but will open mainly during the week rather than at the key times for the entertainment industry. (weekends and bank holidays), to allow our employees to work in their other jobs".. "Our customers tell us we are too expensive to attend as regularly as they would like, but we need to charge so much because our employees expect us to pay them a certain amount of money to turn up, this results usually in a downturn in customers annually so we cover the cash shortfall by increasing prices to keep paying our employees the money they need".. "Our opening hours won't be consistent, but will be subject to constant change, and we may even go weeks without opening at all, with the key summer school holiday time in particular seeing several weeks of closure due to not being able to staff the business, as many of the staff are elsewhere" "We will use many overseas employees whose own personal agendas we constantly work around, rather than use mainly local people, they are admittedly more expensive in the main, and have less flexibility, but overall we think they are of a higher standard (possibly) than the local people who are available" The Dragons would be fighting over each other to invest wouldn't they?

I remember when I first saw Jason Crump race at the old dog bowl... He was truly incredible... He 'howled' into the tight turns at a speed not seen before, and one night smashed the track record by miles... As a long time fan of the sport, and someone who could therefore really appreciate the level of ability, I was truly in awe of what he could do and felt quite privileged to see him do this time and time again every week.. However.. If I had been there watching the racing as a potential new fan of the sport, Jason winning races by such huge distances wouldn't probably have motivated me to go back and repeat the experience, and as for anything else that happened in the races he won 'by miles' I wouldn't have a clue.. And after watching him do this time and time again it did eventually become 'quite boring' to be honest and you started to hope he would miss the gate and have to pass.. And also, even though one of the true 'all time greats' of the sport was in attendance every meeting, (racing against other top stars of the day), crowds dropped away annually... An entertainment industry needs to consistently entertain to be successful, and Speedway entertains through close racing where ideally (but not specifically) riders pass each other. And to do that is simply down to having all riders of a similar level racing against each other. As an example the Youth Championships served up great racing from Jordan Palin v The Thompson Twins in particular, easily on a par with anything else served up at any level. With the simple reason being their similar ability levels. It really doesn't need to cost promoters a fortune to provide great racing. It's the similar levels of the riders that's the key to entertaining racing, not the names on their kevlars..

100%... "Superstars" didn't start out as such and sadly are now out of reach for day to day UK Speedway, so now is the time to set about finding other "Superstars" and that doesn't have to mean global ones but could be a rider who gets a large following at his local track and becomes "a large fish in even a very small pond"... He would benefit locally through sponsorship, and the club would have a rider who locally gets known and can 'pull a crowd in"... The more GB riders the better, and the more chance GB will have to try and reach the best team in the world status, which has to be the No1 aim of the BSPL, well above all and any individual team success focus, as this attracts hardly any national attention at all, whereby consistent GB success would.. The promoters have a 'free pass' from supporters to try new innovative and radical things given the pandemic issues they face so let's hope they go for it.. Four (mainly GB) lads per race, all of a similar ability, racing on a well prepared track, on a day/night that provides the best crowd numbers for that track, and in competitions that are ran with credibility amd integrity, and all delivered at an admission price that reflects true value for money... Can it be done. .?

If everything in the world was 'normal' and Swindon came to the NSS on the same week they came the year before, but this time without Jason Doyle, I can virtually guarantee hardly a change in the numbers in attendance such is the way so many tracks now have 'regulars only' most weeks, and the lack of 'pull' of any rider.. If there was any difference (max 50 to 100 either way I would say) it would be down to either inclement weather if a drop, or down to it being a nice spring or summer evening if an increase.. And that's the reality, a nice spring or summer evening can bring more "extra than normal" fans in than any rider appearing can.. Another reality is that The Aces had Matej Zagar for many years at both tracks but if he went and knocked on the doors of every house within a mile radius of the stadium, hardly anyone answering the doors would know who he was, or what he did. .. Yet the Aces (and probably every other club), spent many years planning inconsistent fixture lists around the timetables of their No1 rider. And the Aces, again like others, used to visit tracks without their No1 and use guests instead, which did nothing but leave the competition they were competing for open to ridicule and the inevitable fall off in attendances... Sheffield would no doubt have got a 'dead cat bounce' with Nicki P for a few weeks but slowly home crowd levels would drop back as the novelty wore off and settle (at best I would suggest), around 100 to 150 more than the previous season without him, and when they ventured away the second visit wouldn't have matched the first visit for crowd numbers... A consistent fixture list, using weekends and all the Bank Holidays, and using riders who can commit to all dates, has to be the way forward, and if that means 'lesser riders' on show then so be it, but if it means more UK riders then so much the better.. Just provide a race format and team strengths, that have four riders of pretty equal ability in every heat and the racing will be close, regardless of the lack of 'GP' names in the programme...

Nail on the head Steve, all these things have eroded away and disappeared, and you can add Saturday tracks being reduced down often due to the many wide and varied FIM events that now take place... However.. To just accept that 'this is how it is' without any obviously needed fundamental, radical change of plan or ambition to change, has been criminal.. "Make do and mend, and keep making the best of a bad job" "Work around everyone else's priorities and put out any Speedway we can, regardless of its credibility" "Always accept the 'as is' without having, and working towards, a game changing 'to be'" "Fudge our way through, hope for the best, and having every track still 'alive' at the end of the season is our measure of success".. All the above could have been a 'mission statement' since the GP's started... I have said before on here, the BSB are an excellent organistion for the BSPL to look at.. A 'smaller' brother to the WSB competition who understand (and accept), that they will often be seen as a stepping stone for UK and Overseas riders, so ensure a constant stream of younger (mainly UK lads) come through by running events for them (including cost effective one make, entry level events), on their race weekends.. They run a very competitive series using UK and Overseas riders, with several 'coming back' from riding in WSB and MotoGP to see out their careers or taking the opportunity to 'try again' to make it back into the World arenas. They have also changed their operating model over the years to include differing races, ie less laps, more races etc to 'freshen up' their offer and keep their 'customers' interested.. In short, they "know their place" in the grand order of things, and build an operating model and business plan on the back of this... UK Speedway needs to do the same..

Those lads who want to better themselves should go to Poland and elsewhere if they see fit.. No issues at all with that.. However, if they want to ride in the UK then they will have a choice to be made.. In the eyes of so many Speedway is an entertainment over here, rather than serious competition, which means it should run when it can get its largest crowd in.. If that means racing on any day or night during the week then that is when each individual track should be given the right to run.. As long as every rider makes himself available for every meeting that the club wants to run, and when they want to run it, then all the riders can ride wherever they want... No disrespect intended, as I am only using him as an example as a GP rider, but Jason Doyle riding at Belle Vue on a Monday night wont bring a couple of hundred extra punters above the usual die hards in.. But a meeting on a Friday or Saturday night without him there, definitely could, given the amount of "non regulars" who still follow the sport but go only very occasionally... Belle Vue, as an example, seem to have around 1100-1200 who attend every/most meetings, yet can get 2500+ for Bank Holiday meetings. Which means there is an underlying fan base already there and all you need to do is get some of this extra 1300+ to attend more often. And I would 100% suggest getting them to attend more often at weekend is easier than getting them out on a Monday or a Thursday night.. The Aces have lost two riders from their initial 2020 team, Kildemand and Lidsey, however crowds wont be decimated by their absence, (again no disrespect as they are just examples), in fact I would be amazed if anyone decides not to go because they are not there, therefore the sport is pretty much down to its core, die hard support, so run it when you may get some "extra" in.. Bottom line is. Not enough punters = No Speedway. No Speedway = No Speedway Careers..

Given how positive all the information has been about the Eurosport contract you would hope that it is something along the lines of showing live Speedway, with or without crowds.. The inference has been that they are in it for the 'long haul' and want to see the Sport grow both here and abroad, so maybe they will have decided that they may as well take the plunge now, Covid or not... They are part of a truly huge organisation so may see funding the excercise worth doing to reap reawards in the coming years..? Let's hope so... There has been a real focus, from the comments made by several promoters, on making the top league 'clearly different' so maybe the reason has been to ensure that TV coverage can start as agreed in the contract...

Serious question Geoff.. Have you had the jab recently? If so, are these the side effects you've been demonstrating the past few days? If you have, and they are, I am not sure if I will have one now to be honest..

Not looking great, however... Some innovative, radical thoughts around meeting formats, team numbers, and how best to provide the UK lads with lots of racing to maximise earnings, and get lots of track time with which to improve, could still mean the season goes ahead... Promoters will be given a 'free pass' if their plan involves running on 'the best nights to get a crowd', and setting a 'reasonable' entrance fee to reflect what could be a heavily watered down product from the last few years'.... 'Any Speedway' will be seen as better than no Speedway by many, and supported by them too... The irony is that Speedway has always been a 'bit' contrived in the UK, so we as fans are used to 'making it up as you go along' regulations. Therefore, we will all be well used to any sort of 'happenings' as the season progresses and will, in the main I am sure, give it plenty of acceptance... Remember that this is a sport in the UK that as recent as 2018 decided that their flagship meeting could include two Swindon riders in a Final that involved Poole and Kings Lynn. And initially decided that they could 'swap sides' at 'half time' and both represent both teams!!! Not even a Covid impacted season, that sees lots of contrived rules to ensure it gets completed, could top that surely? But if it did, we as fans would accept it this following year I am sure..