mikebv

No wonder the Swedes are not bringing through the numbers of riders they used to.. Not many riding in their own top league... Following the old GB model it would appear... And we know how well that went.. National Success in any sport helps the domestic side of it, through reflected glory and interest... Could be a bumpy ride if they don't start to bring on more talent..

Now I am sure you don't really mean that.... Come late October you will be wishing you still had 10 or so matches to shoe horn in, in a similar number of days before November starts... What could be better than running several Finals on dank, freezing cold nights....? And expecting fans to turn out paying top dollar three times in a week?

Oh you cynic.....

It is a phenomenal operating model they use isn't it? All trying to win competitions that because of the way they operate them, via a ridiculous set of rules, are rendered virtually worthless... All expecting riders to have the best kit they can get, and paying out sums far in excess of the sports true standing to assist them to purchase it... Fortunes being paid out by riders and promoters resulting in admission costs that are set at the level they are to try and cover that outlay rather than reflect what is actually on offer.. And all ultimately to win competitions hardly anyone gives a monkeys about...? It is truly a race to the bottom isn't it?

Traditional common sense in business suggests you 'open your doors' when your customers want you to... That way they can buy what you sell.. British Speedway has a 'better' idea... They don't 'open their doors' when their customers want them to.. But instead when their employees tell them they can... And as we all accept.. Promoters know best...

Polsat Sports Extra... Massive crowd... Some great racing too.. Heat five was the old cliche of 'throwing a blanket over all four' as they crossed the line.. And heat six another cracker.... Woryna catching Gapinski on the line by half a wheel, coming from last on the first lap.. Don't take prisoners in Poland do they? Some of the moves are 'robust' to say the least.. Even 2nd Div Speedway is great in Poland..

There's a Special Offer for this one.. You get to travel for over 400 miles to get there and back from Ipswich Spending lots on fuel and lots of hours on the road.. And then get an opportunity to pay full price upon entry.. "ROLL UP! ROLL UP! FORM AN ORDERLY QUEUE PLEASE"! Maybe offering away fans a discount would be worthwhile, even if not the home fans? Could have flogged £10 tickets at all the Ippo home matches this season, or from when it was announced.. (ex BV meeting in case any Aces fans in attendance that night take up the offer)... In fact Speedway should do a reduced ticket for all away fans, sold from their own circuit.. Maybe more would go? And the current 'morgue like' atmosphere at tracks would improve..

Never seems to be a lap of honour in Polish Speedway.. Must have been worth a celebratory lap that by 'The Holders'?

Wow.. Taxi for Doyle! No where near....

Or 'Fans of Poole Pirates' as we call 'fans' like that in England...

Great race for second... Some 'proper moves' in Polish Speedway isn't there?

Get that, But paying for ten riders will be cheaper than paying for fourteen... As not even Speedway would keep the same costs by letting ten earn the same as fourteen did.. Especially as 'Championship Lite' would need to be the level to ensure enough teams can join 'one big league' I would think.. With the rest running at development level..

Five man teams will cut wages (by four per match) and hopefully mean more supply than demand which will reduce costs.. And also meaning credibility as more 'subs on the bench' to replace injured riders, rather than using guests... And hopefully mean many more clubs than at present can put together teams at a similar level. Not ideal by any stretch but we heading for the last chance saloon I would say.. It might even need a 'supremo' or 'supreme committee' to start with a blank piece of paper and map out 18 or so 'even teams' (90 riders) and use rider control to deliver it.. If Matt Ford is losing over £10k in two matches what exactly are these lads earning? As I presume 'takings' (without sponsorship) were around £18k - £20k or so for the home leg if around 1000 were there.. Whatever they earn, it must be well out of kilter with the standing of such a miniscule sport (in Britain), for Poole to lose over £10k. Something has to give. And radically..

It needs to cut its cloth accordingly... Domestic Speedway in Britain is a world away from Poland, the GP's and even Sweden.. So plough its own furrow.. At whatever standard.. I've said before, look at the BSB model against the WSB model.. British Superbikes don't try and compete with their more well renowned 'big brother'... Instead they have a very successful competition based on mainly 'decent' UK riders supplemented by riders who have tried the WSB or MotoGp and just came up short.. They augment this by having other competitions aimed at youth development, to ensure when their best move up to WSB, they have replacements ready.. If the likes of Lambert, Doyle etc cannot meet the demands of riding several times per week due to extensive oversees commitments, sometimes at weekend if the clubs require it, then they can move their careers forward elsewhere against riders of a similar level.. If someone of the calibre of Matt Ford is coming out with these type of comments and ideas, then I would suggest Speedway is pretty much being moved from the High Dependancy Unit into the Critical Ward.. Drastic times therefore means drastic measures... And if the patient cannot be revived in the Critical Ward, then no one will be earning any money over here anyway..

At last... Sounds like some realisation and common sense has arrived.. Put out five man teams.. Grade the riders 1-5.. Grade five being young British riders or oldies but new to the sport. Have a maximum team average based on adding the mean average of every one of the five grades. Meaning no one can pick the best rider from each grade.. Run on nights you get your best crowds, with riders only getting contracts if they agree to be at every meeting. Only run on FIM nights when there are no riders impacted by the FIM meeting And have a maximum team payroll of £4500. 45 points at an average of £100 per point. Top riders £150 down to £50 for number fives.. That will mean it will cost circa £9k to pay for two matches from your home meeting.. £15 to get in, and just 800 punters would bring £12000.. Got to be do able 800 surely? And if you bring more in, performance pay the riders more. Let them be in charge of their own pay destiny.. Kids up to 18 free if in education.. And no g****s.. (wishful thinking). Lots of variety of teams.. More local ish derbies.. Lots of different riders only turning up once so, if decent, you won't get to see then again so you have to go.. Affordable to fans, on nights they want to watch, young fans in for free to help the future and credibility.. Come on Matt, you know it makes sense..!!

Not sure where you think I don't view visiting schools as a good idea. Going to schools is a great idea from a business perspective. In fact getting them onside is a huge plus for any business... Hence I am a governor of one locally and raise thousands in funds for another two adjacent to my shop.. And guess what? Most of the parents and guardians of the kids shop with me... I also do the same with one church, two mosques and three local food banks. Who would have thought forming a professional relationship with thousands of kids, parents and guardians and other professional organisations would be so successful..? I don't though hand flyers out in supermarket foyers... As that doesn't work... I know because those who do it in my supermarket end up picking them all up from my car parks floor after giving them out.... There is though no point in visiting a school, charity, religious body, community project etc etc without a long term plan of action to mutually build a lasting relationship which benefits both parties... Thats when businesses gain from being a 'key player' in the local community.. And the local community benefits from their support.. And I still think there is too much tractor racing which puts back the quality of racing just when the dirt has moved out enough to improve the spectacle.. Just a theory... As is another one I have.. And that's the sports marketing (in this country) must often be devised by some people who still think it's 1979...

Seem to remember in the 'olden days' at Hyde Rd there used to be rakers who would take back the dirt from the bottom of the fence.. Pulling it back to half/two thirds track... The tractor would then run over this area... Leaving the inside half untouched.. It does appear nowadays that every inch of the track gets a full covering with the tractors doing several laps, which brings the dirt back down to the inside again, thus creating plenty of grip on the line.. Not conducive usually to good racing I would suggest..

The main issue the sport has is that it simply doesn't promote itself as a collective entity so the vast majority of the country don't know it exists.. The potential though is huge.... Over 60,000,000 people live within an hour or so of a speedway track.. And the club they live not too far away from have a virtual monopoly in that area... However, standing in a supermarket foyer with a bike and a wallpaper pasting table full of car stickers and photos, advertising just one club is a compete waste of time.. Tracks will pay tens of thousands out this week alone to riders who will barely put one extra person through the turnstiles.. Yet nothing to a marketing company who could.. Clubs will spend hours trying to put one over their rivals by using some convaluted method of team equalisation, manipulating ambiguous rules to their own ends and gain, and all to try and win a competition that their own nonsense rules and behaviours renders completely worthless.. Yet will spend hardly one second working together as a collective to get themselves noticed both locally and nationally... Buster seems to have spotted the opportunity by taking over three reasonably geopraphically close clubs, meaning he can advertise all of them together... Getting them all kitted out similarly/professionally too will also help raise Speedway's 'brand awareness' amongst those who live in and around East Anglia.. Millions must be paid out amongst all three Leagues each season to riders.. Obviously not privy to actual figures but, at a guess, Premiership teams alone must have a wage bill of around circa 250-300k for 30 matches or so.. And Championship teams 150k to 200k each for 30 matches maybe? A huge pot of money exists in Speedway to potentially invest in selling itself if used right..

Cannot believe the transparency and honesty from the Eastbourne promotion... Are they new to the sport? Don't they understand that this isn't the way to do things? Where are the "track is flooded due to the house pipe being left on", or "the back up generator has gone down" or even "total electrical blackout in the whole of the stadium" reasons?.. These are proper traditional good old fashioned reasons for calling off meetings, not some press release full to bursting with integrity, professionalism and rational explanation to fans, treating them like valued customers and adults... It will never catch on you know..

The tide was in? Or out?

That very quickly become 'reasons'... I think the weather must be different in Britain from other nations that run Speedway.. Different rain, different wind, etc etc.. Maybe the Sun is a different one too? Not as hot as elsewhere, or maybe its too hot? "We couldn't get on the track due to greyhounds"... "It is the wrong type of shale"... "The holes are now just on the third bend, we have fixed turns one and two".. "The tide was in".. Etc etc etc... Mickey Mouse eat your heart out..

Recently the SoN ran at the NSS on a Saturday night to a full house.. The same competition, with the same riders, ran on a Monday or a Thursday, wouldn't have filled the stadium.. In Britain hardly any riders currently riding over here can put extra on the gate by their presence, so just run meetings on nights you can generate the most punters.. Put out two teams of similar ability levels, numbers per team dependent on supply of riders, with an aim to create an overspill of riders to prevent the need for guests, and take it from there..

Reminds me of a slightly more exciteable early version of Jason Garrity.. Certainly no mug can hold down a position at No1 in Poland's top league.. Think he would prefer a bigger track than a more technical one..

Very impressed this year with Pawel Miesiac... 34 years old...! Not a name I have noticed before... A couple of great moves on 'The Holders' yesterday.. Maybe worth a shot for some teams needing a rider.. Presume a 4.00 average too?

Whatever they are called, a huge advantage having these two at six and seven... Especially when so many teams seem to have what over here would be described as one 'wobbler' at six or seven... Can they replace under performing riders like six and seven can over here...? Or is it just the number 8 that can randomly come in?