mikebv

I think too much is read into who actually provides the coverage and more should be considered about what they actually get to show.. Sky, BT, and Eurosport are not 'Speedway's saviours', they are just TV companies showing the sport.. Their production capability might add weight to the racing or it might not, however.. If the racing isn't up to any great entertainment standard (as we sadly see most weeks in the UK meetings), then it doesn't matter who shows it nor how great their presentation and production skills are.. If what you are watching doesn't maintain your interest, then it doesnt matter if it's 'free to air' or not, and that can never be a positive for the sport. In fact it could work very much the other way and disconnect any potential new fans, or ex fans who may think about returning, completely.. Doesn't matter who shows the sport if it doesn't deliver on the track...

Whilst I don't doubt it improved technique riding on smaller tracks, I would suggest that the level of competition brought on the riders more.. Top riders of the past rode against the other top riders several times on a weekly basis in the UK, which meant they had to improve accordingly if they wanted to be No1.. Nowadays someone like Dan Bewley won't get the same impact to his career riding a smaller circuit as the opposition level won't give any kind of barometer of where he sits globally... The likes of Bewley and Lambert need to be riding in Poland and Sweden's top leagues (on any shaped tracks) to improve their racing and position in the World rankings... Too many times British riders have settled for a 'successful' domestic career which nowadays, in the grand scheme of World Speedway, means very little...

For me pretty much THE No1 PRIORITY for each track.. As fans who still go have shown, they will put up with a whole host of 'anomolies' with regards to how the sport is ran versus it's peers, therefore the least the sport can do is ensure it runs on the best nights for the vast majority of them to get there.. For teams currently in the second tier, I cannot see (no disrespect intended as could be lots of riders used as an example), how the likes of Danny King and Chris Harris riding in Ipswich colours in the Premiership will deliver much bigger crowds than when they turned up this year for Sheffield and Somerset respectively... Maybe the Champions, with Jason Doyle in tow, would deliver a novelty crowd bounce but cannot see over a season how it could work for second tier clubs moving up.. Unless of course financially the TV money is similar to the Sky deal and clubs feel they can make ends meet with it?

Must admit, it did cross my mind to end my comment with something like that... Five years is a long time and lots of decisions will be made by those who run the sport.... And we know how many 'strange decisions' five weeks can bring, let alone five years..

But in Speedway you could be going 'in hard' against tomorrow nights team captain for your other team.. Go in 'too hard' and effectively you could knacker your other teams' season... Playing aggressively against a fellow international for your own team is perfectly acceptable, you owe him nothing and your club loyalty and own fan base comes first.. However, in Speedway, a different club on another night needs you both to be on the same side so riding too aggressively will have consequences for them.. Must have a bearing on how you react I would think, and definitely takes away some of that 'tribalism' that team sports should always inspire in their participants and fans..

You can only presume that there is significant money on the table to lock yourself in to five years.. Suggesting no other bidding war between TV companies is needed for the BSPA till 2025.. Or could there actually be a genuine "Five Year Plan" for the sport in conjunction with Eurosport's backing? A plan that actually exists, and has been agreed with the TV company? Eurosport must have done its homework on the sport in the UK, so must be happy with what they see now, therefore maybe they too have a vision for the sports journey over the next five years...? It's certainly a big investment in time and resources if nothing else for them over the next five years, which suggests confidence in the product..

But it does... To the most significant issue for several teams which is.. Their race night... Fixed nights are in place to ensure double uppers are able to ride as much as possible to earn enough to carry on, (and ensure plenty of guest replacements are available).. Sheffield changed last year to a Sunday because racing on a Thursday became not possible and suffered as a consequence.. This ultimately closed down Buxton who couldn't run profitably against their neighbour on the same afternoon. BV would get better crowds riding on a Friday or Saturday night but cannot due to fixed nights.. And Poole have said losing Wednesday impacted their crowd levels.. And we saw what happened to Workington when they lost their race night slot because "there wasn't enough riders to guest when so many riders rode on the same evening".. Doubling up is pretty much irrelevant for me from the respective competitions perspective as it doesn't really matter who wins the titles anyway so mixing riders in two or three leagues won't make me go or not go.. However the race night will.. In "The good old days" as has been mentioned, doubling up was common place for development. PC did indeed ride for BV and Rochdale, however.. BV still rode every Saturday night and didn't change race nights to accommodate his participation..

Partnering a rider in one night, and then riding against him on another night in another domestic league, and then with him in another country the next night, and against him in yet another country the night after that, must have a huge bearing on the level of racing... You simply won't be as aggressive to win against someone who you will be sat next to in the pits somewhere else tomorrow.. I would defy anyone to 'give everything' for their teams given such situations.. Just human nature.. Therefore the level of competitiveness has to suffer... Unless, of course, it's Poland where individual contracts worth several hundred thousands pounds are on the line, and tens and tens of thousands of rabid fanatical fans are critically judging you every race... That focuses your mind and motivates you to give 100% every race I would suggest..

Are Berwick changing counties too? Moving its town 200 miles or so south to become part of Lancashire or Yorkshire?

And often ran on nights to suit the riders' own individual aspirations on the global stage, rather than prioritising when clubs can deliver their best crowd (which should be the ultimate priority).. Looking at the last few seasons a few riders seem to have become almost "weekly guests" riding in both leagues, so no need to ride in individuals given they can get plenty of extra money over a season getting hired by all and sundry...

With the result the typical UK Speedway halfway house.. That is to say, they do neither correctly so devalue both...

The problem with running 'individuals' is that too many 'individuals' cry off and don't bother attending.. Or they get ran on days when other meetings take place so lines up get diluted from the original names.. All comes down to money I suppose.. If the prize money was large enough then all the riders would want an invitation, and the fans would attend in numbers as the event will become something worthwhile going to watch.. If say £50,000 was put up as a total prize fund for an individual event could you get a 3500 crowd paying £20 each? 16 riders on a guarantee of £2000 and then an £18k final. (£8k, £5k, £3k, £2k).. Could several tracks run such events once each per season, well marketed, well sponsored and promoted very aggressively locally? It does appear its "go big" or don't bother when it comes to individual events..

Spot on about teams wanting a lower level when it suits.. However, there has to be a starting point and with Swindon's stadium issues I suggest this should be it.. Every Sport needs a 'Manchester United', ie a team who pulls in crowds home and away and gets people talking for good or bad, but never indifferent.. When I was a regular away from home we used to taunt the home fans with a rendition of "You've only come to see United". Which was 100% true as crowds at several grounds would go up by 10,000 to play us, then drop again the week after.. Each season Speedway takes away the success of the winning team by diluting them, thus the year after you are not really watching "The Champions" but a pale imitation version of them.. So. Let Swindon be "The Benchmark" for everyone else to try and knock off their perch.. And get some rivalries going amongst the rest of the League as they try to put one over them.. Jason Doyle is an ultra loyal to the UK, GP rider so each club should market his appearance as such, and Swindon have some excellent riders with, what appears, a great attitude so no better time I would suggest to try 'something new'.. And let's face it, the facts are each season each team starts on paper 'level' but very quickly teams become 'miles apart' on track so does the system actually work anyway? Therefore, let Swindon build their business on the back of it (at a crucial time for them), and let the rest of the League benefit by having the 'Real Champions' visit and also give them something to aspire to be..

If ever a team should be allowed to keep the same septet its Swindon.. 1) To give the rest of the League something to aspire to conquer, as all proper Sport's should.. And 2) More importantly, as you say, keep that feel good factor around the place to deliver the strong crowds that may influence stadium developments.. These riders will have made emotional connections with Swindon's fans this year, so that invaluable connection should be used to full effect next year to support the clubs overall future.. The bigger picture of course is that the Sport as a whole benefits by keeping Swindon at the forefront of the sport.. (All of which means they will be narrow mindedly tasked to shed three or four riders obviously)!...

Jonsson won Geoff. ..

Uniquely. Speedway is possibly the least impacted Sport when it comes to 'blind partizanship' I would suggest.. Many of its die hard fan base are now Speedway fans first and club fans second in a lot of cases.. Not many (bar a rabid few), would have any sour grapes about their teams losing simply because the prizes don't warrant that level of emotional attachment or response.. You only have to look at the Aces fans Facebook pages when they failed to reach the play offs to see how many mentioned they would accept defeats given the great racing they get served up each meeting, with an overall general consensus that winning the 'top prize' doesn't mean that much anyway, and that long may the entertainment value on offer continue.. Obviously can't reply for SPD but I wouldn't think the Aces getting beat in the KO Cup or not reaching the play offs had any bearing in his post..

Several reasons why teams request to drop.. With financial being the obvious one. With the underlying reasons of there being absolutely no kudos by winning any Speedway title nor any attainment levels to aspire too from the lowest league to the top.. No disrespect but a Grand Final in Speedway (UK), is akin to two bald men fighting over a comb.. Therefore what difference does it make to the clubs what league they race in? Hardly anyone cares who wins. There is almost zero National coverage.. And there is no financial reward worth speaking of, in fact, as we see, successful clubs can actually lose money and go bust by winning!! Therefore you might as well decide amongst yourselves where you want to compete, and at the end of the day you can watch pretty much the same set of riders anyway so no loss there.. As you say, it sends out all the wrong messages, but that's where the sport is in the UK, and I suppose the overall thoughts are better to have clubs still in existence than not.. An ever decreasing circle though isn't it?

Think it's more the director... Spends too long on the wrong camera... The riders have gone passed and he (or she, it is 2019), hasn't moved on to the next camera...

Be ok if Eurosport get involved... Joining two thirds of a way through a Speedway meeting is what they do best...

Maybe Tai could ride over here for loads of teams as 'unattached' and then ride in the British and Premiership Championships? Of course, the Premiership should have to hold such an event for it to happen..

Not beyond the realms of fantasy that, I would suggest......

A one league regionally based could work Steve if you race twice against your own region home and away and once against the teams from the other region. This would mean your nearest teams in the other region will still get a visit from you and vice versa.. Top two in each region play off against each other to decide who represents the region in the Grand Final. Run a National KO Cup, a Best Pairs and a Fours.. Maybe also a regional individual Championship where top eight from both go into a National Riders Championship? More local (ish) derbies cannot be a bad thing and you could always run a season or two with six man teams until more riders become available.. Something has to change though without a doubt.. If Poole were seriously considering to drop down it would only take Belle Vue to consider doing the same and 100% the PL would collapse.. Long overdue the Aces dropping down for me given the northern base of the Championship and they could race Friday's and Saturdays.. The reality is that crowds are now so low at most clubs just 200-300 more a night would genuinely make a huge difference to most places, and let's face it, the sport isn't going to gain any credible operating model overnight allowing it to be taken seriously by thousands, so might as well all run on nights they can get their best crowds. Crowd increases which generally will made up of those who either used to go or attend sporadically now but would attend more often if ran on nights they can traditionally get there...

I remember one night a few years ago when Martin Vaculik and Vaclav Milik raced against each other in the SEC... In just four laps we had. . Millichich.. Millichik Vaculich And Vacilik... And of course we have the 'How many variations of Kasper Woryna's surname can we muster?' Competition.. !!! Love listening to Sam.. Priceless...

You can see why some may fans simply "give up" can't you? We now have Kyle Bickley possibly missing the NL KO Cup Final as it's been arranged on the same night as a GB International match.. And the Championship Final will no doubt have a guest farce written into its contract somewhere along the line.. Lets be honest, if the supposed prestigious, showpiece events are treated (by those who run them), with such a lack of respect, why then should the fan base bother with them and attend? Sometimes you do actually feel that some one is possibly conducting a top level governmental experiment in the background, trying at every corner to undermine it with the most ridiculous decision making imaginable to see how far it can be stretched before breaking.. Or maybe it's a bunch of rabid environmentalists involved who just want the sport closed down on noise pollution grounds or because of the global air miles pollution footprint so many riders infest on the world? Or powerful property investers who want all tracks becoming housing estates? My own personal belief (and only rational conclusion I can make given what constantly goes on), is that "Dr Evil" from Austin Powers is actually in overall charge, has brainwashed everyone within UK Speedway, and is sat in his lair making up the most far fetched scenarios his warped mind could conceive, laughing hysterically and manically to himself as they all get endorsed and used by everyone involved within the sport who are trapped under his mind spells.. "When should we run the Championship Grand Final Dr Evil" "On the same night as the NLRC"!... "But that will mean riders needing to be in two places at the same time, and some will have to miss the final, making the meeting completely devalued. Many people will simply decide not to go and watch it".... "I know"!!! "Bwa ha" "Bwa ha, ha ha" "Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha" etc etc etc.. It does shoot itself in the foot so many times, year in year out, with self created issues that it has to be more than just coincidence surely? With the biggest frustration being for the fans of course, just how good it all could be if it was just organised well...

And I bet several promoters will still scratch their heads wondering why large professionally ran companies don't fall over themselves to sponsor it...