mikebv

beat me to it mate...! this very situation sums up British Speedway's self inflicted death of a thousand cuts perfectly... I presume the Slovenian championship was already on the FIM list pre the Elite Leagues fixtures so it was there for all to see so why did one promoter suggest the date and the other (even worse) agree to it!?. And even if it wasn't already scheduled pre the Elite fixtures, I am sure there are 'one or two' Elite League teams without a Slovenian No1 in their ranks that could have rode instead when the issue was eventually spotted, (and the Aces then race on another Saturday when Slovenia (and Edinburgh) don't need 'their men'..!! So instead of an attractive fixture between two full strength teams we get a 'watered down' pale imitation of what the meeting should have been.. Speedway is a dangerous sport so 'guests' and 'RR' impact far too many meetings already through injuries, so what a great idea it is to prevent a full team taking to the track by simply planning a meeting on a night that 100% means riders missing!! The most annoying thing is that I was going to go over to Leicester with my lad and his mate because this meeting ticked a lot of boxes.. Early season fans 'optimism' and rejuvenated interest following a winter of no speedway. Saturday meeting so no mad post work rush to get there. No school the next day so getting back late not an issue for the kids. Two (on paper) evenly matched teams both of whom touted for the Play Offs with GP riders on display (oops).... It should have been a potential 'must see' for many neutral fans in the midlands area, never mind Leicester and BV supporters. And the best of it is, any promoters reading this (if any do come on here) will think I am mad for now saying 'sod it' and giving it a miss and deciding not to part with the best part of £100 inc petrol!!!! What they will also fail to understand is that this kind of nonsense then defines your thinking for the rest of the season, and you quickly then lose that 'optimism' and start to say 'sod it' to many other meetings as you become more and more disaffected by the ludicrous decisions which seem to get made in ever increasing numbers as the season moves on.......... British Speedway eh? Bloody Hell.....! .

So many comment on here that Promoter's seem to forget that they are in the entertainment business... In truth, a great number of Promoters don't think they are in the entertainment business, to many, they are simply running a professional sporting organisation with the 100% priority of putting together a team that wins at home regardless of what the racing is like... The reason is a very simple one, and that is that all the entertaining racing in the world wont deliver the crowds needed to meet its costs if the team loses its home matches regularly. Speedway fans do always seem to want utopia when it comes to watching their sport in so much that they want a successful team but this seemingly must be allied at all times, to great racing each week... We don't ask for too much from a Promoter really do we??!!!

A great publication, portrays the sport in an ultra professional light, any potential sponsors cannot fail to be impressed by the picture the Star paints of the sport..... Well done to all... (And I have just started stocking it in my own shop so don't need to go anywhere else to buy it)!!!

A Guest in every meeting... It was a good effort from the bspa last year however a few meetings did 'slip through the net' and took place with both teams using their own riders.. A bit more focus and effort this season and I am sure the farce of having 'no guests' can be avoided....

Longtrack racing on the Sundays was a big earner back in the day... All the top speedway riders went over to Germany in the main usually a couple of times a month at least.. When PC got his ban in, I think 78, for being late back for the season start due to a cancelled flight from America it was said to cost him well over 20k in earnings (that was just a one month ban)! Such was the state of the lucrative LT circuit... As can be seen nowadays the riders are mainly Poland bound every Sunday, hence since this country took over the speedway world, Longtrack in particular has suffered as the big names no longer need to do it to supplement their income...

he'd only be able to afford to give 'em a ten yard head start....

Peter Collins... He made it look so effortless... On a saturday afternoon, World of Sport, you couldnt fail to want to give the sport a visit at your local track after seeing what he could do.... Honestly do feel a bit sorry for those who never got the chance to see him 'live'.... Could give some of the best riders to have ever ridden 20 - 30 yards head start and win by the same margin time and time again.... Very lucky I grew up 10 mins from Hyde Rd so got to see him at his 'pomp' every week...

I for one, have never been to Leicester so as its early in the season and I will still have some enthusiasm (no doubt steadily eroded over the following weeks) for the sport, I will definitely attend.... Hopefully Zagar and Nicholls will be in it so I will have someone to support... Then I can come on here that evening and moan in detail about how crap the track and racing was, and whilst agreeing that the facilities were good I will then be able to ask why the track wasn't built along the lines of hyde rd, bydgoszcz etc etc etc .... (Sometimes feel a bit left out on threads about Leicester)... Bottom line is these events need a crowd to put the money into the coffers, Leicester seem to be one of the better attended tracks and is in the midlands... Seems fair enough, as you say hopefully they put on a good show....

I pay out a lot of money to two people to ensure my store does not suffer the same fate... They carry out weekly checks on all my employees files to ensure they are up to date should we receive a visit from the immigration agency.. My company can get fined up to 20k per person found either without the right to work in the uk or not following the rules of their visa... And I can face six months inside!!! You really should take the criteria laid down very seriously and like any law 'ignorance is no defence' when you fall foul of it... Not being up to speed when you know you employ people needing visas is not very bright is it?

Far too deceptively clear and comprehensive.... You can see where so many sponsors could get a bit confused can't you?!!! (Where's the bit at the end that states 'NB. Ignore all the bollox above, this is speedway mate, we just make it up as we go along)!!

hard to see what they can do 'if' the bspa have been knowingly flouting the employment laws over the past few years... looks like the 'aaaah, but this is speedway' catch all excuse for any farce that occurs, doesnt cut any ice with government agencies trying to uphold the law of the land! maybe we should ask them to review the guest rider rule!!! given british speedway's slavish following of averages wouldnt it be ironic if grading these riders in such a haphazard way over the years has delivered this scenario? maybe that is why other sports highly reliant on non europeans such as both rugby codes, ice hockey and basketball have not been challenged ie they dont grade them against british competitors performance levels..? chickens coming home time for the sport... (for the umpteenth time)

anyone know if basketball and ice hockey have similar issues?? presume they must as the law is the law...?? they do all seem to have Yanks and Canadians, however they are certainly not 'elite' as they would be playing in their own countries surely?? to be honest its a shame that the same doesn't apply for many European riders, ie the many journeymen who arrive through a revolving door and apply their trade in the PL taking the opportunity away for a Brit to improve his career whilst never getting any better themselves.... still 'rules are rules' let's hope that promoters look to fill any void with British lads rather than more 5 point (at best) European non entities...

burn him!!! burn him!!! buuuuuurrrrrrrrnnnnn hiiiiimmmmmmmm! or at least put him on a ducking stool to see if he weighs the same as a duck..... seriously, let him get a job but not a 'nice one', that would be 'ok' and will let lots of people sleep better in their beds, feeling justice has been done (again in his case)and we can all self righteously move on..... no maybe not, changed my mind, because he's a 'role model' his actions could warp the fragile minds of the yoof of today, yes that makes sense, if my son behaves the same it is down to evans not me as his dad who has brought him up so..... let's buuuuuuurrrrrrrrrnnnnnn hiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmm

As the band play on, the Captain of the Titanic orders his men to (once more) rearrange the deckchairs....

always worth a read, plenty of content that is relevant (even with t'internet to contend with) ... as professionally presented, if not more so, as any sports magazine available.... in fact, the irony, sadly, is that the professional standard it delivers isn't reflected the same in the sport it covers.....

a great website,....

Not to many of the promoters who own clubs it isn't.... And therein lies the problem.. To many of the promoters it is a 'winning at all costs business' as they incredibly still see winning trophies as having some 'kudos'.... Hence the minute any new rules are ratified, many will go through in fine detail what the rule 'doesn't say' to gain an advantage.. Hence meetings are called off for 'fictitious floods'... Hence meetings are called off due to inclement weather when no one else in the locality has suffered any, yet coincidentally the teams' No1 got injured the night before... Hence tracks are presented, in the vast majority of cases, to provide the home team with a huge advantage rather than be conducive for close racing... Hence 'new' riders' averages are often 'surprising', FTR levels are changed, and sudden illnesses take place to enable 'guest' riders who ride a specific track better to ride in a meeting.. I do know of a conversation with a promoter re the lack of entertainment his track threw up every week and he flatly said entertainment is a bonus, as winning is the aim each week with the ultimate aim being a trophy at the end of the season... Two diametrically opposing requirements from the sport,.. One demanded (and delivered) by those who run it... The other (and often ignored) is demanded by those who pay to get in to watch... The ultimate irony of course is that winning with someone else's riders is usually the outcome so how can anyone get any real 'kudos' from that?? Simply no one out of the (ever dwindling) 'Speedway Bubble' will ever care.... And until entertainment becomes the key watchword from a night out watching the sport, Speedway will continue to disappear off even more people's radar...

Six man teams? Clubs buy and maintain box standard bikes making them club assets, only spare parts registered and approved to be used, machine examiners to review? Salary cap of 5k a team per meeting? - anyone found contravening gets points deduction or even thrown out of the league? Advantages. No big tuning costs, economies of scale when purchasing bikes/spares, clubs increase asset value with bikes to sell on 'used', just a 10k revenue from the home meeting pays for the home and away meetings - at 15 quid its an attendance of just 800 after VAT paid.. 800? ridiculous to even discuss such low numbers but that is the reality of the sport's position, (with many not even getting that), hence to carry on paying up to 3k a night for EL riders and PL riders on well over 1K a match is simply business suicide... yet it doesn't seem to be sinking in too quickly does it?

If Team racing is to stay AND be seen as a vehicle to drive the sport forwards in this country then for me the following could be the answer.. One Elite League of 8 x six men teams, meet once home and away, same night racing, all riders graded A - E for team strength planning, team strengths to be high enough to include two 'A grade' riders per team'. just 48 riders needed leaving plenty of riders to be drafted in to cover injuries - (A league basically built to showcase the sport on TV) - NO GUESTS One Premier League based on the SWC with 4 teams per meeting, 5 riders per team (4+1 reserve), 16 teams all regionalised with the top teams in each region going to a 4 leg semi/ final, all riders graded A - E for team strength planning, No 'A grade' riders to keep costs down/lower team strengths, 80 riders needed so again plenty of riders to be drafted in to cover injuries and NO GUESTS!! The Elite League teams can enter the second comp (if they want to) as long as they comply with the competitions team strengths, oh and NO GUESTS... All other clubs who don't go in the EL or PL can run National League, configured any which way as basically it will include a mixture of riders who at any given moment can replace unavailability in the PL or be complete rookies learning their trade, the planning of the heats should reflect this difference in standards to ensure competitive racing.. Probably bollox, but at least its a plan to improve what we have, something I sadly don't have any faith in the current sports' rulers having.....

Team racing in its current guise isn't worth carrying on with as it is simply now a farce.. When 50% of the competitors in a play off semi final are guests it really is time to give it up.. Maybe tracks running individual events once a month with big prize money is the answer? Maybe run once a month, charge £15 and see if you can get 2000 there with a months worth of advertising/promotion... Prize money of 25k (or maybe more) would be achievable I am sure with a 2k crowd and meeting sponsorship, and maybe the sport should do what many other motorsports do and charge the competitors to compete? (16 riders at £200 quid would generate the rent money surely?) Stock cars pack crowds in due to not racing weekly and has even less of a public recognition than speedway.. The sport needs to go very much back to basics and given the embarrassment of team speedway nowadays in relation to credibility and integrity then maybe some high profile individual meetings will once again put the sport back in the public eye and if successful after a couple of years maybe restart team speedway again? And this time try and get it right..!

I believe that at least 12 promoters cannot make those dates so the BSPA have drafted some guest promoters in for 10 of them and 'Promoter replacement' is being used for the other two.....

Or teams go to six men a side and omit the big names, ?? for what some GP's No1's get in salary you could pay three 'good riders', (or half a six man team)...

I can watch a football match between two teams I don't care about in the hope I may get some satisfaction/excitement generated by great goals or bits of skill from one or two players.. The same can be said for my cricket, rugby, baseball, American football etc watching The difference though, watching these professional sports, is that I don't need to 'put their problems aside' when watching them as they don't have the glaring 'self inflicted ailments' speedway has. (and surely any sport that needs paying spectators to make 'allowances' for what they are watching is, by definition, on a pretty downward spiral?).. With speedway, many fans seem to want 'Utopia' ie a winning team and great entertainment, which isn't ever going to be achieved, however what can be achieved is four riders in each race, racing for 'their' clubs only, of commensurate ability, in a competition that has 'integrity' as its fundamental foundation.. I still watch the EL on TV similar to how I watch the sports mentioned above, and make a point of watching the GP's in particular as they often provide great entertainment, however... In any team sport (let alone one that is allegedly professional) there has to be 'integrity' of both competition rules and regulations, and participants eligibility.. Speedway has no 'integrity' of either hence so many no longer pay good money to attend.... You may be happy to 'forget those problems' and enjoy just watching four lads compete in each race you see(?) However, thousands of fans, who have simply 'voted with their feet' over the past decade or so, would appear to want some 'integrity' with their racing... One thing is for sure, 'if' the sport does eventually 'die', it wont be the fault of those who decided to leave it behind and stopped paying their money to attend 'live' because they got disillusioned with it... Because quite simply if you 'go to the wall' failing to provide what your customers wanted, particularly when you have had so much direct and databased feedback from them, then you clearly have no one to blame but yourself....

buxton.....

not read the whole thread so it may already be covered but.... with melbourne now being the final gp and the possibility of the gp winner being virtually known before the meeting (similar to this year), will bsi do a 'double points' final round like F1 are doing?.. If its a foregone conclusion who has won, it will I am sure adversely effect the crowd so anything which prevents this will I would have thought be considered. ?.