pandorum

Yes but when you have to survive on a paltry crowd of 700 pretty much any drop would be noticed. Is that the sports plan, to survive at EL level on what it's got and pray that the cost saving excercise will not discourage customers from cherry picking meetings or simply finding something better to do on speedway night. A sport that is already too expensive is now offerring less for the same or more as we do not know the new price structure for 2014 although it's a safe bet prices will not go down. With the weather and SKY coverage to contend with how many diehards will brave the elements for such a pricey night out. Speedway can't take it's 'core support' for granted as this 'core support' was once a hell of a lot more. The sport needs to offer a good night but seems to be incapable of doing that anymore. Presentation is important as well as a smooth run meeting on a decent surface, weather permitting. The sport needs to buck it's ideas up NOW or it will see even those few diehards at a track drain away. Promoting a good product on TV will help the sport but does the sport have the will to work together to showcase a decent product on SKY. This new plan to blood new Brit talent needs to be a template for the next 20 years but how long before the cracks begin to form and become bloody great chasms as the kids who are bailing out the top league get dumped. 2014 is a critical year for the sport but if the sport just goes on as if nothing is wrong then it desrves all it gets.

Yes but that surely begs the question why was the same not applied to the EL meetings. Some of the dross on show was even an embarrassment to speedway fans so christ knows what non fans thought of it

Yes but Richie Worral is well established here at both PL and EL level I was commenting on the lack of young 'unknown' lads like the huge amount of foreign 'unknowns' we get here every year who don't know the language nor the culture and are not overburdened with cash but have the ambition to travel thousands of miles to foreign lands to try to make an impression. Ours never seem to put themselves out for some reason. Obviously I took that as read when I saw Olly was turning out for Krakow. WTC here we come

I see Bellego is giving Poland a spin in League 2 and a couple of the Russian kids but notice none of our youngsters there. So even the French have riders with ambition but our lot whine if they have to travel further than the end of the street. No wonder we are a joke internationally (with the obvious exception of course) Some obvious standouts in the top league

I am surprised I have not seen this on BBC News Channel. I been boycotting this garbage for over 30 years now

It wouldn't as I am clearly taking the p#ss and being sarcastic. God with a humourless bloke like you in charge no wonder SS can't even sell ONE of the 4 copies on display in my local ASDA . (I have never bought it BTW as I much preferred the Mail but I give it a glance when I do my shopping.)

And these so called promoters are people some people get offended if you describe them as idiots SKY should have dumped the sport and offered the chance to underwater chess.

Go for it! It would be a laugh if nothing else

Chris has been very Jammy there with Gollop being put in as a wild card. If he had turned down the WC we would likely have seen someone different. Hell many of us criticised Tai when he got a WC and maybe Chris might shove it back in our faces and make it a GB two in a row

Fair enough then. Glad you can confirm everything is alright. Dunno what we have to moan about with the sport in such good hands. Thankfully there are people like you to put us all right when we commit such errors. Speedway will go on from strength to strength as it has done for decade after decade and all us moaning nitwits will be firmly put in our places.

We dodged a bullet there as Harris would have grabbed that chance to bore us like a drowning man reaching for a slab of concrete. Hopefully Gollop will be OK too as he is the only thing standing between the SGP and Chris Harris a bulwark against dullness so to speak.

I don't know what you actually expect after decades of these people running our sport so far into the ground it's nearly in the Permian Era. Of course we hope for something good from this new deal but we know who will get the money and are not confident they will do anything but what they always do. Squander it. We fans are obviously hoping that they have learnt a lesson from the last 15 years when a goldmine was p#ssed away on rubbish that was flown in and out and that regardless of the reasons for it the investment in young Brit riders will help as long as the promoters work together and do it right for the sport rather than thier selfish gain. But we have seen one team already dissapear because of the attitude of these people. We know this because the bloke who just bailed out said so. So to start with we have no idea of how many teams will line up in March never mind the format for the top league. They have got to learn and work together. Invest in a decent racing surface, work with SKY to bring the TV audience a well matched meeting between 2 teams that can ride the track. The result, daft as it sounds, comes secondary to trying to bring new interest to the sport by showcasing it on TV. Other sports can afford rubbish matches on TV as they have a following and money from sponsors and investors. Speedway has nothing really except a bloody good sport when it is allowed to be done right. Promotion, track, investment in home talent, try to build up some kind of atmosphere so it looks like a sport when it's on TV rather than a funeral. Lots can be done with little outlay if the will is there to make speedway look like a good night out. The fans need to play a part and the promotions should work with supporters clubs and fans on social media to get the best out of a TV showcase. Fans need to make some noise and promoters need to give fans something to make some noise about. But will it happen? #### knows

Jesus wept man that would be insane

Got to agree. I did not believe for a second the conversation took place but would not call the bloke a liar. It was a silly way to make a point that for me was not even valid as talking about sports you don't like seems silly as we don't have enough time in life to discuss everything we do like. All sports have bizarre rules not just our but to call the guy a liar was a bit mad .

Well to be honest Max only has himself to blame first of all for agreeing to it which he must have done and then not having the sense to actually take an interest in the process. It shows a lack of enthusiasm for what is being done which seems to be endemic in our young riders. Which probably explains why countries like Denmark produce a steady stream of speedway talent and we don't. Of course the reasons for this draft are dubious, the pay poor and who knows if it will work or all fall apart by May but it's a chance to learn and progress and if a speedway rider wants to better himself he should grasp the chance with both hands or else he is just wasting his own time and everybody elses.

That would depend on WHICH half you had

Perhaps all this has been a fiendish plot to get Chris Harris into the SGP. Very sad and very stupid behaviour by a sport that needs every bit of coverage and every friend it can find.

Yes but how would Poole win the EL if the rules were fair?

Exactly Hump! Speedway is not football so comparing it to that sport is frankly as ridiculous as the guys mate thought speedway was. And he must be a pretty dull bloke if he then went and bothered to explain a sport he did not give a toss about to others who did not give a toss about it. I would avoid someone like that like a plague victim If someone started explaining golf to me I would tell them to stop and not bother as it is of no interest to me so dunno why the guy seemed keen to get tot he bit where who rides for who. Speedway is 4 guys going round a track for 4 laps at speed. The rest for a non fan is superfluous. If you find it attractive then worry about it's idiosyncrasies later, if not just forget it exists and don't bore people about it It's called trying to make a living and I don't begrudge one of those lads (or lasses) a penny they make.

Great idea but of those 7000 invites you may get a couple of dozen people actually turn up as these riders 1000 'friends' are not likely to actually BE the riders friends simply the inevitable bunch of hangers on one picks up on FaceBook that never exchange a word with you after becoming your 'friend'. One would presume the riders friends already go to see him. So these 24 newcomers arrive at Belle Vue or Lakeside or wherever and find the place is a rubbish tip with a track in the middle. The presentation is zero, the atmosphere is worse than most funerals and the entertainment again on a par with most funerals but drags on for hours. Those 24 people return to FB and report 'what a bunch of crap that was' and you simply do more damage than good. If you don't have something at the end to keep those '7000' interested it's a waste of time and effort. The sport needs investment in track surfaces to create good racing and at the same time investment in riders to create this 'local talent' for these babes to drape themselves about, that may well promote an atmosphere that may well keep newcomers interested. A bit of work on facilities would not go amiss either. The power of the Internet is mind boggling and much of what has been said here about websites and building up data bases makes a lot of sense. I am an old man but I understand and use new technology every day to plan my affairs and keep in touch with people. I would be lost without it. But if you are going to sell something it helps if you have something to SELL! Speedway in the UK falls very short in that department sadly.

My agenda The 1-5 will cover for each other Even Hougaard racing has never come out with anything that crackpot. So what you are saying is a format will be produced where tape exclusions, injuries to riders which cause them to be withdrawn and any other unforseen circumstance which makes a rider miss a ride will be covered by the 1-5 rather than the reserves. I can't wait to see that one 2 milliseconds later and it still sounds bonkers but please as I am sure you have thought it out longer than me. Enlighten us to this magic format where reserves no longer cover for the ups and downs of the main body during a meeting.

But shirley that's not true at all. They will ride against #2 and #4 one would presume which in a team say like Poole might be someone of the calibre of Thomas H Jonason or Maciej Janowski. Also they are reserves and will cover for injuries during meetings, R/R, tape exclusions and riders who can't be bothered to come out because thier bike is crap that night.

Yes but my point being Hougaard racing would not get such consideration

That is sadly a very fair point

What an absolutely stupid comment. If Hougaard Racing had said that he would have gotten a torrent of criticism. Only an idiot compares the richest sport in the world to a very minor motorsport. And you can't blame them. It's thier living. They are not registered charities.