pandorum

That's the future for the sport. Give these lads the #6 and #7 berths in PL/EL let them learn even if it's the hard way. The Danish model (5 man teams) pits the #4 and #5 man against the #1 and #2 man in one heat, so a novice can be pitched in against a top rider and you know what? Sometimes that novice beats the top rider. Instead of training everybody elses train ours. That is the easiest thing British Speedway can do to improve it's lot and it costs nothing to do it. Build teams with a heart that is British, produce local riders who have some empathy with the local community. Visit schools on a regular basis and explain the sport to kids, visit hospitals (I think I read somewhere of a team doing that this year. Redcar I think?) Get involved in local activity at every opportunity and show people speedway exists. Promote the bloody thing and maybe you will see a few people come through the turnstile. The next obvious thing is give them something to shout about. That involves tracks and presentation and involves a bit of outlay. Tidy the rubbish tip stadiums up a bit and make them look less like something that was dumped at the side of the road. UK speedway can do without Freddie Lindgren and his ilk but it can't do without the NL as when the whole bloated edifice implodes and the so called top riders have milked the sport dry here and bugger off to sweden or Poland those lads (and a few lasses) will be important. So why not make them feel important NOW! Give the kids and novices a chance. They surely can't be any worse than some of the utter garbage the EL and PL has spent fortunes flying in to fill thier team rosters over the last decade. To hell with Lindgren and his overpriced ilk. Spend the money on British and maybe if the BSPA put a bit of effort in they might see something good come out of it.

But look at the rosters of UK teams and they are filled with young upandcoming riders from Sweden, Denmark, Poland etc. Why is it these countries can produce a never ending stream of Pawel Przedpelski's and Rasmus Jensen's. They must be doing something different to us? Maybe having a look at how these countries do this and then starting to put the mechanisms in place to emulate them would be a better idea than wasting fortunes on allowing the Hancock's of this world to use our leagues as bolt holes when the opportunities in the lucrative league systems dry up. No PL or EL #6 or #7 in any circumstances whatsoever to be non British would be a start. Give our lads a chance and see what they can do. See if we can produce a few new Collins, Louis, Wyer, Wilson, Grahame, Wigg, Cross, Jackson, Finch, Owen, Wilcock, Garrad, Perks, Jessup, Courtney, Havelock, Tatum etc. These lads started at the bottom and did pretty well

The sport could not attract ANY sponsor for it's leagues even with 15 years of excellent TV coverage so how will it attract a big sponsor for a cup with less than barely two dozen teams in it without TV? A national newspaper :) Those days are long gone.

Speedway is such a silly sport.

I will give you a clue. His brother was NOT the drummer with Genesis.

Did not get to Hull much but was there when England took on the might of the US and Hull rider Mad Frank Auffrett beat the golden boy Bruce Penhall. My wife was not amused

But I don't want to as it's of no interest to me anymore than darts or golf or underwater chess

Without bashing Poole I think you are indeed right. As Topsoil points out people go to be entertained at sporting events and want more for thier pound not less. Speedway has too little value for money nowadays as all the money seems to be spent on travel for foreign riders and wasted on the Hancocks of the world who use our racing as a bolt hole when they are dumped in the top leagues. You won't see hide nor hair of the Grin in 2014 unless he wants a few meets before the GP or has a few problems like this year with his Swedish and Polish teams. Becoming Insular is the only answer. Invest in UK riders and those foreign lads who show commitment to our leagues and put what money there is into UK speedway instead of Ryan Air dragging Europes rubbish back and forward a couple of times a week and training them. I say, if Freddie Lindgren does not want to ride here, bye Freddie. Let UK speedway find it's own stars by putting in the effort to a) attract them and b ) let them earn a living from the sport. I can remember so many young kids starting off in 2nd halfs and becoming big names. I remember one lad in particular who used to ride for Rochdale as a reserve who did rather well for himself. It won't be easy but nothing worthwhile ever is.

LMAO I voted for the speedway riders as I have no idea who any of the other names were

I don't want to use my real name as who I am, where I am from and what I do while I am there is none of your (the forum) business unless I choose to make it so which I don't I have no interest in socialising with anyone here but have fun expressing my opinion on a sport I like and having a bit of a laugh with the guys in the International section who are a good bunch. If you want to reveal your secret identity that is your business but as it was a free country last time I looked I choose to excercise that freedom and not do so.

The double point rule is not really a tactical rule in the way the old tac sub rule was. Under the old system you could throw in your best immediately after going 6 points down. Now you have to wait to be 10 down and hope that you have someone in the next heat capable of offering a decent punt at scoring double points. A team like Poole can take advantage as they have plenty of heat leaders but a team at the bottom would struggle and may have to wait a heat or two for a decent candidate to use it by which time they are further behind and the so called tactical rule is useless to them. The old rule did not mean that you would immediately get back in the match but at least it made things interesting. With minimum numbers of rides for the lesser members of a team it does actually involve some tactical thinking from managers whereas the current rule consists mainly of a panic measure of throwing someone in as a 'tactical' in the hope they might get a win or second.

The bottom line is that the clowns who run our sport are incapable of doing anything other than panic when they realise the golden goose has buggered off somewhere else to lay it's eggs. This idea of one night for speedway with crowds of over 2000 because all the top riders race here is sadly laughable. The top riders will race in the top leagues for the top money unless like Hancock they have to slum it because they get dumped by thier Polish team. Even with some of the top stars the sport can't attract a crowd and is bleeding money on useless foreigners so the idea that the rest of the GP lot will start to fill stadia is amusing at best. The sport needs to get back to basics. Weekly speedway, weekend racing, teams of comparable ability to produce decent racing on decent surfaces at a decent price. VFM and decent promotion and presentation. New stars will arise as they always did. Forget GP riders and forget big stars as we can't afford them. Become insular and invest in British riders and those foreign riders who commit to UK racing. Simplify the rules a bit more, work as one body to promote the sport and help each other to achieve a decent standard of racing surface and competitive teams. Try new ideas to give the sport a buzz. Maybe a KOC competition involving everyone and based on the Danish model of 5 man teams. Talk to your customers and take a bit of notice of what they say. Cut costs but enhance entertainment as that is the reason people go to sporting events to be entertained. The POs are a good idea so keep them but reward the team that finishes top as league champions and have the POs as perhaps The Lee Richardson Shield in the top league and something similar in the other leagues. So many little things which will be achievable for a small amount of effort and cost could transform the sport. But of course we will see the usual. Panic when the SKY talks collapse. Darcy Ward refusing to ride in the UK unless he can ride with his mate Chris. A poorer product at a higher price when prices rise by at least a quid. Speedway the lemming of the sporting world.

without any doubt 'the stupid idea bin' beckons...... Why not just have a rule that when 6 behind the team can bring in a tactical substitute of anyone in the team to replace a rider in the relevant heat. The big leagues use it so it must be a decent idea.

Lovely little venue and saw some good meetings there.

For someone who spent years using words to bamboozle a Prime Minister you sure have problems understanding them. nboy did not say the GP would not exist if SKY was not onboard he simply stated the obvious that the GP would not have become such a force without SKYs involvement. The clue is in 'getting us to where we are' which infers that the GP is still in existence even though SKY are not there but may well have not been such a good product without SKY being involved. Bernard would not have made such an obvious error

Well you learn something new everyday! I did not know Kel and Nige were running British Speedway and commentating was just a sideline. Got to agree that these two have certainly done a p#ss poor job when it comes to overseeing the sport. Maybe they should have stuck to commentating and left the running of the sport to someone more qualified like the BSPA.

What a nonsensical statement to make. I am sure that there were 'probably' several people who could have negotiated a deal within the ranks of the motley crew known as the BSPA. Which tells you all you need to know about these people

I don't agree with the wildcards but that sentence is utter rubbish mate. The qualification system has thrown up as many spuds as the selection system. Same with the old formula that let 5 deadbeats into the final without having to show thier 'skill' against the best. Perhaps Laguta did turn a WC spot down. If not then Lindgren is the new Chris Harris. 11 out of 15 did qualify and the picks will never please everyone but it is a better system than the one it replaced. It won't be that far off

League speeway here as I knew it finished a long time ago and the last few years of EL on TV have shown how corrupt and bankrupt it has become in it's death throes. I used to love league racing but no team left me watching on TV and this year I could not be bothered to watch EL even if I saw it free. I prefer the excitement of Polish, Swedish, Russian and Danish league racing which of course has it's dull days but is way better than Monday night on SKY. I feel sorry for SKY having to put up with such poor fare this last few years as they have been the best thing ever to happen to our sport but sadly with corrupt imbiciles in charge nothing worthwhile ever came out of thier 15 year sojourn with EL racing. These morons could not even attract a sponsor for the league Now if SKY have any sense they will dump the toxic involvement with the BSPA and be well rid of such idiots. Of course it would be nice if UK speedway was on a major TV channel but such things are a two way affair and the BSPA have proved them selves lamentable when it comes to showcasing thier product. Now it's too late and this selfish bunch of backstabbing fools are left with empty run down stadiums and a fanbase that expects something more for thier hard earned pounds than the BSPA are capable of giving. All this nonsense of trying to blame fans for not turning out misses the unequivocally obvious. The sport is clapped out and clueless and an anachronism stuck in an era that it's audience no longer live in. This forum provides the answers as many people here have put forward many an erudite solution to whats wrong with the sport. But all these clueless fools do is portray thier customers as an enemy and ignore them or abuse them. 2014 will be a pivotal year for the sport. Speedway needs every friend it can get if it is to survive. It is blatantly obvious that 'doing nothing' is not an answer. Tinkering with the odd rule won't save the sport. It needs investment in the new generation of rider and supporter. Thier lackadaisical attitude to promotion and presentaton has to change. People expect more when they are asked to pay more. The lazy promoters need to start promoting thier product not just to a new audience but the old one as well. The new National Stadium will not save speedway if there is nobody to fill it. Can it rise from the ashes of indifference? Maybe if it acts now and starts to show it has a plan and some solutions to the problems. But unfortunately we are talking about the BSPA and that really does not fill me with confidence that the sport will survive much longer in the UK. And considering speedway was such a big part of my life I find that incredibly sad

I would never dream of saying to Nige's face that I think he does an excellent job and I really enjoy him and Kel's commentary so maybe I should stop saying that here. And I wash every day

The Swedish 2nd tier does this on a subscription basis and used to show these matches free on the internet. If it was done well and not too expensive it may appeal to some. Perhaps some sponsors and advertisers could become involved to offset cost especially if they offered sponsor/advertisers some decent coverage at the startline, bends etc and during the meeting with perhaps between racing advertising. For me the first hurdle is the nature of the people who would have to make the effort to do such a thing. Could a shallow bunch of blinkered, self centred, spiteful individuals work together to make something like this a reality? I won't hold my breath but echo the kudos to Mr Shovlar for some food for thought on an intelligent thread.

The Play off system is a great idea which is why other sports use them. Whatever the sport does next year will involve Play offs. They are a success so why dump them. The sport has a hell of a lot wrong with it and this season has been one to forget for many reasons. We will see next March how many teams have survived the winter and will see what brilliant strategy the BSPA have come up with to ensure the sport flourishes I for one won't hold my breath. As to Kel and Nig I am a supporter of them. I like them. But sadly like the Poole v Everyone else saga the haters won't stop hating. Well they should celebrate as apart from SGP and SWC they won't have to listen to either of them next year

I am a big Emil fan and wanted him to win this year. But the pressure got to him and Tai overhauled his lead. Tai is a thouroughly deserved world champion and did it the hard way. Emil may well end up as one of those greats who never win a world title. I do hope that is not the case as he is such a great rider. But to belittle Tai's world championship win is a bit silly. The guy won it fair and square and probably would have done it whoever was there. He had his share of injuries and who is to say he would have not scored more points if fit. For me the world champion deserves to be world champion by virtue of beating those he has to beat. Injuries have always played a part in this sport and always will. Sometimes those deserving of something become injured and fail to get it. Welcome to Speedway And as far as one off finals go. No is my answer. Under the old system we would likely never get a Brit champion. The GP system seperates the men from the boys in a way the one off system never could. Babbling on about qualifiers and some mythical fairness the old system had is pointless. The GP system ensures the best are fighting it out in a way qualifiers never could. I was at Wembley when Penhall won. Great crowd and great atmosphere but OK racing and the field was not the best 16 riders by any means. Forget Wembley and what once was. That crowd no longer exists here and they struggle to get 40000 in Cardiff. History is great and speedway has a great history but living in the past should be left to Jethro Tull.

I would have thought sponsorship would have a little to do with it. Watch an EL match on TV and compare it with a Polish and Swedish and even a Danish TV meeting with regards sponsorships on display.

The Green helmet was a perfect example of the sport moving with the times. As it was done specifically to suit TV. Other than that the sport is still stuck in the flat cap and whippet era. I am an old man. I don't go mainly because my team no longer exists. Other reasons as well but I love the sport of speedway and watch it online as often as I can. To dismiss a demographic because they are 'old' as our friend from Newcastle does shows what tiny minds some in speedway have. I can recall the good old days of Newcastle Speedway and have seen Brough Park full on several occasions but don't live in that era. People here who no longer attend meetings do so for many reasons but that does not mean they cannot contribute. To say different smacks of some kind of elitist nonsense. I have never been into space but can involve myself in a discussion about the Mars Rover if I want to. The sport in Britain is dying on it's feet and needs every friend it can find even those who no longer attend meetings.