szkocjasid

I know it's not the job of Glasgow & Poole to "save" British Speedway, but is their reluctance to step up gonna harm them in the long run? If no-one wants to join the Prem & it collapses. Riders no longer get to double up, said riders now want paid more due to less meetings. Clubs can't afford it, Champ clubs begin to drop off down to NL / Nora. Like I said at the start it's unfair to expect a team to ride at the level they're not comfortable with, but the alternative could be far worse! I mentioned those teams, as they seem the best set to give it a go. Sticking to what's safe (not a criticism as it's their money on the line) won't be an issue in the short term perhaps, but what's the long term future going to be?

Just need to sign a decent 5 pointer with potential to improve, then they won't have lost much on this year's reserve strength. Easier said than done of course.

The only suggestion I would have is clubs "democratically" voting for decisions that would encourage Poole & Glasgow to step up. Allow Wednesday's for Poole, lower the points limit to make it more affordable, lower the points limit in the Champ to put them off, make a ruling that every Champ club has to enter the NL or NT? Would Oxford stick to Prem of they could race on Wednesdays? I know people say Wednesdays wouldn't work because of Denmark, but not every Prem rider races in Denmark, they already play second fiddle to Poland on some Thursdays, besides it's not an ideal situation. It's a case of, would you prefer a 7 team league with guests, or a 5 team league without guests?

I think the complete opposite, to me he's at the stage of his career, when he's got to decide if it's time to leave the Champ behind & just do Prem with Poland (& Sweden)? This year his average would've made him a number one at Berwick, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Scunthorpe & Workington! If he stays in the Champ, I've no doubt he'll average above 9 & be one of the top riders in the league.

I've never really rated Blodorn, feel his progress slowed when he was no longer at reserve. However, I now feel he's good value on his average & is worth a team spot (such is Speedway). Also feel makes sense to bring Zischke back, seems counter productive to keep a struggling reserve all year, unless you expect to benefit the following season? If the rules allowed, I'd bring back both Bewley & Kurtz. Also think Mulford will be one of the better "rising stars" with Flint & Jenkins graduating from the scheme. I'd definitely stick with him.

While I partly agree with you, look at what's happened in the Prem, possibly down to only 5 clubs & that's if Sheffield get a new owner. Truth is the top clubs need to help to weaker clubs to survive, or they'll have no-one to race against. If that means a 1 over 8.00 rule, so be it.

I'm not really sure why knowing the final averages a few weeks earlier we could assist when they have 5 months to pick a team tbh. Just find it strange if they don't include all the matches.

Normally I'd agree with you, but in recent seasons it seems to be the same clubs with string top ends always near the top & the same strength in depth clubs always near the bottom. Could argue it'll make the racing better, with the top riders in the league riding against each other rather than with each other?

1) Top riders will be meeting the same top riders, it's just that they'll be spread out amongst the teams. 2) The following season, could just change the average, so the top 9 riders are spread out evenly. Could be 7.9 or 8.1!

Not really, still stops a club picking 2 or 3 of the top riders in the league & sharing them out. Will this ruling stop the top riders asking for more money than clubs can afford? Once the 8+ riders get signed & spots fill up, the remaining ones will know it's sign for a "leftover" club or miss out, less options than normal.

I don't understand why they'd not count the last 2 fixtures. I'm guessing it's to stop riders trying to drop their averages once the play-offs start? But even if the matches took place before the play-offs, neither club could make the top 4. So what difference would it make if they rode before or after the play-offs? This is just an assumption obviously

Richard Lawson, Chris Harris, Sam Masters, Dan Thompson & Cooper Rushen.

Is there a reason Jake Allen is on people's lists? Didn't have a great season for Scunthorpe, is he a Redcar track specialist? Mind you, riders having a disappointing season & lowering their averages can help them find a team spot, such is Speedway. Kind of the reason I think MPT would be a good signing on a track that suits his style (i.e not Armadale).

Sounds a poor excuse, especially for a professional sportsman. Shouldn't he want to go out to show his appreciation of the fans? Anyway if someone underperforms in a final they still deserve a silver medal.

Not really sure about Douglas as a number one. Rode at 3 all year for Leicester, so avoided the tough heat 13 (obviously rode in heat 15s). His scores at Lynn look pretty decent though, although that was against a team without top end strength. Mind you, it would still give Lynn a stronger number one than their 2025 side, if they can keep the same strength in depth, could work out.

The biggest positive of getting rid of the doubling up / limiting it would be to allow clubs to ride any night of the week. For example Poole would be more likely to step up if they could race Prem on a Wednesday. I don't see a big advantage of trying to limit double uppers if the Prem & Champ race on separate nights.

If there's going to be a lack of meetings in the Prem next season, could this competition make a comeback? Even as a one-off?

looks a very good team

Doesn't matter how a team qualifies, wouldn't have been wrong if Poole won imo. I am however delighted Redcar won. Agree that whoever signs Rushen will be massive favourites for the league in 2026.

Well done Redcar. Who said Bears had thrown the towel in by not having a guest lol!

8+3 scored from r/r!

Home & away twice is 16 meetings. Add in a KOC, play-offs for top 2? Then each team enters the NL/NT.

There's no guarantee a guest would score more than r/r,.so it doesn't mean Redcar have given up on the tie. As King & Edwards can take an extra ride, no point giving a 5 pointer, who may be no better than Mulford a guest booking. Mind you, even with the best guest possible can't see Poole failing to hit 50 points.

Scunthorpe did try some "new" things last season, Declan Kennedy new to British Speedway, Zaine Kennedy & Steve Worrall returning after a long time away, Luke Harrison was only on his 2nd season. So 3 regular returnees isn't a great many. Ironically one of the riders dropped, which many fans were happy to see, MPT - rode really well as an away rider for Edinburgh. On a lower average he'd be a target to improve home form. I wouldn't bring back Simon Lambert, you could tell he was trying, but didn't have the speed anymore. Time to move on.

While Scunthorpe have had a couple of poor seasons, before that they were play-off qualifiers. So it's not like they've always been near the bottom. Scunthorpe did have a big name rider, Ryan Douglas, but when he went up to the Prem found it hard to find a top replacement. Similar to Edinburgh when Pickering stepped up. Poole didn't replace Ben Cook or Tom Brennan with similar standard of riders, maybe because there's not many top heat leaders to go round, luckily for them I don't see Richard Lawson moving up full time. Scunthorpe also had their own, even more successful Cairns in Luke Harrison, unfortunately sounds like he's going to be moving on.