Mr Snackette

I think Eklof is already earmarked for the Bandits, but notwithstanding this as he is riding for Ikaros Smederna in the Allsvenskan League, would make him a bit of a non starter.

Dangerous game or not, In life there are things that are far more important, and certainly far more important than something so inconsequential as speedway. If it means that we end up with a team not as strong as it might have been, then so be it. Most genuine fans will understand and be supportive.

On the surface an Aussie with a Polish surname would appear to be a perfect fit!!!! The problem is that last season he was down as one of Swindon's double uppers. So I reckon it will depend on what Swindon's plans are in this respect. In addition, he is rumoured to be lined up for a Polski Liga 1 team, which may be one of the reasons that Glasgow may not be using him. Personally, with the various PL tracks running over the weekend, I wouldn't be too keen to sign someone with Polish commitments. More interesting news from Glasgow is their most recent signing: Taken from the Glagow Press Release: "The Promotion are delighted to announce the signing of 18 year old Mason Campton of New South Wales Australia as the third addition to Season 2012 Team. Mason toured Britain in the Summer and Glasgow won the race to secure his signature following interest from three other Premier League Clubs. Mason joins us on an assessed 5.00 point average." Interesting to note that Mason, along with Scunthorpe's Armstrong appear on the BSPA Confirmed Line Up Section with a 5 point assessed average. It is only Tungate that has the asterisk against his name, stating that his average is awaiting confirmation. Now call me paranoid, but.............

Whilst I think you're probably right, it's not impossible. Last season Schramm was one of Swindon's double uppers. However I think this is a little different.......so thanks for 2011 Young Bjerre and best wishes for the future.

The tragic death of Rhys Loram is probably (and rightly) preoccupying all at Foxhall. It's the events of the last few days that really put into perspective how insignificant and trivial these matters (team building) really are.

I'm sure others will correct me, but I feel sure that in the early '90s, Mildenhall were thrown out of the League for proposing to run with a team perceived to be too weak. So presumably there is a precedent.

Well 2012 is PL, and unless the NsEL make some fairly dramatic changes so will 2013. After that who knows?!! With the news that Kings Lynn "Lightning" are due to join the Midland Development League in 2012, it would be great to think that Ipswich might join them. In the past CL has stressed the importance of developing young talent. The venture at Mildenhall goes some way towards achieving this objective, and to join the MDL could provide an important adjunct.

Until the moribund NsEL radically change its set up, I can't see Ipswich making the move. Why on earth would they want to move back to a league where they lose money from a successful competition where they actually make money?

With the official final GSAs now available, I have just totted up the combined average of the suggested "Dream Team". Masters 7.52 Doolan 7.19 Morris 6.94 Poole 6.90 Risager 6.36 Tungate 5.00 / 6.00 Heeps 3.00 Total 42.91 / 43.91. Sadly it doesn't fit regardless whether Tungate comes in at 5.00 or 6.00. As an alternative if Tungate comes in at 5.00, Schramm for Morris would fit. If Tungate is assessed at 6.00, Chris Mills could be accommodated.

BSPA site has been updated with final GSAs. Also in the confirmed line ups section Doolan is shown at 7.19, whilst Heeps is included with a THREE point average. Looks like alls well that ends well!!

Based on 2011 Rules 3.00. As usual, and rather like the Budget, the initial announcement only provides the key points. As another correspondent remarked the devil is in the detail, and this information usually filters through over the course of he next week. I would imagine this is all linked to the GSAs that were issued by the BSPA on the 8th November, but have yet to be published. These by all accounts will be the averages to be used in team building. These required ratification at the AGM, and I would imagine will include the regs relating to riders coming in on an assessed average. Also to be confirmed is the suggestion that the BSPA have scrapped the average reduction for British Riders.

Interesting, but I thought new Aussie riders to the PL were currently on an assessed average of 5 not 3, Reg 17.2.1 refers. Hence when people were including Tungate they applied the five figure. Heeps is ex NL and holds dual nationality. So there would need to be some quite radical rewriting of the Rules & Regs to treat say Tungate and Heeps under the same umbrella. Personally, I tend to treat any posting that starts "Rumour has it that......" with a serious degree of scepticism!!!!

Neither was I. However his name has been bandied about in connection with Ipswich 2012. If you can find a post where I have stated that he plans to sign for Ipswich then I will appologise unreservedly. Of course if you can't, no doubt you will wish to correct your concocted implication

Always a delight to read another of your well constructed, insightful and erudite posts. Remember I did get to DerWet Park, unfortunately the track was not fit for purpose. Let's hope that rumours of The Comets' demise have been grossly exaggerated, and I will have the opportunity to actually see some racing. Mind you I do find it a little sad that you and others would prefer to comment on The Skipper's signing, rather than events at Worky. Interestingly this thread is now on its 26th page, whereas poor Worky can only manage a rather meagre five. Perhaps you find things more interesting in our neck of the woods, rather than the strikingly depressing events in Cumbria. Still if it brings a little joy into your apparent humdrum existence, I along with all other Ipswich fans welcome you with open arms.

Whilst I'm sure Badge is more than capable of answering for herself, when I read her comments I assumed TM referred to Team Manager, this being a quite common abbreviation. Mind you it could have been Tragic Moron!!! I'm sure Badge will enlighten us. After 600 posts one would have thought that by now you would have grasped how to use the quote facility and avoided multiple posting. However on the bright side the full stop at the end of your piece shows that your punctuation is improving, so it's not all gloom and doom!!!!!

How disingenuous of you Badge. Everyone knows that Worky had dreadful injuries last year. Kildemand, poor chap, was so badly injured that he could only muster the odd double figure score in Denmark whilst he was out!!! The legendary Duchess of Sherborne post made interesting reading as to how Worky were given this open ended RR facility. I'm sure the Worky promotion wouldn't have sold their soul so cheaply......but it makes you think!!!! Blimey this is a worry.....I'm agreeing with you again. Indeed I would also agree with an earlier correspondent who reckoned he's been the Witches best skipper since Moggo. Good rider, good skipper, and bl**dy nice bloke!! Ah there we are, I knew it wouldn't last!!!! Whilst I would agree that the above do not come cheap, Ipswich did not have the resources to keep them. Hence for the time in the NsEL we were restricted to using journeyman Poles, whom the Promotion could afford. Mind you given our past record, two out of three ain't bad. Cue Meatloaf!!!!!

In the last few years of the Witches involvement in the NsEL there weren't too many crowds of 1500+, indeed there were occasions when the crowd was a third of that. But let's work on your 1500 figure. Another contributor has already provided a suggested ratio of 63:37 between full price and concessions, and suggested admission of £16:£10. However I would recalculate the figures as follows: 63% of 1500 x £13.33 = £12,596 37% of 1500 x £8.33 = £4,623 Total £17,219. This figure is now net of VAT, at the current rate of 20%. However I do accept that the rate of VAT did vary during this period. So this mythical income, which started at £34,000 is now down to around 50% of that figure. Anyone for any other reductions?

Most people who have been involved with Ipswich Speedway do know exactly what happened to the money. Firstly the amount wasn't anywhere near the figure you quote, and the money received was used to extinguish a debt that threatened the clubs very existence. Those that know me will testify that I have never been an apologist for either JL or CL. Indeed I have, on occassions been one of their fiercest critics. However the one area where I have never criticised them is in connection with their financial prudence. Unlike some of the here today gone tomorrow lunatics that have, and in some cases still do, infest both leagues, the Louis' run it as a business within a budget. Since the sad death of Tim Woodward they have not had the benefit of a benign benefactor. They have to make the business stand on its own feet. My major criticism was that they spent far too long pandering to the cretinous morons who thought the only show in town was the NsEL. It was that obsession that very nearly ended speedway in Ipswich. Fortunately they saw the light, arguably about three years too late, but now they have a vibrant profitable business. Indeed apart from the switch to a league which match their available resources, I don't think one should under estimate the investment in the track itself. It moved Foxhall from being a track which was for the most part cheerless and depressing, often giving rise to monotonous and pedestrian racing, to a proper race track, providing the riders with interesting and stimulating lines which provides a great level of entertainment. So in summary if you think there is some great stash of money being hidden away, I fear your dreaming.....which many may suggest is a common complaint!!!!

It didn't stop Swindon signing up Chris Schramm as double up rider last season. So it's not as unlikely as one might think. However if it is Morris' intention to race in Polska, then I think a signing with a NsEL team is a much better fit. With the number of weekend tracks in the PL, the likelihood of a clash of fixtures will always be a concern.

I have no problem with Frampton, but fear that if included with the other six, it would put us over the 42.5 limit. I have rechecked my figures, and done some recalculations. Originally I relied upon the Witches website for the 2011 figures for Doolan, Poole, and Risager. That now appears to have been a mistake. So the revised figures are as follows: Doolan 7.30 Poole 6.81 Risager 6.60 Tungate 5.00 Heeps 3.00 Morris 7.17 Total 35.88 Available 6.62, and whilst I haven't worked it out, Frampton must have an average over seven. It's also the reason that young Morris isn't the bargain and essential signing everyone thinks. And before I'm jumped upon by those in "The North", I make no assumption other than either Morris or Tungate are nothing more than idle speculation as who MIGHT be in the team. Mind you I could be wrong!!!!

Your point is well made, but only sets out the position as a promoter would see it. This is an internal set of rules that have been adopted by members of a club. When these internal rules impact upon the legal rights of a third party, ie a rider, then this provides the opportunity for action to be taken against these restrictive covenants. In these days I feel sure that Morris and his team will be talking to various promoters about who he will ride for, and the deal he can get. As the Swerderski deal ilustrated, consultation with the Retained List promoter is now of secondry importance. Of course The Jolly Boys' will ensure that an accommodation will be reached to ensure the status quo is not disturbed. I agree 100% with CS' comments that this has been talked about for years and it has never happened. The closest it ever came was the acrimonious and protracted move of Nicholls from Ipswich to Coventry. In that case legal action was literally only a short step away. However whatever one thinks of the BSPA, they have been adept at protecting their own and their members' interests, and successfully brokered an eleventh hour deal, which negated the threat of legal action.

Thank you for adopting my new epithet, it's certainly something I will try and live up to!! I would like to return the compliment and provide you with a sobriquet, and in the light of your remarks, Mr Reactionary would appear rather appropriate. Sadly, as we have previously discovered, you do have a little difficulty understanding the meaning of the word, so to provide you with this nomenclature would be regarded by some as a little unkind. And I think that it is this lack of reading and understanding, which is displayed and is evident in your most recent post. I have checked my postings and I don't think I have said anywhere, or indeed implied, that this or that WILL happen. In my postings i very carefully used the word ENTITLED. For your benefit (as I appreciate that basic comprehension is not your strongest suit) i append a dictionary definition of the word: To give (a person or thing) a title, right, or claim to something; furnish with grounds for laying claim So I do hope that this helps you to now follow the debate with a greater sense of clarity and focus. I have made it clear from the outset that, as both Glasgow and any potential promoter employing Morris are going to be members of The Jolly Boys Club, in all likelihood an accommodation will be reached. However this will be just following convention, will not be legally binding, and as I repeat once again, any promotion that has a rider out of contract is NOT ENTITLED to a bean, regardless whether he gets something or not.

You pays yer money, and you make choice. Mind you I do think the Managing Editor of the Speedway Star would construct his arguments in a slightly more sophisticated manner, than the feral responses of your champion!!!!

At last someone who has taken time to read, digest, and understand the points that are being made. As you rightly say, some contributors are so tribal, which as a result of this inbred bias prevents them from understanding the issues at hand. Others perhaps lack the intellect to fully engage in the nuances of the argument. Of course Heeps could easily sign for Glasgow for the 2013 season, and Ipswich would be entitled to nothing. Unless of course they do, as they did this year, and sign him to a fresh contract.

I fear your comprehension skills do require a little fine tuning!!!! The point I, and others have made, is that the so called asset system has no legal significance. Again if you read my posts again I don't believe that I have ever said that Glasgow will receive zilch. The point I made was that as he is an out of contract rider, Glasgow are ENTITLED TO ZILCH. As I have indicated in previous posts, I feel sure that for which ever promotion young Morris decides to ride for, it is likely that the BSPA will broker an accommodation to prevent the boat being rocked. In addition I have never assumed that young Morris is Ipswich bound, and indeed one of my more recent posts, stressed that with a CMA of 7.19 , and likely Polski commitments, he is perhaps not the best signing for a progressive PL promotion. So may I respectfully suggest that you read the posts a little more carefully, as that may help defuse your fallacious comments.