brianbuck

Brummies were second best all night and this was the poorest display I have seen from the team (with the 3 obvious exceptions of course) for a very long time. Well done Kent on a thoroughly convincing win, and good luck in the play-off's.

Richard Hall was the obvious first choice when we needed a replacement for Darryl Richings but the reason we were unable to sign him was because he had just signed for Peterborough which made him ineligible to ride in the National League. The rules were not changed for Cradley, and they have done well to get him to join them - especially now that his assessed average has been reduced to 6.00.

As we are being repeatedly told that there are numerous foreign riders who say that they would be willing to ride in this country "if there were fewer fixtures" might it be possible to compile a list of these who could then be used as an when required instead of guests? Do I think this is possible? No I don't for these would-be part-timers want to come here and ride as and when THEY please not when British clubs want to utilise them!

This doubling-up farce will be the final ruination of speedway and it is clear from reading the posts in this thread that a big majority of supporters intensely dislike it and want rid of it. (This is not going to be easy to do now that the system has careered out of control.) By introducing this nonsense, the promoters themselves have created the rider shortage which they are now complaining about. The number of available Premiership team places has been reduced by 30+ with this number of Championship riders also riding for teams in the top league. The knock-on effect is the same in the Championship - 30+ riders who by rights should be exclusively in the top division now also occupy places in the second tier as well. In the National League, there is the added knock-on effect of numerous riders being prevented from moving up a division even though they have developed enough to to do so. By these riders staying in the National League the situation has been created whereby numerous teams are so top-heavy that the quality of the racing is suffering - we see every week, a string of races in which the two leading riders are half a lap ahead of the remaining two. Speedway is nothing if it has no genuine quality of racing - and that is something which is being lost in the National League because the teams are so badly balanced. Doubling-up has done nothing for British Speedway (except for making it a laughing stock). I have been an avid supporter of the sport for 64 years. I love it, and would never ever desert it - but I can fully understand why so many other long standing supporters are turning their backs on it - it's because of the senseless rules it has introduced and the appallingly poor way the sport is controlled. Getting rid of doubling-up is now going to be a difficult process, but a start can be made by taking control of it and capping the number of riders who are allowed to take advantage of it, and then gradually reducing the reliance on it until in time, it can be scrapped altogether. Sadly, there seems little prospect of this happening - instead, it has been allowed to spiral out of control and the promoters seem powerless to do anything about it.

Yet another example of the farce that speedway has become with the news that Richard Hall will guest for the Brummies in tomorrow night's match against Mildenhall, and by so doing will potentially help Birmingham towards securing a play-off place whilst at the same time damaging his own club's prospects of doing likewise! I don't blame Graham Drury for picking the best option available to him, and I don't blame Richard Hall for taking the booking, but surely there should be just one person amongst the BSPA committee who would like at this arrangement and be prepared to say "this is a nonsensical situation which no serious sport could be expected to tolerate, so we must do something urgently to put a stop to this kind of thing?" (That will be the day!!!) Would we really want the national press and/or the main television channels to broadcast this kind of crazy happening? No wonder the outside world laughs at speedway with its stupid rules.

As both teams are using rider-replacement for riders on a fairly similar average, why could they not agree to each promote a second-halfer rather than submit supporters to the inevitable delays which occur when rider-replacement is used by both sides?

In fairness, we have to accept that it will be a massive task to get speedway back on an even keel again, but the high hopes that Mr Chapman would set the ball rolling do not seem to have materialised and this season, the sport seems to have become a bigger shambles than ever. Very few people would disagree that there is an urgent need to drastically reduce the use of guest riders and to totally dispense with the farce of allowing riders to ride for more than one team, but this cannot be achieved overnight and will have to be done in stages if it is ever to be. We could start by finding out which Premiership riders are prepared to fully commit to their British clubs and then tell those who are not, that there are no places for them - perhaps some of them could go on a list for use instead of guests when the need arises? (ie British clubs should "use" them at our convenience instead of it being the other way round!) Yes, it would lower overall standards but equality of teams is the key to good racing, and the so-called "big stars" don't always produce this. No rider should be allowed to ride for two teams. They should make up their minds which league they want to race in, and be compelled to stick to that decision. Again, the overall standard will be lowered, but so what? We would all have our "own" teams to follow without the need for wholesale changes everywhere at the start of every season. Pay rates need to be sustained at a level all tracks can afford - each league is only as strong as its weakest member so the less financially off clubs shouldn't be forced to pay rates that they can't afford. Each club should have a minimum of three non-team members who should be given at least one ride at his local track after every meeting - and they shouldn't be the same three riders "shared" by different tracks. They should be given some kind of Junior Contract which guarantees them this second half ride for a season, after which they should be free to go elsewhere if they so desire. The two reserve positions at each club should be interchangeable with the three juniors, giving any rider who loses his team place through loss of form, a fair opportunity to win it back through his performances in the second half races. Inevitably, some clubs will become stronger than others through either the enterprise of their promoters or sheer good fortune, and the relative strengths of the teams in each league should be re-assessed periodically (NOT every season). The points limit was a good idea in principle but has been shown over the years to be flawed and needs to be replaced by a detailed grading system independently administered. It would be unrealistic to expect promoters to have no say in the way speedway is administered. It is their money, and their business and it's wholly understandable that they are reluctant to allow outsiders to make decisions which might adversely affect their business. This was always a powerful criticism of the Speedway Control Board which used to run the sport in the old days, and was a major reason why the BSPA originally came into being. It's easy to blame the BSPA for everything as so many people do, and this is frequently done in an unfair and unreasonable way. I do believe that the BSPA do their best for speedway, but I also agree that there is an urgent need to look for a better and more acceptable way of running the sport - but one thing is certain - speedway needs to get back to basics, re-start from the bottom and gradually rebuild. To try to compete with Poland or Sweden is a non-starter and shouldn't be contemplated.

I have never quite fathomed out why the name "National Trophy" is not used instead of "KO Cup." You could hardly have a less inspiring name for a major competition than KO Cup. The current National Trophy is just a fixture filler. My team (Birmingham) won it last season, but there was very little enthusiasm generated from winning since only half of the clubs in the league decided to enter. Supporters have shown clearly that they are not particularly interested in other than league matches (or genuine cupties) so clearly the name "National Trophy" was dreamed up to try to give an impression that this is a major event, but I do agree that to use this title is insulting to the great competition that this used to be.

Congratulations to Plymouth on a well earned and well deserved victory. Good luck to the Devils in the semi-finals - I hope you can go on and win the cup now. A real pleasure to see Adam Roynon riding so well and so much enjoying his racing. Aside from the terrible luck he has had with all those injuries, Adam has been treated shamefully by several clubs, but there is no bitterness from him at all towards any of them. One of the most decent lads in speedway - if anyone deserves a good run it is Adam. There are no objections from me about his riding in the National League and I'd be surprised if anyone else has.

Don't suppose many people will remember Frank Bellfield who was the announcer at Birmingham from 1946 until 1957. Frank was a similar kind of announcer to Allen Walker, the Coventry announcer during the same era. Both of them were crystal clear, very well informed and enjoyed a good rapport with the crowd as well as knowing when to shut up!

I wasn't aware of that until someone else picked me up on it - I giot it wrong, so my apologies to Rob Godfrey for the implied slur.

Just wondering why the same 14-day ban has not been applied to Josh Auty who similarly "stepped down" (withheld his services as they call it!) and missed one of Scunthorpe's matches before changing his mind. Shouldn't think that the fact that the Scunthorpe promoter is vice-chairman of the BSPA has anything to do with it? Please no one read this as a criticism of Josh Auty who is a genuine racer and one of the nicest blokes in speedway - I'm just highlighting the inconsistencies of the rules that's all.

Isn't it astonishing that the BSPA now allow riders to opt out of riding in away matches as and when they please on the excuse of "work commitments" yet when a 16 year old lad is honest enough to admit that stepping up a league has been a bit too much too soon for him, he faces the prospect of a 28 day ban? Where is the common sense of it?

Don't think it is a matter of what they say or what they should be allowed to say - as far as I am concerned, centre green presenters become an embarrassment and an irritation when they seek to take over the meeting and consider themselves the star of the show and think that they have to keep shouting - often the same old slogans that they have been offering for years. I particularly dislike the practice of them chiming in whilst a race is in progress. The crowd can't hear what they are saying anyway, so what is the point of this? A good, well informed announcer/presenter (do we really need both of them?) can enhance a meeting. The shouty-shouty types who go on and on all evening and say nothing, just ruin them.

Don't believe there is a friendlier or more pleasant rider to speak to than Danyon Hume who is always more than happy to chat with supporters.

Damn. The weather wins yet again. Tonight's match has been called off and re-arranged for next Wednesday 24th.

ITS about time that certain rules were brought in to prevent promoters treating riders like rubbish.When they sign a rider it should be a binding contract for say minimum three months.These lads spend thousand of pounds and a lot of time and effort just to get on track.If they are released before then they should get a payment settlement for breach of contract. I know promoters are strapped for cash but it would stop them just dropping rider so easily.Riders have family's and mortgage's,We will never get a good England team whilst we allow British riders to be replaced by more foreign rider at the drop of a hat. I know people will rubbish this post ,but i can see the affect it as on riders and family who rely on them to earn a living,its the same with the doubling up riders ,some ride in other country's and double up in this country at the expense of some rider only having one team in this country. I think we need to change rules like the Poles only allow any riders only three teams world wide. Lets see what comments this brings agree or not agree. I couldn't agree more with this post. Doubling up is a monster out of control and has done nothing for speedway except create the rider shortage that promoters are griping about. We should be working towards scrapping it - not extending it.

I can't see that a rider's age has any particular relevance. If it were Tony Atkin missing meetings then Stoke would similarly disadvantaged. What if a leading rider decided that he wouldn't bother travelling for away matches? As this rule stands, he could do this - and his club would have the benefit of a guest or r/r. I know this is an extreme example, and the liklihood that the authorities would step in and put a stop to it, but I can't accept that it is a good rule if it gives a promoter the opportunity to say to one of his riders "look Joe, you never do much at Mildenbourne, so duck out of our match there and we'll use a guest/r/r in your place." "We can always put your absence down as work commitments." I can appreciate that a case can be made for individual circumstances, but a blank cheque for "work commitments" shouldn't be acceptable. Perhaps I'm a lone voice on this, and I wouldn't fall out with anyone over it, but like most people, I want speedway to have a straightforward and sensible book of regulations and I don't think this is one of these.

I wasn't suggesting that someone like Jordan Jenkins shouldn't be allowed to ride - just saying that if a club is prepared to include a rider in their declared team knowing that he is going to miss meetings, then they shouldn't be allowed to use a guest or rider-replacement in his absence - they should have to use their number 8. I'm not excluding Birmingham from criticism either - it was Kyle Roberts missing the Plymouth meeting which prompted me to write on this subject. It is morally wrong for Birmingham to have used rider-replacement in this instance. I'm not blaming the riders either - the rule shouldn't have been introduced at all - like I said, a child of 5 could have seen that it was going to be abused. It isn't on the books yet for the top two leagues - but how long before it gets there? There are already too many rules that are open to abuse and I don't think we nee any more of them.

I was aware of that and appreciate that this is wholly understandable. There are always exceptional circumstances, but I'm just saying that if a rider is missing when he just doesn't fancy a particular track or an inconvenient journey, then his club shouldn't be allowed to benefit from it.

Always a good listen with some interesting comment. These lads aren't professionals, but they are keen amateurs and they love their speedway. To anyone who hasn't listened-in yet, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

Can't quite see what you are getting at with this reply. The "please yourself when you ride" rule seems to have been abused/used by more of the established National League riders than by Junior riders. Tom Perry, Georgie Wood, Jake Knight, Richard Andrews, Jack Kingston are a few examples. I can appreciate the difficulties that individual riders might sometimes have with their daytime jobs, but I'm just suggesting that clubs who are prepared to put up with this shouldn't be allowed to use guests or rider-replacement - they should have to promote a number 8.

As a Birmingham supporter I wouldn't dispute the fact that it is highly probable that this was a "tactical" move. Why Oh why do the promoters not think things through before they introduce these kind of rules? A child of 5 could have worked it out that allowing riders to just opt out of riding in inconvenient fixtures would be abused left right and centre.

The vagaries of speedway's rules make JPB our fourth averaged rider tonight. Had the meeting been on Monday, he would have been number one and could have been replaced by any guest of our choice since from Monday he will be the highest averaged rider in the National League.. Don't think I am moaning about this though. Just pointing out the irony. There has to be a cut off date and it's just our bad luck that in this instance it is two days too late for us. Good luck to the team tonight - and best wishes to Jack for a quick recovery.

As good a debut performance as I have seen anywhere. Seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and clearly developed a great rapport with both the crowd and with the rest of the team. This meeting was never going to be a classic and it wasn't. I agree with R+Y that Roberts and Leek both worked hard for little reward and that their efforts were appreciated by the crowd. By the way, Tom Bacon still swears that he saw a red light as he was coming away from the tapes in heat one and believed that the race had been stopped - which was why he shut off.