old bob at herne bay

Whats the need for change - its been a highly succesful season, the p.offs got record crowds , and after the challenges of operating with limited crowds due to COVID restrictions, every club has enjoyed a wonderful season. ...... In the fantastic Championship League ......sadly Eastbourne closed, Birmingham suffered financial problems, Newcastle are looking for new owners, Poole are in discussions over the continued use of their stadium, but other than that it has been a wonderful season with entertainment from the top drawer. The stand out "Premiership" tier has once again delivered first class entertainment, and goes from strength to strength, with the BSPL once again struggling to decide who to admit to this "elite" division of racing. This season we had 6 clubs fighting tooth and nail for the coveted 4 play off spots. The qualifiers for the 4 spots were in doubt until early May and this made for some top quality racing of the highest standard that England can offer. Of particular note in 2021 has been the huge success of the rising star programme which has developed so many new potential world champions for English speedway. None of the rising stars were known in the sport at the beginning of the season, and all are truly the product of the rising star programme. Next season will see twice as many rising stars in teams , and England will once again have top calibre riders to challenge the worlds top Speedway Grand Prix stars.

Oh dear, and there was me thinking that the BSPL could agree together on a set of p. off dates for both of "their" leaguesto maximise attendances at all tracks, in the interests of the sport. I should know better . I am a silly old sod :-(

Got to admire your optimism…. For a speedway club that the present owner wants to sell ! Who knows whether Kings Lynn Speedway will even exist in 2022, Buster could fill his stadium with loads more stock car fixtures and no doubt make far more money than piddling around with the BSPL rules and running a speedway team

All rather depends on the weather in early winter... good chance of dates being re arranged. Not sure why 2021 PL play off matches HAVE to be on a Monday or Thursday........

Scunny nearly got away with that … gusts and R/R strengthening their team considerably. Nicol got found out, jumped every start - and could have been excluded in anyone of his rides. For Kent ….. Heeps either cannot ride his home track or he is still troubled by injury, Morley needs a decent mechanic to look after his machinery which is a heap of junk IMO.

Think the tirle "premiership" is a misnomer seeing as so many teams top riders are the same in both leagues!! Makes me wonder why a rider can justorfy being paid more in the "premiership2 than in the Championship. The heat leaders in particular race againsteh same riders in both leagues. What other reason is the "premiership" a more expensve league to operate in ? Or are we all be taken for mugs (again) Wonder what the post covid plan of the BSPL looks like for 2022 ? More rising stars ? lower team CMA's ?

Thought that was the norm now in 21st UK league speedway .... that and regular delays and oh tractor racing. Usually get one good "race" and that's "worth the admission money alone" That's why I rarely go to meetings nowadays.

"Oxford Robins " has a certain tweet to it ..... why bother with Blunsdon Building Site ?

Dont for one second think that promoters are remotely interested in their supporters' views. I have written / emailed to promoters several times, and only once had a reply (from Ronnie Greene at Wimbledon) All this talk of so and so being very approachable and willing to listen etc. etc. load of old tosh . It's their train set and they will do what they like with it. If you dont like it ...... tough. Its their money and they will do what they like .... except when the wheels come off and its the supporters fault for not turning up. All this talk of promoting the sport .... maybe a good start would be to look at the standard of presentation at the actual stadia. For example ... how many fans did Eastbourne lose after subjecting them to a broken starting gate, and then a fence demolition by the tractor ? how many fans did Poole lose after watching an exhibition of track repairs during the meeting? ditto Kent last week (dust bowl) ditto Birmingham first meeting of season (abandoned) and again a few weeks ago dust bowl. The pre meeting parades at tracks also leave a lot to be desired and are very variable. Most riders seem totally uninterested in seeing the crowd, and would rather not bother, the PA systems at some tracks are inaudible and you have no idea who's riding from the "on track " announcer. Som eride around huddled on the back of a tractor, some on thier bikes on the "outfield" so you can actually see them. I would find it very hard to successfully market a product that regularly failed to deliver so spectacularly, and takes place on random days spaced randomly throughout a season.

Looks like Oxford will replace Swindon in 2022 ?

Very sad news about Roy Prodger. He seemed to be Bob Dugard’s right hand man for track prep back in the day, and a very good job he did too. Thoughts with Roy’s family and friends. RIP Roy.

Nice thought Marko… but who would fund the Thurrock Hammers promotion to restart speedway at EB? new air fence ( estimated £20k or more ) BSPL bond to be lodged BSPL membership “fees “ 2 promoters licence holders required

Certain that Pooole will get a walkover vs Eastbourne. Who knows whether the competition will be completed ? Will be a distraction from the p offs. Anyone bovvered ?

Keep on digging Danny - you will get to the bottom of the hole by Friday. How about some traffic cones around the hole ? .

Last week a dust bowl….this week over 2 hours to run 10 heats….. next we will be hearing how crowds have dropped….. promoters need to take a long hard look at themselves before blaming people for not turning up to watch.

I don't think so hammer 1969 ... we would like some teams to remain in business ! On totally surprising fact that emerged from the Q and A was that neither speedway nor stocks could have taken place in 2020 due the the condition of the stadium ( electrics) ! One wonders why there was any money spent at all by the promotion in 2020 promoting a club that basically had no track to race on ?

Surely any revival ( if the stadium remains) will be either an NDL level club with the BSPL or a shale track racing club with the NORA. Either way unlikely Tim Brennan would feature - and let’s be realistic - would Tim be riding in the UK CL next season or in Poland/Sweden ?

This coming Bank Holiday Monday afternoon the Kings take on the Brummies at Central Park. A return of Scott's Peterboro clubmate Chris Harris and also a return for former Kings favourite James Shane's riding against his former club. Chris Harris deemed to be in the twilight of his racing career (like Scott !) is in the form of his life and along with Eric Riss will both pose a threat. At reserve they have Paco Castagna the son of former rider and current FIM Director of the Track Racing Commission Armando. They also have Valentin Grobauer who has started to find his feet in British Speedway. Kent will need to be on their guard on Monday afternoon but I feel quietly confident Kings can pick up three points to boost thier chances of grabbing the 6th play off place . On another note I hope Len Silver gets the track sorted out after the debacle of the dust kicked up during last week. The track needs to be back to how it was at the start of the current season.

M.D. That’s a fair summary IMO. Certainly a good deal of gambling on crowd growth in the business plan. The complete loss of the 2020 season must have been a major set back, with a good deal of marketing effort completely wasted.

Can it get ANY worse ? Yes on closer inspection spedeworth fixtures are all provisional.

Jake has had a number of clashes with his grass and longtrack commitments...... but is very much part of the Royals team who have all their remaining fixtures in Sept/Oct. This can only be a move with 2022 in mind ... assuming the CL still exists .....surely Kent have only a very slim chance of p offs?

Hope you have now got over your "loss of 3 points " after EB results were expunged

Edinburgh with R/R and a pointless gust at number 6 were always going to struggle. Poole full took full advantage of beating the team put out to race against. Even Kent managed a draw last week so Edinburgh clearly not in the greatest of home form. Poole should run through card now and take their chances in the p. offs. Maybe their Car park attendant will get to grips with track preparation for the p.offs or else the TV cameras will struggle to see what is going on

Needs an experienced man to fit in with top of the table club. Ed Kennett ?

The life of an airfence must also be related to the number of times it is "hit " by an opposition rider being shoved into the fence on bends 1 and 2 ? (and occasionally on bends 3 and 4 too)