Islander15

Even if they were ‘told’. Why should the NL suddenly accept being told what the rules were when every other year they’ve had an AGM to discuss it and the higher leagues got that privilege this season too?

Grobauer signs. It looks like a team of second strings plus Bomber so I hope they can at least find a proper second heat leader.

Exactly. £24 is a lot for speedway, let alone middle and bottom tiers. For a couple that’s nearly £50 just in entrance fees before food, petrol etc. The hard core fans won’t be bothered but it will make the take it or leave it fans think twice, or attend less regularly especially when Covid has hit lots of people’s finances.

It’s not my opinion, in fact I think it’s excellent value for money. But it’s been said before by fans of clubs that they’re being forced to pay extra for a meeting they have no interest in.

This is true. Weekends do facilitate an earlier start time in terms of work but what about those people desperate to spend time with their families that they haven’t done for months. The bigger issue though is there will be a section of supporters who are unhappy to pay £3-£4 more for a double header entry when they have no intention to watch the NL meeting.

Will starting at 6:30pm harm your Bandits crowds though? That’s a relatively early start time.

As long as it is genuine improvement and not just the 3.00 riders beating the other 3.00 riders that they beat in the NJL anyway.

Clegg should go through the season pretty much unbeaten home and away! But there’s not even a third heat leader there, let alone a second heat leader. Howeber Embleton and Alcock will probably get dialled in at home pretty quickly to provide some useful back-up and hopefully RTD can too to pack in for the 3-3s behind the league’s numerous big hitters. With the league generally so weak otherwise, I actually think it’s a decent bottom 3. Dugard has been around long enough to hold his own at number 2 and beat the countless newbies. Whilst Freeman looks one of the better 3.00 riders, especially at home. So I think the Gems will do just fine. They might not win by much very often but it looks like a side that should have a useful home record as a minimum.

It would be harsh to drop him at this stage of the year. But he’s the most uninspiring signing, not likely to put much on his average, only in the team due to tragic circumstances and there’s no obvious replacement for Allen. The team didn’t look world beating in the first place and I hope whoever is signed at least makes them competitive at home.

The BSPL said that some Championship meetings will be streamed. So presumably it’s being set up at the stadium for Edinburgh, so may as well be used timely to prevent any risk of a fixture pileup.

Their averages can’t fall as they’re already at the minimum. It depends if the reserve duo increase their averages.

Armadale have confirmed 2 meetings before May 17th. So no fans!

Decent top 3 but an awfully weak bottom 4. I feel for which 2 of the newbies are stuck at number 2 & 4 unable to get a reserve race to score any points.

Another statement from Barry Bishop here after the comments by Jason Pipe in this week’s Speedway Star. ‘Of course it is 100% our business to know why we didn’t take part of the NL in 2021 and leave the BSPL. We know why, that’s why we left. However, I have to say that if I was coordinating anything from a picnic to a trip to Mars and one of the most popular, level headed members of my team/association, who incidentally was a big award winner, including amongst my peers, decided to leave and leave the governing body, I would at the very least want to know exactly why that member had left. Why would I do this...... 1. To find out why they left for example - better pay, better organisation, interpersonal issues, bullying, corruption, job opportunities, lack of progress or personal development - you know this sort of thing. 2. To find out how I can improve my picnics or trips to Mars so that my other valuable members don’t follow suit and leave too. 3. For my own self development and the betterment of whatever I was organising. Where have I gone wrong or how can I improve. But no, back in the real world, not one Director of the BSPL or its “coordinator” gave a hoot if we left or not. You see, not one of them contacted us, spoke to us, emailed us, called us, texted us, watsap’d us, or sent a pigeon. Because they view it as “it was our business to know why we had left”......... NO ITS YOUR BUSINESS TOO..... a question in itself.... Then there is a final question, is the leadership of the National League and BSPL fit for purpose ? Fit to lead the sport out of its current position....? I also note that none of the 8 teams taking part said a word of the 35 point limit, yet unless I have enjoyed very vivid dreams with fellow promoters and people throughout the sport, we know (and NL fans know) this isn’t true - so why keep up the false pretence that this was agreed and not imposed with no other option. Take it or leave it.’

Is Jack Smith contracted to Częstochowa or are any other young Brits?

Add Paul Burnett to that list too. All returned after several years out, on an assessed 3.50 average. So there is a standard here but Blair has previously ridden in the second tier and averaged considerably higher so should make a mockery of a low average, especially not seeing many heat 13s or 15s in this team.

Has anyone seen confirmation of Blair’s average? He joined Scunthorpe in 2011 on 7.20 but only rode 5 meetings. So did he ride enough meetings for a new average (I can’t remember how many meetings you needed for a new average that year but there was a time when it was only 4 meetings) or does he return on an assessed average?

Yep and what will happen to these riders next season if the points limit is still really low?

A very well structured team. 3 proper heat leaders and in Edwards a genuine number 1. A pairing of second strings who know West Row well and should score points at home at least. Then at reserve Hagon should make a very good impact even if Butcher will probably not score very many. If the play-offs existed still then they should make that and hopefully for their home fans they can make a success of the season and be up near the top.

That is exactly why the problem is not just isolated to the NL! There needs to be a proper facilitation of British riders across all leagues that goes much further than the Rising Star programme. All that has done is push out other Brits like Mountain & Sarjeant and give Premiership places to riders not ready yet like Kinsley & arguably Palin. Whereas lowly assessed and unproven foreigners are still prevalent. In years gone by we've seen numerous NL heat leaders struggle to get Championship places or getting dumped at the earliest opportunity. There are persistent riders still about like Greaves and Hume (hopefully the Rising Star programme helps Danyon but what about when he averages 4.5+?) which I have admiration for, but too many others have been lost to the sport.

I personally feel like this is one reason but there are 2 reasons and HT has pointed out the other. They may have achieved in getting more second teams to take part, but at what cost? Pushing out standalone teams, so-called ghost teams and not even ‘clearing’ out all of the career NL riders.

STATEMENT and please read it all from Barry Bishop and Martin Widman, co-owners of Isle of Wight Speedway. In a recent Mildenhall Speedway press release their team manager Malcolm Vasey was quoted extensively and some of his comments could only have referred to our heart-breaking decision to withdraw from the National League and the British Speedway Promoters' Limited following decisions taken about the rules for the 2021 season and beyond. He said: “It would be so easy to say the new scheme of things is unacceptable and close down as others have. The owners of our Club have concluded that is not the way for our Mildenhall Fen Tigers. I back them to the hilt myself and hope that you will do the same. Bring your friends to West Row let’s live the dream together. Other teams have fallen by the wayside and we cannot allow that to happen here at Mildenhall. Tigers roar, please come back in numbers and show us." ********* Martin and I would like to give our fans, sponsors and volunteers the following message to reflect upon at this time. For us it has been ANYTHING but EASY to say the new scheme of doing things in the 2021 National League is unacceptable. It has been ANYTHING but EASY to accept that our governing body, for the first time in its history (certainly in our history running the Warriors) I believe, took a decision that affects an entire league, a decision that was implemented not by the league members voting, but by the will of the few – the four members of the Board of the BSPL. They imposed the rules upon the league without consultation and agreement, without the NL representative (Len Silver) in attendance and an instruction to ‘do it this way or you are not in it’ with no confirmation that this way to implement new rules would not continue into next year and beyond. It would have been ANYTHING but EASY for me to stand in front of you all at each meeting, welcoming you all to something I knew we did not believe in with rules that had been imposed upon us. Indeed, at the 2020 AGM, Martin and I had said we couldn’t stage speedway at a 37 point maximum team average, let alone 35 points and Mr Vasey was one of the loudest opponents to the then attempt to weaken the league. It would have been ANYTHING but EASY to accept this way of working from the governing body with this mantra – ‘Do as we tell you, but do it entirely at your risk and do it for our long-term benefit’. How is it even possible for any business to comply with this and who on earth agrees with it? It would have been ANYTHING but EASY for us to allow riders to race against each other on our track, riders who we would not put out at the same time at our My First Skid training sessions. Yet we have to sell this to you as a sporting occasion, one we want you to tell your friends all about and encourage new supporters to come along and watch it. It would have been ANYTHING but EASY to speak to our sponsors about something imposed upon us that we just don’t believe in. For Martin and I to accept the money of sponsors who believe in us, our ethos, and our vision that is taken away because others cannot get their own ship in order. No, this is not for us. What would have been EASY would have been for the BSPL to engage with us, we needed contact with the Board or NL Co-ordinator and not only the Office Administrator – for this is the ONLY person who has communicated with us since early last year, before the scheduled start of the 2020 season, less an email or two from the NL Coordinator. This was a situation where we had to tell the BSPL if we were in or out before being allowed to attend the meeting, the ONLY zoom call since the 2020 NL AGM, and even then it was only a call to discuss who was in and to talk about the fixtures. Of course, we feel bad about not being able to provide positions for riders who thought they would be riding for us this year, but you can also see the effect it is having on other teams where riders are being ‘sacked’ because their averages don't fit with the new team limits. Good, solid, loyal riders dumped at the drop of a hat. So, Warriors and Wizard fans, we will leave it to you to decide if you think we have let you down, or if you think we have taken the EASY route, because those who know us, will know it has broken our hearts to take this decision. But in our view, it is the right one.

Absolutely not bitter. Just look at my footer and you’ll know I’m hardly against the NL I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy. No disrespect to Wallinger or Newcastle here, as I said it’s the rules and club’s of course should be allowed to make whatever decisions they choose to within those rules.

So they’ve decimated the points limit to get young riders in yet riders like RTD who will be a career NL rider gets signed up. Now the rumour is Wallinger will join him! Either there’s no problem with riders being in the NL long-term and we support all Brits. Or the rules should properly facilitate the upward movement of young British riders when they are ready and deserve to move upwards. Whilst not taking away team places from other Brits and foreign riders being on low averages.

Exactly but they really only think of 1 year at a time despite talk of a 5 year plan.