skthecat

I bet on; 1) Sky 2) ITV or perhaps C5 3) BT

And yet tou see so few of them watching speedway at UK tracks, even in densely Polish populated Cities?? Begs the question as to what type of Pole migrates to the UK? And why don't they flock in droves to our tracks, even with Polish riders in the teams.......

Do people on here, not agree the Premier League, although is the 2nd division in the UK, is no longer a training ground (Learning Stepping Stone) for UK based kids.....? For example, a rider from the National League gets signed as a no 6/7, doesn't start to get 6/7/8+ points pretty quick, he's sacked/released..... And they try someone else, because they want to win at all costs, and usually its an out of favour more senior rider from another club... This move in the EL to blood National League riders (top end) and young prem riders (lowr end) will at least override the imminent sackings as they will get a decent run, and be around some of the better riders in the UK, and not so many poorer league riders who's position may be threatened by an up and coming youngster and perhaps less likely to try an bring the younger kid on..... Just a thought/opinion. .......

Disappointment that this has only generated a couple or 3 replies...

Disappointment that this has only generated a couple or 3 replies...

Only a few years ago, you'd have been watching 20,000+ watching Polish League on a regular basis, speedway as we know it in on a worldwide decline, we are just at the sharp end of that unsavoury decline.....

Sorry, I should have put in that post "Worst Case Scenario" if nobody does come in, then to have 4/5 top quality race meets would at least keep the place in mind and prevent some obvious decline in local interest and at least the track would get some attention rather than no speedway activity at all on it.....

Just wondering about Peterborough Speedway, and if it would be possible for any meetings there this coming 2014 season?? For instance, could the prem league 4's still be held there? Perhaps the ELRC and PLRC, or any other individual events........? Is this a possibility? It would have a certain neutrality about it, just not sure on the legalities and how/who could organise the meetings.......?

I don't think it will go to BT, I think Sky will retain it.. perhaps they could add a "pay as you view" element for sky subscribers who have no interest in footy.... like on box office, pricing might be difficult though, to cheap and it would deter the local supporters away from the televised track that evening, especially if the weather is a tad iffy..... but not to expensive either.. so the non fan of the teams on display who don't live nearby can watch.. perhaps £7-£8 or something per meeting? Just wondering.....

Another benefit will be getting rid of the "Professional Reserve" you know the ones, the ones who can turn a match on its head with 7 rides and beating apposing heat leaders all night. That was never the intention of the function of reserves, it was manipulation and not fair most if not all the time, the teams will now be 3 heat leaders (riders expected to win races at home) 2 2nd strings (riders meant to finish 3rd in races at home as an expected minimum requirement) and 2 reserves (who are expected to battle it out for wins in the reserves race, and beat the odd 2nd string at home now and again, and gain experience along the way, not have 7 rides scoring 9/10/11+ points a meeting! !!!!! Can anyone argue the point about the professional reserves of recent seasons (in both EL and PL racing) ????

I totally agree with you conkers, the premier league is not a training aid for the EL its a seperate animal with its own agenda when winning is at stake, sod the nl riders, grab a psuedo reserve or johnny foreigner...

In all fairness, reserves in rhe premier league the last few years, mostly have been riding against the trades description act in as far as unless the reserves have been capable of scoring like a 4th heat leader in disguise, they get sacked quicker than it take to shake shale off a used tear-off!! At least this way, they will be proper reserves, and may get decent runs as apposed to being dumped after 3/4 meetings if they aint scoring 9/10/11 points from 5+ rides!!!!!

If the reserves are to have 2 reserves races, and one more programmed ride, it coud be worked so 6h v 2a and 7h v 4a and reversed for away reserves This would add 2 more races to make it 17 heat meetings, thats simplified, obviously othe riders inthe races, dont see why that cannot work....

Good point, could a prem league rider drop down to NL to get a shot at el reserve birth?

Good point, could a prem league rider drop down to NL to get a shot at el reserve birth?

What if............................. There aren't 20 NL riders wanting this opportunity? What happens then.....?

I just wonder if its a tactic to try and "force" some youg British talent through over a "single mad" season........? Perhaps it might work? Instead of NL riders getting bogged down in premier league teams, season after season, the ones with a bit more ambition, might be able to take the bigger step up. If you go back to the 60's / 70's you didn't have British League reserves getting mega silly points at reserve, you probably now won't see a heat leader out of form deliberatley getting excluded, as there wont be the big reserve there to replace them....

At the end of the day it's down to money. Thats why you don't find any Gareth Bales/David Beckams/Steven Gerards in football league 1/2 and lower, because theres not enough fans for those clubs, compared to Premier League, but the Prem League also has a speedwayesque problem. See above (Gareth Bale) now abroad somewhere, but you find alot of untried Inzzimaye Songo' types playing in the prem and championship.. Small fan base = low income = lower quality players, but not necessarily poor sport, poor sport can be caused by inbalanced teams..

If this points limit is actually going to happen (38) it can only work for one season. The points limit for 2015 would have to rise to 45/46 if you had to then reintroduce the likes of Holder/Ward/Etc, there averages would have to be massaged upwards to align them with the falsely high averages of the 2014 season under challenged, now 9.5/10.00 averaged real world averages of around 6.00/7.00 ers, that hey would only achieve in the 2015 re vitalised/multi country league.... That post got a way from me a bit!!! But I think you may get the gist of it....

Surely, if you ride against riders who do 63 second races, you'll probably only achieve 62.5 second races, whilst on the continent, you'll have riders doing sub 61 second races???? So how does this benefit British riders thinking they are top dogs when in reality they wont be when they finally get to race the real top boys?? God help Team GB and Tai will probably be our last ever World Champion if this total dilution of the british top league goes ahead.... The last one out, turn the floodlights off forever...

It was supposed to be a dig at Team ruddy Hougarrd bloody racing fans and friends. Not yours foamfence! The quote button is playing silly buggars or I'm to old to get it working correctly, sorry!!

I am hearing that someone has stolen the reduced price choccy hob nobs that were given out on the first day of the agm by Matt Ford! However, they were handed out in two's and there was one left over, they voted on what should have been done with it........ and no clear winner came out, so they were placed back in the biccy barrel whilst the meeting recessed overnight. Rjis morning, it was noticed that the biccy barrel had been tampered with during the night and the biscuits gone..... this has thrown the meeting into disarray and....................... Thats what I've heard so far.

Reference riders being injured and picking and choosing their meetings..... You cannot race a speedway bike unless you are attacking the track.. A footballer, after injury can come back on a gentle slope, last 10 mins of a game as a sub, if ok, he does last half hour next game, if still ok he may get a full second half before actually starting a game. This cannot happen to an injured rider coming back, he may choose a lesser league match or take an invite to an individual meeting, but that really is all he can do after an injury so please cut them some slack on that issue. ..

Parking on any speedway centre green/black/brown, whatever the surface will NEVER be used for car parking during a speedway meeting, period!!!! SCB/BSPA/FIM/ACU/RSPCA/GRA/HASAW would just not allow it!! During the day/night I suppose it could work, but even then, what if a couple of residents/TWOC'rs leave/abandon locked cars/vans/buses there and vanish with the vehicles keys?? And rhen its race time??? Utter poppycock!!!!

So, we're talking bikes and track surfaces yes?The modern day laydown does not handle dirt very well, now worse with the tyre compound and new exhausts (so I have been told by someone in the know) So, how do we fix these issues without upsetting local councils (exhaust noise) tyres (not suitable for engine revs) track surface (bikes with the above components cannot handle a lot of dirt) Its a bit chicken/egg or egg/chicken isn't it.......? By the way, could a laydown engine be converted to a 2 valve laydown engine? Can a laydown engine be ran upright? Can a laydown configured diamond be converted to take the laydown in upright config cheaply?