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I am sure had the vote gone the other way , there wouldn't be all the adverse behaviour as we are at the moment., some obviously, there are always some who wont accept. A democracy is where we go with the majority, right or wrong. I don't agree with what you say, the public has the right to vote when it is this important. What they voted for and how they voted was to there choice. Who are you to say they were wrong. There's more to life than making money. If it beneficial for you to more your trade Holland then please do so. What a sad perception you have, saying ' a bunch of middle aged white people' sold you down the swanny. That comment alone speaks volumes of your selfish attitude. Over 17 million people voted to leave the EU, they can't all be wrong... Probably the majority voted against people like you, where the few earnt far more than the masses, probably they were fed up being taking for a ride. probably they voted for a change. We will never know the full details only that they voted with their belief....... For those who cant accept it, then you have a big issue. If you decide to move back into the EU, I wonder how long it will be before you're back.. They say the grass is always greener.....

When we had this referendum vote on EU, most people, if not all, expected the vote was to stay. We were all subjected to weeks of scare mongering, everyone telling us what was right and what was wrong. A democratic vote when everyone has their say. To me this was what it was all about, when we all vote for what we wanted. There was always going to be those who voted against the majority decision, but that what a democratic vote is. You go along and accepting the majority. It appears now, not only on this forum, we have plenty who don't want to accept this vote. Instead of which, are going on and on trying to undermine the voice of the people with their ideas of what they did was wrong. To me, these minority are doing nothing to help the cause, other than wallowing in their own self pity because the vote went against what they believed. Of course it's never going to be rosy from the start, which ever way the vote went. But wouldn't it be better to get on board with the preferred choice rather than whittling on about the lost opinion. Like it or not we are leaving the EU. From someone who is old enough to have experience from both sides of the argument. the future doesn't have to be that good to be better than it has these past few years........ Lets give it a chance.......

I don't advocate all this talk of GH being stripped of his World Title. The rules are very ambiguous and can be interpretated various ways, but the truth being, he accumulated more points than the other riders and so is rightfully acclaimed as 2016 World Champion. However, acting in the self righteous way he did was wrong and should be penalised. To escape with a fine would be wrong. Banning him for the first 2 SGP's next year would be sufficient punishment and also a deterrent to any other riders thinking of doing similar in the future. He more than any other should've know better. He has no defence for the way he let everyone down .......

Whilst I agree with what you say about the format and rules attracting new supporters surely, first and foremost we need to keep the existing fans the sport has managed to retain and that is why they need to be addressed and simplified. If we cant make the rules and format appealing to seasoned fans, we don't stand any chance of retaining new support IF we managed to attract any....... Regards to cost, too much importance has been placed on riders expenses and gate costs have increased to accommodate them in preference to the affordability. The entrance fee should be fixed at an affordable figure (say £10) and all tracks charge the same. If the numbers don't cover the expenses, then Sponsors have to be found to balance the books. Probably this way the Promoters will promote the sport better than it is doing at present.... I am I no doubt the cost keep attendances down. Not many families can finance a trip out like they once could .... N.B. Do hope I have not made too many spelling errors. It seems some people find that more important than the comment itself........

Todays SGP was a terrific meeting spoilt by a few incidents. I don't condone Hancock for slowing down and helping another rider, we see this regularly through the season, but to do it so blatantly was insulting and against the integrity of the sport. Yes, the FIM did right in reprimanding Hancock, but for him to pull out, was an insult to everything that speedway thrives to achieve. People had paid good monies to watch and television broadcasting it over the world, this was a bad move. The crime of helping another rider is hard to police and difficult to prove and for this reason I think a public warning could have servised. Hancock, for his part should have been more professional and thought of others instead of himself. His actions belittled the occasion when it should have been the grand finale of the season. My opinion of Hancock has deteriated in recent times and todays episode only emphasises them thoughts. Hancock has ridden consistently all season and should be rightly acclaimed as the World Champion, but unfortunately today he will be remembered for the ungracious attitude he portrayed when he was taken to task...... Shame that.... Spelling changed

God almighty.... Sometimes you talk utter crap. When the price of crude oil goes up, like it did last week, it effect every country . Not just those who voted on Brexit......

I am in no doubt you will blame every conceivable problem on the Brexit Vote. Why, if the truth be known, you even blamed Brexit for Poole not winning the Elite this year..... Prices for food and fuel fluxuate all the time and now it little different. You sit in your ivory tower and cast opinions that are solely biased. I voted to leave and have no regrets. I voted with my eyes open and a clear mind. and am well aware of the procedure that lays ahead. I wake up each morning and think many things,.......... But not one thought about that referendum vote.......... I'm more than happy..

Just want to say I always try and read your comments. I find your opinions are astute and are always worthy of consideration. Your opinion is not guided by your BV support and its obvious you have deep concerned for the sport.... What a pity there are not more posters like you.........

That's a 64 dollar question, but as the job goes Rory would be an idea candidate. Renowned for his motivational skills, when captain, he stood head and shoulders above everyone else in getting all the team to perform. Probably with a bit of luck against all them injuries, when we were 30 points ahead a few yrs back we could have easily won the league that year. Until that major accident, Rory was making a big difference, just by being there.... His world wide contacts would be a godsend, and could be the difference on getting in new talent who want to improve.... Buster is OK but has too much on his plate to worry about chasing riders for the Stars. he needs to delegate.... Rory would demand respect from the riders, He's ' Been there done that' and would help in all manner of ways. Nobody would argue his ability and experience. No, nobody could guarantee anybody to be a successful Team Manager, but nobody would be better qualified for the job than RORY!!

The consequences of having protected heats, was always going to impale the averages, to a point when they would be deemed useless.. This was pointed out back in Dec 2013, when it was suggested, we have some form of calculation to get the truer figure from the easier heats. But as usual, this suggestion was frowned upon . Welcome to the real world....

I certainly hope not..... That would be the final nail....

For thinking outside of the box, this has to be one of the best options I've read. We need to think along those lines for survival. Our sport is in need of a new direction and this could be the idea needed to move forward. The amount of time we go to a meeting when there is nothing at stake and riders going through the motions destroys any competitive racing, this would add tremendously to teams attitude... We don't have to have SGP riders to get big crowds at meetings. Our sport cant finance them anymore. The sooner we realise that we can move forward... Mike BV : Brilliant idea.......Only hope the BSPA are watching and taking note.....

I feel like you sound. I don't know what to expect from this years AGM, but come to that, I'm not particularly bothered. For many years I've eagerly awaited the news that would be encouraging for the sport to prosper, changes that would be instrumental in bringing the sport back to the mantel it once shared. But now it seems my enthusiasm has reached an all time low and quite frankly have given up all hope of it ever changing. The one big positive that has come this year was the opening of the NSS and the spectacle of fantastic racing was a sight to behold. But the BSPA cant be awarded any praise for that. When we think of the BSPA, we think of uneven teams, bias selection processes, ridiculous riders averages, unrealistic decisions on rider replacements, heat leader lists, bad fixture planning, the list is endless....... We even have to plan the top riders to race each umpteen times just to make up competitive racing. Where once speedway was the be all of everything in my life, now I prefer to go for a walk... ..... At least that way, everything is as it should be without someone trying to pull a fast one...............

Was talking to an old friend last night, who as always sport mad... Having not spoken with him for many years. I asked him, you still going to motor racing, yes he replied. and he said you surely aren't still going to that Speedway lark . I replied I still go..... He continued, Crazy man.... Twice I've been. pay through the nose and then stand and wait about. 1 minute of racing then 10 mins waiting for the next. People filling in programmes as if it was more important than the racing. You must be sad to keep going there. No wonder the place was empty.... He reckoned the admission was dearer than Motor Racing and the racing time was 10 fold better.... I tired to justify my choose, but it was difficult. I had to agree with him.....

It was the will of the people. Those that didn't bother to vote can't be considered. They had the chance like all of us but gave up their opinion when they couldn't be bothered. Although saying that, the turnout was far bigger than the General Election ....

My take on this referendum is that the bigger percentage of people didn't know enough of the important issues to base a solid opinion. This is the reason that Cameron thought we could be easily led, and thought he could push it through without too many problems. Big mistake, as he never afforded us with any sense. Had he done a better job when trying to put our case to the EU power instead of rolling over like a lap dog, then this referendum wouldn't have been necessary. From his high post he used ever conceivable way possible to persuade Joe Public to roll over like him. He spent millions of pounds of tax payers money to projects this ideas, he brought out all the old cronies to help this cause, even the president of the States had his two pennies worth as well. We had every expert in the land telling us what we must do. I have no doubt his tactics persuaded many peoples vote to stay, but he still could win that vote. Imagine what the percentage would be had he let people vote their own opinion. This was a result for the people who wanted change, this was a result against the way this country was being run, this was a result against Cameron for dismissing the public like he did. This was a result of many things.... Did the leave voters know enough to vote sensibly, no probably not, but no less than those who wanted to stay. Was it the right vote:- who knows, only time will tell.. But instead of people on here going on and on about the wrong vote, lets give the leave campaigner's their glory and lets us make a bloody good go at making it a success.

Reading Philip Rising's 'Point of View' in the SS yesterday didn't fill me with a lot optimisium. He was right in what he said about the sport and the dire situation it is in, but the part, when referring to comments from some promoters left a bad taste in one mouth. Thinking the promoters all wanted the sport to change for the better, they would be in aggreence for a new beginning, but apparently not. It seems there is little that they agree on...... They must be blind or stupid not to see the poor state the sport is in. If it were possible to have the minutes of these meeting made public, then the fans would see and proportion blame to some of the ridiculous ideas, instead of hiding behind the door of secrecy.... I thought Buster would be the man to sort the mess out, but reading and listening to stuff I've heard, I have my doubts......

Sorry to mis-lead you, I unfortunately missed out the word 'wife'. Our mortgage was equal to 5wks of the wife's earnings.. We had to live on what remained from both our earnings... But as you can imagine it was real hard times.....

I have to disagree with you and say it is always benefit to get on the property ladder. Probably sight term renting might have a few advantages but in reality buying far outweighs everytime. Today, there are far more places to rent, and that is because the people buying those houses are making a mint out of the people who rent them. I appreciate the costs of buying property has increased to a level when first time buyers are finding it difficult , but as you say it has never been easy. Back in '75 my mortgage was £50 per month, compared to the £15 per month my parents were paying for a 3 bedroomed council house. so you see it was hard but we managed. We used 5 wks wages to finance that bill alone, so in that respect little has changed. Many times you question the sensibility of buying your own house, but in the end it all becomes clear and worth while..... My only regret is that I didn't buy more.....

When Milik rode briefly for Lynn in 2015, it was done as a CMA reducing exercise and bared little or no resemblance to the quality he undoubtedly is. Watching him ride abroad, he is a far better rider than his average portrays and for this reason should he decide to ride here again should be reassessed to the standard he is.... We want to rid our league of ringers for good.... How can we keep riders CMA for yrs when our league format has constantly changed?

Back in the mid 70's when me and my good lady got married, we had no choice to rent. If we wanted somewhere to live we had to buy. Then it was a very volatile period when house prices were gazumping all the time. In 1974 to 76 the houses prices doubled, it was a case buying what you could afford or missing out. There were a lot of disappointed people at that time. The private section offered little compensate with very few rent properties, and the council house list was as long as it is now, buying was the only option. ​Like everybody else, we struggled to pay the high interest rates, and wondered whether we were doing the right thing (so little change from now) to be tied down for 25yrs seemed along time...... 40yrs on we still live in the same house, it had a lot of changes mind. Looking back, it was the best thing we ever done, fair enough we paid through the nose with the high rates but nothing compared to the value our house is worth today. It is very rewarding to know we are safe and secure for our remaining years know we will always have somewhere to live, and have something valuable to leave to our family. So when we talk about the differences between Buying or Renting, the options don't even come close. if you can afford to then its BUY everytime....

I was referring to some of the top EDR's: Ellis; Howarth; Newman; Worrall were regularly seen beating 2nd strings and better and most weeks were very prominent in the points lists. No doubt most clubs would see all of these riders as valuable commodities ..

First of all, a big well done to SCB, he has done a brilliant job in the working of these scores. My gut feeling is that some of the present EDR's are worth far more than the score they have been given, when compared with some of the riders with higher scores. But that just something I picked up on and is no way a complaint of the time SCB has afforded in the creation of.. We need people to input these ideas to enable the sport to move forward... With the exception of a few top riders from the SGP there is little to choose between the two leagues. It is for this reason I query whether the 60% conversion as a realistic figure anymore. This figure has been used for a few years now when the differences was more noticeable than it is now. Probably a figure around 75% would be more realistic..

I think this thread could be a real investigation, into what needs to be done, to bring the averages back to something like believable. Like SCB has pointed out, in their present format the averages are of no importance. One can only assume that when the new heat format is released it will be something similar to what we use to have with all riders competing against each other. If that is not the case we may as well stop now. What would be the point of implement changes to bring these figures back to a realistic point, if the new format doesn't correct the variable difficulty factor . If , as we are lead to believe, this new beginning is forth coming, then yes we are in desperate need of some sort of weighting to bring these averages back to the relevance they once were. Of your suggestions, 1 is a big NO NO. 2 and 3 are possibles and a 5 man independent body also sound good. Whatever way is implemented it has to be better than the figures we have at present.... I am not a lover of the 20 match rolling average, can see many issues when it doesn't work. Back in the 70's the working out was so straight forward and less complicated and was never a problem. Then all riders would start the season with the average they finished the previous year. That figure was used for the first 6 meetings only, when his old average would then be replace with a new current one. That new average would then be continually calculated counting every meeting of that season. The CMA would only stay current for a period of 12 months, then there was a laid down procedure to make a new assessment once that period has elapsed.. Be interesting to read the various views that will come out on this thread....

I was always of the impression that most speedway tracks in Poland were corporately owned. The local council arrange the sponsors for the area and Speedway is just one of the benefits from this. For speedway here to pay the riders the same as Poland we would needs gates similar to premier league football. If my information is correct, we can never compete with the Poles on level terms, so best forget it......