Tom Turner

Poole are always the bookies favorites...

It's Poole's to lose for sure.

Come on guys. It has been a difficult year for many clubs. Can't the anti Poole team take a break and try to enjoy the play offs? Imagine how excited you'll be if we lose There's something in this play off for everyone so sit back and relax.

Greg Hancock is the best example of current day smooth and stylish. Years and years of experience on tracks of all shapes, sizes and conditions has allowed Greg to master his track craft.

I for one am just pleased to see the Pirates go through. They may be controversial but I have loved them since I was I young boy and I think they deserve it.

Speedway riders are renowned for their usage of moisturizer. Riding through wind and shale can be very damaging to a riders skin and if not addressed early could lead to a severe case of dry skin. For that reason riders will often apply moisturizer directly to their face, forehand, hands and forearms prior to each and every race. For this reason riders have skin smoother than most women. In fact I recall a certain Polish rider who would bathe in moisturizer prior to every meeting. As for stylish, speedway riders have an expensive taste in clothing. It is rare that a rider would be seen off the track in anything less than an Armani suit. Often riders are photographed leaving some of the top fashion offices in the world trialing styles from the big names themselves. Hope this clears up your confusion with 'smooth and stylish'.

Brilliant

Why half the crowd? I wouldn't stop going to speedway just because I could watch it online. If it was pay-per-view then I can't see it being a problem.

Internet streaming a whole match is very very easy and low cost. Fans of the club could subscribe (£9.99 - £14.99 a month for example) and catch up with all the home meetings online. This is a brilliant way to reach out to everyone. The young, the old, the disabled and those who just don't have the time to attend speedway weekly.

I wouldn't agree with that. Young people use phones and computers in a different way to the older generation. They play a more significant part of our lives now but they do not come close to replacing real life experiences like watching brilliant speedway. The troubling numbers of young fans can be attributed almost entirely to the promoters. The inaction and lack of unity demonstrated by promoters year after year is the real issue here.

I believe Bjarne Pedersen served 8 years consecutively with the Pirates?

Can anyone point me in the right direction for Polish speedway downloads?

Hi Odsalkid, Welcome to the British Speedway Forum This section is for matters related to Elite League Speedway. Your topic would be more suited to the General Speedway section. There is currently an active debate surrounding Speedway on Sky Sports and you can find it here: http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=74637 I do agree that Polish and Swedish league racing on British television with English commentary would be brilliant! I really only pay Sky Sports for Speedway. I'd happily pay the same amount I do for Sky Sports for a dedicated Speedway channel that covered Speedway GP, British Premier and Elite League matches, and foreign leagues like the Ekstraliga!

Another embarrasment for British speedway. Didn't anyone ever teach Lewis Bridger to pick his battles?

Believe me I have tried. They are far from approachable, especially when you make any suggestion that they don't already know best. Not to cause offense but it is the truth.

What is a good way of getting attention from promoters? Is there any channels for feedback?

So we are actively recruiting now? The only way such a feat would be possible is if British Speedway were to address the most important issue first which is growth. There are a lot of very simple modern day marketing techniques being blatantly missed by promoters in the UK. When these issues are addressed speedway will be able to grow again. Bigger crowds = more money. More money pays for the sponsorship of British riders, assistance with their equipment and tools, and a leg up on the international circuit. Then we will be in a position where British riders will of earned positions on their own merit. By forcing teams to adopt a policy of compulsory British riders you will struggle to fill quotas and see inexperienced riders of a much lesser standard in our leagues. In an ideal world this would be the opportunity they need to succeed with regular racing experience, but in reality the level of racing would decrease and as a result of this crowds across the UK would be reduced and there would be even less money to support British riders who now due to their lack experience riding with the best riders in the world stand little to no chance of developing on to the international circuit.

I am somewhat doubtful that any promoter will take note, but like I have said before (like many fan's I expect) I am more than happy to offer my help free of charge. The sport is in need of an urgent refreshment.

Yes, Premier League is sub standard. If it wasn't then there would be no such thing as an Elite League. This isn't to say that Premier League isn't a wonderful thing for the sport, it's simply that with money being tighter and wages not traveling as far each month consumers have to make a choice whether or not they want to spend their disposable income on speedway. For the fans that do choose to spend their money on speedway they expect a premium product. There is nothing wrong with that consumers expecting more for their money.

Spot on SCB. That is exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. FREE advertising to the thousands! It sounds too good to be true and I think this is one of the many reasons why it is missed by promoters. Services like Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, vines and more are just waiting to be utilized but as of yet I have not seen a single promoter using these tools properly. A score update on twitter is not nearly enough. It is not a difficult or expensive task. It is so so easy to implement but will never happen for as long as promoters continue to resist and reject modern day options, even when presented to them directly. Has anybody heard of Ken Block? He is a rally car driver from the United States. His videos on YouTube have nearly 300 million views. The reason why is simple, his videos are exciting. They are cool, cutting edge, different and overall simply exciting. When you see it you want to share it! (Just take a look at this one for example: ) I know it is a completely different sport, but it is just an example. It makes you want to SHARE. Speedway is cool! I want to share it with everyone but I don't have anything worth sharing. Short videos just SCB said of a wheelie, a crash, a great overtake would suddenly put speedway on my mind, and could easily be the deciding factor for a fan attending on race night. It's not a temporary change. It needs a determined and committed effort. But I and many other tech savvy fans would happily contribute to this effort. The first step needs to be from the promoters. And I would be happy to work with any promoter who wants to make this happen for their club. These changes need to happen now. It will be much harder to take these initiatives when it is too late and the fans have already disappeared.

Is two British riders too many if made compulsory? Yes. Is one British rider too many if made compulsory? Yes. I am not anti-British. In fact I would love to see more British riders in the premier and elite leagues. However, the issue is not with anti-British promoters and the remedy is not forcing promoters to employ British riders. The reason that British riders are not chosen for British sides is because they are not of a high enough standard. Promoters can only make money if their club succeeds and with much better and more exciting riders available on the international scene then it is no surprise that these riders will get priority. These riders are not better simply because they are foreign or have more opportunities available to them but because in many cases they are more dedicated to honing their sport. It seems to me like some British riders just aren't fit, focused and prepared enough to be considered over their foreign rivals. By giving British riders compulsory positions we would be encouraging a culture of under performing rather than aspiring and developing British riders. Our focus should be on a complete modern day overhaul of British speedway. When speedway is given the right insight and direction in a united effort from all promoters then the sport will begin to grow and develop in our country. Only when speedway itself is once again thriving in Britain will the time and money be available to focus our efforts on developing our young British riders by offering the support, funding and guidance required to make the international circuit. Only then will our British riders be in a position to earn there place not only in a British team but on the international circuit as well. And then British riders will be capable of earning their position on merit alone.

No sir, I would not tell you to move with the times, however you are in the age range I had suspected you were. I in fact have utmost respect for you, and thank you and all other long standing fans unreservedly for your loyal support that has driven speedway for many years and has given me the wonderful opportunity to be a part of it all. It is however inevitable that times will change and promoters will need to evolve with the times to allow the sport to develop and grow once more. Some of the changes you have mentioned to bikes, rules and riders may not have been for the best and these issues are just the kind that would need to be addressed in a complete overhaul of modern day speedway but I don't think much if any of this can be directly attributed to Sky Sports but instead promoters making uninformed decisions in an attempt to save a sport that is heading in the wrong direction. Would I be right in saying you don't own or perhaps make use of an internet enabled mobile phone? I have no gripes with that but it is an accurate statistic that 75% of 16 to 34 year old's do use the internet on their mobile. So why is it that the majority of promoters do not have a modern and mobile friendly website or app? Why are millions of potential viewers being completely excluded? It is no surprise that the majority of attending fans are of an older generation. It may not be your way of life, or a way of life that you are familiar with but for millions it is, and it's not going to go away. This is just one example of speedway failing to move fast enough to keep up with modern times. Until promoters harness the immense power of modern day communication methods then numbers will continue to show a sharp decline as there will be a distinct lack of younger generation fans to replace the existing older generations. I have looked at the crowd levels recently, every week in fact, and I believe the lack of forwarding thinking from promoters of an older and more resistive generation is directly responsible for this.

It is not Sky's job to promote speedway. It is the job of the promoters. Sky Sports generates it's income from 2 main sources; subscribers and advertising. Sky spend time and money working out just what their subscribers want to watch and until promoters work together to bring speedway into the modern era then the percentage of subscribers interested in speedway will continue to fall. Sky Sports also makes a lot of it's money through advertising. Advertisers are only interested in gaining as much coverage as possible for their money and won't want to invest their money in advertising on lower volume television slots such as speedway. If the viewers aren't watching it then the advertisers won't pay for it. If the advertisers won't pay for it then you no longer have a show. The responsibility does not lie with Sky but with the dire promotion of British speedway in general. May I ask how old you are if you wouldn't mind telling me? I don't need to know exactly but a rough age range would be most helpful.

There are few people or organizations that bring anything of commercial value to speedway. The support and coverage that Sky offer is unrivaled and does a hell of a lot more good than bad. It really annoys me when people say that is bad, or a bad advert for the sport. Nobody can foresee a result. Nobody could say for sure what way that match would of went. If it could of been foreseen then Sky would of perhaps chosen a different match instead. If Sky can give the sport a bad image just by broadcasting a normal league match that could of gone either way then really it is speedway itself that is doomed to fail and no amount of positive coverage could change that. Have you ever introduced a friend to speedway? If I wanted to bring 4 guys from work to speedway then I'd have to convince them to spend £20 just to get in, not to mention a beer and a burger on top of that. If all 5 of us go then we are looking at £120. For those who have never been to speedway or are already of the opinion that "it's just bike's going round in circles" then that is no easy feat. However, I can spend £20 (the price of my ticket alone) on a crate of beers and enough crisps and burgers for 5 people to relax and watch fantastic coverage of elite league speedway with commentary, multiple camera angles and behind the scenes interviews with the riders and management. Sky Sports is an invaluable tool and is just one of many commercial aspects of speedway that modern day promoters don't respect the value of. Speedway needs a drastic overhaul. It's time promoters stopped resting on their laurels and relying on the older generation of die hard fans to keep them afloat. We NEED to introduce a new era of speedway and come up to date with the times. Modern day technology is advancing at a tremendous rate and speedway is a million miles behind. For example, take a look at the website of recent elite league champions the Poole Pirates (click here). The quality is absolutely disgraceful! The design is terrible and completely out of date, the site is messy and unorganized, the content is boring and dull. It is completely deprived of any interesting and interactive content. This is not a good advert for speedway. Wake up everyone. This is 2013. There are currently 82.7 million mobile phone users in the UK. Currently 60% of these mobile phone users have a phone capable of accessing the internet and by 2017 this will leap to over 80%. 75% of those aged 16 to 34 use the internet on their mobile at least once a day. This is staggering. And yet these opportunities are completely missed by promoters. I have had hundreds of ideas for British speedway. I have ran businesses all my life and I know just how important these things will become to British speedway. The time is now. I have approached every promoter in the UK with presentations on modern day payment solutions and how to utilize the internet and this has fallen on deaf ears with only a few promoters choosing to engage in dialogue. I have been met with great feedback from riders and fans alike, but still no luck. I am confident that the real issues we face are down to the hostility and resistance to change from promoters and fans who do not live in the modern age. I am so confident that I would offer my consultancy services to any promoter free of charge. British speedway is a million miles from the great sport it could easily evolve to become with right insight and direction from younger and market savvy entrepreneurs.

So is the music on your mp3 player It's a bit of weed. Come on guys... You don't. But that doesn't stop people getting completely f**cked, starting fights, causing criminal damage and putting extra strain on the NHS when they need scooping off the floor and their stomach pumped at kicking out time or when their liver fails due to years of alcohol abuse. Anybody who's smoked weed knows the real risks of smoking weed... and that's waking up £20 down because you ordered everything McDonalds had to offer in a munchies frenzy at 1 in the morning! Weed is exactly the same as alcohol except it doesn't turn you violent and it doesn't lower your inhibitions. Wise up.