Big Al

Well they've had a couple of years in which to do some of that. It's not as if this is anything that's come out of the blue. The cynical side of me can't help thinking that (as well as the need to derive additional income) there are motives behind DH's "offer to talk" that are to do with attempts at horse-trading over more immediate issues, where he may be angling for a favour from Coventry in the shorter-term.

Is all of this talk about the EL having fixed race night/s becoming a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, anyway? Time will tell over this winter, but when the daffodils start to bloom next year, how many EL teams will have struggled badly to put together a team worthy of the name "Elite"? The almost inevitable re-aligment/merging of the leagues will follow after the end of the 2016 season during which the EL will become less and less distinguishable from the PL.....so it may as well just get done and over with now....and make this issue about fixed race nights largely redundant.

Friday just seems to turn normally sane drivers into nutters. Two friends of mine have given up driving completely in the past year after separate accidents where they were victims of idiots driving with their brains switched onto something else. I try not to venture anywhere except very necessary local travel on Fridays now.....so that's my recommended plan D !!

Have you tried travelling around the country's motorways and A roads on Friday afternoons and early evenings recently??

And definitely not Gary Havelock

It was just an interesting co-incidence, nothing more!

And how very interesting that 8 (teams) x 3 (heatleaders per team) = 24 Rider no.24 is Edward Kennett, with an average just above the mooted 6.50 criteria for counting as heatleaders! However, with rider withdrawals and retirements certain among the 1-24, that group will need to be topped-up by the same number of new arrivals/returners, and/or lowering the heatleader threshold average?

Rubbish. All it needs is somebody to go over to Poland, visit all the speedway clubs, and tell them "now come on you chaps, play cricket and give us Brits a chance to compete properly at speedway. After all, when you need help defending yourselves against the Russkies, you'll need us on your side." Simple

....unless he attempts to justify it by saying that Leicester are being shafted by the rest of the EL and haven't been given a fair chance etc etc (maybe some truth in that actually), and that he's been rebuffed on changes he was wanting.......leaving Leicester with no option but to leave the EL and go back to the PL where there's a more level playing field..... I'm half expecting to read him saying things along those lines. Have another look at the first post on this thread, quoting his programme notes at the end of the season. Could you say that it's preparing the ground for what's to follow??

Racing on a Saturday will always make it difficult to build a competitive EL team, never mind GP riders! And then you have the problem of opposing teams with riders who don't want to be there (and ride like it) or find handy reasons to be absent. But maybe the Leicester promotion is happy to run with those factors, in the belief that a substandard product won't significantly affect income, and stuff the possibility of the team having any chance of winning anything. But i think it would take a total blockhead to carry on promoting in the EL under those circumstances as it can't be sustainable in the longer term (and maybe even in the short term!).

Anyone with the skill, nerve and judgement to regularly win races from the back at Leicester must be respected. His development as a rider in the past two years could be partly down to this factor,he just needs to develop his judgements and decision making in the GP's as he's done at Leicester. The second year in GP's should see that improvement as his familiarity with the tracks improve. I've said something positive about the Leicester track there. Must go have a lie down.

Don't think it's just about keeping Jason Doyle. It's about being able to build and maintain a competitive EL team, and having away teams/riders which are not reluctant to fulfil saturday fixtures.

For most Aussies travelling 200 miles for a home track meeting's no great shakes

That makes a lot of sense. But it sounds as if Dave "Mr Saturday" Hemsley isn't keen to follow that path for Leicester with the EL - even at the expense of losing one of the best riders Leicester has ever had. Maybe Coventry would object, and Peterborough, and that's where the problem lies?

Probably not, unless he has lots of dosh ready to splash. But hang on a minute - wasn't he boasting last year about Leicester being in the "upper quartile" (his very word i think) of UK speedway clubs when it comes to financial health? So where are they now? And was that just based on a delusional valuation of the Company?

I think that any rider, be he "Johnny Foreigner" or "Johnny English", will prioritise Poland and Sweden over the UK if it came down to having to decide. (see Woffinden, T.). And it's probably not "big money" - more like better money? But some are better than others, when it comes to sticking to their UK commitments, and it's usually because they are UK-based, like Iversen. So I don't think you can generalise. And do you consider Australians to be in the "Johnny Foreigner" category?? Most of them are UK-based. And I suppose just due to sheer numbers, it's pretty difficult to not need to employ a fair number of them, in order for teams to track 7 riders! I think that Leicester's predicament (and there were plenty of us predicting it from well before they joined the EL) is similar to the overall predicament of the EL, Saturday race night or not. Leicester's situation is just made a lot worse by it. Mr Hemsley's seemingly delusional output over the past two years about having "big name" riders lined-up has not fooled many, I'm sure. The thing is, does he still harbour such delusions? (and that's just the riders, never mind the track).

Couldnt agree with you more. I felt well ripped-off when i went expecting to see a team performance from BV at Leicester and a close competitive match and wrote to them afterwards because their number one took the p*ss out of the paying public and his team-mates by pratting around and actually caused a hazard to other riders. I think he was given a kick up the backside by BV after that, because he seemed to get his act together for a while. I hope the boot was a big one with a steel toecap because that's what I'd have worn. I'm sure that he is genuinely unfit to ride today and hope he sends some of his earnings from Pardubice to his BV team mates.

Probably a lucrative "fitness test" for him. Was presumably paid more for doing that fitness test than he will/would be if riding at Swindon?? Mom

What about Poole riders with injuries? Janowski and Newman.....both of them were bashed up by accidents last weekend weren't they?

David Hemsley wrote in the Leicester v Poole programme dated 31/8/15: " I suppose at this stage of our season we should be considering where we position the club going forward particularly with an AGM of the BSPA not too far in the future. I feel my aim would be to get the clubs represented on an equal footing and start to bring the sport more aligned to the professional organisations with the sports and leisure industry that I am used to dealing with on a day to day basis. I do think this will be a challenge to avoid the debacles such as the position we had with UKVI last year, and I can see similar issues presenting themselves in future, but with the right personnel steering the British Speedway ship I hope that further rocks can be avoided. Following these key decisions by the members I can then decide how the club should go forward in 2016, and then consider the manner in which we plan the next development of Leicester Speedway." The previous paragraph referred to riders breaking contracts, and something about the club's position on such matters becoming clearer over the coming weeks, and the implications of such actions taken by riders for the sport. Clearly dissatisfaction with the way the sport's run. Is he referring just to the Elite league or the whole set-up? Who are the "right personnel" he refers to? What's the stuff about riders who break contracts? Is Leicester going to take retrospective legal action against them? If the changes he is referring to are not made at the AGM, what's he going to do? Take Leicester back to the PL? Pack the whole thing in? The BSPA making these changes (whilst they may be badly needed) could be about as likely as David Hemsley making major changes to the Leicester track.

Oh go on.....do tell us!!

Just started again after a bit of a break. Cold air as well, so not good for any drying-out even when the rain does stop. I imagine the Poles would really like to just get this over and get out of the UK tomorrow morning (and not come back!).

Reduce the number of teams to 6. No matches to take place on Tuesdays, Saturdays, or Sundays. Ten home matches at home, and ten away. Teams to have only one match (home or away) per week (there will be occasional need for two matches in a week to catch up previously postponed fixtures). No league matches until April. 4 points for a win, 5 for an away win by 6 or more. Bonus point for aggregate match points total from all 4 matches between teams. Second and third placed teams race-off home and away, to qualify for playoff final against the table-topping team. League season to be completed by 30 September. FTR scheme to apply to No.7 position in team only. Minimum of 2 under-26 riders (regardless of nationality) in positions 1-6. Riders 1-6 have averages which determine team position Scrap the 2-year restriction on EL/PL doubling-up (probably illegal anyway). The flaws in the current FTR scheme have been badly exposed this year. There isn't enough depth in the pool when the injuries toll mounts. No disrespect, but you can't go on with the league having to rely on Hall and Wilkinson to make up the numbers. Young Brits will have to earn their place in the 1-6 alongside/in competition with young riders from other countries such as Jorgensen, Busk-Jacobsen etc. Having any team with a Saturday race day, weakens the overall product quality. Leicester really shouldn't have been allowed into the league with a Saturday race night. Keeping the number of teams limited to 6 will help to enforce that requirement. Clubs with easier access to their stadiums could stage 4th-tier events on non-home match weeks.......double-header matches, 4TT's, Individual events.......they can use the opportunity to help produce their own No.7 riders of the future.

Norman Storer........the only rider in the history of speedway to have an ashtray on his handlebars

That team's the one which went through a complete season 1-7 unchanged. I don't think that record will ever be equalled!! Cookie came along quite a few years after that.