Teromaafan

Just Googled it. They went into administration yesterday.

Match day bar and drug dealers will no longer be allowed in the pits as of next season. Sorted.

Polish speedway? We’re talking about the UK here. Adopting the Poles approach ain’t the answer if the riders are not out there. The Poles have continually produced riders who improve because they are being attracted in to the sport which appears to be well run over there. Don’t tell me that the meteoric rise of Lambert and Bewley is down to British Speedway nurturing. These are riders are where they are through ability and determination to succeed where ever opportunities arise. The nearest we have to these guys is Tom Brennan (Woffy is on the countdown now). There is a big gap after Tom for the foreseeable.

Just taking stock of this whole RS thing. Trying to promote young British talent is just masking the fact that the sport in this country has failed to attract interest and sponsorship on a national scale for some time. Promoting the sport does not just attract spectators but has a knock affect for potential riders wanting to take up the sport. The RS system and protected heats (in the football world would equate to not allowed to tackle this player….come on!) reflect poorly from the outside for the top tier of this professional sport. The powers that be are kidding nobody. If the No.7s aren’t up to it, they should be competing at a lower level until they are ready (if ever) to compete. I’m all for giving youth a chance in any sport, but it if this RS system continues in this format, a few riders could decide to call it a day if their confidence is continually knocked through performances due to the positions they are put in. If there aren’t enough competitive riders to go round adopt 6 man teams? I took time out from speedway after the Lions demise in the early 80’s but always look back on the young talents of that era who weren’t wrapped in cotton wool and succeeded because of their ability. Michael Lee is the best example I can think of.

If he could bang in a few point’s I’m sure we could all absorb the shock😉

Bargain! Tickets still available range from £160 to £800. Had me running to the hills when I saw that!

Sorry to hijack the pension discussions but this topic is about the cost of attending speedway meetings. For a professional (don’t laugh) sport admission costs are not unreasonable compared with other sports. Should you wish to spend your disposable income on live music as an alternative, you could sacrifice your speedway season ticket and pay to watch a rock or pop band perform a one off gig at a stadium for a couple of hours. Life is expensive in case some people aren’t aware.

Would love Sedge back. His average with Brum was 4.79. If he could ride at 6 it would be great, but that would have a knock on affect on the middle order if the plans are to bring in an 8+ rider. If the new points limit is 39, the Lions would have to lose just over 3 points (excluding British reductions for team building) from this years team.

Quite right, sorry, was thinking of Joe!

Wouldn’t rule it out. If Hagon struggles to beat the opposing RS at home, he just might get another chance.

Thanks RTB! I guess the Lions will have Hagon again. The kid is out of his depth at this level and if he is retained it can only be because of connnections, as I cannot believe that Dickson would want him if he had a say.

Will that just be a list or confirm who they will be riding for?

There is a lot of talk about admission prices and the correlation with attendance figures. If prices were a couple of quid lower, would a few more of hundred spectators show up? Trying to apply simple business economics in this sport in its current state is pointless. If prices went up or down by around £3 to £5 next season I do not think it would make much difference to attendances, due to the fans age demograph. The sport relies on die hards in the 60 plus age group who will always moan about prices but will still pay to watch the sport because ‘we always have done’. Being brutally honest, even when some clubs have offered serious discounts on certain meetings, the number of additional attendees is usually underwhelming. Getting people through the turnstile is one thing, but then delivering a product to want the casual supporter to return is another. Club’s are not naive enough to think that there are queues of people waiting for admission price tweaks to visit their tracks. Fact of the matter is, the people that could make an impact financially aren’t aware of the sport and worse still, are not aware of a track that might be local to them. Promotion of the sport in the UK on the whole sums up all of the above.

The way things are going, every team in the Premiership could be represented in a single tournament!

Despite the dire situation the sport is in, I cannot believe that a club would hesitate to approach a rider in case it made another team weaker.

Belle Vue, Ipswich and Sheffield will all have riders at No.5 who are better than Masters and Douglas. They both might have to be sacrificed if a they can bring in a suitable 8+ rider to support Fricke, resulting in obvious weakening elsewhere.

I was determined to have a couple of big hitters at 1 & 5 and a decent No.6. I came up with the following based on a 39 point limit: Fricke Sedgmen Lawson Howarth Lindgren C Cook RS Total of 38.74 by my sums, taking into account the discount for British riders. Big emphasis on home winning margins, with only Freddie having never ridden for the Lions previously.

Clubs taking things seriously will do everything they can to keep a top two on 8+ averages (regardless of the points limit) as this seems to be the way to go of late to win the league. The shrewdest managements will of course seek the best riders available(on the up) on lower averages for their middle order which will have to be compromised. If the Lion’s backbone is as named previously on this thread, then next season will not surpass this one, since half of the league will have a better No.5 than Masters. Since any points scored by the RS would appear to be a bonus, a 5 pointer at No.6 is something the Lions should be looking at. That said, if you are having the two required big hitters at the top end, you are highly likely to have at least one 5 pointer in the main 1 to 5 of the team! Think we’ll just have to rely on Dickson’s judgement again, which I’m happy to do.

Yes, the upturn coincided with Becker punching above his weight.

Whether you’re right or wrong regarding the owner’s motives, I don’t think they were queuing around the block when Bates announced that he was looking for someone to buy the club. People should therefore cut Mr Cairns a little slack, just ask the many thousands of speedway fans who no longer have a team to follow.

Whilst I admire the owner for pumping money into the club, it is their risk. Going cap in hand to gullible supporters in an attempt to keep the ship afloat is naive to say the least. The bottom line is simply that there is very little interest in the sport in the city and hasn’t been for a number of years. Nobody wants to see any club close, but it’s a business, supply and demand etc. Enthusiasm and passion does not pay bills.

No better than this years team, reasonably solid, but won't win you the league. I'd want Sedgmen at 6 with a re-jig of the middle order (much of a muchness) to accommodate an 8 pointer to support Fricke. Easier said than done though with points limits and rider availability/affordability to consider.

How would that approach work today when half of the riders in each of the top two divisions are double uppers? Where will all the additional riders come from?

My first thoughts are that this would leave a weak middle order ‘engine room’, but if you are trying to fit in a couple of GP level riders, which I agree is the approach to take, there has to be a compromise. Sedgy would be good value (particularly at home) on that average at reserve.

Would have been box office a couple of years ago, but now? Would question his desire? If the next AGM decided that teams are required to field a DJ, how about bringing in Tony Blackburn? Would surely come in on a very low (age related) average and no doubt free up points elsewhere for team building? Any seventies era DJ would feel quite at home at most tracks, since the music played over the PA is what they were playing when they were on air.