Sings4Speedway

With respect thats not the finest idea. Its been tried before when the pool of emerging riders was of a far higher standard than now. A coupe of teams will snap up the cream and the others will be left with NDL 2nd strings (t best) then following year once some of those have upped averages it will get even worse.

Question whats more important a winning team or a team worth watching?

No but wording it like "its no secret we were late to the party and behind on team building so some options to us were already closed, we have built what we feel is the best team available to us and have faith in the riders but it is a learning season for us all" Instead it was a season of bluster and bullflop that nobody believed and even fewer sympathised with. Speedway fans are (mostly) a knowledgeable bunch so treat them like mushrooms at your peril.

Another thats almost been bred for success. Been racing since he was 6, a lot of parent and sponsorship funding providing the best equipment. No doubt theres talent but the bigger shock would be if he wasn't the "next big thing"

Ribbons is just using the Eagles approach as a way out and to try and martyr himself, he had no intent to run next season and the pennies have run out if he was to attempt it. Graham want to do the track only and who can blame him, he might be a stubborn begger at times but he has done far more for speedway in this country than most could ever get close to.

Big problem is that its the wrong time of year to resolve it. Ashton can and likely will spend the winter doing countless laps of very fast practice and equipment testing but will never know if the issue has been dealt with until he returns to the tapes in competitive fixtures. No doubt a huge talent but can't shake the feeling he will walk away over the next season or two.

Curse old man Spencer! To be fair that lasted an entire fixture until the Thompsons turned 19 but fun little stat to have.

Whilst i respect your viewpoint the list of riders chosen is a little skewed. Bickley, Smith, Flint, Palin to a degree and certainly cairns were known entities before they signed for the Colts. Yes Bewley, Bailey, the McGurks, the Woodhulls, Joe Lawlor, Pie Man Bowen were all chances taken that paid off but plenty were on the road to success before joining Belle Vue and several do very little away from the place. Still jealous that you get to do your regular viewing there though.

Other tie ups afterwards.....possibly Brummies vs Warwickshire speedway fixture......imagine the Tolley write up afterwards.... "i thought it was a very entertaining meeting although disappointed to lose after going in with such high hopes but they were just better out of the starts than we were"

Belle Vue do have the massive lure of a great rack to ride every week and some useful insider knowledge on setups which is crucial there. That alone has been enough to turn mediocre riders into match winners over the years, in fact its fairly safe to say if you can't increase your average at Belle Vue your not going to do it anywhere.

That Crang was a real spring chicken. Seriously though some clubs get a similar level of support win, lose or draw but others rely on a winning side to draw the numbers, its just how fickle fans can be. A smart side would be looking at tracking their number 7 plus a few riders who could progress to that position in a year or two and prepping the track similar to CL meetings not just the slick surfaces most NDL are treated to.

Agree with everything above, the silencers are shocking and the tyres are dire. These have been introduced as money spinners rather than improvements to the sport. Sadly forcing engines changes is unlikely to take and the rev limiter idea was coming in 3 years ago and has moved nowhere (plus is still another rider cost). A usable tyre is whats need and 1 per rider per meeting, none of this they shred so have 2 nonsense. If the bikes are destroying the tyres then the riders will have to look at ways of managing it (via engine/setup changes). Riders will change their equipment, riders have changed their equipment but they need an incentivised reason to do so rather than just pandering to their demands.

Heard he was on an upright.....still could sell it to Barker if Ben is looking for an upgrade....

As already covered Garrad feels a hard sell for a starting CL place especially when he turns 38 next season. Dayle Wood is hardly a spring chicken and Sam McGurk should feel pleased if he lands a NDL spot next year. The positives are the likes of Scott, Vale and Perry. Spencer has been a slow burner likewise Clouting are both edging closer. End of the day some will make it, many won't but thats the nature of the sport

Its one they appear to flip flop on whenever it suits so theres a 50/50 chance it could get voted in. Wouldn't matter if the over 4 CL rule stays and in all honesty Killeen might be the only one interested in doing NDL next year anyways

Really hope thats genuine but fear its more speculative interest and will be scared off by the costs involved, add in that late entries often get to build with the scraps and the current teams will decide the rules with no say from any new side its hardly an appealing option anymore

Killeen, Hagon and Mulford would probably be prevented by the 3 leagues rule, Thompson shouldn't want NDL anyway and Ablitt should really be looking higher. I can understand the benefit of another year for Foord and Harrison so maybe the rule could be tweaked to say if average over 4 in CL the +1 added to NDL average? The idea is/was to push riders up into higher leagues and stop blocking up the NDL. Providing the team building averages are kept the same the new inflated numbers should see Garrad, Vale, Hodder and Wood as the type of riders to take over the heat leader positions. Im not saying thats progress but it was the plan and direction that the league was being taken in and therefore should actually be stuck with whatever the outcome.

Its a handy enough achievement but makes me think he is an even harder signing next year. Yes there will be riders giving the CL a miss and very few riders moving up from NDL so might be spots available but is Foord on a 4.00 better value than Scott or Springer on a 2.00?

Ive thought this from his very early days, nice lad, over rides and lacking some basics from his skill set. Will need to land a fairly hefty sponsor to keep up with the repair bills. Whatever happens Vinnie is not responsible it is the promotors who ultimately have the say on who is put on track and far far too many take gambles on riders who are not ready. I completely understand why Vinnie took the opportunity at Poole but is it doing his longer term reputation any good?

Obviously points limit dependent and a fair few not doing NDL next season but i can also see several o that list struggling for a team spot with the inflated averages.

The loophole that they caught Kent with previously is that Graham was listed as one of the promotors. If he was purely renting the venue out there shouldn't be an issue (but im sure the weasel will find one). Does anyone know what banner the Eastbourne lakeside fixture was run under? If SCB then appears to be fine if NORA then it was full of SCB riders who clearly think its fine to ride. The naming issue will probably be dropped now as it was only really in place to disband the MDL allowing the PJL to take over.....how did that work out?

The breaking issue is in all good conscience would anybody recommend promoting a speedway club especially at NDL level? A few years ago absolutely and in fact there were some venues that could have been vastly improved without throwing crazy amounts of money at them to generate something quite special (Stoke/Buxton). Today any promotion would be barmy, the initial startup costs, air fence etc are almost prohibitive in themselves and thats prior to being handcuffed by the ruling bodies and penalised at a moments notice. The ruling powers have shot themselves in the foot and its just a shame they didn't start a little higher.

Releasing the financial issues will only make signings for next season even harder (and there will be deals done at other clubs provisionally already) so once again Brum will be slow out of the tapes. Crowd levels have improved at a level most clubs would be ecstatic with 10-20% but Birmingham needed 100% increase in gates to make things pay, no person in their right mind would think that achievable, although nobody in their right mind would have a, taken over Birmingham b, taken the side into the Prem and not expected a big loss. Im not implying there is anything untoward going on but injecting funds into the following season when there isn't a clear declaration to run feels a bit of a hard sell to even the most devoted of supporters.

There have always been chances for the use of Iwade and indeed was well supported by fans in 2022 & 2023 however the venture was not supported by the governing bodies and therefore it slipped away. Mildenhall had run consistently at NDL level for a long time and the weekend raceday suited many but inconsistent fixture lists and big gaps in the calendar forced the withdrawal of the side and pursuit of racing at a higher level (stadium permitting). Workington were incorrectly informed that there would be no NDL and therefore stepped away, Berwick realised that with limited local competition and poor local support it wasn't making financial sense so stepped away. Going back slightly further there was the IOW fiasco and all of these events have one thing in common, a governing body who are ruled purely by self business interest rather than looking ahead as custodians of the sport. Most of the current promotions can stand tall and safe in the knowledge that they played their part in the demise of the sport in this country.

Ive always found the 2 point average questionable. Yes it offers opportunities but more so because the average is low and teams take a chance rather than because riders are of sufficient quality. Assessed averages for overseas riders are about spot on and any reduction would definitely not help British speedway. Sort out the NDL? Thats been done to its massive detriment. Its hanging on by a thread and solely because there are so few clubs and a number of old hands that are willing to ride as a hobby and bulk out the numbers. The amount of pure quality in the league is few and far between and most were already a known entity before turning 15. Once the remaining 'established' riders get bored of the drawn out fixture list and sell up it will cease and probably just be replaced with a series of NDL level individual fixture sup and down the country.