Sings4Speedway

At £19 and the most expensive in the land i believe even more so for concessions as there is no discount i would certainly say its too much. A business approach of hiking the prices and buckling to riders demands is not sustainable. Offer a better product to attract higher numbers, say enough is enough to riders or offer them reasons to sign that are not purely financial. Last season the NL price went up with reasons quoted as Drew Kemps kevlars cost over £1000 (they didn't JC Pro are cheaper than that unless you throw in plenty of extras). Rye House ran in team suits for years without an increase. Ultimately it boils down to "its your money, its your choice" but i feel that Kent will need to be offering something extra special year on year to keep the crowd numbers where they need to be.

Big signing / big opportunity. Nathan has to show that he is a dominant number 1 in the league if he wants a CL spot but there will be some decent competition.

Len turned 88 over the weekend. Lets face it he isn't chasing the profits (thats Roger Cearns) but he doesn't want to be pumping his own money into the project either. Kent have run a profit each season which is the right way to do business however not if the fans are those who are being forced out in the process.

Sad but very much true. Especially for families etc. How can a sport that offer 1 1/2 hours of entertainment if the meeting runs at a decent pace hope to compete with other all day attractions? I am a likely to visit Kent this year the same amount of times that i visit the local animal park. The model of driving prices up to remain afloat will have to stop soon as this bubble is at bursting point.

Genuinely fearful for Kent this year. A lot of good work has been done to get the club where it is and greed could easily undo much of it.

I was expecting £10-12 for NL this season and with a pricey CL side it could have really boosted the crowds i fear that greed could undo a lot of the good work done at Kent.

I know i have a program generator somewhere, i will try to have a dig. For 19 quid it will have to be a strong visiting side and some very good feedback prior to the quality of racing before i consider parting with my hard earned. I suspect Eastbourne & Mildenhall will see more of my pennies this year than Kent will.

Ouch. £14 for NL and £19 for Champs sorry but that's just too dear. Its £2 per head more than Eastbourne....

Ouch. £14 for NL and £19 for Champs sorry but that's just too dear.

Fielding has speedway written through his core. He has done and will continue to travel an unearthly amount of miles at his own expense just because he loves the sport. I don't know if he will command the respect of the pits but he is a nice guy and is more genuine than his namesake.

Only way British riders will get more opportunities is if they get average reductions compared to their foreign counterparts as the current trend is to gamble on the unknown rather than help develop our own.

indeed except that Screeny had everything namely talent, flair and determination. The only way Halder will get anywhere close to super joe is by buying a set of his old boots.

You are correct not everything has to be dog eat dog but in the sporting world it usually is. Where Speedway has historically fallen down is the individuality of the riders and the way they move around clubs (loyalty works both ways i know). Other sports do have academy levels and the benefit of higher teams investing into the future riders from an early stage.

Whilst im not saying the current system is perfect (far from it) i am against protecting riders. The Aussies have to sink or swim and they are doing alright, offering safety nets to riders does not help the drive and ambition. If you want to see a bigger pipeline of higher standard UK riders then the level has to be set high enough so that they know what is required. If the bar is set at competent and average then that is what we will continue to churn out.

That is very true however they do still require additional travelling time. I know on a personal level i would attend Rye House if it was operating on a Sat or Sun but realistically wouldn't be able to make any sensible attempts to attend Mon-Fri run meetings without time off from work.

Halder has been getting decent runs in sides since 2015, got himself up to 4.5 ish at some points but that appears to be his level. A little too much timber / lack of fitness and a little brittle when it comes to injuries. I suspect he will end up looking the/one of the weakest link/s in the team.

Rye House used to run plenty of practice sessions to 'come and impress' when the team places were already signed and not announced.

I wonder if there are any come and impress practice days lined up?

With the greatest of respect to Harry he had a full season last year and failed to reach his starting 3 point average for this season so he is far from a Palin or Bailey but he should make improvements this year and if he doesn't questions will be asked. It also looks a big year ahead for the Ben's with Woodhull sliding down last year and i fear his interest is waning whilst i think Rathbone will be a much bigger improver this year having visited several tracks last year although a shortened season may hurt those with only one seam place. The Colts should be rock solid at home again this year so it will be how well they travel deciding how well the fare at the end of the season.

I don't really know where the noise is coming from about a drop in level of the NL to make it 2nd teams of the major sides considering the way many teams have treated the dev leagues and their riders with contempt over the years, the way the bspa hammers these sides with fee's to make it difficult for them to get on track and how sadly the standard of the development leagues has fallen in numbers and quality over recent years. A midway product could work with the 'better' dev league riders and lower NL riders on track but what the price point of such a product would be i don't know? also would something like this not lead to grossly inflated averages if the higher level of competition is removed. I definitely fear that interference with what is probably the best organised and most sustainable league in the country is a very dangerous thing.

In all fairness Kent were getting 1000+ to turn out for NL racing on the bank holiday meetings so can be achieved at that level. Although as stated more likely to get 4-500 as a sustainable figure depending on the quality of the side and the racing on show.

All the ingredients for a disaster (late entry, Rye House track & Kevin Jolly) but i sill hope this comes true as would be great to see Rockets/Raiders back on track. Probably too late to be accepted? Sensible head thinks better to wait until 2021 for this to happen but not sure Kev Jolly has one of those.

Time will tell however its a long drive back from places like IOW if he has spent the evening being way off the pace.

Must be more to Watson than his record suggests? From the only stats i can find this season he did 2 x NJL matches (6 rides) and scored 1 point. Granted i don't know who the opposition were for those matches but its hardly a record that sets the world alight.

Anyone know if the minimum points limit still applies? I believe it was brought in to prevent under strength sides hurting other clubs financially. As mentioned previously when the Stags took to the track with a host of 3 pointers it meant huge home wins for sides with poor crowds meaning more money out and less in. If i recall a lot of tracks ended up running the meeting as a double header just to get supporters through the gate (and secretly hoping it would be cancelled after heat 10). Unfortunately weak teams make few friends in any league.