waytogo28

IF it was the head of the BSPA's idea ( and pushed through by him - encouraged by the "yes. you are right" acolytes ) then speedway Is doomed for sure. It is clear that that person whose idea it was, did not go to any kind of business school. And is far removed from the feelings of fans on the terraces.

Bjerre "junior" listened very carefully to riders who know the NSS track well ( inc. his brother ) and watched on DVD how the track rides. Any intelligent rider would have done the same and taken suitable equipment with them.

All has been made clear regarding the Down The Pan mess that speedway is in - Neil M, Peter Oakes, Buster Chapman and all other BSPA members are on the same medication that creates a totally dysfunctional brain. I could not believe the space wasted in the SS on this obviously ridiculous non story. Had it stopped at the Utter Baloney point it would have been funny. Unless of course Franchetti is the new UK wonder sponsor the sport needs and his family will make all the effective decisions in 2018. With so many spare billions he really could be the saviour the sport seeks ( see it's catching now! ) Investigative journalism - the SS would not know what that was if it was handed to them on a plate ( as in the BV 2016 shocker ).

If this can be substantiated ( that Batchelor did threaten the medical team ) he should be brought back before the SCB and banned for whatever is an appropriate time. Possibly for life because if the SCB don't clamp down on things like that there is no point in having any structure within the sport. However did the referee instruct the medical team to issue a certificate of some kind?

It's getting better and better, funnier and funnier ( as well as more and more a pitiful look at those who "run' the sport and the ideas they don't have or fail to think through )

Glasgow are only just viable at the moment with current crowd levels and with the overall lack of interest in speedway from the general public nationwide, I do not believe they would automatically get a regular crowd boost even if they do go up. They do have great owners with deep pockets but also good business sense and would be unlikely too throw too much cash away, if they see it's a lost cause. There is so little real difference between the two top leagues that there is no true "star" pull left.

If Buster doesn't bring in someone competent ( who is not a "yes" man / woman ) KLS will be unlikely to get through another season with Buster solely at the helm Too many very poor business decisions have been made this year to " just put them behind us". I do believe that the very existence of speedway racing at Saddlebow road is at stake if things continue to be run in the same way. Of course even the days of someone else automatically taking over to turn things around have long gone. The sport itself does need a truly radical restructuring and not merely more tinkering.

Has the much trumpeted GTR engine project been quietly packed away now that their Pin Up rider has switched back to something else? It does not seem to have caught on with more average riders even though it may well be cheaper to run. Did it cost a lot of BSPA dosh or was that all just "spin"?

Especially NOT when the Chair of the BSPA so openly and fully embraces and endorses all forms of social media. I do not believe that MPT told the club at 7 pm that he was riding in another country. If this was so, he needs helping with his effective communication.

Wow! If there is such a rule it helps us to understand why the sport is going down the pan.

I am hoping that it is One Big League ( with North / South divided if deemed necessary ) and with Championship level teams or even with a CL/ NL UK setup, where there will be more variety and more regular race nights. And of course no doubling up hassles. There are enough riders if we take other than those higher averaged ( GP / Poland Extaliga / Swedish Elite etc ) as they may be banned anyway from riding in the UK by Polish rules. And THAT stubbornness will be his downfall as a speedway promoter as more and more fans will walk away from KLS ( and the sport in general if he remains leading the BSPA ). You only have to look at how he came across on TV on Monday at Swindon. If others see the BSPA top man in the same way, I shudder at their likely reaction.

Here, Here! 100%.

I agree with that IF all of the newest BSPA rules / ideas for promoting the sport came solely from Buster? IF there was a general consensus in support of "the way forward" under Buster ,then the blame cannot be fully laid at his door for the apparently further decline in attendances and interest from the public. If it was a collective agreement then they are very short on ideas on how to halt that decline.

No. 2 Is how I see it too. It is unworkable and can we be assured that ALL promoters accepted this idea?

So why not have meeting ( or two ) where those interested in helping to attract new fans can SHARE ideas ( not shout at or be shouted down ) before the end of this season? It is NOT working doing it all "Buster's way" is it? There must be some other compromise, possibly better ways to improve the KLS experience. Hard though it is for anyone to do - changing habits could prove beneficial to the club AND Buster's business.

KLS is in far more than a mess. Any feedback to the club is treated as a complaint or even worse totally ignored. Buster knows best is the rule of law adhered to there, so there will be so-called "Buster Bashers" who question his competence to run speedway in a way that sufficient fans will support. I chose not to go to the Wolves D /H - I have been to a number of others that featured two different opponents ( and would go again - perhaps not at night ). Seemed like business suicide to me. certainly more damage done to the credibility of the club. IF DWH is about to step in as a co-promoter, then yes getting the fan's ( those who still the die hard core ) on your side would seem truly essential. If being a "Buster Hugger" is all that is required for that role, then burning your money would seem more sensible.

How about - "fans see the light" and I don't mean the dawn. Only 23 holidaymakers are likely to be there at the end.

I think they are working on new formula where they have only one match to one of the tracks and find a formula that the BSPA can apply ( and pay the riders for ) that will equate with having ridden the two matches on two tracks. It is no more difficult than the 1.5 on averages for the "higher " league. Just work out the home and away averages for each track over the last matches. Simples and that is another fixture done and dusted. We are lucky to have such competent problem solvers in the BSPA. I remember the football pools being worked out like that during the Big Freeze and we have had very unusual weather problems at KLS.

So why not just pay them double? They don't miss a pay night AND they will be fired up to do well in the first meeting and score well. But as I am not intending to go it hardly matters to me. It will not finish before 11.30pm and I have no intention of getting home after midnight. But Hey! It's British speedway at it's most well organised best!

Some of us can only hope that he is SO stubborn that he will not pay the fine.

There is no way that with Buster's track record of how meetings are run and tracks prepared ( and with the puppet Clerk of the Course ) that these matches will finish before 11.30 pm. Three intervals to fit in! I will be voting with my feet and staying at home even though I do like the new look team. And all because of unnecessary call off's earlier.

That is it in a nutshell for me anyway. What the promoters are "selling" has to be more like that which fans - young or old, new or longstanding - are willing to pay for.

There is NO one answer. IF speedway can re-invent itself for a younger audience then it probably will edge out even quicker more of the old uns ( that's me ) and that is no bad thing but I can't see the BSPA changing dramatically the way the sport is presented or run. Slower bikes, handicap racing , lots of passing with USA style razzamtazz might build a new audience. Hopefully it will because then us old uns can decide if we still want to go. Is it really impossible for the two top leagues to run only on a single different night as that is the simplest answer to the craziness of d/u.

They will be "set aside" as will many of the other matches that "don't matter" much, even when the cut off date is pushed back.

That is so , I am in the 60 years of watching phase and YES there is some truth in the above but we have not yet lost all of our critical faculties about life and speedway. Also speedway has failed for a variety of reasons to attract hordes of younger fans who might have pushed us seniors to one side with their buzzing enthusiasm - and who rarely moan. The criticisms many of us have are genuine and are factors in why the sport is not attractive to young people. It's still run mostly in an old fashioned manner which even wrinkles like me can see. So little has changed in the 50 years except the bike technology. And it has become so more more of a Gate and Go show, which it always was but to a lesser degree. Except at the highest level as in the GP!