Spl77

This is the biggest surprise

So big news Ipswich back in the top flight with Buster Chapman buying the club with Louis staying as promoter and Hawkins AS team manager. What do you make of that boys and girls?

I doubt anything will change after the AGM. The government must have asked them to sort brexit!

Neither! in Poland speedway is run as a proper professional team sport promotion relegation riders on riding for one team and no guests. Then add in sponsorship tv rights press coverage speedway in Poland becomes something that people want to attend and be involved in unlike here where its seen like the embarrassing uncle at Christmas.

Depends where she works and how long for. If you work in a dealer you do get discounts but it's a 3 year contract. If you have worked for JLR for years ypu get a new one every 6 months at discounted rates however if you're a newbie it's the same deal as a retailer employee.

Cook at Foxhall you'd be guaranteed plenty of rain offs!

Definitely Kemp at number 7. Other than that depends on the strength and structure of the league.....

I still believe that the powers that be need to take a leaf from Poland where the sport is taken seriously and appears to be a very marketable product. I'll admit not all is good there either. Another example to follow would be the F. I. S snowboarding World Cup. They have taken an event that used to be confined to youngsters and the mountains and taken it to a much larger audience and to man-made city centre venues. Speedway in this country needs a radical revamp to survive.

Hopefully yes as this self interest appears to be killing the sport.

Take that Heir Godfrey!

Looking at the amount of tracks up for sale it looks like some of the more sensible ones involved in speedway are trying to get out. Question is are there buyers queuing up to by into a worthless product?

It was tongue in cheek!

Either it's got be rain things in merge the top two leagues and rebuild the sport into something that in 5 years is far healthier or have 6 or 8 team top league no points limit coupled with a major sponsor ship package to cover the costs. The first option would be a slow rebuild with out dramatic changes. The second requires dramatic changes re branding and a major re launch in the hope that the crowds will massively increase. Either way it's got to be a 3 to 5 year plan.

With the money Guy has spent on Plant this month he could probably buy British speedway....... Now there a though!

That may be true. However if they can still ride anywhere they wish and are self employed then surely they have no monetary valve to the business?

That's why the sport in the UK is doomed. They can never work together for the good of the sport. Now if you had a fully independent body the riders could be on fixed contracts and paid centrally.

I no longer attend Ipswich for the same reason.... Although in my case the joker or t@#t hat as we knew it also played a major part....... At least they got rid of that.

Knowing the BSPA the later is more likely

Just seen this from Godfrey regarding the play off final last week. Question is what credibility? British Speedway vice-chairman Rob Godfrey said: “There was a serious risk of damaging the credibility of our sport because of guest riders switching clubs after the first leg.

When that was decided the BSPA probably didn't bank on Ipswich winning it with the team that we had. Then guess what the green eyed monsters at the 98 AGM took it away..... Happens every year and every year the sport gets closer to the grave. Sad times

I'm trying to work out the value of Poole aor for that matter any club as the 'rider assets' are worthless. As for a brand then that aswell must have little worth. The ironic thing is the BSPA have spent the last 25 years at least running the sport to suit individual agenda's of various promotions to 'protect' their financial interests. Those actions now make those investments almost worthless when coming to sale.....who would spend thousands on a knacked old tractor and some dirt?

The problem is that the riders are self employed and so don't belong to any club. The whole asset system is only kept in place by the BSPA the minute a rider threatened legal action the whole thing would collapse. The only way a club can have any legal control over a rider is to sign him on a multi year contract.

All he would need to do is what Nicholls did last winter go legal.....it would never stand up in court.

If you take the riding assets away then what is actually up for sale? as the stadium is council owned.

Every year at the AGM the direction of the sport is set by a few looking after their own vested interests.... We are told it will never be ran by an independent body because the promoter's will only want to look out for their own investment. The ironic thing is that to anyone outside of speedway these investments and assets are basically worth sod all. What the promoter's see as their main assets are in fact self employed. The only tracks with any real worth are the ones that own their own stadium. So year on year the clowns who run the show make ever more daft decisions to protect their interests and investment when in actual fact those decisions only reduce the value still further of their investment. I'd like to see two leagues one semi pro one amateur and standard equipment so that costs can be lower for all involved. This is needed to save the sport here and hopefully in time stability comes in and one league could become pro again. The big goal and the only goal that the BSPA and riders should be looking at over the next 5 years is survival!