TheGuvnor

Sadly the hardcore seem to be the happy clappers who will gobble up whatever is served and roll out the “keyboard warriors” or “people always moan” lines when challenged. All the while digging deeper in their own pockets to pay a silly amount for a worse product year on year. A protest of sorts may make an impact but I’m sure the aforementioned fans would never back it. Then the crowds wouldn’t suffer much at all because the fans who’d vote with their feet largely already have done so.

Tip number one for any Speedway rider: stay away from Speedway forums.

Roynon was some talent as a kid. Often wonder what may have been for him if he’d not had so many bad injuries. Great to see him riding still and hope he continues to stay safe.

Absolutely. Each to their own. And no, I won’t at those prices.

There’s only so far things can be passed on. Those fans expected to pay 10% extra each meeting will be having to spend more just to live right now. Something has to give. If it’s putting food on the table or going to watch 15 minutes of sport there will only be one winner with most. That’s not just for Oxford, it’s across the board.

Goodwill and novelty wear thin quickly. It’s great that Oxford have Speedway back but a 10% price increase year on year and you’ll be paying £30 for 15 minutes of racing before long. That’s before we even factor in the yearly decrease in standard of product.

More fool you then.

Those prices are disgusting for second tier Speedway.

Hardly crime of the century going to do the same job elsewhere for more money if that is the case.

No worries, I’ve had worse cases of mistaken identity believe me!

What are you talking about?

Just ignore the thread if you don’t like it. It isn’t hurting anyone.

The only drawback is that he’s always jumping the start.

Got a brother called Max.

I didn’t say top flight experience. Clegg has done many more competitive laps at any level than Hume. Can’t agree that Clegg has more potential.

Vastly more experienced though. There’s a reason they call it a rising star rather than implement an age limit.

Considering the likes of Josh Bates and Max Clegg have been considered rising stars in the not so distant past I can’t see any problems with Hume being one now.

Long old tail. Depends on when Jorgensen’s big average changes and if the Schlein of old turns up. Not as bad as some are making it out to be though.

Time to give them a shock then. There will always be those willing to ride. There won’t always be those willing to watch. Riders have had the sport over a barrel for some time here. The rules have allowed it to happen. It should be one club per rider in the UK. If you can’t pay the mortgage with that then get good enough to ride abroad also or get a job to supplement your hobby.

There was a time not too long ago, well a decade or so anyway, when second tier heatleaders were generally reserve standard/lower averaged second strings in the top tier. We should be working towards reinstating that ability gap between leagues. Limiting doubling up then eventually knocking it completely on the head would help there.

What you’ve done here is provide examples to support my point. The Premiership tries to operate at a standard higher than that of the riders who want to ride in Britain. That’s why Lynn couldn’t replace Iversen (as well as the Polish leagues rule, the points limit for last year should have accounted for this anyway). That then trickles down the levels.

There’s no rider shortage. The issue is British Speedway trying to operate at a level higher than that of the riders willing to race here. The product needs to be weakened from top to bottom. Not because of cost cutting, but out of necessity. The standard of riders we used to attract don’t want to be here now.

We’ve sadly reached a point where we have to have doubling up so riders don’t have to get a “proper” job on the side to keep racing. That says something. The sport needs to be semi-professional. It doesn’t owe the riders a living. Only those good enough to race full time should be doing so.

All in all more positives than negatives I’d say. The return to the aggregate points system will divide opinion but it’s a lot less convoluted than the system we’ve been using until now. Simplicity is generally best, easier to explain to fans who are new to the sport also. Silence on any changes or limiting to doubling up is concerning though. That’s the real evil in British Speedway.

Riding in Britain can’t be an attractive prospect. Having to fly in and out for meetings, having to run extra kit, the added injury risks that come with more meetings. Some of the top guys want to ride here and have their reasons, for those who don’t the answer probably is offering them silly money. That is a big problem because clubs can’t afford it. The sport here wants to operate at a level higher than that of the riders willing to race here. The knock on from that has a negative impact all the way down the British Leagues. Time for us to cut our cloth accordingly rather than hope there will be a sudden influx of riders who haven’t raced here for a few years, a lot of whom didn’t want to be here before the Poland leagues rule was put in place.