PersonalResponsibility

Amazing to think that 3 years after Tarasenko signed for Glasgow in the Championship on a 5.00 average (while averaging nearly 8 in the Premiership), we still have loopholes in the average rules. Fair play to Ipswich though, they'd be daft not to sign him.

Raises an interesting point about the ACU license thing - what happens if a rider simply can't get a team place? What if their average doesn't fit, their demands too high, or maybe they are just not good enough? Is there a definition of the difference between a rider who's willing to ride here but can't, and a rider who just doesn't want to ride here?

I'm not sure if he's in quite the same class, but the way Morris finished 2026 he could turn out similar to Douglas. This was someone who was behind only Doyle and Lindgren in the EL averages 10 years ago. If he's sorted his head and avoids the extracurricular activities, he's still young enough to get somewhere in speedway, and has potential on a 5/6 point average.

I have to ask you about the new rules that will force every rider racing with a British license to ride in the local league. What do you honestly think about them? – At the moment, these are just discussions and we shall see when more official information comes out. Currently, there are many false details in the air regarding these rules, which are currently only in the discussion phase. I can’t say right now what I plan to do about it. Is racing with a Polish license under the British anthem and flag an option for you? – No, because if I want a Polish license, I need a Polish passport, and then I’d have to race under the Polish flag and with the Polish anthem. However, something is happening behind the scenes, and when I get a 100% definitive answer, I’ll definitely turn to the media. https://ekstraliga.pl/en/se/news/robert-lamberts-perfect-season-i-wouldnt-have-believed-it-a-year-ago What's it gonna be?

Feels almost symptomatic of the wider society at times. If a rider isn't the next child prodigy and pushing towards the GPs by 18/19, they get almost written off. Sometimes they end up quitting. As you say, you need riders who are, ultimately, just average. It's even more concerning when you look at the ages of some of the 'mid-level' Premiership riders now - Klindt, C. Holder, Harris, Lawson, King, Masters, Iversen - all have passed or are edging towards 40. What happens when we lose them?

There was an article a while back claiming that Bydgoszcz fans weren't best pleased about the 'expensive' season ticket prices for 2027 (bearing in mind this is the Ekstraliga...). Rough figures below. Place Normal Pass (PLN) Normal Pass (GBP) Reduced Fare Pass (PLN) Reduced Fare Pass (GBP) Main Stand 1300 PLN £247.43 — — New Stand 750 PLN £142.75 650 PLN £123.71 Sector A 500 PLN £95.17 400 PLN £76.13 Sector B 400 PLN £76.13 350 PLN £66.62 Place Regular Ticket (PLN) Regular Ticket (GBP) Reduced Price Ticket (PLN) Reduced Price Ticket (GBP) Main Stand 220 PLN £41.88 — — New Stand 120 PLN £22.84 110 PLN £20.94 Sector A 80 PLN £15.23 70 PLN £13.33 Sector B 70 PLN £13.33 60 PLN £11.42 Some of the tickets are fairly pricey, especially given you're only getting 7 home meetings a season in your ST, but most of them seem like excellent value.

Was it this one? https://przegladsportowy.onet.pl/zuzel/ekstraliga/jan-krzystyniak-nazwal-prezesow-frajerami-o-finansach-polskiego-zuzla/rlyyjp2 I'm not sure how much credibility you can give the contributor after this quote: "In Poland, simply setting limits doesn't make much sense. We know what these gentlemen are capable of. They'll officially offer a player a thousand złoty, but then hand over a million under the table. That's how it works in Poland. If people from Sweden or England were allowed to manage these clubs, they might be able to establish such rules in a day or two. No one would break the law, because there, words are worth more than money," 😁 In all seriousness, it does make you wonder why they pay 10-15x the going rate that a rider could get anywhere else in the world. If they halved their wages, they would still dominate world speedway.

Amazing really. We can't even enforce the simplest of rules, how do they possibly think we'd manage to police a salary cap? I would say in some ways it is accurate, if British promoters took over Polish clubs, there'd be no reason to worry about salary caps, wages, or anything else - not when they manage to lose 90% of the fanbase within a year.

This season went so well for them, so why not go with virtually the same team again, after all?

I've no idea what has been said on Facebook, I avoid it whenever I can. I agree with your point though, it's ultimately a club's responsibility to ensure they're self sufficient. I suppose my wider point was that instead of ploughing money into defunct clubs, why isn't that money being spread around existing clubs to improve the entire sport. Not as a gift, but through incentives that can be earned. The Ekstraliga has introduced something similar this year to reward clubs based on the number of youngsters they produce, the number of overtakes they have, community work, etc. Ultimately, if there's a small fortune going spare, why not build up what we have and then maybe defunct clubs might come back more naturally in the future?

I agree with you to some extent. Yes, it's always a positive, for everyone, when defunct clubs return. We shouldn't turn our noses up at it happening, but is the money really worth the rewards? It's been well covered in recent years that Plymouth have increased their crowds and grown their club - yet now their future is at stake over £45k. Money which seems be readily available elsewhere in British speedway. I'm not saying that clubs should be bailed out by the BSPL, but are we not better off protecting a growing club, going in the right direction, than spending fortunes for the sake of a TV deal? Maybe we are, I don't claim to have any knowledge of the sums involved.

Surely the biggest hurdle is having X (3 I think?) domestic riders in their teams? Maybe Huckenbeck and Blodorn could make Landshut competitive, in 2. Ekstraliga, but Daugavpils would struggle.

Manzares is like the American Lewis Bridger.

They had something similar in the PL in 2006. Eligible riders were given a grade of A, B or C, and teams could have A/C or B/B, no averages were involved. I think it lasted until July when Jon Armstrong and Steve Boxall were averaging about 6.5 and they scrapped it. Similar to 2013 when they announced a scheme for all 10(!) EL clubs to have 2x NL riders at reserve. Then we had the fast-track scheme, and the rising stars after that. I suppose the takeaway is that it's no good getting worked up about any system, because it'll probably be consigned to history within 2 seasons max.

It happens enough in Poland. Wroclaw went into a playoff final a few years ago with half their team missing IIRC. There's a million different things to fix first, but having an actual squad who represent your club is a way more legitimate option than the guest system.