RobMcCaffery

The new system for the Championship is based on how all American professional team sports work bar MLS. The leagues are split into conferences and a team's results, while including games against teams from other conferences the league is split into several sections and a team only competes with the teams in its own conference for play-off spots. There's nothing to say in the AGM report that the following is due to happen which is worrying, but if not they are iin trouble.. So we have 12 teams, including either Newcastle or Plymouth. These are split into two conferences/sub-divisions. All 12 race 32 matches, 20 against their fellow conference members and 12 against sides from the other conference. Here's the key - you run two league tables, one for each conference and the top three from each qualify for the play-offs. Now, if we only had an odd number of teams it still works. Say if we have five in the north and six in the south the northern teams ride 28 times, 16 against fellow northerners and still 12 against the southerners, making 28. The southerners will still race 20 times against their fellow conference members, but only 10 against the northerners, making 30 matches. So, at season's end, five northern teams will have ridden 28 matches but the southerners 30. If there was just one table that would be ridiculous but if all five teams competing for the three play-off places are only compared with each other it doesn't matter if the third placed team qualifies with fewer points than the fourth placed team in the south it's probably due to the latter having ridden more matches. Run two league tables, one for teams that ride 28 times and one for those who ride 30 matches and take the top three from each. Whether the north division races 30, 32 or 132 matches, as long as in league terms they're only competing with teams that have ridden the same matches it'll be academic. Running one league table is where the problems start. And you thought the match points system was complex..... The logic of Edinburgh travelling twice to Glasgow but only once to Kent is obvious. The alternative is to run a one home, one away league plus a pair of early season regional leagues as we have before - and what was the verdict? Dismissed as 'meaningless. Realistically the only way to prove the point is to run the season, let people realise that it's only the teams in their own half of the country that they're initially competing with in league terms - until the essential play-offs. One thing that gets avoided here is, say we run with 12 tracks in 2020 then by some miracle we get an application from a revived Rye House, or Oxford or even a better funded and planned Plymouth bid for 2021 they wouldn't have to be rejected for fear of running a league with odd numbers! As far as the supporters are concerned until the play-offs they are competing in a five or six team league with extra competitive league matches to give a 14 or 16 match home schedule which is a damn sight better than the paltry 10 in 2019!

It's the age-old argument that's based on the false assumption that we use petrol. So it's vital to get the methanol response ready. In reality though, it's a case of people clutching at any straw to save their property's value.

Sometimes it's best not to 'peek behind the curtain'.

Rarely are on newspaper websites. More loonies than certain corners of the BSF ;-)

I've made the same mistake too often. Don't be discouraged, you talk sense and make very relevant posts. Too many here just out to tear others down rather than help speedway. Egos can be terrible things.

Who did and have the authorities caught them yet?

In the mid-80s I had to compile a weekly speedway news programme. It was hard enough to get scorers from meetings, let alone news. Today...........

You're assuming that all participants can read and write......;-)

Crewe was built around a cricket pitch, albeit the LMS/BR Sports Ground rather than a county venue. If anything it was too large and had to be shortened during its brief life.

Oh for 100% digital subscriptions eh Philip? One day.......

No problem Geoff. I watched every match in that league this year online so it was a bit of an advantage ;-)

They had nine teams. Smederna (Eskilstuna) Dackarna (Malilla) Vetlanda Rosspiggarna (Hallstavik) Vastervik Indianerna (Kumla) Lejonen (Gislaved) Masarna (Avesta) Piraterna (Motala)

A Saturday night down the M2 to Kent was always a lovely end to the week. Yes, Wally Mawdsley did run it for a while towards the end before selling out to Chris Galvin, but its first promoter through the sixties and seventies was the one and only Johnnie Hoskins. It was narrow but racing was possible. I miss so many tracks that we've lost but Kingsmead is one of the greater regrets outside the loss of the London tracks, Coventry, Cradley and of course the original Belle Vue. The second division was my league though and I so miss being able to head to that fine city for a good night's speedway with a great atmosphere and fans.

I write an honest piece and get the usual rubbish from you. You illustrate my point about some of the people who I encountered in the sport who made me wish I hadn't bothered. I hope I didn't meet you. I obviously can'tr tell since you spread your poison from the cowardly defence of a false name. You disgust me. In a way this incident sums up my experience of the sport. You do something honestly and with the right intentions to help people understand what went on and you get reptiles like you crawling out from under your stone. I talk about the sport and mention my own experiences. Somehow that's a crime in your eyes. Perhaps it's because you've done f all for the sport except sneer at those who have at least tried. But then anonymity is so convenient eh, especially for cowards like you. It's clear that anything I post is going to get crass responses from you like this so it's best if I don't bother. I met plenty of egomaniacs in the sport, especially in announcing and writing. I assure you I'm not one of them Perhaps you should try taking them on? I gave a damn. More fool me, eh? I'll let you get back to your poison pen letters, oh superior one..... Anyway, for those people who are interested in the sport rather than hurting others I hope my original post helped them understand what went on at Wimbledon. Sadly orion puts his need to be unpleasant to others above that. Perhaps my posting went over his shabby little head? Anyway, apologies for making a posting. I must remember that I have to ask permission from an idiot in Wiltshire first. Speedway, a great sport, ruined by people who don't give a damn about others.

June 26th, 1971, Rayleigh v Romford, British League Division 2. Heat 1 - Kevin Holden, Nigel Rackett, Mike Sampson, Geoff Maloney. The Rockets recovered from that 4-2 reverse to win 45-30, including a heat 13 3-0 to the home side with Alan Emmett the only survivor from a race that saw Kevin Holden retire and Hugh Saunders and Bob Coles both fall.

The 2002 Wimbledon opener should never have happened, and that's coming from someone who was involved in the new promotion as a publicist. It had been demonstrated by Len Silver at Rye House that it was possible to 'lay and lift' a shale track over a tarmac surface and a similar solution was initially adopted for the Plough Lane revival. It's not exactly an easy technique, laying a shale track just for one night, unless you have a GP-style budget and even in ideal weather conditions you're taking a risk. When the heavens opened it was clear that it was impossible to go ahead. One of the promoting pair together with most of his team knew it had to be called off. However there was a second promoter who, I am told, overruled the only sensible decision. The resulting fiasco split the partnership with the one who claimed he wanted it postponing having the responsibility dumped on him. I cannot mention names because one of the promoters is notorious at bullying forum owners with legal threats. Unfortunately so often in speedway it's the good guys who receive the bovine excrement while the guilty use their financial power or sheer ability to bully to walk away with a clean reputation. I stayed in my role for a while, even going with the team to Buxton where only one promoter was there. He told me later that he had parted company with his partner but couldn't even find the decency to face me and tell me in Derbyshire. Since that wholly unsavoury experience apart from helping out at the delightful Iwade for a couple of seasons I have kept well clear of working in speedway. I still love the sport, but certainly not the way it is run or too many of the people involved in it. I saw too much. Self-respect is something I wasn't prepared to compromise any longer.

Remember Sue - it's fine to talk to yourself. It's just when you start arguing that the tranquiliser rifles come out ;-)

Source: Google Maps. They tend to be pretty accurate. Typical BSF - state a fact from a reliable source and still have to fend them off. Anyway geoff100 - I tried to help. More fool me.

12 miles. Crewe, then under the promotion of Len Silver, were obviously not happy about Stoke opening in 1973. It wasn't many years before they folded. It wasn't as close as Cradley and Wolves - 9 miles, or White City-Wimbledon, 8 miles, or West Ham - Hackney, 5 miles.

I've never been bothered about calibre or ego. I just work when people ask me to and try to do my best for the sport I love. I wasn't that good or I'd still be doing it but for a while my whole life centred on helping speedway rather than myself. More fool me for trying since all you get is crap from time wasters like you and Orion. I put my love for the sport way above ego or money. You should try it instead of just being an online bore.

Sorry, I'll ask your permission in future. If I 'd known you were reading this I would have typed more slowly so your fingers and lips didn't struggle to keep up. I'll use shorter words and capitals in future.

The King's Lynn Linnets faux pas was presumably just a momentary lapse. It's no surprise, if Wikipedia is accurate, given the links between ice hockey and speedway, especially in our 'golden age'. Some here may not be aware that the Speedway Star used to carry ice hockey news and stories. I've seen it in early 1960s issues. Alan was expert at dealing with the minor sports so was valuable to the Beeb. I was used in the same way by Screen Sport for a while - until the night they had me do Thai kick boxing in Amsterdam and my promised co-commentator had already finished six bottles before I got there.....Tractor pulling's another nightmare memory.

That's right, Bunce. The BBC covered speedway as far back as the glory days of the 1940s at least, albeit via radio then. For many years during the 60s and 70s they just covered one meeting a year - The Internationale at Wimbledon. That was a single film camera effort shown either on the Wednesday or Saturday following and indeed commentated by Alan Weeks, who apart from expertise on ice skating and ice hockey was the BBC's man for the obscure sports like ours. He did give himself away once by describing Terry Betts as "riding for the King's Lynn Linnets". Later the Beeb did cover the odd world final but overall their commitment above local radio and regional news level has been minimal. in the 80s when I was covering Dutch ice hockey the usual question from the organisers was "So, do you know Alan Weeks?" I wish I had - he could have passed on a few tips...

Burnicle made a fatal error right from the start. "Hello, it's Jack here!". That presumed firstly that we were all viewers of the other motorcycle sports he covered, and secondly that we were such fans that we didn't need to be told his surname, as if if most give a damn about who the commentator is. This idea that all speedway fans are fans of all the other motorcycle disciplines, and vice-versa is as ludicrous as assuming that a football fan must be a cricket or basketball fan because all three are played using a ball. David Rowe knows his stuff but I feel just needs to relax a little more at the mic. It can get a bit strident at the wrong times sometimes. There's a time to (almost) shout but it needs using carefully or it loses impact. On the rare occasions he was allowed to be lead commentator (play-offs on Sky) I found Kelvin Tatum to be by the best. Pearson does his job well, if that's the style you want. Again he knows his stuff and does a great job of reminding viewers just how many British tracks there are and what they were doing, as a clear suggestion that the viewer should go and visit their local track, but the relentless hype can get tiresome, but that's the style that a lot of producers and directors want. Thankfully plenty have more faith in the intelligence of their customers.

As I mentioned elsewhere, despite Eurosport being available to far more viewers in the UK than BT Sports the reality is that far more watch BT than Eurosport.. Here are the figures for September from BARB. The numbers relate to what percentage of TV viewers' total viewing in September were watching the service in the month. BBC1 for example gets 20% Eurosport 0.17% BT Sport 0.58% So the likelihood of the viewing figures rising in the UK is small, despite the service now being cheaper to the speedway viewer. It's only when Quest is counted that the potential for an increase is there. Quest gets 0.91 - despite being on Freeview its lead over BT is not that significant. Where Eurosport does offer expansion is in the overseas market but when reading the publicity for this deal the key point is to read through the hype. Hopefully we will get increased figures, all 18 meetings live, in full and on the set dates and times. Experience suggests otherwise.