RobMcCaffery

I suggest you look up the definition of the words sport and sporting. Sport can be charitable but sadly much has become a cynical, ruthless, money-grabbing business.

Yes, Belle Vue raced on Mondays, but certainly not out of choice and it nearly killed them at the dog track. When the NSS opened it gave them the lifeline of switching back to Fridays. Now that lifeline's been cut. Still, Wolves, King's Lynn and Poole are ok.....

Good luck. It seems the crucial point is to totally reject Brandon Estates' claim that the site is redundant, that both sports have moved on to alternate venues and that there is no professional interest in running the sports at the stadium. This is where the supporters can make a difference in proving there is still a demand for the sports, that the running of the Bees at Leicester is and can only be a temporary move, rather like Coventry City's enforced short-term move to Northampton, and that there are promotions waiting to take it on. In the case of the stock cars I would imagine there would be quite a queue. Bear in mind for BriSCA stock car racing Brandon is their equivalent of Manchester's NSS and if it is their leverage that is needed then it must be totally embraced. Brandon is one track where speedway and stock cars have shared in harmony for decades. That unity is never more vital than now.

It's sad (that was edited!) that a serious attempt to make a point about the relative state of speedway in response gets petty point-scoring drivel from the usual suspects. Tony mentioned that he couldn't comment on ice hockey. I don't have involvement with that sport these days but their league structure until recently has been similar to ours, with a small top division supported by a middle section of around a dozen clubs but then, unlike us, regionalised hockey in the third and fourth tiers. I noticed when taking a look at the structure during the winter that their second tier appeared to have self-destructed with the former members now picking up the pieces in the regionalised minor leagues. Yes, we're not the only sport with problems but we are the only one where it ios pressures from overseas that are damaging the sport domestically. I've said before the BSPA has its great limitations but I rather feel sorry for them trying to face up to the onslaught of Poland, BSI and One Sport and having to surrender weekends for the top tier in response. They weren't really equipped for the battle. Football is a sport apart, if only for the money. You only have to look at the success of Manchester City and Chelsea, backed up by virtually unlimited subsidy from private individuals and their businesses to see that the sport side is rapidly disappearing. Sadly football has been relentlessly hyped so far in the 25 years since it sold its soul to Murdoch that normal economic factors are long gone. Despite protests the clubs can practically charge what they like and run up debts with impunity that they can walk away from, just creating new phoenix clubs where necessary when it gets too bad. People though let them get away with it because football is simply too important to them, and they will put up with anything and pay anything for their 'fix'. I use that last word carefully. Yes, UK speedway's in a state, but it's far from being all the BSPA's fault. With skills which they sadly don't possess they might have been able to deflect some of the harm done by foreign pay-days but. in reality they were on a hiding to nothing. It might help if the 'supporters' who mouth off here might actually see the bigger picture than whingeing about 'watered down' leagues and accepted that structural change is sadly vital and on the whole we simply can't afford to pay the top talent, although some are somehow finding the cash. More fool them. It's time for the genuine speedway fans to stand by their sport, make allowances and for those who are simply in it for championships and the 'glamour' of names to let the rest of us try to enjoy what we still have and work to rebuild the sport rather than play pathetic 'whooshing' and 'fishing' games in this forum. The BSF should be a sounding board for ideas to rescue and rebuild UK speedway. Sadly it seems that's beyond the playground mentalities of too many 'heroes' hiding behind their hilarious false names.

When I was directly involved in the sport I used to wonder how successful it would be if the promoters kept the rivalries on track and stopped wasting so much time shafting each other off-track. For too many it seems to be some kind of very expensive power game.

Again, very wise words. The sport in Britain needs a thorough rebuild from the bottom upwards. Get the foundations right then focus on building the top layers. Making the sport value for money, or to leave the customer believing they have had value for money is fundamental. A credible structure with a solid, respected rule book and a focus on the customer is a crucial start. Giving the customers credible teams with minimal absences, racing to make them want to return and a regular and reliable fixture list is the next layer. Once you have a sustainable product then start shouting about it to the world. To even begin to follow that path there has to be a massive change in attitude in all corners of the sport. Somehow, despite all that has decayed so far I don't think there is the will, intelligence or integrity to tackle the job .... yet.

Mark, I do want to watch the meetings. They are speedway and I love the sport. But I can also have my reservations whether the meeting should be staged. Yes money comes into the sport - and goes straight to the wealthiest sector of it, Poland. Few benefit overall except those already coining it in. I've worked in speedway and followed it as a supporter for long enough (getting on for half a century now) to hopefully have earned a voice, now whether you don't like what I say, if you can understand it, if I feel that a point needs to be raised for the good of the sport I will. I leave it to others to have their petty wind-ups and vendettas. If I have to switch off the TV just because I feel that something is wrong, can I suggest you switch off the forum if you equally see something you don't like? Everything I have said or done in the sport has been for what I believe to be the sport's own good. Obviously I will often be wrong, but my comments are genuine and honest, unlike much of the drivel posted on the BSF, and I am not afraid of putting my own name to what I say, instead of hiding behind a pseudonym like a coward.

Your mention of Eleven Sports reminds me of a bit of media news from the past week. Despite not having a broadcast channel in the UK Eleven have outbid Sky for the UK rights to Spanish La Liga football. This may be offered as online streaming or it could mean that they are considering launching a UK channel. With their involvement in Polish speedway it might be an interesting development over here in time.

If that 'tail' didn't keep supplying your league with tracks you'd be in even a far worse position than you are now.

Of course if you're a regular Monday or Wednesday night track then the new arrangement's great. That takes care of three tracks, while Swindon have mainly kept their Thursdays. Now what about the other half of the league? The argument to adopt fixed race nights was to avoid guests caused by fixture clashes. The situation with Denmark blows that straight out of the water.

There are various conversion web sites that use prices and incomes history to give the historic value of money. The main one I use http://inflation.iamkate.com/ shows £1 in 1980 being worth just under £5 today. So, a £17 admission today would convert to about £3.50 back in 1980. I seem to remember admissions were about £1 in 1980 so on that basis in real terms speedway is well over three times as expensive now.

Well it does help if you have the basic facts if you're trying to persuade someone you know what you're talking about.....

Agree 100%. Nonetheless I'm sure you are exactly right ;-) The Monday and Wednesday race nights suited Poole & Wolverhampton but could kill other tracks. I suspect Rue House will soon be in trouble. They were reportedly getting great crowds early last season, but that was when they were racing reliably on Saturdays. I doubt whether a fragmented series of Wednesdays and the odd Monday is going to work. The point about trying to use talent that can't be afforded, it looks like our crowds are now down to the level of semi-pro football, say their National League or its lower regional divisions. Can you imaging those clubs filling their teams with players commuting in from all corners of Europe! It's the economics of the madhouse. 'Names' may count amongst speedway supporters but the people who we need to attract don't know them. It's time to wake up and fit the costs to the revenue, then re-grow so that both will rise enough to start allowing the higher-ranked riders in due course, assuming we need them and their luxury costs. Some riders seem to want the lifestyle of F1 and Moto GP racers. You don't get that in front of 700 people in Manchester.....

First showing on Freesports is 9pm on Thursday. The following week it's Wednesday at 10pm so it looks like the pattern is going to be live on Premier then one or two days' delay on Freesports.

The best way to reward a sportsman for their efforts on your team's behalf is to support them later when the going gets tough. It seems that Rye House has quickly adapted to the top tier, love them when they're winning but the moment anything goes wrong put the boot in. As for the pathetic excise of "We pay their wages, we can say what we like", well firstly you don't pay the wages, the promoter does, and with the state of modern speedway in this country the 'fans' only make a contribution. The proof of a true supporter lies not in how they deal with victory, but how they deal with defeat. Constant calls to sack this guy or that guy do NOTHING to help. Yes, you can say what you like, within the law, but it doesn't mean you should. A grain of intelligence might be useful.

Because they have imported many of the factors crippling the top tier: chaotic fixture lists, excessive guests and costs. It's also been busy supplying tracks to prop up the higher tier and as a result has become predominantly a shrunken east coast league with large tracts of the country remote from its members. The guest problem is hopefully being addressed this year but the clash between Swindon's fixtures and those of the Thursday CL tracks has already arisen. The road ahead is not to create a league based on today's CL but one based on, for argument's sake the original British League where the few surviving National League (D1) teams finally realised they had to work on the Provincial League's (D2) terms to build one strong, healthy league with a robust, varied fixture list and teams that the sport could afford, the latter achieved through rider control, later points limits. An amalgamation would not be an instant remedy but it would be a significant step forward in providing realistic fixture lists and hopefully teams where guests are a rarity. As ever, it's a little more complex than saying "Well, if the second tier's so good then why aren't they getting better crowds?". Evils that cripple the top tier affect all levels of our sport. Continuity and team stability are key to getting the faith back of the disappearing supporters, but most crucially we must re-create a sport with credible governance, where riders don't treat it as easily avoidable paid practice for more important pay days elsewhere, and give a sense of value for money and leave people wanting more. Sadly today we seem to be dependent on those who don't really care for the sport, just the glory of their team winning. That may work in football but not ion a minority sport like ours.

Pre 1990 it was only the communist isolation of Poland and the consequent lack of hard currency there that held them back in terms of world speedway, and I'm not necessarily talking about the riders and their equipment. Under the planned economy sport was tightly regulated and highly subsidised. In a society where consumer goods were partly-restricted or extremely expensive sport was a cheap way to enjoy life. Speedway in Poland, raced in stadia usually built with public money, attracted huge crowds even back then and once the old system fell and Poland could trade in hard currency the floodgates opened to hiring foreign talent to entertain their huge crowds. The explosion of conversion to a western consumer society saw a wave of controversially-regulated opportunism in business and sport now saw the benefits of sponsorship and large TV audiences to back up the crowds in the stadia. With that momentum it's no surprise that Polish Speedway now dominates and that with all of their money on offer they wanted to expand from just one day a week racing to a full weekend. Sadly, weakened by the BSI calendar robbing us of Saturdays and many Fridays it's Britain that's had to give way. We used to be the honey pot for riders, now it's Poland and we're left with the wreckage. There are many reasons for the success of Polish Speedway and the failure of the British version and it is far wider than us having bad promoters and them having great ones. Despite the wealth over there there has been a disgusting trail of unpaid debts caused by insanely false promises. You could understand British promoters struggling to pay their commitments but not a Polish equivalent with 10,000+ crowds! We cannot compete with Poland and it's not all about BSPA incompetence. Wouldn't it be great if we had local government, sponsors and thousands of customers paying for great stadia? Apart from the case of Belle Vue we don't and have to get by with what we have. If we can't compete we must isolate and rebuild under our own terms. We must not have our best tracks racing on the worst nights.

We are in a vicious downward spiral. Part of it comes from Poland, part from BSI and partly through domestic incompetence, some of it just bad luck. For many years life for me living in east London revolved around speedway, not through my commitments in the sport but as a fan. Friday night was speedway night at Hackney and Sunday was the day to see my beloved Rockets at Rye House. The idea of doing other things on Friday nights or Sunday afternoons was just inconceivable. Yes the close season was hell for me. Thankfully both of my 'local' tracks ran full seasons so the close season really was only four and a half months of relative hell. Of course that wasn't enough and the temptation of 'extras' at Reading, Wimbledon, White City and Canterbury, Crayford then later Arena Essex were always there. The core was Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. Now it's a mess. I live in the west country so my closest option for speedway at the weekend nearer than 100 miles away is Stoke. Still the scenery and pace of life is better than Upton Park.... I do have several tracks much closer to home, all running midweek and it seems whenever I'm able to go they're not running! Going back to running full seasons and on the nights that pay is not idle nostalgia, it's a vital necessity. It means running independently of international interests and ideally one large league with a supporting equivalent such as the present National League. One main league avoids doubling-up. Not using riders who have contracts in Poland will also cut out more absences. Instead of doubling-up a much larger league will give overall more bookings for riders than if they were in two British leagues thus removing the need. The key problem, apart from allowing for the fact that further 'names' will have to be lost is that I suspect that the sort seasons are favoured by promotions because they budget for a loss over the year, a budget that will only pay for about 14 meetings. The painfully-thin fixture lists in the CL this year with just 10 home league matches a year is a new low for the professional leagues. It's not those of us wishing to learn from the past who are the dreamers, it's those who think we can keep struggling on as we are blindly hoping that riders and fans will magically return. Whether the sport has the intelligence to make the necessary changes is doubtful though. It'll stagger on. How long can you stagger on your knees by the way? Mind you, for most here as long as their team's winning many who use the BSF won't care - until they find themselves facing a track closure.....

I think you're exactly right but the key problem will be persuading those who worship 'names' that this right. We need, sadly, to isolate ourselves from Poland before their needs and demands destroy what remains of British Speedway. Unfortunately losing the remaining 'names' is probably too much for the short-sighted that post here. People believed the fairy tale that switching to fixed nights would bring back the 'names'. It didn't, only money and the occasional bout of loyalty (c.f. Jason Doyle) will. We need to rebuild and get our weekends back. All we are doing now is retreating to accommodate the needs of the Poles and their chequebooks.

For the first time since league speedway began we are now 'enjoying' the first year when top-level speedway will not be staged in Britain at weekends (including Friday nights), with the exception of Cardiff. Once we had six senior tracks racing on Saturday nights with several more racing on the also lucrative Fridays. Now we have none. Fridays and non-GP Saturdays are Poland's playground now. Add in endless breaks in continuity and you have a toxic situation, as I fear several tracks will find to their literal cost. From a six day a week sport, top level speedway is now on two nights that nobody else really wants. The sport and its supporters will wake up one day, as usual far too late.

Thank you very much.

That has to be the easiest game of "Where's Wally?" ever known...... I take it the Echo are trying to put their readers off going to Wimborne Road. That reminds me, The Living Dead's on.......

They say ignorance is bliss. You must be very happy. Attack is often the best form of defence. Not in this case. No wonder you have to hide behind a stupid name. I'd be ashamed to put my name to comments like that too.....

I wrote it on the morning of the decisive match. There was only a slim mathematical possibility but if I'd said they were already down the usual suspects would have hijacked the thread. The Gulls' supporters now face more balls in the media than they ever saw on the pitch.....

You have had it explained to you already. Speedway For All was a very useful service that carried 30 minute edits of Polish meetings showing all heats. Speedway Portal is a UK service that just carries interviews. They are entirely different. It is Speedway For All that has featured in this section of the forum, not Speedway Portal. Just because Speedway Portal puts this stuff online it doesn't mean that anyone watches them apart from fans of the tracks 'covered'. Fans can be 'weird so and sos' but not necessarily for the reason you have chosen to use here. Please feel free to thoroughly piss off Holsted.... Anyway, back to the matter in hand rather than this irrelevance, it is amazing that Speedway For All survived so long.