martin palmer

One thing I hope the BSPA bring in next year to help the british lads, is a fixed average for any brit moving up from the CL to PL ( or maybe EL) of 3 points, fixed for at least 2 seasons. Its seems rediculous to me that a rider like Craig Branny, who i rate highly, does well in the CL, is snapped up for the PL, only to exceed his 3 point starting average, and lose his team place because 4.5 is too difficult to fit into most teams building plans. Help the boys out by giving them 3 for at least 2 seasons...COME ON BSPA...YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE.

Millard is the Murray Walker of Speedway....Reminds me a little of Dave Lanning also.

Then go elite....with Januz, Bird, Morris and Zagar...a usefull start for a team...add in a couple of current EL boys and you could be away.

Have to say that BSI do appear to have massively revamped what was becoming a tired competition, and last nights meeting was something else. Its a real shame that the USA are not in this competition currently, because there is no doubt that a side containing Hancock, Hamill, Janniro, Fisher, Larsen...would have been entertaining, and may have made the final. Re the other nations not partaking, you could look at a European side...that could contain Norway, Russia, Slovinia etc. They do this in Golf. My one regret in the whole tournament is that the riders, as they have done for most of the previous WTC, race on their own. As a team event, in my view it could be more interesting if the race format meant that 2 riders per nation met in each heat ( did this a few years ago) but thats just my view.

Fantastic meeting. Roll on saturday and lets hope the brits can do it. One thing for sure.....it will be the team who wants it most that will win...and the team who takes no prisoners....kind of points towards the Danes I think.....

I guess that as Olsen is director of speedway for BSI, he gets the chance to have his say on track prep. You can bet you bottom dollar he will ask for it to be done the way the Danes like it though. We should have that call, as all home nations should have and usually do have some sort of advantage re track prep.

Its a very valid point actually. A team in second place say 4 points behind the leaders, would be disadvantaged against a team in 3rd 8 points behind the leaders, because they could use the Joker, so they could steal 2nd place and a place in the final. Thats seems a little unfair to me.

Concrete Cowboy...I agree with you. This year the pre meet entertaiment was ggod, the pre meeting parade very stunning and different, interval entertainment good, the fireworks spectacular....and much much better racing......a tough act to follow next year.......perhaps we can have Tom Jones ?

Got to say that it was brilliant to see ALL the fans getting behind the Brits...no matter what team they supported.

1st Crump 2nd. Adams 3rd. Gollob 4th. Rickardson Possible dark horses, hancock and Lukas Dryml.

PL or EL average....a very interesting question, and one that I shall be putting to Waggy tomorrow night at the Oxford Forum. In this new structure, guys like Shields, Harris, Bjerre, and Gjedde, could well establish themselves as proper Heatleaders, so it will be an interesting debate.

You could all try posting on the Oxford Forum for the attention of STEVE ROBERTS...He has a massive Video collection, inc 70s, 80s, and 90s. I am not saying that he will be willing to pat with them, but he may be able to run copies etc.

SHODDY...to be fair, not many EL Teams put their No1 Riders into their BL Cup Matches...only on exceptional occasions, so I dont think thats a fair comparison. With regard to the "There must be another way".....you would think so, but the Sport has been trying to control costs, unsuccessfully, for years, and have also been trying to tempt more Teams up, again unsuccessfully, so something has worked this time. The proof of the pudding will be at the end of next Season. If costs are reduced, the Competitons close, with good competative matches, then it should be deemed a success, and hopefully we can grow to 12 Teams next year..

To Non Speedway people, potential new Fans, and casual Fans, the "JOKER" means something to them, were the " Tactical Substitute" does not. The TS rule is very much an Internal Speedway term, and is not recognisable to folk on the fringes of the Sport. Thats my opinion anyway.

Firstly, I think some people are missing the plot with regard to gradings. QUESTION....Why did the BSPA vote them in? ANSWER....to ensure a distribution of at least 1 Top rider to the New Teams moving up ( something that has always failed to happen in the past), and also to reduce the costs, notably from High Wage demands from some Top riders, because they have been in short supply. Now this may sound very unfair, both to Fans who have to lose a favourite Rider ( or two), and also on the Riders, and who can blame them for wanting to earn as much as possible. But the simple fact is, that Speedway has been Spending more than it has been receiving, for several Seasons now, and it cannot go on. Any common Business sense will tell you that. You have to cut your cloth accordingly, and this is what the BSPA have done. If they had not, the EL would have folded completely next year, because Arena and Swindon would not have moved up, and Ipswich, and possibly Peterborough may have dropped down. I suspect that only 3 EL Clubs mad money last year. The rest would have lost substantial amounts. What we have got from the BSPA, is a Survival package, and a package, that with the continued support from Sky, just might work.

I am with Steve Shovelar here. I do not think it was a bad AGM, and in fact, some good decisions were taken. 10 Team in the EL...Brilliant, and if rider Grading has helped secure that, by freeing up some top Boys for Swindon and Arena, then Brilliant. Its a price worth paying for all EL Clubs. Doing away with doubling down, and doubling up ( in most cases) excellent, but I applaud the start of a Squad system by allowing all EL clubs to sign some young PL Guys on a double up basis. Bit confused by the new Joker system, but for many Non Speedway people, or casual Fans, they understand the Joker scenario far mor readily that a Tac Sub. Its also better for the reserves and second strings, means they have more rides. All in all, not bad.

Got to increase the Teams in the EL...at least to 10 Teams. Need to work with/around the GPs. They are here to stay, and currently, the EL Fans want to see the GP riders, so we have little choice. I would like to see the whole of the BSPA, getting behind an advertising push for all the Clubs who run meetings on different Race nights due to GPs....or, we are radicle, and introduce a proper Squad system, so the EL Teams can run on GP weekends. My only cncern for this would be if the Fans would turn out to watch ??

Nicki P as World Champion.....and who can say that on the night he did not deserve it. He has maintained his consistency over the year, and has ridden his luck, as all Champions do, on several occasions. Poor old Jason must be wondering just what he has to do...! In my opinion, he has been the best rider in the World over the last 2 years, but does not have much to show for it. Never mind Crumpy, there is always next year.

Re: Promotion and relegation, you only have to look towards Sweden to see that it can work. There would be a lot of organisation beforehand, and it would need give and take and flexability on all sides, but in my view, its an effort worth making.

Norbold....Think Ronnie Moore won the World Final with broken Toes, not a broken leg. Still amazing though. My fondest memory of a "Toughie" was Colin Goody. Alway tough on the track, and always ready for a Punch up off the track. Seem to remember some good scraps between him and Les Owen......Those were the days...

My prediction... 1st...Crump 2nd...Gollob 3rd...Trick 4th....hancock

Just makes you wonder if the future for Speedway in this country , at least at Club level, is similar to Conference, IE: basically enthusiasts, with expenses being covered.....not a thrilling thought, but with so few clubs from the EL or the PL actually making money, it does make me a little worried.

If we lose a number of the GP riders next year, Individual meetings like we used to have years ago, would become more poular again. If that was the only chance you had to see the likes of Crump, Rickardson, Adams etc, the Fans would turn out to watch.

Promotion and relegation has to be the ultimate objective, but we are a long way from getting near to that utopia. The main problem as i see it, is that there is such a gulf in most Teams, across all leagues, between the Top riders and the rest, and the Top Boys are in short supply. In my view, the only way it could work ( in the future) would be to merge all clubs together, EL and PL, and split them into 3 leagues, British league 1,2 &3....possibly 9 each in 1 & 2, and 8 in 3, ( the Conference league is still seperate)......divvy this up based on Club wealth, desire, attendances etc, radically reduce the Team strengths in Div 1, so that the Gulf is not wide, and then, you might make it work. The clubs with little or no money, would unlikely win promotion beyond Div 2, so the potential for a club refusing promotion would be minimised. A possible starting point could be.... ( and i only use this as an example)... DIV 1.....Team ave...42 Poole Coventry Eastbourne Oxford Wolves Peterborough Belle Vue Swindon Sheffield Div 2........Team ave...44 Ipswich Workington Edingburgh Arena Newcastle Rye House Stoke Kings Lynn Glasgow Div 3........Team ave...45 IOW Berwick Exeter Newport Reading Somerset Trelawney Hull Wimbledon ??? Mildenhall???? Sorry, any Fans of any team who thinks they should be in a higher league, no offence, this is an example only. This format could encourage Wimbledon and Mildenhall to make the jump. In addition to the League and KO Cup, for all leagues, you could have an interleague Cup, like the FA cup. I would also suggest 6 rider Teams in interests of costs. Promotion and relegation from that lot would be exciting. perhaps we could then encourage Sky to televise matches from across the leagues, and the season for the bottom Teams means something aslo. Only 1 Team promoted, and 1 Team relegated from each league. The current way of working out averages from riders moving leaguse would need to be changed, but a solution could be worked out. Therefore, if an 8 Point Div 1 rider wanted to stay with his club if relegated, could do so without carrying a 16 point ave. Maybe the rule would be for him to take the same ave as the current highest ave in the Div 2, so ex...Stonehewer on 10.5 in Div 2, so that ave would apply to this 8 point rider. I would suggest that 8 points be the max ave to be allowed to drop a league. With some work and some more thought, this would be radical, but could work.

An Independant Ruling body seems a good solution, but probably costly. We could get by with the current set up, but add on an independant Chief Exceutive, and this person would have the ultimate Power. ( Ivan Mauger or someone of similar stature?) The difficulty with all this is that its the Promoters putting up the cash, so they want to call the shots, so a major sea change is needed.