ouch

Robert’s attained an average of 7.81 at the end of the 2019 season. He signed for Belle Vue on an assessed average in 2022 due to the gap in league racing. He was given the 2.5% British reduction, bring him down to 7.61. In 2023 he signed for Kings Lynn on an assessed average but he didn’t get his 2.5% reduction this time. As an assessed rider without a current average he didn’t ride 4H & 4A so his average remains as assessed using the old 2019 figure of 7.81. However….. His average could be anything as come the play offs in 2023 he was suddenly deemed to not be an assessed rider and his 2019 figure was “current”. If they follow through with this thinking then they will need to role his average using the 2H & 4A from his Kings Lynn meetings. I don’t see this happening as the only reason he suddenly became not assessed was when Damian Bates of Sheffield speedway contacted Damian Bates of the BSPL board to ask for permission to use Robert Lambert. Damian gave Damian permission to do so, winning Sheffield the league title. Coincidentally, the year before Damian had asked Damian if the rules could be applied differently to help Sheffield win the league. Earlier in the season Peterborough had signed a replacement outside of the transfer window. It was allowed due to injury. When Belle Vue attempted to apply the same rule in the same way, Damian spoke to Damian and overturned the rulebook. Fortunately for the good of the sport a judgement was made from outside the sport and the correct use of the rulebook was forced through, much to the delight of all fair minded speedway fans and BSF members.

I’ve said since seeing the Arenacross in Manchester a few years ago that speedway needs to move with the times and go indoors and only run 3 to 5 events per year. That proposal fell on deaf ears much as the t shirt cannon did. We now find ourselves where we are unsurprisingly. From now on I’ll get my kicks from Arenacross in Manchester, when’s the date for their next moneyspinner? I’d even travel to their other English events from now on, could someone post a list?

I wondered how long it would be before it was Belle Vue’s fault (as one of the other Premiership owners). Took longer than I thought but it’s finally arrived. I’ll bring it up with them when I next see them so if you could provide some bullet points as to their wrong doing I’ll post their response.

There is more than enough people know about speedway to fill tracks to capacity every meeting. They choose not to attend because they don’t like speedway. I don’t visit away tracks now because I don’t like it. You can do all the conventional advertising methods you want and it will achieve very little in the long term. We need to focus on why people don’t like speedway and not about telling them it exists. Belle Vue have several slots on local news but the 250k-500k who watch it don’t come along once they know about it. This fact is true of ALL the marketing methods we have used. The only thing I see working is some modern day social media guru working their magic to create the fomo effect. I have now idea how this actually works, unfortunately. I disagree about your view on getting friends onboard. Refer a friend and recommendations are a massive part of businesses push for custom. Monzo, Octopus energy, Sky plus many restaurant chains do it and with sites like Trustpoilt and Tripadvisor looking at customers reviews to help bring people in, we will have to agree to disagree on this point.

I disagree that less than 0.1% of fans who follow the sport are drawn to the big names. We’ve had Ipswich fans stating many times how crowds increased when Jason & Emil came on board. Maybe we could do some kind of test where we run on a Sunday without the big names. If they charged less admission then it can only be a great success - can’t it? We could all do our own national marketing campaign at no cost to the sport. Just ask 50 family, friends, colleagues etc to come along. There’s no better salesperson available than us speedway nuts. A million extra fans, brilliant.

QED

Two meetings in a week and one of them being shown on BSN. I reckon more saw The Aces meeting just not necessarily at the track.

Agree. Better riders bring better crowds and I’m looking forward to seeing them in UK leagues whilst I can.

There are riders available and fans will soon get use to a new normal. There will probably be a steep drop off in attendance as a £20-£25 admission charge may seem high for what’s on offer but that will be offset by the lower wage bill. More clubs will no doubt be lost to the sport as will riders who feel a big reduction in fixtures doesn’t pay well enough. We need to stop with this obsession of being better and having the best grace our tracks and just deliver a level the fans demanded and deserve and leave the cream of the sport to Poland and the other speedway nations whilst we run our semi professional events. At the end of the day it’s still four lads doing four laps. Connor Mountain Freddy Hodder Jake Mulford Jack Smith Sam Hagon Harry Fletcher Billy Budd V Jordan Jenkins Ace Piper Paul Starke Vinnie Ford Simon Lambert Eli Meadows Sam Woods

Difficult to predict. 😀 2019 Poole sorry I mean Leicester beat Glasgow 2020 Poole v Glasgow* 2021 Poole beat Glasgow 2022 Poole beat Glasgow 2023 Glasgow beat Poole 2024 Poole beat Glasgow oops I mean Oxford 2025 Poole beat Glasgow 2026 Poole v Glasgow To soften the blow of three play off defeats to Poole, Glasgow beat Edinburgh when they met for the tenth time last season. *postponed due to Covid. 2019, Poole were unable to meet Glasgow in the play offs as they were in a different league.

A terrific addition to their presence on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram (looking at their website). Belle Vue take note and add it to your presence on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube & Instagram (looking at their website).

Coincidently Northampton’s new rider manager.

Godfrey did ask if she’d like to see his tip.

Most of the junior championships have been stand alone events at Belle Vue. It’s only since Covid that they have followed our junior team meetings. Unfortunately, speedway fans talk the talk when it comes to supporting junior development and just don’t come out in any numbers. It’s someone else’s problem. With regards the last question then no recent rider has made an impact from any track that supports youth development - yet. It doesn’t happen that quickly. The current one that has made an impact is our Dan but unfortunately Peter Collins, Andy Smith, Joe Screen, Carl Stonehewer, Dan Bewley types don’t come along that often. https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/16008/round-belle-vue-13-2016 https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/17086/round-belle-vue-05-2017 https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/18095/round-belle-vue-28-2018 https://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/19002/round-belle-vue-22-2019 https://www.speedwaygbarchive.co.uk/britishyouth20

No, it’s not correct.

A disappointing but understandable decision from Belle Vue not to enter an NDL team but to concentrate on grass routes development to hopefully unearth enough talent to fill a seventh team in the future. It was a struggle last season filling a team and with lads graduating out of the league it would have been harder this year. Couple this with Buxton opening twenty odd miles away and it’s a no brainer to not be unnecessarily competing with them for local lads and custom whilst they look to cement their place back in the sport. It’s been a big financial burden over all these years but a necessary one given the general dearth of rider development in this county. Theres trying times ahead for top flight clubs so it’s understandable that some will look to cost cutting and reading the bigger picture when it’s required. To all the many ex Colts gracing our leagues I saluted you and wish you all the best.

Any team would welcome him as a great all rounder. In the same bracket as Jaimon and Doyle who have similar home, away and overall averages. https://britishspeedway.co.uk/2025-rider-statistics/

Sorry I must of misinterpreted the declarations. Maybe rolling figures are to blame. Following his returning assessed average he went 7.71, 7.79 before finishing on 8.05 which falsely shows an increase over the season.

I agree, which makes Kildermand a shrewd signing as there is only six or seven riders with a higher starting average than him in this years championship.

So true.

Top stars bring people in it’s just the slow death of the sport that makes it seem that they don’t. Remove them and you’ll see a further jump in the drop in attendance. One very vocal critic of the current state of the sport said he’d turn up if his favourite top star was in attendance, no matter how repetitive his appearances. What has been the feedback from your 50 family & friends about attending regularly?

It would indeed. Be interesting to see how long they danced to his tune. You want an average changing - no problem, a guest when it’s not allowed - fine or a foreigner who’s not eligible - go on then. You want what? sorry no. Hey come back, we need you.

Must admit it’s not really aimed at me as I’m happy with my programme and chatting to people nearby. Top of my head would be….. Stats. Home, away, overall, performance at a particular track. News, both local and international for our team of riders. Fixtures and tickets. League table. Race info. Transponder info, passing inc passing after B3 L1, match ups - past and present. Predict the result. Meeting, race, individual scores. Gate performance info. Replays on demand. Votes for ref decisions, best rider and other fun categories. 50/50 raffle available via the app. Car share/coach information for away trips. Ultra local weather forecasts with track webcam footage leading up to tapes up. Pre meeting interviews. Rider colouring pages for young and old. Some kind of speedway themed game, addictive if possible. Meat raffle.

A the NSS we get a race followed by the cool down lap with wheelies, celebration etc. Then the race finishing order is announced both on the tannoy and big screen. Replays come up on the big screen then the two minutes are announced and the riders come out. During the four grading breaks we then have more on the big screen plus interviews and Chase doing his thing. The only addition to all this is the kids game and 50/50 draw at the interval. It would need a big smash or the weather to turn bad for this schedule to elongate. I’m happy with this to be honest and the only addition I’d make would be the introduction of an app giving more meat on the bones about the meeting and to provide more interaction, oh and a meat raffle.

The necessary evil was an often touted phrase back in the day but that went out of the window when the rulebook demanded a guest for a missing number six and after 75% of your fixtures you cannot replace a seventh member if injured, it has to be RR or guest. Unnecessary.