M.D

You bringing a lot of imaginery friends then?

Don't tell me, when you look in the window you see a reflection of KingoftheTrack looking back?

A sad weekend for British speedway, RIP Big Al

Really sad news, RIP Colin

To be fair its not really anything to do with Richard, he was the media guy so wouldnt have a clue what is going on.

Always believe.

With the very positive news about Newcastle, I thought I would bump this thread up. Newcastle are going to run, Oxford and Swindon could be back Eastbourne?

Fantastic news!

I very much doubt that unfortunately, agree with wishing them well..

They are willing and dont really make much out of it but the point is they do want speedway at the stadium but no they wont bank roll it Always believe

And this is a big problem for speedway that rents a stadia At the Arlington raceway, Eastbourne, they run Stocks, bangers but not dogs. They run bangers all season but they put on stocks for some very plumb dates during the year, New Years day, bank holidays etc. Im told that one of these big dates rakes in more money in one meeting than they get rent out of speedway in three years as they get all the food and drink outlets as well as gate receipts. The very BIG difference Eastbourne has over Newcastle or any other rented Stadia speedway has is that at Eastbourne, the owners of the stadium will go out of their way to see speedway at the stadium for the foreseeable future.

Apologies, didn't want to cause offence

Just a polite reply to you asking a personal question on a speedway forum, no offence meant.

Thats a bit personal, for all you know they could foster..

Just an air fence and BSPL bonds will set you back £50K if there are no rider assets

Keep the faith John and ignore the negatives, I've been in contact about my club, keep going please

And the clerk of the course is supplied from the home club

Sorry, I ment impartial

Yeah but it's not working and the Clerk of the course is not independent.

Something I think would be good for league meetings would be to have a guy to help with the running of a meeting out on track. Along the lines of what Phil Morris does at GP level Working with the ref, he would be responsible for the fast and smooth running of the meeting. Getting riders up to tapes in time, when a re run is needed stopping too much time from riders fiddling around and getting them back to tapes in quick time for the re start. Making sure that too much track doctoring is not going on from the home side between 4 heat breaks etc.. Just directing the meeting at track level to support the ref and making sure the meeting runs smoothly and quickly for the fans

A 'Fans owned club' had been looked at with Eastbourne, it's not just the running costs to take into account but the start up costs. The BSPL bond + rider asset bond required. Rider signing on fees, insurance, does the air fence require upgrading/replacing? All this takes up most if not more of season ticket sales before you start and thats an income you don't get through the gate all year as this has been paid up front. So out of the 500 gate maybe 100/120 have paid in full via a season ticket so you have a gate of really only 380 paying each week to keep cash flow running in a healthy state..

I agree with a lot of what you say here. Trouble is the sport is in an awful state with teams full of individuals that ride for multiple clubs each week, no idenity for the fans or riders. The only way I see this can change is to restructure the league system and stop a lot of the doubling up, I dont think it can stop fully, its always been with us to a lower extent. This will mean that the top league needs a few more clubs and a lower league that is yes, watered down but cost effective. Strip the league structure back to basics and start to put on more of a show and build from there..

I agree and I think the only way the sport can do this is by having a 2 league structure. A top league of 8 or more clubs a second league made up of semi Pro riders with the rest of the teams who wish to join with some form of pay structure Any other teams can run amateur challange matches and open events The top riders now in the championship will have to ride in just the pro league but they wont like it so this could be the stumbling block along with finding at least 8 teams who want to go pro

It would be better if you are funny but your not, thats from an Eastbourne fan too

Almost, but its a little more complex than we both have said