greyhoundp

If its true,then i cant believe EVERYONE has to suffer due to the complete INCOMPETANCE of The BSPA, jeez if this wasnt such a worrying situation The BSPA has gotten itself into, then outsiders might think it is hilarious.

Excuse me montie, just how far is Coventry from Leicester..????? and that means we will never see a return for Hull due to the 30 mile ruling, somehow i dont think that rule is enforcable.

Its just a pity this Stadium is not Near Dudley; http://meadowcourtstadium.co.uk/gallery/ They have excellant facilities, and could put in a great track, are privately owned guys name is Ted, so to ALL prospective promoters step forward and contact him, he is very amenable, likes a gamble so personally if someone will talk the talk i think there are possibilities. or as an alternative there is Askern greyhound Track, but probably only suitable for NL racing. http://askerngreyhoundstadium.weebly.com/the-track.html

Looks like we have lost Plymouth, and good luck to them deservedly appear to have been offered that PL place, unless they still run a NL Team

Haha Neill in reply,Dudley didnt win anything bcuz they were not good enough, i didnt want to highlight some using of rules to their advantage by a Team i have always respected, but at the same time how can you have two Commonwealth riders of similar ability one on a 3 point average and one on a 5 point average ?? surely to have them all on a 5 point average is much fairer, its imaterial if they have a British passport <Technically>, where are they now ?? in the UK ??, no they choose to live in Australia, and i note some ride against the Young Brits in Australia at the moment. Back to two points minimum from three, i tied this in with a minimal points reduction from 42 to 40, by the way who decides who is a three ?? Maybe i am old fashioned, but i have NEVER agreed with play offs, at the end of the season each Team should have ridden each other home and away, they are Champions end of, play offs are just an idea to have 1 other money making home meeting, and to please SKY, in the case of the Elite League. How the heck can a Team include a rider who is going to miss a large chunk of meetings due to unavailability for a reason other than injury..? unless it is tactical reasons, I remember years ago Alf Busk, Coventry rider he was covered by RR many times didnt like the rule then, dont like it now. Where in that post did i imply that i said i didnt agree with the play offs to decide things in 2010, and finally i take it YOU are perfectly happy SQUEEZING important fixtures in at the tail end of the season, when there are blank weekends when the weather is far more suitable throughout June/July/August, yes 10 home League meetings spread over 5 months when you include April/May WOW thats difficult to arrange..

I would expect the League to be finalised later than the early December date, but i expect new rules to be decided at this early December date, the later acceptance date will enable Teams such as Mildenhall, and Weymouth to finalise any negotiations to be completed.

Taken from the BSPA site That was a quote from Jonathan Chapman so it appears "The Young Stars" will be running in some form in 2011.

1.I just hope that all Commonwealth riders partiality or not, are given 5 point averages, to have someone come in on a 3 point average,who finishes with a 7 plus,gives that Team a distinct advantage, and encourages NL Promoters to look abroad rather than give UK Youngsters a Team Place. 2.The minimum average should be a 2 point average,and hopefully we can see all Teams have to include 1 Two pointer in there team. 3.The NL to have a 40 point Overall team building limit. 4. Guests only allowed for an absent No 1 rider. 5. RR only allowed for absent Heat leaders, who have been absent on not more than three occasions, this will eliminate RR for riders who are reguarly absent throughout the season for whatever reason. 6. The League Championship decided by Total points ie NO Play Offs. 7. The League Shield, to be decided by Top Four Teams racing Home and away against each other. 8. All League meetings to be completed by August 14th. 9. NL Trophy to be competed for by Teams who finish 5th to 8th in the League. 10. KO Cup to remain the same, but completed by end of July. 11. No 4 Team Tournament. 12. No Pairs event. 13. NL riders Championship. 14. NL Junior Riders Championship Under 18 at Jan 1st 2011, or a similar format encouraging riders who are perhaps not No1,s or Heat Leaders. These are just a few ideas that i would like to see introduced at the NL agm or variations on these.

I would just like to say I welcome The Potters to the NL, yes on paper it may look to be a step down, but sometimes in life you first have to go backwards to go forwards, yes the racing may not be so fast but i can assure you,these young guys for the most part, will give there all for and against you, i will look forward to my visits up to Stoke in 2011, will make a nice change to stop off at Stoke rather than drive thru on my way to Buxton. Good luck, and dont get to downhearted, at least YOU still have a Team and Track.

May i take it that Plymouth will be running NL for 2011, so it appears we have lost Weymouth from last year, but have gained Stoke, there remains the possibility of both Weymouth and Mildenhall, and possibly at least 1 other, but i would hazard a guess some enterprizing EL or PL promoter may test the water by running a NL Team on Saturday/Sunday under the auspices of a defunct Team.

Cant see that Leicester will be ready for the PL, this year, but the NL is a different proposition altogether, also things seem to have gone a little silent on Sittingbourne for the PL, would the NL be an option for them in there 1st season..?

Well,well i never expected Stoke Potters to be entered into the NL, yes i could have forseen them entering a team under the banner of Crewe Kings, but dropping down from the PL that i never imagined.

Cant see Brum going EL <wheres the egg> Gary patchett said he only broke even in two meetings prior to August, Brum is not exactly an affluent place at the moment,and its not alone in this, the only way this would/could happen is if The Elite offered some stupendous financial incentive, along with a MAJOR sponsor being forthcoming, Yes Brum could support an Elite League team, but it would need to be fairly succesful ON Track to achieve this,and not just make up the numbers for Sky.. I await the news on this with baited breath.

Gary, its great to see you are moving ahead to the next step for Under 21 Speedway in America, including the qualifier in Rivne, however it would be nice to see a few meetings with some NL Teams, namely The Heathens, Buxton and MM,s promotion down at Newport which could be an Under 21 versus Wales. I would love to see The Heathens host a double Header on a Sunday at Monmore 1st Meeting versus The Heathens, 2nd meeting versus a Under 21 English Team, sure to be a crowd puller on a weekend date. Good luck with you and your guys for 2011.

Steve, YOU just have to bring Boogaloo back before he gets to Old but of course it would have to include at least 1 date at either Monmore or Perry Barr, it may also be an idea to have Boogaloos spanner man <Blonde haired guy in the 80s> come with him initials are BP but only as Boogaloos spanner man of course, what other PR would you need for the Dream Team...lol.

Maybe in the NL its better to have a topic on the NL for which Teams intend to run in the NL in 2011, rather than Individual Teams signings I am happy to say The Heathens intend to run NL when they have reached agreement with their Landlords for 2011.

Yes great to see Rye House will be running in the NL, despite some of the doom and gloom some people on here forcast for The NL in 2011, so i make that two teams who have made there intentions clear to run in 2011.

Parsloes, I used to be kennelhand for a greyhound trainer and visited Doncaster, Coventry, Belle Vue, Perry Barr, Swindon, Monmore, Wimbledon, Sheffield,and more recently Poole and except for the prime Friday/Saturday nights i can assure you greyhound racing in the UK is struggling, go along in mid week and barely 150 will be at most tracks,daytime meetings on the BAGS it will be 1 man and his dog there, then its safe to assume Speedway will also struggle during mid week, its also usually £6 to attend a greyhound race meeting as opposed to £10+ at most speedway meetings. But my main point is surely its time put on meetings ie weekends for the NL which is on the whole far more easy to attend than midweek meetings, that is what i fail to understand with promoters they are reluctant to move with the times, if they are unsure,then put on a trial Saturday/Sunday afternoon meeting and see what the response to that is, nothing ventured nothing gained. One of the best supported nights i ever visited at a greyhound meeting was on a summers SUNDAY evening at Sheffield, when they put on a charity night, every race was sponsored by a local business, and 50% of the gate takings were given to a local Charity, and a raffle was taken amongst the crowd altogether a figure in excess of 4 figures was raised, but also it raised the profile of greyhound racing locally. Its just a small idea that could be used for a speedway Benefit meeting once per year, all local Radio stations and some TV stations will happily give free publicity for such an event, and local newspapers, maybe local businesses will not only sponsor a race, but also sponsor a rider for the evenings racing, again alll good publicity for all sides concerned, but does Speedway involve itself in this sort of thing, i am afraid to say they do not, except for collections for The Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund.

This is where "Promoters" need to get the race day/night right, i noticed at The Heathens meetings, there were very,very few away supporters, understandable really as i myself find it difficult to attend mid week meetings home or away due mostly to work. I can see NO great or understandable reason why MOST if not ALL NL meetings cannot be held on a Weekend, when most people can attend most meetings, is there any reason for instance if Buxton ride against another Sunday team they cannot hold there home fixture for that week on that Saturday ??, now we may only be talking here about 50 or so extra supporters per meeting, but thats an extra £500 per week "Mildenhall" and others would be glad of that £500 per week over the season, my own team The Heathens are able to race on a Sunday, and i would almost guarantee even they would have more through the gate if they raced on a Sunday, but due to Greyhound racing it would prove almost impossible to have an alternative raceday on Saturday, so maybe main raceday Sunday, with the alternative day being Friday or Tuesday. With NO Elite League racing being held on weekends here is an Oportunity for enterprising EL/PL Promoters to test the water as The Heathens have done, and run a NL team under a <Defunct Near track name> Reading/Bristol at Swindon as an example, and offer reduced admission if they attended the EL meeting prior to the NL meeting. Bournemouth would have more people attend on a Saturday/Sunday than what they get on Wednesday nights,of that i am certain. A weekend in Poole/Bournemouth is far more attractive than a weekday meeting of taking time off work driving down to Poole over 3 1/2 to four hours, then a 3 1/2 hour drive back, and waking up after a few hours sleep to go to work the next morning, not very attractive for anyone really, and almost impossible for ordinary working people, the days of 8 till 5 jobs are increasingly on the decrease, and more often than not they involve shift work of all types including my own Continental shift pattern which i hate. This IMO is where the Promoters need to focus some of there attention ON getting race Days/Nights right, and for me weekend NL racing is the way forward, even Bournemouth may prove viable were they to try this. Lets look at the Plus points for spectators and riders, and promoters; 1. Easier for most supporters to attend due to less work commitments on weekends. 2. For the most part it is easier to travel around the Country on weekends. Both of these points apply to riders and spectators alike, and one of the minor plus points for Promoters is there will be no need for Saturday/Sunday afternoon meetings to use Floodlights in early/late season meetings. Whilst I am on the subject; I am surprised no one else picked up on my point of JOINT promotions with there Landlords at <Greyhound race Tracks> Speedway on the whole has far larger attendances than Greyhound nights, and for a reduction in rent joint promotions could be offered by both parties, as i feel Greyhound racing would have far more to gain from this in attendance figures than Speedway, but the real benefit would be in reduced rental for Speedway promotions.

Yes i agree R.R is useful in some instances,maybe a way round it is,ONLY use a rider as RR whose average over HIS LAST FOUR meetings is comparable to the rider he replaces,this MAY stop stronger replacements being used than the rider they replace, this ruling was taken advantage of in some instances in 2010 and before.

As i posted earlier in this Topic,i would not be at all surprised to see an actual increase in NL Teams for 2011, so far there has been only one definate alleged resignation "Bournemouth" i would be 95% sure something will happen at Mildenhall, and i personally would be dissapointed if there was less than a 12 strong NL League for 2011. Other teams may follow Dudleys lead now they have shown an example in running a succesful and PROFITABLE NL Team, under a different name,and not as just a 2nd team under the same name..

NL agm, is on April 1st.

Congratulations to Buxton, hard luck Newport, and so near but so far for our guys at The Heathens. Yes i agree Simon, the R.R facility really is open to abuse, and i alluded to this earlier in the topic.R.R for riders who are unavailable for whatever reason, yes i see the point of putting out a Team that is worth watching, but it is presently open to allow teams who have a strong reserve to take advantage <Jerran Hart Bournemouth 2009> tho i am not saying they did. Also dates that the play offs have to ridden by without getting into the CIRCUS we have had over the last couple of weeks, quite simply when the cut off date has been reached, the next Home meeting for the Teams becomes the play off SF, then the following meeting becomes the POF. The KO Cup must be raced for in the 1st half of the season and the final held by the end of july, this will stop play offs and KO meetings clashing with dates at the end of the season.This will also then allow Teams that have not qualified for the Play offs to compete for the National Trophy, which surely is what the NL trophy is best suited to.

Yes,i agree Vince,but what if a rider is signed and the team knows beforehand he will miss most mid week matches due to work commitments.???

. Under the play off system finishing top of the league is irrelevant. Seems to me, it is the play offs which are now irelevant, and with the way end of seasons are being organised, its no wonder crowd figures are down, and speedway is fast digging itself into a black hole, which it may prove difficult to get out of, with its OUT DATED and short sighted <make it up as you go along> approach, to important fixtures. Play off dates need to be put into The diary at the beginning of the season, more meetings need to be held early in the season, rather than having blank weekends, and then one great rush to fit them in before the cut off date,so simple but then this is Speedway, and Speedway doesnt do simple.