Ben91

There are umpteen other forms of entertainment that offer better value for money.

I found a nice restaurant a number of years ago, I’d go there regularly to eat. Over the years the prices started to rise and the standard of food started to slip. The last time I went I was served a steaming pile of turd in a bun. I told the proprietor I wasn’t going to eat it or pay for it, he told me to take it or leave it so I left.

Perhaps the books don’t balance because the riders demand too much in the way of wages. Speedway is dirt track racing, it shouldn’t be considered a professional sport if the crowds coming through the door can’t support just that. Most sportsmen practice their chosen discipline as a hobby until such a time as they reach a standard where their skill merits that they are paid to do it as a full time job. It strikes me that Speedway riders expect a living from the sport and the promoters are happy to go along with it to the detriment of the fans (doubling up being a salient point here). There will always be enough riders about, there won’t always be fans of the current trend of putting prices up and lowering standards continues. I’m sure Najjer would go to watch NL standard racing if the entrance fee represented the standard of racing on offer.

I haven’t visited Harlow dogs for a long time, but when I did as a Speedway mad youth my first thought was “I wonder whether a speedway track would fit in here?” From what I remember the dog track is quite small so any speedway circuit would have to be very small. Any prospective promoter would do better to look at Rye House, particularly at this level. There’s a ready built track of better proportions and there would be no restrictions on what day of the week meetings could be held. Someone opening up in Harlow would limit themselves to one night a week and probably be the final death knell for Rye into the bargain.

The crash of 2008 had nothing to do with the decline of Speedway, the way the sport is run here took, and is taking care of that. You’re certainly not speaking for all Rye fans when you suggest that BMR coming in was cause for optimism about a new ambitious promotion. They quickly showed they couldn’t build a good team for toffee and then they went on to move a team based in a town of roughly 40 thousand people into the top division. The short sighted fans out there saw it as an opportunity to see Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris every week, in reality by the end of that first season both were riding in the second tier too anyway. Rye is well located geographically from the perspective of a rider coming into Stansted Airport, not so much for travelling fans. Once you’ve lost your club you may pop in to the next nearest club now and again but not many fans make a weekly pilgrimage, particularly when as is the case in Hoddesdon, there’s nothing really to do here. Rye can sustain second or third tier speedway. I’d love to see us back in the third division and start from scratch. The track has a selling point in as much as it can be used any day, any time within reason.

Not sure where Thomas is based, probably closer to Leicester than Glasgow. Wouldn’t be surprised if that was a factor.

Haven’t been to Kent for a couple of seasons but the track reminded me of the track at Rye from Len’s era. By most accounts Peterborough’s “improved” track this year isn’t producing very good racing. No doubt Kent are charging too much for NL speedway but Robert Ledwith probably provides more intrigue and excitement than Richard Lawson.

Workington had a team signed up already. The other sides would have found riders. There’s plenty of them out there.

Chessell has probably been at his level prior to his recent period out of the sport. Would be surprised if he gets back to that, let alone becomes a Championship level rider. Glasgow may not be able to find a rider who scores more for them now but there are plenty out there who have more potential in the long run.

No. Speedway riders get injured and/or are unavailable sometimes. The teams aren’t pretending to have seven riders...

This is his eighth season in the NL. Not saying he can’t or won’t get better but he’s been at the level he’s at for a while now. The NL needs older riders and those with more experience too though.

William Lawson has some explaining to do...

Probably score the same amount of points whether he races at Edinburgh or doesn’t turn up anyway.

Scunthorpe shouldn’t have brought him across the world to ride for them if he wasn’t ready to do so. Seems a common theme with assessed riders who aren’t up to scratch these days to justify it by saying they were thrown in at the deep end.

Although only early doors, Thomsen is averaging below two points a meeting. Bearing in mind his average can’t drop below four regardless of how little he may score, he may well not prove to be worth persevering with. Particularly as the man he’ll likely replace in a reserve berth, Castagna, could be going straight into the number one racejacket when the averages change.

R/R should have been kept as it was. Guests allowed for an absent number one or reserves only. Did Summers score more than Haris would have? With Bomber’s form it’s hard to say. Would R/R have scored what Summers did? Possibly by a point or two, which was the difference on the night. Somerset’s soft belly and long tail didn’t do the business. How long until a change is made there? For Birmingham Thomsen looks as though he may be a duff. A steady middle order man in his place could be the difference in meetings like this.

Faster doesn’t mean better though.

Do me a favour.

First this season perhaps but nothing new in the grand scheme of the last couple of years as fans of Rye House and Glasgow will tell you. The irony of your post is that your top three are probably one of the strongest in the league on paper as well. Offered Schlein, Harris and Covatti or Kennett, Lawson and Kerr I reckon you’d have a near 50-50 split on the trio fans would take. Eastbourne have a longer tail than yours but their home track advantage negates that in the case of Saturday’s meeting. If you thought Atkins and Rowe should have been getting anything out of Brennan and Wood round Arlington then you’ve not done your homework.

One race win at Cardiff 12 years ago seem to have given Harris an aura that quite a few people can’t look past. He’s a very inconsistent rider and only going in one direction. He hasn’t helped himself in my book by becoming a member of the club within the sport who label fans with opinions they don’t like online as “keyboard warriors.” So unprofessional. Get on with your job that we pay you to do. Give me Scott Nicholls any day. When we had both men at Rye Scott was just as entertaining when behind, he just didn’t find himself in that position as often as Harris. Five years down the line if both are still riding then I’d imagine Nicholls will be at a similar level to where he is now, Harris will probably be a five point man or taking pocket money from kids in the NL.

Speedway here should be semi-professional already. The fact that it isn’t is part of what’s preventing it from starting from scratch and building from grassroots up to perhaps be a well followed sport again.

14 points isn’t a mauling but it isn’t close either. Each team has both sets of gates seven times each between heats 1-14...

There’s no room for sentiment in sport. I do wonder, however if Scunthorpe did their due diligence on List or just signed him on the back of him being from Australia and therefore he must be better than a British rider.

Belle Vue should win this. Depends on how Bewley fares. Wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls out after his first heat mind.

Because it’s relevant to the discussion about Kent perhaps...