Ben91

TNT has plenty of content. They operated (as BT) pre-European football. They’re now also part of the same family as Eurosport I believe, which is what led to Speedway being back on TNT. They already binned off British Speedway once, the sport is in a worse position now so why would they have it back at a cost? The GPs maybe as an outlier but the domestic game is not appealing to them. It’s barely appealing to speedway fans.

I can just imagine the big wigs at TNT heaving a sigh of relief that they can plug a European football gap with British Speedway. Give over.

I appreciate that but there's also option 4, racing part-time rather than expecting a living from British Speedway when the sport cannot sustain giving them that.

I don’t think that’s true. They pick up two wages. It’s not a top up. If the Premiership teams are cast out into the cold then there won’t be a top league for those riders to ride in. It’ll be Championship or no job here. The Championship needing the Premiership and vice versa is a falsity. The Championship is in a stronger position.

I wonder if there’s something of a mutiny going on at present. The Championship teams hold the aces as the Premiership needs at least one to step up. If those nine Championship clubs dig their heels in then there’s not much the Premiership sides can do beside coming into line. The Championship sides may be in agreement already over their rules for 2026 team building hence signings being made and announced. The Pickering to Scunthorpe signing could be more telling than at surface level. In theory he’s far too good for that level but perhaps he’s signed on there to be guaranteed a ride in Britain considering the uncertainty of Sheffield and the top flight in general. There aren’t enough riders of sufficient standard to populate a 14 team Championship. If the existing nine get their teams sorted and it transpires the five Premiership clubs have no choice but to drop down we could see those five clubs scrabbling to put together competitive teams with the odds and ends left.

The novelty value wore off with Cardiff. It was originally a showpiece event, it just became the same thing year on year. Particularly off the track. It’s an overexposure issue, similar to what we get in league Speedway now with the same riders having multiple teams and multiple meetings against the same opponents making up the calendar. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. People miss things when they’re not constantly there, they take them for granted when they are.

A thriving sport? It’s behind you.

Fans want their sport to stop being a circus. Not too much to ask really.

Probably bad business for Oxford speedway to let someone else run a team named Oxford out of their track. Could split the fan base.

I think right now with the sport in turmoil it’s more important than ever that those running the sport are transparent. Let fans know when they can expect to find out the rules for next season. It isn’t hurting anyone, stops a lot of speculation too.

In theory a good idea. In practice it’s a hard sell. Unless things have changed drastically since my student days the night out starts with the cheapest shop bought booze possible at home (halls or uni house) then out once nicely leathered to spend as little on booze as possible and try cop off with someone. Would be an uphill battle to try convince a Uni crowd that they should trade that in to start off at the speedway.

People are more likely to go out and do something at the weekend. Friday evening and Saturday in particular. If we could find a way to get teams racing at the weekend (or on a race night that suits their audience) we’d be laughing. But. There would be riders lost to Poland and the current domestic rider pool isn’t up to the standard a lot of fans deem acceptable apparently. Weekend racing isn’t a bad idea. It’s probably unrealistic given the place the sport has been navigated into over the last few decades however. We need solutions, not pointing out of obvious problems of course. The first couple of steps for me are safeguarding the current tracks (we really can’t afford to lose any more) and repopulating the domestic rider pool. That means doubling up must be curbed (over time, we can’t go cold turkey due to the lack of good enough riders now) and a strong focus on getting youngsters into the sport, developing their talents and then keeping them on their bikes. Tackle one issue at a time, build a solid, sustainable foundation and then move forward from there.

To quote the Chuckle Brothers, “oh dear oh dear.” Incidentally, maybe the surviving Chuckle could do some PR about how he watched speedway once in the 80s. Or even have a go at running the sport.

Points scored divided by rides taken (all rides) times by four. Hence the maximum average being 12.

Remember that evening well. Conditions were horrible, would have been called off had it not been a world level meeting I’m sure. Outclassed the field which included Tai Woffinden on his home track. Only one rider that evening looked as if he’d go on to be a world champion and it wasn’t Tai.

I think there’s a place for the bang average rider from abroad too in fairness. One who isn’t a world beater but competent and helps to make meetings competitive. Brexit probably made it harder to bring riders over who aren’t “elite” competitors though. Some of our issues stem from letting the existing, ageing rider pool hog team spots (doubling up) forcing less talented and/or up and coming riders out on one hand, then chasing big name riders who don’t really want to ride here with wads of cash we don’t have on the other. In any walk of life spending beyond your means is idiotic. Seems a lot of speedway fans think otherwise when it comes to who races for their team.

Less can be more. The issue with the British calendar isn’t that there aren’t enough meetings it’s that there is no consistency and often there are huge fixture gaps during the height of summer. If a team was at home once a fortnight and away once a fortnight (alternate weeks) it would encourage more fans to attend away meetings potentially.

Something like this would be great and overdue but think getting licensing could be a huge stumbling block sadly. Wish you luck.

The funny thing is we don’t have 14 Simon Lamberts. The career second division man has been killed off by the short sighted rule changes of the last decade. They’re the bumblebees of British speedway. Nobody really cared about them but their demise brings down the whole shebang.

Are there any facts behind this supposed cancellation/massively reduced GP calendar or is it all speculation? If the latter then there’s not much point worrying about what impact it would have on British speedway.

Radical plans for change have been written down on some very dry parchment. Let’s hope there are no strong gusts of wind that blow it into the fire. Otherwise the back up plan is to carry on as we were.

I’m not sure. I think their ambition drove them to solely wanting top league racing, but that’s only my opinion. I’m sure others will know more than I do, I’m really piecing together what I saw myself and was told (lots of rumour and innuendo) at the time and coming up with what seemed to be the most likely scenario. Scott Nicholls says in his book he is still owed money from his time at Rye House. Whether the well dried up or not is another matter I guess.

My understanding was more along the lines of the promotion wanting to operate at the top of the top table. The first season was a reasonable success with a Saturday race night. Season two with the fixed race night was a big problem and the money ran out (I believe). Second tier speedway with a Saturday race night was ideal for Rye House. It was almost an unsinkable ship if managed correctly. For one reason or another it wasn’t, but the sport’s governing body should have seen it for what it was, a rare example of a club that owned its site and had no restrictions. That was worth saving for the benefit of the entire sport at almost any cost.

Those free Conference League meetings tended to coincide with the Premier League team racing away somewhere on the same evening…

Barely did this year did he?