AlanF

What happens if a youngster is allocated to a club and cannot agree terms? Surely for this to work there has to be a fixed pay scale so they cannot earn more by going elsewhere? what happens if you want to replace one of them or they get injured? Do you get free choice of any unallocated qualified riders?

I Interesting to see if a rider becomes an asset when he is allocated to you. I'm sure there are a lot of details to this. If you already have an asset (eg Adam Ellis) he would probably be protected and be allocated to you. Presumably Leicester and Eastbourne will not be allowed to choose a rider who already rides for a Saturday night PL team. I said earlier, I think it is the NL teams that will get the short end of the stick. Again, using Adam Ellis as an example, if he is riding for Lakeside in the EL and Ipswich in the PL, I'm sure he isn't going to want to go to the Isle of Wight on a Tuesday unless they are making it financially worthwhile.

The devil is definitely in the detail here. If it is two genuine NL riders then it would be a farce. If it is two Brits aged 21 or under then it could be great. Having these guys potentially ride in all 3 leagues could be great. Can't be hard to have a formula that sees them riding each other twice and taking on the second strings the other two races. A similar rule in the PL would mean these youngsters getting some great experience. Could be some fallout for the NL though. A rider riding EL and PL is probably going to want a lot more than what is currently on offer to ride in the NL as well.

The promoters need protecting from themselves. Whatever the points limit, they have to be prepared to say no to riders who want more than can be afforded. If they pay a 7 point rider who would be a #1 in a watered down league what they are paying today's #1 then they deserve to go out of business.

Generally speaking, fans don't travel though. Local opponents generate higher attendances. The sport is on life support and needs to generate revenue. Judging by current attendances, the general public think the sport looks pretty crappy as it is.

I don’t believe the promoters would ever go for this, but this is how I would do things. Bring the two leagues together and bring up Dudley, giving a total of 24 teams. I don’t believe that we cannot find a way of setting team strengths that would enable every team to remain solvent. Split the 24 teams into 4 divisions of 6. Doesn’t really matter what you call them. North Glasgow Edinburgh Berwick Newcastle Redcar Workington Central Birmingham Wolves Belle Vue Scunthorpe Sheffield Dudley East Coventry Peterboro Kings Lynn Leicester Ipswich Rye House South Swindon Poole Eastbourne Lakeside Somerset Plymouth Each division would rode home and away twice against the teams in their home division and once against one of the other divisions. This would rotate and so each team would visit your home track at least once every three years. Travelling would be greatly reduced and each team would have 16 home and 16 away league fixtures. The winner of each division would qualify for the playoffs. Six qualifying groups for 4TT. National KO Cup with an open draw. Guests cannot be “borrowed” from another team in your division, so eliminating the obvious conflict of interest. Riders championship would see top 2 from each team (48 in all). Three qualifiers with top 5 and highest 6th place qualifying for the final. Keep riders interested and showing up by given the highest placed non GP rider the wild card to the British GP (wherever they come from). A team that does not qualify for the play offs and loses in the first round of the cup would get 18 home meetings. A team that gets to the play off final and the KO cup final and hosts a riders championship qualifying round could have as many as 25 home meetings.

I wonder who the last team was to start a season with same 1-7 that finished the previous season?

Surely Sky had a contract with British Speedway and paid the agreed contract amount. I would have thought it was the promoter's who decided what was going to be done with the money. The promoters could easily have passed some of it on to the PL and NL if they wanted to.

Got my subscription. Looks great on my ipad.

I'm sure Speedway Star would be delighted if as many subscribers as possible took the online version rather than the printed copy. Much cheaper to distribute. This is the direction just about all printed media is going now. I get my local newspaper this way. In some of the more rural areas of metro Atlanta, they do not even offer a print version anymore. Living in the US, I am very happy about this. I will definitely be subscribing. Will get up to date news and not have to pay higher subscription costs for shipping.

I think it's been a double edged sword. The additional exposure is great, but the exposure and the money has been squandered. Now many tracks may be in the position that they can't live without it. If they hadn't had it in the first place, they would have done a better job at keeping expenses under control, and not be reliant on Sky for their survival.

Yes, but equally you can't hang around forever waiting for them to decide. At some point you have to set your budget and plan without it and hope you do get the money.If you plan on getting it and then it doesn't materialize then that could be game over for many tracks.

Absolutely. The more advance planning that a business can do the more chance it has of being successful. Teams leave running decisions until late partly because they don't know what the rules are. How can there be 6 weeks left in the season and nobody knows whether there will be an Elite league or one big league.Enormous difference in costs that would clearly materially affect many promotions intentions. If you know the operational costs for 2015, you should know by June 2014 whether you can afford to run or not.

Not at all. They should still have the conference and it should be deciding what will happen in 2015. If they decide, for example, every team needs a minimum of 3 brits, then teams need a year to prepare for it, not a month. Budget that there will be no sky money, and then if there is, it is a bonus. Formats and rules for 2014 should have been decided months ago. Decide the rules for 2015 this winter and then ask teams to ratify by the end of June 2014 that they will be running in 2015. If anybody says no, revisit the rules in July 2014 and ratify them or any changes by the end of July 2014.

I am British but my son was born in the US. He is automatically an American citizen but also qualifies for British citizenship through my wife and I. You have to fill in some paperwork to prove you are British and submit it. I want to say I submitted it to the British Embassy in Washington DC but I can't remember now. I assume the same would apply between Britain/Australia.

Speedway is now reaping the "rewards" of not investing in the future. I can't think of any sport that expects their reserve/ minor league / training teams to run at a profit. If the higher leagues had manged their expenses at a sustainable level, the TV money would have enabled them to subsiidize the development of future stars.

No particular axe to grind with Middleditch but I can't see how he can stay in the job. No way we should be losing to a team with Fisher, Wells and Manzares. He doesn't ride the bikes, so his main function is motivation of his riders. If he can't motivate them to beat that US team then there is no point him being in the job.

1. When times were good, British speedway never really invested in the future. Stars emerged despite the system, not because of it. Used grass track as its source for kids. 2. Initial short termism opened the door to foreign riders in the Premier League (or whatever the title was at the time). Legally, you couldn’t stop EC riders getting in, but the promoters could have chosen not to sign them. 3. With fewer places available, the pool of British riders from which somebody could “make it” on the world scene got smaller. 4. With a smaller pool, British success on the World level was greatly reduced. 5. The lack of success on the World level resulted in reduced media interest. 6. Reduced media interest resulted in reduced public interest. 7. Reduced public interest meant lower crowds and more tracks falling by the wayside. 8. Fewer tracks meant fewer places available. 9. Less money being generated at the gate means a need for survival and making this year’s team successful, not worrying about who was going to be in the team in 5 years’ time. 10. Survival mode means finding riders as cheaply as possible and already at the required standard. 11. Lack of money means that Sky money is spent on subsidizing business rather than improving the infrastructure that would help kids come through. 12. Gates are now so low and speedway so unfashionable, that youngsters are not attracted to it (watching or competing). 13. Because Speedway doesn’t attract the right demographic, decent sponsorship is hard to come by. 14. Costs are spiraling and without good sponsorship, kids can’t afford it. 15. If kids can’t afford it they will do something cheaper and a bit “cooler”. 16. How to break the cycle without throwing huge sums of money at it, I have no idea.

I think you can trace the decline back to the decision to allow Jens Rasmussen and Peter Shroek to ride for Rye House. We already had some Aussies but this opened the floodgates. I am all for the Elite League attracting the best riders in the world, but the Premier League should be all about British riders. We have become trapped in a vicious circle. Fewer places available = Less riders making it to the top = Less national visibility = Less kids want to take up the sport = Not enough Brits = Bring in more average foreigners. Then start back at the beginning. The end result is we have second strings riding for us in the World Cup. We have been through this cycle so many times now in ever decreasing circles that I don't know if you can stop it disappearing down the plug hole. Too late now to introduce quotas of British riders as there are not enough of the required standard.

First step has to be to do some market research. You can't give the people what they want if you don't know what it is that they want. My personal view is that it is nothing to do with the racing or the rules. If you go to a US sporting event there is hardly a moment where there is nothing going on. There are interveiwers with roving mikes talking to fans, competitions with instant prizes and lots of music that is relevant to what is happening on the field. Give the riders their own theme tune that they come onto the track to. Play a snippet of three songs and have the fans text in which one they want to hear in full. Make the fans feel involved in the event. Would also help to have decent PA systems where everything comes over loud and clear. Half heard interviews and tinny music are a real turn off. Some of these ideas may cost a few quid, but the Sky money should have been used to build infrastructure and promote the sport, not subsidize pay rates that the sport could not afford.

Are there any plans to offer a digital subscription version, similar to the Speedway Xtra Online version currently available? I live in the US and stopped having the Star sent to me as it was old news by the time I got it. I would happily pay for a digital version available the same day that it is on sale in the UK. Most magazines now offer this type of subscription. Many Thanks

I thought they were pushing their luck, expecting 3 Reading riders to show up to the same meeting. (Just kidding, Racers fans).