Gresham

Think the team is being built with the view of changing when the new averages kick in. BWD should be a strong no.6/2. Swindon reserve pairing wont last long imo.

Yeah...that's why they print one for the GP series...we're all pissing ourselves over that idea as well...and guess what...using them to fill in whilst sat at the GP...who'd have thought tw@...'banter'

Agreed...and as with anything in this sport, a lot of it will come down to set up and quality of machinery/tuning these lads are racing on. Tungate struggled with his set up early doors, then got it sorted and went on a really strong run. Apart from the big hitters, the riders in this watered down league are pretty much the same level of ability. No one knows what quality of bikes these riders will have at the beginning of the season. The Somerset lads should do ok on home soil though.. Just got to get the set up right on the day.

Cracking rider...my only worry for him is his equipment, and whether it will be set up and fast enough for the old Swindon track.

Now that's more like it...funnily my 'guff' of which you talk, is actually appreciated by a few others. It's not my fault you can't read plain English and understand the sentiment of posts and the reasoning. Your programmes must be a right state... It must be really lonely sat in your Ivory tower judging everyone else's thoughts. Anyway...keeping tugging away at your smugness...must be a real turn on for you. Banter

I also started that way. My best friends father was an ex rider...so I'd go with my friend, his brother and father and my father. Got hooked at a very young age. Can still remember the very first race. Took my breath away....the noise, the speed, the smell, the roar of the crowd. Frightened me senseless...but the rush of adrenalin got me hooked. Spent the next day sliding my push bike in the style of my new hero's. It still happens...there is a family that comes every week to my local track. The little en brings his bike and wears a replica race jacket. Bombs around the open spaces between heats, then watches avidly the racing. Reminds me so much of how I was...a joy to see. In fact there are quite a few young families who come to my local track. More oldies...but there is a good sprinkling. It sounds like you are exactly the type of fan that the promotors need to listen too. Something must have really irked you after 30 years being so loyal.

It's a very simple idea...made complicated by the likes of you and others reasoning. It's a good reflection of how speedway is tbh...think of a simple idea, then find reasons why it won't work and make it as complicated as possible. Seems certain people just want to be negative and find reasons for ideas not to work. It's hardly ground breaking...printing a blank score card in SS...what is so wrong with that idea? It's not taking anything away from SS and just providing another option for the fan. Why all the negativity? We've got programmes...we got blanks to print...why not a third option...why is that so hard for some people to think it's positive? What harm is there?

They are Generic and left blank...you fill in the riders names yourself. It's not rocket science. Look at a generic print your own. You'll be wanting a dot to dot page and a bag of crayons thrown in next, to go with your colouring book... Absolute madness indeed...why make it so bloody pedantic and complicated.

Isn't the parking money a different entity to the Club...as in the farmers land? Or am I wrong about that? As for Friday GP practice, I hope the Club don't have to faff about re arranging fixtures around those GP dates. When it comes to prices...I won't see any change from £40 per meeting, when I take into consideration travel costs, and a couple beers etc.

Oh come on fella...I'm having a bit of banter with the other fella. No need for that. Have you not read any of my posts? The answer is in there. Read posts 154, 160,162. How is printing a race card in the SS going to piss Clubs off, when a free alternative to buying a programme is already out there? Like I said in my later posts...with hindsight, it probably won't piss the clubs off, as a free alternative is already there in place.

Ah right missed those...thank you. Am I right in saying Adults have gone up a £1? For some reason I thought OAP's were a tenner last season? That's what I thought I'd paid for my father last time. Open to correction. Mind has gone blank.

I should have remembered this quote before getting into a discussion with you... 'Never argue with Stupid people, as they will drag you down to their level, and beat you with experience'.

I googled it...as I don't know...the price varies. Seems there are various options depending on how intricate it is. Maybe it could be freelanced out, or if someone in the industry volunteered their time for the love of the sport, as many other individuals do. I agree, Websites and facebook/twitter could be improved immensely. In fact only this year I put a link up on mine of a Clubs website, because a friend said he remembered Speedway from his childhood. He didn't even realise a Club was still running from 20 miles away. Plus he mentioned how poor the website was and they could do better by showing more action on the website. Tbh...it's a futile discussion, as there are so many problems with Speedway, this is the least of their worries. I'm really not sure how it can survive tbh. Clubs should have invested better for the long term sustainability of the sport many moons ago, instead of being so short sighted, and fixing everything short term. When the sport was at it's height, Clubs should have been doing their best to find suitable land to build their own 'stadiums' and tracks on...not leasing. It would have been a lot easier to do back then.

Not sure whether that was said in jest or not...but it is definitely an avenue worth looking at. I've mentioned it in another thread. You've only got to look between heats, many people have their head in the phone. A Club App maybe something worth looking at, which would keep people 'entertained' between heats. It could be interactive...with the 'Circus Master with the Mic' ;-) Interacting with the crowd via the App. Children could be involved...I gave an example of a 'treasure hunt', with clues being given out between heats. Comps and updates from the pits via the app. One of the great aspects of watching Speedway on TV, is seeing what's going on in the pits, and the rider interviews and whole feeling being generated in there. That's lost now at a great many tracks. Twitter feeds could be also better used at meetings. There are so many features available through technology, that are free to use, that I feel could be tapped into better, that could enhance the matchday meeting, especially for the younger generations who use these features a lot.

With respect...the conversation through the thread evolved....people (like you ) said they still enjoy buying programmes. Hence why I added in further posts 'make it all three options'. This isn't a game of scoring points or one upmanship. It's about debating and chatting and putting ideas out there. If someone puts up a good enough reason to keep programmes, then why not take it on board and listen? Like I did...hence saying...'why not have three options for fans'. I personally don't think programmes are good value for money...but you do. I personally would get rid of them...but like you said, people still enjoy buying them. So...I've listened, and reasoned that there is still a market for them. All I've done is asked for there to be a third option available. Anyway...from your last post, it seems you feel smug in some way, of proving a point...hence the emotions added. I'm happy for you

Thanks for your detailed reply. Firstly...I've never said you've aimed aggression...it was aimed at another poster, who's tone was far from friendly. Which I assure you, yours is. If you read my posts...you will see that I've suggested all three options could be offered and people could make their choice. What harm would it do, if the SS was to print a double page spread generic race card in it's weekly production? Fans...as I've now reiterated a few times now, I don't know how you've missed them, would have the choice. A choice of 3 options. 1 Buy a programme 2 Print a race card for free 3 Buy SS with race card printed inside. Or, as I've made pretty clearly in my posts...options of doing all 3 or variations of that. I really can't see what your problem is? I'm not sure how I can make it more clearer tbh. You've clearly missed my point.

We have two options right now...buy a programme or print out race card. The third option...SS with race card printed inside. The argument that it would affect people buying programmes is flawed, as people already have the option to print out a race card for free. Some people buy/do all three. Buy SS, buy a programme, print out race card and fill it in, as they don't want to write in their programmes as they collect them. Some buy SS and just print out a race card and don't buy a programme. Some buy a programme and not SS. SS with a generic race card printed in it, is just another option. Wish i'd never mentioned it would piss Clubs off, as in hindsight, it probably wouldn't.

Lets hope they can afford him, pay him and still be running next season. I understand why the Promotors have done what they've done this season, but i'm still worried about how it's going to pan out over the season. I look at Somerset moving up a league. But it really is a sideways move, if not down, in quality. Are these riders going to be wanting more money than last season? Just because we've moved up a league? Are the prices going to go up for the fans in all aspects of attending? Are we going to be more entertained than the last few seasons and get better value for money? As it stands...we have 2 heat leaders who averaged just over 6.00 points a meeting last season in the top tier. The third, just under 6.00. The middle order riders just under 5 points. Looking at the team based on approx. averages from last season, in which they actually scored and giving the two reserves 7.00 between them, then the total points average scored would be approx. 35.00 points per meeting. The standard has dropped immensely. I'm intrigued to how it will work out. There will definitely be more local derbies and less distance to travel to away meetings...perhaps the thinking behind the move 'up'.

I'd buy the SS with race card printed, rather than a programme, and printing out my own race card. Because you are actually getting something worth reading, and for the sake of 40p extra, it saves printing out my own. Why pay £2.50 for a programme that is basically a race card, with a load of adverts and week old news? It's not value for money or interesting, when an A4 race card could be printed, and have the same amount of adverts sold, around the outside of the race card, and two full A4 pages on the back. Print that and sell it for a quid...I should imagine the mark up would be more profitable than the costs involved in producing a programme. You could actually do it in house, instead of involving printers etc. £2.90 for approx. 50 pages of Speedway news and stories, and a race card, would be value for money and more interesting to read between heats etc. It would be nice to have the option of all three tbh.

Flat wage like Scott Nichols?

I think the worm is starting to turn...some of these 'Top' riders are on massive amounts. Whether they all get paid is another thing. you've got to feel sorry for fans of the likes of Plymouth. They see their Club struggle...and then watch some golden balls rider in the GP on tv earning more than their club make. It truly is a farce. I'd be happy for all these top earners to bugger off to Europe and let us start from scratch again. It's got to a point where the uncertainty of Clubs is at the forefront of every season. What fan is going to invest his time and money, getting hooked into a sport or club, knowing it is likely to close in the near future? They are going to look elsewhere, at other activities and hobbies/sports that are sustainable for their long term enjoyment and pleasure. It's only the diehards that are keeping it just afloat at the moment.

I wouldn't know about that...but DW's comments are pretty much a feeling given out by many of the top riders, with others trying to emulate them. It really doesn't add up. You have GP riders moving to the likes of Monaco and living next door to F1 drivers...yet clubs are on the brink of existence. The money some GP riders earn, would keep a Club of the likes of Plymouth running for a season. How can a few riders earning these vast amounts of money, out way Clubs and all those supporters. So many stories of riders not being paid, not just here, but in Poland as well. It gets worse every season. I'm glad the Promotors have gone down this route...hopefully they will see the light, and do something about the costs of running a speedway bike.

You've got to love Darcy Wards views on the future of Speedway in this country. I get the impression some riders think it's a bottomless pit of money. It's not about having squads of riders and fitting riders in. It's about making the sport sustainable for the future. Plus what supporter wants to see a top GP rider represent them a few times a year, knowing they are being paid a fortune for doing so? Some of these riders are living in a world of make believe. The illusion of grandeur of the GP's, and SKY Tv... makes some riders think speedway is being run like F1...when it's more like Fred's Garden shed. All this money going into Engines, Vans that wouldn't look out of place in Star wars, Tuners...all the flashy mod cons etc,etc...yet you have the likes of Somerset's manager working for free, as they can't afford to pay him a wage. It just doesn't add up. http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/14950679.Speedway__Fans__39__favourite_Ward_fears_for_future_of_British_speedway/

I also had a British rider in mind, who is a good friends relative. He's now signed for a team further up north, so the chances of watching him race would be very remote. I will see how the season pans out to start with before I make any rash decisions.

Have they released the prices for next season yet? Is entrance fee and programme costs going to go up? Is parking going to increase? Not sure how it could be justified, as it's just Premiership by name...quality of rider is just the same as last season imo.