uk_martin

But when a diligent train guard then catches them in the act then you've got something concrete to pin on them. Inconsistent decisions with a lack of explanations and a perception of favouritism isn't so easy to prove. They are the mafia of the sport. Everyone knows that they are as dodgy as hell but no-one has enough on them to stop them from carrying on and getting away with more of the same in the future.

No point repeating the bit about the Poles looking after their own interests, and who here doesn't do exactly the same for what matters to them? And for those who campaigned for Brexit, you've got what you asked for. Get ready for many other Europeans in many other walks of life to look after their own interests ahead of the British National Interest. To be honest though, I think that the PZM are actually doing the BSPA a huge favour. The BSPA have been trying to dumb-down the British Leagues for ages because they can't afford to compete with the better leagues in Sweden and Poland, but have never actually had the bottle to cut out the SGP riders and the other expensive riders. Now, by what has happened, their bed has been made for them, and apart from Matt Fraud, no-one has really complained too loudly about it. Less continental riders means more opportunities for cheaper NL riders to fill the team slots in the Premiership and Championship. Welcome to the future.

The BSPA Management Committee will take ALL factors into account when treating each case on its own merits and deciding on the best interests of British Speedway, which usually means deciding against the wishes of the club you yourself support. Factors include the time of day, whether their wives shouted at them that morning, the windspeed and direction, how bright the sun is shining, the fall of the leaves in their teacups, a roll of the dice, and which tarot cards are laid out on the table in front of them. If it's consistancey, competence and common sense that you're after, you're in the wrong sport ;-)

But don't stop trying. There are those who will justify those in their late 20's and even in their 30's being given team places if they are "late developers", Who knows, he may be a Stoke Potter of the future.

Probably that which is in the best interests of British Speedway. Innit?

I live in Perry Barr, and I could see what was going to happen as soon as I opened the bedroom curtains in the morning. The garden was sodden, and paths and roads were covered in puddles. It was still raining until about mid-morning with the threat in about half of the weather forecast web sites for more rain to come. A no-brainer as far as I could see, especially bearing in mind the very limited time any track staff would have had to work on the track.

Hay had a Faculty? I'm impressed.

On the matter of corruption I'd say "let those without sin cast the first stone" I take it you've read Pawel's post?

Some local authorities in Poland see speedway as a good means of publicising and raising the profile of their towns. Who outside of the sports hardcore would ever have known the names Gorzow and Leszno before they were plastered on the race jackets of SGP riders and shown on TV screens all over the world? So what's new about that? It happens over here and in other sports too. I can think of a major athletics club in Birmingham, not half a mile away from the speedway stadium, who are supported to the hilt by the Council with the use of a prestige stadium and training facilities, all because the same stadium is used for international "Diamond League" athletics meets and other high profile athletics championships that put the name of Birmingham on the sporting map. The real income though is from advertising and sponsorship. And from quality companies that pay premium prices too. You only have to see the advertising hoardings that are on the centre greens, and the companies that they are from. Kings Lynn might have an advertising board from Arthur Daly's backstreet electrical shop on it's centre green, but in Poland it's their equivilent of Powergen, E-On, and British Gas etc who advertises. and they pay what you'd expect a national company to pay, to do so. It's the virtuous circle over there. A quality product, attracting lots of people to watch which attracts advertisers and sponsors to provide backing, (because they have the audeince to market to) The backing is serious money which can be spent on sustaining and improving the product, And so it goes round.

Never mind. At least you can still call your own team "Cardley"

And in other news...returning to the subject of Swindon... Any progress on the building of the new stadium?

It's a shame that Britain does not have the equivilent of the Sportowefakty web site. As an independent news site they cover speedway from all over the globe, and often show news from other countries before any of the local web sites show it. Just too bad that for us to use it in the UK we need to rely on that dodgy Google translation engine to make any sense (or nonsense) of it.

If not the web site, then how about their Twitter at the very least? Mind you, knowing how the BSPA feel about all things Polish, a lack of compassion is the least that you can expect off them.

Layne Cupitt has gone from "will he stay on his bike" to "will he score 10 or will he score 11?" in the opening weeks of the season. Easy to say that as a reserve he gets an easy ride in heat 2, but he seems to get better as the meetings progress, and from close tussles with reserves in heat 2 he's beating opposition heat leaders in the closing heats of meetings. Be interesting to monitor his progress as the year goes on.

Would that make the Brummies the youngest team in the league again?

6 (paid 7) from Reidar Replacement at Kings Lynn. Would anyone be surprised if Chris Hay's injured wrist takes about as long as Zach Wajtknecht's fingers to heal?

Perhaps BSF members could club together to pay for the publication in the Financial Times, of an Open Letter, asking for someone with more money than sense to regularly lose some of their wealth every year, on Speedway. The letter could be very persuasive pointing out that rather than handing over their money to Customs & Revenue in taxation, it could be "lost" within the sport instead. Any kind benefactor could be morally enriched by their act of benevolence, especially to the old and elderly, who make up so much of the speedway audience. This could be a care in the community venture all of its own, couldn't it? Also instead of wining and dining in an executive box, the rich benefactor could be treated to a Stadium Burger and a nice cup of Horlicks, wherever he went. What could possibly go wrong?

Yeah. Classic case of fans not getting any information. You'd have thought that when he was struggling to meet his 2 mins time allowance that something was being said about receiving attention of the paramedic, or something...but nothing was said. He missed his programmed ride, under the 2 minute rule, without being substituted out first, and then he was substituted out of his last ride...all very odd. I'm sure that there will be a reasonable explaination for this though.

There was more to the Lawlor situation than met the eye. He was none-too-happy on the centre green after he was forced to retire in that race, and didn't appear again for the rest of the meeting. I hope the young lad didn't have a temper tantrum in the pits, that needed "dealing with". Or was he injured by the escaping chain?

Hay can gate and when he learns to ride the last 3.5 laps like he rides the first half a lap, he'll be fine. Needs to remember to turn left at the corners too.

How does that compare to Coventry City FC who also play there?

No idea about what the score will be. Let's just hope for an injury free meeting as with so many young and inexperienced riders there are bound to be a lot of falls. Just hope they are not bad ones.

Birmingham Speedway, in Perry Barr, Birmingham = £13 for over 16's & £2 for under 16's - average attendance 500-600ish *** Birmingham Athletics, in Perry Barr, Birmingham = £50+ to see Usain Bolt for 10 seconds,- attendance 50,000+ Don't tell me that people don't have money to spend. If the product is right they will come. If the product is pants it will be hung out to dry. Simple as. ***EDIT - attendance estimate is an observational estimate of what was evident in 2016. The prices are those for 2017. The 2017 attendance figures may drop significantly from 2016 due to the withdrawal of OAP's concessionary prices, as this will have an impact on the majority of the fan base. The product may have been worth £8 to them in the past, we will have to wait and see how many think it will be worth £13 this year.

Or the company that you keep lol.

Here's your answer http://sportowefakty.wp.pl/zuzel/wydarzenie/73381