MattK

I think so, which is why the compromise has been offered for us to continue running some of our meetings on Thursdays.

Poole and King's Lynn have successfully rode on Wednesdays in 2017, even though they are allocated to the Danish League. It seems that one other Premiership club will ride on Wednesday and a compromise has been made to allow Swindon to continue on a Thursday. As I said, do you think three Championship clubs should have been forced to move from their Thursday race night in order to accommodate the Premiership?

I'm sorry, but Pratt sounds like a moaning dinosaur in that article. Why should three Championship clubs change their race nights to suit the Premiership? A compromise has been offered to us, which I think is a far better long term solution. Yes the "one over 8" rule sucks, we we CHOSE not to sign the world champion. As for teams using their assets, we had two assets in our team at the start of last season. He papers over that fact by claiming it was higher as we signed riders as assets during the season. At the same time, you can hardly blame clubs like Somerset and Rye House for not building an asset base when other clubs hog assets they don't use. Will Swindon be selling Doyle for example? Just the usual moaning without any constructive ideas.

Actually, thousands, in fact tens of thousands enjoy 4 guys racing, it's called the Grand Prix. No arbitrary rules, points limits, "assessments", just pure racing. Unfortunately, for many reasons, league racing needs to have some element of restrictions in order to cater for clubs with a wide variance of incomes and support levels. My grip is that this is not done in a transparent way so that all fans feel their are competing on a level playing field.

I think the main reason speedway appears so chaotic isn't the decisions themselves, which I am sure are based on considered opinions, but is in fact the lack of transparency. For example, why haven't the promoters who voted in favour of the "one over 8" rule been made to come forwards and explain their logic? Similarly, the process for which foreign riders receive assessed averages seems completely random, yet I am sure someone at least thinks they know how they are determined - so why isn't this published in the public domain? Until then, the determining and implementation of rules will always seem random and chaotic.

I think various Oxford promoters approached the chap at Standlake over the years. It would have made a fantastic venue as the site is large and is in a natural bowl. However, I think the reservation was that there are a few houses next to the arena and the village of Standlake less than a mile away, so the owner didn't want to jeopardise his weekly banger racing by introducing speedway. On top of that would have been the logistical challenge of persuading Oxford fans to travel the 40-odd minutes to West Oxfordshire. Could have had some interesting celebrity fans though, as Dave Cameron was the local MP!

Just out of interest, how often do Ipswich and Kings Lynn host bangers/stockcars and what kind of crowds do they attract? There was a track near where I used to live (Standlake) which hosted bangers every week and the few times I went there couldn't have been more than 100-odd spectators. The vast majority of the people there were involved in the meeting in some way (drivers, mechanics etc.) I think people may be cherry picking the attendances to once-a-year top stockcar meetings and comparing them to weekly league speedway, but I may be wrong.

Fair play to Somerset.

You are right, in theory. The main difference for me is that with only 20 professional teams and no promotion/relegation the leagues needs to be mindful of their least resourceful clubs, rather than as other have suggested, allowing clubs to build teams without limits. If on the other hand, the club who finished top was forced to move up, then over time the clubs with deeper pockets would tend towards the top league and the second division would be a collection of teams with similar bankrolls.

Because it is the second division. If clubs want to sign the likes of Nicholls, Harris etc. then they should move up to the Premiership. The Championship has a few rich team, but also a lot of teams who need to cut their cloth accordingly. If you open the floodgates then you will find the majority of the Championship teams simply won't be able to afford the top riders and will become uncompetitive, which isn't a good long term outcome for the league.

Unfortunately the inclement weather has delayed any progress these last 5 years.

It's an interesting point. Given that the majority of speedway's current fan base are over 40, I am puzzled as to why people think the future lies with attracting youngsters. It is very rare that a product appeals to all age groups and when this does happen it is often high-end or aspirational brands such as Ferrari, Rolex, Gucci etc. There are very few mid-market brands which have widespread appeal. Therefore it does seem strange that speedway doesn't try to appeal to the market that makes up the majority of its current base - the 40-65+ age group.

Good job. It must have taken you ages to format that table. Out of interest, what assessed averages do riders with a 2017 CMA come out at? That would be an good way to calibrate the equation.

This is more around channels like Sky Atlantic, which will now be available on BT.

Doesn't look as if Swindon are entering a team in any of the National League/Trophy competitions next season.

The problem with that approach was that the stadium was in phase four of the development and at the time it was suggested that sales of the houses would finance re-development of the new stadium, hence the 200 occupancy clause. It was announced a few months ago that contracts had been signed for the new stadium, which presumably unlocked the 200 occupancy limit.

Q. What's a gating tarts favourite genre? A. Trap music.

I'm not a cynic. I've read the planning documents and there is no clause. The only condition was that a maximum of 200 houses could be occupied before contracts for the new stadium were in place. Presumably this has been met as far more than 200 homes have been occupied.

Do you have a link to where that rule is written down?

Here's one for the Riss brothers

Kids with no imagination more like. I never understood why people my age used to listen to The Beatles when there was plenty of decent contemporary music available.

I believe a popular topic of discussion among the grime community is the necessity for outerwear Reference

Let's face it, they have no intention of every building a new stadium. Listening to Jeff Davies on Talk Speedway describe how Brandon has been run down shows how easy it would be for GI to declare the Abbey as no longer feasible as a stadium.

I don't think grading would achieve that for two reasons. Firstly the disparity between riders with an average over 8 is large, ranging from Steve Worrall on 9.13 down to Eric Riss on 8.05. Secondly it prevents teams from bringing in a new rider, such as Klindt, who although his average is under 8 would ride as a recognised #1. At the end of the day I am against these kinds of arbitrary rules. They may serve a purpose for a single season (although as stated I don't think they will have the desired effect in the Premiership) and next season will almost certainly have to be scrapped.