MattK

The BSPA should be putting a plan together to buy Belle Vue's stadium when it inevitably comes on to the open market.

My personal preference would be one big Premier League without all the "top" riders. I think as it stands this is the only sustainable model for British speedway. However, I don't believe all promoters would be able to agree on a single league, so a compromise would be the Elite League running on three nights a week and the PL running on a different three nights. This would be a stepping stone to a single race night for the Elite, but let's not run before we can walk.

You'd think it would be an opportunity if they got their acts together and started planning now.

I always thought the big name riders didn't like riding in Britain on a Monday, as they prefer to do directly from Poland to Sweden?

Is there any evidence that this "Czech League" meeting really exists? It's not on the FIM International Speedway League Calendar: http://www.fim-live.com/en/library/download/55566/no_cache/1/

Five months to build a stadium? Belle Vue broke ground in January and this is their progress after seven months: http://www.bellevueaces.co/newsitem.aspx?id=1451

I genuinely thought the BSPA has made a conscious decision to bring the playoffs forwards due the inclement weather of the past few years. Turns out I gave them too much credit!

Yep

6.55 So Cook, Watt, North, Lindgren(!) etc.

Speedway, the only business where they address falling sales by increasing prices and reducing quality!

Spot on Mike. Swindon used to send out an weekly email newletter, but this died a death a few seasons ago. The funny thing is, when Swindon did £5 entry they had around double their usual attendance. This shows there is an underlying support for speedway in Swindon. The problem is, the next week entry fee is back up to £17 and attendance back down to usual levels. There must be a sweet spot, somewhere around £10-£12 would be my guess, which would maximise income.

The problem is, even when clubs do these offers, they are very poorly promoted. Swindon have done both this season and yet I work for the largest employer in the town and there wasn't a single poster, flyer or whatever promoting these offers.

The problem is Clark Osborne is an old hand at this. He appears in the papers every few months with a pretty looking plan for the new stadium and says work will start "soon", just a few more hurdles. The local MP gives reassurances to fans, but ignores the fact that these housing developers regularly run rings around politicians and councils. The local rag is pathetic. There are far juicier corruptions stories in Swindon that they ignore. Why would they upset anyone in a position of power by asking pressing questions about this development?

It's six of one and half a dozen of the other. Yes they were poorly attended, but clubs treated the fixtures with contempt by not re-arranging rain-offs for months and eventually forfeiting meetings. People talk about 20/20 revitalising cricket, a properly organised, run and promoted cup competition (i.e. out of the BPSA's hands) could be the speedway equivalent.

If we are going to continue with two separate leagues and up to four doubling-up/draft riders, then the Elite and Premier Leagues HAVE to run on different nights. I'd like to see three nights per league identified (Elite Mon, Wed, Thurs and Premier Fri, Sat and Sun) and a concerted effort by all clubs to move their respective race nights to avoid clashes. It shouldn't be too hard with three nights to choose from.

Any amalgamation of the leagues would have to offer benefits to both the current Elite League and Premier League promoters. Clubs like Scunthorpe, Berwick and Workington struggle financially in the current Premier League. How are they supposed to afford a competitive team in an even stronger league with higher costs? I am a strong proponent of one big league, but it has to be pitched at current Premier League levels, which means getting rid of any rider with an Elite League heatleader average over 6.50.

Have Leicester given up on the season already? Surely they could have got better draft guests than Oliver Greenwood and Lee Payne given Auty is second in tier 1?

How many hours of legal profession's time went in to this case?

You start with a statement of intent. EL on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. PL on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If even half the clubs who currently ride on an "off night" are able to move, this would significantly reduce the number of riders missing due to clashes. Then over time, as clubs re-negotiate their lease agreements with their landlords, they know which night(s) they should be aiming at. It's not rocket science, but it take a genuine desire from promoters to reduce riders missing meetings.

I find it hard to believe that given the choice of say three nights, most clubs wouldn't be able to accommodate it.

If you're going to have half of every team riding in more than one league, common sense would suggest you arrange for the leagues to be run on different nights?

On his web site it states "As a Government Minister, Justin is no longer able to join APPG’s..." so it is true, but maybe it's not as big a conspiracy as people are making out.

How many home meetings do Belle Vue have left? Their fixtures say five but the league table has them only having raced eight, which means they have six?

Seems a bit strange that we are wasting one of Branford's three remaining appearances on the trip to Lakeside where we got smashed earlier in the season. I'd have saved him for a couple of our remaining home meetings and maybe the away trip to BV, which will be a genuine six-pointer (or is it 7-pointer?)

I would be very interested to see an official link with that in it. I'm afraid it sounds like wishful thinking. However, there was a covenant on the land surrounding the current stadium, restricting its use to employment purposes only, but this was given short shrift by the council who say pound signs when plans for a few hundred houses were submitted.