MattK

Apparently they were all there as were both sponsors. But no "owners".

Funnily, I was thinking the other week if the SEC could effectively become a GP2 type event, with 16 riders outside of the GPs. One of the most interesting parts of the series has been that it contains riders you don't see every day. Personally, I think SEC could put together an excellent line-up of non-GP riders, such as the Laguta brothers, Kolodziej, Medzinski, Dudek, some of the young Latvians and even a couple of Brits (though not Harris and Nicholls).

Regardless of whether Marquez wins it or not, he is still the Rider of the Year by a long distance.

Well, if I wasn't getting paid, I wouldn't bother turning up for work, so I don't blame him for seeking work elsewhere.

Maybe he was upset at not making the top three of Swindon's "Rider of the Year" award?

Speedway has historically done quite well at these awards. In 2010 Gollob won "Personality(!) of the year" and Ward won the Rookie of the year. Janowski won Rookie of the Year in 2011.

You should watch MotoGP. It's been an absolutely amazing series this year.

Precisely. And the FA and other sport governing bodies are often accused of corruption despite being independent of the clubs.

I would have said the equivalent in football is the Chairman, who is often the owner, but not always. Because of speedway's amateur nature, roles such as owner/promoter/team manager are often doubled-up.

When are we ever NOT in the dark?

True and I think it does a long way to explaining why spectator numbers are down across the whole sport.

What is the reason it doesn't appeal to fans though? I would say because it is poorly organised (large gaps between legs, clubs given bys etc.) and not promoted well.

There is a good thread about it here. Common sense would suggest that having your product beamed into millions of households would boost crowds, but this obviously hasn't happened. So maybe less speedway on TV might encourage people off their sofas?

I can't see Coventry signing Harris on an 11.37 average, so I think the chances of one big league are zero.

I can't come up with a team that has less than five doubling-up riders!

You are ignoring the fact that the BSPA are incompetent. If you want evidence of this just look at the KO Cup. This should be the most popular competition after the play-offs, but it is so badly organised and promoted that they didn't even bother with it in 2013. 80% of something is worth more than 100% of nothing.

I agree, but you need the content in the first place and that is where speedway falls down. The other problem is while people don't blink at paying a minimum of £20 a month to subscribe to Sky, they are much more reluctant to pay for content online. I would love to know how many subscribers GoSpeed go for their online offering of the Polish play-offs for example.

The KO Cup should be the most popular meetings after the play-offs. The fact that they are not, simply proves the BSPA couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery. Given the promoting rights to BSI, get Monster on board, treat the KO Cup like a proper competition instead of a filler and watch the crowds come flooding back.

Morris, two 4-pointers and then me and you at reserve. We can only fit one of Andersen, Kildemand or Doyle.

How can you have a <40 points limit and no doubling-up? There wouldn't be enough 4 and 5 point riders to go round.

I think our biggest problem next year may be finding riders who don't want to double-up. I can't see Doyle and Morris wanting to ride full time in a watered down Elite League and they could be our two heatleaders!

Maybe the BSPA could sell the rights to the KOC to a company who might make a decent job of organising and running it?

The fans, by virtue of not turning up. I agree that the KO Cup could be a quality tournament, but as with everything the BSPA touches it is poorly promoted and badly executed.

Hahahaha, brilliant.

But fans aren't interested in the KO Cup, that's why it was binned. The play-offs on the other hand attract the biggest crowds of the season. So, remind me why you want to scrap the play-offs and reinstate the KO Cup?