MattK

There only appears to be three rounds this year. We are away to Peterborough the night before the 2nd round at Berwick, so he may well still ride for us that night. http://www.fim-live.com/en/sport/speedway-under-21

I have no problem with them making a living, but if earning money is their first priority over the ambition of being the best possible rider they can be, then I don't think they should get a free ride into Team GB.

Of course it's competitive, it's the strongest league in the world. That's why all the young Poles, Danes and Swedes ride there. Were are the young Brits though? Too busy doubling-up in our semi-professional leagues. And then we wonder why there is no young talent coming through. And anyway, how is chucking them in an the deep end only for them to get annihilated in the World Cup going to help their progression?

The World Cup should be able your four best riders. If Cook, Auty, Worrall and Garrity want experience then they should sign for Polish and Swedish teams, like the young Poles, Danes and Swedes do. That is the real reason we are miles behind on an international stage. British riders are lazy and/or lack ambition.

It's funny, most people bemoan Terry Russell owning the TV rights to British speedway, but I wonder if the BSPA (or whoever) sold the rights to TeamGB, whether someone would make a better hand at getting sponsorship, encouraging the top riders and eventually being more successful on the track?

Well, if tomorrow night is rained-off (and the forecast looks terrible) it means we cannot re-arrange for either of the two "reserved" dates mentioned, otherwise Kennett will be missing. As for Poole, yes, it's great, but we have to be careful to not become too complacent, because as tonight shows, the wheels can come off a team very quickly indeed.

It's not doom and gloom, just reality. Did you miss Birks scoring two and Gomolski scoring three last week? We now have to use R/R for Morris, with the reserves covering three of his four rides. And potentially we will have Kennett missing on Thursday 06 June and Thursday 20 June when Berwick have fixtures and Swindon have "reserved" nights.

And it was Kennett in heat 15, not Kildemand

I agree. A very good move for Eddie, get a PL average allocated ready for next season, but a real worry for Swindon with two misfiring reserves and one rider already out injured.

So, the Belle Vue management have alienated Lakeside fans by poaching Richie Worrall and Poole fans with this little stunt.

I appreciate what you say, but Monster do seem to be trying to drag the sport into the 20th century. Do Sky or the BSPA cut a "highlights" clip of each meeting on YouTube? As for other commentators, I'm sure Eurosport could find them. I quite liked Jonathan Green's commentary on SGP, although anyone who doesn't say "Woofy, Woofy, Woofy" would be a good start.

The other thing that I would be interested to know is how Pearson and Tatum fit in with the imagine that Monster want is trying to portray for the GPs. This video ( ) and its soundtrack doesn't really sit along side two middle-aged men and their tired catchphrases.

It is really though? For example, all the revenue from Twickenham goes to the RFU, where as at this stadium, as far as I'm aware, all the money will go to Belle Vue speedway. So if that is the case, the "National Speedway Stadium" name is little more than a marketing gimmick.

The whole act of sponsoring a rider seems to be shrouded in secrecy. I've often wondered riders don't have a section on their web sites where their kevlars and bike are laid flat and businesses (and individuals) can "bid" on a section.

In this instance I don't think your comparison to football is a mistake. If Ryan Giggs did guest for Spurs in place of the Bale it would be farcical and the Premier League would be the laughing stock of the sporting world. However, this is a common occurrence in speedway and another reason why it is not taken seriously by the wider media and members of the public.

The Elite League at least seemed to be moving in the right direction (IMHO) towards a squad system, with each team having a #8 and pairs of double-uppers. However, this season DUers have been reduced to single riders and the concept of having a #8 appears to have been dropped, although not officially announced as far as I can see. Personally I think teams should be made to bite the bullet. Their #8 comes in at the bottom of the team and then every other rider moves up a place.

One thing we can all agree on is that ironically the presentation of speedway has definitely NOT changed in the last thirty years, which is why attending a speedway meeting is like stepping into a time warp. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with presenting your product as if it's the 1970/80s, IF your target market is people in their 40s, 50s and upwards. The problem with speedway is that it doesn't know who its target market is, so tries to be all things to all people and ultimately fails to be anything to anyone. Speedway needs to pick a target audience, like BWitcher said, your can make something "cool" just my marketing it properly. But it is very, very hard to be all things to all people, which is why every year speedway loses more fans that it gains.

Is the racing really any worse now than it has ever been? I've got DVDs of meetings from Oxford in the 70s and 80s where just as many heats are won from the gate and/or are strung out as you are likely to see in a meeting today. I don't think speedway is any better or worse than any other motorsport when it comes to follow-my-leader and first out the start wins. Look at F1, 50 laps and the only time cars change positions is during pit stops. The most exciting part of any motorsport event is the start and speedway is blessed in that it has 15 starts and relatively short "races". That's just my 2p worth.

I cannot believe that before a wheel has been turned in anger, three clubs are struggling to field their declared 1-7. I agree with Grachen, it's a joke that there is likely to be more guests and r/r this year thanks to the change in rules, rather than less. Maybe it's time fans voted with their feet and boycotted meetings were their team are not using their declared 1-7? If we hit them in the pocket then they may actually listen to what the fan, their customers, say.

There's at least 20 hangers-on in the pits at Swindon, move them out and you'd have plenty of room to reward the loyalty of your fee-paying customers with a pre-match pit walk. THe idea is to reward loyalty, not shake fans down for another couple of quid.

The thing that amazes me is how little clubs do to reward loyal fans. OK, you can buy a season ticket, which saves you the equivalent of two to three meetings, but that isn't suitable for everyone. There are simple things a club can do which costs them nothing, such as attend five meetings and receive a free pre-meeting pit walk, ten meetings get a meet-and-greet with your favourite rider and fifteen meetings get to watch the final heat from the centre green. These kinds of things reward loyalty and help get fans re-discover the sport they love. Then you can charge them anything!

I've always thought this. You can get a job lot on eBay for about a quid each and then you could potentially make money on the re-fills.

Stadia UK and their developer buddies need to finance the building of 200 new houses, so every little helps.

You don't seem like the kind of bloke to hold a 40-year grudge.

I didn't think the crowd was too bad considering the weather. e were a lot of travelling fans but quite a few regular faces missing from where I normally stand. I wonder if having a cheapo meeting with say £9 entry would be a better way to get people back in the habit, rather than hitting them up for twenty quid on the first meeting of the season? Overall it was a good night though, but flipping cold.