IainB

The Polish riders would have to come in return, that would be part of any agreement, take the 2 riders I've picked out, I can't see the likes of Daniel Kaczmarek or Norbert Krakowiak disobeying an agreement that had been setup between Poole and Torun, not if they wanted to ride for Torun again, Torun would surely want these 2 to gain more experience and have some track time. Yes the UK loses a good rider for a few matches a year maybe but instead of having that rider replaced by R/R, a guest, an out of his depth NL rider, the fans get to see a possibly exciting new talent that is affiliated to their club, the upcoming British youngsters get to ride against Polish youngsters of similar ability. The fans are being robbed anyway at the moment. I really can't see any negatives that can't be worked around... except for the one that means it'll never happen unless a forward thinking person is appointed to chair the BSPA

No British riders are not... but when they are approaching the standard they still find it difficult to secure a spot in the top Polish league, Simon Stead and Lewis Bridger dabbled a few years back and Craig Cook and Robert Lambert are approaching that stage now. Wouldn't it be good if they could be fed into a Polish team from their affiliated UK team The plus side is that the Polish club gets the rider they want and in return sends over one of their assets that they are looking to develop The British side benefits as the rider doesn't get his 28 day ban, the rider earns his "big money", the fans get to see a full team of their clubs riders, the young pole wouldn't be able to ride for any other club just the club that is affiliated to his Polish team, for example if Poole were to team up with Torun... Brady Kurtz or Jack Holder could only ride for Torun and Daniel Kaczmarek or Norbert Krakowiak could only ride for Poole. Using Jason Doyle in the Premiership league is like using a sledge hammer to crack a nut he's far to good for UK speedway and once used to the tracks I dare say the young Poles would do a similar job... and don't forget I'm only talking about when there are fixture clashes here, this would not be all of the time, a club would still have the option of using R/R if they saw fit. Cost is absolutely not an issue, it's £30 for a Ryanair or Wizz flight, 1 rider and 2 mechanics £100 split between the 2 clubs... come on! Equipment? bring a couple of engines over as hand luggage fit them into track spares when they arrive Start thinking about how it could be done...

I don't know gustix, like I say it's just the kernel of an idea. So something like a Polish and British club sign 14 riders between them, there could be an overlap and when the Poles want to use Jacob Thorsell for example on UK race night they send over one of their assets to replace him, maybe a young Pole looking for experience or a rider struggling for form. They're going to get Thorsell anyway, this way out saves him getting a 28 day ban, the fans get to see a full team and a new rider who in the standard of our league may excel Iris123 I only mentioned football as I know they operate feeder clubs. Where speedway differs from football is that players only play in one league unlike in speedway, so yes to do exactly the same is as you say ridiculous... But I'm not suggesting speedway does the same... I also find your tone a bit aggressive

I tend to agree... But it would be nice to think there was a way out of the current pit speedway in this country is in.

I'm not talking specifically about British riders but riders riding in Britain... Jack Holder and Jacob Thorsell immediately spring to mind. Instead of coming up with reasons why it couldn't work how about looking at ways it could work. It was only a kernel of an idea and everybody is shutting me down

I wonder if anybody has ever tried to co-operate or just approach them with their own self interest in mind. Perhaps a mutually beneficial approach is needed

It seems perfectly clear that there is only ever going to be one winner between Poland and GB speedway. Surely it's time to start working with the Polish league and not against it. Why don't UK clubs team up with a Polish counterpart and run squad systems between them. That way when the Polish club calls on a rider from the UK they can send one of their own across to the UK as a replacement, every one's a winner. The Poles get the rider they want, the rider gets the big money and experience (that Cook and Lambert etc are looking for), the dropped polish rider gets to ride in the UK to add to their experience and the UK teams are able to field a full side. A number of football clubs have affiliated feeder clubs (or used to anyway). I wonder if anybody is forward thinking enough to make it happen, or will toys continue to be thrown out of prams until there is no professional speedway league in this country.

Well this is the question isn't it. Is speedway a sport (i.e. a structured competition to see who is best at a particular discipline) or an entertainment (like a pop concert or comedian )? You can put on a meeting, but should you be charging people to watch it? There are loads of sports around where the organisers stage an event not for any paying public to be entertained but just for the enjoyment of the competitors and to see who is best. If they're lucky and get it right people want to watch and will pay to do so. Football, Cricket & Rugby for example, played on parks around the world with nobody at all watching, though at the same time deemed by some to be entertaining enough on occasion to fill a stadium with thousands. Not every match/event can be entertaining, thousands still turn up every week to watch a losing team because the crowd has some affinity towards it. People will also generally turn up to watch the best exponents of that particular sport operating at the top of their game. It seems to me that the current state of British Speedway, at the top level, is missing the mark on a number of accounts, more often than not it's just not entertaining enough to warrant the admission fee, the teams change with such regularity that it's difficult for most to have any affinity to a team. And the participants (with all due respect to them) are certainly not the best.

"We head to Leicester on Saturday but my main focus is Monday when we have a very special meeting against Somerset here at the Adrian Flux Arena." That is a direct quote from Buster Chapman (the man in charge of British Speedway) on the KL website and with an attitude like that it's no wonder the sport is in the state that it is. A total disregard for anything other than trying to get fans through his own turnstiles. What he doesn't realise is that if every promoter took that attitude (and most of them do) then there is no real competition (like whoever went tonight witnessed) and the sport (and I use the term loosely) is in a downward spiral into oblivion

LEICESTER star Erik Riss says they are desperate to play on the bouncy castle at Beaumont Park on Saturday (7.30). The Watling JCB Lions got back to winning ways against the Stars last time out and will now look to ride elsewhere on Saturday night. Riss admits they have been left frustrated by their injury misfortune which has stalled their progress in the second half of the season and hope to not pick up any more injuries on the castle. But with Josh Grajczonek booked to guest at No.1 for Kim Nilsson, he is confident they can emerge from the castle with no more injuries. Riss said: “I love bouncy castles but I can't see where I'm bouncing because of the sun” There will also be a speedway event for OAPs between 7.30 and 10: 30 (probably with a delay for the sun) and it is hoped plenty of supporters will turn out as it's just after pension day to moan about the Lions. A raceday update with team news from both clubs will be issued minutes after the meeting starts.

I don't think anybody did

Brandon?

Funny that, I saw him on the official live SGP Q&A web feed and he swore. Must have edited out his foul language in the newspaper do you think? and on the TV

what a ridiculous thing to say... there's nothing more tedious than sitting near a drunk person at a sporting event, if you want to get hammered go to the pub... or better still stay at home! can't seem to conduct an interview without swearing... the media loves that

I hope Pearson & Tatum have a lot of filler material for the hour long sun delay

And isn't Lambert German?

what's he said? I can't see it as he blocked me from his twitter some years ago as he couldn't handle the truth

One has to wonder whether king was asked not to release the news of his absence until after the start time??????

kept quiet on purpose? Kingy only tweeting the news 7 minutes ago get the punters in the stadium and then drop the bombshell this club will get what it deserves if it's continued to be run the way it is into the ground!

Shouldn't that read "and with glorious weather the club are expecting a massive sun delay and then an interval on top"

Can we expect a sun delay... and an interval on top? Also with both teams operating R/R, this one could run into tomorrow!

erm... explain it again in a polite and friendly manner for those people that don't go week in week out?

talk to me like a piece of rubbish and what do you expect?

At Leicester (vs Poole) on Saturday we had the ridiculous situation where even the parade was delayed due to the sun, whether that was actually the case or not I don't know, but that was certainly what was announced! Why they didn't run the parade while the sun was setting so they could get racing underway as soon as it had set is beyond me. I'm in my 40th year of following this so called sport and the sun delay seems to be a relatively recent excuse to hold meetings up, I can never remember it being an issue years ago. If it genuinely is an issue whey don't they erect some fencing along the line of where the sun sets (a sight screen), surely it can't come as a surprise that the sun sets in the same place year on year

There were a lot of Bees fans there last night, not so sure about Wolves. I had a walk along the whole of the terrace and there were a lot of gaps further along up in front of the stand