CUFC_Brummie

So when will Carr usurp JPB's average? Soon, I hope.

Very happy with that, he was excellent last week, hopefully we'll have a bit of firepower at reserve now that we've lacked since Cupitt went up into the main body of the team.

Lakeside by 6 I'm afraid.

How fantastically uninspiring, but we didn't have a choice sadly.

Based on today's result then it should be a comfortable home win, though Harris, well as he is going, for Bacon weakens us. Didn't see IOW as that much poorer than Buxton though so will expect s bit more fight. Rain is moving in and they called off the last bank holiday meeting with a similar forecast, but suspect they will be desperate to get this on. If the overnight rain is all we get and we can avoid any showers in the early afternoon which have been in and out of the forecast, then hopefully we'll be OK. Hope we can get a 20 point margin again.

Some of the replies here are so fantastically speedway, a sport on its knees and apparently the problem is a few clubs who are actually run well, are reasonably professional and financially sound and operating at a level where they can sustain the future of their club, right. Of course it's sad Kings Lynn have had to pull out, losing teams mid-season does no league any good, and I feel most of all for the riders who are out of a job this morning, but, this is not like losing a stand alone team, Kings Lynn still exist and could still return to the NL next year. The same could not necessarily be said for a stand alone team. The fact that there are now "bigger" teams here with bigger crowds, more resources and more "pull" down here is not their fault, no rules have been broken, and the likes of us, Eastbourne, Cradley, have helped develop as many young riders as Buxton and Lynn over the last 5 years, we're not just throwing money at proven guys who have no further to develop. The problem, and the reason they are here for the most part (Cradley excluded) is because of the unsustainable way in which the top 2 divisions have been run. If you want this to be truly a developmental league, with a level playing field where everyone can compete, then I suggest you go to the AGM next year, propose an U21 limit on all riders in this division with a £10 point limit and strict governance of sponsorship, and a radical restructure of the top 2 divisions to help facilitate this, that can provide for the c.30 guys who will be weeded out of the NL because of it. Feasible? Absolutely, but you're going to need to spend a lot of hours putting together a damn good business case, it won't be simple to make it work logistically and financially. Ultimately, Brum, Eastbourne, Crawley etc. have done this league far more harm than good, it's reputation is at its highest for years, as are overall crowds I imagine, and we are helping develop young British riders at an increasing rate. Whilst I appreciate how this has made it more difficult for teams like Buxton, business has to adapt, and that's what all sport is these days, even at this level.

Made of steel this lot, incredible.

Fair play, that was a good race, hopefully keeping the track staff off the track has sorted it out!

Whoever prepared this track before and during this meeting has made a complete balls up of it. Hopefully it gets better. I know why they go to places like this, but it's ridiculous that we're wasting rounds in places like here and Krsko when we could have another round in this country with a much bigger crowd and more than likely a better track.

Cracking racing this, the temp tracks have been so good the last 18 months or so.

JPB ruled out with a shoulder injury picked up tonight.

It sounds like the BSPA are sanctioning it (rightly so) so they should be able to cover. It has to be Cook and Lambert really. It's baffling that they've asked him and then not picked him, availability query or not, if the bloke's available he's the best British rider by a country mile so if you ask him and he says he'll ride you have to pick him, it just looks now like they're messing with him, which is only going to damage that relationship further. It could've gone two ways, if Tai and the BSPA had worked together to do this it might have resolved the SWC issue, which would be great for everyone. If Tai was only going to do this because it's in Wroclaw and a bit more high profile but still not ride in the SWC then I wouldn't have asked him in the first place, but I suspect this would've been a valuable bridge built in a dispute that is doing absolutely no-one any favours as it currently stands.

Things have definitely improved, you're never going to get instant results overnight, there were people bemoaning the EDR system after the 1st year for lack of progress but with youth development schemes it's always going to take time and the benefits will improve the longer it goes on if it's successful, and I think the results of the last few years show that it is. This is our 3rd year in the NL now and each season there have been not just more 15/16 year olds coming in at the start of each season, but of a better standard and probably more importantly more readily equipped to cope and compete with the rest in the league immediately rather than taking 3 or 4 months to get up to speed. What Neil Vatcher has done with pretty limited resources so far is impressive. The crop over the last two years in that sort of age bracket are the best the country's had in the 10 years I've been following the sport IMO, that doesn't mean that any of them are going to necessarily be GP superstars, but what is promising is that if they aren't then this isn't a "golden generation" as such, it is a conveyor belt that is now churning out good quality riders every year that are coming in at a higher standard, and I've no doubt we'll be in a much stronger position with regards to the national side (and as a consequence at World Championship level) in the next decade, and maybe sooner. The only question is whether the sport can survive financially to help these guys flourish as much as they need to, the start of the conveyor belt is rolling along nicely but the back half of it is stuttering and will chuck them off if it doesn't smooth out a little bit...

Meeting off, seems a bit premature but I'm not in Birmingham so maybe the weather is worse this morning than the forecast says. Two bank holiday meetings lost to the weather, not good for the club.

Woffy, Sayfutdinov, Janowski tonight I reckon. Should be a great year, no slouches in the series for the first time I can remember, hopefully we have 4 or 5 on the mix for the title going into the last couple of rounds. Bring it on!

Best wishes to Danyon, bloke seems to have terrible luck with a badly timed injury at the end of last season too. I suppose what we do is dependent on how long he's going to be out for. My preference would be to get Halder in at #2 ASAP and run R/R, or if he's not available (you'd have thought we'd have signed him by now if he was) then Dicken should be back soon I imagine, stick him and Leek at reserve and move Cupitt up to 2. I'd be surprised if there's anyone unattached with a 7 point average to cover but I stand to be corrected, and there's seemingly not a wealth of guests available (it's basically Greenwood and Stoneman from what I can tell).

Good, think it was probably us signing Hay that put him out of reach previously. Sign him up.

Does Halder fit? Thought his average was too high before.

I think R/R helps us in this instance, although it does mean Leek will have to take 4 rides and depends on how well Cupitt rides Lynn, but based on his performance at Perry Barr last week it's not the sort of away track I see him struggling at. Hopefully Jack has got his bike sorted out sufficiently as well. Narrow Birmingham win.

Can only echo what's been said above, Hume and Cupitt the stand outs, JPB will get better with more experience in the main body of the team (presumably why he was put out in 15), Ritchings looked more like the rider from the first half of last season than the second, Bacon got intruded by Hay in heat 1 which didn't help his score but again a little off the pace but that'll come with more racing (and possibly a move to #5 if Danyon keeps improving), with Leek performing as expected (well off the pace) and Chris Hay having great gating skills but an inability to turn the bike left at bend 4. Meeting did nothing to change my opinion of Cradley as definite contenders, Ayres and Perry were solid, Greenwood managed to rack up a decent score despite not seeming like he'd actually ridden that well (always a good skill to have...), Harris rode very well, could be a trump card for them this year, and Lawlor was unlucky not to get more points as a consequence of his chain coming off when leading Was only a couple of points out with my prediction but it felt a lot closer than I thought it might, enough to be encouraged about but we will certainly struggle at reserve once Cupitt moves up. Hopefully we're sending someone down to Lakeside to have a look at these guys trying to get their #7 slot in the hope that we might just be able to unearth someone with a little bit of ability. Reasonable crowd, lots more Cradley than Birmingham where I was standing though. Presentation still hasn't moved on into the 21st century, although at least Mr. Rowe acknowledged the 80s mix tape, needs to go though. Good to hear they're doing a promotion for a couple of meetings, be keen to hear where they're planning on advertising it though, can see its' on the website (eventually) but needs to be plastered all over social media and beyond for it to have a chance of making a positive impact. Was also hoping there would be an update on what's being done regarding a takeover for next year too, should be a feature in every single programme in my opinion, can't let it wait until September/October, will be badgering them about this after every home meeting until it happens.....

Looking forward to this and to seeing the boys back on the shale, a more thorough test we couldn't ask for to start the season. It's obviously just a challenge, and we got absolutely tonked by Cradley in our first meeting back in 2015 and still went onto win the league so will try not to read too much into the result, but hopefully see promising signs from the top 4 riders and hopefully some potential in Cupitt at reserve who will be key to our season. Anything from Hay or Leek will be a bonus. R/R certainly doesn't harm the Heathens and probably makes them a tad stronger, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Perry go through the card again and that'll be the deciding factor in the end. Cradley by 6.

B Morley 9.22 K Bickley 3.00 J Parkinson-Blackburn 6.97 J Smith 6.32 D Hume 7.33 J Jenkins 3.00 T Brennan 3.00 Total 38.84

Bewley and Newman. Parkinson-Blackburn and Wilson-Dean (although I'd pick Bewley again tbh). Bickley and Jenkins.

Slow Sunday afternoon.... Belle Vue M Zagar, S Worrall, M Palm Toft, J Jacobs, D Bewley, M Williamson, L Payne Berwick E Kennett, K Wolbert, K Doolan, C Vissing, L Carr, D Gappmaier, R Blackock Edinburgh J Thorsell, S Masters, R Schlein, E Riss, M Clegg, M Davey, J Pickering Glasgow M Fricke, A Summers, R Bach, T Kurtz, N Lunna, J Smith, M Davey Ipswich D King, B Barker, N Covatti, L Kerr, C Heeps, C Mountain, D Hume Kings Lynn N K Iversen, R Lambert, T Batchelor, C Wilkinson, K Huckenbeck, J Bailey, J Jenkins Leicester K Nilsson, A Lebedevs, P Hougaard, D Watt, M Riss, D Ayres, M Baseby Newcastle S Nicholls, R Lawson, M Kus, L Rose, A Morris, D Phillips, C Coles Peterborough J Kylmakorpi, K Bjerre, U Ostergaard, K Hansen, S Lambert, T Perry, T Bacon Poole C Holder, A Ellis, J Holder, K Newman, J Allen, J Shanes, B Wilson Redcar N Morris, R Worrall, D Bellego, C Wright, T Busch, R Hall, D Ritchings Rye House C Harris, L Lindgren, S Robson, J Sarjeant, R Branford, E Perks, L Bowen Scunthorpe R Tungate, L Bridger, R Douglas, L Kerr, S Nielsen, F Wallner, D Halsey Sheffield H Andersen, J Garrity, K Howarth, L Bjerre, J Bates, J Parkinson-Blackburn, B Hopwood Somerset K Kasprzak, J Grajczonek, K Gomolski, D Berge, J Graversen, B Wilson-Dean, T Brennan Swindon J Doyle, B Kurtz, N Porsing, N Klindt, E Grondal, Z Wajtnecht, B Morley Wolves F Lindgren, J Sedgeman, A Skornicki, J Auty, T Proctor, N Greaves, D Greenwood Workington C Cook, R Wells, T Jorgensen, J Andersen, A Roynon, M Campton, R Shuttleworth 34 riders excluded who had an average of 5.00+ last year who I think do not have a team place in the UK this year, plus a couple of others who were on the list but have retired. The above includes 4 (Zagar, Iversen, Kylmakorpi and Schlein) who don't have a ride here this year but could feasibly ride in the UK (you could probably swap one of the first two for Jonsson if needs be). The discrepancy between the best 7 and worst 7 (Kings Lynn and Berwick I would say) isn't quite as big as I thought but it's still pretty sizeable, although I guess you'd get that in most 18 team leagues in any sport to be honest. It was tricky filling out the last few spots, and of course this is without considering averages and without considering who would actually sign for certain clubs, although a good percentage of riders have recent connections to their club I think. You would probably need some sort of draft system for at least part of the septets (1, 6 and 7 or the top couple) to keep it reasonably even each year. Would let any British reserves U25 double up in the National League, so there wouldn't be many riders lost to the NL as a consequence of this (just Bewley and the over 25 riders). So in a nutshell, difficult without demoting a couple of teams, but not impossible. Whether some of the above riders would be able to make it pay as a consequence is another question entirely, but with 34 meetings plus at least one cup competition, you'd hope so.

Belle Vue Cradley Mildenhall Birmingham Eastbourne Kings Lynn Kent Lakeside Plymouth Stoke Buxton IOW