frigbo

How many EL matches have been between first choice 7's so far this season? - ie no guests or r/r.

Once you stop giving a toss, speedway really does become quite hilarious!!

If only all Speedway was like that heat 11. Brilliant!

Hehlert rode 1 match for Hull back in '74. Hehlert rode 1 match for Hull back in '74.

That article made me laugh. Basically a self-employed contractor moaning about having to fund his tools and travel out of his business. Welcome to the real world.

Yet another second rate foreigner cluttering up PL team places.

Yes guests have been around a long time and perhaps they are a necessary evil. However, the system was completely out of control this season. There are some stats in a thread somewhere which show only 20 or so matches were completed with the correct 14 riders........that's a farce!

The front cover of last week's Speedway Star captures how ridiculous Speedway can be. Little wonder it can't attract new supporters when it alienates itself from most other sport in such a way. It will never attract the floating sport fan until it becomes a sport rather than a circus.

Great stats but a saddening indictment of the mess that British speedway has become.

Can't watch anymore of this Hancock love-in.

Mads - judging by Twitter this evening. Bizarre with only 1 match left.

Jeremy Barraud?? Christophe Cayre was proper special!! Although Aurellian Lemarque I saw in an u-21 round at Poole made Cayre look like Ivan Mauger!!

Way too many poor foreigners clogging up team places.

One glance at the PL tells yoy everything that is wrong. Last week saw matches with reserve heats including: Jan Graversen Rafal Konopka Matej Kus Alex Edberg Roland Benko Zdenek Simota Max Dilger Nicki Barrett Taylor Poole Cameron Heeps Todd Kurtz Aaron Fox That's where most of these lads should be learning their trade.

Last night pretty much covered in other posts. Great result in a long drawn-out dull meeting. It's criminal that the Leicester setup is ruined by such a poorly shaped track - especially as they had a blank piece of paper to design it on. Only my 2nd meeting of the season and if my life-long love and I are going to get back together properly, she had better start behaving better than last night!!

The sport coverage in the Adver these days is of world class ineptitude!

Very odd that Sarjeant wasn't first option - even with his 0 at Leicester last week.

Got to giggle at everyone unravelling about Wolves' team. Leicester rode at Swindon in the 'good old days of 1976' with SIX guests and Doug Underwood! It's nothing new. Speedway was still ridiculous when it was good!!

Behave. No so-called professional sport should have such a situation - particularly with betting being associated.

Another classic speedway moment. Ref Ronnie Allan is Leicester boss Norrie Allan's brother!! Luckily Leicester are so gash it doesn"t matter!! Unprofessional is the Uk speedway strapline.

In an ideal world, set race nights, big hitting teams and squad systems are where top level British club speedway should be aiming. The key point is "ideal world." Obvious stumbling blocks are track availability and cost, both of which are debated here. Track availability may be surmountable as Monday and Wednesday nights look like they will fit. Although i'm still not convinced riders would arrive in droves to perform on those nights, or any nights for that matter! Cost is the show-stopper in my opinion. Many fans already see admission as too high and the additional overhead of top riders and/or squads would have to push prices to £20-25. Better value than now maybe, but I'm not convinced fans would part with that price, even every 2 weeks. The other debate is whether the lost fans would return simply because the better riders are back in the league. Speaking as a "lost fan", personally my answer is "no" as there are numerous other issues which have made me throw in the towel. In no particular order, the folowing being addressed would go futher to getting me back than the likes of Hancock or Jonsson rocking up every week/fortnight: Promoter and governing body integrity Rider commitment and attitude to clubs (most don't even know (or care) what the score is!) Settled teams Absolutely no guests one rider, one club better value for money weekend racing (getting in from work at 7 doesn't help) oh, and..... :drink:cheaper beer Personally i would love 2 bigger leagues with promotion and relegation to give the sport credibility to people outside. Unfortunately speedway will never make this work because of the self-interest inherent in every decision. The re-balancing required would end up like 1995 as richer clubs hog prized assets. It's all well and good debating race nights and if riders want to race here. But until the people running the sport get it's recovery as top priority, those debates are futile.

Squads are ideal in principal but a financial non-starter. I'm not convinced riders would accept a "pay as you play" deal and retainers would cripple clubs.

All well and good saying go one night and get top riders back. Admission would be 20 quid plus, meetings would still take too long, teams will still flaunt the rule book and people still won't go as a result. I really don't think it will benefit anyone but the riders, who already play a huge part in the root of the problems with their attitudes and salaries.

British speedway's relationship with international riders is all but done. They're becoming less and less reliable or interested and clubs can't afford them. I'm starting to convert my opinion and think low-budget settled teams at £10 a go might be the only hope to rebuild.

Typically selfish rider's point of view. Most clubs in the UK don't own their stadia and therefore are limited to when they can operate. If you're tired, don't cream off the dollar in both Poland and Sweden and have a kip on Sunday or Tuesday.