Guest Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 If speedway dies (where it is certainly heading) then the problem lies squarely with the promoters and not the fans who choose to exercise their right to spend their money how they want to. Wake up and smell the coffee - if the fan base keeps shrinking there will be no teams to support so this is a real problem that needs dealing with!M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 I think, we subconsciously only remember the good meetings, the bad uns, just Don't register in our long term memory......Funny thing is "Shale Searcher i don't ever remember being bored when i was younger, and often the second halves with the juniors were good.Now my wife picks me up at 9.45 on a Thursday and sometimes i can't wait to get home.My memory is that then all teams had a very decent no1 and say for example Glasgow Jimmy Mac Halifax Booey you might only get to see them ride live once a year.Also teams had old favourites,riders you could identify with who were good value good riders and real triers.ie) ex) Thomas,Pusey,Goody,Street,Wilkinson,Plant,May,Leigh,Haley and i could name endless others.Today i enjoy the GPS very much which surprises me as i was a staunch one off final man.But today's EL there is alot of dross served up often with Pearson dressing it up to the hilt.The PL what i have seen is more my cup of tea and if they introduce young Brits getting chances at reserve that will improve it even more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Actually Colin, I can. ALL of them in the Premier League. That must tell you something.... Yep, it tells me that Sky tend to cherry pick the best tracks when they show PL meetings, although I can remember some poor ones at IOW, Rye House and Edinburgh over the years. But while Sky keep going back to Peterborough, Scunny & Somerset those meetings will be good as they are among the best tracks we have. Meetings from Eastbourne and Leicester are never going to be a good EL advert. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Smith Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Yep, it tells me that Sky tend to cherry pick the best tracks when they show PL meetings, although I can remember some poor ones at IOW, Rye House and Edinburgh over the years. But while Sky keep going back to Peterborough, Scunny & Somerset those meetings will be good as they are among the best tracks we have. Meetings from Eastbourne and Leicester are never going to be a good EL advert. Absolutely spot on yet PL fans can't get their heads round it at all. The best circuits in the UK are:- Somerset Peterborough King's Lynn Wolverhampton Scunthorpe Sheffield After that small bunch it's much of a muchness with the worst circuits beings Rye House Eastbourne Lakeside Leicester Belle Vue Edinburgh Personally, if speedway could afford it I'd put the best race tracks in the top league rather than bringing or leaving out the top riders. Doesn't matter how good a rider is, if the racing is sh!yte it will remain so at the worst tracks regardless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OveFundinFan Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Thats an interesting thought Screamer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy cookie returns? Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Now a lot of people on here will disagree with me on this. The last time Speedway was run in the UK along the lines that I should be was back in the late 80's when Mervyn Stewkesbury ran the old National League. That league had if I remember 18 teams meeting once a season knock out cup best pairs & the fours which had a proper qualification system. All the clubs ran a junior league team. If riders were missing from the first team then either R/R was used & a number 8 was named or a junior stepped up the key thing no guests as these were banned & the league was a good standard & well supported. I also seem to remember that If you had a rider out of form he could be dropped & replaced by a Junior so in fact you had a mini squad system. It was just a shame that it was sacrificed in order to try and save the British League & that was Stewkesbury's downfall. So what has changed since 1990 well not a lot the top flight is still in a mess for many of the same reasons as it was then and the second division suffers as a result. The big thing is though the sport appears to have learned nothing in the last 20 to 30 years the number of clubs are decreasing as is the fan base as is the pool of riders that the leagues can use. The sport needs a bloody big shake up & it also needs to wake up before it is too late. In my mind I think the way forward is to use the blue print of the old National league in terms of guests & R/R rules & that clubs have junior teams then you might start to get some new riders though the system as the track time would be there for them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Absolutely spot on yet PL fans can't get their heads round it at all. The best circuits in the UK are:- Somerset Peterborough King's Lynn Wolverhampton Scunthorpe Sheffield After that small bunch it's much of a muchness with the worst circuits beings Rye House Eastbourne Lakeside Leicester Belle Vue Edinburgh Personally, if speedway could afford it I'd put the best race tracks in the top league rather than bringing or leaving out the top riders. Doesn't matter how good a rider is, if the racing is sh!yte it will remain so at the worst tracks regardless. Why? The Elite League is no longer Elite. Rather, it is a League propped up with Premier League Riders and - perhaps more to the point - National League Riders. I know everything in the garden isn't rosy in the Premier League - BUT - I think it is a damned sight more rosy than the Elite League. I would not argue about your choice of Tracks - just with the highlighted statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Is the PL not also propped up by EL riders though? Kennett, Barker, King, Gracjonek, Morris x2, Lawson, Worrall x2, Wells, Kerr, Rose, your mate Ludvig, Allen, Proctor, Newman, Ellis, Klindt, Aspgren off the top of my head are EL club's assets who ride in the PL. Make riders choose between one league or the other and I fancy you'd lose several of those riders from the PL as well as I'd imagine one or two others like Stead, Cook etc. Doubling up is far from ideal but its a necessary evil with too few riders to go round. If both leagues don't work together there would be a big problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Is the PL not also propped up by EL riders though? Kennett, Barker, King, Gracjonek, Morris x2, Lawson, Worrall x2, Wells, Kerr, Rose, your mate Ludvig, Allen, Proctor, Newman, Ellis, Klindt, Aspgren off the top of my head are EL club's assets who ride in the PL. Make riders choose between one league or the other and I fancy you'd lose several of those riders from the PL as well as I'd imagine one or two others like Stead, Cook etc. Doubling up is far from ideal but its a necessary evil with too few riders to go round. If both leagues don't work together there would be a big problem. That may be so - but - apart from the Rider I have higlighted - I don't see any of them being ELITE - do you????? :rolleyes: Remember - I saw Klindt at Newcastle last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 The definition of elite is 'a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society' ie the highest standard of speedway in the UK. So yes, the Elite league is appropriately named because there is no league of a higher standard in the UK. Those riders are assets of EL teams and most would choose the EL if they had to pick a league to ride in. And the bottom line is that those riders prop up the PL as much as PL assets do so to the EL. Klindt may have had a bad day last Sunday but he has recently qualified for the GP challenge so can't be all that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 The definition of elite is 'a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society' ie the highest standard of speedway in the UK. So yes, the Elite league is appropriately named because there is no league of a higher standard in the UK. Those riders are assets of EL teams and most would choose the EL if they had to pick a league to ride in. And the bottom line is that those riders prop up the PL as much as PL assets do so to the EL. Klindt may have had a bad day last Sunday but he has recently qualified for the GP challenge so can't be all that bad. Apart from Klindt - I don't disagree with the fact that they are GOOD Riders - they are. But Elite - NEVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Not elite in terms of world speedway, but elite riders in the sense that they are assets of EL teams and consequently on loan to PL clubs and therefore propping up the PL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch958 Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 semantics GB = Cowboy cookie hit the nail on the head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffdiamond Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Is the PL not also propped up by EL riders though? Kennett, Barker, King, Gracjonek, Morris x2, Lawson, Worrall x2, Wells, Kerr, Rose, your mate Ludvig, Allen, Proctor, Newman, Ellis, Klindt, Aspgren off the top of my head are EL club's assets who ride in the PL. Make riders choose between one league or the other and I fancy you'd lose several of those riders from the PL as well as I'd imagine one or two others like Stead, Cook etc. Doubling up is far from ideal but its a necessary evil with too few riders to go round. If both leagues don't work together there would be a big problem. has he got an EL place ???,,, shame really :-(,,, cos we could have more 'Lightning' on the telly, (and I don't mean like the young-uns telly that actually got hit by lightning and blew up, still waiting for the proceeds from a collection they were having for it, along with the one for Rays Skoda tyre's at Peterborough),,, a dunno :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 No, but he is an asset of an EL side (Brum) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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