The 5 Year Plan

[Rico]

There is apparently a five year plan.

 

What could it be?

 

Will it be made public? Nah.

 

Might I suggest something along the following lines

 

Year 1 Take a team of U21s to ride test matches against Germany/Czech Republic U21s

 

Get our youngsters riding abroad, even in Polish second league, German league, Czech league. Subsidise it even with shared event revenue.

 

Year 2 Take same group to take on Danish / Polish U21s

 

Year 3 Retake years 1 and 2. Learn learn learn

 

Years 4 and 5 take on full internationals with the above countries.

 

Along the way welcome touring parties from other countries and take them on at the likes of Somerset/Scunny. Tracks that need some oomph

 

End of year 5 there may be some competitive kids.

 

Come on. A lot of the issues are staring us straight in the face

[Guest]

There is apparently a five year plan.

 

What could it be?

 

Will it be made public? Nah.

 

Might I suggest something along the following lines

 

Year 1 Take a team of U21s to ride test matches against Germany/Czech Republic U21s

 

Get our youngsters riding abroad, even in Polish second league, German league, Czech league. Subsidise it even with shared event revenue.

 

Year 2 Take same group to take on Danish / Polish U21s

 

Year 3 Retake years 1 and 2. Learn learn learn

 

Years 4 and 5 take on full internationals with the above countries.

 

Along the way welcome touring parties from other countries and take them on at the likes of Somerset/Scunny. Tracks that need some oomph

 

End of year 5 there may be some competitive kids.

 

Come on. A lot of the issues are staring us straight in the face

 

You think speedway will survive another five years?

[Rico]

I would like to think I cared enough that it would. Sell the shared events on benefiting the future of Team GB.

 

Time to look at the bigger picture. Rather than give a few hundred quid back to each promotion, invest in the future of the national team

[ColinMills]

just a soundbite..

[Jonny the spud]

Just think of all the sky money that's paid for foreign riders engines and vans over the years, then think of our up and coming riders who can't afford even one new engine

 

I know. I've been there

[pugwash]

How can all these test matches be funded when the SWC final in 'the Mecca' only pulls in a half full stadium?

Nobody is going to go and watch GB U21 v Poland U21 and certainly not Czecho so no revenue. and the BSPA dont have the funds to bankroll it.

[DSC67]

The problem with 5 year plans is that the other nations aren't standing still , we've got a lot of catching up to do by the we get to where the likes of Poland are now they've will have moved on

[Mixy230]

Unless a rider is very lucky financially (parents or sponsors) they have to pay for it themselves.

Most sports are,

amateur.........All or mostly paid for by working a job, maybe the odd freebie sponsored

semi pro.........Earns some start money or prize money,the odd freebie, but has to work

full time pro.........Earns a living, maybe needs the odd out of season job or works part time in season (minimum wage for county cricketers 20k at age 20)

top earning pro..........Earns enough or a lot!!!

 

In the UK it must be easier to ride EL/PL and make enough money to be full time pro.

 

Nobody will fund them! BSPA etc!

J

[salty]

How can all these test matches be funded when the SWC final in 'the Mecca' only pulls in a half full stadium?

Nobody is going to go and watch GB U21 v Poland U21 and certainly not Czecho so no revenue. and the BSPA dont have the funds to bankroll it.

Absolutely true. Same as Test Matches run over here. If they attracted big crowds and were profitable then we would be racing a couple of Test Series each season. But they don't and we aren't.

 

As I posted on the WTC thread the most obvious way of getting the Brits some much needed international experience would be to embrace the various European competitions. Given the further disruption that will cause our domestic product, can you see the BSPA doing a U-turn on that issue?

[Mixy230]

Just a thought

We only need x4 riders to make up a GB team!

In reality we only have 1 that we think is good enough! The other 3 were the best of the rest.

 

We only have 1 good enough rider!!!!!!!!

 

How many riders could Poland have used? Denmark have used? Australia for that matter (Tho I do not think they have that much depth) Sweden?

 

Mind you its not just Speedway, look at the England Football team at the WORLD CUP, the best we had not good enough.

 

The only way Tai got so good is that he came back to UK and lived thought like an Ausie driven, motivated worked hard!

Edited August 3, 2014 by Mixy230

[Crump99]

There is apparently a five year plan.

 

What could it be?

 

Will it be made public? Nah.

 

Might I suggest something along the following lines

 

Year 1 Take a team of U21s to ride test matches against Germany/Czech Republic U21s

 

Get our youngsters riding abroad, even in Polish second league, German league, Czech league. Subsidise it even with shared event revenue.

 

Year 2 Take same group to take on Danish / Polish U21s

 

Year 3 Retake years 1 and 2. Learn learn learn

 

Years 4 and 5 take on full internationals with the above countries.

 

Along the way welcome touring parties from other countries and take them on at the likes of Somerset/Scunny. Tracks that need some oomph

 

End of year 5 there may be some competitive kids.

 

Come on. A lot of the issues are staring us straight in the face

 

Well this was 5 years ago and here we are again looking at how we rescue the situation:

 

"We will do this by developing the youth, reducing rider’s costs, helping clubs produce a better product for the public to enjoy and many other things. What people will hopefully understand though, is that this will not just happen overnight but will be a slow progression over the next few years."

[Bruiser McHuge]

Britain has been left behind since the opening up of the foreign leagues and Poland in particular....the riders are not doing anywhere near enough foreign racing....the Polish League opened it's doors to foreigners in the early 90's and if you want regular foreign racing then it is a must to ride there and it is not easy to get a spot..especially for an English rider brought up on English tracks which are virtually a different sport to the European circuits...I cannot see many English riders getting a break in Poland to be honest.

Up until the Polish League becoming open then the main route for extra racing for English riders was grass track and then long track which developed skills on the big tracks and opened up doors to individual meetings on Sundays in Germany ...plenty of English riders developed skills through this route and it was this racing that taught them the skills to compete on the big European speedway tracks ...

Riders rarely seem to ride the grass tracks or the European long tracks anymore or do German weekends on the big speedway tracks...these certainly helped the likes of Wigg, Doncaster, Cox , Screen , Tatum , Loram etc who could all ride the big European speedway tracks with no problem...most of them had tuners like Otto Weiss, Hans Zierk, Otto Lattenhammer as a result.

English riders now ride the small tracks at greyhound stadiums and never venture out of the country as they cannot get a foreign league spot and this racing is a million miles away from the bikes and techniques needed for the Euro circuits, especially Poland....they will never compete at world level doing that

[R87]

We can talk about 5 year plans until we're blue in the face. British Speedway is run in such a way that it can barely see whats happening at the end of its own nose, let alone 5-10 years down the line. Until an idependent and full time body is governing all aspects of the sport, then it will continue to resemble a boat in the middle of a lake; with some rowing one way; others rowing another; and the bosses at the tiller scratching their heads, wondering why the boats going round in circles.

 

I will quote a couple of lines from the late Simon Wigg's book:

 

"We need stepping stones for British youngsters. Unfortunately, promoters tend to think its important how many races they have on a night, or how the regulations are structured, or whether the team aggregate points limit is set correctly. These are all negative aspects of speedway".

 

And:

 

"If every member of the BSPA were making a million quid a week running speedway, I would listen to them. But they're not. Most of them are busting their a**** to survive - and then tell each other how to run their show. I find that incredible".

Edited August 3, 2014 by mb1990

[A ORLOV]

The training and funding of GB youngsters could be done if there is a major change in the way things have been allowed happen in the past.

 

1. In many sports some of the income from the World Championships etc is shared out between the national federations and then down to the clubs and grass roots training.

 

2. In many sports tv income is also distributed as above.

 

What has happened to date with the income from the GPs, World Cup etc. It seems that a lot has gone to the FIM who appear to pay nothing, or very little, back to the BSPA.

 

What major sponsors, that many were told would back the sport if it was shown on tv, have been signed up.

 

What has happened to all the money received by the clubs from selling the tv rights to Sky.

 

All of the above income and possible income has been wasted.

 

It is about time all the national federations got together and either demanded money from the FIM or joined an organisation that would share out the income in a fairer way, this could then help the clubs and finance grass roots plans.

 

The GPs are a prime example where they have limited top weekend meetings, but appear to put very little back into the sport.

 

Posts above have mentioned wanting International tests, and I would agree that for the youngsters they would be good, but they need to be financed. Major International test meetings do not happen any more due to the lack of time available in the season and the demands for the top riders to be in the GP meetings and riding in multiple countries.

 

Other posts above and on other threads have mentioned the lack of fans attending Bydgoszcz for both the World Cup and GP.

There appears to be a lot of ill feeling towards the FIM by the Polish and if they continue to insist that from next year any rider signing up for the SEC will not be allowed to ride in the GPs there could be major breakups and boycotts.

 

Because of what appears to be the inability of the BSPA to have gained any benefits from the GPs etc, and wasted income from the GB tv rights, I cannot see how they are going to finance any 5 year plan with all the people that would be needed to plan and run it, to finance the training and test matches here and abroad which many have stated are needed to bring on British youngsters.

[The White Knight]

The training and funding of GB youngsters could be done if there is a major change in the way things have been allowed happen in the past.

 

1. In many sports some of the income from the World Championships etc is shared out between the national federations and then down to the clubs and grass roots training.

 

2. In many sports tv income is also distributed as above.

 

What has happened to date with the income from the GPs, World Cup etc. It seems that a lot has gone to the FIM who appear to pay nothing, or very little, back to the BSPA.

 

What major sponsors, that many were told would back the sport if it was shown on tv, have been signed up.

 

What has happened to all the money received by the clubs from selling the tv rights to Sky.

 

All of the above income and possible income has been wasted.

 

It is about time all the national federations got together and either demanded money from the FIM or joined an organisation that would share out the income in a fairer way, this could then help the clubs and finance grass roots plans.

 

The GPs are a prime example where they have limited top weekend meetings, but appear to put very little back into the sport.

 

Posts above have mentioned wanting International tests, and I would agree that for the youngsters they would be good, but they need to be financed. Major International test meetings do not happen any more due to the lack of time available in the season and the demands for the top riders to be in the GP meetings and riding in multiple countries.

 

Other posts above and on other threads have mentioned the lack of fans attending Bydgoszcz for both the World Cup and GP.

There appears to be a lot of ill feeling towards the FIM by the Polish and if they continue to insist that from next year any rider signing up for the SEC will not be allowed to ride in the GPs there could be major breakups and boycotts.

 

Because of what appears to be the inability of the BSPA to have gained any benefits from the GPs etc, and wasted income from the GB tv rights, I cannot see how they are going to finance any 5 year plan with all the people that would be needed to plan and run it, to finance the training and test matches here and abroad which many have stated are needed to bring on British youngsters.

As I understand it ALL monies from the GPs and the SWC go directly to BSI.

[A ORLOV]

As I understand it ALL monies from the GPs and the SWC go directly to BSI.

Initially but they pay the FIM for the rights to run them, who in turn pay nothing or very little to the federations.

[Chadster]

The first thing the BSPA need to ask themselves is whether Team GB winning the World Cup would have any benefit for the sport in this country. If the

answer is 'no', which might very well be the answer, then carry on what they're doing. If the answer is 'yes' then how are they going to achieve it,

because it's not going to happen without a change and that change is going to cost money. A plan might include some or all of the following;

Test matches abroad, which would probably need to be funded by the BSPA. Initially we'd have to be looking to take on countries like Czechoslovakia,

Germany etc as the Poles would be far too strong.

Identify and stick with young talent. Garrity seems the most likely of the younger riders, Robert Lambert is obviously another. Were Morris and Vatcher consulted over this years World Cup squad?

Once young riders are identified, get them working with people like Loram, Tatum etc who can give advice on organisation and may be able to open up doors to sponsorship.

All the above costs money, and our impoverished state makes me doubt that much if anything will be done.

[moxey63]

Five year plan? That will be, providing we actually still have speedway in this country and make the SWC Final, not to say win it... that would make it 30 years since we last won it!

 

As for asking Kelvin Tatum for advice... he may remember, being one of the winning team, what it was like to actually achieve something in the national side.

 

It really is an embarrassment.

 

We don't expect to win the WTC every year - it isn't the 70s after all - but nowt for a quarter of a century... That is simply not good enough.

 

And, without sounding too tough on the national team, 1989 was only achieved because others lost star names in that opening race crash.

 

You'd have thought most England, Team GB fans would be used to failure by now.

[The White Knight]

Five year plan? That will be, providing we actually still have speedway in this country and make the SWC Final, not to say win it... that would make it 30 years since we last won it!

 

As for asking Kelvin Tatum for advice... he may remember, being one of the winning team, what it was like to actually achieve something in the national side.

 

It really is an embarrassment.

 

We don't expect to win the WTC every year - it isn't the 70s after all - but nowt for a quarter of a century... That is simply not good enough.

 

And, without sounding too tough on the national team, 1989 was only achieved because others lost star names in that opening race crash.

 

You'd have thought most England, Team GB fans would be used to failure by now.

Too right.

[engineman]

Having followed speedway and grass track for about 50 years, done several years in grass track racing as a young man, and seen how people progress, I totally agree thatBritish speedway needs to either become self contained, or move on to a set up similar to the European countries. Bigger tracks, out of town, rather than the compromised greyhound stadiums, may mean different investment, perhaps fewer clubs, but can be made entertaining. In fact now is a time for bringing grasstrack and speedway closer together. Neither the Bspa nor the ACU are very credible organisations, but the ACU is at least more open. I really hope they will take a lead.