One League

[DC2]

 

This Eastbourne promoter thinks there is a 60:40 chance of one league next year:

https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/ian-jordan-reveals-the-ingredients-for-success/

 

[craigACE]

Not enough teams who could compete with the ones who would be at the top. I have always wanted a European style comp. But it cannot happen because the riders are involved with 2 Clubs. That then brings you to , There are not enough riders. The good thing about a bigger League is the excitement of meeting different teams. I just do not know how i feel about it overall though. I think it will go-ahead. I will carry on following as ever. I have said it before, Speedway is a great Sport.

[GWC]

Sweeping changes needed -

In a league of 16 teams, assuming that is the level set, you could build a team of 5 riders to a total average of 28 from the current PL and CL.

The reserves would not be signed to a team and be available as and when. The majority would have to come from the NL.

An increased NL allowing part time & amateur riders with emphasis on rider development.

[stevebrum]

Under the current format it wouldn’t work with the current amount of teams as there aren’t enough riders to fill all teams.

would need a radical rethink, 6 man teams would still be a push.

Sadly the days of a strong top flight league look to be numbered. However can see more clubs closing and riders retiring because they can’t make the new structure work or pay.

[DC2]

1 hour ago, stevebrum said:

Under the current format it wouldn’t work with the current amount of teams as there aren’t enough riders to fill all teams.

would need a radical rethink, 6 man teams would still be a push.

Sadly the days of a strong top flight league look to be numbered. However can see more clubs closing and riders retiring because they can’t make the new structure work or pay.

 

You constantly say there isn’t enough riders when in fact there is.

 

[craigACE]

2 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

You constantly say there isn’t enough riders when in fact there is.

 

There are not enough riders. That is why they ride for 2 teams. As well as they do not get enough money riding for 1. And the gap between the top and bottom would be huge.

[ch958]

there are enough riders - the same claim was made in 68 and 69 as i have said before and lo and behold the riders were there.

Its more a question of making it cheaper to race so they can earn something

in the 70s when the big boys were posting averages of 11/11.5, how average do you think some of the riders across the league were that they couldn't actually beat them? There was an imbalance as there would be this time - no problem, it worked

 

[startline sid]

12 minutes ago, craigACE said:

There are not enough riders. That is why they ride for 2 teams. As well as they do not get enough money riding for 1. And the gap between the top and bottom would be huge.

I am sure there will be few Swedish/Danish lads who would enjoy riding here - 

 

[HGould]

interesting assessment from Eastbourne.

I started a "One Big league" thread on News and Discussions back in May after an article by Matt Ford in Speedway Star. That has run and run with some very good and thoughtful ideas.

This article is at least showing some Clubs are thinking ahead and not just burying head in the sand and also very realistic that they admit might be a year too soon for them.

The current format seems doomed, something has to change.

 

 

[DC2]

40 minutes ago, craigACE said:

There are not enough riders. That is why they ride for 2 teams. As well as they do not get enough money riding for 1. And the gap between the top and bottom would be huge.

 

There are plenty of riders. We went through that last year.

There might be fewer riders this year because there’s no longer a clash of race days between the PL and the CL and consequently more riders might be doubling up.

[RS50]

1 hour ago, HGould said:

interesting assessment from Eastbourne.

I started a "One Big league" thread on News and Discussions back in May after an article by Matt Ford in Speedway Star. That has run and run with some very good and thoughtful ideas.

This article is at least showing some Clubs are thinking ahead and not just burying head in the sand and also very realistic that they admit might be a year too soon for them.

The current format seems doomed, something has to change.

 

 

Trouble is, the way speedway is going, could be one big league next year, one small league in about 5 years, and then?

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, RS50 said:

Trouble is, the way speedway is going, could be one big league next year, one small league in about 5 years, and then?

A sport staging spasmodic one-off individual events by a couple of promoters on an irregular basis at about four stadiums prepared to allow the sport to be used for it. Something akin to what is taking place in California, USA.

[stevebrum]

4 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

You constantly say there isn’t enough riders when in fact there is.

 

And I’ve provided the facts based on this years 2 league structure. There isn’t enough unless you use riders from the NL, and as evidenced this year alone some are already out their depth and have asked to be dropped. 

If you could provide me with facts that there are enough riders from this year to fill all teams next season then go ahead.

There isn’t an abundance of riders wanting to ride here and those that do (eg Tobias Thomsen at Birmingham) some are out of their depth.

Plus you have to factor in those riders who can’t make one league pay (the excuse that’s often pedalled out for reason why the double up) to retirement I ask you again - where are all these riders please?

[DC2]

14 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

And I’ve provided the facts based on this years 2 league structure. There isn’t enough unless you use riders from the NL, and as evidenced this year alone some are already out their depth and have asked to be dropped. 

If you could provide me with facts that there are enough riders from this year to fill all teams next season then go ahead.

There isn’t an abundance of riders wanting to ride here and those that do (eg Tobias Thomsen at Birmingham) some are out of their depth.

Plus you have to factor in those riders who can’t make one league pay (the excuse that’s often pedalled out for reason why the double up) to retirement I ask you again - where are all these riders please?

 

I did it last year and I can’t be bothered to do it again. Just count the number of different riders who rode in both leagues. I recall it came out sufficient for 17 teams, so about 120 riders.

 

[g13webb]

I for one would welcome a single league,  with riders attached to only one team.  Looking back as I often do , part of the enjoyment was the riders formed the backbone and strength of each team.   Although the riders knew each other well,  they would never be team mates within the team structure,  and were looked upon as the enemy.  My take these days is because the riders ride for so many teams they have a job to know who their own supporters are...

But we mustn't think changing to one league would solve our all our problems, it would be just the start.    We need to run British Speedway as it's own  entity .    Race on nights that suit each club and not be bothered about  clashes with other countries or competitions.  We want tracks that are uniformly prepared so to ensure decent racing.   We want new rules to excite the racing and not be a hindrance or a time factor.   No going back to the pits when the ref decides to call them back.   So what if someone anticipated the gate.   if a riders does wrong, let the race continue and exclude at the finish.     They'll soon get use to the rules and the meeting would flow much better...

I wouldn't stop the top riders from racing, but they race at our convenience not just on a night that suits their schedule...     WE need to start again  from the beginning to  grow into a sporting occasion that people want to watch, and not live on past laurels...

 

[stevebrum]

2 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

I did it last year and I can’t be bothered to do it again. Just count the number of different riders who rode in both leagues. I recall it came out sufficient for 17 teams, so about 120 riders.

 

I did it at the start of the season and there was nearly 30 riders short to complete all teams.

126 riders for all 18 teams.

77 for the Championship (which has now used a total of 108 riders so far includes some clearly not CL standard and released as such)

49 for the Premiership (only 18 top flight flight only)

The total gives 126 if all teams come back to the table.

However you can take out 18 of those If it’s an agreed lower standard so already you can see you are nearly 3 teams of riders short.

Given the best case scenario of all 126 riders wanting to be back next season it would be near impossible to ensure a points limit that suits all teams and all riders getting a team place. So again very unlikely.

Only unless team numbers are reduced to 6 per team would that be possible. 

There haven’t been enough of the right standard riders to fill one big league for several seasons despite many stating it’s what we need.

[DC2]

30 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

I did it at the start of the season and there was nearly 30 riders short to complete all teams.

126 riders for all 18 teams.

77 for the Championship (which has now used a total of 108 riders so far includes some clearly not CL standard and released as such)

49 for the Premiership (only 18 top flight flight only)

The total gives 126 if all teams come back to the table.

However you can take out 18 of those If it’s an agreed lower standard so already you can see you are nearly 3 teams of riders short.

Given the best case scenario of all 126 riders wanting to be back next season it would be near impossible to ensure a points limit that suits all teams and all riders getting a team place. So again very unlikely.

Only unless team numbers are reduced to 6 per team would that be possible. 

There haven’t been enough of the right standard riders to fill one big league for several seasons despite many stating it’s what we need.

 

I can follow your first five sentences and then it all goes pear-shaped.

You should start with finding out how many riders currently ride in the PL and CL and then take it from there.

There’s every chance that one league of 16 or 18 teams would have two NL riders at reserve and I’m sure most fans would accept that.

Speedway has to live within its means if it is to survive.

[DC2]

 

There are about 30 double uppers so that’s about 96 current different riders in the PL and CL plus another 25 or so who have ridden this year but who are currently not signed by anyone (Bellego etc) and another 20 who rode in 2018 but have not returned (and have not retired), so that’s 141 possible riders without taking into account foreign newcomers.

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by DC2

[stevebrum]

1 minute ago, DC2 said:

 

I can follow your first five sentences and then it all goes pear-shaped.

You should start with finding out how many riders currently ride in the PL and CL and then take it from there.

There’s every chance that one league of 16 or 18 teams would have two NL riders at reserve and I’m sure most fans would accept that.

Speedway has to live within its means if it is to survive.

What part of 126 riders are required for the 18 teams don’t you understand?

I fully agree any middle tier league should have at least one NL rider at reserve If not two However signs aren’t great as the CL have had several youngsters pull out the league citing confidence issues as well as promising riders like Zach at Birmingham and Swindon retire plus promising youngster Jack Parkinson Blackburn also lost to the sport.

As already stated you will loss another 18 ‘top flight riders’  to one big league as well as those retiring.

you seem to be advocating a stronger NL standard league which will as good as kill the UK league for good. There is living within its means (another thing we agree on) and ensuring the sport league loses total meaning in the UK.

[stevebrum]

5 minutes ago, DC2 said:

 

There are about 30 double uppers so that’s about 96 current different riders in the PL and CL plus another 25 or so who have ridden but who are currently not signed by anyone (Bellego etc).

As stated above the CL has used 108 riders riders this year for the 77 CL team places such has been the turnover of riders, some not even of a CL standard. I’ve already broken down the figures of riders used in both leagues above.