6 team league

[PhilTheAce]

Obviously I can only comment on belle vues fixtures but I should imagine it will be the same for all clubs. Well it will be. 
 

We have yet again having to wait 3 weeks for our next home match. 
we have already had a previous 3 week wait and X2 2 week breaks. 
 

for some less is better. For others less is not. Myself prefers regularl fixtures. It’s so easy to stop going after a few weeks break when you have not missed it. 

man’s when you return it’s the same team you faces 3 matches ago. 
 

we kind of accepted the 6 team league last year thinking it was a one off. But not now. It’s unacceptable to have 6 teams and this can’t carry on next year. 
 

if no clubs are willing to move up then they need 1 league or shortens the season by starting late April/early may and cutting the season short. 

[ColeTrickle]

It's not so much the wait between fixtures, although it goes without saying this is frustrating.

A 6 team league has absolutely no appeal. Ride all year just to avoid 5th or 6th place. A League title has so little meaning or sense of achievement.

Needs to change and quickly as this is probably the biggest factor threatening my commitment.

Anyone else feel the same?

[4thbender]

26 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said:

Obviously I can only comment on belle vues fixtures but I should imagine it will be the same for all clubs. Well it will be. 
 

We have yet again having to wait 3 weeks for our next home match. 
we have already had a previous 3 week wait and X2 2 week breaks. 
 

for some less is better. For others less is not. Myself prefers regularl fixtures. It’s so easy to stop going after a few weeks break when you have not missed it. 

man’s when you return it’s the same team you faces 3 matches ago. 
 

we kind of accepted the 6 team league last year thinking it was a one off. But not now. It’s unacceptable to have 6 teams and this can’t carry on next year. 
 

if no clubs are willing to move up then they need 1 league or shortens the season by starting late April/early may and cutting the season short. 

I absolutely agree. Waiting 3 weeks between matches is a ridiculous state of affairs, but I'm afraid until some of the ghost tracks like Swindon, Coventry, Workington, etc can be coaxed back into existence, there's no workable solution in sight. What happens in British speedway seems to be controlled in Poland and, that places a straitjacket on British promoters. There is just so much that needs to change.

[LisaColette]

38 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said:

Obviously I can only comment on belle vues fixtures but I should imagine it will be the same for all clubs. Well it will be. 
 

We have yet again having to wait 3 weeks for our next home match. 
we have already had a previous 3 week wait and X2 2 week breaks. 
 

for some less is better. For others less is not. Myself prefers regularl fixtures. It’s so easy to stop going after a few weeks break when you have not missed it. 

man’s when you return it’s the same team you faces 3 matches ago. 
 

we kind of accepted the 6 team league last year thinking it was a one off. But not now. It’s unacceptable to have 6 teams and this can’t carry on next year. 
 

if no clubs are willing to move up then they need 1 league or shortens the season by starting late April/early may and cutting the season short. 

And this is why when Matt Ford asked the fans what league to be in I didn't say this one. I remember one season seeing Swindon at Poole 4 times!!

So at the moment if I wanna see Berwick at Poole for example you have to go otherwise they might not be back down again. Whereas if you wanna see say Sheffield at BV you'll have a few to pick from! 

[Fina]

To me two leagues of more even numbers with promotion / relegation would be better.  That plus less guests and doubling up of riders I'd start to take it more seriously as a competitive team sport rather than just enjoying the racing as a series of one off matches which is my current mind set with speedway.

A shortened season to try to avoid the worst of the weather issues at each end of the season would help - its no fun freezing at the early and late season matches, turns it into an endurance test not an appealing evening out that will attract new fans.  More even numbers of teams  in each league would also allow for more scope to rearrange any matches that do have to be abandoned.  

Racing every week across an extended season to accommodate all teams in one league is going to get too expensive for some fans to attend all or even most matches, and although more fixtures allows us to pick and choose which to attend, thats probably not great for the club as they will have low crowd numbers for some matches and make a loss (or more of a loss than usual) on those.

One league would sort out the doubling up issue, but as two of the reasons given for that is lack of riders and riders not able to make a living from just one club, would it work in practice?  Both problems causing the doubling up would need resolving.

 

[arnieg]

18 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

And this is why when Matt Ford asked the fans what league to be in I didn't say this one. I remember one season seeing Swindon at Poole 4 times!!

So at the moment if I wanna see Berwick at Poole for example you have to go otherwise they might not be back down again. Whereas if you wanna see say Sheffield at BV you'll have a few to pick from! 

Oh for the good old days like 1991 when Reading and Poole met 13 times.

[Derrickn]

It was a six team league that killed the National league in the early sixties,and paved the way for an amalgamation with the Provincial league in 1965 to form the British league,which brought about a golden era in British speedway.As I see it,the only way to save speedway in Britain is for the same to happen again.Some will say there are not enough quality riders for one league,but many of the Provincial league riders were hardly household names,yet many developed into top riders.I know that in the sixties and seventies,most riders had other jobs,but maybe that's the way it will have to be again.

[SteveLyric2]

1 hour ago, PhilTheAce said:

Obviously I can only comment on belle vues fixtures but I should imagine it will be the same for all clubs. Well it will be. 
 

We have yet again having to wait 3 weeks for our next home match. 
we have already had a previous 3 week wait and X2 2 week breaks. 
 

for some less is better. For others less is not. Myself prefers regularl fixtures. It’s so easy to stop going after a few weeks break when you have not missed it. 

man’s when you return it’s the same team you faces 3 matches ago. 
 

we kind of accepted the 6 team league last year thinking it was a one off. But not now. It’s unacceptable to have 6 teams and this can’t carry on next year. 
 

if no clubs are willing to move up then they need 1 league or shortens the season by starting late April/early may and cutting the season short. 

The Premiership League fixtures didn't start til May!!!

[PhilTheAce]

39 minutes ago, Skidder1 said:

The Premiership League fixtures didn't start til May!!!

No. But the cup fixtures was before hand. They gave you a taste of the action and then a big break till the league starts. 

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, arnieg said:

Oh for the good old days like 1991 when Reading and Poole met 13 times.

Was it just them in the league??! 

[GWC]

When Rye house went ‘Elite’ once the novelty of ‘bigger’ names had worn off the racing wasn’t any better than the old Premiership.

And as has been said, the same teams and lack of meetings plus no more Saturdays killed it!

[Wolfie456]

CVS did mention at pre season talk in that he was confident at least 2 more teams would be in top premiership 2023.

[LisaColette]

35 minutes ago, Wolfie456 said:

CVS did mention at pre season talk in that he was confident at least 2 more teams would be in top premiership 2023.

I'd say that would be the maximum! Realistically who is it going to be? Won't be Poole. Oxford possibly as they wanted to be in the Prem this year. Also have to look at Leicester and Glasgow. Leicester a good possibility but then are they going to want to move away from Saturday's to a Monday or Thursday? Same with Glasgow and Friday's? Race nights do seem to be massive stumbling block.

[Wolfie456]

1 hour ago, lisa-colette said:

I'd say that would be the maximum! Realistically who is it going to be? Won't be Poole. Oxford possibly as they wanted to be in the Prem this year. Also have to look at Leicester and Glasgow. Leicester a good possibility but then are they going to want to move away from Saturday's to a Monday or Thursday? Same with Glasgow and Friday's? Race nights do seem to be massive stumbling block.

Feel it could be Oxford and Glasgow especially if they loose the Edinburgh local derby matches.

[Bagpuss]

1 hour ago, lisa-colette said:

I'd say that would be the maximum! Realistically who is it going to be? Won't be Poole. Oxford possibly as they wanted to be in the Prem this year. Also have to look at Leicester and Glasgow. Leicester a good possibility but then are they going to want to move away from Saturday's to a Monday or Thursday? Same with Glasgow and Friday's? Race nights do seem to be massive stumbling block.

I think it would have to be a serious restructuring with a bit more flexibility on race nights. The main issue for me is that so many riders are now used to two incomes and a bigger Prem with a lower standard Chapighy struggle to work. It's going to be a very difficult circle to square but both leagues aren't really working at the moment for different reasons and it needs sorting out somehow. Not easy.

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, Bagpuss said:

I think it would have to be a serious restructuring with a bit more flexibility on race nights. The main issue for me is that so many riders are now used to two incomes and a bigger Prem with a lower standard Chapighy struggle to work. It's going to be a very difficult circle to square but both leagues aren't really working at the moment for different reasons and it needs sorting out somehow. Not easy.

Yeah seems to have gone so far down this doubling up/down path, I'm not sure how you get out of it now! I remember when it started off with just young brits doing it in the reserve position and sharing the role.

[iris123]

Funny, when i mentioned the small league the other day someone said ....

Quote

The fact that there aren't many teams isn't the problem

[brianbuck]

We can't get rid of doubling up/down, neither now nor in the future. The riders wouldn't stand for it, and they are the people who effectively control British Speedway. 

Allowing riders to ride for more than one team has been the most damaging so-called rule that the BSPA have come up with. The BSPL could easily introduce a rule limiting it to two double uppers per team, then reduce it to one per team a year later, and thenscrap it altogether - but they won't. Like I say, the riders just wouldn't wear it.

How I detest this nonsensical rule.

[Roger Jacobs]

6 hours ago, arnieg said:

Oh for the good old days like 1991 when Reading and Poole met 13 times.

Ipswich and King's Lynn also met multiple times in various competitions.

People have very selective memories, because in general the sport was in a healthy state, and there wasn't so much competition from TV, the internet and ever rising costs. 

[mikebv]

9 hours ago, PhilTheAce said:

Obviously I can only comment on belle vues fixtures but I should imagine it will be the same for all clubs. Well it will be. 
 

We have yet again having to wait 3 weeks for our next home match. 
we have already had a previous 3 week wait and X2 2 week breaks. 
 

for some less is better. For others less is not. Myself prefers regularl fixtures. It’s so easy to stop going after a few weeks break when you have not missed it. 

man’s when you return it’s the same team you faces 3 matches ago. 
 

we kind of accepted the 6 team league last year thinking it was a one off. But not now. It’s unacceptable to have 6 teams and this can’t carry on next year. 
 

if no clubs are willing to move up then they need 1 league or shortens the season by starting late April/early may and cutting the season short. 

100%...

The compound issue Phil is that what should be the pinnacle of the sport in the UK gets completely devalued by teams deciding/being allowed to not compete in it...

And that devaluation is before you add in the odd "made up septets" to devalue it even further...

What those who decide to avoid making the top league the absolute most important one to sell the sport with fail to realise, is that their own lower standard of product is also then equally devalued as well....

Simply. If the pinnacle of the sport in the UK isn't worth competing for in the eyes of promoters, then how are any of them worth competing for in the eyes of the fans?

They have to find a way of at least 8 teams in the top league I would suggest....

With a similar amount in Div 2, allied to a reasonable level NDL at the top of the team, and development at the bottom end of it, for the rest of the teams...

Edited June 14, 2022 by mikebv