Leaderboard

The rising star initiative in its current guise should be nowhere near the Premiership The Championship should hang its head in shame that they dropped it

What utter rubbish. I voted to leave the EU and stand by my decision as I still believe it will be better for the country in the long term. Sorry to bruise your ego but my opinion and vote is worth just as much as yours. To say it is cowardly and not very bright to dare not share your opinion is particularly stupid. The reality is that the Labour party would have held a referendum on leaving the EU and have agreed to stand by the result, exactly the same outcome as the Tories. The reality is that the Labour party went along with pretty much everything the government did during the Covid disaster, their only difference being they argued to lock down more or earlier at times, the outcome would have been near identical yet again. We had 13 years of Labour government preceding this one, I don't remember all the massive changes that made to the average man in the street but I do remember they left us bankrupt while the Blairs (among others) are very much wealthier now than when they went into government. This government is very poor but then so have most in my lifetime been poor, they are far more closely scrutinised now though. In my opinion the problem with the lack of difference between the parties is due to the rise of politics becoming a chosen profession from school. Far too many MPs are educated by far too few people before moving directly into political life with no other experience. That's my opinion, you'll notice that I'm not arrogant enough to assume anybody who dares to differ from that is thick or cowardly. We all form our opinions and beliefs from different viewpoints, thinking you know everything that others know but understand it better is why so many politicians are a**holes and clearly its not just politicians.

It is irrelevant where the AGM is held. some folk seem to be of the opinion that the money they pay to attend meetings is somehow being wasted on an AGM instead of investing it on tracks/riders or any other similar direct aspect of a meeting. In reality, the promoters are investing their time and money in attending the AGM to discuss their business interests - if, in future years anybody on this forum wishes to influence where the AGM is held - they should buy a speedway team/promoters license and after running their chosen venue for a season or two they might welcome spending a little more of their cash to spend three days enjoying a bit of winter sun with fellow promoters finalising plans for the following season. Meanwhile, lets hope the outcome of this AGM provides 2024 with some entertaining/exciting meetings beneficial to both spectator and promoter alike.

Wooden spoon

If the sport could unearth 20 or so Kyle Howarths it would be in a much better space

The NDL lads will certainly pack a punch to any meeting. Their talent maybe raw at times, and their times maybe a second slower, but they don't hold back. These guys are the future of British Speedway and without a directive of developing them, then unfortunately there wont be any speedway. From what I have witnessed this year, the only difference at times was the name on the back of the race suit! As the racing /entertainment was no different to any Premiership or Championship meeting. Its great to see the likes of Woffy, Holder, Harris, and Sayfutdinov, but Boughen, Harrison, Mcgurk, and Hagon are more than capable of providing the same entertainment. Therefore the same value for money.

For those that can't open link. 25 th July, 2023 OXFORD STADIUM STATEMENT To whom it may concern, The support we have received for speedway since reopening Oxford Stadium has been truly overwhelming. Promotional work within our local community coupled with persistent media relations and heavy fan engagement has successfully connected the ‘lost generation’ and former supporters with the sport. In our regeneration season (2022), crowds were well above the levels we budgeted for and demonstrated to us a clear demand for speedway locally. It prompted our team to expand our initial audience capacity from 2,000 to 3,500 following the completion of works to restore Oxford Stadium to its previous glory following almost a decade of neglect under lock and key. Remarkably, Oxford Speedway attendances this season have been even stronger. We are consistently attracting over two-and-a-half times the number of people through our doors compared to when the club initially closed in 2007 with many supporters taking advantage of our U16s go free offer which has inspired a new generation of speedway fans locally. It is bewildering to us that this space of extraordinary potential was earmarked for housing when its existing provisions served a key purpose to the local community. Not only that, the return of greyhound racing and speedway plus the installation of a new mental health and wellbeing centre managed by the Frank Bruno Foundation has been a much-needed source of employment locally. The reopening of Oxford Stadium is a living example of what’s possible when key decision makers see sense in the potential of reinstalling much-needed community assets to existing derelict sites. I would urge Rugby Borough Council to follow in the footsteps of colleagues at Oxford City Council - whose actions were critical in the reopening of Oxford Stadium – by exploring every avenue possible to return Coventry Stadium into the hands of its local and wider communities. Many thanks, Kevin Boothby, Oxford Stadium Managing Director

With the comment of "the sport doesn't attract young fans I beg to differ, yes the sport can always do with more fans young and old but the problem is how do you get them to attend the sport? Back in the 60/70s when I started going it was mostly a family outing, these days how many family's do things together apart from watch tv? The first meeting I attended on my own was Wembley 71 and I could walk from home to the stadium in 45 mins and the same home again after the meeting. I was 14 that year and lets be honest how many of us would let our son or daughter do something like that these days? Yes the latest generation need to be tempted to speedway but exactly how? In 2022 my grandson was gifted a couple of free passes for Sheffield speedway by the Bluebell Woods charity and he asked me if I would go with him and his family to a meeting as he knew I was a speedway regular at one time. From that meeting in May that year to the end of the 2023 season I think we have missed one match and we have also attended a few away tracks as well. He is obsessed with the sport and on the phone to me daily with speedway updates he has found out, AND to go with his obsession he has a subscription to the Speedway Star and he had a 2023 subscription to BSN. The lad is not into football as much as he is his speedway and its all down to Sheffield speedway and the Bluebell woods Charity for those couple of tickets.

Yep, I'm convinced he's already done a financial deal with AEPG that see's him assist the bulldozers by demolishing the place. 1. Encouraged everyone to give up from the get go instead of putting up any kind of fight. 2. No progress has been made in selling the club to the consortium (I wonder why) 3. Buster couldn't sell the floodlights to Workington quick enough. 4. Buster assisting AEPG by slowly demolishing the place. If he wanted the club to survive then he would've made a quick sale to the consortium who are willing to fight tooth and nail to secure the clubs future, The fact that he hasn't sold the club and refuses to even put up a fight to secure the club's future tells me he's a corrupt pig working for AEPG.

Clubs used to run every week with a 16 club British league,and still have spare dates for cup and individual meetings.

I'm guessing Bomber's reference this week wasn't to the Championship. I'd hope we'd have been told if he wasn't coming back. As far as I know, Glasgow know who they have for next year, so my conclusion in that everyone we haven't been told is leaving, is coming back. Seems the most logical scenario to me.

There is a track already, which is currently having a brand new stadium being built, actually n Swindon itself.. Maybe someone could run Speedway there? It has been ran in Swindon, quite successfully, for a good many decades... Has anyone told Terry about this site as it sounds perfect... Or, if he does know about it, and doesnt want to use it, maybe someone else would like to open up Speedway there? The Swindon Robins could be a name to consider for the team...

Surely Vadim will still be on a 5 for next season. Surely.

There's a reason why Simon Lambert and Kyle howarth are well thought so..it's not there ability so much, its the hard work, Good equipment, honesty and leadership. All them things go along way..

Got to love all the negativity from people. British speedway supporters are the gift that will keep giving.

Ellis on his current average should be a highly sought after commodity next season. To write him off at 27 is frankly ridiculous.

AEPG think that this will demonstrate that it satisfies option k of the local plan policy LP30, that being that the track is no longer fit for purpose. That’s naive, as they have instructed the current owners to destroy it. Pretty sure our council will not buy into that, more so given AEPGs arrogance and ignoring of the recent council refusal of their DHL operations. Agreed it doesn’t look good in those pictures but that’s only because we’ve never seen it like that before. There’s nothing that has been done that can’t be rectified in a short space of time, we have the manpower (supporters) and we have the sponsors who will support financially. AEPG may have broken supporters hearts but they’ll never break their spirit, these actions will just make the supporters more determined.

Don't know, probably guested for BV in 1968.

I agree! Was looking through his CL averages over the years and it reminds you how dominant and consistent he's been at this level. "Bad" seasons have still been 9 point averages. 2009 Workington 3.93 2010 Workington 7.47 2011 Edinburgh 8.09 2012 Edinburgh 9.99 2013 Edinburgh 10.83 2014 Edinburgh 10.41 2015 Edinburgh 10.47 2016 Peterborough 9.67 2017 Workington 10.37 2018 Glasgow 11.05 2019 Glasgow 10.71 2021 Glasgow 9.46 2022 Glasgow 8.98 2023 Edinburgh 9.08

Jason Crump has also retired... A double blow for the Aces...

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/19695338.speedway-rider-dan-bewley-ruled-belle-vue-planning-2022/ Probably this one. Obviously there's something quite glaring when you read it properly...

Difference being Sheffield have 40pts to play with for 6 riders + Rising Star. 38pts in Championship is ridiculous.

I think it's a very bold decision given the number of fixtures that need to be run. However it is an idea that nobody has the guts to try but could work. British Speedway's inability to ensure that all teams end up completing the same number of fixtures before the cut off is poor, the number of rain off and number of fixtures that end up being crammed into the end of the year or becoming meaningless is poor. However i also think that it's achievable for Oxford to run that number of fixtures, if they are run professionally and they have an approach of getting meetings on rather than calling meetings off. It is understandable to see comments saying that it is going to be hard to see fans spending that amount of money to support 2 teams on a week to week basis because of the cost of admission prices. However every year you see a significant proportion of Speedway fans saying that they want a regular weekly meeting because speedway should be every week and that a Stadium should be in use. I think it's a reality that fans don't travel as much as they used to, following a Team Home and Away in really large numbers is a reality for Speedway Fans anymore. However watching attendances at Newport dwindle and subsequently becoming an irregular fan at Swindon and Somerset also gave me a much more realistic perspective around attendances. When an attendance figure is mentioned regarding a Break Even point i do wonder what that point would realistically be, if clubs didn't have other income streams Attendance wise a lot of tracks struggle when the weather is poor and other events are on, do well during the summer months and school holidays, and there is a benefit to successfully hosting major meetings are on e.g. Pairs/Fours/Rider Championships. And it's always noticeable during Playoffs that attendances are up However, I think Speedway's viability is entirely contingent on other income sources whether that be Sponsorship, TV Revenue, revenue generated from other businesses or owners who bankroll the sport. That being said, regarding Oxford. They have had good crowds by all accounts, they have been run professionally. Oxford has a sizeable population & people support successful teams. Most tracks have also seen the benefit of Emil joining Ipswich, which did have an impact in increased attendances. It's helped show that more Premiership clubs from a Club/Rider perspective are being run more professionally, and i think that has played a large part in other riders wanting to return to racing in Britain. The other thing with attracting more top level riders back. It has the potential to appeal to more casual fans, TV fans, Fans of defunct Tracks. I applaud Oxford for having the guts to try something different.

threy are still stuck at the hotel trying to check in after the manager asked how many guests and they all replied its a long season how should we know

The reason the "they're all the same" brigade go down that route...is that it helps absolve them of responsibility of actually voting for Brexit and/or this Tory Govt. The reality is that they have fallen for the right wing tax avoiding propaganda and helped enable the mess we find ourselves in. Life is worse for their children and grandchildren because of the disastrous and ill advised votes they made. It's actually very cowardly to not be able to front up and admit accountability. Kudos to you, Steve, in having the courage to admit voting for Brexit and admitting you were wrong. Too few have the kahunas. And whenever challenged to compare any previous Govt with the corruption, incompetence and cruelty of this lot, well, they they cannot. Instead, it's just the usual claptrap of some imaginary Armageddon under Labour led by Dianne Abbot, David Lammy, Sadiq Khan and another other ethnic hate figures they have been fed by said tax avoiders. You see, they are also not very bright, as well as cowardly.