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They can when run on the right day at the right time with a good field of riders.

Garry May has won league titles and cups by doing exactly that for years. Every recruited reserve rides on exactly that basis. They knew how they would get used during the meetings and were paid accordingly. They agreed to the set up and it worked well. Sometimes riders think they deserve more than they do and have a hissy fit if they don't get their way. well maybe they need to earn it, show the team manger what they're worth. First job as a reserve has always been to be better than your other reserve team mate. Every Garry May team I've been involved in knew the situation from the start. He's one of the most open team managers I've known for working with his riders and telling them exactly what is expected of them. I'd rather work with Garry like that, than half the TMs in the league who turn up to fill in a programme and get a bit of fuel money

A friend of mine who usually takes 5 people to a meeting gave it a miss on Saturday because they were bored with the one-sidedness of the the previous meetings. She will now pick and choose which meetings to watch for entertainment and I'm sure there's a few more like this. Not Leicesters fault obviously but it does highlight the need for the league to be competitive to keep people interested

UK Speedway is unique in that you basically choose your own level to compete in... You get hardly any publicity for winning anything and there is no major financial reward for victory... In fact. Success can (and has), helped close tracks down... There is no promotion or relegation meaning that many meetings become pretty much 'dead rubbers' as we hit mid season, given it is often clear by then who will qualify for the play offs and who won't... And. Getting beat regularly at home can dissuade home fans from attending but similarly, hammering teams regularly at home can also have the same negative impact to crowd levels,, especially when play off positions are virtually assured months out, and weak opposition are in town... Therefore. Having close racing throughout a meeting, and keeping scores close enough to remain "interesting" has to be the major priority, and the only way to do that is equally share out those riders who make the main difference to both the racing standard and the score line, ie. The Heat Leaders.. And if that means a deadline in place of say December for each team to say they will run then so be it, and should they come to the table after that then they run NDL...

Morris one ride, Nielsen 2 rides and a Tactical substitute for one of his other rides.... It certainly doesn't make us stronger....Shanes is better than Nielsen atm. Not much in it between Ash/James. P.s More importantly...Hope James is ok and wish him a speedy recovery!

Lets be honest if the sport had a few more ben barkers ,chris harris, and a lot less gating tarts people might turn up to watch each week !

A lot of people on this thread talking about rule changes to make meetings closer. I don't think changing the rules is the answer, there are enough already. You can't just change rules to cover up for bad businesses making bad decisions. they all have the same opportunity at the start of the year. Guess what, some of them are better at it than others. Equality of opportunity I'm all for, but some here want equality of outcome. If you've built a rubbish team with rubbish riders who don't entertain, that's your fault and your business will suffer. But if you start manipulating as much as some want to on here, you won't make the product any better. What are you gonna do next, re run a race because one rider missed the start and it wasn't very entertaining? If riders don't want to ride for a club, find out why they don't want to, and make it attractive. If you've got a poor track, change it. If you pay poor wages late, change it. If you want to run the club better, change it. If you want more customers, provide better value. Sure we all want fantastic racing every race, but these complaints are from the same people who think the racing 30-40 years ago was fantastic with loads of entertainment. Go watch some of the YouTube meetings from back then, most were absolute borefests. We just choose to remember the good things about the past, not the bad. Some of the clubs in this league are where they are because of how they choose to run, there will always be the have's and the have nots. We've had wage caps and max numbers of 8.00pt + riders before, they don't work, because the promotors themselves go against there own rules within a week of signing them off. And no it isn't always the usual suspects. I don't think the answer is to manipulate the rules even more to produce the 'perfect meeting' Most home fans will have gone home happy enough. The home promotion less so after paying out a lot of points money. You can't just bring everything down to the lowest level all the time or we end up in a cess pit.

We don't have enough available riders for one league

Results pinched from Jacqueline Drew Kemp made the semi's. Not such a happy day for Leon Flint

He did come back in late July but fair point

I get up there whenever I can, bank holidays etc or "special" meetings

grasstrack crash yesterday taken to hospital after lengthy delay,unbeaten all day missed start in final,with leaders at first bend big coming together

Starke has started quite brightly too in the championship. King doesn’t seem quite himself so far with a few issues. Very very early days though and things can click very quickly.

The following ex-West Ham riders have said they are coming: Barry Duke, Alan Bellham, Alan Sage, Brian Leonard, Mick Handley, Stan Stevens, Vic Cross, Alf Hagon, Barry Crowson, Reg Fearman, Norman Hunter, Reg Luckhurst, Ted Ede, Terry Stone, Dave Jessup and.........Sverre Harrfeldt.

What's the incentive for riders to improve beyond an 8 point average? What you'll have in that situation is average manipulation by riders as the ones who are close to the 8 know they'll be out a job the next season. I don't think it solves anything tbh, as powers that be must think too as scrapped it in prem

I didn't ever see any racing at Halifax, but did once see the stadium when the track was still down. It did look a tight squeeze, as I recall.

Just shows the talent in NZ , tracks must be a lot different to uk, or was he spending too much time in the sheep paddocks?

2018 season steve Worrall broke his leg in first match for scunthorpe and they used a guest for the rest of the season.

because they'd make private arrangements

https://vk.com/video-81427162_456239145?fbclid=IwAR1FYQruT5bKwal728kXE7pUeSNDHpdxMfvEkNiqzueRb6QkLx94BONma04

Unless all Championship teams build to Newcastle strength & have a clear gap between Prem & Champ! Also make it easier for NDL riders to step up!

Edinburgh we’re unavailable.

Apologies - tried to post race card and failed. See next post

Birmingham to win easily, Poole fans to be nowhere near Perry Barr but comment on social media like they were sitting in the pits.

Could get messy - Polish media article(translated) Speedway: Sanctions imposed on citizens of Russia and Belarus in retaliation for starting the war in Ukraine have not bypassed the world of sport. By the decision of the International Motorcycle Federation, the riders of these countries were removed from participation in international competitions, and the Polish Motor Association extended this ban to Polish leagues. Slag. Multi-million damages for Artiom Łaguta and Emil Sajfutdinow? Artiom Łaguta and Emil Sajfutdinov All Russians were subject to sanctions, including the individual world champion - Artiom Łaguta and the third speedway rider of the globe - Emil Sajfutdinow. And it is precisely preventing these two competitors from starting in Poland that causes the greatest controversy. Both have had Polish citizenship for several years. - In the case of the Russians, the matter is simple. PZM had the right to impose sanctions on them and they would have to suffer their sins for them. On the occasion, Polish citizens were thrown into one bag, which is absolutely unacceptable - said Jerzy Synowiec, lawyer, city councilor from Gorzów Wielkopolski, and in the past president of the local Stal. A few days ago, Mr. Synowiec even sent an open letter to the President of the Republic of Poland and the authorities of the Polish Motor Association, in which he wrote “Pursuant to Polish law, Polish citizens are persons who have Polish citizenship. Being a Polish citizen and, at the same time, a citizen of another country, one cannot rely on that other citizenship and the rights and obligations arising therefrom with legal effect before Polish state authorities. A Polish citizen who is also a citizen of another state has the same rights and obligations towards the Polish state as a person who has only Polish citizenship. Violation of such rights is contrary to the constitution and the Polish legal order. " - The Polish Motor Association should immediately reflect and allow Artiom Łaguta and Emil Sajfutdun to start with Polish licenses. These are Polish citizens, and the fact that they have a second citizenship should not discriminate them in any way - commented the Synowiec letter. - After all, there are several hundred thousand people in Poland with double passports, including some parliamentarians, and I have not heard of anyone wanting to limit their rights for this reason. I have Belarusian roots myself and what? Should I just close my office for this? - added. - Laguta and Saifutdinov were suspended by the Russian federation for criticizing the war and President Vladimir Putin. As a result of PZM's decision, they cannot drive in Poland either. Thus, they became basically homeless people. They will be able to seek compensation before Polish courts. I do not know how long they will be deprived of the right to practice, but even if it is only a season, it will be millions of dollars for each of them. Even if not the Polish courts, any European institution will agree with them in this case. I have no doubts about it. Unless someone ignores the undeniable fact that they are Polish citizens - assessed Synowiec. According to the Polish Motor Association, Łaguta and Sajfutdinow entered the competition with Russian licenses in November and the regulations do not allow them to be changed. Moreover, until the imposition of sanctions on Russian speedway riders, they were not interested in competing with Polish licenses. Now, having such documents would be a salvation for them and allowed them to return to competitions both in PGE Ekstraliga and Grand Prix. Nobody in PZM, however, can imagine that after their possible triumph in the world championship competition, they would be played "Mazurka Dąbrowski"