mikebv

Instead of criticising, I'd like to see you coal carrying for our entertainment like the brave coal carriers do.. Risking bad backs each time they compete just so that we can watch our favourite sport.. Although, they now use that smokeless coal which doesnt give off the same smell and amount of dirt on your hands and face that I remember when I first started watching coal carrying in the late 60's... And since the 80's and all Thatcher's pit closures, chances for young British coal carriiers have reduced massively, with many now working in Poland as the Poles have kept most of their coal mines open, with the result being coal carrying is still really popular over there.. And dont get me started on the ridiculous guest coal carriers rule, and the CCR facilty, both of which get used far too many times to cover missing coal carriers., many of whom are coal carrying elsewhere on the same days UK competitions takes place.. Or they cannot attend due to following their own international coal carrying dreams and ambitions on the world coal carrying stage... Arthur Scargill must be turning in his grave.. Edit (If he was dead, thanks RJ72)

And where did he get it from?

To be fair to him, he isn't a HL.. As a No2 he can do a solid job, but even when he rode for the Aces at No3, he often struggled.. And that was at a time when hardly any "top riders" rode over here.. A Div 1 HL now has to be at an "international level" I would say, rather than being a Div 2 No1 level...

Well done... Get yourself down to the track and watch some of the best riders in the world, even if they are riding for the opposition... I certainly didn't see last night mentioned on any satellite or MSM outlets, with the result being commiserated or celebrated by maybe 4,000 at most from both teams... So just watch the racing, particularly at Brum, as I seem to remember they didn't exactly "pull up any trees"' in Div 2 too regularly, so, even if another "no success season", you get to watch Messrs Sayfutdinov, Doyle, Bewley, Holder et al.. Be a shame to lose another track due to fan indifference, particularly in a small sport where the team who finishes bottom won't be missing out on any major financial rewards nor face any relegation risk.. A track where the owner has put his hand so deep into his pocket, and wants to see the club move to its own site... Will hopefully get down to Brum when the Aces are in town...

Looking at the scores, some optimism for Worky with their new riders once they get dialled in.. Hope the crowd level was good.. That is the main result for Workington..

Weak locally elected bodies allow such things to happen all the time.. Often, due to saving the cost of going to court.. And with virtually zero protestations from the Swindon fan base, and zero fight back, we are where we are.. In fact, the lack of a vocal response and clear protest targeted action taken, could help the cause of Osbourne who can turn around and say "it wont be missed"..

Mark Lemon will be devastated.... An "amateur level" speedway meeting didn't quite go to plan and you will never attend again? Is your seat an "end of aisle" one, by the way? If so, can you let me know the seat number, I have a bad back so need the leg room of the aisle...

Spot on... It's the THIRD level of a small minority sport.. Where even the top two leagues hardly register any recognition from the national media.. "Paid/Subsidised Training" for new lads is my take on the NDL, augmented by a few lads who still like a blast round after riding for many years but never really getting any better than NDL standard.. Go along, pay your money, and watch the racing, and hopefully it is good (at the NSS it almost always is),.. And that stands for all leagues..

What happens when you have two seven man teams, not even using RR, and there's a four-man pile up in Heats 1 or 2? It's then five a side.... And if they are using RR it then becomes four a side (exactly as it would with six man teams).. However, as four man pile ups occur once every Preston Guild, the vast majority of meetings would never be impacted.. And if it does then "tough luck, but guess what? That is sport"... And, if you run six man (I mean rider teams, sorry Celina) you would then have "subs on the bench" to come in and not need RR in the first place.. The issue facing the sport is too few riders being available at the right ability level that Div 2 want to race at... Div 1 are "just about" getting away with it by having only seven teams in the league.. Any more and they would struggle too...

With a fit for purpose RR facility another to add to the solution.

It is very much "rinse and repeat" on here isn't it when it comes to the same old issues being outlined... The comments made could have come from any meetings ran in similar circumstances over the past heaven knows how many decades.. The only real surprise I have is that some still seem surprised... It is UK Speedway after all, a very small minority sport, ran, in the main, by well meaning amateurs, who use the sport as an "expensive hobby", with very little skill set around leading "the customer experience" at a public event... So don't set your expectations too high, and that way you won't be too disappointed.. Any "newbies" may not go back again, but the "die hards" who persuade them to go there, will, so no real net loss to the business.. Maybe it's worth copying and pasting some comments on this thread, ready for the next similar occurrence, to save time.. Then just change the names...

A definitely possible 10-2 at the "business end" of the meeting... A no brainer isnt it?

Betamax...

Are they worried now that the licence is no longer in the hands of the previous promotion that someone may come along and start up again?

We don't, and never do... The "In the interest of Speedway" card regularly gets played ,which clearly shows that all rules can be (pardon the pun),'ridden over, as is, and when, required... A common sense approach in a tiny minority sport where whoever wins the league isn't going to earn "millions", or even "hundreds of thousand's" and, as history tells us, could even close down due to the financial strain of getting that success.. With so few teams it is bad for business for all the clubs to have any "cannon fodder" which fails to attract crowds both home and away...

100%... And even a 100%+ guest like you have during the season could be used.. Bomber will no doubt ride, once again, for half the teams in the country, and Scott will make hay whilst the TV hasn't started, so it really doesn't matter to the credibility of the league if Plymouth use a decent guest... Whichever team wins either of the leagues won't resonate outside maybe 3000 to 5000 or so followers, many of whom hardly attending regularly, if they do at all.. And the mainstream sports media certainly won't disect Speedways "unusual" operating model and make comment... Therefore. Ensuring clubs like Plymouth and Birmingham survive and grow, has a far more positive impact on the sport than any of the others winning a title ever will... There will no doubt be the usual myriad of "make it up as you go along" decisions during the season, (although I believe Bomber cannot help any team reach a final then help beat them when they get there this year).. They make up so many rules to try and ensure competitive meetings, so one more won't matter...

They have just had the best of 15....

Certainly puts a spanner in the works... At least he hasn't got the flue.... Wouldn't pay him in washers... For Plymouth, the heat is on... Etc etc etc... I'll get me coat...

Not sure why we need to bother about a superheat now there is an aggregate bonus point... For Brum, that could feel like a defeat, which, considering the challenges they face, gives a negative spin to the night. Which they don't need... After 15 heats the match ends in a draw. What's wrong with that? You may as well run just one heat and end the night, given the match starts nil-nil... Use the superheat for a tie overall maybe over the two legs, but let a draw be a draw... Neither team did enough to win in the meeting itself, team v team, so let that be the result...

Let's hope not many decide to do that, as, if they do, Brum may never get a chance to be at full strength ever again...

Try running Poland with a guest system... The sport ends over there right there and then.. We "need" guests due to the way the teams are set up... For example, less riders per team would mean a surplus of riders to use to replace missing riders.. Put simply, if you haven't enough of a certain level of rider, then don't organise the sport meaning that you need so many... Guests are just an easy cop out, rather than having to find a way of running a team sport "properly".. No matter how it gets "sold", having Bomber, for example, riding for all and sundry, does nothing but devalue and erode the credibility of any competition that he does it in.. If someone like Pawlicki did it in Poland, then the fans, the national company sponsors and the prime time TV coverage (that gets sold to the highest bidder), would disappear in an instant.. It can be truly great to watch Speedway in the UK, but, until it can be taken seriously as a "proper team sport", by fans, media and investors alike, it can never deliver its true (untapped), potential... I think Phil Morris is savvy enough to realise this...

It's his Australian upbringing...

Always good for a few sound bites is Tai... It is what the sport (in this country) needs... Some spice and tribalism to get the fans (and atmosphere), going...

They are doing..... "Who's behind the mask?"... Doyley is dressed as Chase the Ace.... Jonathan Ross just said it was Ed Sheeran.... "Take it off! Take it off!" Etc etc etc... Great to see some innovation and professionalism from Phil Morris... Doing a lot of good so far with what his plans are.. I presume he must come on here quite a bit...

Not sure, hopefully they are, but, whilst all sponsorship is so important, much of what UK Speedway get is within the Speedway Bubble, ie. Businesses that already benefit tangibly by being involved who maybe then widen their sponsorship.. The big leap is to bring "new" money into the sport which can be used to drive the sport forwards.. The use of guests though will always preclude this as "Company A" would never invest in a club to then see a competitive rival's name in lights after that team wins the league, having used "Company A's" riders during the season to do so... And when "Mickey Mouse" is involved, like last years play offs with Bomber, finding a "BIG" non speedway involved company to sponsor the league outright will be a hard sell... The chicken and the egg isn't it? To run a "proper team sport" you need the money to do it... But. If you don't run a "proper team sport", you will never get the money to do it.. I am pretty sure Phil Morris will acutely know this, and, hopefully, will have plans to deliver that utopian position over the next few years at most.. He is definitely travelling in the right direction I would suggest, given what he has done so far...