mikebv

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...

The main issue is that they have to try and "get in early" before Poland kicks off.. That way they are (almost), guaranteed that "the top lads" are available.. By May, the Polish leagues would be well under way, and those teams doing less well in particular, would be doing what they could to improve their situations.. Plenty of practice sessions and doctors notes have been sorted before.... And, as we know, in this country, it can rain at any time of the year..

Ice Hockey seem to do ok with their No1 league having a "small" amount of teams .. Many of them get crowds that Speedway would be very envious of, and could only dream of getting.. You need a top league with the best competitors to sell the rest of the sport..

There seems to also always be a fair few injuries "early doors" too, which could be put down to damp, inconsistent, surfaces and a lack of practice on such tracks...

I dont know... Some people on here, as usual, being quick to put the proverbial boot in.. Have any of you risked your lives stewarding for our entertainment? Thought not... And. If they don't have a good night stewarding they don't get a free brew and a burger... Or something like that... What is the Lions' Stewards Line Up this season? Not seen it anywhere... No wonder this sport is dying on its arse,.... They should bring back black leathers and monkey masks... And boiler suits and sawdust, etc etc etc, dribble, dribble...

Kate Middleton changed it a bit....

For me, one big league wouldn't work unless you got rid of all the "star names", as too many clubs couldn't afford to use them.. And that would mean an uncompetitive league.. With the fans who are used to seeing the "star names" (at the clubs with mainly the best attendances), losing interest in watching a lesser standard.. An 8 team "super league" with six of the current clubs in the top flight, ex Brum, but adding Poole and Glasgow would be my call.. Organically the top 8 clubs for attendances.. The rest are then an amalgam of Championship Lite/NDL level... Meaning clubs don't overstretch their natural level, riders are in the large majority semi pro, (have one "Bomber" per team), and admission costs then reflect the semi pro standard.. Could bring back IOW and Kent meaning even more fixtures..? DU is still there, but it needs to be currently, but you do get a flagship league to market the whole sport off, and the 2nd tier is then becomes the natural feeder league for UK lads wanting to get into the top flight, giving these riders plenty of opportunities to race...

Not sure Brum the place to run the first meeting from.. Might impact the crowd... Unless of course they are planning to go BIG on the promotional side of it to sell their club to a wider audience... Big crowd, and a good impression to any watching local people who may take a watching glance at the sport..

He can build the houses when the stadium is built... At the new place... Simple..

Whereabouts Iain?.. Sounds absolutely perfect... Let all involved know... Maybe you could be eligible to get a 20% finders fee for finding it?

Hey, You!!! If it ain't broken, dont fix it....

Their 2nd tier... As mentioned, the top league already use Thursdays for rearranged meetings if needed..

The council are hiding behind the "complex, technical difficulties around consent,"... Writing is on the wall.. All parties involved have known where this ends for a long, long time... And, given hardly a ripple of protest, they probably feel that now is the time to finalise everything.. It would be interesting to see what would happen if some promoter (or maybe all the BSP), came out and said that they would promote the sport there to see how it went... "Finish the stadium, as per the agreement for building the houses, and we will run Speedway there"...

A decent track with somewhere to watch the racing from, and somewhere to get the basic food and drink offering... That is the starting point for me I would say... Its not like die hard fans have been used to much "opulence" over the years which could dissuade many to not attend..