HGould

Staggering article in the Speedway Star today outlining the investment Nigel has made and contunies to make and how far from break-even they are match to match, and how desperatley low some attendences have been. Positive that he will get to the end of the season and pay all the bills though. Its a strikingly similar scenario to other Clubs who have departed , outgoings exceeding incomings, declining attendences, declining sponsorship and advertising, increased costs, uncaring corporate landlords; and a group of riders whose machine and running costs dicate that they too are living in cloud cuckoo land about being full time professionals, pandering to tuners and the latest weight saving gimmicks; and yes many Owners/Promoters own business models in cuckoo land too, hearts ruling their brains!. With the other ogre the "developer" threatening Swindon, Edinburgh and Peterborough really is time to baton down the hatches and support all Clubs and hopefully come out the other side. Its easy to blame Owners / Promoters as being incompetent, clueless, stupid and even crooks to varying degrees; but I saw how affected Peter and David were last season, aging visibly with worry and stress; and having read Rob Grants comments this week and those of others who have tried and failed in recent seasons in the past decade, it's clear to me that rather than attack those who have tried and failed and moan at those who are trying NOT to fail, it really does need some decisive action. All those that have failed have undoubtedly invested much financially and lost it and immesurable investment in time and stress. That starts from the top down but us supporters also have a part to play from the bottom up. There are green shoots at Workington and hopefully at Swindon and Eastbourne and Oxford big-style are showing it IS possible.

Does a ref have scope to exclude a rider from a meeting for dangerous Riding if its clearly going to impact on the result of the meeting?

If 6 PL Clubs get the lions share of the TV money - which they do - and the rest feed off scraps of the TV money - which they do, then it's not rocket science to calculate that if the TV was equally shared that a number of the PL clubs would not be self sufficient. The real issue goes back 20 years, when the TV money was at least 10 x more than it is now and was wasted by all concerned at the time and wasn't invested long term in te Sport. People keep going on about a Darts / Snooker Hearn type revolution, that financial revolution happened all those years ago via Sky, it could and should have made Speedway a TOP 5 sport in terms of profile, it was used, abused and lost and Speedway now is struggling to be in the top 50 Sports in the UK. A participation of around 100, a dwindling and aging fan base and a set up that makes anyone used to professional sport think it's some kind of joke. The current Management Committee are as much victims of their predecessors pre 1990 as they are victims of their own inadequacies.

That may be a false interpretation of what cancelled means. If you postpone its usually weather related. Cancelled may just mean they've been told Newcastle have closed suddenly so they have to cancel the event. Whether Newcastle will reopen is surely too soon to say and I'd doubt anyone actually knows the answer to that. Plymouth have looked after their fans and visitors by simply getting a communication out about tonight specifically is my interpretation.

Official now. https://plymouth-speedway.com/plymouth-speedway-announcement/

Guess that's official then? https://plymouth-speedway.com/plymouth-speedway-announcement/

Suggests it has come as a shock to Plymouth and BSPL and that Newcastle have made a unilateral choice? Certainly when Clubs hit problems last year, that Brummies and Newcastle were having weekly meetings with BSPL and were told whether they could ride or not and any interim cancelations / fixture changes (like getting Leicester to PBarr to help Brummies were agreed in advance) and Eastbourne were told when indicating problems to BSPL 5 days before a meeting that they had to go to Leicester to fulfil an away Fixture and did that Fixture at BSPL insistence.

people in glass houses and all that. I have a recollection of Mulford letting Kent down a few times in NDL with transport issues and lack of bikes etc. If you are looking at proven NDL / CL form then it's a no brainer that Edwards would be preferred and surprising he wasn't a dedicated no 8 although he is riding NDL and CL already. May be Mulford needs to focus on Grass/Long Track or Speedway for now. He's similar level on Grass to Atkins and Wirtzfeld both of whom seem to have had a rather in/out relationship with Speedway too. The common fact is they all have talent but may be trying to spread it too thinly. The other issue for mulford is that as long as he's viewed as a Grass Track ridr he won't be attractive to well over half of the CL teams who race Friday/Saturday and Sunday as preferred day

interesting fact I gleaned from the Plymouth website so it must be true They claim they are the only side to score over 40 points in every league match....so far! (no doubt some stastician can clarify) I'd think if they leave Wimborne Road with that record intact they will be mighty pleased. 50-40 maybe?

I'm sure that Garry May will be eager to use a Leicester rider if he can as they have added interest in doing what they can against poole to ensure Leicester have top spot and picks when it comes to play offs.

Unlikely aren't Oxford riding same night?

Why not neutral CL wise at Peterborough? Nowhere truly neutral with doubling up but Crowds at Peterborough for 4s always very good

So it is lol

It was surely always going to be a risk scheduling for a Sunday in July with all Polish Leagues in full flow and various other events across Europe. Presumably 3 or 4 of the likely contenders have more lucrative offers elsewhere.

Roll forward to September, may be October and Guests Edward Kennett and Adam Ellis combine for a last heat 5-1 to win a famous Play off Final victory for Scunthorpe at Poole

should have been a lot more comfortable than it was and a couple of gate and go 5-1's as the track slickened up got the Gladiators back in to it. Barker was excellent have to say. Credit to the trackstaff on a very hot day for doing as well as anyone possibly could with the track, unlike last season it's clear that they are 100% trying and invested in some kit and that's all we can ask. Hopefully when schools holidays come we can get a few hundred more in to just boost things up.

Deluded maybe but I think Shanes Morris and Neilsen are very capable of out scoring Bowtell, Coles and Morley and that could be significant. Im confident that Pickering, Sedgeman and Wells can match Plymouth heat leaders.

I'm unusually optimistic. I think it's the strongest team we've put out all season. 51 - 39 Brummies

I think you've hot a nail on the head there. It's part of an Aussie DNA especially when they come here first to grab every opportunity and not to sit in a comfort zone. May be as they get older they get more pommified in some cases. Killeen would have wanted to ride against the best on the night having done so well. He's outshone Trigger on his home track who is current GB Youth 500cc champion, on his first appearance and just emphasises the massive potential Killeen has.

give Mattie Bates a call and stop bleating he may need some rider suggestions. Have you not stopped to think how hard it is to get unattached young riders to go to Plymouth on a Tuesday night? may be Plymouth should revert to Fridays now for NDL if they are having problems getting spaces in the team filled due to Atkins leaving and other riders being unavailable.

I remember seeing him turn up at Perry Barr in 2018 (must have been as our last season in NDL) with all the kit and van and long list of sponsors that most PL riders would have been envious of. May be a case of having it all on a plate, not appreciating it and working at it and then seeing hungrier types just passing him by (literally) I also think if you look at the 2 most progressive riders from 2017-2018 of which Bewley is far and away and miles ahead of the rest that he and Brennan, who seems next best and more progressive than others now, have had bad injuries and come through them. Sometimes those injuries can make and define you if they don't kill your career at that stage. Big fish and little ponds and big ponds and little fish syndrome, Bewley chased it, Bickley it seems didn't.

Glasgow, as is the way of the Faceena brothers paid top wack for the best Streaming Production available to them at realistic costs. Clearly it must not have made them any money and why should any Club lose money to stream speedway to people who lets be honest are watching on TV as it's easier to do that then get off their backsides and go and watch it live. There will always be genuine and worthy exceptions and away support for whom its more practical, no point denying that but surely it has to be both profitable and sustainable but also not be detrimental to reducing/eroding attendence for the Live version any more. A number of Clubs are doing good streaming but unless in the final analysis it makes them some net profit why would you sell a product for 12 quid that probably 2-3 people watch for one subscription of 12 quid; when those 2-3 people could be spending £50-£60 to come in and another £20-£30 on food and drink and possibly merchandise. They would have to buy probably 5-6 streams to generate the possible income from ONE actual visit. It's a sad fact that too many of us, and as a collective it's a trait in Speedway seem to expect hard working Promotions to just keep on subsidising the Team for them to turn up as and when they feel like it. Its not nor has it been for a few decades a sustainable business model.

he' going to be the next Jack Smith, always the one with promise and potential but basicaly still where he was 3-4 years ago. A good NDL rider who can score a few ponts as a CL reserve. May be a focus on improving in to a CL second string instead of wasting time and money in Poland whould be good advice?

The blindingly obvious has been the case for the past few years. The Sport can't any longer support 3 tiers. There has to be a realisation and realignment. A top tier of 10 Clubs and a second tier of 10-12 Clubs. The top tier with all available current PL and CL riders up to current second string CL level. A second tier that would be say 1 x current CL heat Leader then rest of CL teams and incorporate NDL. The second tier may need to incorporate something left field like a dedicated youth race until numbers filter through. Build a direct progression Youth to CL to PL (CL becomes developmental) Any Club with track / training time availability e.g no strict curfew to run organised Northern / Southern style junior racing as second half. Time too to build solidity by saying any new / returning team should have to start in second tier to prove their sustainability and that the older "double up PL/PL generation" not allowed to double down any more. It may shorten some careers but the long term gain would outweigh this surely in building a system of progression rather than the current decay and stagnation.

Thank you for the clarificatiin I'll go and put the humble pie in the oven