NJC71

Afraid speedway is a dying to virtually dead sport. I started going in the early 80's and there were about 35 tracks in the UK then and maybe 250+ riders competing in the UK at all levels. Now we are down to what, 17 tracks in the top 2 divisions and only 6 in the top division which is desperate really. Ok there were the heady days but in the all the years since I can't remember any period where there was such a dearth of riders competing. Back in the those days there was no doubling up either. These days when you watch a match you almost feel it's like a random selection of riders v another random selection of riders. We don't even see the volume of overseas riders coming over like they used to. Even going back say 10 years the decline is alarming. I have no idea how you solve that problem. Maybe training tracks and development programmes is the way but that should have happened years ago as it obviously takes time for anything like that to bear fruition. The bottom line is it's a very dangerous sport and there is no money in it unless you get to the very top. Perhaps that wasn't the case back then; youngsters have so much choice now. Newcastle's current plight is a result of this problem. It's easy to criticise Rob and the promotion but they are obviously desperate for new riders but even with such a small number of teams there are so few if any available. Honestly fear the worst for the sport. Wouldn't surprise me if in 5 years time we are down to 10 teams or less.

Decent effort from the Diamonds and would have deserved the 46-44 win they would have got had Starke not stopped when comfortably second in heat 13. Starke was very good and we know Clegg will score well around Brough. With Wright and Wethers solid and Complin potentially a potent reserve (heat 14 win was very encouraging) I think we would have a team that can certainly win most of our home meetings IF we had a proper number 1. Whether there is the money to bring one in and one is actually available is another matter but I hope they can do something as otherwise this season is going to be another struggle and in all honesty we will lose a number of home meetings and get battered on the road everywhere which is no good for anybody. Not great racing with heats 8, 14 & 15 providing the only real passing. I don't know why there is no outside line now but it makes the racing far too predictable as we saw in heat 15 with Clegg trying to get around Starke to team ride to the match winning 3-3 but going backwards and eventually being passed up the inside by Lewi Kerr.

Didn’t attend many meetings last year but went yesterday. Observations: Shame there is no outside line on the track; racing wasn’t great. Team obviously lacks any real top end strength. Completely appreciate that we can only spend what we have but its catch-22 and many may be reluctant to watch a team that is clearly going to struggle. Three riders who haven’t ridden at this level either before or not for x years feels like a gamble too many. BWD is clearly not a number 1 and in reality nowhere near it with his assessed 8+ average 2 points plus higher than anything he’s achieved at this level. That assessed average is far too high given he’s not raced for more than 12 months either. Starke, Wethers, Wright & Clegg are all reliable solid second strings with Clegg still on the up but none are heat leaders let alone a number 1 which one them will be before long. Complin looked decent considering how long he’s been out and will hold his own in time. He doesn’t have the physique for a speedway rider but at this level he’ll score points before long. Congreve is obviously very raw but did ok. In a strong team he would be fine but he may get exposed a bit in this side. Facilities at the stadium (food and drink) are better than they ever have been and the pits looked neat. Hope the team can be competitive in time but suspect it will need some changes if possible.

It may be early but heat leaders have not got going yet (particularly Bjerre) which exposes the tail which is too long. Lambert & Wethers are reserves riding in the top 5 and the reserve pairing isn’t strong enough. Not sure where the improvement in that bottom 4 is going to come from. Can’t see this being the team come the end of the season.

Team previously looked solid without the top end power. Now looks strong at the top but with a long tail. Would have preferred the balance of this revised 7 had one of the bottom 4 had obvious scope for improvement. Fear this bottom end will struggle with Lambert & Wethers more suited to riding at reserve these days even in a slightly watered down league.

Was thinking the same thing. Speedway in the UK is not dying it’s virtually dead. Would never have missed a meeting back in the day, I’ve been to one meeting this season and didn’t enjoy it. Same teams, same riders week in week out. With fewer teams than ever before and a complete lack of riders I can’t see speedway continuing as a professional sport in this country much longer. Sad, but it’s been coming for a long time.

Shouldn’t forget that Newcastle have been running with half a team pretty much all season.

Was goning to turn up tonight but the Redcar team is a total turn off. 7v7 no guests or rider replacement is the exception nowadays. Sad.

To be fair the promotion were up front about the team this year so nobody can really complain. That said if we're going to try and build a team that can develop into a useful side it would, in theory at least, have made more sense to sign younger riders and perhaps try and develop some assets for the future. You have to fear we'll be starting from scratch again in 12 months time. The main problem with this side is that most of the riders signed are beyond their peak years and will probably struggle to retain their starting averages. Given we could well be under the limit anyway that is, on paper at least, a real worry. The tactical rules this year will make it harder as teams will be able to bring their top riders in for extra rides when 6 points down which will expose our lack of top end strength. That's assuming we are ever 6 points up of course! Time will tell but this side looks like it will struggle badly on the road and possibly at home on occasions. Absolutely not the fault of the riders who I'm sure will give everything and will be determined to prove people wrong. Wish them the best of luck but fear it's going to be a real struggle for points and could get ugly at times against the stronger teams. Hope I'm wrong.

Obviously pleased we are running but still important to have a competitive team. If we can’t afford strong heat leaders (and there aren’t many, if any still available anyway) we should try and track two strong reserves to give us some sort of edge over other sides. Say Ashley Morris and another of similar ability. No point in having a weak top end a weak reserve otherwise it will be a long season.

With no restrictions next seasons reserve pairings will be much stronger than the last couple of seasons. Danny would be a big gamble and probably find it too tough, especially coming back from such a bad injury. NL would be a better starting point surely.

Im pleasantly surprised with the outcome. From a Championship perspective I like the 42.50 limit with no restrictions. It might be seen to be giving young riders a chance but Ive never liked the 2 pointer/Brits only regulations. There simply arent enough riders around who are good enough; look at the problems Newcastle have had replacing struggling 2 pointers. This gives promoters more flexibility and should make it much easier for 3-4 point riders to get team places when they might have been frozen out. Team building will be more interesting and teams who suffer injuries will have more options available. Thank god the TR has been scrapped. An admission at last that it was a bad idea that did nothing for the sport. Hopefully the fixed race nights will help cut down on rider unavailability which brought the sport to its knees last season. It wont stop it though and I hope promoters are sensible with team building and stop employing riders who they know will have issues with commitments abroad and individual competitions (as with Lambert last season and the regular Thursday night unavailability of the Swedes). It might be tough on riders but they need to make a decision and either commit or dont. We simply must stop the abuse of R/R and guests which is a massive turn off. Still a shame that we only have 11 clubs at Championship level. Long for the days when we had 16/17 teams and such variety but I doubt there are enough riders to support that anyway. That aside it feels like a return to what made the old NL/PL such a success and is long overdue.

Was thinking of making a rare trip to Brough tonight but having seen the team I'll give it a miss. Whatever the rights and wrongs it is a joke having a young lad who has ridden only a handful of matches at National League level, riding at number 1. It's not fair on the lad and particularly unfair on the paying public who are being short changed yet again. I have been watching the Diamonds since the late 80's and this is definitely the worst state I can recall the sport being in. I have watched the Elite League decline year on year but the PL (or whatever it's called now) has generally been a solid product with a good variety of teams across England, Scotland and sometimes Wales and dedicated riders who were either established at that level or were exciting youngsters on their way up. Now the PL/Championship is in as just as bad - possibly even worse - state than the former EL was/is. We have too few teams and no variety and doubling up is killing the league with teams turning up with endless guests and facilities. 7 v 7 and no guests is an increasingly rare event. As a result teams have no identity anymore. Throw in the dismal state of many of the tracks, the ageing stadia and paltry facilities and it's no wonder crowds are at an all time low. I seriously don't know if speedway has a future in this country and honestly believe we are not far from it becoming an amateur sport at best. Sad to see.

Haven't been to Brough in months and this is why. Despite there being probably the smallest number of teams in the league than there's ever been at this level, Peterborough turn up with 3 of their own riders. Shouldn't be happening at this level, speedway is a total joke and is surely finished as a professional sport in this country. Sad, sad days.

Why wasn't the track raceable from the start? Even if a big hole appears unexpectedly and causes a 30 minute delay (which shouldn't happen) that doesn't explain 3 bloody hours. It happens far too often at Newcastle. If we want to attract new supporters to the speedway then I'm sorry but the running of the meetings has to improve. You can use all the excuses you want about lack of track time, lack of equipment, resources etc. and some of those they may be valid but the fact is that it is an absolute turn off when you are at a meeting for that length of time. It's 2017 and people have a lot of things they can do with their time. At the end of the day it's 15, 1 minute races that people are paying to see.