frigbo

Seen on Facebook that Reading stalwart and ex-Swindon man Bernie Leigh has sadly passed away. Poignant for me as he's the first to pass away of the original Swindon 7 I watched in my first meeting v Ipswich in 1974.

Just the most important people then.... Chris Harris' comments this week absolutely epitomise how far removed from reality most riders are - their selfish approach is a huge factor in the mess UK speedway finds itself in. I am one of the long-term fans who has been disillusioned by so many things (particularly the way the sport is run for everyone but the fans) that I'm not sure I have anything vaguely resembling enthusiasm to give a toss if/when they are fixed.

I for one am someone who no longer attends Swindon due to both guests and doubling-up being out of control and virtually turning teams into a travelling circus of riders.

The end. The patient has suffered enough and is now terminally ill....

Got to love a bit of doubling-up - 2 riders crocked for a cup semi-final due to tooling about in a lower league clash for a completely different team.

My view of Simmo is greatly tarnished by his spell non-trying (by his own admission) at Swindon to reduce his average to drop to Hackney in the NL.

Announcement this morning - last meeting at Arena on 14th Sept and club moves to Rye House from the 15th.

It has to be....

This precisely sums up one of the main reasons I no longer go. The majority of riders in the PL couldn't care less about any aspect of the meeting, team or fans as long as their pocket is lined and wh*re themselves out to whoever is paying the next pound coin.

Viable for who?? Some weaker tracks may have to be sacrificed to make something new work. Fudging everything to enable a couple of teams to exist in front of 150 people isn't helping.

Still, in effect, replacing your number 1 with a junior irrespective of where in the team they ride. Maybe there's an option to only permit a number one guest for away meetings and teams utilise r/r at home and only if the absence is through injury? A mid-level big league should, in threory, mean less top-end absences for anything other than injury anyway.

Those scenarios aren't a new thing though. Whilst guests and a degree of doubling-up (number 8's) existed during the halcyon days, the current situation has taken both to ridiculous levels where league meetings end up being between random sets of riders far too regularly. We can all remember isolated situations in the past where teams have been full of other riders, but the issue now is it has become the norm. I can almost cope with guests for missing number ones and shared position doubling-up for young British riders if we really must, but will not go again until the current free-for-all is sorted out. The first fundamental change needed is to run the sport for the fans and not as a rider benefit scheme! If lower level riders need to become amateur then so be it. I quite like the idea of one big league to start building some foundations of recovery, but it needs to be pitched at a level that most current PL and CL teams can afford, without necessarily accommodating the lowest common denominator - some teams will have to drop to CL level if necessary to ensure the big league is both affordable but still of a reasonable standard. The 'sport' is in such a mess that there is no one silver bullet to fix things and maybe it is beyond repair? One thing that is particularly concerning is it is evident that most fans can't even agree on what is broken, never mind agree the fix!

Reports on Twitter yesterday that former Ipswich, Peterborough and Canterbury rider Dave Gooderham passed away following a recent stroke.

Poor old Torquay....

It's simple economics though surely? You can't spend out more than come in - too many tracks are doing that right now. if substantial funding which tracks don't have is needed drive up incomings, the only option to stay afloat is to minimise outgoings. Personally, I think we're at a stage where not enough new people think speedway is anything but dull (which let's be honest most of the time it is) and as its hardcore support dies off there are insufficient new people to jutify the spend on massive promotional costs. As a fan of 40+ years, the reasons i no longer go are purely down to the lack of credibility as a team sport. I want to support Swindon, not some random selection of seven mercenaries each week who will prostitute their services to whoever wants them next. For me some of the best seasons in relatively recent times were the 2000-2003 seasons in the lower league. We had continuity, regular meetings, full away teams and a Swindon side that gave a toss - nothing to do with it being second division.