Regionalisation

[macinter 158]

We have got to follow the football route of one home match a fortnight, one away match a fortnight. The days when people would religiously go to speedway every week in large enough numbers has gone!

 

 

I suspect this might be something under active consideration as suggested by Tai Woffinden.

[ch958 2,393]

Would this mean the EL downgrading or the PL upgrading? If the former I can't see the big clubs wanting this, if the later i can't see the small clubs affording this.

Definitely not the latter

[greyhoundp 990]

Would this mean the EL downgrading or the PL upgrading? If the former I can't see the big clubs wanting this, if the later i can't see the small clubs affording this.

 

The EL downgrading. BIG clubs do we really have any BIG clubs left ? and how do you measure big Clubs. By the riders they have, by the sponsors they have, by the League they are in, or by the crowds that they get ?.

 

I can think of a few Big Clubs under certain measures, but not many meet all the above. So i doubt there would be To many so called Big Clubs left to ride against each other.

 

Birmingham, Eastbourne, Swindon, Coventry probably Belle Vue all could be loosely described as Big Clubs but i think i am probably correct in saying NONE of them returned a profit in 2014 nor probably 2015. Take away the SKY monies and NO club would return a profit. So do we have any BIG clubs ? i suggest only in name.

 

I can think of 2 Big Clubs that race NL and definately returned a profit in 2014, and thats without SKY money, so financially they could be described as Big Clubs bigger than most of the EL big Teams.

I dont know much about the PL but i think we could describe Somerset as a Big Club due to the size of the crowds they get, Leicester (now EL) could be described as the same.

 

So there you have it Pugwash says he believes BIG Teams wouldnt want to downgrade, Im saying we dont really have any Big Teams except in name or self importance, but we do have Top Teams in certain areas; Kent, Cradley, Somerset, Leicester, Poole, Wolves, Lakeside, Kings Lynn, and which ones of those are self sufficient without SKY ?.

[teddy2706 166]

Can I please stand up and be counted?

I hate the idea of regionalisation.

I would much prefer to see two leagues with promotion and relegation.

Also, the very notion of riders living even remotely close to the club for whom they ride is utterly flawed at present, but some common sense on the part of clubs could alleviate costs by attempting to sign local riders in the future.

Reducing costs may too be acheived by some common sense being displayed on the part of whoever decides and compiles the fixture list.

Also, in todays multicultural Britain, why does no club run on sunday mornings?

Trials, MX, road racing, drag racing, enduro's and clay pigeon shoots have done this for years and any argument concerning church attendances being affected is simply a non-starter.

Personally speaking, I would prefer to hear race bikes than pesky lawnmowers and strimmers on any day of the week, sundays included, particularly my own lawn mower....

Feel free to descend upon me like a pack of dogs if I am wrong.

[fatface 2,549]

Can I please stand up and be counted?

I hate the idea of regionalisation.

I would much prefer to see two leagues with promotion and relegation.

Also, the very notion of riders living even remotely close to the club for whom they ride is utterly flawed at present, but some common sense on the part of clubs could alleviate costs by attempting to sign local riders in the future.

Reducing costs may too be acheived by some common sense being displayed on the part of whoever decides and compiles the fixture list.

Also, in todays multicultural Britain, why does no club run on sunday mornings?

Trials, MX, road racing, drag racing, enduro's and clay pigeon shoots have done this for years and any argument concerning church attendances being affected is simply a non-starter.

Personally speaking, I would prefer to hear race bikes than pesky lawnmowers and strimmers on any day of the week, sundays included, particularly my own lawn mower....

Feel free to descend upon me like a pack of dogs if I am wrong.

Woof, woof! Grrrr!

 

Can't say I agree, but you make some fair points. Believe it or not, I would also like two leagues of promotion and relegation, all the world's best riders here and massive crowds. It's just not realistic though in our minority sport. The big problem with relegation is that most PL clubs don't want to go up and EL clubs don't want to go down. Also take your point on Sunday morning racing, but speedway is different to those other sports. The majority are sports more for the participants than the spectators. Also, Moto GP is a full weekend. Speedway is like football, rugby in that its two hours entertainment.

 

For me, regionalisation is the way to go. It's not perfect by any means. But it will save costs, it will increase interest in local rivalries and gives the sport a sensible structure going forwards. I would also say, that unlike the previous one big league incarnation, there would not have to be massive changes to the teams. My team were Exeter and they had to sign Mark Loram, Simon Wigg and a couple of Czech internationals to be competitive. This time round, I don't think there would be major surgery required for EL and PL teams to meet in the middle. Strip away the GP riders from the EL replaced with a lower order man, add in a strong heat leader into each PL team and I think you have some pretty competitive matches.

 

I note someone said they would not be happy about travelling to Plymouth in a South League. Well, you are never going to get a perfect fixture list for your team. There's plenty to knock the BSPA for, but the geographic breadth of the South of England is not one!

[SCB 0]

The problem with reginalisation is that what are in reality local teams get split away. So take the list in post 2, Coventry lose local trips to Swindon and Peterborough (both about an hour away) and even Scunny, Lakeside and Rye House are well within the 2 hours but end up with Berwick, Workington, Glasgow and Edinburgh that are miles away.

 

I don't know the answer, but thats not it.

[Team Man 32]

Are you going to stipulate that a rider can only ride in a team within a certain distance of his home otherwise there won't be much savings to the riders costs.

[fatface 2,549]

I don't know the answer, but thats not it.

At least have a bash at it - otherwise you're endorsing the current structure.

[teddy2706 166]

Are you going to stipulate that a rider can only ride in a team within a certain distance of his home otherwise there won't be much savings to the riders costs.

Manchester riders riding for Somerset, East coast riders riding for Workington, the list is endless. Riders travelling costs in todays Britain with fuel at high prices, motorways that don't flow and vehicle expenses added to the ridiculous costs of machinery maintenance ensure that only engine builders and speedway equipment dealers make a good living.

[fatface 2,549]

Are you going to stipulate that a rider can only ride in a team within a certain distance of his home otherwise there won't be much savings to the riders costs.

Don't think anybody would be stipulating. But you might have unearthed another benefit. There'd be a greater incentive for riders to be based near to their club and if promoters are paying travel fees for riders, greater incentive to employ local riders and (gulp) maybe even develop some local talent? No matter the sport, fans always have a special bond with members of their club that are local boys.

[Daniel Smith 5,645]

As a King's Lynn Stars fan and I'd hope our promotion would feel the same too, I'd only want regional leagues providing we're in the Southern region with Peterborough, Ipswich and Rye House. Our biggest rivals during our previous Elite & Premier League history.

 

If we were in with them, a massive thumbs up

There will be a huge rider availability problem though as nearly all will want the Southern Region League also I have no doubt.

[SCB 0]

At least have a bash at it - otherwise you're endorsing the current structure.

Is there anything wrong with an EL and a PL? Or a League 1 and a League 2 with League 1 being stronger? We know speedway in this country is getting a bit crap but I dont think the league format is the issue. For me it's the constant guests, the never ending doubling up which only leads to more guests, the changing fixture on a whim, riding missing because they're riding in the "Joe Blogs Invitational Pairs" in New Delhi.

 

I'm sure half of speedway problems would be fixed just by having a strictly adhered to fixture list where meeting were arranged so that riders were not missing - done properly you could probably keep doubling up too

Edited September 1, 2014 by SCB

[Bagpuss 10,758]

Spot on. Most of this years problems have been caused by a toilet fixture list.

[fatface 2,549]

Is there anything wrong with an EL and a PL? Or a League 1 and a League 2 with League 1 being stronger? We know speedway in this country is getting a bit crap but I dont think the league format is the issue. For me it's the constant guests, the never ending doubling up which only leads to more guests, the changing fixture on a whim, riding missing because they're riding in the "Joe Blogs Invitational Pairs" in New Delhi.

 

I'm sure half of speedway problems would be fixed just by having a strictly adhered to fixture list where meeting were arranged so that riders were not missing - done properly you could probably keep doubling up too

I agree that doubling up and constant guests are a problem. Pretty much everyone does. That's the reason for this suggested re-structure. By taking away GP riders and putting the leagues together in a regional structure you would have less guests and no doubling up. Plus, the added bonuses of costs saved and more local matches. Currently promoters are having to structure a fixture list around Swedish League, Polish League, GPs and - most ridiculously - when one of your riders might be riding for another club in the UK. There's not much we can do about Sweden and Poland, but we can make some decisions to eliminate the difficulties caused by the lattter two.

Edited September 1, 2014 by falcace

[TheReturn 1,724]

However when it comes to dividing the teams its quite tricky with so many midlands teams. Would Peterboro and Kings Lynn be north for example? And if so they would miss out on local matches v Leicester unless they were north too in which case they'd miss out on Wolves and Birmingham (if back)

Not that I am suggesting things are often fixed in some ways, I remember when a very strong Long Eaton were put into a northern group 4TT qualification group, but Sheffield (a good 50 miles further north) in a much weaker central group with the likes of Stoke and Peterborough as I recall.

 

Team wise it may not have been that much of a problem but they did not think about the fans, with LE fans facing 300+ trips to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

 

But what is clear in speedway, the top league always messes up, and the second tier is shagged to save the top tier. It happened when the BL and NL were merged and the promise of equal share of the top riders never happened.