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Sidney the robin

Neil Vatcher doing a great job.

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18 hours ago, Chadster said:

Didn't Craig Cook feature for Buxton?

Potentially on the verge of big things, how long was he at Buxton for?

14 hours ago, Jonny the spud said:

Adam Ellis started at the IOW

How long was Adam at the IOW for?

36 minutes ago, The Cheese said:

Think it's probably fair to say that Chris Harris (St Austell) has achieved most after coming through the 3rd tier

Yes, good shout... and who can forget his win in Cardiff in 2007?

 

It's just something I heard in commentary on the Swedish Speedway that got me thinking. The commentator mentioned that Robert Lambert, the next great hope for British Speedway, "learnt his trade" in Germany. This got me to thinking that how many riders that have come through the 3rd tier of British Speedway (BS) have gone on to "make it" and that now the 3rd tier of BS must have been running for something like 15 years or so (I don't know how many exactly) could it be deemed a success, from the standpoint of producing British talent?

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Did Woffinden not cut his teeth at that level with Scunthorpe ? Were him and Josh Auty not reserves in the 3rd tier together . Auty might not have reached the same heights as Woffinden , but he's still done ok . As has the retired Bridger , Stevie Worrall and Paul Starke . Add to that an Aussie with a British father who rode in the 3rd tier at Buxton - Nick Morris 

Edited by Paulco
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Whichever way you look at it it is not that many at all.

If the third tier hadn't existed but we had either second halves, junior league or something else i imagine those same guys would have made it just the same.

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Interesting to look back on Wiki that a 3rd tier has now been in operation in BS since 1994 and reading through the history, if it is to be believed, that shortly after its introduction it was restructured so as not to be just a Youth Development League. Whichever way you look at it 24 years and 3 GP riders

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1 hour ago, iainb said:

Interesting to look back on Wiki that a 3rd tier has now been in operation in BS since 1994 and reading through the history, if it is to be believed, that shortly after its introduction it was restructured so as not to be just a Youth Development League. Whichever way you look at it 24 years and 3 GP riders

And many more journeymen of a decent standard to give them an occupation, and for speedway fans to watch and enjoy. Not everyone needs to be a GP star to claim to have made it as a speedway rider.

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5 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

And many more journeymen of a decent standard to give them an occupation, and for speedway fans to watch and enjoy. Not everyone needs to be a GP star to claim to have made it as a speedway rider.

Indeed not... but 3 or 4 International class riders in 24 years?

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1 minute ago, iainb said:

Indeed not... but 3 or 4 International class riders in 24 years?

Yes, but many clubs in the absence of Brits good enough, have brought on foreign riders like we did at Newcastle with Nicki, Bjarne, KB, Kenni, Rene. That didn't mean more Brits, but they maintained the standard of our sport for many years and had a special loyalty to come back every year. Bringing in top Poles, etc, when they have made it in there own country, they can be mercenary and just go from club to club, as they don't really have a home base in the UK, unlike our Danes. 

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1 hour ago, iainb said:

Interesting to look back on Wiki that a 3rd tier has now been in operation in BS since 1994 and reading through the history, if it is to be believed, that shortly after its introduction it was restructured so as not to be just a Youth Development League. Whichever way you look at it 24 years and 3 GP riders

There was a letter in the Star a couple of weeks ago praising the Belle Vue and Eastbourne training schools of the 1960s and saying “a lot of world class riders came from them” but who were those riders? Collins and Morton from Belle Vue but who else? And who from Eastbourne? Not just heat leaders, mind, but world class riders?

Nowadays, there are far more riders coming through from countries other than UK (or Australia and US) so the opposition is tougher. 

But I reckon we have a great group of riders coming through, like Bewley, Kemp, Jenkins, Bickley, Flint, Brennan, plus, of course Lambert and Ellis, so someone has to be doing something right whether that’s Neil Vatcher, Poultec or one of the other new initiatives that are cropping up

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1 minute ago, Wee Eck said:

But I reckon we have a great group of riders coming through

You may well be right, time will tell, but this is something that has been said before about riders like Barker, Complin, Frampton, Allott, Auty, Brundle, Roynon, Hart, Jacobs to name but a few. Perhaps the Poultec thing will pay dividends as Speedway does seem to be a lot more about the mind than skill

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5 hours ago, The Cheese said:

Think it's probably fair to say that Chris Harris (St Austell) has achieved most after coming through the 3rd tier

So far, if you don't count Woffinden.

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1 hour ago, iainb said:

You may well be right, time will tell, but this is something that has been said before about riders like Barker, Complin, Frampton, Allott, Auty, Brundle, Roynon, Hart, Jacobs to name but a few. Perhaps the Poultec thing will pay dividends as Speedway does seem to be a lot more about the mind than skill

I think it's more about the mind of those that have the skill. I don't think you get anywhere if you haven't got the skill but some with less skill than others get further because of their application and mindset.

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13 hours ago, jimmy jimmy said:

Have you seen the new No Limits initiative Rory Schlein, Tai and others have put together?? I know a load of the potential talent talked about above have been on that programme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMl-i2otwvk

good video this

I have now, great stuff! Out of interest was Neil Vatcher or any BSPA/Team GB member involved, I think the fitness guy is part of the new GB Speedway setup isn't he?

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18 hours ago, iainb said:

You may well be right, time will tell, but this is something that has been said before about riders like Barker, Complin, Frampton, Allott, Auty, Brundle, Roynon, Hart, Jacobs to name but a few. Perhaps the Poultec thing will pay dividends as Speedway does seem to be a lot more about the mind than skill

Kyle Newman, Kyle Howorth.

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