One Big League - Problem Solved

[GWC 495]

It needs radical change and not tinkering that has gone on for too many years.

I’m all for the changes suggested!

[RS50 359]

1 hour ago, Grachan said:

This is where the whole thing probably falls down, but it's looking a a principle rather than an exact science. The league could run to that strength and not weaken, and dead wood/changes can be replaced.

Anyway:

Robert Lambert 12.00
Jason Doyle 11.65
Krzysztof Kasprzak 10.97
Sam Masters 10.82
Hans Andersen 10.40
Martin Vaculik 10.40
Max Fricke 10.40
Troy Batchelor 10.35
Jacob Thorssell 9.97
Craig Cook 9.96
Niels Kristian Iversen 9.53
Rohan Tungate 9.49
Kenneth Bjerre 9.31
Brady Kurtz 9.24
Peter Kildemand 9.23
Jack Holder 9.14
Richard Lawson 9.05
Danny King 8.83
Rory Schlein 8.79
Nick Morris 8.76
Ricky Wells 8.76
Tobiasz Musielak 8.59
Steve Worrall 8.55
Erik Riss 8.50
Krystian Pieszczek 8.45
Kacper Woryna 8.35
Josh Auty 8.33
Charles Wright 8.21
Josh Grajczonek 8.20
Adam Ellis 8.20
Scott Nicholls 8.19
Chris Harris 8.15
Michael Palm Toft 8.12
Lasse Bjerre 8.07
Linus Sundstrom 7.97
David Bellego 7.80
Richie Worrall 7.57
Jason Garrity 7.56
Claus Vissing 7.55
Kyle Howarth 7.49
Claus Vissing 7.49
Nicolai Klindt 7.35
Ulrich Ostergaard 7.35
Lewis Kerr 7.31
Edward Kennett 7.25
Thomas Jorgensen 7.25
Lewis Kerr 7.18
Jake Allen 7.12
Josh Bates 7.03
Ben Barker 6.97
Aaron Summers 6.94
Ty Proctor 6.92
Rene Bach 6.88
Stefan Nielsen 6.82
Frederik Jakobsen 6.77
Dan Bewley 6.77
Ludvig Lindgren 6.77
Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 6.72
Stuart Robson 6.69
Lewis Rose 6.67
Nico Covatti 6.65
Josh Bates 6.54
Victor Palovaara 6.50
Nicolaj Busk Jakobsen 6.50
Kevin Doolan 6.40
Rasmus Jensen 6.40
Lewis Rose 6.25
Tero Aarnio 6.21
Mateusz Szczepaniak 6.20
Cameron Heeps 6.19
Mason Campton 6.09
Ashley Morris 6.04
Kyle Newman 6.02
Jye Etheridge 5.95
David Howe 5.90
Mark Riss 5.79
Todd Kurtz 5.76
Bradley Wilson-Dean 5.74
Nike Lunna 5.73
Ben Morley 5.69
Daniel Gappmaier 5.68
Matej Kus 5.68
Paul Starke 5.66
Jonas B Andersen 5.49
Josh Pickering 5.41
Zach Wajtknecht 5.31
Theo Pijper 5.25
Matthew Wethers 5.24
Jonas Jeppesen 5.20
Kasper Andersen 5.20
John Lindman 5.20
Michael Hartel 5.20
Damien Drodz 5.20
Tobias Busch 5.07
Dimitri Berge 5.05
Jan Graversen 4.93
Joel Andersen 4.89
James Shanes 4.88
Emil Grondal 4.77
Ellis Perks 4.70
Mikkel B Andersen 4.69
Tom Bacon 4.52
Fernando Garcia 4.47
Simon Lambert 4.43
James Sarjeant 4.42
Carl Wilkinson 4.38
Max Clegg 4.23
Nathan Greaves 4.20
Matt Williamson 4.14
Broc Nicol 4.00
Gino Manzares 4.00
Jordan Stewart 4.00
Max Ruml 4.00
William Lawson 4.00
James Sarjeant 3.90
Danyon Hume 3.84
Connor Mountain 3.62
Jack Smith 3.07
Mitchell Davey 3.00
Alfie Bowtell 2.34
Georgie Wood 2.32
Jack Thomas 2.31
Danny Phillips 2.00
David Wallinger 2.00
Drew Kemp 2.00
Jack Parkinson-Blackburn 2.00
Joe Lawlor 2.00
Kyle Bickley 2.00
 

Well you have got Josh Bates listed twice in the list and Stuart Robson had retired. Two gone from the list.

[Grachan 7,314]

5 minutes ago, RS50 said:

Well you have got Josh Bates listed twice in the list and Stuart Robson had retired. Two gone from the list.

Thanks. One Josh Bates consigned to history.

I kept Robson as it is based on this year's figures. Replaced a Bates with Parkinson-Blackburn on 2.00 in the top 126.

That makes the total averages 812.56. Divide by 18 you get 45.14, so still over 45 per 7 riders.

As I said, it's not an exact science here. Just a quick check through to see if such a thing as joining the leagues is viable. I believe this proves it is.

[Daniel Smith 5,645]

1 hour ago, RS50 said:

Well you have got Josh Bates listed twice in the list and Stuart Robson had retired. Two gone from the list.

Lewis Rose listed twice and he also has retired. That's another 2 off the list

Edit

Claus Vissing and Lewis Kerr also listed twice. That's now 4 gone

Edit 2

Not likely to see Pieszczek again and definitely not Vaculik in the UK 2019 so they too need to be counted out.

Edit 3

Nicolaj Busk Jakobsen is on twice

Edited September 26, 2018 by Daniel Smith

[Grachan 7,314]

8 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said:

Lewis Rose listed twice and he also has retired. That's another 2 off the list

Edit

Claus Vissing and Lewis Kerr also listed twice. That's now 4 gone

Edit 2

Not likely to see Pieszczek again and definitely not Vaculik in the UK 2019 so they too need to be counted out.

I think you are all taking it far too literally. There's bound to be a few mistakes.

It's just a quick cut and paste job to see if two leagues are viable to join as one league. I think it shows they are, as it shows that the current riders can be spread out over the teams and the league can be run on a Championship level without dumbing down on the top PL riders.

That was my point, and I think that should be the discussion here, not if I accidentally put two averages for a few riders in my haste.

But enjoy doing that if that's what you'd rather do.

Why not use your expertise to put a few imaginary sides together under a CL format instead? Might be more interesting. See how viable this could be.

Guess we won't be needing Birmingham then.

[AJK86 180]

Fans who want to see the top boys need to get a grip on reality and realise the more we keep chasing the dream of our league system been respected alongside Poland and Sweden the more trouble clubs over here will get into, we just don't have the fan base to pay these riders and riders over here need to realise the sport here at moment is at a semi professional level so don't expect much more.

Speedway here needs to strip it back and pay what we can afford, improve the product in general and have less drama and bad press releases.

Once the product improves and we can then maybe look at a proper tv deal if we are giving them something they want to pay for, right now they clearly don't value it so clearly something needs to change and not just for them but for us.

I would go with the one league system or one i sent into BSPA was this

North/South Split (with the clubs from top PL & CL currently running) 18 Teams as it stands

North Division would be : Belle Vue, Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Workington.
South Division would be : Kings Lynn, Leicester, Poole, Somerset, Swindon, Wolves, Ipswich, Lakeside, Peterborough.

 

Teams in there respective divisions would face each other home and away twice so that would be 16 home meetings but also i would add in that north v south face each other once to create extra fixtures and would also add variety which would be awesome for fans and riders and how it would work is say next year in 2019 Sheffield travel down to Poole, the year after in 2020 Poole would travel to Sheffield.

So that is 20/21 home league meetings which would be great value for season tickets, you would see how can fit in KO Cup in and then at end of season the top teams in north and south would be divisional champions and get a trophy and then face each other in a two leg tie for playoff champions, give it all advertising you can and a Super Bowl style finale.

I believe this is more radical than a poxy name change they did other year and would help speedway in this country grow, riders would get enough meetings in and if we have to go 5 or 6 riders in a team, create a format that works to make team speedway exactly that again and have a product we can be proud of.

This might not be perfect but surely would be better than staying as we are and struggling along.

Edited September 26, 2018 by AJK86

[Daniel Smith 5,645]

2 minutes ago, Grachan said:

I think you are all taking it far too literally. There's bound to be a few mistakes.

It's just a quick cut and paste job to see if two leagues are viable to join as one league. I think it shows they are, as it shows that the current riders can be spread out over the teams and the league can be run on a Championship level without dumbing down on the top PL riders.

That was my point, and I think that should be the discussion here, not if I accidentally put two averages for a few riders in my haste.

But enjoy doing that if that's what you'd rather do.

Why not use your expertise to put a few imaginary sides together under a CL format instead? Might be more interesting. See how viable this could be.

Guess we won't be needing Birmingham then.

Making mistakes are very relevant to the discussion. When you start removing the duplication the list is smaller.

If it goes 1 big league it has to be 6 man teams, 42 team average, and the No6 can't be an average under 4. This would force teams to go strength in depth and a lot more competitive. 

[Grachan 7,314]

Just now, Daniel Smith said:

Making mistakes are very relevant to the discussion. When you start removing the duplication the list is smaller.

If it goes 1 big league it has to be 6 man teams, 42 team average, and the No6 can't be an average under 4. This would force teams to go strength in depth and a lot more competitive. 

With Kerr and Vissing removed, the mean team average comes to 44.54. And is still over 126.

Surely teams can make an effort to bring in riders. Some sides could easily find a replacement for Vaculik/Pieszczek, so they can stay in.

The league can fit 7 riders in a side. There are also NL riders around that could be used at reserve. Swindon, for example, could have Anders Rowe.

No need to bring in some "6 riders a side" set up that would just put some people off.

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

LATEST consensus apparently is two leagues ... no agreement on one.

[Grachan 7,314]

6 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

LATEST consensus apparently is two leagues ... no agreement on one.

Two instead of three? Or two plus NL?

[foamfence 2,917]

2 minutes ago, Grachan said:

Two instead of three? Or two plus NL?

The latter.

[GWC 495]

17 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

LATEST consensus apparently is two leagues ... no agreement on one.

If the amount of doubling up continues and fixed nights then it’s another cop out!

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

14 minutes ago, Grachan said:

Two instead of three? Or two plus NL?

TWO plus NL

[AJK86 180]

27 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

LATEST consensus apparently is two leagues ... no agreement on one.

Fear of change taking over again and the status quo continues

 

 

[Chadster 221]

One big league worked in the 60s but it only lasted two yers the last time it was tried. The big difference I see between now and the 60s is that the element of freshness (Provincial League supporters seeing the big NL stars, NL supporters seeing the PL young guns) no longer applies because doubling up has meant that even in one big league the riders would be largely similar to what we've been seeing recently.

Another difference would be that in British speedways last existential crisis, there were promoters about who had the drive, energy and confidence to get through big changes. Are there those sort of people around now?

It's a pity because instinctively, as an old-timer, I like the idea of a big league. Variety of fixtures, continuity and one visit by a team per season so ,if you want to see jason Doyle riding you have to go when Somerset are in town and not shrug your shoulders and put it off until their second visit.