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DC2

One League

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2 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

I did it last year and I can’t be bothered to do it again. Just count the number of different riders who rode in both leagues. I recall it came out sufficient for 17 teams, so about 120 riders.

 

I did it at the start of the season and there was nearly 30 riders short to complete all teams.

126 riders for all 18 teams.

77 for the Championship (which has now used a total of 108 riders so far includes some clearly not CL standard and released as such)

49 for the Premiership (only 18 top flight flight only)

The total gives 126 if all teams come back to the table.

However you can take out 18 of those If it’s an agreed lower standard so already you can see you are nearly 3 teams of riders short.

Given the best case scenario of all 126 riders wanting to be back next season it would be near impossible to ensure a points limit that suits all teams and all riders getting a team place. So again very unlikely.

Only unless team numbers are reduced to 6 per team would that be possible. 

There haven’t been enough of the right standard riders to fill one big league for several seasons despite many stating it’s what we need.

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30 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

I did it at the start of the season and there was nearly 30 riders short to complete all teams.

126 riders for all 18 teams.

77 for the Championship (which has now used a total of 108 riders so far includes some clearly not CL standard and released as such)

49 for the Premiership (only 18 top flight flight only)

The total gives 126 if all teams come back to the table.

However you can take out 18 of those If it’s an agreed lower standard so already you can see you are nearly 3 teams of riders short.

Given the best case scenario of all 126 riders wanting to be back next season it would be near impossible to ensure a points limit that suits all teams and all riders getting a team place. So again very unlikely.

Only unless team numbers are reduced to 6 per team would that be possible. 

There haven’t been enough of the right standard riders to fill one big league for several seasons despite many stating it’s what we need.

 

I can follow your first five sentences and then it all goes pear-shaped.

You should start with finding out how many riders currently ride in the PL and CL and then take it from there.

There’s every chance that one league of 16 or 18 teams would have two NL riders at reserve and I’m sure most fans would accept that.

Speedway has to live within its means if it is to survive.

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There are about 30 double uppers so that’s about 96 current different riders in the PL and CL plus another 25 or so who have ridden this year but who are currently not signed by anyone (Bellego etc) and another 20 who rode in 2018 but have not returned (and have not retired), so that’s 141 possible riders without taking into account foreign newcomers.

 

Edited by DC2

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1 minute ago, DC2 said:

 

I can follow your first five sentences and then it all goes pear-shaped.

You should start with finding out how many riders currently ride in the PL and CL and then take it from there.

There’s every chance that one league of 16 or 18 teams would have two NL riders at reserve and I’m sure most fans would accept that.

Speedway has to live within its means if it is to survive.

What part of 126 riders are required for the 18 teams don’t you understand?

I fully agree any middle tier league should have at least one NL rider at reserve If not two However signs aren’t great as the CL have had several youngsters pull out the league citing confidence issues as well as promising riders like Zach at Birmingham and Swindon retire plus promising youngster Jack Parkinson Blackburn also lost to the sport.

As already stated you will loss another 18 ‘top flight riders’  to one big league as well as those retiring.

you seem to be advocating a stronger NL standard league which will as good as kill the UK league for good. There is living within its means (another thing we agree on) and ensuring the sport league loses total meaning in the UK.

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5 minutes ago, DC2 said:

 

There are about 30 double uppers so that’s about 96 current different riders in the PL and CL plus another 25 or so who have ridden but who are currently not signed by anyone (Bellego etc).

As stated above the CL has used 108 riders riders this year for the 77 CL team places such has been the turnover of riders, some not even of a CL standard. I’ve already broken down the figures of riders used in both leagues above.

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Guest
13 hours ago, g13webb said:

I for one would welcome a single league,  with riders attached to only one team.  Looking back as I often do , part of the enjoyment was the riders formed the backbone and strength of each team.   Although the riders knew each other well,  they would never be team mates within the team structure,  and were looked upon as the enemy.  My take these days is because the riders ride for so many teams they have a job to know who their own supporters are...

But we mustn't think changing to one league would solve our all our problems, it would be just the start.    We need to run British Speedway as it's own  entity .    Race on nights that suit each club and not be bothered about  clashes with other countries or competitions.  We want tracks that are uniformly prepared so to ensure decent racing.   We want new rules to excite the racing and not be a hindrance or a time factor.   No going back to the pits when the ref decides to call them back.   So what if someone anticipated the gate.   if a riders does wrong, let the race continue and exclude at the finish.     They'll soon get use to the rules and the meeting would flow much better...

I wouldn't stop the top riders from racing, but they race at our convenience not just on a night that suits their schedule...     WE need to start again  from the beginning to  grow into a sporting occasion that people want to watch, and not live on past laurels...

 

Some excellent comments there g13webb. Sadly I think that the sport has lost its way to such an extent it's impossible to halt what tragically is IMO an ongoing deteriorating situation.

Edited by Guest

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It's very nearly Game Over in the UK. Even one Big League will not bring in new fans unless the racing is improved drastically ( and especially at the AFA King's Lynn ).

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Sure 17 teams could be made up from the number of current riders around but that’s just playing with numbers. The Eastbourne promoter makes it clear that in terms of quality/skill/competitiveness/safety there are only sufficient number of riders to make a OBL of 14 seven man or 16 six man teams. 

The next question is what criteria should be used to establish which clubs are eligible to join the OBL. This could well be a more difficult subject to not only answer but also implement i.e stadium availability, race nights, financial stability, promoters being involved with more than one club? To name a few. 

Recent history had shown promoters tend to massively compromise on tough decisions meaning a watered down solution to most problems usually with self interest at the heart of the problem. 

So if speedway in uk is to be saved then maybe it’s not just a new league structure that is required but a new broom of fresh promoters who can see the wider picture of what is required to make a success of the desired and required change. 

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10 hours ago, stevebrum said:

I did it at the start of the season and there was nearly 30 riders short to complete all teams.

126 riders for all 18 teams.

77 for the Championship (which has now used a total of 108 riders so far includes some clearly not CL standard and released as such)

49 for the Premiership (only 18 top flight flight only)

The total gives 126 if all teams come back to the table.

However you can take out 18 of those If it’s an agreed lower standard so already you can see you are nearly 3 teams of riders short.

Given the best case scenario of all 126 riders wanting to be back next season it would be near impossible to ensure a points limit that suits all teams and all riders getting a team place. So again very unlikely.

Only unless team numbers are reduced to 6 per team would that be possible. 

There haven’t been enough of the right standard riders to fill one big league for several seasons despite many stating it’s what we need.

And if there are so few riders, who would cover for injuries?

And if we run on nights that suit our clubs, Friday/Saturday? surely that will rule out even more riders?

Edited by Trees
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18 hours ago, startline sid said:

I am sure there will be few Swedish/Danish lads who would enjoy riding here - 

 

Aussies, USA, German, Italian, Czech - countries whose domestic leagues are not so onerous. Would need to co operation of the employment department though. 

We also need to control the amount of random sackings in search of 2/3 points a match. Bonkers and expensive. Cheaper equipment, better track/tyre interaction.

Edited by ch958

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Maybe in the first year each club runs with r/r so one less rider needed.

More money for riders then!

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2 hours ago, Trees said:

And if there are so few riders, who would cover for injuries?

And if we run on nights that suit our clubs, Friday/Saturday? surely that will rule out even more riders?

Exactly. This there is an abundance of riders attitude is just nonsense.

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1 minute ago, stevebrum said:

Exactly. This there is an abundance of riders attitude is just nonsense.

We could have a regional set up, north and south. Then we could have doubling up again.

I really will get my coat this time. :oops:

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The only way we can have one league in today’s Speedway is to dilute the teams sufficiently to make Speedway viable for all teams.

It may mean saying goodbye to any SGP riders and allowing Britain to race on the night that suits each team.

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Have said before on this topic (see Matt Ford piece) all valid arguments.

The guy at Eastbourne is generally on more honest and transparent end of the spectrum, he is new and possibly very naive and not ground down yet by the old guard.

One point he makes is very interesting and that is Eastbourne don't yet feel "ready" as they need a year to develop on what they have done this year, which has been pretty positive and successful.

They are like brummies newly back up, but he may have struck on a bit of logic there.

Is answer to announce a one league structure at next AGM but to leave 3 tier in 2020 and allow proper planning and preparation for 2021.

It would be very novel and may be they bring in a Painter (GB Team) or Gould (BSI) to oversee it and go and find a proper League Sponsor and TV for 2021?

 

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