Falcon1983 557 Posted January 8, 2021 With the BSPA only meeting next week and everywhere else in Europe all sorted for whatever Speedway offering they will provide in 2021, a lot of talk in the UK is that Speedway is doomed, but for me some form of Speedway in 2021 while looking to build into 2022 with a structured long term fixed plan can do wonders for the Sport in the UK - only my opinion but instead of trying to punch above our weight class, we need to understand our place in the rider market, and our plan should be to develop our next future World champions, even if that means in the future they no longer ride in the UK. For 2021 I would forget all about Premier League, Championship, National League and just get 8 clubs together who can form a "British League" Championship, purely focusing on showing some form of Speedway in 2021. For example 2021 British League Belle Vue Ipswich Kings Lynn Peterborough Sheffield Swindon Wolves Glasgow could form together to make an 8-team Championship, the other clubs etc. can get together and provide some form of speedway throughout the year with individual meetings or area championships but these would be run at a semi=pro/amateur setting. So we take our 8 teams, and we have each team running on their own chosen race night, home and away once so 14 league meetings, the team finishing top of the league are Champions, the top 4 sides go into an end of season KO Cup (two legged meetings) so a potential for 14-20 meetings of Speedway. The Top 12 average British Riders at the start of the season and the top 8 U23 averaged British Riders go into a "British Riders Championship" with one round hosted at each of the 8 venues in the league over the duration of the season so a split GP style series which will crown a "British" champion and a "British U23" champion at the same meeting so the 12 Main Championship riders would compete over 12 heats no final The 8 Under23 riders compete over 8 heats no final As the BSPA have left it so long to decide what is happening for 2021 and so much uncertainty make the league up of the following riders Adam Ellis Alex Spooner Alfie Bowtell Anders Rowe Ashley Morris Ben Barker Ben Morley Cameron Heeps Charles Wright Chris Harris Connor Bailley Connor Coles Connor Mountain Craig Cook Dan Gilkes Dan Thompson Danny King Danny Phillips Danyon Hume Drew Kemp Edward Kennett Henry Atkins Jack Thomas James Sarjeant James Shanes James Wright Jason Edwards Joe Lawlor Joe Thompson Jordan Jenkins Jordan Palin Josh Auty Josh Bates Kye Thomson Kyle Bickley Kyle Howarth Kyle Newman Leon Flint Lewis Kerr Luke Riddick Matt Marson Matthew Wethers Max Clegg Nathan Greaves Nathan Stoneman Paul Starke Richard Andrew Richard Lawson Rob Ledwith Ryan Kinsley Scott Campos Scott Nicholls Simon Lambert Stefan Nielsen Steve Worrall Tom Bacon Tom Brennan Tom Woolley William Lawson Obviously taken out a dozen or so names that may still ride in 2021 so could be a stronger field available. Then for 2022 look to keep an 8-team British League where we could welcome back riders who missed 2021 such as Tungate as one example and then create a "National League North & South" which is open to Continental riders (riders 6&7 have to be British) but opens the door up for more Aussies to come over to fill spaces and each team are allowed to track 3 non-Continental riders so you could see some old hands like Ostegaard riding or some young up coming riders from Germany etc. National League North Bradford Berwick Birmingham Edinburgh Leicester Newcastle Redcar Scunthorpe National League South Eastbourne Kent Somerset Isle of Wight Mildenhall Plymouth Poole each club ride home and away in their leagues to definite Northern & Southern Champions, both champions race off home and away for the "National Title" there can also be a regional KO Cup and an overall "National Cup" where all teams are drawn out of a crash helmet. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ringitsneck 348 Posted January 8, 2021 8 teams riding against each other ONCE? So 7 Home meetings , so a two month season ? financial disaster even if you throw in a challenge match or an individual meeting. Charles Wright v Danny Phillips? That will draw in a crowd! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Catalan 717 Posted January 8, 2021 Can't see Stadia Uk opening Poole Stadium for 7 meetings 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Falcon1983 557 Posted January 8, 2021 Speedway if any will be sparse so if a landlord won't open a stadium someone else takes the slot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M.D 463 Posted January 8, 2021 Too many clubs would not agree. For example you have sent Eastbourne, one of the better and most proactive run clubs, down to a semi pro league but offered their declared 1-7 as available to the top league. Poole, Somerset, Leicester and far too many clubs would be insulted with this. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ringitsneck 348 Posted January 8, 2021 1 hour ago, Falcon1983 said: Speedway if any will be sparse so if a landlord won't open a stadium someone else takes the slot What ‘slot’??? ....There won’t be any ‘slot’ to take as no one else will want to run 7 loss making meetings in that company. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Falcon1983 557 Posted January 8, 2021 Loss making meetings? Thought speedway never made money for years all clubs plead poverty unless the reality is different Restricting clubs to individual meetings vs potentially not having a 2021 season at all? This is the issue with Speedway in this country, far too many clubs to make it work Hope the BSPA have a good plan because there are going to be absolutely loads of riders unavailable to ride in 2021 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BluTiger 21,695 Posted January 8, 2021 56 minutes ago, Falcon1983 said: Loss making meetings? Thought speedway never made money for years all clubs plead poverty unless the reality is different Restricting clubs to individual meetings vs potentially not having a 2021 season at all? This is the issue with Speedway in this country, far too many clubs to make it work Hope the BSPA have a good plan because there are going to be absolutely loads of riders unavailable to ride in 2021 That would be a first if they did... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ringitsneck 348 Posted January 9, 2021 13 hours ago, Falcon1983 said: Loss making meetings? Thought speedway never made money for years all clubs plead poverty unless the reality is different Restricting clubs to individual meetings vs potentially not having a 2021 season at all? This is the issue with Speedway in this country, far too many clubs to make it work Hope the BSPA have a good plan because there are going to be absolutely loads of riders unavailable to ride in 2021 Let’s just hope they have a better plan than yours! Those few clubs that ran amateur meetings in 2020 actually made money as they didn’t pay wages out and competitors paid to race. You want less clubs and moan there will be less riders available? Try thinking things through before typing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HGould 2,213 Posted January 9, 2021 19 hours ago, Falcon1983 said: With the BSPA only meeting next week and everywhere else in Europe all sorted for whatever Speedway offering they will provide in 2021, a lot of talk in the UK is that Speedway is doomed, but for me some form of Speedway in 2021 while looking to build into 2022 with a structured long term fixed plan can do wonders for the Sport in the UK - only my opinion but instead of trying to punch above our weight class, we need to understand our place in the rider market, and our plan should be to develop our next future World champions, even if that means in the future they no longer ride in the UK. For 2021 I would forget all about Premier League, Championship, National League and just get 8 clubs together who can form a "British League" Championship, purely focusing on showing some form of Speedway in 2021. For example 2021 British League Belle Vue Ipswich Kings Lynn Peterborough Sheffield Swindon Wolves Glasgow could form together to make an 8-team Championship, the other clubs etc. can get together and provide some form of speedway throughout the year with individual meetings or area championships but these would be run at a semi=pro/amateur setting. So we take our 8 teams, and we have each team running on their own chosen race night, home and away once so 14 league meetings, the team finishing top of the league are Champions, the top 4 sides go into an end of season KO Cup (two legged meetings) so a potential for 14-20 meetings of Speedway. The Top 12 average British Riders at the start of the season and the top 8 U23 averaged British Riders go into a "British Riders Championship" with one round hosted at each of the 8 venues in the league over the duration of the season so a split GP style series which will crown a "British" champion and a "British U23" champion at the same meeting so the 12 Main Championship riders would compete over 12 heats no final The 8 Under23 riders compete over 8 heats no final As the BSPA have left it so long to decide what is happening for 2021 and so much uncertainty make the league up of the following riders Adam Ellis Alex Spooner Alfie Bowtell Anders Rowe Ashley Morris Ben Barker Ben Morley Cameron Heeps Charles Wright Chris Harris Connor Bailley Connor Coles Connor Mountain Craig Cook Dan Gilkes Dan Thompson Danny King Danny Phillips Danyon Hume Drew Kemp Edward Kennett Henry Atkins Jack Thomas James Sarjeant James Shanes James Wright Jason Edwards Joe Lawlor Joe Thompson Jordan Jenkins Jordan Palin Josh Auty Josh Bates Kye Thomson Kyle Bickley Kyle Howarth Kyle Newman Leon Flint Lewis Kerr Luke Riddick Matt Marson Matthew Wethers Max Clegg Nathan Greaves Nathan Stoneman Paul Starke Richard Andrew Richard Lawson Rob Ledwith Ryan Kinsley Scott Campos Scott Nicholls Simon Lambert Stefan Nielsen Steve Worrall Tom Bacon Tom Brennan Tom Woolley William Lawson Obviously taken out a dozen or so names that may still ride in 2021 so could be a stronger field available. Then for 2022 look to keep an 8-team British League where we could welcome back riders who missed 2021 such as Tungate as one example and then create a "National League North & South" which is open to Continental riders (riders 6&7 have to be British) but opens the door up for more Aussies to come over to fill spaces and each team are allowed to track 3 non-Continental riders so you could see some old hands like Ostegaard riding or some young up coming riders from Germany etc. National League North Bradford Berwick Birmingham Edinburgh Leicester Newcastle Redcar Scunthorpe National League South Eastbourne Kent Somerset Isle of Wight Mildenhall Plymouth Poole each club ride home and away in their leagues to definite Northern & Southern Champions, both champions race off home and away for the "National Title" there can also be a regional KO Cup and an overall "National Cup" where all teams are drawn out of a crash helmet. Is this meant to be the Speedway version of a Fascist or Communist take over? I take your Falcon93 to indicate some link to Exeter? Aren't we all supposed to mourn dormant Clubs and be trying to revive them, rather than do a "Beeching" and close down over 60% of the 22 Clubs we have left? Baffling and surely a wind up? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,636 Posted January 9, 2021 Why on earth would the sport seek to exclude any club that has the finances in place to compete at their chosen level for a full season of fixtures whether we start in May or not? I really don't get all the continued sniping about past BSPA decisions. The BSPL now have some of the 'younger' promoters on board so hopefully some fresh ideas and proposals for the wider good of the sport. Why won't the likes of Messrs Bates, Louis, M's Hancock etc do better than previous attempts? Promoters continue to be blamed for 'self-interest' but isn't that exactly what the missing top riders are doing? No blame directed at either group from me, 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Falcon1983 557 Posted January 9, 2021 31 minutes ago, Skidder1 said: Why on earth would the sport seek to exclude any club that has the finances in place to compete at their chosen level for a full season of fixtures whether we start in May or not? I really don't get all the continued sniping about past BSPA decisions. The BSPL now have some of the 'younger' promoters on board so hopefully some fresh ideas and proposals for the wider good of the sport. Why won't the likes of Messrs Bates, Louis, M's Hancock etc do better than previous attempts? Promoters continue to be blamed for 'self-interest' but isn't that exactly what the missing top riders are doing? No blame directed at either group from me, I dont think it matters that the younger promoters are taking up the positions because they still have a voting system so the majority of people who vote are the same from previous years and not all but most are in it for themselves. For the sport to gain any sort of recognition in this country it needs less clubs competing it is that simply but over the next few years that will happen naturally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
enotian 562 Posted January 9, 2021 I think the promoters have to assume that the restrictions put in place by the Polish League and the potential travel restrictions mean that they need to plan for a season with teams containing riders who will base themselves in Britain. On that basis and assuming some Australians (Allen, Douglas, Crump etc) and Europeans (Palm Toft, Vissing, Aarnio etc) would choose a full season of Premiership and Championship (doubling up), combined with the British riders who would do likewise (i.e. not Woffinden or Lambert) you can just about conjure up 35+ riders of Championship heat leader standard riders (i.e. average c7.00+ in the Championship). That should give you a fairly decent standard and competitive top five for the seven Premiership teams. There are easily 14 'young' (maybe U-25? excluding Bewley) British riders who could complete each of the teams at reserve (i.e. from the more experienced Clegg, Nielsen & Greaves to the less experienced Kemp, Edwards & Flint). Given the scarcity of riders the points limit would probably need to be replaced by gradings to ensure even team strengths and if restrictions are relaxed during the season and more riders become available they would be given an appropriate grading. An example of the team standard being King, Lawson, Nicholls, Summers, Starke, Greaves & Kemp. Clearly nowhere near the standard of the Polish League or even the intended 2020 Premiership but I think competitive to the extent that it would fulfil the obligations of the Eurosport deal, which must be a priority. In addition I do hope that the promoters (both Premiership and Championship) look at streaming 'shared events' in 2021. With some less likely/able to travel getting those pairs, 4TT etc streamed could be a money spinner. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spl77 337 Posted January 9, 2021 I cought a little of the Mildura masters this morning. I'm not sure who the commutators were but one of them thought if UK speedway doesn't happen in 2021 then it would be difficult for the sport in this country to come back from 2 lost seasons. I found it really frustrating that even though covid has been an issue for 9 months the sport in the UK hasn't come up with a way to run & nothing will be known until mid January. I suppose that sums up the fragile state of UK speedway though they are in no position to work any other way. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ringitsneck 348 Posted January 9, 2021 “ I found it really frustrating that even though covid has been an issue for 9 months the sport in the UK hasn't come up with a way to run & nothing will be known until mid January” it’s quite simple. Speedway cannot survive without a paying crowd and allowing any sort of crowd is not down to the sport , it’s out of there hands and that won’t change in mid January. Football has been warned not to expect crowds this season ( end of May ) so expect speedway in the UK to have to follow suit. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites