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11 hours ago, mikebv said:

And should the BSPL ever actually ban any riders for riding at the IOW, then who would ride for the teams in their leagues?

Most riders seem to have two teams as it is, so banning any of them would create some big holes to be filled..

And as the IOW seem to be trying to run their 'Speedw', (er I mean 'Shale Sport" Meetings) at a level more akin to the 'old' NL strength it will therefore include a number of 'decent level riders', which would mean a fair few NDL heat leaders and Championship Reserves would need finding to replace them from a pool of lesser talent..

To be honest. I can't really see the BSPL being too bothered what happens on the island, (hope so anyway), and if they are, they really need to focus on the much more important matters..

Such as promoting their sport aggressively as we leave the various lockdown rules behind.. 

 

I think the threat of a ban (and hence a rider losing the chance to ride in the NL, Championship or Premiership) is more likely to be the action to be taken.

My suspicion is that Isle of Wight could launch a legal challenge to such an action (even though they are not directly affected in terms of earnings) using restraint of trade because of the effect on their business. Clearly, it would be designed to suppress competition. 

I really hope you are right about the BSPL but experience suggests they can be vindictive to those who cross them (even if  their selfishness and stupidity has been the cause of a dispute). We haven't had a direct challenge like this for years so it will be interesting to see just how they react. 

Very difficult to argue with your final point. You would think the BSPA would have better things to do than picking a fight with the Warriors but then failing to focus on important issues rather than trivia has often been one of their faults.

The fact that a person is part time, low earnings in my view does not affect restraint of trade. The fact of the matter remains that an employer would be attempting to stop them working and receiving pay from an alternative source, and that is the very essence of why this piece of common law exists.

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1 hour ago, Halifaxtiger said:

I think the threat of a ban (and hence a rider losing the chance to ride in the NL, Championship or Premiership) is more likely to be the action to be taken.

My suspicion is that Isle of Wight could launch a legal challenge to such an action (even though they are not directly affected in terms of earnings) using restraint of trade because of the effect on their business. Clearly, it would be designed to suppress competition. 

I really hope you are right about the BSPL but experience suggests they can be vindictive to those who cross them (even if  their selfishness and stupidity has been the cause of a dispute). We haven't had a direct challenge like this for years so it will be interesting to see just how they react. 

Very difficult to argue with your final point. You would think the BSPA would have better things to do than picking a fight with the Warriors but then failing to focus on important issues rather than trivia has often been one of their faults.

The fact that a person is part time, low earnings in my view does not affect restraint of trade. The fact of the matter remains that an employer would be attempting to stop them working and receiving pay from an alternative source, and that is the very essence of why this piece of common law exists.

I would think that given the plans the IOW have for the season they will need maybe a pool of 35 or so riders to allow their team and the visiting teams to remain 'fresh', and not have the same lads riding each time...

And around  15 or so of these lads will be around NL heat leader level if their points limit is used...

These 15 lads alone could easily be filling 30 spaces in the 2nd and 3rd tiers, so 'if' (and for me it is unlikely, but as you allude to, "you never know with the BSPL"), any bans are threatened, they could easily stand together and say "we are doing it", and they would have to be given permission I would suggest given their huge collective impact to the two leagues mentioned..

Getting competitive teams out every meeting during the pandemic will be enough of a challenge to the three leagues I would imagine, so any ban threat (particularly to the level of rider that is so fundamental to two leagues), would hardly be made coming from any position of strength..

Hopefully the IOW can just get on with the task of providing 'Shale Sport' entertainment, in their customary pro active style, without any nonsense getting in the way...

 

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The other problem could be if the IOW ever change their mind and want to come back into the BSPA fold....

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3 hours ago, mikebv said:

I would think that given the plans the IOW have for the season they will need maybe a pool of 35 or so riders to allow their team and the visiting teams to remain 'fresh', and not have the same lads riding each time...

And around  15 or so of these lads will be around NL heat leader level if their points limit is used...

These 15 lads alone could easily be filling 30 spaces in the 2nd and 3rd tiers, so 'if' (and for me it is unlikely, but as you allude to, "you never know with the BSPL"), any bans are threatened, they could easily stand together and say "we are doing it", and they would have to be given permission I would suggest given their huge collective impact to the two leagues mentioned..

Getting competitive teams out every meeting during the pandemic will be enough of a challenge to the three leagues I would imagine, so any ban threat (particularly to the level of rider that is so fundamental to two leagues), would hardly be made coming from any position of strength..

Hopefully the IOW can just get on with the task of providing 'Shale Sport' entertainment, in their customary pro active style, without any nonsense getting in the way...

 

According to their Facebook page, it looks like the Warriors will indeed have the 7 same riders.

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32 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

According to their Facebook page, it looks like the Warriors will indeed have the 7 same riders.

Not quite  :) but almost.... :)

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OFFICIAL BACKING FOR WIGHTLINK WARRIORS
 
 
The Isle of Wight Shale Track Racing Club has been given the green light to push ahead with their summer of sensational two wheeled sport.

Warriors’ bosses Martin Widman and Barry Bishop are celebrating and relieved after the British Speedway Promoters’ Limited (BSPL) Board of Directors backed their plans for a full programme of events at Ryde’s Smallbrook Stadium.

Warriors’ co-owner Barry Bishop revealed: “Martin (Widman) and I are absolutely delighted to have secured the support of the BSPL for 2021 which goes some way to easing the pain of the last months.

The Island club withdrew from the National Development League (NDL) and the BSPL earlier this year after a fall-out over decisions made over the NDL’s future which, they believed, impacted severely on speedway’s future at Smallbrook, however the co-owners affiliated to the Island club to the NORA Motorsport organisation who licence clubs and riders in a variety of different forms of off-road disciplines on two and four wheels. Bishop added:

“We have received an email that confirmed ‘at a recent Board meeting the Directors and the BSP Ltd discussed your advertised amateur events.....The BSP fully support you running amateur and practice events with Nora 92.’

“In my view this is a huge step forward for the Isle of Wight and the sport in general. We are of course saddened that we had to leave the Speedway Control Board (SCB) and BSPL but we feel this is a good start to improving our relationship with each other for the betterment of the sport, our riders, fans and overall product.

“Martin and I, along with I am sure everyone else associated with our club, fully welcome their decision and we have informed the SCB, Auto-Cycle Union and BSPL of the amateur NL standard team we intend to have, that BSPL fixtures will be given priority over ours in the event of a fixture clash, and that we remain fully open to an SCB/ACU track inspection at any time that will enable the Isle of Wight to host the fantastic Great Britain Young Lions training camp in February annually and a round of the ACU British 1000cc Sidecar Championships should either express an interest to use Smallbrook Stadium.

“Now we fully look forward to opening on Thursday, June 24 with an excellent season ahead, and we wish everyone involved in speedway and shale track racing the most wonderful of seasons and I implore all fans to get behind their clubs in 2021.”

The Warriors have already announced an 11-meeting season, racing every Thursday (with one Tuesday exception) between June 24 and September 2.

Events will include five National League level challenge matches; three rounds of the Island Masters Championship, two American-style handicap meetings and a Best Pairs.

In additional to conventional speedway there will be additional attractions at every meeting, including sidecars, Formula 2 speedway, youth events for riders aged from 5 to 16, and challenges between riders on a variety of different engines, both lay-down and upright.

Full information on the calendar of meetings is available at www.warriorsspeedway.com

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If I were an Island fan (I'm not) I'm not sure I'd be happy with a few Mickey Mouse events in place of league racing. Anyway good luck to all concerned.

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6 hours ago, foamfence said:

If I were an Island fan (I'm not) I'm not sure I'd be happy with a few Mickey Mouse events in place of league racing. Anyway good luck to all concerned.

Much rather have league racing myself

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10 hours ago, foamfence said:

If I were an Island fan (I'm not) I'm not sure I'd be happy with a few Mickey Mouse events in place of league racing. Anyway good luck to all concerned.

You see I dont view any meeting as "Mickey Mouse", although I admit some maybe more attractive than others. However we put on a show, week in, week out... and this is what people want to see now. It's true to say in my view we risk having a sport where the only entertainment is whether your team gets the league points or not and not the "show" on the track. For me, it's showtime every time.

All the best

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2 minutes ago, barrybishop said:

You see I dont view any meeting as "Mickey Mouse", although I admit some maybe more attractive than others. However we put on a show, week in, week out... and this is what people want to see now. It's true to say in my view we risk having a sport where the only entertainment is whether your team gets the league points or not and not the "show" on the track. For me, it's showtime every time.

All the best

Best quote/post i have read for a long time. Whilst no team meetings are truely even the IOW promotion have a great opportunity to provide equal level oppositions for the matches and greatly enhance the chances of a close run entertaining contest. 

Looking at any league fixtures for any club there are often very few that provide a shock/interesting result. By stacking the deck slightly in favour of the visiting sides and providing a track brilliantly suited to racing im sure IOWSTRC will provide many entertaining evenings.

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25 minutes ago, barrybishop said:

You see I dont view any meeting as "Mickey Mouse", although I admit some maybe more attractive than others. However we put on a show, week in, week out... and this is what people want to see now. It's true to say in my view we risk having a sport where the only entertainment is whether your team gets the league points or not and not the "show" on the track. For me, it's showtime every time.

All the best

While there's some truth in that, it does appear to broaden the grey line between sport and entertainment and that's something that many have struggled to find credible about Speedway.

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21 hours ago, foamfence said:

If I were an Island fan (I'm not) I'm not sure I'd be happy with a few Mickey Mouse events in place of league racing. Anyway good luck to all concerned.

If truth were told, I think Warriors fans (and I think you have to take all circumstances into account before  forming a view) would prefer league racing. Having said that, I am not aware of one of them that does not fully support the decision to pull out of the NL. Its a view shared by many others across the sport, including Peter Oakes, Bruce Cribb, Bert Harkins and James Easter as well as fans from other clubs. At the very, very least, it is completely understandable.

That's because of the particular way Isle of Wight have been treated, which is shabby at best. Forced to accept a points limit that they believe - entirely reasonably - will damage their business without any consideration whatsoever and at the behest of and by clubs who have no involvement in the NL whatsoever, they have had enough and that's scarcely surprising. Perhaps what sticks in the craw most is if there had indeed been a vote by NL clubs alone - I doubt if anyone does not accept that that was not the correct way forward (after all why should Glasgow have more say about the Warriors future than the Warriors themselves)  - the 34 point limit would almost certainly have been thrown out, which is probably why it was imposed.

They now at least have far more choice over their own destiny, and its not difficult to argue that that is better than being subject to the incompetent, selfish and inept control of the BSPL  - because if there is indeed anything 'Mickey Mouse' about Speedway, its that.

10 hours ago, foamfence said:

While there's some truth in that, it does appear to broaden the grey line between sport and entertainment and that's something that many have struggled to find credible about Speedway.

I'd say a major part of Speedway's problems have stemmed from the fact that there has been so little attempt to make it entertaining and a reliance on taking its fans for granted because its a sport. The two, in my view, are indelibly linked.

Edited by Halifaxtiger
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I would also suggest that those who rock up to the track while on holiday on the island won’t really care what competition they’re watching as long as they have a good night out. 

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On 4/20/2021 at 1:39 PM, barrybishop said:

e, none of our meetings planned on the IOW in 2021 will involve "league" racing.

I'm sure most fans would prefer to see a league fixture against a real Kent team rather than one against a made up Reading team.

 

BUT

 

That is trumped by my desire to see a well run entertaining meeting, with a good atmosphere, and where you sense that the promoters cherish the spectators rather than regarding them as an inconvenience.

..so I will be continuing my sponsorship of the club, and look forward to an exciting adventure into the unknown.

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On 4/30/2021 at 9:46 AM, foamfence said:

If I were an Island fan (I'm not) I'm not sure I'd be happy with a few Mickey Mouse events in place of league racing. Anyway good luck to all concerned.

Mickey Mouse events?

A few seasons ago the Premier League Play Off Final (the flagship event of the whole UK Speedway season) was set to have two riders guesting who were actually going to 'swap' teams after the first leg...

Meaning each would ride for BOTH teams...

Whatever the IOW do in the coming season I would suggest that they would be very hard  pushed to be more 'Mickey Mouse' than that. ..

In fact, I would think even Disney would struggle to be so...

Best of luck to the IOW this season...

Edited by mikebv
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