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It was a massive undertaking to enter all 3 levels. But after giving it a fair chance i'd say the top league was not as popular at Oxford & the costs to run a team at that level is much higher & to run a club that is to be racing in the finals is higher again. Oxford are suited to the Championship & National leagues. Through these leagues we have seen more than a few riders develope into very promising riders Jenkins, Killeen, Scott & even Boughan have come from the lowest league with Oxford to race at a higher level & for that they should be proud
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Whilst not being a fan of the guest facility to compare British Speedway to the way Rugby, Football or Cricket works is misguided. Our team structure is based on a solid 7 man team with no extras. If you go along to other sports they have many substitutes they can bring into a game at any point or even start different players for each game. The position of Goalkeeper at most football clubs is for one person with a second sitting on the bench & a third who trains but never selected. Ice Hockey has 3 or 4 lineups for each game changing on the fly. Rugby has 5 replacements each game, In all reality are they not using a simiular facility to speedway.
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What about Northampton?
noaksey replied to RoundTheBoards's topic in SGB Premiership Speedway League
They'd need someone to hang it on from the sport itself Tai perhaps? -
Promoters agreeing to share riders for many years ultimately dilute the loyalty towards those same riders of a single team fan base. The problem of “us and them” (if it actually exists) is not down to the riders, it’s the culture of how the sport is organised.
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A pool of 100 riders to form a league “regardless of the standard of racing”? Well that there is the quickest and surest way to finish UK speedway off once and for all.
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How very true.
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The White Knight started following The team that captured your heart from the start.
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I got hooked in 1964. Speedway, of which I new little or nothing, arrived in Sunderland in 1964. The Sunderland 'Saints' were born. I attended the first Meeting not sure what to expect. From the first race I was captured by the noise, the smell (Castrol 'R') the excitement, the thrills and the spills. What a Sport, I thought - this is for me. Nine weeks later it was all over. Granted the weather was not very kind to us, however we had no rain offs. The 'Saints' closed because of weather and lack of support, so the Promoters said. However, the Gates were not that bad - I know because I was there at all of the Meetings. The Promoters though had a hidden agenda. Newcastle 'Diamonds' who were third in the League took our Ken Sharples and the Wolverhampton ''Wolves' who were bottom of the League acquired Jim Airey, Gordon Guasco, and Colin McKee. That Season, Newcastle finished as League Champions with Sharples scoring well for them and Wolverhampton finished in third place thanks to getting our riders. Promoters Bridgett and Parker claimed that the crowds were too low. The penultimate Meeting had an attendance of 6,000 (source - Sunderland Echo). No, it wasn't crowds or weather that closed Sunderland, it was the fact that both Promoters wanted to strengthen, what they regarded as their premier Teams. Sunderland was sacrificed purely in the interests of Newcastle 'Diamonds' and Wolverhampton 'Wolves'. Am I bitter - well the answer to that is a resounding YES. Even after fifty six years, it still leaves a sour, nasty taste in my mouth.
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Exactly why it’s important these young riders have someone to help them build the right mindset rather than break their existing one down. I’d argue mindset mentorship as opposed to skillset mentorship would be more beneficial to those naturally talented youngsters. The current Rushen or Cairns debate is interesting. Of course it’s natural to discuss who is better, who will be better etc. on the forum and social media, wouldn’t it be great to see both make the absolute most of their potential though. They can learn from each other now and push each other through their careers if they have the right mentorship. We’ve all been kids of that age, there can be a certain end of the world feeling to even the most minor of setbacks. That’s where they need an arm around the shoulder to tell them it’s all about the experience and to keep their feet planted and chins up. That goes for all young riders.
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Make that the "1 Big League" then. Leave Belle Vue, Ipswich, Sheffield, Leicester & King's Lynn to come up with their own NEW format for a potential "Super League." What I would like, it's inventive:- 5 man teams for the regular season, home & away x2. Now, the invention 😬 An "All Team Tournament" x2 at each stadium, where a 'World Cup' style format can be used & the points also count towards the league table. Points can be standardised, like: Regular League: Win 3pts, Draw 1pt, Lose 0pts ATT: 1st 6pts, 2nd 4pts, 3rd 3pts, 4th 2pts, 5th 0pts
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Danielliams started following Defunct Tracks
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Social Media can massively mentally impact these kids today... Resilience and a "who gives a f**k what you say?" attitude are in much shorter supply these days given the kids are exposed to non stop feedback and, sometimes, trolling... Getting things "too easy" in life can also dilute ambition and sacrifice, which can also prevent growth, desire, and development... Any semi decent kid seems to be the "next Woffy" according to too many, with the reality being that to get to World Class level, by the age of 18 to 20 you are usually beating World Class riders if not regularly, then at least more than occasionally... It sometimes appears that any 16 year old kid that can beat riders of the same, or similar age, gets expectations well above what his level truly will be... Which can only put unrequired pressure on... Joe T in the play off final is a clear example of pushing these lads into top tier team places that they are not ready for, and can do nothing for his confidence, however, hopefully he will put it into context and continue to show gradual improvement to reach a decent level in the sport...
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But would that not mean the 50 riders of lower quality were more likely to be competitive? Lose the top 50 and gain the bottom 50, or vice versa. Either way, there’s a pool of 100 riders to choose from? Regardless of the standard of racing, there are enough riders riding in the second and third tiers to fill one big league.
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Scunthorpe 😂
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1 league would see a good chunk of rider's knocked off that list as they'd be unavailable due to Swedish and Polish demands, maybe also Germany & Denmark. I personally feel 1 league will be disastrous
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The part re guestfests and DU's, I 100% agree... And "one league" would bring variety... Unfortunately fans of teams used to watching Kurtz, Emil, Bewley, Holder, Fricke, Doyle etc, and paying around twenty five quid to do so, are going to have to see a significant reduction in admission costs to watch some of the riders mentioned, (if the riders who ride in Poland are not there).. And even if they do sign these riders up, they will miss so many meetings every week on Fridays and Saturdays, that it would make the league a complete farce... The top two division clubs seem to average between 500 to 1500 or so, and their rents won't be dropping, nor will their expectations of their riders to spend quite frankly ludicrous sums to compete, therefore admission costs cannot drop too much I would say... And any reduction in admission wouldn't see enough increase in attendances I would suggest to cover all the costs, given the dilution of the riders on show... A true conundrum for people who have demonstrated many times that they may not have the skill set required to sort out the issues...
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What about Northampton?
YeOldPitGate replied to RoundTheBoards's topic in SGB Premiership Speedway League
Throw in Sean Wilson and Matousek for fights in every other episode. -
They could deduct a point from the team whose rider caused the abandonment.
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Would make sense I don't know what some of the prem heat leaders were on at Oxford but if your talking maybe 3-5k per meeting the numbers will never add up.
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The current attendance issues are due to fans not liking guest fests and doubling up. Both of these rider problems dilute the sports integrity for so many fans. Lots have abandoned ship because they have seen too many teams use three, or more in some cases, guests. I often talked with Workington rugby directors, who were anti-speedway, and referred to the sport as having a strong likeness to that comical one called WWE (or is it WWF?)...anyway they said guests undermined the sport big style - and yes they were/are correct. Personally I just think the one division would bring more variety to a quite stagnant round of fixtures. And so what if Poland claim the best, every race has a winner, and loser. We used to have wobblers yes fifty years ago but shouted encouragement to one and all....let's do it via one league again !!!!!!
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Gorzow in big trouble. Bank will grant the required loan but only with the city's guarantee (which they have previously said they won't do again). The club is once again having to write to the city's councillors and asking for help. List of liabilities (in Zlotys): Commercial 4.5 million Riders 2.8 million Bank loans 3.8 million Employees 1.1 million Leasing 0.7 million Receivables 3.9 million
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My heart skipped a beat when I saw the announcement, I have great memories of that place and missed it dearly. As soon as I saw they were coming back I got in touch to see if I could help them in any way - to which they accepted! I know the name isn't everyone's cup of tea but I'm the guy who designed their new bull logo (see below) I can't wait til tapes up now - I'll be there!