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It's called a Briggzebo 😁

Spot on... They have basically tied themselves up in knots by using short term fix after short term fix, rather than having any vision, strategy and ambition for the sport.. That lack of an independent, no vested interest, voice clearly being missed... They needed (still need), saving from themselves, as they lurch from sticking plaster to sticking plaster to cover major (self inflicted), wounds.. So many well meaning, passionate about the sport hobbyists, being in charge of, and self policing, a national professional sport, with so many widely different needs and wants from the team owners, can never work successfully... Hence it hasn't, and we are where we are.. Is it too late now? It is if nothing radical changes, and quickly...

No, problem….this is personal knowledge….and the best example of quite a few. Redcar v Glasgow 2018 , not completed by heat 10 due to a major crash meaning meeting could no longer continue. Decision by Vatcher that evening having consulted with the ref ( McGregor ) and both sets of promoters that the RULE says to be RERUN . Two days later in a press release…..match awarded ( to Glasgow who were leading at the time ). The reason why THE RULE wasn’t followed ?….. We all know why ! and our promoter at the time, Kev Kay , told the fans that as he threatened the BSPA with legal action of not following their own rule book. One reason why new promoters get frustrated and leave the sport as you can’t beat the ‘establishment’ and their ways. The Top Table have always looked after themselves first.

I had forgotten about Handberg never hugely rated him but from memory didn't he finish third in 1992 world championship ? such a shame re Simon Cross as he was at the time really looking like a truly world class rider but then had a bad smash and was never the same afterwards.

What sorcery is this?

Fans have always had an issue with their riders representing other clubs. The main issue of course is perhaps due to them potentially getting injured, doesn't diminish the fact though. The disconnect I'm talking about isn't the "Oh so and so used to come into the bar after meetings." It is simply being able to get behind a rider who represents your team and your team alone. It creates an identity. Riders should be allowed to carry on. But they should do so at one level. The level they are capable of performing at. The doubling up free for all (helped by the relaxing of the average conversion rate) dragged the standard of the top two leagues closer together because so many of the riders are shared. Those riders taking second tier spots has absolutely stood in the way of youngsters coming through. Maybe not directly but that is a consequence of the rule change. It has been squeezing the air out of development for almost two decades now and we're at a breaking point. The sad thing is that those riders now having an easy life also had a more defined path to the top as the gulf from Conference to Premier to Elite was a less abrupt one than the pathetic excuse we have for a third tier into the Championship as it is now. We now have a weaker top tier than we did 20 years ago but a much stronger second tier. That is a fact shown by there being Championship heatleaders who are also heatleaders in the Premiership. To use one of your old riders as an example, Tomas Topinka was an incredible second tier number one in the mid 2000s. He wouldn't have been anywhere near a heatleader berth in the Elite League at that time though. And if you wanted to watch Topinka you had to be at a Kings Lynn meeting. Even now Scott Nicholls is a shining example of the way it should be. He has one team at the level his ability allows him to race at and still be competitive. The raw product draws fans in. Once you fall in love with that it is the bureaucracy and stupid convoluted rules that is a turn off, not the state of a stadium or what music is being played between the heats. I'm not saying these aren't issues, they are but the real issues come from the way the sport is run. There are some stadiums in Poland that are falling apart, they play the YMCA three times a meeting but the places are still banged out to the rafters. Yes, the standard of riders may be better but the real difference is that they don't deal in half the BS we do here.

At the end of the day, we all want what's best for British Speedway, we've all got workable idea's. The biggest problem we all have & see is that the Promoters Association ain't even trying anything at all.

Other suppliers are available!!!

I don't think folk are against guests if they are absolutely necessary (ie number one or a reserve) but R/R should be compulsory for numbers 2-5 unless more than one is missing and then it really should be a rider who doesnt already race in that league. Riders helping/hindering direct rivals is absolutely bonkers and needs to be kept to a minimum. And we certainly need to clamp down on absences, particularly in the Championship. Far too many last season.

On the other side is Speedway the best choice of "employment" for a reforming addict? No routine, long travel around the country, late nights, adrenaline highs and so on. Throw in that Jason is late 20's so whilst not over the hill there is a shelf life which may or may not outdate the sport in its current guise anyway. Lets be clear Jason is a complex character and there is probably a whole lot going on under the surface but he has an issue with authority, a known mouth and tendency for violence (prior to chargeable crimes). I know he could have had a sponsored van previously if he produced his driving licence but failed to do so multiple times. Rehabilitation and second chances are vital for those who have made mistakes but its very questionable if the same environments (in this case Speedway) that previous "questionable choices" were made is the right place for them to happen

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Just imagine "the half time band".... It would be somebody like "The Spinners" from the 70's doing their folk tunes.... But not the original members obviously... In keeping with where they are playing, they would have guest replacements for those members unable to be there...

Have to say Lynn’s social media is good. Well done to those responsible.

Any indication as to when these might be released?

That would be awesome to be fair 😁

Big loss to Berwick and the Championship. I saw Drew at Shielfield last season against Glasgow and it was one of the strongest individual performances I’ve witnessed by an opposing rider. If memory serves me right, he was unbeaten by a visiting rider, albeit one engine failure/mechanical retirement.

Teams need to state they are running by the 20th.

How do a similar sized sport in Sweden do it? A country with a similar lack of young riders from their own country coming through.. Probably worth finding out isn't it I would have thought... Denmark run five rider teams due to also having a lack of Danish riders to fill spots and, five rider teams also keep costs down. They run similar sized crowds to the UK... Something else to explore maybe? Or... Just carry on with the nonsense operating model used over here? "They used guests when Speedway was popular" is something I have read on here as justification for them... A great many things accepted 50 years ago in a non instant 24/7 media world, are no longer accepted today... UK Speedway hasn't even come out of the 20th Century yet....

I love the debate that comes around guests necessary evil etc etc & what the alternative is. Its not a necessary evil, Poland & Sweden run with out guests they use a squad system. Back in the day the old National League under the management of Stekesbury & co banned the use of guests. At the time the NL was a fair better & more professional outfit than the BL. Guests & doubling up come about because of the absolutely ridiculous operating model that the uk have gone with. If you go back to the 80s & early 90s every team had a junior team which meant most clubs had their regular 1-7 with them a back up of anywhere between 4-7 good junior/second half riders. If you were running in the NL basically you had a squad of 11-13 guys the juniors would be called in to the team to cover injuries. The promotors decided to bin that off reducing the number of available riders though lack of opportunities to race remember those juniors rode in their own league match’s each week. While every other ‘professional’ sport have invested in increasing their squad systems & opportunities to compete & train British speedway has done the opposite. There is a route out however that will take time vision & creative thinking. The out of control guest & doubling up system is a condition unique to British speedway brought about by the way the governing body has chosen to operate the sport. It wasn’t ever necessary!

Nothing wrong with the idea of in-meeting or 2nd half junior racing. I used to enjoy those too. It's not to dissimilar to what I'd already suggested. For me though, guests from outside the league only adds quality rather than having a wobbler coming in for a missing top rider. With most teams already having inexperienced at 6 & 7, adding more juniors as guests could make meetings an horrific experience for paying fans. The Premiership, were possible, desperately needs to keep it's product as strong as possible. Again though, as a whole, most don't lose interest due to missing &/or guest riders. These are just generally used by fans who bash the doubling up/down. Most fans get fed up and bored because everything surrounding the sport. If British Speedway wants a younger audience, they have to provide engagement outside of practice starts, wheelies, & racing. The "Speedway" isn't broken, the engagement of the sport is.

"In the interests of Speedway"... Surely you must have seen and heard that oft used phrase given out as the reason why they, once more, completely go against their own rules and regs.....? Edit... NB. An ironic phrase if ever there was one, as the decisions made "In the interest of Speedway", ie completely going against their own rules and regs, are invariably "NOT in the interest of Speedway" at all, as it complelety undermines the very competitions where it gets used... There are dozens of examples where it has been used but probably the most recent stand out is changing the Semi Final teams for "Commercial Reasons", thus, going completely against their own rules and regs...

I could be wrong but that would only be the case if in some way his offenses were directly related to the sport ,also it would not really look good from the point of rehabilitation of an offender . We have to accept that he has been punished ( whether you agree with that is another matter) from everyone's point of view if he is able to make a fist of being a s/way rider surely that can only be a good thing. You can ostracise him because you feel that's what he deserves but his best chance of not re-offending is to be gainfully employed( s/way appears to be the best occupation for him ) and occupied in general as much a possible ,no one can guarantee that he will succeed but at least there would be no excuses for him not doing so .

No need to get personal with someone for having a different opinion but here goes. If second halves were re introduced , do you reckon that would provide 1 or 2 extra riders to add to the usual 7 , making a squad, so any absences would be covered by your own riders, not some fuc.er else’s ? These 1 or 2 riders would push for places so anyone not producing in the 7 would always have their place under threat. You know like in football? Probably nonsense though, as all this would get in the way of the half time band, comedian, juggler etc that you’re pushing for.

Yes, for motoring offences. Garrity was banged up for horrible crimes, and the ACU should take this into consideration.

Most hopefully not