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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.