Kevin Meynell

Because the competition is a complete joke. Three of the teams come from countries without team competitions, whilst Togliatti signed-up a load of ringers for their challenge (Sullivan, Holta and Crump), none of whom compete for them in the Russian League. I agree that the competition is not a bad idea in principle, but you'll always have the problem of the same riders competing for different teams in different countries. The only way around it is for teams to sign-up separate squads to their normal league competition, and then have enough meetings to make it worth their while. Of course, it won't be much of a 'Champions' Cup if champion teams are not able to track all their usual riders!

The points limit should never be less than 46 points with bonus or 42 points without bonus. Those are equilibriums to which averages will always return, and anything less means kicking a few middle-order riders out of the sport in favour of 3.00-point numpties. The only exception is when the league increases in size, and you need to redistribute riders to the new teams coming in, but that should only happen for one season. Personally, I'd favour a points limit slightly higher than the equilibrum to reward promoters with initiative, and to prevent the wholesale destruction of successful teams (and particularly high-placed teams that don't actually win anything). Something like 48 points with bonus would be reasonable.

It's all pointless tinkering around the edges. There are far more important issues to deal with in speedway, yet the BSPA are seemingly intent on concentrating on trivial issues.

I think it's a daft idea, and is simply the points limit in another more unfair form. As others have already pointed out, averages actually become even more critical than before, and you lose the flexibility to formulate your team the way you want (e.g. top-heavy or strong reserves). If the aim is to attract more teams into the BEL and/or reduce costs, you really need limits on top-end strength. However, this could be done by limiting each team to (say) one 8.00+ rider, or imposing a points limit (say 24 points) for the heat-leaders.

Yes The UEM have largely replicated all the World Championship competition, without good purpose other than to cause more disruption. The Club Champions Cup is the one unique competition that could be turned into something worthwhile, but at the moment it's a complete joke. I've heard the UEM is pretty badly run, and they've done nothing for track racing that's credible. The BSPA would be better off getting together with the other main national leagues. It included a German and Swedish team, and another German team and a Czech team were interested in joining. The problem was that the UEM Track Racing Group tried to undermine the competition by refusing to let them use the name 'Euro League', and then leaning heavily on the new teams not to join. Another problem was that some of the Danish teams were starting to have financial problems, and couldn't commit to another season in the league.

Yes The UEM have largely replicated all the World Championship competition, without good purpose other than to cause more disruption. The Club Champions Cup is the one unique competition that could be turned into something worthwhile, but at the moment it's a complete joke. I've heard the UEM is pretty badly run, and they've done nothing for track racing that's credible. The BSPA would be better off getting together with the other main national leagues. It included a German and Swedish team, and another German team and a Czech team were interested in joining. The problem was that the UEM Track Racing Group tried to undermine the competition by refusing to let them use the name 'Euro League', and then leaning heavily on the new teams not to join. Another problem was that some of the Danish teams were starting to have financial problems, and couldn't commit to another season in the league.

The problem is that competition is a complete joke (as are all the UEM Championships). Half the countries entering teams don't even have a team competition. and some of the teams such as Togliatti sign 'ringers' just for the Final. All rather farcical stuff. A European Club Championship will never be credible until it's run either a totally separate competition for which teams specifically sign riders, or a supranational league. A few years ago, I wrote an article as to how this might work... http://www.meynell.com/speedway-articles/eurolge.html