Aces51

I think you'll find that last year some EL clubs were more expensive and a very few might have been cheaper. Most people expect to pay more for the quality of their surroundings and the facilities provided, yet amazingly at the new stadium you have the choice to pay less than at most EL tracks. What is there to moan about?

Nobody is forcing anybody to pay £23, it's a matter of choice. The view from anywhere in the stadium will be good. If you want to stand you can pay less than at many EL tracks and still get the benefits of a 21st century stadium with a track that looks like it's going to provide excellent racing. You can't compare it to Poole or any other old rented stadium. This is a brand new stadium purpose built for speedway, a flagship stadium that has to be paid for and it will be Belle Vue supporters who will have to provide the bulk of that income. I have bought my season ticket for the £20 seats and consider it good value compared to what I paid last year to watch speedway at Kirkmanshulme Lane.

In fact it was never installed. They discovered a much cheaper way of avoiding matches if riders are missing. You just call it off and the best thing about it is that the authorities don't take any action.

I don't know the official reason but perhaps because you should be looking where you're going. I saw many riders looking back but can't remember any exclusions. Maybe because it was discretionary "may be warned".

Obviously in the very early days of the sport riders must have got into teams with very little experience because nobody had much experience. I think it also happened in the immediate post war years. There was a shortage of riders and the sport was going through a boom time. However, I think even then some of those riders had in fact gained experience riding on make shift tracks in Germany, the Middle East and other countries whilst they were in the armed forces. From the mid fifties onward I certainly can't recall numerous riders getting into first division teams straight from a training track. Maybe into Southern Area League teams or third division sides, I could well have not been aware of that.

Even though Hyde Road was a brilliant race track and that we were spoilt by riders like Craven, Collins and Morton, there were still the inevitable races won from the gate with riders strung out. There will always be a share of those races whatever the track or era. These judgements are always subjective. Wolverhampton is now regarded as a track that produces good racing and yet I recall my first visit, I think in the 70's. My first impression was that I had found the cycle speedway by mistake and watching the racing it seemed slow, almost boring and certainly far less exciting than at Hyde Road. Maybe, we have just lowered our expectations and now accept that standard as good or maybe, modern bikes and better track preparation have improved the product at that particular venue. I am certain that the racing at Kirky Lane was nowhere near as good as Hyde Road but still good enough to keep me going every week. Perhaps, the new track will give me a better idea of how standards compare with those earlier times. I think that in those days in addition to bikes of a similar standard, many riders seemed of equal ability and it was those factors that helped the standard of racing. I think one of the pluses of the 2015 EL race format was that it increased the number of races between riders of similar standard and consequently improved the standard of racing.

I agree. Having followed the sport since the mid 50's I cannot recall a single instance of a rider being excluded for looking back. You're right about the bikes as well, equipment was much more standardised although top riders were always looking for something to give them an edge. All tracks had a bike as a track spare and riders usually performed as well on that as their own bike. As for riders being in a top team a few weeks after attending a training. I have very rarely seen it. In the 50's Belle Vue ran novice races in the second half and it usually took years rather than weeks or months before even the best novices got into the team. In the late 60's the advent of the second division saw riders progressing from novices to a team place at that level and then the best of them to the first division, mostly after a few years. I'm sure there are others but the only riders I can recall going straight into a top team are Andy Smith, Joe Screen and Robert Lambert. They had all been riding bikes from a young age.

And how many fans can afford two home meetings a week and will will be bothered to go to watch what they will consider to be their second team? The farce of pandering to the GP stars is that we all know that if Poland could no longer afford them they would be back here demanding more than 14 fixtures a year to bolster their earnings. Concentrate on those who want to ride here and producing British talent. In a relatively short time we shall have new stars, teams fans can watch develop and relate to and a strong future for the sport in the UK.

I don't know if there is a re-staging date. As you can imagine there must be a lot of things going on at the stadium at the moment, which perhaps explains a delay in dealing with emails. I would suggest you phone them at 0161 223 7720 during office hours Monday to Friday.

If you look at your original post you will see it shows it as being edited. As for other posts being worse, if you see that as some sort of excuse or mitigation, you are wrong.

You edited it so you obviously put some thought into your comments. There is no way anybody could read it other than as deliberately intended to cause offence. Either be a grown up and apologise for your deliberate actions or don't apologise at all. A snivelling, begrudging appology just makes you look even worse.

Of course he is but that's because Friday is the best night for the club to get the best crowd.It is no accident that 3 clubs have decided that Friday is the best night for them to race and that a fourth wanted to change to that night. It is a sound commercial decision. The problem is that some clubs are restricted by the nights available from their landlords and in some cases, I'm thinking of Poole, by perhaps not wanting to change from a traditional race night which is still bringing in decent crowds.

In this week's SS Jon Cook is supporting Thursday and Friday. The argument in favour of avoiding clashes with the PL is very valid and would please many,including me but just how many extra fans would it attract? Undoubtedly, some but I don't see it as something that stops newcomers. They come for the first time, see the spectacle of four men on bikes racing, the presentation, the atmosphere, the facilities in the stadium, the cost and they either decide it's worth another visit or that it isn't for them. In any event the problem of doubling up riders can be solved by other means. Better fixture planning and squads are two ways apparently being tried this year. My opinion on bringing back the top riders is that the real problem is money. Monday and Wednesday racing will help for some but they still won't come if the money isn't right and the fact is that the sport in the UK can't afford them. Crowds were falling long before they left and will they even increase crowd numbers sufficient to cover their cost? Having seen the effect on crowds at Belle Vue when Crump and Zagar were and weren't riding, I doubt it. Monday and Wednesday also have the added problem of not being consecutive days, so potentially involving riders travelling from Poland to the UK to Sweden and back to the UK on consecutive days. That is not going to encourage them to come here. Conversely, having Friday and to a lesser extent Thursday as the fixed days is much more attractive to parents to bring along children and only involves one trip for riders from abroad. It is also the time of week when many think about spending whatever they have available for sport and entertainment and so far more likely to bring in the new fans and bring back some of those who have drifted away. Saturday is even better but we know there are just too many problems for the EL to use that night on a regular basis. Perhaps the most telling point is going to be that potentially 4 EL clubs, 50%, are likely to be in favour of Friday when it comes to the vote.

Belle Vue have home matches against Coventry and Lakeside on Saturdays so, as King's Lynn haven't yet got a No. 1, that seems only to leave Swindon, Poole or Wolves as the possible teams with the reluctant two No.1's. Assuming of course that there is some truth in this rumourthat Saturday isn't an option for a couple of riders.

Great news. It's going to be difficult to be ready for July but the main thing is that it gets built and I don't suppose most Swindon fans will be too bothered if it's not ready until 2017.

It's not difficult is it. Now let's all remember, we've agreed these new squad rules, we don't want anyone jumping the gun and announcing anything, particularly without a full explanation, until we make the official announcement first thing tomorrow explaining exactly what we've agreed and why. We don't want to look as if we couldn't organise the proverbial trip to the brewery do we.

Of course at the moment there is nothing to suggest that King's Lynn are going to do anything to break the rules or to engineer a change. However, I find it incredible that anyone would encourage and condone any twisting or bending of the rules on the basis that others have done it. That is a recipe to totally destroy any credibility the sport has and to make any success in the league meaningless. It is even worse that people would think it acceptable for the new Chairman of the BSPA, the man we are relying on to put the sport back on the road to recovery, should be the one to do it for the benefit of his own club. I have no objection and hope that other clubs want to help King's Lynn and Leicester providing that help does not contravene the rules or disadvantage the remaining clubs who got their teams organised. King's Lynn have had the same opportunities as everyone else to build their team and should bear the consequences if they are now in difficulties. I don't recall any help being given when David Gordon and Chris Morton took over the Aces and faced problems because most of the other teams had been sorted.

A dyslexic war cry. That's a first. Our maybe not. Maybe I need to put my brain in gear but it is early in the morning.

I'm not convinced that the standard of lower order riders is better today. It may appear so but I think that is because of the point I made previously, that throttle control is a lost art and even poor riders making the gate and keeping the throttle open often beat much better riders. In the 50's and 60's it was mainly skill that mattered. The famous five, Craven, Moore, Fundin, Briggs and Knutsson were a step above all others, not because of any fitness programme or ultra professionalism, they were just better riders. I take your point about memory and nostalgia and yet in relation to many other sports I think that the skill and product on offer today is superior to what we saw years ago. Speedway as a spectacle was better when equipment was more standardised and tracks were deeper.

I disagree with virtually all of that. Riders have always moaned about track conditions, the weather and tracks they don't like, it is and always had been a part of human nature that every trade and profession has to have it's share of moaners and complainers. Sportsmen and women are no different. As for the standard of racing in the GP's and SWC, I think that is because when it comes to the top events riders are more prepared to put it on the line and race that bit harder. There is evidence on YouTube that the standard of racing is no better or worse now than it has every been and I accept that my opinions are probably influenced by spending many years watching speedway at Hyde Road,the best racing circuit in the UK and a touch of nostalgia. However, I still believe racing was better prior to the introduction of the lay down engines. In my opinion their introduction and the developments since have resulted in machines which favour slick tracks and have made throttle control an unnecessary skill. The result is that it is now more difficult to pass, even when lesser riders get out in front, because everyone is riding with the throttle wide open and slick tracks give fewer passing opportunities. I think back to the 1950's and unless he was racing someone like Fundin or Briggs, you knew with 90% certainty that the likes of Pete Craven would win a race no matter where he gated.Likewise, it seemed that most riders were rarely beaten by riders of significantly lesser ability, something that seems to happen now if a reserve or poor second string makes a good gate. I think it was because the 50's and to some extent up to the mid 70's were a time with deeper tracks and pretty standard bikes. Having said all of that, I still enjoy watching and attend regularly and I still see decent racing but the good races seem fewer than I remember in the heydays of the sport.

I agree with everything said by Halifaxtiger. My point about the SCB is that I cannot see the BSPA agreeing to an independent individual or body to ensure compliance with the rules and to make binding rulings. I put forward the SCB as a realistic viable option which they may accept. It would be up to the SCB to ensure that those members dealing with breaches or interpretations of the rules did not have any conflict of interest, at the very least were not connected to any team involved and that the BSPA representatives were always in a minority.

I really do hope so but they are going to find it difficult to finalise a deal for the land, draw up plans, submit them for planning permission, allow time for any hiccups and objections and then get the stadium built all within about 16 months.

You could be right but then again. ... I prefer to be an optimist life is so much better that way and the shocks no greater if things go wrong.

I don't think I said anything about winning titles and we all know that some teams perform above expectations and some below. It's too early to form an opinion about who will finish where in the league until all of the teams are known.