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Fortythirtyeight

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Posts posted by Fortythirtyeight

  1. Posted

    1 hour ago, Pirates Of Poole said:

    Says in the speedway star this week clubs were due to meet last Tuesday? I find that hard to believe as Poole & Glasgow would have been missing. So no idea when the AGM will take place but should be soon.

    Get with the times….it took place via ‘ Zoom Call ‘.

  2. Posted

    For Oxford to be allowed to enter the championship as it currently stands with a Friday night race night then one of the current Friday night tracks will have to move leagues or race nights. Clubs have previously been blocked from having Fridays as, since Glasgow and Scunthorpe moved to Fridays, there simply isn’t enough room to accommodate another Friday fixture, as eight teams will already be riding on the same night and that causes issues with rider availability when the dreaded guests are needed , which they inevitably are with injuries, riding abroad, required for Team GB , family birthday etc happens.

    But , we wait and see what the new ‘ cunning plan’ for the saving of British speedway is, Godfrey & Co. could surprise us all !

  3. Posted

    On 11/2/2021 at 9:59 PM, Trees said:

    Someone suggested on here that we have an individual championship involving all the top men representing one of their teams (for some) from the Premiership and Championship, I like this idea if it could be sold to sponsors, it would capture the imagination of the fans I'm sure.  I don't suppose there would be enough dates to hold it at every club?

    I hope GBSpeedwayTeam puts on a series of Test Matches in 2022, would 100% travel to those!

    Roll on 2022 ......

     

    Been done before….Northern Riders Championship etc, even had a sponsors…Skol ( lager ) Yorkshire Bank etc. The top riders ? Palm Toft is no. 1 for Peterborough in the Premiership yet number 4 for Redcar in the championship. Could you even get 16 riders from 16 different clubs ?

  4. Posted

    1 hour ago, Falcon1983 said:

    Or put a twist on it

    Say an 8 team championship

    A League Cup 2 groups of 4 home and away once (6 meetings, 3 home) top two into semi finals

    League home and away once (14 meetings, 7 home)

    Top 4 enter the "Super League" the new name for the play offs, all compete against each other (6 meetings, 3 at home) overall winner is the champion

    Bottom 4 clubs enter "the shield" competition 2 legged knock out so a maximum of 4 meetings (two home) if you reach the final 

    Could also introduce the 4TT but do it on a league basis for more meetings against regional at best 2 groups of 4, all clubs hosting a meeting top 2 progressing to a Final 4TT league all clubs hosting a meeting 

    Not going to happen.

    90% of fans want regular meaningful  ‘ league ‘ matches not made up consolation  matches. Peter Craven shield being a prime example, lasted one year ! Your simply making up competitions to fill dates in and the fans won’t go for it in big enough numbers .

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Falcon1983 said:

    You really need Oxford to come to the tapes and have an 8 team Top Flight and an 8+ team 2nd tier

    nobody wants to move up, maybe that suggests the way the championship is the way forward.

    Perhaps the top division should be a bit between prem/champ and the 2nd tier could be a bit between champ/ndl

     

    8 teams only ? At best with meeting each club twice , which was voted out by the majority of clubs in 2017 AGM, add cup fixture or two and a challenge match means only 16-18 home fixtures and a four month season ? That would not be sustainable for most clubs in the championship.

  6. Posted

    On 11/1/2021 at 5:33 PM, Sings4Speedway said:

    So with Kent out (unless a fruit loop is found), Eastbourne delayed until 2023 and no guarantee of NL. At present 5 teams remain, the champs Mildenhall as a standalone side and 4 second teams (although Belle Vue do run as individual meetings and not 2nd halves).

    The question remains is a 5 team league visble in any way?  Will the 4 man PJL re-surface and the NDL be dropped altogether? Whatever the outcome its going to be a hard winter for riders and fans alike.

    It’s ‘visible ‘ but not viable.

    The PJL was never ever going to happen and didn’t.

    The NDL is a much needed stepping stone and should be an essential discussion at the AGM , which it sounds like has almost been completed via zoom meetings , but you can’t force clubs into entering it as most clubs simply can’t afford to run two teams, some can’t afford to run one !

    Doubt many riders in the CL and Premiership are worried as 85% will already have been approached, but NDL standard riders will be scratching their heads as to where there might be a viable team place available.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  8. Posted · Edited by Fortythirtyeight

    5 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

    Jon Cook was the BSPA management member given the task of compiling the League fixture lists for all at the time!!

    He wasn’t management at all in 2018 and hadn’t been for some time , he was a NDL promoter, nothing more, having moved up from the NDL, of which he was less than complimentary at the time. Whilst he was a very experienced individual he also knew a few tricks hence him pulling a fast one with the fixtures , he was taken to task by Godfrey but basically got away with it .

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, iainb said:

    I seem to remember it also impacting Lakeside? Is Rob Godfrey the man to preside over the most track closures in his tenure?

    Lakeside were never granted Friday as a primary race night , they were supposed to be Saturdays but Cook arranged as many fixtures as possible on his preferred Friday dates which caused the fixture congestion . This was when fixtures were arranged between individual promoters and not a central source so no one cottoned on to what he had done till the fixtures were published and it caused major issues.

    • Thanks 1

  11. Posted

    18 hours ago, IronScorpion said:

    Absolutely false. The Friday night pecking order is Edinburgh, Scunthorpe, Glasgow & Redcar.

    The sad demise of Workington was caused through their late start in putting a team together which meant paying higher than normal wages. Their brilliant season, winning the treble, also, was a high price to pay in wages & towards the end of the season when there was a lot of meetings to squeeze in to a small time frame, punters picked & chose their meetings.

    The Godfrey saga was based on being unable to find guests when teams changed from their normal race night to fit in a Friday night meeting.

    You are wrong.

    Godfrey moved Scunthorpe to a Friday , from Sunday’s , at the same time Glasgow demanded to move to a Friday and Workington asked to move to Fridays. Redcar were moved to a Friday to accommodate the Thursday night Premiership only regulation, Fridays being their alternative race night anyway. As Workington weren’t at the AGM you can work out the result of who got what as there were too many applicants for Friday nights.

    Godfrey and Glasgow were on the top table so Workington were told ‘ no ‘.

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    13 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

    Is there is any “TV Money” actually paid directly to the clubs these days? The big money disappeared when Sky moved on after which, the benefit has been diluted down mainly to “TV exposure”. Better than nothing but not something big enough to attract new clubs to the Premiership? 
     

     The last ‘TV’deal was only a fraction of the SKY funds and even when SKY paid up then Premiership clubs took the majority stake leaving only a few grand for the championship clubs .

    No club should be relying on payouts to help them run these days .

  13. Posted · Edited by Fortythirtyeight

    5 minutes ago, Falcon1983 said:

    You would need a panel selected unfortunately by the BSPL maybe 3 people minimum and hope it's done fairly with no hidden agendas for their club benefits

    Or a rule base of if your average is between 2 figures you're category D for example

    I think whole average system to build teams just doesnt work anymore and it's so open to foul play 

    ‘Done fairly with no hidden agendas ‘…..that’s the BSPL buggered then.

    Only an independent body with no ties to any club can give speedway any credibility back as regards a rule book.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    On 10/23/2021 at 11:13 AM, barrybishop said:

    Going back to the NDL and its rider developmentsuccess or failure - for me there needs to be a clear distinction of what success means. For example, there are riders who will always make it regardless (Gilks, Brennan, Edwards, Bewley, Lambert, Pallin), those that enter the NL on 3.00 and leave on 9 plus.. they would have made it regardless of the league structures or if there was only second halves after main meetings and amateur meetings available to them.

    For me success or failure of the NDL is whether those riders who perhaps have to work a bit harder (I dont know a different phrase for this and I am not suggesting that those who will make it regardless have not or do not work extremely hard for their success and indeed I am sure it always contributes to it), for example here Danny Ayres, Ben Morley, Alfie Bowtell, where participating in the National league really made a huge difference to them and was probably the only way the made it to higher leagues.

    Can we say in 2021 any middle order riders at the start of the league are now able to make the step up? This is where the NDL should really come in to its own for rider development in my view, for riders like Spooner, Verge, Coles to really give them the step up they need to Championship but also a "challenging" cushion in the NDL for confidence and experience. And the only other option is to have a properly MDL/NJL formated and enforced second teams to run, without fail, after every league meeting by every UK club. 

    Interesting points but if your suggestion that every club should run ‘ second teams ‘ next year just where are the clubs to find these riders ?

    British Youth Championship field isn’t the size of pre 2019 levels especially youth 500 level ( less than 6 riders ) Amateur meeting entries are down at the few tracks that run them ( 3 or 4 tops?) especially in the youth and 125 categories on pre COVID years, half of the entrees aren’t upto safe ‘ racing ‘ standards ( not decrying them but some are old timers just having a ride , others are complete novices who can’t slide around a complete corner ). There simply isn’t enough competent new riders to make up such teams and there’s been no new flow of kids getting on speedway bikes in the last two years for obvious reasons.

    whilst a structured third tier is essential, let’s be realistic about how many new riders are taking up the sport….very, very few.

    • Like 3

  18. Posted

    18 hours ago, Diamonds85 said:

    British speedway desperately needs to get the likes of Thorsell, Lindgren, Zagar, Doyle, Milik back into the country... These are the types of riders the top league should have. Realistically we aren't gonna get Zmarzlik or Sayfutdinovs of the world... But a top league full of the names previously mentioned, would be really nice to see...

    Fricke, Lambert, Woffinden, Lebedevs... All these big names who are no more in this country... It's very sad to see.

    Totally wrong. The state of British speedway at this current time means they can’t afford to bring such riders in even if those riders wished to come. Those riders aren’t here because they chase the money and there’s none left in the UK.

    When Somerset signed Jason Doyle , world champion at the time, it added exactly zero to their gate receipts and created a massive hole in their wages budget. A recipe for disaster ? the club never recovered and where are they now !

    • Like 3

  20. Posted

    30 minutes ago, IronScorpion said:

    Everybody else would have had a chance if they had shown an interest to the BSP Ltd & Jake himself.

    Rider ‘ ownership ‘ is a controversial subject. All riders are self employed and therefore legally free to work for who they wish, speedway is running an outdated system which, if legally challenged , would be thrown out. Never seen the point in ‘ owning ‘ riders you don’t intend to use even if you class them as club ‘ assets ‘ , which is only in place so the BSPL can rake in some funds if you go bust. Whilst some senior clubs literally own dozens of riders contracts and therefore assets, most of them will have retired or never going to be used by the owning club just used to bring in loan fees.

  21. Posted · Edited by Fortythirtyeight

    20 minutes ago, Ian68 said:

    Not been announced but scunny have bought his contract i might be jumping to conclusions 

    Buying a riders contract means very little these days. Charles Wright is owned by Poole and has been for several years but has never ridden for them, just means Godfrey can collect loan fees if he doesn’t use him.

    • Like 2

  22. Posted

    Your team was only 12 points down with 5 heats to go so still a chance of a win, but you left. You would have missed some incredible meetings if you did that at Redcar recently. Watching only two thirds of a meeting doesn’t seem right, wether you paid or not ( you have no choice in that ) when your team can still win and support can make a difference.

    Your choice, but not one I would make, see it through no matter what the result.

  23. Posted

    On 9/21/2021 at 9:35 AM, Sings4Speedway said:

    Im not saying they would / will i said hypothetically.  Ben is dissallusioned with the BSPL and would be an opportunity to have a strong say in how things are run and improve the future.

    Totally pointless exercise till there’s anything to join, a structured league not just an idea.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    36 minutes ago, Lewis said:

    Final match of the season, thought I would go even though we had no chance of a win, pretty cold and we didn't stand a chance with that team so I left at heat 10. 1 heat leader vs 4 heat leaders, my prediction post match was 38-52, was secretly hoping Lambo would come to the party and we would run them close, Palin would ride above expectation etc, nope, didn't happen :)

    Good luck in the rest of the play offs Leicester, you have a good team and beat us fair and square every time this season.

    Left after heat 10?
    what a true fan you are.

    Win or lose, support your team.

    • Like 3

  25. Posted

    1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

    It would certainly be nice to see a Nora league in operation next year. Run alongside other host events that suit the individual tracks and with a format that benefits all involved. Hypothetically IOW, Oxford, Eastbourne, Buxton, Mildenhall and Redcar? Could even be the return of a few "ghost" teams like Cradley or Reading. It doesn't have to be too over the top serious but about providing good honest balanced racing and entertainment whilst offering track time to riders who benefit from it. 

    Im not picking on any teams listed or releasing any details as i know of nothing confirmed just using examples. It could even be run alongside the BSPL rather than directly in competition as i know of no reason why events from two governing bodies cannot run at the same venue as they have already done at Scunthorpe.

    Why would the likes of Redcar want to join Nora when they already successfully stage speedway at championship and amateur level plus , practice sessions, dirt track, flat track, private hire, hire bikes , trikes, and anything else that cares to utilise a speedway track?

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