AlanF

Presentation. Speedway is 1 minute action followed by 5 minutes of nothing. I don't think there is much wrong with the 1 minute of action, it is the 5 minutes of nothing that needs to be addressed. The promoters should go and see a major league baseball game. They have several minutes delay between each inning. However, there is something going on that entertains the crowd during each gap in play.

We used to go to Scotland every year as I have an auntie and uncle who live in Edinburgh (still do to this day). In the late 70's he took us to Powderhall to watch Edinburgh v Belle Vue in an inter league challenge. I remember Peter Collins and Chris Morton were riding for Belle Vue. I thought it was wonderful. He also took us to see Hearts v Airdrie in a League Cup game and was a terrible 0-0 draw.

I have no idea what the BSPA are planning to do when the new averages come out, but I hope they knock out his 1.4 multiplier and revert him back to last years "real" average.

That's a disaster for Ellis. When everybody gets a real average he is going to be stuck on his inflated x1.4 average. Makes his place very vulnerable.

I can't believe you are complaining about £1 parking. If I want to go to a sports event in Atlanta it costs me $20 to park. Even my 14 year old sons baseball Tournament last weekend was $5 to park.

0% chance.

I agree with this. A rider should be contracted to one team, not one team per country. Of course that would need the FIM to grow a pair and stand up to Poland.

If he only had a one year contract it would be minimal at best. If we want an Aussie to stay for 5 years then give him a 5 year guaranteed contract. Loyalty is a two way street. If Matt Ford thinks it would make Poole stronger (not picking on Poole, applies to every team) he wouldn't hesitate to drop Brady Kurtz and he would not get paid any more.

I don't see the problem. If a young Aussie football player joins a team in the Netherlands and progresses well, he is going to join a Premier League team who will pay him about five times what he was earning in the Netherlands. Nobody cares that it was the Dutch team that give him his chance. Can't blame the riders for going where the money is.

For the playoffs, assuming starting line ups stay the same, you can take any four from five (Poole, Kings Lynn, Wolves, Belle Vue and Rye House). I have a suspicion that Leicester and Somerset will be better than expected. Outside of the fact that Jason Doyle is in it, I can't see much posiitve about the Swindon team and I think they will be in the relegation playoff.

Clearly it is Glasgow as the owner said so in the Speedway Star. However, he said that it had "cost them $2m so far (may have been $1.5m, can't remember). That included buying and renovating the stadium. That is capital expenditure on an asset, so totally different to operating losses.

If they want to use Bewley and Smith as reserves then they can't use Worrall, unless the rules have been changed regarding doubling up. If a Belle Vue promotion had been in place throughout the off season, I expect they would have steered either Worrall or Bewley in a different direction regarding their Championship team.

I agree. Can't see why they can't give a 5% or 10% average deduction for a rider retained from the previous season. Rider has to have ridden 50% of previous season's league fixtures to qualify.

If Oxford Stadium was available, there would already be a team racing in it!

I think the main milestones in speedway's decline are: 1. Other sports raising the bar in terms of the quality of the stadiums and customer experience. Also lack of ownership and lack of land makes stadiums prime targets for redevelopment. 2. Saturating the lower divisions with sub standard foreigners taking away the stream of local talent. 3. Grand Prix and the rise of Poland. Great TV theater but has killed weekend racing and fixture continuity in the top division. I think that #2 is beginning to be addressed, but I don't Know the solution to 1 and 3.

Not sure what to make of this team. Very strong top three and a weak bottom three. I think Wolves season will be dependent on how much Skornicki has left in the tank.

Not really. I'm sure there are some talented people out there who could come up with a great logo. Could have taken entries, decided on the best three and then let the fans vote. Plus, having people email entries in helps you build up a customer database to communicate with.

With the number of people regularly watching speedway these days it is a minor miracle that the sport even has a weekly magazine, let alone one as good as Speedway Star. The various comments on here show that you are never going to please everybody all the time. One person's favorite feature is another person's pet peeve. Personally, I love the behind the scenes features and the stats. I have zero interest in what happened in the 1940's and 1950's and the grasstrack scene but I realize that other people like those features. I love to be able to download it to my ipad, but others prefer to have the magazine in their hand. I think that it would be a very sad day if the Star disappeared. We should enjoy it while we can. I am sure that Philip Rising and co are happy to take on any constructive criticism, but the negativity towards the Star is astounding.

Surely they could have run a contest to come up with a logo. Missed opportunity to engage with the fans.

I believe that not owning the stadium is and always been the biggest problem facing speedway. I went back and looked at the 1990 league tables for the top two divisions. The following teams are no longer in existence; Reading, Oxford, Bradford, Cradley, Hackney, Wimbledon, Exeter, Long Eaton and Milton Keynes. To the best of my knowledge, all of those tracks folded because of stadium availability and not because nobody was willing to promote there. There are many things that could improve the product, but it is always going to be an uphill task when you don't control the venue.

Struggling to see the problem. Hardly seems unreasonable for the local Poole paper to run a story about their top rider for the last several years. It's not like they announced the whole team. The only Kings Lynn fans who are going to see this are the ones on this forum and it has been openly speculated about on here for weeks. Nobody seemed all that bothered about Potsing giving out two other team members names. If Kings Lynn wanted to release everything themselves they probably should have started a bit earlier than December 16th. With all the social media and web sites around now, it's not realistic to expect to be able to set your own timetable for news to get out.

It's hardly the first time this has taken place. A few years back Scunthorpe and Sheffield shared a team and ran at both tracks. If both tracks are willing to do it and 7 young riders get a chance to race who wouldn't have done otherwise, then good luck to them.

1. Sheffield 2. Glasgow 3. Newcastle 4. Peterborough 5. Ipswich 6. Edinburgh 7. Redcar 8. Workington 9. Berwick 10. Scunthorpe The two big wildcards for me are Rory Schlein and Lewis Bridger. Don't know how Schlein will go after his injuries and Berwick will live and die by which Lewis Bridger shows up. If he gives it 100% I think Berwick could move up and challenge for the final play off spot.

Can't see why phillipsr's comments make him a troll. Ipswich have some really good riders in their 1-5, but they probably don't have much (if any) improvement in them. Schlein is a gamble that could pay huge dividends or blow up in their face. The reserves are decent. I don't think they will be bottom three but they look overrated to me. I hope they do well, but it is perfectly valid to have doubts about them.

I don't really get the love for the Ipswich team. King, Covatti, Heeps and Newman have all been around long enough that there may not be any major improvement left in them. They have a couple of decent but not outstanding reserves. Schlein is coming back from serious injuries and he may be fabulous and he may be awful. I think Sheffield have 4 riders who can increase their average (Bjerre, Bates, JPB, Branford). By the business end of the season I also think Smith, Bewley and Perry will have come on enough to make Glasgow difficult to beat.