Mike.Butler

its no good rearranging the deck chairs for crying out loud...the elite league is no longer breathing by itself...we are the life support and we need volunteers to administer the last rights....going..going...

as i say, fans of tomorrow (ie young adults) priced out never to return...just you old folks make sure you hang around for a bit so when us middle-agers get there we can still get in for a tenner (or 20 as it will be then!).. ps i'm 55 and working with little prospect of early retirement.

No pay rises and 3% inflation year on year..yet still the sport increases cost of admission, parking, progs....the reason why oap's can afford to go is that their pensions are inflation protected and they get a concessionary rate too! they must wonder what the rest of us are whinging about..recession..what recession? Those baby boomers eh.. They've never had it so good!

geronimo..i think we've got to the main root cause..

....if british riders can get contracts abroad and are lost to the uk leagues then so be it.. It's no good pretending we have an elite league if we cannot afford the top riders. What we have in the UK is a a quantity of tracks that beats any other country. I don't see why that would change..new top riders will emerge albeit paid what we can afford commensurate with gate receipts they generate Look at the amount of south american footballers plying their trade in Europe. It doesnt mean there aren't domestic league in brazil and argentina.....

I think I read that Tai will be 'going home' to Australia when he finishes riding.... But that shouldn't be a bar...British and Colonial riders only in new league please..and only those who sign up to all UK fixtures. Applying that rule means we will be left with what we are left with; but no British promoters paying for flights, and no machines to maintain in other countries should immediately bring the cost of our admission down a quid or two.. If Scotty wants to ride in continental meets then he will have to sit out the UK. The sooner we get riders having home meetings EVERY week from april-september in the UK the better...guarantee them 60 meetings a year and hopefully the choice for some will be easier.. It's a vicious circle at the moment..less meets because of rider availability means it's more likely they will need foreign leagues...Address point 1 and bingo point 2 disappears. If any promoter thinks they can run 14 meetings a season then i'm sorry they are not guaranteeing british based riders a chance to make a living..so there should be no place in the short term for those tracks (except at NL level). If and when the upturn comes then they will be welcome back on the above terms. NO FULL SEASON, NO ENTRY!

i can see us having to choose between live EL on Eurosport, PL on Sky, and NL on BT next season...

this was a new track for me and I enjoyed the meeting...and enjoyed the company of two very knowledgeable fans whom I hadn't spoken to before..(one from peterborough and another from Canterbury (the latter not having a computer).. I nderstand the heat times were being recorded..anyone know if they are going to be online? ta

£2 to park isn't unique to Edinburgh

very eventful and enjoyable meet i must say.. track getting better all the time...crowd will continue to fall though unless team can get a win soon..despite a 15 min hold-up after heat 2 match completed by 8.10 p.m. - colder than it looked in main stand!

so, will the attendance be affected by lakeside now running on monday? - assume the kent promotion will have expected this scenario at some point during season.

just can't understand why the organisers didn't listen to us lot on here and not put a 'token' gb rider in the GP..Tai clearly out of his depth as predicted by us experts

I always read it cover to cover (except the grass track) so the order doesn't bother me. I too liked the stats before every grand prix which i miss..in fact i recall one season (15 years ago possibly), they went overboard on the stats for league meeting coming up that week... it must have taken someone ages but it was interesting..maybe something a little less ambitious like last season's result in the corresponding fixture or no. of Home and Away wins in the fixture since elite league formed..but then i am a bit of a statto

[som-bre] Show IPA adjective 1. gloomily dark; shadowy; dimly lighted: 2. dark and dull, as color, or as things in respect to color: . 3. gloomy, depressing, or dismal: 4. extremely serious; grave: any meaning in particular Tony? 1. the referees box, 2. the car park ticket, 3. the arlington micro-climate, 4. the away form ?

luckily the p.a. was able to drown the perishing high-pitched whistles being blown by a few in the main stand.... not heard the like before any where else that I can recall... as annoying as them pesky vuvezela thingy's

is anyone really surprised?.. the punishment for BV will be another few supporters giving up going there i'm afraid...

IMV Belle Vue should be forced to stage the re-run at a neutral track. (might get it on then)

I was taught that honesty is the best policy in the long run.... I remember turning up at Arlington many years ago to find Match Off signs due to Hackney being shorn of riders ..at least there was no attempt to deceive. also, Where a heat leader is going to be absent from either team then the home team website should advertise this clearly in advance. If the absence is not known until within 24 hours of the start time then the admission price on the day should automatically be reduced. Even by a £1 per heat leader this would pay for itself in Cust Sat benefits i'd have thought. A simple risk assessment by the BSPA regarding monday tracks being at the mercy of flight delays from Poland should have flagged this years ago. Whatever minimum quality of service threshold is in place that EL promotionshave to meet as a condition of holding a licences is clearly not set high enough. ..does the Rye House promoter still think there's nothing wrong?..words fail me..

maybe the winner could go into the european championship instead?

could it be that Tai doing well and a terrific meet on sat are influencing people's view? ...like the England football team doing well helps the goverrnment of the day...

Trust the BV promotion will be at Sittingbourne for their opener to reflect on what goes right and wrong? just a thought..

No meetings should be staged in sub zero temperatures for reasons stated above. If Eastbourne called it off due to the wind chill factor I think they did everyone a favour tbh..

it was great watching Eastbourne's kids of the 70's take on the visiting 2nd strings and beating them (not to mention the occasional heat leader). I even gave Mick Pither 'Man-of-the-Meeting' once for his after-the-interval efforts .

13 heats is my preference...but this is just the popular view that has been stated before and nobody takes any notice...15 heats is fine provided I get to watch 20 heats minimum ...as 15 is a rip-off for the money...a junior match is fine but if not why not have a proper 2nd half....I feel like an old record

I think the word 'farce' is appropriate to describe that night..fastest & slowest times of the night? Aidan Collins 89.1 heat 11, Tom Brown 97.6 heat 3.! around that vast bowl that is/was Plough Lane..it was so upsetting to watch and you're right..the damage done to future crowds was immeasurable...anything remotely approaching these track problems at Kent will be disastrous...think of belle Vue v Wolves last year for more evidence...i'm weeping in my corn flakes as i write