The 2009 Premier League Riders' Championship

[Chris 445]

Ashworth win continues to show how mickey mouse these PL super seven meetings are when held on PL tracks with huge home track bias.

[Mr Ore 207]

Ashworth win continues to show how mickey mouse these PL super seven meetings are when held on PL tracks with huge home track bias.

 

If a home track bias equates to racing on a track where gating is not the be all and end all you are clearly correct. In the one meeting I have seen at Owlerton this season there was far more passing than in the host of meetings I have had witnessed at your shrine combined. Still as the Rye House Pre Match Publicity may or may not have said, "The fish and chips are so good to make up for the lack of entertainment". Enjoy your gate and go; I'll stick with a track which allows passing.

 

Well done Ricky

[Piccolo 47]

Did anyone read the programme notes? Didn't it say something about winter trackwork removing the biggest element of advantage, the sweeps round the outside?

[The~SAINT 0]

Ashworth win continues to show how mickey mouse these PL super seven meetings are when held on PL tracks with huge home track bias.

Remind us how long drye house had remained unbeaten at home until this season ...............................

 

[Shadders 4,137]

Remind us how long drye house had remained unbeaten at home until this season ...............................

Your point is irrelevant as Rye House don't host Premier League or Super 7 Series meetings.

[The~SAINT 0]

Your point is irrelevant as Rye House don't host Premier League or Super 7 Series meetings.

i'm sure chris would argue that rye doesn't have home track advantage tho!!! (that was my point)

Edited October 1, 2009 by The~SAINT

[Shadders 4,137]

i'm sure chris would argue that rye doesn't have home track advantage tho!!! (that was my point)

We'd have had two or three home defeats, maybe more, with that side if we'd not had such a huge home advantage ..... I'd even say we'd be battling with Newport for the wooden spoon.

[bluejam 846]

We'd have had two or three home defeats, maybe more, with that side if we'd not had such a huge home advantage ..... I'd even say we'd be battling with Newport for the wooden spoon.

 

Let us not forget who put an end to your 66 match unbeaten home record!!

[squall 270]

Ok, someone name a neutral track. By neutral I mean a track that NOBODY in the line up has EVER raced on as their home track

[Shadders 4,137]

Let us not forget who put an end to your 66 match unbeaten home record!!

Yeah, the second half of a double header after we'd faced the toughest side in the Premier League with tired and injured riders on worn out machines!! ..... In a one off meeting you'd have gone away pointless as you usually do

[MattyHart 0]

Eastbourne. Unless you want to count Bunyan's spell in 'Eastbourne II' circa 13 years ago?

[squall 270]

Eastbourne. Unless you want to count Bunyan's spell in 'Eastbourne II' circa 13 years ago?

 

So that was his own track at some point

 

Next

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

first it wasnt the first PL match on sky nor was it the last so dont see your point

 

the problem with the track was as much political as aboiut the track, the main complainer seems to have a problem with sheffield and has tried at other times to cause problems.

 

you say we need to attract sponsers, when sheffield did this steachman and others refused to have the match sponsers on the handlebars (not bike covers) so whats the point of attracting sponsers when the riders dont want to advertise them?

 

sam ermolemko, an ex world champion dont forgot, could see nothing wrong with the track at all, he said it was a mans track that day

 

you seem to think that birmingham doesnt have any home track advantage, its well known that you have a problem with sheffield so i will accept that this view is based on that fact

 

ashworth was a worthy winner on a track that has got so much home track advantage that we have lost three or four at home and drawn one, that advantage seems to have disapeared a little this season

 

the meeting will only be held on a neutral track when there is enough support from all the fans who want it at neutral venue. until then sheffield it is get over it.

 

PS dont seem to remember all this fuss when Hyde Road used to be the home of the BLRC for so long,

 

I think you are missing the point (or, more accurately, points).

 

What might look to you (and others) as an anti-Sheffield rant by a vicious and biased fan with an axe to grind is anything but and is actually far more important than that. It concerns two issues:

 

1/ The criteria used for the allocation of top meetings;

 

2/ The credibility of British Speedway in general and PL speedway in particular.

 

I am not a member of the BSPA and consequently had no idea of the allocation procedure. Laurence Rogers is (or was) and does and he told me on Saturday night in response to a direct question that it was about bids. I am sure that is not the only criteria - after all, Buxton could hold the ELRC if that was the case - but what I am concerned about is whether the record of a track in holding previous big events is taken into account. As far as I am concerned, the shambles at the PLRC in 2004 should have ruled out Sheffield and I was frankly amazed that they got it the following year. That doesn't apply to them for 2010, but it does for Rye House and the NLRC after the dreadful track surface on Saturday night.

 

It seems to me that past records must be part of the criteria for the allocation of venues but experience suggests that it is not - that just has to be wrong.

 

SCB has hinted at Sheffield's home bias but far more convincing were a set of statistics produced by Shoddy last year (I am sure he could show them again if necessary). On the basis of home & away form over a number of seasons, that indicated that Sheffield was one of the worst home banker tracks in the PL - I stand to be corrected, but if memory serves me well only Exeter was worse. That might be difficult for you and a lot of Tigers fans to stomach, but that's not my prejudice, its his figures.

 

So, we have the PL's most prestigious meeting on one of its most biased circuits. Its representative was, according to last weeks Speedway Star, 20th in the league standings and qualified for the meeting with one of its lowest averages so he is a long way from being one of the best in the league and should, by rights, have been a rank outsider. Things is, though, this rank outsider was riding on his home track, a track that opinion suggests and statistics show has a pronounced home advantage. He wins, and its not too difficult to jump (and it would be a big jump)to the conclusion why.

 

Ask yourself three questions:

 

Would Ashworth have won it anywhere else ?

 

Would Howe, Proctor & Ward got in the final elsewhere ?

 

Does the fact that a rank outsider on his home circuit (a circuit with a pronounced home bias)won the meeting enhance or damage speedways credibility to someone looking in ?

 

I'd say No, Yes & damage.

 

As you can see, from my perspective Sheffield (and Rye House) isn't the problem, its the example and my point is not about slagging Sheffield off, but putting things right for the future and ensuring that as much as possible is done to ensure that our sport is presented in the best possible way so that we might attract more fans, sponsorship and media coverage.

 

For a start, lets be assured that past records are part of the selection process.

 

The ideal is to run meetings on neutral circuits but that is a financial disaster. So the next best thing is to choose the PL circuit that is seen to be the most like a neutral circuit, along with other relevant criteria such as central location, good crowd capacity, decent parking and maybe dining and corporate facilities. Sheffield has all those; so does Birmingham, and Birmingham has the advantage of being seen as less biased (they all have it, just some more than others).

Edited October 1, 2009 by Halifaxtiger

[Daniel Smith 5,694]

I think you are missing the point (or, more accurately, points).

 

What might look to you (and others) as an anti-Sheffield rant by a vicious and biased fan with an axe to grind is anything but and is actually far more important than that. It concerns two issues:

 

1/ The criteria used for the allocation of top meetings;

 

2/ The credibility of British Speedway in general and PL speedway in particular.

 

I am not a member of the BSPA and consequently had no idea of the allocation procedure. Laurence Rogers is (or was) and does and he told me on Saturday night in response to a direct question that it was about bids. I am sure that is not the only criteria - after all, Buxton could hold the ELRC if that was the case - but what I am concerned about is whether the record of a track in holding previous big events is taken into account. As far as I am concerned, the shambles at the PLRC in 2004 should have ruled out Sheffield and I was frankly amazed that they got it the following year. That doesn't apply to them for 2010, but it does for Rye House and the NLRC after the dreadful track surface on Saturday night.

 

It seems to me that past records must be part of the criteria for the allocation of venues but experience suggests that it is not - that just has to be wrong.

 

SCB has hinted at Sheffield's home bias but far more convincing were a set of statistics produced by Shoddy last year (I am sure he could show them again if necessary). On the basis of home & away form over a number of seasons, that indicated that Sheffield was one of the worst home banker tracks in the PL - I stand to be corrected, but if memory serves me well only Exeter was worse. That might be difficult for you and a lot of Tigers fans to stomach, but that's not my prejudice, its his figures.

 

So, we have the PL's most prestigious meeting on one of its most biased circuits. Its representative was, according to last weeks Speedway Star, 20th in the league standings and qualified for the meeting with one of its lowest averages so he is a long way from being one of the best in the league and should, by rights, have been a rank outsider. Things is, though, this rank outsider was riding on his home track, a track that opinion suggests and statistics show has a pronounced home advantage. He wins, and its not too difficult to jump (and it would be a big jump)to the conclusion why.

 

Ask yourself three questions:

 

Would Ashworth have won it anywhere else ?

 

Would Howe, Proctor & Ward got in the final elsewhere ?

 

Does the fact that a rank outsider on his home circuit (a circuit with a pronounced home bias)won the meeting enhance or damage speedways credibility to someone looking in ?

 

I'd say No, Yes & damage.

 

As you can see, from my perspective Sheffield (and Rye House) isn't the problem, its the example and my point is not about slagging Sheffield off, but putting things right for the future and ensuring that as much as possible is done to ensure that our sport is presented in the best possible way so that we might attract more fans, sponsorship and media coverage.

 

For a start, lets be assured that past records are part of the selection process.

 

The ideal is to run meetings on neutral circuits but that is a financial disaster. So the next best thing is to choose the PL circuit that is seen to be the most like a neutral circuit, along with other relevant criteria such as central location, good crowd capacity, decent parking and maybe dining and corporate facilities. Sheffield has all those; so does Birmingham, and Birmingham has the advantage of being seen as less biased (they all have it, just some more than others).

 

Spot on, Birmingham would probably be most peoples choice as the fairest track but unfortunatly their future is in dout so that has to be counted out for the time being.

 

After Birmingham, their really isn't a PL track out there to hold an event like this with out the home rider having a massive advantage.

 

 

 

[Daniel Smith 5,694]

I think you are missing the point (or, more accurately, points).

 

What might look to you (and others) as an anti-Sheffield rant by a vicious and biased fan with an axe to grind is anything but and is actually far more important than that. It concerns two issues:

 

1/ The criteria used for the allocation of top meetings;

 

2/ The credibility of British Speedway in general and PL speedway in particular.

 

I am not a member of the BSPA and consequently had no idea of the allocation procedure. Laurence Rogers is (or was) and does and he told me on Saturday night in response to a direct question that it was about bids. I am sure that is not the only criteria - after all, Buxton could hold the ELRC if that was the case - but what I am concerned about is whether the record of a track in holding previous big events is taken into account. As far as I am concerned, the shambles at the PLRC in 2004 should have ruled out Sheffield and I was frankly amazed that they got it the following year. That doesn't apply to them for 2010, but it does for Rye House and the NLRC after the dreadful track surface on Saturday night.

 

It seems to me that past records must be part of the criteria for the allocation of venues but experience suggests that it is not - that just has to be wrong.

 

SCB has hinted at Sheffield's home bias but far more convincing were a set of statistics produced by Shoddy last year (I am sure he could show them again if necessary). On the basis of home & away form over a number of seasons, that indicated that Sheffield was one of the worst home banker tracks in the PL - I stand to be corrected, but if memory serves me well only Exeter was worse. That might be difficult for you and a lot of Tigers fans to stomach, but that's not my prejudice, its his figures.

 

So, we have the PL's most prestigious meeting on one of its most biased circuits. Its representative was, according to last weeks Speedway Star, 20th in the league standings and qualified for the meeting with one of its lowest averages so he is a long way from being one of the best in the league and should, by rights, have been a rank outsider. Things is, though, this rank outsider was riding on his home track, a track that opinion suggests and statistics show has a pronounced home advantage. He wins, and its not too difficult to jump (and it would be a big jump)to the conclusion why.

 

Ask yourself three questions:

 

Would Ashworth have won it anywhere else ?

 

Would Howe, Proctor & Ward got in the final elsewhere ?

 

Does the fact that a rank outsider on his home circuit (a circuit with a pronounced home bias)won the meeting enhance or damage speedways credibility to someone looking in ?

 

I'd say No, Yes & damage.

 

As you can see, from my perspective Sheffield (and Rye House) isn't the problem, its the example and my point is not about slagging Sheffield off, but putting things right for the future and ensuring that as much as possible is done to ensure that our sport is presented in the best possible way so that we might attract more fans, sponsorship and media coverage.

 

For a start, lets be assured that past records are part of the selection process.

 

The ideal is to run meetings on neutral circuits but that is a financial disaster. So the next best thing is to choose the PL circuit that is seen to be the most like a neutral circuit, along with other relevant criteria such as central location, good crowd capacity, decent parking and maybe dining and corporate facilities. Sheffield has all those; so does Birmingham, and Birmingham has the advantage of being seen as less biased (they all have it, just some more than others).

 

Spot on, Birmingham would probably be most peoples choice as the fairest track but unfortunatly their future is in dout so that has to be counted out for the time being.

 

After Birmingham, their really isn't a PL track out there to hold an event like this with out the home rider having a massive advantage.