Steve0 5,517 Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) So why didnt they flock last seasonBecause they have fallen out of love with speedway - meetings were so disjointed that people found something else to do on a Thursday night. Now we are going to try and tempt them back with 2 NL riders for the same entrance money - good luck with that one. Surely it was shown this last 2 seasons in particular that speedway is a £10 sport - because crowds were generally up when at this price - obviously not in enough numbers to convince the BSPA. Edited December 3, 2013 by Steve0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frigbo 524 Posted December 3, 2013 Simon Lambert, Lee Smart, Dan Halsey, Ben Hopwood and Paul Starke are no hopers. They have been around years now. Harsh but true. One or two of the others may make it as ok PL riders but 2 or 3 of them will be lucky to make it as EL rider (so 6+ averages) but they would have probably got EL places this season anyway. bang on. The disparity in standard of the 23 reserves alone is huge, never mind against the top 5's. The likes of Garrity and Newman are miles ahead of Richings or Hopwood for example. As for Simon Lambert and Lee Smart, what joker threw them in to make the numbers up. They've both been going backwards for about 3 seasons. Hardly fits the untapped potential profile this is supposed to exploit! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Great Central 226 Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) I think I'll be saving lots of money next season as I don't want to see 75 second races & crashes to go with them holding up meetings. I am trying hard to keep to the rules of the forum by attacking the post, and not the poster but are you in the real world. Have you not seen NL racing recently and how good it can be? These lads are not the Swindon Sprockets Junior side(no disrespect to those riders) from a few years ago but most are the future of speedway in this country. I actually don't like the way this is being done for a number of reasons: It dilutes the EL product It takes some riders backwards rather than the other way. All this doubling up/down continues to restrict the number of opportunities in speedway for young lads and hides how few actual riders there are in this country. Despite those misgivings, it may save EL speedway in this country so let's see what happens this afternoon and let the promoters iron out the wrinkles so that it does eventually do what it is supposed to do. What it will do of course is stop the super reserves who could win matches notching up over 15 points a meeting riding up to 7 times and being kept at reserve for months on end by being "unavailable" for key matches keeping their averages in the right zone. Edited December 3, 2013 by Great Central 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orion 7,640 Posted December 3, 2013 I am trying hard to keep to the rules of the forum by attacking the post, and not the poster but are you in the real world. Have you not seen NL racing recently and how good it can be? These lads are not the Swindon Sprockets Junior side(no disrespect to those riders) from a few years ago but most are the future of speedway in this country. I actually don't like the way this is being done for a number of reasons: It dilutes the EL product It takes some riders backwards rather than the other way. All this doubling up/down continues to restrict the number of opportunities in speedway for young lads and hides how few actual riders there are in this country. Despite those misgivings, it may save EL speedway in this country so let's see what happens this afternoon and let the promoters iron out the wrinkles so that it does eventually do what it is supposed to do. What it will do of course is stop the super reserves who could win matches notching up over 15 points a meeting riding up to 7 times and being kept at reserve for months on end by being "unavailable" for key matches keeping their averages in the right zone. Are you in the real world ? Promoters will iron out the wrinkles lol ..don't tell me they are all going to work together for the good of the sport .. all they will do is find ways to cheat system to help there own club . Of course this system is so much fairer , letting the El champions pick a pl second string to take on Nl no hopers for the whole season at reserve . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
remembertheracers 171 Posted December 3, 2013 Clearly if Swindon, Birmingham and I am sure other EL teams had not made such a drastic move it would be a £20 sport - even if attendances didnt drop further.Read the quotes of rthe Pebley Beach sponsor - the club nearly didnt survive. And as someone who is pro EU and the Commonwealth I still think it is vital to restrict this to UK born and based riders only. I do agree that one or two have been around a long time and carry too much weight even but it gives the promoters more choice. As an aside why has Swindon's infield training track been used so rarely. I do think local riders are good for clubs - the great Belle Vue and Ipswich teams proved that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy robin 2,971 Posted December 3, 2013 I am trying hard to keep to the rules of the forum by attacking the post, and not the poster but are you in the real world. Have you not seen NL racing recently and how good it can be? These lads are not the Swindon Sprockets Junior side(no disrespect to those riders) from a few years ago but most are the future of speedway in this country. I actually don't like the way this is being done for a number of reasons: It dilutes the EL product It takes some riders backwards rather than the other way. All this doubling up/down continues to restrict the number of opportunities in speedway for young lads and hides how few actual riders there are in this country. Despite those misgivings, it may save EL speedway in this country so let's see what happens this afternoon and let the promoters iron out the wrinkles so that it does eventually do what it is supposed to do. What it will do of course is stop the super reserves who could win matches notching up over 15 points a meeting riding up to 7 times and being kept at reserve for months on end by being "unavailable" for key matches keeping their averages in the right zone. You can attack me all you want as I have a right to say I don't want to go & watch these riders in the top league & they should be promoted because they're good enough rather than because a rule says so. How many meetings in the National League ended with riders getting injured & there were a lot of meetings where they didn't finish as crashes caused them to go past the curfew time. The accident with Ricky Ashworth was a result of a rider simply out of his depth & being pushed to quickly too soon. We actually agree on a lot of points but the most important one is that these riders should be allowed to develop at the rate their ability lets them & not because a rule makes it happen. If they're good enough they will get there but this was a disaster when tried before & riders who might have made it in the long run were lost to the sport. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted December 3, 2013 As an aside why has Swindon's infield training track been used so rarely. I do think local riders are good for clubs - the great Belle Vue and Ipswich teams proved that. Because of the cost of renting the stadium from the Greyhound people. These are the same people who charge to park in the car park. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orion 7,640 Posted December 3, 2013 Worrall and Bates Two stars of the future . I can see why they brought this rule in now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy robin 2,971 Posted December 3, 2013 Worrall and Bates Two stars of the future . I can see why they brought this rule in now Bloody hell we did well to get Richie Worrall. Oh silly me it's his brother Steve.LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheSmiler 420 Posted December 3, 2013 2 more signings to come today? Alun Rossiter @AJROSCO1m Also 2 more signings in the main body of the team 👍👍#SwindonRobins2014 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted December 3, 2013 Rosco just tweeted really pleased we got what we wanted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reliant Robin 492 Posted December 3, 2013 2 more signings to come today? Alun Rossiter @AJROSCO1m Also 2 more signings in the main body of the team #SwindonRobins2014 It says this week. Happy with Worrall & Bates - Worrall was on par with his brother a few years back but seemed to suffer a massive loss in confidence. Hopefully he can make some progress in 2014. Bates is young and keen, saw him ride a couple of times at Mildenhall and looked good. Those two are more than capable of scoring decent points against other draft riders Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy robin 2,971 Posted December 3, 2013 Rosco just tweeted really pleased we got what we wanted. Good old Rosco the king of spin. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chalkie 263 Posted December 3, 2013 To me we seem to have got the cast offs nobody wanted on the face of it but I am prepared to give the youngsters as much encouragement as I can muster. (I know the first bit of this post didn't seem to be very encouraging but I think it shows the lack of talent there is at that level!) Agree about the spin put on this by Rosco-he could big-up a wet Thursday night in the Speedway season! I would like to wager that these two were not on his preferred list at the start of the"hugely successful" draft meeting this afternoon at BSPA HQ in Rugby. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,664 Posted December 3, 2013 I'm sure every 'top flight' promoter/team manager is pleased with their preferred 2!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
