Sidney the robin 4,735 Posted June 26, 2016 If this proposal was put forward by anyone else you would be saying different as your hatred of Matt Ford, your words, clouds any judgement from you. Why the hell does it favour Poole? Any club can sign riders. People want weekly speedway. They want EL not PL speedway. This way top riders can ride over here. Squads definately in for 2017 no doubt at all. 4 extra clubs coming up and.p add Cup comp and we will be back to weekly speedway with quality riders. Awaiting ideas from other promotions but most have their heads in the sand so wont get excited. You are in Cloud cookoo land, clubs now in the EL are just about keeping there heads above water squads you are having a laugh.Four clubs coming up i would be very surprised a non starter, even though i would love Sheffield to do it it would be great to have them back.For me talks should be ongoing now,until the EL sorts a different race night Gp riders forget it and i doubt most of those clubs can afford them anyway. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topsoil 2,498 Posted June 26, 2016 Some teams fill in fixture lists with national League fixtures. Could this be the answer to fans who want speedway every week? Those teams who want extra fixtures look at forming a colts team? I realized the National League is not for all and some only want top flight racing, but the chances of expanding the elite league in its current format in my eyes are very slim. Who in their right minds wants to step up? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavan 5,050 Posted June 26, 2016 If this proposal was put forward by anyone else you would be saying different as your hatred of Matt Ford, your words, clouds any judgement from you. Why the hell does it favour Poole? Any club can sign riders. People want weekly speedway. They want EL not PL speedway. This way top riders can ride over here. Squads definately in for 2017 no doubt at all. 4 extra clubs coming up and.p add Cup comp and we will be back to weekly speedway with quality riders. Awaiting ideas from other promotions but most have their heads in the sand so wont get excited. If you cant see how it favours a club that already has a bucket load of assets and also the club that in all liklihood has the most money, then i believe your head is firmly buried in the sand Any club can sign riders but to sign top quality you need the funds to do it. people do want weekly speedway and the majority wouldnt care if it was elite league or premier league. Your telling me that if Poole dropped down you wouldnt go??? Love your idea of 4 extra clubs lol. Coventry , Swindon and Leicester all in trouble yet somehow you think there are 4 more on top of those?? As i said , which you chose to conveniently ignore, Ford has come up with an idea, one that favours his club immensly more than any other club. I dont blame him for that. Squad system in 2017 will be the start of the end of elite league speedway , something that fans of the bigger clubs lose sight of 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BluTiger 21,701 Posted June 26, 2016 The Elite League is finished, its not a sustainable product. It's only a matter of time.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hyderd 1,216 Posted June 26, 2016 Squad systems are fine, but we don't need an EL with only 8 teams in it plus the money is not in the EL to attract the top riders back. We need to go back to grass roots and form 1 league which means at least 1 meeting per week, preferably 1 or 2 race nights per week, provide good speedway without seeing the same club back 2 weeks after the last time. Speedway for me should be entertainment and not gate and go. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Smith 5,666 Posted June 26, 2016 I think the squad system could work but imo the asset system has to be scrapped for it to happen & work. I would be wrong to be paying loan fee's for riders that may only appear in 2-3 meetings, or even none at all. Squad system = Open book on riders. If a rider feels they're not getting the number meetings they feel they should there should be an 'Open Transfer List' that shows publicly a riders availability. Squad make-up of 10 based on 6 man teams: ABC grading groups 3 Heatleaders (7.50+ average) 4 2nd String (4.50 - 7.49) 3 Reserves (3.00 - 4.49) 1 must be U21 Averages are only viable at the start of the season and all riders ride in their graded positions all season but team positions are in any position the team manager wishes. Team make-ups: Reserve Heatleaders 2nd Strings Example Line-up's: Reserve 2nd String Heatleader Heatleader 2nd String 2nd String Heatleader Heatleader Reserve 2nd String 2nd String 2nd String Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PHILIPRISING 7,298 Posted June 26, 2016 Do away with the asset system then go from there ..... THAT would be a start and help to free up riders. People talk of a squad system as if it only involves the so-called top riders. It doesn't. Would help clubs to give opportunities to more riders lower down the scale. Wisely the task of dissemination of the rule book by an independent panel of referees is, I believe, a step in the right direction.Not only are they independent but more often than not are those who have to interpret the current overly complex and often unworkable regulations. The acid test will be when the promoters are confronted by their findings. I'm in the camp of those who would love to see the top riders racing in the UK again but, sadly, there are now a number of reasons why that is unlikely to happen in the near future at least. British tracks simply cannot match the money paid in Poland and Sweden and that's without the geographical factor. So we have to make the best of what we have to work with. The demise of the KO Cup lays firmly at the door of the BSPA. I can recall attending many finals, at places like Belle Vue, Coventry and Cradley, when the stadiums were full to the rafters. But once the BSPA as a body started to treat the competition with disdain that filtered down to the fans they lost a priceless asset. As were test matches against Denmark in particular. More collective thought needs to be put in to ensure a regular fixture list, even if some events have a reduced admission fee. They need to keep the turnstiles ticking and there are many things that promoters could do on a social basis on a race night to ensure that there is additional entertainment on offer to that which actually takes place on the track. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted June 26, 2016 Whether its called 'amalgamation' or whatever (and leaving aside the NL for the moment) there will always be demand for a 'senior' league/division, with or without promotion/relegation!! If the likes of Coventry and Swindon didn't have their stadium doubts, they would undoubtedly still want to operate in the 'senior' league. Belle Vue have commitments to their council that they will bring 'top-class' speedway events to the NSS, which will not mean 'lower league' speedway. Poole, Wolves, and probably Kings Lynn and Lakeside would also prefer the 'senior' league. Goodness only knows about Leicester?! Add in the possibles of Glasgow, Sheffield, Ipswich and even Somerset - maybe with one or two others? - and you have a workable 'senior' league, which with some sort of squad system could give the Top riders few enough fixtures to attract them back but could also provide enough fixtures (for those riders not in other European leagues) when you add in a competitive Cup completion which would not include the 'top' riders and you could have a workable solution?! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starman2006 2,355 Posted June 26, 2016 Whether its called 'amalgamation' or whatever (and leaving aside the NL for the moment) there will always be demand for a 'senior' league/division, with or without promotion/relegation!! If the likes of Coventry and Swindon didn't have their stadium doubts, they would undoubtedly still want to operate in the 'senior' league. Belle Vue have commitments to their council that they will bring 'top-class' speedway events to the NSS, which will not mean 'lower league' speedway. Poole, Wolves, and probably Kings Lynn and Lakeside would also prefer the 'senior' league. Goodness only knows about Leicester?! Add in the possibles of Glasgow, Sheffield, Ipswich and even Somerset - maybe with one or two others? - and you have a workable 'senior' league, which with some sort of squad system could give the Top riders few enough fixtures to attract them back but could also provide enough fixtures (for those riders not in other European leagues) when you add in a competitive Cup completion which would not include the 'top' riders and you could have a workable solution?! Glasgow maybe, but i would very much doubt the other three would want or could afford such a venture.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shale Searcher 1,264 Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) Team spirit, team affiliation to its City/Town, fans passion for its clubs riders, fans being able to mix with the clubs riders after meetings, is all but lost now as it is (guests/riders with multiple teams/missing matches) is probably at its worst now than its ever been.... Bringing in squads will kill that off completely.. That's one of the things that made speedway great.. You could watch your heroes on track, have a beer with them after the match, see them in the local chip shop on the way home!!! Riders today, especially in the EL, once they've had their last ride, are showered, changed and in their van on the way to the airport to ride for Rybnik/Smederna/Gorzow or whoever... Squad riders will just about kill-off fan/rider bonding. Crikey, it could be that a rider might fly in, get given race jacket, ride, fly out and you'll not see that rider for another month!! As a squad rider, he will still want to ride for his other Euro team, before his UK EL team... Since the rise of the GP series, the upsurge of speedway in Poland, the UK has continually in error, in my opinion, watered down the sport to artificially spread the best riders around the league, the less top riders, the more they've been spread, leading to where we are now... Earnings in the UK Elite League, not a patch on Poland's and possibly Swedens rider wages.. This continual watering down of the EL, has gradually erroded the number of supporters attending, its now at a dangerous level, and squads will worsen it because it will effectively weaken and water down the teams on track yet again, as well as diminish fan/rider affiliation even further.. Can you imagine how difficult it will be to get a FULL SQUAD photo? Some riders will get more meetings than others, what will happen to these others....? Edited June 26, 2016 by Shale Searcher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted June 26, 2016 Some riders will get more meetings than others, what will happen to these others....? As posted earlier, if a rider is any good and the club wants him, he needs to include in his contract that he is paid a retainer to cover periods of time when not riding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starman2006 2,355 Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) As posted earlier, if a rider is any good and the club wants him, he needs to include in his contract that he is paid a retainer to cover periods of time when not riding. I said this ages ago, but as per usual people scoffed it. You have a squad system reguardless what people say they will want to be paid a retainer. Which would finish many clubs. Not viable.. Unless you hiked up admission charges and like us you had a good main team sponsor. Edited June 26, 2016 by Starman2006 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSC67 1,465 Posted June 26, 2016 Glasgow maybe, but i would very much doubt the other three would want or could afford such a venture.. Why would Glasgow want to be in a league with no Edinburgh in it , they'd be cutting their own throats finically surely ? It would also require a change of race night as well . A home match on a weeknight vs the likes of Leicester or Swindon isn't going to bring in as big a crowd as a Sunday afternoon v Berwick , Newcastle or Workington is it ? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavan 5,050 Posted June 26, 2016 Glasgow maybe, but i would very much doubt the other three would want or could afford such a venture.. Glasgow could afford it but why would they bother?? They have so many local derbies why would they want to go to Poole or Lakeside instead?? Financial suicide. Its been well mentioned that Ipswich are wanting to come back, personally i much prefer the premier league and would hate to see us go back up 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trees 2,814 Posted June 26, 2016 I'd love to watch KOC matches again, but I was never one of the fans who stopped going to them. I'm pretty sure the riders could spare half an hour in the bar after a meeting if they really wanted BUT not so sure that many fans bother to go in on a weeknight. It was the done thing on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday when UK racing was number one but not now. When we were in the PL loads of our team lived locally and only rode in the UK so it was a totally different scenario. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
