I even heard them being played over the pa at Belle Vue once a few years back... how's that for down with the kids!

Sadly, there are indeed a lot of insular, narrow-minded, stuck-in-the-past, head-in-the-sand speedway supporters, who think it's still 1940s Britain with Hitler, Rickets Diphtheria and Ringworm. Of course we all love old Doris and Bob, who turn up at their club every week with their rattle, tartan blanket and Thermos flask. They tell us great stories of how when they lived in London, they would cycle to a different track every night to watch speedway, go dancing, have some fish and chips, and still have change out of a farthing.  Doris and Bob love a Saturday morning in a village hall looking at a 1961 Ove Fundin rosette.  But should Danny Ford spend "just £15" (plus fuel, plus food, plus 10 hours of his day) travelling a 320 mile round trip to a village near Coventry to talk to Doris and Bob?  Will this increase Poole attendance?  Will it increase his business turnover?   Of course not. I ended up talking to Phillip Lanning at a meeting earlier this season.  He handles a lot of the marketing for Glasgow and Belle Vue (two of the more forward-thinking clubs in terms of marketing - and two of the clubs who don't bother wasting £15 at the village fayre).  He was saying how they both spent thousands on strategic partnerships with Facebook and the media company which owns the biggest local newspapers in Glasgow and Manchester.  (Reach Media, I think?).  He said the Facebook advertising won't necessarily be seen by existing fans as it's not targeted at them.  It can be targeted at very specific demographics of interest, and feedback is monitored.  Speedway has to move with the times and use the clever marketing technology which is available.  The social media generation of Youtube, TikTok and Instagram are who we need to attract.  Doris and Bob are not the future.   The past is a foreign country; They do things differently there.     

We need Rick Frost...

I've read so many of the comments on here and the more I read the more I think that going to one big league would be a disaster but maintaining the current structure but racing over the weekend works.  I still think there needs to be selected race nights so that riders can still race in UK and poland 2nd division or Sweden. I think a deal with Poland where the UK races on Friday and Saturday nights, 1st division and 3rd division Poland stays the same, 2nd division runs on Thursday (they wanted to do this a couple years ago) could work.  Thursday - Poland 2nd Division Friday - Polish 1st Division, UK 1st Division Saturday - UK 1st Division, Speedway GP Sunday - Poland 3rd Division, Poland 1st Division Riders who look to be racing in Poland 1st Division in 2026: Kurtz, Bewley, Blodorn, Lidsey, Sayfutdinov, Rew, Ben Cook, Kvech, Fricke, Janowski, Jack Holder The riders become cheaper therefore clubs find it easier to run and can slightly lower ticket prices and fans are more willing to come as the meetings are on favorable nights? Maybe I'm delusional?

Would agree.They are heavily involved in the sport  though and might feel a need to help out would be my only worry.

Only "superstars" can have top quality races??? Look up Heat 14 from the Glasgow v Edinburgh playoff semi (British Speedway Network posted it on their Facebook page on 27th September) It was a fantastic race between Perry, MPT & Flint swapping places. Then contrast that with the dross that was GB v Poland at the same track which had Bewley, Woffinden, Zmarzlik and Janowski, 3 of the 4 riders that had just competed in whatever they call the World Pairs final these days, and next to no passing all night. It was one of the worst meetings ever at Ashfield. The only worse ones I can think of were ruined by rain. Glasgow fans are very happy with the entertainment on show at Ashfield every week. Star names do not mean better races. Glasgow fans want to race Fridays, and the promotion fought long and hard to get it. They also have the derbies with Edinburgh and Berwick and rivalry with Poole, and to a lesser extent Redcar and Workington. They also have a competitive team. And they run with (what the promotion deem to be) acceptable losses each year. All of which would be lost propping up the failing Premiership. The Facennas are working hard to build up the speedway at Glasgow but that move would not make any sense and could jeopardise the future of the Tigers.