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I DOUBT whether there is a promoter who wouldn't tell you that individual meetings are financial suicide. Team racing is the lifeblood of speedway in the UK which is why all the efforts of those in the BSPA must focus on getting that right. But, no matter what people on here might think, there isn't an easy solution that will work an overnight miracle. My own view, for what it's worth, is that regular and continuity of fixtures, overhauling the averages system and adding to the entertainment value during a meeting would at least be a start.

I don't agree. I'd say that racing today is no better or worse than it has always been. I think its fair to say that neither Sheffield nor King's Lynn are as good as they used to be, but Workington, Peterborough and Plymouth are better. Berwick remains the same, and I think there are few that would dispute that even the superlative Hyde Road is matched by the NSS. No track today has the appalling standard of preparation of places like Nelson & Doncaster, and there is surely none that has the notorious gaters paradise reputation that Coventry had. I saw good meetings and bad meetings then and I see them now.

The reason for the decline for me is the sport no longer has anything left for the supporters to get ramped up about. The whole working man's aspect has disappeared. Rider punch ups, deliberate fencing, aggressive racing, argumentative managers with referee's etc. It's all gone. The sport is to clean cut, rider's all mate's. No passing is attempted much unless an easy opportunity presents itself. For the supporters, more often than not you part with your hard earned, listen to abysmal centre green presentation, abysmal music, abysmal processional racing, abysmal atmosphere but people claim £17-£18 is cheap for a "professional" sport?!?!? The sport currently, is so abysmal, many wouldn't part with a £1 on a weekly basis with the extra costs of meeting day fuel, food and drink etc. British Speedway is in an absolute quagmire and there's absolutely no chance of a fix. British Speedway is 'bleeding out' and waiting for it's last breath to be taken. I firmly now believe that the promoters know then end is coming and are intentionally winding down the sport until it's completely unviable. Clubs are now closing as buyers are impossible to come by. I think we just have to get into the mind set for the inevitable. Those that still get enjoyment will continue, those that don't will never return, that's where we are, the point of no return folks.

The benefit of hindsight? Really? Do you really need hindsight to see that spending vast amounts more than you are bringing in, and racing on nights dictated to by your employees, rather than for the benefit of your customers, is anything other than a ludicrous business plan?.. Do you really need hindsight to see that trying to run a bona fide Sporting Championship, whilst sharing competitors with your rivals on an adhoc basis, is laughable and brings zero credibility to the very competition you are spending ridiculous sums trying to win? Do you really need hindsight to see that you have, annually, lost thousands of fans due to your operating model and business plan and replaced them with very, very few new fans? I would suggest anyone who didn't spot the current shambles being the obvious conclusion of their actions, must have very, very poor vision indeed, and not having hindsight is the least of their worries...

At least the “wobblers “seem to be trying for 4 laps which is not the case for the “seasoned” riders at times,better to have a”nice “ average for guesting for some of them at times IMO.

I fear we will not hear from Ged or Neil again. It is almost unbelievable the total disregard for the paying public shown by the Mafia and the seeming contempt in which we are regarded.

So the Nss provides good racing,, how big are the crowds?? And how many people live in and around Manchester?

I just can't see how guest riders will ever stop new people coming through the door, unless of course they are told how terrible it is by an existing fan. It may well be a problem that costs the sport some existing fans but it's hard to see a way it can be resolved. Smaller teams will mean more riders sat on the sidelines waiting to race however they aren't going to wait forever they will retire from Speedway and race something else weekends. In fact the use of guest riders could be treated as a positive by explaining they are necessary because of how dangerous the sport is and how often teams are hit by injury. To me the racing is as good (and bad) as ever but the show has gone backwards if anything. They have tried to sanitise a sport that should be celebrating it's dirty, dangerous and aggressive side. People want to be entertained every minute of the evening now so something needs to be happening between races and while grading. Doesn't have to cost anything much, a local kids Trials club putting on some demos, the local cycle speedway club having some races on the back straight, local bands and so on. For those tracks that can use the centre green a cycle Speedway race between each heat is a natural fit I've always thought. I'm sure there are lots of other things people could suggest. But most importantly make the Speedway entertaining, everybody pretends to be horrified by crashes and punch ups but the sales of the crashes and cock ups videos are always much higher than any other and a punch up always sees a good crowd not only the following week but next time that team visits too. The sport is having all it's natural spectator appeal stifled.

The standard of riders was obviously better back in the day, with most of the best riders in the world appearing in British racing, but that doesn't necessarily lead to better racing. The best guys were largely full time and filled their boots against riders who might be turning up with only one bike and riding at tracks they saw once a season. Obviously, there were great races but they stick out in the memory and the processions get forgotten about. Speedway seemed better because there were bigger crowds and better presentation. Alan Morrey's two minute button at Belle Vue was legendary, whereas most of the recent meetings I've been to have dragged interminably. Speedway back in the 60s and 70s also benefitted from presenting more races. I've recently been looking at the Speedway Researcher website and the Coventry section for the early BL years has details of the second hald races. Coventry regularly put on 20 races, most tracks 19 and one or two 21. The evening ended with a Rider of the Night final, which certainly in some of the runaway Belle Vue victories I saw was often the best race of the night and cute promoters elsewhere knew to get the riders to put on a show in the last race of the night (none of this should be seen as a plea for the return of the second half as they'd certainly had their day by the time they were got rid of). The other thing was that speedway then was full of confidence; the formation of the Provincial League, the successful amalgamation of the PL and the NL and the formation of Division 2 all took place within a 10 year period and the sport seemed to be going places. Now, the atmosphere seems overwhelmingly negative, with contraction not expansion the chief expectation. It's difficult to see a recovery like there was 50 years ago, but then that recovery could never have been predicted 10 years before it happened. Let's hope history repeats itself.

How can you be so sure when you/we don't even know the starting 7

it's a tricky one ...my memories of years gone by at Swindon was that the track was very deep to start with . These days it's risk free and very slick from the start . There can be no doubt it's been a poor track for quite a while now and not only that quite dangerous with holes etc ..One of the reasons Nick Morris left was because of it . A school of thought might that the lack of money in speedway is also effecting how the tracks are being set up .

Sadly, I think you're right. Another example of how the sport is being run for the benefit of its paid employees rather than its paying customers.

And as RG alluded to in the SS, 'guest riding' is a nice earner for the riders which helps fund their riding, hence they are here to stay.. Their team might only have 30 or so meetings but riders can ride many, many more times if they have the 'right average' .... (and maintain it)...

It certainly isn't at King's Lynn where I have been so turned off by the poor quality of racing over the last three seasons ( except for Robert Lambert - the only rider to make me want to go and watch there ) that I am unlikely to attend, on other than the odd occasion in 2019. Gate and Go, all over by half way round the first lap, Riders chasing ( with little hope of or interest in catching the man in front - processional mostly ). And I have watched at Saddlebow Rd every year since it opened ) For me the racing in recent years is not a patch on what was on offer 10 - 40 years ago.

Sadly i think you could be right, i felt this year Chapman had a chance to revamp the sport by trying something different but he chose not to.Do any of us have the real answers? i don't think so but i do believe when the show is put on right the product is still there.Chapman odviously has kept the show going by bailing Peterborough/Ipswich out which is commendable but the concerning thing is he seems to give the impression that everything is rosy in the garden and the show just plods on.

Sadly it is terminal ..I can't see any way forward ..Each fan at each club must wonder when they will hear that there club is closing down .

Spot on post Mikebv. Godfrey is frankly clueless and IMO speedway is beyond the point of NO return and things will sadly only get worse. Chapman, Godfrey and the BSPA have only themselves to blame. A great sport ruined by sheer incompetence.

Reading the RG comments you couldn't help but get the impression of someone 'stating the bleedin' obvious'! It's almost like a summary of the past five to ten years on here!! However you then read comments around the fact that 'all promoters now realise what needs to be done' and you then think (amazingly), that maybe there have been some promoters over the past five to ten years who must have thought it was all going 'OK'! Maybe there now is a true realism of actually where the sport currently sits amongst the rest of the sports in Britiain and realistic plans will be put in place going forward? But you then read comments around guests for example, where they get dismissed as an almost 'inevitably', without even a thought to eradicate something that destroys any credibility the sport has, and you think that maybe after all that the reality will be more of 'same old, same old'.. He did mention being in the 'last chance saloon' so hopefully there is some real focus as a collective now... My doubt to be honest though is that as they are the ones who have led the sport to its current position (whilst blindly not seeing the obvious and inevitable conclusion that such a ridiculous operating and business model would bring), then, are they really the ones capable of sorting it all out? I hope so, but do have my doubts..

Decent drills don't come cheap!

Dead easy to cut down the number of guests. Each team to have a NL (2.00) no. 8. Guest for your number 1 only. R/R for nos. 2 to 5. If both teams are using R/R then your highest reserve is promoted into the team and your no. 8 takes his reserve spot.

I'll be surprised if you have actually seen him. I saw him a couple of times last season and he was just superb - the most talented youngster I have seen since Woffinden. The first was riding for Mildenhall at the NSS - never the easiest place for visiting NL riders. After a couple of seconds he really got the hang of the place and his last to first in heat 15 was just sublime. The second was for Ipswich against Scunthorpe in what was probably the most impressive individual performance I saw anywhere in 2018. Paid 14 from 5 starts against Championship opposition tells its own story. If he can stay clear of injury, he should easily put at least 2 points on that staring average.

I really believe even in the good old days Swindon could be slick and dusty especially afternoon meeting's.I can remember a England v USA test match being very slick my memory from the late 60s early 70s the track was good and renowned as one of the best tracks in the Country and had dirt on it.Riders like Briggs,Crump, Ashby, Adams over the years knew you could always pass at the Abbey but i would say since Leigh's last year the demise of the quality of racing has deteriorated badly at the Abbey.I think now possibly with the set up of the bikes now with more speed and more unpredictable ( etc) the straights are now to long for that track? Swindon now has become quite a technical track.

Cant be that bad if you saw it .

An application to run speedway at Charlton Greyhound Stadium was made in 1938 and again in 1948. Both were turned down by the ACU. In 1965, Wally Mawdsley, Pete Lansdale and Len Silver made another attempt to enter a Charlton team in the newly formed British League again at the greyhound stadium. They signed up Denis Newton, but nothing came of it.

Sings4Speedway makes a very fair point about teams being "too strong" as processional racing is not entertaining and can soon wear a little thin. At Birmingham last season (before injuries hit) some of the racing was very boring, once the team was weakened the actual entertainment value rose as it was closer and more competitive. Of the other NL teams in past few years have noticed a decline in attendances when I have been to Eastbourne and Belle Vue, who would often pummel sides at home in NL. No disrespect but if you know team are going to hit 60 every week, you will pick and choose. I don't think its a particularly good race track at Kent either, fantastic facilities but the track not great for entertainment.

Speedway still has a foot in the door media wise with BT. It’s cheap for them and unfortunately they can dictate the price as the sport is desperate. The promoters must become ‘joined up’ if the sport is to survive as just looking after their own businesses will put others out of business. The sport will unfortunately continue to down size as there are not enough riders and overseas riders will be too expensive.

This always used to be the case. no 6 man teams riding against 6 man teams, one injured in each team, bring in the number 8s don't why this cant still be done

The reason we moved from souf-east London to Swindon in 1967.The old man liked the football and speedway teams. Well that and the free council house with the job like.

I really like this suggestion :) But it will probably be to easy and simple for the BSPA to adopt unfortunately.

Good to hear someone else appreciated his style.Must admit I have a number of Swindon faves,as for some reason I sort of adopted Swindon as my second team for a few years in the 70s.But only ever visited the track once.Well i only ever visited Swindon twice in my life so far

Racing at the NSS is anything but boring, even from the gate races are close, and I firmly believe that other tracks that once provided good exciting races still can if prepared better. As for promoters intentionally winding it down, do me a favour, nobody intentionally throws good money after bad. I heard our promoters have a 5 year plan to turn Belle Vue round, I sincerely hope they can. As for the cost, when compared to other professional sports Speedway is relatively cheap, it's the extras that one can do without to keep one's cost down.

Silver was brilliant at Swindon - at least he was in my selective memory where he regularly passed people "for fun" and was a master of the first bend cut-back that Tai Woffinden gets a lot of praise for today. Probably my all-time favourite rider.

My take on it Tiger is we have lost Wimbledon, Hackney, the brilliant Hyde Rd ( luckily replaced by another great track) Exeter, Halifax, Reading, Leicester , Oxford ,Coatbridge,(ect) all good tracks in there own unique way when they were prepared.Now Swindon, Wolves,Sheffield, Kings Lynn, a few examples are nowhere near the level of yesteryear for entertainment maybe the bikes are to fast now who knows. But i dont believe the entertainment level now is better far from it not from my experience at Swindon anyway.

Go to speedwaygb. Championship. Championship averages.

Workington crowds have been droping for years ..each year has been nip and tuck if they ran on or not ...Running on a sat night has hardly been a saviour for them

Would you not agree, that the standard has dropped quite a bit though? Not at GP level or Poland and Sweden. Both leagues seem to be of high standard. I'm not sure why, but if you look at the British Final for example. It's been turned on its head. You must remember how hard that meeting once was. For a 2nd Division rider to make it was a truly great achievement. Unfortunately now. The field is made up of 2nd division riders. Yes doubling up is a factor for this, but Some of the riders appearing in the final would not have made it past the first qualifying round! Never mind make the final!

So if we say, in general terms, the quality of the racing is roughly the same as it's always been, some good meetings, some not so good, then as long as there are not too many bad meetings, we can say it's not the quality of the racing that turns people away. Obviously there are a lot more ways to spend your leisure time today than there were 30 or 40 years ago, and less and less people want to stand around in stadiums all evening because it's not just Speedwáy that has suffered. Dog racing has suffered heavily and stick cars are not doing as well as they used to. So if we say that is not the on track action that had turned fans away, at least not in great numbers, it has to be the off track issues like presentation and the cheating which to my mind is a major factor , even though it was probably always there to a point. If it is the off track issues that are the problem then that falls back in the lap of the BSPA. Unless and until the likes of Godfrey and Chapman take a long look at themselves and take their share of responsibility, nothing will change.

I think the stars will make the play offs next season. I know there’s plenty of people who’ll disagree - I’ll happily wager £50 with anyone who disagrees, losers money to the Ben fund - I’ll happily put my money where my mouth is ...... of course if it works both ways ......

To be honest a lot of them, particularly the Midland boys were in the SDL anyway... i guess they want to ride their bikes, but i think most clubs now manage to help with sponsorship in some way

This is a step towards making riders wanting to ride the practise instead of an Ekstraliga meeting. Thats it. But if lets say six of 16 are away from practise and are under the lottery, what difference does it make? Bugger all. Add one 5 mins of rain between heats 3-4 and all that was gained is gone. Politics.

Somerset should of just come out and slaughtered him, not tried to protect him about struggling to find a mechanic. Berge simply couldn't be assed and that's that, and in the process completely destroyed Somerset's team further.

In Gary May's interview he says that Berge told him "You won't change my mind" which implies to me, he simply didn't fancy it, nothing to do with bikes or mechanics.

U have to feel for berge having to drive himself to the airport and wash his own bikes , its called work what we do before we come and watch u work !

Mildenhall 2018 fantastic results for such a young team until injuries hit!

Agree 100%. Why do the promoters keep backing rubbish foreign riders over British riders ?

I think Simon Lambert would do a better job than the German guy who has absolutely no experience of British tracks and he's not exactly coming in as a new talent , and I wouldn't expect him to see the season through without being replaced or getting injured at some stage .

Or Berge Pole....

When you look at the goings on at other clubs ( Berge at Somerset, Workington pulling out etc) it makes the current situation at Eastie seem even more admirable. An all British team certainty capable of the payoffs, management/promoters doing their utmost in obtaining secure sponsorship and backing, and making appointments that the fans want such as Kevin Coombes. Happy days for Eastie fans at the moment.

Don't sign them then. I'm quite sure other riders would have signed without the extra cost to the promotion.

Ridiculous amounts of money no wonder clubs are in trouble