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They are preseason challenge matches to blow away the cobwebs, just organised warm ups. No big drama is it ...

So you have a reserve that's flying on the night,,, don't put him up for a pick,, it's then chosen the under performing rider goes in 14,,,goes though tapes,, replaced by flying reserve. Can flying reserve also do heat 15 as wasn't original pick for 14

Oh the irony from the Starman of Manchester.......

But what's wrong with fans voting when it's not their team? Attendance 890 Votes 2035

The BSPA Keith Chapman Everyone's opinion of British Speedway right now (apart from the blinkered)

Wouldn’t say that’s strictly true. Made many gaffes while Rye promotor, but, give him his due he kept the club running. £15 is too much for speedway at any level in this country nowadays. Sport’s on the slide massively.

It's not just Somerset, the "we must reach the play-off" mentality of all promoters is killing Speedway........... but promoters cannot see it.

I can't believe any adult would think this cup gimmick is a good idea. Its meant to be a serious sport.

Why is it that a sport which has quite a few young riders cannot attract the younger fan base. Clearly this young rider base cannot connect with these fans and it is simply a sport that from a participation aspect is beyond the reach of the average youngster unlike it use to be when grass trackers progressed into speedway. It is costly to get into, not high profile enough and won’t make the newcomer a fortune or famous overnight. Perhaps low cost standard bikes etc and not the high performance machines that are used today might make it an option for a few more but in reality people will just have to accept that it simply does not work for a younger generation and never will given the choices that are available today. It is only a matter of time before it becomes a part time amateur status option for a few in the U.K. and those who are professional will have primarily Poland to race which continues to be a hot bed for talent and supporters something the U.K. will never replicate.

There is that word again! PROMOTION. Last season I went to all but what turned out to be the last meeting at Rye House. They have a large advert just by the road entrance which had the next meeting date and time. Trouble was on all but two meetings when I arrived it showed the details of a previous meeting. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, surely changing that hoarding should have been the first job on the day following a meeting.

The product is constantly on the decline. Ramping prices up further is going to do nothing but drive more fans away. There are other ways to draw a crowd, namely promotion. I wish Rye were still running but towards the end I was picking and choosing my meetings because the sport simply wasn’t value for money. So no, not at ANY price. The generation of fans who are/were happy to turn up and lap up whatever tripe was being served up, up and down the country are dying out, just like British Speedway.

Well least see where 2019 takes us .... certainly a more positive vibe to last year With such a points reduction difficult to really forecast how teams will do and to be fair who would have predicted Workington's success last year ! With 3 heat leaders we should be competitive. and we are always going to have a strong 1st reserve whether it be Clegg, Lambert or Wether's Also we should be in with a shout for plrc, pairs and fours ... unlike last year Lets hope the support increases (here and elsewhere) Number 1 wish for season - a good tight competitive league with little between top and bottom and a mad scramble for the playoffs (really my number wish is for us to win everything )

Remember we come away from your place with the points a few times always good meetings between both teams

The thing is, if you're not interested in it then you don't have to do anything. Just watch the racing. 13 heats using to old race formula and 2 nominated races at the end. That's it.

It's the saviour of british speedway,,,, praise the lord

It doesn't matter. Managers will chose their top four riders and the fans will choose which pair ride in heat 14 with the other pair riding in heat 15 by default. Just because some people don't have smartphones isn't a reason to try something new.

Exactly. I don't understand why some people are struggling with this concept. I actually think it is a good idea, just with slightly uninspiring implementation.

Lens only doing the sums for the 65-25 mashings each week, even the home fans will get brassed off with that eventually

What a complete dogs dinner, which numpty thought this would be a good idea. Its clearly open to abuse and i'm seriously beginning to think my time as a fan is coming to an end ...

Yep, not good. I wonder what/who was behind it. It was - and still is - an avoidable clash. But I guess Buster & co don't give a flying one as a good few K/Lynn fans will be there to compensate for some Panthers fans opting for the Posh game. Another one to file away under "Speedway shoots itself in the foot".

I have been a supporter for nearly 60 years, in Edinburgh and now where I live in Somerset. BUT I will not be attending many meetings this year. WHY? Because of the ridiculous clearing out of riders at the end of the season. We were in the Premier league with the world champ riding for us. Now he's not and we are down a league, with only one rider from last year. Sorry guys but that is not the way to engender loyalty. No concession entrances so I will be voting with my feet. I like Bill and Debbie and what they have done but they have to work with a broken system. Accuse me of being a dinasaur if you like but it cannot be viable to keep managing the decline like this.

Are you really a Belle Vue fan, or are you another forum member posing under another name? Why are going on about the stadium like you are? Swindon fans know there are concerns, but we don't need supporters of other tracks coming here and taking the mickey about it, just because they now have their own new track. I think there's only one person who needs to grow up.

Ipswich Witches‏ @ipswichspeedway FollowingFollowing @ipswichspeedway More No break for @cameronheeps after injuring his wrist last Saturday. The Australian is having treatment and hopes to be fit for Thursday #TruPlantWitches just posted on facebook and twitter

I think we'd all worked that one out.

Walker Boys U11's ?

The rules say a minimum 2

Aye,,, am thinking about taking up team management.

If i was leicester, id invest in a fleet of mobility buggies. Pretty soon they will need them. I've been a speedway fan for over 50 years, so I'll be joining you soon, up against that wall. Take aim and fire!

It's a bit of a soft target, isn't it? Journalists are good at picking on them, when they need some column inches to fill. For me, the bikes are too quiet now (but my hearing's also not what it used to be) and that addictive aroma isn't all that addictive now. These take away a lot of the dramatic effect. The material that's needed to produce good racing tracks doesn't seem to available any more, or if it is, it's too expensive. So many other sports have upped their game massively when it comes to venues and their facilities, but speedway operates with hands tied behind the back for the most part with no source of capital to tap into, anyway. What was done this winter with regards to the second tier, should have been done a long time ago, and I fear it's a case of too late. If the promoters had been enlightened enough to have done it 6 or 7 years ago, you could now be seeing the benefits. Instead they pratted around with the reserves draft experiment in the top tier. I think that may turn out in hindsight to be the last chance to save the show, which sadly wasn't taken when it was crying out for it.

We need more of this sentiment, maybe in petition form that can be sent round to him.

Just wondering if he said why this meeting had to be moved - do you think it’s fixed or could it be changed again once they realise it clashes with the Posh fixture others have mentioned? If we know what the problem it makes it easier to understand.

In the old 13 heat format the top five riders had four rides and the two reserves had three. With two extra races four riders will have an extra ride.

New sponsors for Scorpions: http://www.scunthorpe-speedway.com/?p=9611

So a fan at vicinty of stadium but not at match.......???......you met a scouser then.

Team suits nope at Comets......do recall Chris Blythe always wore a Rugby shirt, usually flowing in the slipstream....easily recognisable.

Fair enough, I was just confirming with jenga which year Nermark rode for Worky.

http://www.speedway-faq.org/miscfmts.html#BLClassic

Precisely, we need to see it in action to decide whether it’s a good idea or not. Don’t see how it can be slagged off until then.

We will have whip round and see if we can afford to send you a season highlights DVD in Oct.

I cam look at most pics from the 70s and u can tell who it is by the leathers and face mask and handlebars now they all look the same ! Unless i am getting old .

seen Drew at Leicester on Saturday night and Sheffield yesterday, did OK Saturday but well out of his depth at Sheffield, may be he should go back to his old gear. #kevlargate

Ahh...the smell of burning clutches

Lidsey and bewley both practised today

When riders admit to joining your team merely because it fits in with their other commitments between the leagues and on foreign jaunts, it shows a disconnection between the importance of the team and the fan who is supposed to travel miles after work, pay a large sum of his wage and support a group of men who act as a team for a few hours and then disperse their separate ways to act as a team somewhere else. When a rider who was part of that newspaper article used British speedway to learn his trade against genuine competition and then sits on his lofty perch and feels he isn't part of the problem, not wanting to dirty his boots racing on these shores any more... that is another problem. And the rider I'm referring to isn't the only one. But he states that he is in the best physical shape he's ever been going into this season, so get some money on him winning the GP. To me, as a former fan driven away by this type of thing, I'd say that I'm not bothered about your individual aim. You don't ride over here for a club, so how can I get excited about your chase for individual profit? When Peter Collins had to quit in 1980 because of his shoulder injury, the first thing he suffered was being banned from riding in the British qualifiers for the World Championship. I know we're living in different times, but riders have just gained too much power over the years and now, it seems, get more out of speedway than the fans who pay them. British speedway has allowed so much of its grip to slip away. The start was letting riders race in other leagues across Europe. Loyalty is a two-way thing between competitor and supporter. Somewhere in time, it's been lost. Without the feel of a connection between you and your team, that need to get up off your backside and leave the house to support it at the track isn't as appealing. I feel that is just one of speedway's current problems. Supporters must have been lost because of it. I mean, it's an instant passion killer for a fan, when a rider grabbingly states something akin to these words: "Yeah, I'm happy to join the club because it fits in with my other meetings in Poland and Sweden, as well as my commitments to my Premier League side. Sorry, I know it's a Monday track... but who am I joining?"

With many fixture clashes, and guests needed, due to riders riding for several teams around Europe and domestically.. An amazing plan... Signing employees who dictate to you, the business owner, when you can and can't open your doors to your customers..? It will never work as a successful business operating model, because quite simply it cannot.. Yet, year in, year out, this is the model they use... No surprise really then that the sport in the UK is where it currently is... As everyone knows... Keep doing the same thing and you will keep delivering the same results...

I used to go to Hackney on a regular basis in the old days. Can't ever remember feeling I'd been ripped off. Racing was great and always a good fun atmosphere. I see that the kevlar issue is now becoming THE topic of conversation !!

Well done new Rebels skipper Chris Harris, big 15 point max for Ippo last night.

As opposed to all seven looking a complete shambles from the get go? Some people still live in the past and that’s part of the problem Speedway has these days. I suggest everyone takes a look at the link to the Look East programme posted on the Ipswich thread. Ipswich look like a professional outfit of a professional sport, exactly the way it SHOULD be, instead of people harking on about the good old days of the 70’s when riders had individual identity with race bibs and numbers made out of gaffer tape that was half falling off. As I said, people need to stop living in the past.

And Jarek Hampel was spotted in Jack's Cafe this morning, having breakfast with Emil Sayfutdinov and Chris Louis.