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Do the promotions really listen ? I remember about 7 years ago when Adam started riding in the UK one of these “how do we gauge public opinion” threads came up on here and I suggested a simple questionaire slipped into a program and a suggestion box near the exit. Most if not all people who buy a program have a pen (or can borrow one). A few questions filled in with their contact details at the end isn’t the hardest thing in the world. 1, you know really what the punters think and can maybe act on some of the suggestions 2, with their contact details you straight away have a database where you can contact people with offers etc. its really not that hard eh ?

So far as I am aware the Newcastle promotion have a similar reputation, yet still struggle to attract riders. The point is that, whether it's Poole and/or Glasgow or not, there is a disparity between what some clubs can afford. Not the fault of those clubs, they live within their means. My point is that their isn't sufficient clubs left to sustain the three tier structure so the Championship needs to be a sustainable standard for the majority, which inevitably means less professional and featuring less expensive 'international' standard riders. But whilst clubs with larger budgets remain in the Championship the rest will try to be competitive on the basis that if they're not the crowd levels fall. Either way is unsustainable in the long term unless you can reduce costs. You could argue that if speedway in Newcastle is unsustainable (due to a Sunday race night and/or high stadium rental etc) then they should drop down to the National League but that's the problem. Even if Belle Vue and Cradley continue it's a maximum six team league which just isn't viable and not great news for the development of young British riders who struggle to make Championship level pay (Thomas, Wood etc). With only 22 tracks in operation, now would have been the opportunity to have restructured to two tiers, widening the gap between both and getting rid of doubling up for all bar British development riders. Workington's demise last season should have been the tipping point. How many more will fall before it's inevitable?

The only thing Poole's money does is always ensure that riders are paid correctly and on time! The main reason to go SGBC is to recoup some losses from sponsors going bust mid season and to get back their traditional raceday ie Wednesdays. Not sure that any of that affects the Diamonds situ which I hope is sorted asap.

Fruitcake

The new system for the Championship is based on how all American professional team sports work bar MLS. The leagues are split into conferences and a team's results, while including games against teams from other conferences the league is split into several sections and a team only competes with the teams in its own conference for play-off spots. There's nothing to say in the AGM report that the following is due to happen which is worrying, but if not they are iin trouble.. So we have 12 teams, including either Newcastle or Plymouth. These are split into two conferences/sub-divisions. All 12 race 32 matches, 20 against their fellow conference members and 12 against sides from the other conference. Here's the key - you run two league tables, one for each conference and the top three from each qualify for the play-offs. Now, if we only had an odd number of teams it still works. Say if we have five in the north and six in the south the northern teams ride 28 times, 16 against fellow northerners and still 12 against the southerners, making 28. The southerners will still race 20 times against their fellow conference members, but only 10 against the northerners, making 30 matches. So, at season's end, five northern teams will have ridden 28 matches but the southerners 30. If there was just one table that would be ridiculous but if all five teams competing for the three play-off places are only compared with each other it doesn't matter if the third placed team qualifies with fewer points than the fourth placed team in the south it's probably due to the latter having ridden more matches. Run two league tables, one for teams that ride 28 times and one for those who ride 30 matches and take the top three from each. Whether the north division races 30, 32 or 132 matches, as long as in league terms they're only competing with teams that have ridden the same matches it'll be academic. Running one league table is where the problems start. And you thought the match points system was complex..... The logic of Edinburgh travelling twice to Glasgow but only once to Kent is obvious. The alternative is to run a one home, one away league plus a pair of early season regional leagues as we have before - and what was the verdict? Dismissed as 'meaningless. Realistically the only way to prove the point is to run the season, let people realise that it's only the teams in their own half of the country that they're initially competing with in league terms - until the essential play-offs. One thing that gets avoided here is, say we run with 12 tracks in 2020 then by some miracle we get an application from a revived Rye House, or Oxford or even a better funded and planned Plymouth bid for 2021 they wouldn't have to be rejected for fear of running a league with odd numbers! As far as the supporters are concerned until the play-offs they are competing in a five or six team league with extra competitive league matches to give a 14 or 16 match home schedule which is a damn sight better than the paltry 10 in 2019!

The second option makes a stronger team than the alleged one.

The problem as I see it is that fans & sponsors have lost the feeling that the 7 riders representing your club are yours. We have almost completely lost this connection. Most if not all of 2019 championship teams consisted of 7 riders that also represented another U.K. team. This is also a huge problem with credibility when trying to convince newcomers to support our sport. Equally wholesale team changes during the season do the sport great harm as do the huge changes season on season. Question: As a sponsor would I buy rider X (my local team favorite) a new bike, only for it to be used while riding for another team? NO.

The proposed regionalisation is different to the previous incarnation in 2014 when " Teams will meet all other Teams in a League table on 2 occasions, 1 at home and 1 away and by ballot additional Teams to make a total of 14 home and 14 away fixtures. ". The proposal for 2020 is " Clubs race opponents from their own section twice at home and twice away, and opponents from the other section once at home and once away. " That removes the lottery element and gives each Club 16 home league fixtures; meeting the five same Group Clubs twice, and the six other Group Clubs once.

Barry Bishop does that every week and I have seen Adrian Smith do it, too

Hopefully we won't need to replace anyone!!

Me too but it would be welcomed if he did. Whilst he didn't set the world alight during his short stint he certainly showed enough to convince me that with a full season he would be the No1 you would hope and expect him to be

It may be about right but I would still say it should therefore be declared that he has been assessed that way as opposed to using the 2011 average That way if another rider returns to the league after such a long break he can be reassessed fairly rather than a precedent having been set of using such an old average It's not just about NP but thinking a few steps ahead as to how someone else may use such a decision to manipulate a future change to gain unfair advantage

As there has been no attempt to address the situations of doubling-up and guests, the tinkering with the format will make little difference to the dwindling and ageing band of spectators.

Indeed. If anyone is interested, that blog is connected to a Facebook page I run. It's called Continental Speedway and all are welcome to join. It has mostly Polish stuff, particularly livestreams of all televised matches - not the same type of links as provided on here, along with YouTube videos afterwards. Please note I'm not trying to pinch anyone from here, merely to provide an additional method for folk to follow leagues across Europe.

Some people are just going to moan whatever - and we have several really good examples here on the BSF...

Same as when Long Eaton were fighting to survive, and one of the major issues was that residents didn't want speedway as it attracted the "wrong sort of people" (bikers). Really? If people have a legitimate concern, I have no problem with that, but when they simply manufacture these concerns thanks to ignorance and prejudice (or simply resort to downright lies), then yes, I do...

Wouldn't have Tungate in a month of Sundays and to be honest the way he left the club I doubt Louis would even consider him

One thought, don't bother

Let us hope the NL can move forward next year with The real job of developing young British riders for the future

Another agm which does not take on the real problems of Speedway moving forward. essentially status quo and the promoters burying their heads in the sand once again. i despair with the BSPA

Stefan has not let the Scorpions down but has been beset with injuries(again) & confidence. He is always there at the post meetings in the clubhouse & is honest. I truly believe he is a better rider than Simon, who performed well on his return, with it showing that the sport is a confidence thing, being in your head & on track. I do not think Simon will up his average but Stefan would improve his to around the 6 mark.

Don’t be daft, they’d need seven.

Incorrect, BW. I seem to recall it being said that he wouldn't go even it was free To be fair, he is anything but the only one that this thread applies to. For my own part, I really don't understand why someone who doesn't go to speedway, has no interest in watching (even on the box) and wouldn't go if he didn't have to pay is a member of a speedway forum and comments regularly.

He only has one. Free Entrance.

So, it sounds like you too are fully aware of the sport's shortcomings, rather than as the opening poster suggests, we should all be saying 'the Emperor's wearing clothes'!

They all say that though.

Happily have a reserve pairing of Lawson and Sarjeant if possible.

There wasn't a rule of needing a 2 pointer...

(1) Jack Holder 7.49 (2) Josh Grajczonek 7.29 (3) Nick Morris 5.38 (4) Erik Riss 6.61 (5) Charles Wright 6.52 (6) Ryan Douglas 4.66 (7) Broc Nicol 4.00

I hope the AGM have addressed the farcical double-up situation where your very own 1 to 7 are all riding for different U.K. teams the following night! this has gone completely out of control & unless addressed our sport will never have any mainstream credibility.

Hope Newcastle stay in the Championship league. good luck for 2020

Disgusting.

Old, old ground Moxey sadly.. The reasons why the decline has taken place are obvious I am sure to EVERY promoter.. The issue though is they cannot fix most of them because the oil tanker has gone much too far in the wrong direction to even stop it, never mind turn it around.. We have what we have, so let's just make the most of it.. And on the plus side. There's never been more TV coverage than there is now so you can still watch 'proper Speedway' virtually every week of the Season. And if you don't have a stream for the Polish Leagues then get one!!

Yes. The only way such a system makes sense is to run it on a conference basis, in the style of American sports. Anything else would be madness. My expectations that speedway has chosen the sane option are fairly low.

Racing for the accolade of 8th best team in the country. How the mighty have fallen!

Be surprised then!

Or the OP which has been updated almost daily Lambert could be tactically used at no 8/16- although he has been quoted that he wouldn`t accept that again this season. Col probably knows the answer that it`s a squad and they will use who is in form/horses for courses policy.

With you on that Baggy. Went stale last season needs some fresh blood to be up there challenging.

I would have said that about 99% of comment on here is opinion, and about 50% of that opinion is speculation. But if Newcastle don't run, the northern teams will have two less league fixtures than the southern ones and that's in the same league. That can be remedied overnight by allowing Plymouth in and changing the groupings slightly. My own view of the enforced change of race nights in 2018 - after the season had started and after fixtures had not only been published but run - is that it was one of the worst examples of self interest that I have ever seen in speedway, and that's in a sport where self interest is nigh on all encompassing. Personally, I think the regional split is a good idea even if that means a lopsided number of times that teams will race against each other. 22 fixtures - it would be 24 if Plymouth were accepted - is too many, even if all other competitions were dropped. It allows more meetings as a whole, more local meetings creating more revenue and does not substantially increase travelling costs.

How has he arrived at the conclusion that supporters don't want change? Has each club been active in getting this feedback from actual humans? You know those of us who actually go through the turnstile It's just a blatant lie. It's a cop out to appease people but I see through the s##t. They haven't got a clue. Non of them. This sport is never coming back. It's just drip fed life support.

I went to the Sidecar Gold Cup Meeting at Moore Park in Christchurch. 16 Sidecars in a 20 Heat format then a Semi and Final. Great racing on the new shaped track. Passing in almost every race. Congratulations to the people that did all the work that has gone on in the winter months. Good field with three North Island Combos. Final won by the 29I sidecar but the Rose brothers from Wanganui were the standout with four wins and a machine failure while leading in the qualifying heats. Then they were the innocent party in a nasty crash in the final and raced a borrowed bike in the rerun. 2nd Round of the Gold Cup at Oreti Park Invercargill on Sunday.

If Musielak wants to come back I would keep him and have Wells (or Berge if we get some Brit discounts) instead of Vissing.

Although concerning to read about problems at Newcastle

Trouble is even if investment can be secured Newcastle will struggle to be competitive and that isn't sustainable. With Glasgow and now Poole money in the mix, a Sunday race night, no access to foreign newcomers and a track that doesn't suit the modern bikes we're always going to struggle to attract riders. With no blame attached to the promotion. The 2019 team on paper was decent but it became apparent that the likes of Worrall, Jorgensen and Bjerre weren't there as a preference. Why the authorities insist that the three league structure is maintainable is beyond me, given the number of tracks which have folded recently. Looks like there'll only be three stand alone National League clubs next season if Plymouth run at that level. You can't cut costs at Championship level because half the riders need to be competitive in the Premiership and on the continent, effectively using the Championship to supplement their priority fixtures. With the reducing number of tracks the Championship needs to be the development league for young British and UK based riders who don't ride on the continent. At that level the costs can come down. But with the likes of Glasgow and Poole splashing cash at this level there's only going to be more closures as the have nots struggle to keep up.

My understanding was that the BSPA Directors were not satisfied with the business plan that Plymouth put forward and that couldn’t guarantee the required bond would be lodged by 31/12 Also for the Chairmanship some clubs wanted Damian Bates to do it but with his business interests couldn’t commit to it.

It appears that they had to withdraw their application due to increased costs and bonds needing to be paid immediately. They are looking to reapply in 12mths time.

Nobody has been more insulting and personal than you. You are offended by the fact that I "deserted" speedway - even though I didn't. You are offended by the fact I moved to the US to be with the woman I love. You are offended by the fact the SGP provides an internet service for people who can't watch meetings on TV. You admitted - in public - that you don't watch speedway, but you "have it on in the background". When I poke fun at you by reminding people that you "have it on in the background", you are offended, and get insulting. Look, there are things in this world that I don't like, or simply am not interested, but I don't dedicate my life to sharing all my pent up negativity, and lambast all those who don't feel the same way. It is downright insulting for you to claim that fans of modern-day speedway are suffering from "insanity". This world is a depressing enough place as it is, and we don't need people you spreading your negativity about speedway (and don't kid yourself, you are NOT a fan, although you may have been once), other major sports that you refuse to accept, and whatever else you can't tolerate. In my last few years on this planet, I want to focus on things that bring me pleasure (including speedway) without having to deal with nonsense from you trying to convince me otherwise. You may feel that you have the "right" to say whatever you want, but I will remind you that you also have the right to remain silent.

Not an hour perhaps but ninety minutes is plenty long enough. An hour and three quarters absolute maximum which would be a half nine finish at Lynn. If there have to be longish gaps between any races then something needs to be going on to entertain people.

Now if there was a thread titled i love British Speedway but it frustrates me because......

Perhaps after seeing his 2019 playoff form Wolves should recall Tobias Musielak, wait....