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At the risk of sounding like a repeating record (remember those!). You'd do well to know Speedway existed in Leicester and you'd actually have to go out of your way to find out we are the defending League and Shield holders. The "promotion" have done nothing with the titles they spend the whole year trying to secure... so what's the point in it all? but all of the participants are the right side of 60... I don't know why there's such a disparity between those that watch and those that compete. The rest button needs pressing with Speedway in this country, the sooner we realise we are not Poland and we are not Sweden the quicker the recovery of the sport will be. The people that currently go may like to stand around on wind swept terraces for 2 and a half hours in some cases watching 15 minutes of action. People's attention span these days just isn't there. Cricket has gone T20, they're going even less now with The 100, F1 are introducing sprint races, we need a 90 minute show with 30 races on standardised machinery for starters

It's nothing new though is it? One of the last straws for me was in 2010 when Brum wanted to re-declare due to a long term injury for Chris Kerr. 2 other teams, Berwick and Stoke were in the same position. They were allowed to, Birmingham were denied. The BSPA chairman was Alex Harkess and Brummies were dicing with Edinburgh for the league that year. Draw your own conclusions. Speedway is like a form of water torture for many fans who eventually succumb and walk away. Fair play to the people who can put up with the nonsense, there'd be no speedway without them.

'iainb', first it's good to see you have the good grace to admit when you got something wrong, I am sorry I referred to your peurile ignorance - I could have been more measured in my frustration. However you still don't seem convinced by the decision so I thought I'd lay down some of the points I would have considered when postponing a meeting, which I have done many times. I hasten to add I wasn't involved in Sunday's cancellation although I understand and accept the reasons. Is the track under water - yes Is more rain forecast - yes it is Can the track be pumped off and dry out evenly (bear in mind the huge grandstand at Peterborough and that when watering for a normal meeting they often don't water under the shade) - probably not Even if there's no more rain can the tractors etc. get onto the track to prepare a racing surface - doubtful Is the rest of the stadium useable? The grass car-parks and the pits have been known to flood at the Showground Will fans, riders and officials incur costs that will be wasted if there is a late call-off Will other costs be incurred for a late call-off, rent, medical, staff etc The Club press release referred to a number of these points but I'm sure they would all have been in the back of the mind. For the record I am not a troll nor the person that closed down Coventry, and my history of having promoted at three different Clubs in three different leagues is something I'm very proud of. It doesn't make me an 'important' person in speedway but it does mean that when I comment there is a good deal of experience behind my explanations. I think it's probably time to put this topic to bed. The decision was made, let's move on. If you can get more information from the Peterborough promotion, as already suggested by another poster, please do share it here so that we can all learn.

By the way, when is somebody signing Zmarzlik and then using R/R or guests to cover for him whilst the paperwork is sorted out? What a joke situation that is.

I find it very sad that despite being given valid reasons why the meeting was called off( many from persons with local and practical experience) that because one person will not listen to explanations given that this thread has descended into personal abuse.

Someone take that bloody bone off him

The video doesn’t really show anything as you can’t see them behind the fence as they exit the turn. Matter of fact, if anything, Bowtell is ahead as they exit turn 2. Hume doesn’t have a god given right to carry on down the straight alongside Bowtell who looks like he’s closed the door. You watch a lot of Polish Speedway and that is a standard sort of move. Wouldn’t call it dangerous and wouldn’t say Bowtell should of been excluded either.

Plymouth have to be very happy with their top 2 - looks like Pedersen is going to top the averages at this rate. usual anti opposition bias from shovlar

Definitely two points dropped for me. What I didnt like about the Bowtell move on Hume was that he definitely looked and moved over. He smashed into the side of Hume coming off turn2, then Hume being dragged along ending up in the air fence on bend three, such was the force of the move. Then to add insult to injury, he almost did the same to Cook in the rerun. Luckily Cook had just enough room to avoid a crash. Desperate riding. Smacks of revenge after being upset with Schleins move on him during Pooles last visit, when he cried and winged like a spoilt schoolgirl. Not much in the way of passing, very much gate and go. Only counted 3 myself. Crump gated 3 times, undefeated, twice he didnt, an also ran, Bjarne didnt gate twice, an also ran, (apart from when King made a mistake) gated 3 times cruised to easy wins. Same for both sides. Very inconsistent refereeing. Warned Nielsen for moving, yet Bjarne moved at least twice. Others moved too, both sides. Announcements: On 3 separate occasions, the race results were incorrect. One was challenged and changed. A little bemused, tbh, at our choice of R/R rides. Also using King in Ht15,when everyone around us thought Schein.

100% Arnie.. However... The sport used to go out nationally to millions most Saturdays in summer, when ITV showed the worlds best in "Big 'proper' competitons"... Domestic British Speedway then fed (extremely well), off it's very large amount of crumbs falling off the table.. There was also often zero advanced warning of what you were going to see when you got into the stadiums, you had paid your money and you were in... Any "moaning" was done to those around you and was discussed by half a dozen or so at most.. Whereas now any "nonsense" (and let's be honest there is far too much), is known well in advance, discussed via the thousands on the internet, and often will then lead to comments along the lines of "Well that's me out then, I am not going to watch that"... A very, very different modern world that unfortunately UK Speedway hasnt appreciated and adapted its operating model to...

‘ is anyone losing interest ‘ asks the title ?, well no as you ask. I find the ‘ sport ‘ fascinating now as individual promoters find their own interpretation of the rules ( are there any now ?). Having seen Poole’s and now Birmingham’s line ups for there next matches I am constantly entertained. A facility granted for a rider who hasn’t ridden for you when that was against the rules but now isn’t ?. A guest for an ‘ injured ‘ rider ( injured in this country allegedly )who is now riding in his own country but not here ? I used to think I understood most of the rules but not any more. I don’t think we can call speedway a sport for much longer as sports have rules, not guidelines to be used to increase an advantage for some but not all.

Yes and Glasgow was often the visitors on the Friday night. Titanic struggles between Shane Parker and everyone else.

Poole up to there old tricks, as they say leopard never changes it's spot's, R/R for a rider that's not even arrived yet, that's why know one can take this sport seriously, absolute joke.

i know of a call being made to Johnnie Hoskins at Canterbury asking what the weather was like at the track, the reply - meeting on, no rain. the call was made from a phone box across the road to the track in the pouring rain

Behind You! Look, back in the last century to some of us it was Much , Much Better ( me included ) and no my cataracts are not rose tinted.

To be fair to Len Silver. After last weeks Kent v Eastbourne fiasco, he did apologise and admit that he got it wrong by not pulling the plug earlier. It was refreshing to hear, when most promoters don't accept liability for anything.

Back in the 80% and early 90s I used to rely on the speedway star or speedway mail for news on upcoming meetings but in those days and until the late 2000s I would go anyway. But even the internet isn’t always helpful, I recall Arena Essex going to Swindon in the pairs final in 2003, a load of fans went and when we got their found out that Joonas Kylmakorpi wasn’t there and was never going to be there, Mr Russell kept it quiet much to everyone anger.

In attending hundreds of meetings at all tracks across the country I never once considered that I was risking any money because I got to see a meeting in return for payment and despite the fact that on a lot of occasions the product barely justified the cost I continued going. The time I did take a risk was when I became a Mildenhall shareholder back in 2007 - basically, because I knew that I would probably get nothing for it other than a certificate and the knowledge that I had helped the club survive. Based upon fans views on the pages of this forum, whether speedway would prosper taking into account those views is a moot point. Some are very reasonable and practical, some are total nonsense - ignoring weather forecasts when determining weather a meeting should go ahead or not being definitely one of the latter, meetings for as long as I remember justifiably being called off on the strength of them - but one thing is absolutely definite, and that is that I have never heard someone putting forward an idea also saying that they will put up the money to support it. Brilliant, can't fail ideas but any gamble will be made on the basis of a promoters money, not theirs. In your own case, then, I suggest you notify the promoter of your local track that he need not consider weather forecasts any longer because if he suffers any financial loss as a result of doing so you will meet it. Yeah, right

I've said probably too many times now that the sport in the UK is for developing riders for Poland in the main then potentially Sweden, if you are a rider getting opportunities to ride in Polands top 2 divisions or in Sweden is a "goal" for all riders no matter what they say, its where the money is, its where progression is, so at the moment we are a training ground for many nationalities to learn their craft, improve their skillset and also go into the shop Window for Poland. However, how many make it? not many! and what happens when they do make it, most of the time British Speedway is then left behind as they can't commit to it, which is not a dig, its just what it is. So, what happens to the domestic riders who don't make it to Poland, how do they make the sport pay? which riders need to make the sport pay domestically? British Speedways main event of its own calendar should be a British Grand Prix style championship, I would call it the "British Super 12 Grand Prix Championship" why Super 12? because it will feature 12 riders across 12 rounds, two rounds per month starting April, May, June, July, August & September fitting domestic speedway into a calender that does not run before April and does not run after September. An example of the Super 12 Line Up could be Bewley, Wright, S. Worrall, R. Worrall, Cook, King, Lawson, Kerr, Nicholls, Harris, Ellis, Schlein - anyone who runs on a British Licence. Format is simple 12 heats with riders getting 4 rides (one ride from each gate) all points scored go into the overall standings table, top 4 from each round go into a "final" where there are no points added to the 12 heats scores but its called a "medal race" this gives us the overall winner of that GP round but also you have a separate medal table gold is 3pts, silver is 2pts, bronze is 1pt, the medal table is there to decide the overall winner in case of a tie, so for example if Cook and King end up after 12 rounds on 120 points each, the medal table comes into consideration to decide the overall winner, if the points are the same, its then who has most gold/silver/bronze finishes, if its identical then a race-off Add to this championship with a Under 23 Championship consisting of just 8 riders, the line up could be Bickley, Brennan, Rowe, Flint, Kemp, Palin, Jenkins, Thompson purely as an example, they do as the main series but race over 8 heats then a final. £20.00 entry for 20 heats which include the two-finals Use the Eurosport contract to have every round "LIVE" A series sponsor Riders should be able to get decent sponsorship based on the guaranteed airtime over the 12 rounds on Eurosport and if the presentation was correct they could get a lot of coverage, riders can enter under "team names" similar to say British Superbikes, so say for Danny King if he's sponsored by Tru Plant he is entered under "Tru Plant Jawa" etc. more coverage for the brand, should be used in commentary etc. This kind of Championship and the whole winner-takes-all promotion is what people need to see in British Speedway, I believe this would engage new fans better, perhaps make people want to try speedway in terms of spectating at a one-off local event but if that venue then can promote their league racing we may capture new fans, its all about data capture and using it to promote speedway to new and existing people League racing can still be a thing, I would only have two leagues which is similar to what Bowen has said above, I would revert to the old British League and National League format, I would say 10 team leagues in both, riding home & away once with a cup competition included to give more meetings, the British league is for any nationality to race, the National league are for commonwealth riders only, British League built to Championship standard now and National League being slightly stronger maybe then it is now. Would like to see the BSPL set up a subscription style streaming service, priced at £6.99 per month for a 12 month subscription so £83.88 per year, if they can get say 200 fans from the 20 clubs plus pick up 200 fans from abroad who follow certain riders that would be 4,200 subscribers with a yearly revenue of £352.296.00 As part of the subscription package you receive * 2 x British League or Cup Matches per month * 2 x National League or Cup Matches per month * 4 x Classic Speedway Meetings per month * National League Riders Championship * British League Cup Final both legs * National League Cup Final both legs * Downloadable Content including rider insights, rider interviews, behind the scenes, interviews with promotors etc. * Mini Documentary series profiling ex riders, 60 minute long programs On top of this there can be scheduled events which are then Pay Per View events * British League Riders Championship * 5 Round Commonwealth Championship series featuring riders who commit to racing in the UK potential line up Kurtz, Bewley, Wright, Worrall, Lawson, Batchelor, Ellis, Crump, Cook, King, Allen, Nicholls, Masters, Schlein, Morris, Harris. * 3 Round Inter-Continental Championship series again featuring riders who commit to the UK potential line up Kurtz, Bewley, Crump, Cook, Jorgensen, Riss, Andersen, Batchelor, Ellis, Masters, Palm Toft, Becker, Klindt, King, Schlein, Pedersen This gives a bit of everything for everybody, National League will see the top 3 riders in current championship not doubling down into it as they will just ride British League, then the european and american riders can only race in the British League, with the National League made up of British & Commonwealth riders. National League is more semi-pro in terms of money, British League is just one professional league. The goal for any domestic rider is to make Poland and the GP series but the British Super 12 Grand Prix Series is there for those that need to make racing pay domestically who are either not ready to make the jump to Poland or those who never will - it gives riders other goals Less meetings I know league wise for foreign riders coming to the UK, I am talking about the top end ones as it will likely be 18-22 league/cup meetings however opening up other series such as the commonwealth and inter continental series, with some good prize money makes up for the short fall in league racing. Just a few thoughts really

3. Guesty...

Thinking out loud. Seven Dwarf's would be perfect to make up a Speedway team...

You do have to "collude" with the Promoters when you attend a Speedway match that it is "real" within a true sporting context.. Which is not a great starting point is it to a) keep its regular fanbase, b) grow its fanbase further, c) get some major sponsors involved and d) be taken seriously by the wider mainstream media.. Some will do it though and be willing to accept anything put out in front of them.. And fair play to them for that, as without them the sport would be in serious trouble.. However, they will inevitably only ever be the smaller minority of the (very large), number of fans who still follow the sport closely, but from a greater distance...

I now take speedway with a pinch of salt. I went to my nearest track Kent last night, not caring who was riding, just hopeful of seeing a few decent races for the £20 i shelled out. My expectations for the sport are low, so I'm not usually disappointed.

That's completely unfair. Coventry Speedway closed because of the landlord, not the promotion, and its entirely possible that if the landlords attitude had been different it would still be in existence today. Indeed, in most cases those who close tracks down do so for the most legitimate of reasons - either loss - or potential loss - of the stadium [Lakeside, Stoke, Exeter] or financial loss [Workington, Rye House, Newport].

I value Neil's contributions on here - whether I agree with them or not - for the simple reason that he has been at the sharp end of speedway promotion and, for all my experience of the sport, I have not. There are an awful lot of people - most of whom have never risked a single penny of their money running a speedway track - out there who think they know better and, frankly, they don't. A rain off with riders at the track costs even an NL club at least three grand [and possibly as much as 5] so any speedway promoter that ignores weather forecasts is worse than a fool. I should say, though, that I have occasionally considered that some postponements take place a little too early for comfort. 36 hours, in my view, is excessive.

Back from my 1st visit to Plymouth, must say it's a nice set up down there, made to feel very welcomed by probably some of the nicest supporters around, thought we thru it away with King touching the tapes plus a few iffy starts, but happy to come away with a draw and 2pts

Great meeting I don’t want to get into the politics of what some people are saying Poole are a good side and I’m over the moon to get 1 point.how ironic is it that young kellerher hope I spelt it right has his best meeting of the season and is named rider of the night he scores 6 plus 2 which is more than the R/R got for Poole I did find it bizarre that poole went straight in with worrall in heat 1 as the R/R I thought they might have used him later in the meeting but as I say great night stood with some lovely lads from the pirates tonight they were a good laugh and they couldn’t get some of middlos decisions especially not using Rory in heat 15 and the use of worrall in heat 1 they also called it in the last race by saying it would be a 5-1to us as they reckon they have been not great in heat 15 this season there words not mine but they definitely saw it as 2 points lost not 2 points gained had a great night some good craic saw a great meeting and saw the 3 times world champion brilliant.

Bjarne has been a fantastic servant to british speedway. What a fine season he is having.

Steve, Think Garcia was in and rode in the Berwick side in 2019, and declared in their team for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Seems a far cry from just signing AN Other rider who hasnt even arrived in the UK and claiming r/r ? Blatantly contravenes the rulebook....... just surprised my local team Kent don't pull a similar stunt, sign a couple of unknown overseas riders and claim their paperwork is delayed and use guests and/or r/r .

Blimey is Paco still pi**ed up since last Sun eve.

In your own words you said Bowtell was out of control if this is correct (which its not)how could he deliberately put Hume into the fence if he was not in control, I've no more to say on the matter enough said, thank you and goodnight

Local TV Central News tonight had the Dudley Town Crier doing his "Oh Yays" as Dudley applies for City status. The Town Crier looked remarkably similar to that of the Wolves centre-green announcer, Porky??? My Wolves chums say, how can Dudley ever claim city status when the Council doesn't want to have a League Football team (they play in Willenhall), a speedway team (remember Cradley) or even a railway station (it closed in the 60's)!!! Other 2021 City status applicants include Milton Keynes (Speedway shut), Reading (Speedway shut) and Swindon (is it an omen?)

No lies being told here. I was stood behind SS and quite a few of the Plymouth supporters around us agreed it was the wrong decision. It was blatantly obvious from our view. That said, it was perhaps in the blind spot of the referee. Thats if he was even watching these two riders, he may have been watching the other two. Whatever, it was definitely the wrong rider excluded.

Still think that a major season long individual event ran with qualifiers at every track funnelling down to two semis and a Grand Final would be worthwhile.. All the promotions put in a certain amount and generate a large prize fund and then promote their own meeting off the back off it.. They pay out tens and tens of thousands every week as a collective, which works out to hundreds and hundreds of thousands every season, for hardly any recognition from even those who live on their 'doorstep' locally, never mind within a radius of 20 miles or so... Advertising some 'shock' prize fund for a sport many won't even have heard of and you may just get some notice taken.. Wouldnt cost any more than they pay now either if they all agree to budget for this prize fund... And by running such a big individual competition, with a 'big prize' at the end of it, you can then promote your own club off the back of it when running your own meeting within the overall competition... It does seem crackers to keep paying out huge sums in reality for zero development of the sport..

British Superbikes as a prime example, every championship is LIVE on Eurosport every round yet they still get huge crowds Why? Because potentially its more of a day out, its a one-off event for some that they see LIVE every year, its more of a spectacle To make Eurosport and a £20 entry work will mean having to present a program LIVE at the track that will make people want to come over watching at home on TV, most sports that are televised still generate a crowd, it would seem with league racing Speedway does not, so after all is the fan the problem for the sport? I used £20 as a ball park figure, it could be less, it could be more

What a very sad state of affairs we've arrived at. One wonders if sponsors are even being approached for such opportunities

There is a separate thread for the meeting.Have a look at speedway testimonial and individual and shared events page.

You were told " It might be summer but it ain't no 76" that's 1976 meaning bloody hot which would perhaps have been enough to dry the track over the weekend and Monday. However, what this summer weekend consisted of was cool, overcast weather with no drying of any note at all.

If that is the way you see it so be it. To others it seemed that despite being given reasonable explanations you were not prepared to let he matter go .

That wasn`t what i said- have another read of my reply. You said you were not going on Friday but were going to find a bar and watch it there, but you were also thinking of going to Rawicz before Saturday`s GP. I said do both GP`s instead of Rawicz and 1

A better name would have been the Chigley 'Wigglies"... Their line-up was: 1 - Flack (Capt) 2 - Pugh 3 - Pugh 4 - Barney McGrew 5 - Cuthbert 6 - Dibble 7 - Grubb

How many folk do you think exist who support/follow/attend Lynn speedway? I'd it's more than 1,999 then by definition its thousands is it not.

Never realised how good bjarne is absolute class act

Been there tonight as a neutral supporter, the match was a good one enjoyed my first visit

No disrespect to Paul but it is stating the "bleedin' obvious"... Clear demarcation within the leagues is a natural facet of any sport.... Organically. As you grow, you improve, and as you improve you move up a level, with those above you, who no longer can compete at that level, dropping down... UK Speedway simply cannot afford such demarcation.. The top league couldn't fund teams of top level riders and the second division couldn't afford to run a team of the next level down and clearly the riders themselves couldn't fund riding in just one league.... I am sure promoters are clearly aware of the major issues they have to overcome to ever get the sport "successful" in the UK, however, let's be fair to them, and just say that it is simply beyond them given all the years of using such a ludicrous operating model and business plan.... Fair play to Paul for his views, and he clearly isn't wrong, however, if those who run the sport could run it "properly" I am sure they would.. As let's be honest, no one who wants to have a successful sport in the UK would ever actively choose to run it the way it is currently ran if they had alternative options available would they? UK Speedway is very much set up to just provide riders with as much opportunity to earn as much money as can be possible to justify their often (given the size and rewards of the sport over here), huge outlays.. That will always mean doubling up and down and guest bookings galore to ensure it is worth their while.. It is what it is, and cannot change without a huge injection of cash from major sponsors to allow riders to ride for one team, in one league etc... Major sponsors who unfortunately wouldn't go anywhere near it given the way it is ran with so little credibility and integrity as the riders ride for all and sundry on such an ad hoc basis.. A vicous circle that Speedway in the UK sadly can't ever get out of it seems... Good though that someone within the sport obviously see its inherent flaws, (I actually think most within the sport do), and is prepared to voice his opinion..

It was a good video, had to watch it all the way to see the light. Doubling either way is needed cos there are not enough riders to fill the teams. Even mid 90’s most of the riders in the leagues were foreign. More riders, less problems, not happening cos speedway is out of fashion.

Bruce Penhall, Dag Lovaas, Ron Preston and Phil Collins all could have been around for much longer if they wanted to. At the other end of the scale, Jim Brett of Belle Vue looked like he was about to make the breakthrough but quit as he had a good job lined up (in IT I believe, which in the late 70s would have been pretty well paid I imagine)

It’s completely frustrating for everyone whom meetings are postponed for the club, it’s riders and supporters, I do have some experience of trying to get race days at the Showground and it’s not as easy as it used to be because of other events on those weeks and health & safety issues which affect whether speedway can run alongside other events, mostly they cannot. The track had clearly taken an excessive amount of rain on Friday and even getting it on having had no more would be have been a major task but the forecast was dreadful and quite rightly and likely to save considerable expense if nothing else the decision to try and run was correctly declined. In years gone by Promotions were not required to pay the full cost of renting the stadium and travel costs for riders and officials including flights etc if matches were postponed late but those days are gone and they now are which clearly comes into the equation. I dare say if you ran Peterborough Speedway things would be different but thankfully you are not and this way no one is unnecessarily inconvenienced other than you.

To be honest I've really enjoyed the Eurosport coverage this year. Speedway will never be exactly "TV friendly" with all the delays and a rulebook no one understands but it;s been great entertainment, Having a correspondent at the other meetings to give updates has also been a positive for me.

Whatever the speedway ill watch,but does anyone think tonights line ups could be a championship match,with promotors paying premier league wages.Crazy .