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If Glasgow want Craig Cook which I’m sure they will then Glasgow would be his first choice , if on the other hand we don’t offer Cookie a contact for next season then I wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to Edinburgh. I personally think he will be our number 1 again next season , as for Jenga on a fishing trip he couldn’t catch a bite at a fish farm with a trawler net.

Don't come and watch them then

How do we know that its been 'very successful' on IOW, other than by their own generated publicity? No criticism - Just asking!!

I think any crowd increases would be led by the 2nd Division clubs who basically had 1st Division riders which must have encouraged a few extra to go... Unfortunatley having no clear demarcation between the leagues is one of its major issues that hold it back, and Div 2 teams are not likely to accept their "real place" in the peckng order any time soon I would suggest.. Hence RS's have been disbanded already in Div 2... The RS plan was a laudible one, but clearly should have been aimed at 2nd Div teams so any 3rd Div riders could progress into those places.. And going back to those "increased crowds"... The sport lost Eastbourne, and almost Newcastle, whilst Birmingham took a sabbatical mid season and there isnt any guarantee they will be back this season.. Add to that the start of "Go Fund Me" pages and I would suggest the sport still faces serious challenges, which, as has been shown for a long, long, time, the approach they use in running it, wont ever solve..

Demographic information on viewers/crowd is only good if the figures are helpful. Based on my first hand experience as Advertising Sales Director of the then broadcast partner (which is over 15 years ago) speedway fans are to old, to male, to poor and come from the wrong socio-econimic profile to be attractive to most advertisers. By comparison and based on 2019 broadcast information the average netball viewer is 30 years younger, and earns twice as much as a speedway viewer. Where Demographic information would be helpful is in developing the product to attract a younger more affluent audience which will be more attractive to commercial partners within the stadium.

His golf swing suggests there is absolutely nothing wrong with his shoulder…

The same could be said for the vast majority of the UK population.

Broke a collarbone on 13 June 2019. Seeing as everyone missed the 2020 season, I doubt he'd get a reduction. He was also New Zealand Champion in 2020, so rode that year anyway.

I think there has been plenty of thought put into this team, they've built it to always have a strong reserve, they went out and signed the best visiting rider from last season and they've brought a rider back to the UK who has been absent for a few seasons. And in those two they have signed two all action riders to increase the liklihood of good racing. There is obviously once again a strict budget but certainly no lack of thought, the question as always is will the riders be good enough. On paper we probably look 6th best but much closer to the other teams than last year when we started with massive risks in Bridger, Proctor and Kinsley. No reason if things click that we can't get into the Play Offs and from there who knows?

@Sings4Speedway In 2021 there was only 1 meeting all season at BP that started with BOTH teams having their declared 1-7 which was Scunthorpe in KOC 12/6/21 but it didn’t finish 7 v 7 because Josh Auty had a season ending crash with Dan Thompson & was withdrawn from the meeting. In total Leicester used 4 guests & used R/R 2 times . Opponents used 15 guests & R/R 6 times . Leicester started 9 home meetings with their declared 1-7 The only team to have their declared 1-7 start a meeting was Scunthorpe in the above mentioned KOC match. So at Leicester there was 19 guests used in total with R/R being used 8 times.

A lot of Sheffield fans wanted Pickering back, he scored well at Lynn last season and I imagine Sheffield would have probably wanted him back. Team is solid compared to last year, i think the team could lineup with the top 7 GP riders and you still would find something to complain about.

Very chicken and egg though Martin. No tracks no riders no riders no tracks what came first?

Not sure what the costs will be...but IF they run, I think £20 plus a free programme would be a reasonable shout to me. I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion/s. I'd also like to see some changes to the rules, especially the movement at the start ? (I know it's not going to happen/change...) But allowing movement at the start adds to the excitement IMO....giving the 'lesser' rider a chance to anticipate a rolling start makes for a better race, especially when the more skilled/quicker rider has to chase....also, it would even out the gate advantage...especially when gate 1, or 4 has a clear head start...... Racing is far too processional and this only adds to the monotony of a lot of speedway meetings. I asked a friend of mine if he ever watches speedway on Sky/BT and he said no, simply becoz 9 times out of 10, 'first one to the corner' usually wins.... 'WE' (speedway fans) know that this isnt true, but it's easy to see why 'NON' speedway fans would assume/think this IMO.

Particularly with all those road works around the stadium. Definitely deterred me from visiting last year.

Hamlet? Sandi Toksvig?

If Belle Vue, one of the best tracks in the world can't pull in the punters, what hope is there for the rest.

Plus promoters spend that much on riders and rent there’s then no cash for advertising and presentation. The final two are what generally contribute getting people through the turnstiles.

I would imagine the vast majority of residents in Birmingham and the surrounding catchment area have no idea that it exists

Agree,plus you are just seeing the same riders most weeks riding or guesting for other Teams.Pick and Choose is probably the best option.

Don't think so; Cook is bargain basement. Heat leaders are Holder, Ellis and Musielek.

Totally agree.The final averages should have been published a month ago.

Interesting reading about several riders have not been paid for matches ridden in for Birmingham during the 2021 season. Surely these riders deserve payment, be it from the bond with the SCB/BSPA or sale of assets (if any) left at Birmingham prior to any proposed sale of the club. Very disappointed that this is still occurring and hopefully every rider at both Birmingham and Eastbourne get their due monies before Christmas. We all live and hope!

He should be I’m guessing because he rode in the national league for Eastbourne ..

Take it from me it a huge success I visited it this year and there more fans there than what was at Birmingham on the following Wednesday, and the handicapping made excellent racing

Rider interviews, plenty on speedway portal youtube channel.

I would like to see Zane Keleher in the Championship in 2022 & Oxford could be perfectly suited for both, had a superb 5-1 with guest Scott Nicholls @ the coliseum in 2021 as shown on the Plymouth website.

You could be right, it is difficult to pin down . My other guess would be we’ve bred a generation that sits in front of the Xbox or YouTube. Very few kids want to walk out the front door these days. Streaming for me is important to capture that generation as you won’t get them through the turnstiles very easily.

None have a team at the mo. All have a go. 1 DOUGLAS 8.31 2 PACO 5.52 3 THOMAS 5.72 4 SHANES 5.01 5 AUTY 7.34 6 ROYNON 5.21 7 RUML 4.00

Tobi turned up every week at Swindon and was 100% committed at all times. Sheffield got themselves a diamond.

Interesting. I went to the England Training Centre at St George's Park, just over the road, before lockdown and went to have a look but it was all barricaded off with concrete blocks preventing access. Looking at Street View in January of this year though it seems accessible again. I literally passed through just a few villages en route, but that was from the M1 so maybe a bigger potential fan base to the west.

Would go along with that from the question of doing the sport any favours aspect. Wonder how many new casual viewers tune in to watch a regular league match or is it a case of catering for the already converted ? Has it actually raised the public awareness of league speedway in any meaningful way ? Better to have something than nothing at all I guess, but certainly the Glasgow, Redcar and Edinburgh livestreams route looked pretty good to me. Those livestreams generally provide more interesting content overall and in a sense more intimate i.e. viewing casual pit shots of activity, relaxed interviews, less manic commentary and other inside info. of interest to the followers of that club. Eurosport rider/manager interviews tend to follow the same familiar format of predictable questions i.e. "How important is it to get off to a good start", "What did the Team Manager say to you all in the huddle" etc. Not forgetting to allow scope for the "Yes, definitely" reply to most questions. Livestreams certainly get the thumbs up from me and hopefully in the future more clubs will be able to afford to do this, as it is a valuable option for those not able to attend in person for all sorts of reasons.

The camera work at times was very shoddy and please split Tatum & Pearson up! They're like 2 squabbling school kids! Graphics were back to front for one meeting, aven't they got the technology to correct during the meeting? Graphics are very old school with a 2D picture and small writing! Where's a big impact face/body scan image with big impact letter fonts! Even the cricket as a quacking duck with it's bat walking across the screen when someone is out for a duck!! Yep, crap!

So now your saying Kildemand is the only 'outside the box' signing.Is that the only positive signing then in your book? Although i wasn't too pleased when Jorgensen signed,primarily because his scores away are awful.But he is good to watch at home.Kildemand imo opinion is another rider who i like to see race as he is all effort.And after watching Pickering last year another similar rider.Those 3 alone should make the speedway worth watching around Lynn. Do you know Pickering and Worrall had no other options apart from Lynn?I don't know whether you do. You still have this beef with King's Lynn like you have for several years. I don't agree with everything Lynn or the management do,but i don't disagree with pretty much everything they do like you because you have a grudge.

Again I'd disagree. Why would any promoter not care about the people coming through the gates? With gate admissions up at most tracks this year any business would be tempted to try leave things as much as possible as something is clearly working.

Whilst the format remains the same the demographic won't really change but thats because Speedway is just a rough and tumble thrills and spills sport. The following of most motorsport attracts the similar crowd types with only the bigger money events getting remotely close to the younger demographic (and Speedway is far closer to grasstrack, stock cars and banger racing than it is F1 of Moto GP). The followers want to see racing right on the edge with the occasions past the limit to keep perspective. If the general consensus that speedway fans are too poor to attend regularly (even if the value for money rating is high) then the sport to spectate needs to be cheaper or it needs to be so entertaining that they won't miss it.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Trent+Raceway/@52.8180674,-1.7589818,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x487a0f7d2a68457f:0xf89ac346dac7373f!8m2!3d52.8180674!4d-1.7567931

Agree but let's hope the track allows them to.

Tell that to newcsstle

Dont forget the young German. Looked great in The Silver Helmet and no one has signed him yet. Should come in on a 5. If Jordan Stewart does not come over he is a great option.

That narrows it down ......to most riders in the league. If the other 6 are right then it doesn't leave us much for the last rider anyway.

Judging by the high percentage of those living over 20 miles from a track, I'd say that was a big factor!

See what you've done there

Oxford

Yes I've been invited on many occasions I dare say the price will be going up another pound next season. I see if you get a season ticket,,, it's another 25 for a seat.

I know a great place that has pool , darts , cable TV, food , drink and great company - I'm sure the host has already extended the invite.... Costs about £19 less than the speedway too

The amusing part is Poole fans saying he's available if we need to make changes during the season. Like he's just sitting about with no offers and will turns down money on the off chance Poole need him. Absolutely priceless

Tbh given cook could’ve been fit in place of any of Heeps riss and batch it’s a pretty damning indictment of his up and down form and effort last year, cookie at his best a few years back undoubtedly a class rider - can he get his right again to be consistent at a higher level Louis obviously didn’t seem him worth another gamble

Going by facebook after Sheffield announced their team last night i thought you already had Dan

I'd rather take a gamble on Cook,, any day of the week

He would loose you 4 meetings at Ipswich and Wolves for starter's as has no technical skills just a throttle jockey.