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I have been invited on to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire at 8:00am on Thursday 31st August (tomorrow) to discuss the Showground development.

The trouble is, self interest and short sightedness sees promoters doing the best for their own businesses and killing their competition off at the same time. Then all of a sudden they have no opponents to race and their business dies too. Guesting is as bad an evil as doubling up. But doubling up is a huge cause of the “lack of riders,” which isn’t true by the way. There just aren’t enough riders of the standard British Speedway tries to run at. Why? Because the existing riders are taking up all the team spots, so there are fewer left for up and coming riders to fill and develop in. The team element of speedway makes it unique to other motorsports. That should be embraced, not scrapped. In any other sport you can’t be a full time professional unless you are very good at your sport. That isn’t the case with Speedway and it is a huge problem on multiple levels. If you want to ride you should be prepared to pay your way and invest and graft until you reach a level where you can turn it into your profession. Otherwise if you need an outside job to help fund your hobby then so be it. If a rule was put in place in the winter where riders were allowed one club only then they’d have to cope with it and long term it would help the sport massively. But nobody has the bollocks to do anything for the greater good, only for their own short term benefit, all the while the cancer spreads.

I appreciate everything you are doing Mick

Nice of you to admit you steal from us

Agree. It is time that those with balls (such as IOW) break away and give the punters what they want not some contrived form of entertainment which is rarely held on days when the club can maximise the numbers through the gates and yet allows clubs to provide opportunities to a range of skill levels (second half racing for those who want to show their skills with the chance to break into the team). It currently panders to Poland and a half baked media channel with Eurosport and apart from one or two teams, meetings are held when few want to attend. Unfortunately whatever anyone says on the forum, the muppets in charge are not interested in the punter or the wider audience. You have Riders who think we all owe them a living and clubs buying their way to success with eleventh hour team changes. It is a joke and the only way is for the likes of Kent and even Plymouth and others to look again at the IOW model and any team that owns its own track should not be dictated by the BSPL and start to run the business that suits them and generates income. Vatcher and co need consigning to history if only to save the sport.

What am I whining about you clown ,I’m asking why the guests backed out and we struggle to get them and others don’t, might be because we are so far down in the country I don’t no,what are you banging on about Nora league for a lot of people have said things about you on here not me before now but I can see where there coming from now.I said there was some unhappy punters walking out tonight did I say me? No I didn’t I’m very thankful for having speedway to watch, but it’s been hard seeing defeat after defeat, because I really thought we’d win tonight.

Is that the sound of the nail being hit on the head? It's totally obvious you run on the night when you can get your best crowds. British Speedway really could have its cake and eat it. It's been shown at Leicester this year that running on Thursday's with the big stars in town really hasn't added the extra amount of fans needed to pay for it. There was a big crowd at Peterborough last night, was that because of the riders on display or because it was a Bank Holiday? The latter I would suggest and it was a local derby of course. The British League(s) need to run credible teams on the race night that suits them, this is not rocket science, they need the riders to commit to a full season, contracts to be honoured and if the riders aren't in... they're out and the league(s) structures are adjusted accordingly. That's the having your cake bit. The eating it is putting on open individual meetings with your Emil's, Bewley's, Woffy's etc. Like the PCMT has shown crowds will flock to these when there's a decent competitive field. Test Matches, crowds used to love to turn out to watch the national team ride and as the national team are doing so well we don't get to see them at all this year in the UK and the extra publicity this would bring

That is true . Everyone deserves a life , just that a few prefer to lead a very sad life and spend a lifetime complaining even though they do not attend . Probably complain at the price of a hooker but hasn’t had a hard on in years

There will be a major shake up at this year's AGM though,,, they are swapping from Sainsbury custard creams to Aldi digestives

Speedway is literally in the same boat as the dogs, prostituting itself for tv money with zero thought for its supporters. On a previous thread i posted about no saturday track bar berwick, theres an enormous gap in the south /midlands for any track to grasp the nettle, hopefully in 2024. TV deals are all well and good but its to the detriment of the sport as a whole . The best supported club in the land are safely cocooned in the championship racing on the night that suits them .

Weather is getting better. Nothing is going to stop Laguta.

I agree. Regarding your question I think that that is also in danger of withering. I am completely bored with it - I much prefer team events.

To many of them now want to be classed as professional speedway riders which is at times the problem. Go back to the likes of Steve McDermott had a 9pt average but still worked a normal job and ofter arranged holidays around Bandits away fixtures.

The biggest issue with league speedway is the way it’s ran. The operating model isn’t fit for purpose & is massively contrived. The issues stem from years of poor management & no real desire to grow the product. The golden ticket was during the first sky contract, a tv partner who wanted to invest & paid a very good sum for the broadcast rights. That came at a time when the majority of the worlds best still rode here & the gp came to Cardiff. I still remember Mark Loram being featured on the back page of the sun newspaper on a Saturday. But instead of investing the promoters at the time spent the money on propping up what they had been doing for years, With no hope of a return on the investment or any signs of progress the money Sky have slowly declined until they binned it of altogether. To have a meaningful league structure that allows emotional buy in guesting & doubling has to stop & it has to be ran properly. Now that’s where the issue is it’s now to late to save not enough venues not enough riders & far to few spectators.

It was said he penned a Speedway novel called "Low Expectations" that was never published!

Nonsense - it’s sport and it’s a competition. Sheffield have made changes to make sure they are as competitive as they deem that they can be. That goes for any job in the UK. If somebody isn’t performing as they should, they don’t have a god given right to keep that job over a foreigner because of their nationality. That is irrelevant if they aren’t meeting the required standards.

In addition to what you have said, even the Poles don’t support individual events other than the main Polish Championship. Anything that isnt their team they aren’t interested. I watched one of the events at Poznan earlier this year and Buxton probably got bigger crowds than that one.

A few teams have been struggling to book guests lately not just Plymouth. I think that's good as R/R should always be the first facility available.

What team sport has a trophy etc after every match etc.. Does Football the popular sport in world ? Of course not its not how team sport works.. Poland is packed with fans watching league racing with big tv rateings . I could find about 20 examples..Speedway in the uk is in trouble because its been poorly ran and terrible choices it's taken over a number of years. .

There’s no rule that you have to go to speedway to be on this forum though?

Along with all speedway fans from around the UK and more hopefully.

The points limit is suppose to level the playing field, yet we still see naff teams. A lot of fans walked when season after season their winning team was broken up. It also helps pull forward rider retirements. Perhaps it’s time to try a season without a points limit.

How Mickey Mouse is it then for all riders being allowed to ride for every team in one country..?...

The other thing about those Coventry ones I attended was the riders really wanted to win it or qualify so the racing was often frantic

A few weeks back I had a free weekend, wife was away visiting her father down in Devon, the was 0 meetings on a Saturday for whatever reason, I think Redcar were running on the Friday but I didn't fancy driving up there on a Friday after work and there was also no meeting on the Sunday within a reasonable drive.

In London Victoria in plenty of time to av me Costa flat white Looking forward to seeing Ben Cook & Joe Thompson ride, not forgetting the rest of the Pirates. Watched both the Thompson's progress at Leicester & I never thought I'd see one of them in Pirates colours. Joe is certainly at the right club for support after being messed about this season. It's great to hear all the fans getting behind him like they did with Nathan Ablitt. Great to see Joe getting the results on track. Josh Pickering I'm sure will be amongst the points for the Brummies but the rest I dunno. Both Sedgy & Batch are disappointing when they should be better, I think Nielsen & Fergel Starkey pose a bigger threat. Pirates to be clear in the distance with my predict-ometer reading 57-33. C'mon the Boyzzzzz

Test Matches might get some interest..? When Speedway was in its halcyon period the success of the 'England" team and iders were the reason so many attended domestic Speedway. . Hardly any domestic Speedway was shown but fans knew of the sport via what they watched on TV on Saturdays... Individual meetings and WTC.. The RFU and ECB grew their domestic sport by centralised contracts ensuring that the top players prioritised the national team. They knew that whatever success Leicester, Saracens, Lancashire and Yorkshire cricket etc etc etc had, it would have little impact overall, and not grow the sport... Maybe an "elite" Test Match series could help generate domestic interest the same for Speedway? It could definitely get more wider media coverage, and maybe a decent sponsor.? Bomber couldn't represent Australia or Poland though if he didn't get picked for GB. GB v Poland at the NSS, Poole and Glasgow for example, would deliver the best crowds in years I would suggest, and paint the sport in a very positive light via the TV. ..

This is probably more relevant to those that know me personally...........it's 245am and I'm just getting ready to leave for WINborne road. Message for Val.....I've cleaned me teggies and had a shave Out the door at 315am to catch the local bus into the city then hopping on the National Express arriving Bournemouth 1210pm and finally the local bus over to Poole I will av a snooze on the way and also me Costa in London Victoria. Love Pirates Love speedway

I believe that it's tomorrow.

The cut-off was 28th August, effective 31st August so the 1st September averages do not come into it.

Hackney in the then lower league in these days was probably harder than todays Premiership.IMO

With some of the decisions made and resulting outcomes, you had me fooled….

I really hope that either Belle Vue or Wolverhampton win the play offs. Along with Ipswich, they are the only teams that have not chopped and changed all season. Leicester, Sheffield, King's Lynn & Peterborough are not really " teams", just a random selection of riders bought together for a few matches. If Leicester or Sheffield win the play offs, it will make a complete mockery of the sport. Would be nice for Wolves to win, in what looks like their last season. They are the only team that have shown any loyalty to their riders over the past few years .

Good statement from the club owners. I know this season has hurt them immensely as it has all those involved and support the Bandits and Bullets. Great to put all the silly rumours that has been floating around recently to bed and Speedway is back for its 56th ( I think ) year in 2024. An amazing achievement for a small town like Berwick. Good luck for the remainder of this season and beyond to everyone involved with Berwick Speedway

League speedway in the UK is a joke. There are not enough spectators, not enough riders and not enough venues – and it really doesn’t make sense as a TV sport to the casual viewer. But there is still a desire for team speedway from the (dwindling) hardcore and (probably) promoters. The sport needs a ground up rebuild that probably won’t happen, but how about trying to build a new product designed for TV, but accessible for existing fans? Personally I would like to see an individual series take the Monday night TV slot, with traditionalists able to watch team racing away from Eurosport. Idea would be this… Assume 12 ‘pro’ clubs. Each hosts a round of the series and nominates a rider from its line-up to represent it. Additional slots (to fill the 16) can be allocated to qualifiers or more likely wildcards from the local promoter, broadcast partner and federation, the idea being that they can invest in bringing in big names or local favourites if they think it will put bums on seats. And basically you have a GP style meeting and GP style championship (or like British Superbikes). Riders ride for themselves, but also their teams, so if they are injured they will be replaced by a team-mate, who will score his own individual points but also team points. At the end of the series there is an individual and team champion (probably, but not definitely) the same. TV has a credible, easy to understand series. It showcases each track during the season and represents each team, giving promotion to the local club. Each club has an opportunity to have a big night, tailored to its audience and with reason for supporters of every other club to come along, and hopefully the series would be able to attract sponsors to make it viable and able to generate reasonable prize money. To me, this would be a better use of the TV deal than shooting ourselves in the foot live on Eurosport each week. I think I’d like to watch this more and it could be a step in speedway reinventing itself in the way that many other sports have in recent years

Other than the Wolves riders I can't think of many riders who actually like Monmore Green. I couldn't understand why they used to hold the British Championship there year after year until the NSS was built.

If any more teams drop out of the top two leagues then they absolutely have to merge. Seven team leagues are pointless, especially if everyone and their dog gets a crack at the play-offs. Berwick have made a sensible decision here. No point in the club going out of business trying to sustain the Bullets as an NL side.

I'm all for riding when its best for the club even if we lose commuting riders, I don't get excited by big names I get excited by good close racing but I'm almost certainly in the minority so its down the plughole we go

I'm sure Richie Worrall would happily do those meetings.

Lebedevs in for Thomsen. I guess Jack Holder must be testing his wrist today.

Live speedway as a product does not work on TV, unless you are going to screen three meetings live, alternating between each venue. That way you are not having to fill dead air. Also an added benefit to those fans watching live in the stadium of not having a long drawn out meeting. The alternative is the Quest, 1 hour highlights package, where they can drop a dull race and focus on a race and some professional analysis.

Back in the day, I could regularly go to Wolves on a Monday, Milton Keynes on a Tuesday, Long Eaton on a Wednesday, Sheffield on a Thursday, Peterborough on a Friday, Coventry on a Saturday and an open meeting/world championship qualifier on a Sunday... all from my Leicester base. These days I get to Leicester on a Thursday and Peterborough on a Thursday/Monday when Leicester aren't riding... or Leicester away and that's it!

A lot of well supported Midlands clubs in those days

As a young new to speedway fan my old man took me up to Ipswich to see the England or was it GB test match V's Denmark (1988) - absolutely loved it as I got to see Tatum Wigg Donkey, Morton, Cross, Havelock and Silver V's Nielsen, Gundersen, Jan O Pedersen, Ravn and co - as a NL fan we never got to see these riders usually. The place was packed and GB won 47-43. I do prefer team events - the old Autumn triangles and 4TT qualifiers / events always got decent crowds in as it packed 2-3 teams into a night so the away attendance was always bigger. When I moved to Sheffield I did usually attended the PLRC which again was always pretty packed out and run on a Sunday. In the old days the NLRC was at Coventry on a saturday night which we attended a couple of times. One of the biggest mistakes in my view was the downgrading of the British Final to a weekday slot. I loved the 2 or 3 I attended in the late 80s, always on a Sunday with a packed out Brandon. On the team front bank holiday double meetings were always a draw. Lunchtime up at Ipswich - back down to Arena in the evening, the crowds at Foxhall in the lunchtime meeting would always be about 3000+ and often 2000+ at Arena in the evening.

What an f ing joke speedway in This country has become. I love watching on a Thursday at Ipswich but even I am now totally pissed of that teams can just change at any point. Take a leaf out of the football rules for Christ sakes and limit when signings can be made. The whole sport has become an absolute joke now and no one in charge seems to give a damn!

Its a knockout had credibility and kudos in winning... If UK Speedway had ran it, it would be... "Tonight representing France is"... "Italy"....

UK Speedway is on the scrapheap and needs re-building. The first thing that needs to happen is it needs to get some credibilty back. It's about to lose another two clubs, both from the so called top flight, so this needs addressing first and foremost. It needs a new league structure, a Super League perhaps along the lines of the Danish structure, and please, get rid of guests!! Yesterday, Leicester plunged to a real low by sacking Harris one week and getting him in as a guest the next. How do you sell that or explain it to anyone new? Or to sponsors? In my opinion, Eurosport do a fantastic job and I enjoy watching GP's and the league. The Discovery App is first class. But they need to have something credible for the future. With the clubs that are left, it needs re-structuring quickly.

Personally don't see it being any better than what they had, Chris Holder proved at the world cup he is well past his best and Vissing will be dangerous not any good just dangerous! They could easily kept Kerr, he is a very decent reserve and just got a replacement for Ellis, possibly a new 5 pointer.

Agreed Lambert was certainly very good at the age of 15/16 although some way short of what Michael Lee was achieving at such a young age. As you rightly say some riders look very impressive at 15/16 but fail to progress as might have been expected. Others like Jason Doyle of course rise to the top once their teenage years have passed.

It thoroughly enjoyed my beer and burger diet during my weekend road trips . Steak pie , chips at Scunny wasnt too bad either .