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Just back from a week’s holiday in Rhodes and on the second day I was wearing my Dan Bewley Wroclaw shirt around the pool. Later that evening while at the bar, someone appeared behind me and asked if I was Polish or English as he had seen me wearing the shirt. I replied English and he introduced himself as Andreas Bergstrom. We chatted briefly for ten minutes before I had to go. A few evenings later I saw him again and this time we spent the evening sinking plenty of whiskey and rum and putting the speedway world to rights! A top fella with a lovely family. Couldn’t speak highly enough about Berwick, the club and its supporters (less complimentary about a certain person who was at the club when he rode though!) His stories were brilliant, funny, eye opening and his opinion on a certain Swedish ex-World Champion was surprising! 😉 His thoughts on speedway’s current crop were also very interesting, and his love for Bomber Harris oozed out of him. His fears for the future of both Swedish and British speedway echo many of our own, as do his ideas of how to promote the sport and turn it round. But as he said himself, there are too many people in positions of power who don’t want wholesale change for the better due to their own business interests. He currently runs his own industrial firm which is extremely busy but hopes to get some time off to come to watch the GP in the UK next year when hopefully we can meet up again. The only downside meeting him was that I’m still in the doghouse with the missus for chatting to him all night at the bar rather than spending it with her and our daughter! 🤣

Its stands to reason, as in most other sports, that the best teams last longer in competitions and therefore will play against each other more times. It amuses me that people say why are we seeing Poole / Glasgow / Redcar / Oxford / Sheffield / Ipswich / Belle Vue again. It's because they keep winning..!

Now we know that there will be 2 Leagues in 2026, why doesnt 1 promoter have the Balls to admit there will be 2 leagues and not wait until Nov 12th,at there AGM. Also ,if all the rumours on this Forum are TRUE, tell us who told you and from what source you know this. This only having 1 rider above 8 pts,is crap.Why should the likes of GLASGOW,POOLE and REDCAR pander to promoters of other teams who have a crap 1 - 7. If the points limit is 40,build your team to 40 or close as,if some Promoters cant build a decent team of 1 - 7, thats not GLASGOW,POOLE or REDCAR's fault. Promoters should build teams within the points limit and riders they can afford.

The big stars can bring crowds in, but I’d suggest the repetition somewhat knocks that on the head. If Emil Sayfutdinov (for example) was coming to my track once a season and I absolutely had to be there on that night to see him I’d get it. But last season he went to some away tracks three, maybe four times. It’s not so much of a novelty when the big name is back in town again in a few weeks. This is one of the benefits of a larger league, you don’t race the same teams two to three times at home a season. The damage is done and probably too hard to rectify in the short term but seeing the same old faces week in, week out in both divisions is a contributing (one of many) factor to the decline of the sport on the whole.

It was distributed to vested promotions in an equitable manner who decided by and large to spend the vast majority of the income on paying riders inflated pay rates. What didn’t happen was that the money was handled in what the sponsors hoped for which was to use significant amounts of money to invest in the infrastructure and development of the sport which in turn would lead to a growth in interest and value for their subscriber base. As a comparison think what football, cricket, Rugby & darts have done to use TV money as a catalyst to greatly improve facilities and evolve their sport to provide bigger & better experiences for both attendees & viewers alike.

At last someone who seems to understand the issues regarding “sharing” the top riders around. In either League! There’s only certain clubs who can afford the more pricey riders so the issue is not only can the less well off clubs afford a big hitter that now can’t be fitted in elsewhere, and will those riders now accept a lower deal because that’s the only offer left on the table. As I’ve said on other threads, you could end up losing riders to British Speedway because they’re not prepared to accept what a lower paying club will pay them. If a few of the top boys DO accept a lower deal somewhere where they didn’t want to go, is that in itself fair to said riders because of a restriction in the rules? You’ve also got the issue of local sponsorship. You’ll have riders that have acquired valuable sponsorship at the club they’re settled at, that they’ll now lose by being forced in to moving elsewhere. I personally hope any thoughts of “sharing” riders by enforcing new rules, doesn’t see the light of day and let all teams build how they like within the points limit.

I struggle to think of many who he won't beat? Masters and Lawson maybe, possibly Harris & Wright at a push, not much else. This is a rider who put 1.5 points on his average this year, I'd back him to comfortably beat the likes of Kemp, Worrall (if he rides), Batchelor, etc. Tom Brennan improved in a similar way at Glasgow and then averaged 9+ the season after. I think Thompson is a relatively slow burner but is going to be a very, very good rider.

Never a good time for something like this but if it does happen this time of year is best from a recovery point of view Fingers crossed it is all straight forward for Tom

That’s move up to the Premiership like we did once before 🤔

British Pathe News????? 😲

Many years ago I was lying by the pool in Tenerife reading the speedway star, this bloke came up saying so your a speedway fan, looking up I recognised the guy as Alan Ham former promoter at Bradford speedway, spent a couple of hours putting the speedway world to rights, he couldn't believe that as a Workington fan a group of us used to go to Bradford every week for our speedway fix, at the time Workington had no speedway late 80's

Looks like watering down to me. Dan Thompson will be fine, a class act

In essence it’s a straight choice between kildemand and Jeppesen I’m guessing a lot will depend on if they are already signed up in premiership. Will be interesting if Morris is signed up as he’s going to be in huge demand for next year,should be putting 1.5pts on his average next year.

40 point Premiership limit? Or 40 point Championship limit? Also bear in mind, only 4 Premiership teams actually had proper heatleaders last year, 3 didn't and it showed in the final table. How are you going to make that work in one big league? And are there enough riders to make everyone ride to a 40 point Championship limit? In one league, would GP riders like Jack Holder and Bewley etc sign up to ride against 2 point Championship riders?

I’m assuming the 8 point figure is due to the current number of CL teams being equal to the number of riders with an 8 point average. As such if there’s a change in the number of teams the average figure can change to match. Fine in principle. What would happen though if a rider doesn’t want to ride for whatever clubs are left available? Or can’t agree terms with that particular club? Or can’t ride for some clubs due to fixture clashes with foreign clubs? It’s conceivable that a club might not want any of the riders left available. What if a PL rider makes a late decision to double down because there aren’t enough PL fixtures anymore? Or if a signed CL rider changes their mind about riding at the last minute? The list goes on. Seems problematic to me, or is this all a lot easier than I’m imagining?

In 1983 (chosen at random) we had Cradley visit 3 times and Sheffield hosted Coventry 4 times. Multiple visits have gone on for years and are not the main reason for none attendance imo.

Can’t say I’m a massive fan of restricting team building beyond an overall limit but the one over 8 thing doesn’t really weaken the league or teams that much imo This year only 2 teams started with 2 8+ riders these being Berwick and Redcar. The name of the game has and always will be finding riders who can improve their average so restricting teams to 1 8+ rider doesn’t change that.

Joe Owen.......

As with life in general, everything comes down to money. The money that people running the sport should be chasing is that from people currently having no interest in the sport. This will come from sponsorship and the paying public. Whilst this is an obvious market, tapping into it continues to be the problem, as those of us following the sport all know. Like everyone else on this forum, I don't have the answers, but seeking revenue from these sources has to be ultimate priority for the sustainability of the sport. Decisions relating to one league or two, hanging on to GP level riders or not etc, should not really British Speedway's priority. The reality is if new people and their money can be drawn to the sport, they will not have a clue (or care) who the current top riders are and will judge speedway racing by what they see on the track. The closer and more competitive the racing therefore the better. The future and structure (what ever form it needs to take) of the sport therefore needs to take this into consideration.

Would like to see Jonus stay.

How are they going to be persuaded? With no tv money atm can't see it. 'Oh please move up and lose a ton of money and just be there to make up the numbers so we can have six teams..' As Simon Lambert has said on a podcast, why should the championship lose a team.

its not about opinions its about costs.

100% agree with you as I said no good/easy answers, personally I think the top league is done either now or within the next 3 years the championship is a much more sustainable business model particuarly when they can run on the best night for their business Plymouth being a rare success this year.

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Have to chuckle sometimes, how much longer are King's Lynn fans going to keep making excuses that "Strength in Depth" is the right way 🤣 The only time it's ever worked is when the big guns are restricted/banned/leave. If the big guns are back for 2026, King's Lynn will be, yet again, Premiership Deadingtons.

It has been well documented the Spires will not run next season so the Cheetahs will run in the Premiership.

Newsagents are the best source of supply

TBH it's late most weeks, sometimes very late. I asked the postwoman, was told they deliver 1st class letter post in my area every other day, alternate weeks i.e. "one week it's Monday, Wednesday & Friday, the next it's Tuesday, Thursday & maybe a Saturday". Nice of them to bother🤔. Used to be on time every Thursday, even during lockdown, delivery issues really started when they used clear plastic bags, been getting ever worse since....

Applying to join Polish league seeing as we're a Saturday night track

5 teams and from what I’ve been told you have to have 1 under 24 rider and 1 under 19 rider. Sounds horrendous. Thnakfully championship in much better position.

He’s burrowed that deep he’s in Australia now

I've never really rated Blodorn, feel his progress slowed when he was no longer at reserve. However, I now feel he's good value on his average & is worth a team spot (such is Speedway). Also feel makes sense to bring Zischke back, seems counter productive to keep a struggling reserve all year, unless you expect to benefit the following season? If the rules allowed, I'd bring back both Bewley & Kurtz. Also think Mulford will be one of the better "rising stars" with Flint & Jenkins graduating from the scheme. I'd definitely stick with him.

I stand corrected and thank you for the information. But still think he’ll struggle riding at number one

Championship set the 40 point limit for 3 years in 2024, based on the same number of teams in the league!.

possibly lose Kemp as well with his polish committments

Don’t think 1 rider over 8 is really necessary when you have points limit.Makes 2nd string heatleaders ask for better terms .Clubs with money will look for 5 pt foreigners.Sticking plaster stuff as usual.( if all these rumours are true ) s

costs will dictate what happens to speedways future, and its not looking good. we can all have our own opinions, i would love to see all top gp riders every week at belle vue. just like your opinion its not going to happen.

Of course it’s about opinions! I’m responding to people’s “opinions” on what kind of racing they prefer and what division, not what they think their club can afford. People have given their OPINION that they prefer to see less of certain teams and riders throughout the season and prefer more variety. I’ve simply given mine.

12th November in Rugby I believe

Edited now 😂

This looks a good team with maybe Max perry at number 7. Hes done ok at Glasgow this year.

Andrew Silver.Instantly recognisable.I was walking past the pits at rye house when he came out for a practice skid before the one season he had circa 2009? I hadn't seen him ride since he was at Swindon and clocked him straight away

Glasgow with all the money they could need complaining that the 1 rider over 8 rule is unfair. Scunthorpe who maybe have less money are more than likely going to be happy by this rule. I thunk the rules makes sense to the competition as a whole as realistically to make more teams competing and then therefore elevate all crowds up and down as apposed to just the good ones. I understand why people may loan at it for the big boys but I think for the league itself it will make it more competitive.

That would imply somebody is making it up as they go along. ... so business as usual then!

Charles Wright, Jason Edwards and Jody Scott would be my first 3 signings. Sounds like Jake Allen will be there too, not a fan personally but he's solid enough I guess. I wouldn't mind someone like Luke Harrison or Connor Mountain at number 2. It's hard to say until the final average limits are out though. 1. Charles Wright 8.89 2. Luke Harrison 4.98 3. Jason Edwards 6.44 4. Jake Allen 6.53 5. Leon Flint 6.96 6. Jody Scott 3.82/Ace Pijper 4.04 7. Max Perry 2.29/2.00er 39.91/39.84

Bobby Ott ... I once saw him "fall off" but kept hold of the handlebars, kept astride the machine, and then uprighted the bike as it was still sliding across the track!! He got excluded because Ronnie Correy laid his bike down behind him thinking Bobby had come to grief.... As Ronnie lay there, Bobby was flying down the home straight . 😁 And then was going mad that he got excluded... He used to practice his balance by riding a unicycle and certainly could ride a bike at angles, but still with speed,that few others could muster...

But that’s 6 of the 7 from last season that were woeful away from home and the one rider you left out in Zach Cook was awesome at home Brady and Dan are the best top 2 in the league Id definitely have Brennan over Lidsey With Blodorn he was awful last season maybe the SGP2 win will help him but he basically was the worst number 2 in the league All season your fans moaned about the 2 reserves and Norick and now you want all 3 back?

Ellis seems really popular behind the scenes as well. Nice words from Louis there. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if he was kept on too.

Just imagine the bad weather headline. "Bulls hit by rain." I'll get me coat...