Midland Red

And for those of us whose first language is English?

"Footnote: When we have a situation where our leagues are struggling through the shortest of top riders" So - who's the shortest of top riders, then, and how are our leagues struggling because of the riders' size?

I know we've been over this ground before - several times - but it does seem that we are revisiting 1963/64, when the top league (National League) was dying through falling number of tracks, and the lower league (Provincial League) was reportedly doing decent business and providing good racing So what happened? Amalgamation, the creation of the British League, the saviour (then) of the so-called dying sport - and BL2 too was created for the up-and-coming riders on tracks who couldn't afford to go BL1 and some second teams of BL1 outfits Does this not sound familiar??? Provincial League riders raised their game, against the so-called National League star riders (and there were a lot more of them than there are now in the Elite(?) League) - and it worked, it worked very well - indeed, new tracks appeared And it could work again, if costs are cut, admission prices are reduced, live televised league racing is abolished, and those that want to race a full British league programme can do so, those that want to ++++ off to Sweden, Denmark and Poland, well, let them go - no more prima donnas, please! Just a thought! Oak Tree Arena

Apologies! BV is incorrect by 10 points Revised chart; (no. of meetings; match score; EDR score; 1-5 score) +/- +/- +/- Coventry h 4 28 20 8 a 7 31 23 8 11 59 43 16 Poole h 4 26 11 15 a 4 9 10 -1 8 35 21 14 Kings Lynn h 5 70 1 69 a 5 -20 2 -22 10 50 3 47 Wolverhampton h 5 38 7 31 a 5 -55 -6 -49 10 -17 1 -18 Belle Vue h 4 24 -3 27 a 6 -40 3 -43 10 -16 0 -16 Leicester h 5 -12 -6 -6 a 2 -48 1 -49 7 -60 -5 -55 Swindon h 5 30 -3 33 a 3 -52 -17 -35 8 -22 -20 -2 Lakeside h 6 61 -21 82 a 6 -90 -22 -68 12 -29 -43 14 It doesn't alter the EDR figures It's 1 different from your figures as I exclude the double-points, as explained so Leicester at home is taken as 55-35, Coventry at home 39-51, Kings Lynn away as 40-50 Apologies, once again, for the error (I did say e&oe!)

On the Poole website, Fat Maud says Magic is resting for a week Is he?

Cheers! It also shows how under-performing at home the Bees top five is!

Have been interested to see the impact of the Elite Draft Riders, with some suggesting they have too much impact on match results Taking EL matches only, and excluding double point tactical scores, the figures so far (e&oe) are as follows: (no. of meetings; match score; EDR score; 1-5 score) +/- +/- +/- Coventry h 4 28 20 8 a 7 31 23 8 11 59 43 16 Poole h 4 26 11 15 a 4 9 10 -1 8 35 21 14 Kings Lynn h 5 70 1 69 a 5 -20 2 -22 10 50 3 47 Wolverhampton h 5 38 7 31 a 5 -55 -6 -49 10 -17 1 -18 Belle Vue h 4 14 -3 17 a 6 -40 3 -43 10 -26 0 -26 Leicester h 5 -12 -6 -6 a 2 -38 1 -39 7 -50 -5 -45 Swindon h 5 30 -3 33 a 3 -52 -17 -35 8 -22 -20 -2 Lakeside h 6 61 -21 82 a 6 -90 -22 -68 12 -29 -43 14 It highlights those teams with the strongest 6 and 7s, and also gives an insight into the performances of the top fives

I repeat my opinion from other threads - attendances will suffer through live televising of meetings, GP or League - especially when you see the prices for Cardif! Posted at the same time as mine - with similar sentiments

My point was . . . . The only chance to see themAny "mystique" disappears if you've seen them regularly on TV Comparing seeing Real Madrid live with attending a speedway meeting is plain daft Can't comment on darts

Is that the official line from BSI, or the FIM, or Pinegen?

It was meant as ONE item of explanation, and not necessarily a MAJOR point OK - I still hark back to the "good old days" - and from where I stand (or sit) they WERE good old days At Brandon we had extremely good attendances each and every Saturday (apart for the Stock Car Saturday, when the stadium overflowed!!!!) and we watched out "local heroes" 1965, we had Boocock, Mountford, Lightfoot, France, Cottrell, Owen and Harrison 1968, it was Boocock, France, Cottrell, Owen, Harrison, Hill and Ridley There's another point there too - consistency of team make-up - Mountford was out most of 68 and 69, returning in 70, so from 1965, you could say there was only one line-up change So, fans could really identify with the team members, knew them, met them - it all helps, for fans not only support the sport, or their team, they also support individual riders, and if they're local and consistently appearing, they'll stay on the terraces and in the stands to watch them Look at non-team sports like grasstrack and motocross - the riders have huge individual following, and the value of that should not be lost to speedway One reason the second (and third) halves used to be popular at Brandon was watching up and coming locals having a go I hoped Coventry Storm might be able to follow the local rider route (as per Cottrell, Ridley, Lomas, Booton, Mattocks, Hill, from years gone by) but sadly the make up of the 2015 team is anything but local Journey foreigners flying in (or not) for one season is not the route to establishing a firm supporter base And I agree that the drawcards are not around any more - and that's largely due to television exposure In the "good old days", it was an occasion for Fundin, or Briggs, for example, to appear at Brandon, and if we didn't go, we didn't see them Nowadays, whatever top riders there are within or without the UK, they can be seen week in, week out, on TV, so there's little or no encouragement to pay out to watch them live anymore Imagine the draw Tai Woffinden would have been around the British tracks when reigning World Champion if the only chance you had to seen him was by going to a track and paying your admission money

It doesn't help that teams these days are made up almost entirely of journeymen riders, with little or no affection for their club Gone are the days of teams including a number of local riders, home grown riders, whom fans could relate to on and off the track And, of course, there's the self-inflicted increase in guest riders because of the doubling-up situation - I'm all for riders getting as much track time as possible but not where it causes team selection problems week in week out throughout the UK A new blueprint for British speedway is desperately needed - NOW Squads have been mentioned to allow for "star riders" to reappear in our leagues - but squads are just as much needed to obviate the doubling-up absenteeism

Can't wait to read all the positives and justifications for tonight from Mr Rising!

Didn't Marvyn Cox and Andy Smith ride on German and Polish licences?

And of course it will be a nice warm, dry evening

For Saddlebow Road, pick the four best gaters - 'cos there won't be much passing

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Totally agree, 100% with you, Jonimac

Pardon? I assume you mean Olsen, not Olsson Where does his expert opinion come into this? His company/he was responsible for laying a track deemed by riders who rode it to be unsafe - where is his "expert opinion"? Or have I missed a statement from him?

Yes Only those who rode the track could say whether it was safe or unsafe - note, it was deemed to be unsafe, not dangerous Someone who has ridden on another track on another day could not opine on Warsaw Saturday night But Lindgren didn't ride it, nor did Tatum or Nicholls

What is?

What the viewers/spectators consider as dangerous is of no consequence - only the riders involved can give an opinion as to whether it is unsafe

Point one - no it wasn't, the riders deemed it unsafe, and they're the best placed to judge Point two - the entire GP problem since its inception, and the effect on UK speedway, is Ole Olsen, no-one else

Really? Only those who ride powerful 500cc motor cycles with no brakes, in itself dangerous, can properly judge whether a track surface provided to them is unsafe to race onNobody sat in the stands or their armchairs can possibly know that answer, not you, not me For those watching the tv coverage, close-up views of riders gardening at the start line would have shown just how loose the surface was Yes, there was some passing, but I wonder how much of that was down to those riders who were passed not having the confidence with the track to contest the race in their normal way Yes, it was a shambles, and I feel for all those who paid good money to attend, whether locals or foreign visitors, and to those watching on tv, expecting something good - but it needed to be safe for the riders, and they felt that it wasn't, and nobody would know that better than them

You ARE joking, on both points, of course?