cowboy cookie returns?

Play off speedway is great & it can generate a brilliant atmosphere. Ipswich had some brilliant and of season crowds a few years ago for the championship play offs & knock out cup. However it's only 1 or 2 meetings a year and that sort of atmosphere used to be there for 20 odd meetings a season.

Trees should work for the BSPL as their PR officer can put a positive spin on anything.

I haven't been to one fixture this year to be honest I can't be bothered. However I am hoping to attend the home legs in the play offs in the hope that the sport can produce a decent spectacle/ atmosphere for the domestic show piece. I am trying to convince my wife to come along for these. I have recently managed to get her to watch the Cardiff & Wraclaw GPs as well as the high lights of the wolves TV meeting. On seeing the Cardiff GP her reaction was it's full of old people the Wolves TV meeting it was it's full of old people & it's crap. The Wraclaw GP sold the idea of a GP weekend to her as she thought the spectacle was superb & it wasn't full of old people!! So it looks like we'll be heading to Wraclaw next year if the have a GP & steering well clear of any UK speedway. Demographic here I went years hardly missing a meeting I'm early 40s the wife is late 30s & never been.

A fit for purpose rider replacement facility would massively improve the situation. As I've said many times before the old national league had a pretty much zero guest policy in the late 80s injuries had to be covered using rider replacement or promotion of a member of the clubs junior side into the senior team. If using rider replacement a number 8 had to be named. If the will is there it's something that could easily be done however I doubt it is. If you go all the way back 32 years to 1990 the sport has spent the whole timing trying to prop up & keep some form of British/Elite league now premiership going. The NL at the end of 1990 was broken up partly to keep a 9 team BL going that was rife with missing riders & the use of guests that was seeing dwindling crowd numbers. The NL on the other hand was a well run league that was seeing god gates & in the case of my local club Ipswich increased attendance dispute dropping down a league at the end of 88. To try & get the sport going over here again have one league let's call it the British League of no more that 16 clubs made up of the current championship & premiership clubs. The remaining clubs hopefully including the Isle of Wight form the second tier the National league. As much as I did like guests & doubling up they would need to stay short term. But with restrictions doubling up would only be permitted for the riders in the reserve positions of the British League clubs as named at the start of the season. Each British League club would need to name a squad of 10 riders at the start of the season using riders from the National league to cover for missing riders & injuries. Guests would only be permitted in the British League if your number 1 was missing any other missing riders would be covered with rider replacement or using your squad. The National league clubs would be able to use the riders who start the season at reserve with a British League club. These rules would be in place for 3 years before they could be reviewed & the British League would be limited to a maximum of 16 clubs for the duration of the 3 years. The cost of participation in the sport would be addressed immediately with the induction of rev limiters in year one before moving to standard upright equipment from year 2. This would hopefully allow for a better spectacle for the spectators reduced costs for the riders & clubs while making it safer by running equipment that is suitable for the majority of UK circuits. After year three the expansion of the British League would be permitted if there were tracks wanting to join & only if there were the right number of available riders of the correct standard.

Just another example of a crazy & far to complex regulation. The simple solution would be if the rising star is at reserve the teams number 8 stands in or a rider from the rising star list who isn't contacted to a club takes the position. If the rising star is in the top 5 due to having a great season & progressing as the scheme intended then the same rules apply as to any other missing rider in the top 5

If the sport is going to survive in the country other than at a fully amateur level at a hand full of tracks then something dramatic has got to happen. The equipment has got to change the rule book& the regulations have got to be torn up & started again. The tracks have got to be improved to help produce better racing. Costs reduced for all those involved. In short a route & branch rebuild from the bottom up. There will be resistance & those who say that it can't be done, the short answer is that its vital that it is done. There are several tracks with question marks over them already. however the expensive venues to run like Belle Vue, Birmingham, Wolverhampton,Glasgow & Ipswich possibly King's Lynn could they really keep running speedway on an ad-hoc basis while charging minimum admission to watch amateur racing? It's time to smell the espresso regular coffee is no longer strong enough!

A great result for Ipswich they have certainly proved the doubters myself included wrong. Playoffs here we come. What's happened to Drew Kemp seems to have gone right off the boil

That's not good half of what they normally have there

How many were at Cardiff this year?

Where's Doyle?

Speedway a team sport that doesn't have tactics or any true meaning of a team sport just a band of riders who pull on a teams race jacket a couple of times a week before riding for someone else the next night.

John Davis guesting for himself? I'm too young to remember that, how did that happen?

Watching the GP from Cardiff tonight. Shame about the track the most positive thing I took from the meeting on TV was Scott's interview with top gears Chris Harris. He seemed genuinely impressed & the comment perfect blue print for a evening of motor sport at least shows there is something positive.

Klint certainly did us a favour, perhaps he thought he was riding for us. Not really that embarrassed tbh up against a super reserve.

A message to Louis get Doyle signed up for next year.

Something King's Lynn don't seem to have when they ride at home

It's either April 1st or you guys should work for the BSPA with crackpot ideas like that!

I can't believe you guys have dropped cook! He was one of those bargain average signings!

If that's the case he should have stayed in the back ground when Peterborough won the title & not prance around on live TV. Outside looking in you have club officials celebrating with more than one club, if that's not bad enough these clubs are supposed to be arch local rivals. Then you have riders appearing for multiple clubs as guests during the season no wonder no one takes it as serious sport.

I take my hat off to Ipswich, they are by far the most professional run club in the UK. On the ball with social media embracing it & using it to their advantage. The website is also one of if not the best out there. If only Louis & Guy could take over UK speedway we might have a chance. A couple of great signings there too, when Riss is fit certainly give Louis & Hawkins a headache.

True but is that point towards the end of the season when any chance of the play offs have gone?

He's attached to Ipswich so it makes perfect speedway sense that he guested for Ipswich tonight!

Oh dear another safety fence problem at Sheffield that the track staff can't fix, not the first time

It's a typical grey speedway rule. States the % of premiership matches that are completed before changes can be made but makes no reference to if window closes before the season starts or after the league cup group meetings have been completed. Bend the rule to fit your own agenda, like Belle Vue with Zager! Although you could argue Lynn have done the same with Iversen sign a rider and keep him even when you know you can't use him because of the regulations, then when you can't sign anyone else have a facility granted. Welcome to speedway you couldn't make it up!

Any news on the injury to Riss?