salty

Matt Ford was only 5 at the time, so hard to blame him. This time...

I do remember rider control and it was done away with because it was no longer fit for purpose. Even back in the early 70's we knew at Cradley we would be shafted by the big clubs who had their place at the top table. Read John Berry's Confessions book to find out how shabbily Ipswich were treated when they moved up a league (they took over West Ham's licence, but the Hammers top man Christer Lofqvist ended up at Poole). Given the petty jealousies and back-biting that goes on now, coupled with the all pervasive "social media" I don't envy Messrs Morris and Vatcher their job.

Like I said, all about getting a TV deal by making it easier to keep the top riders.

I notice Dave Hoggart is still on the MC. Suggests he must still be likely to be involved at Owlerton...

Where did you get the 20 years from? I'm talking about the compulsory junior rider scheme which last for two seasons from 1986. Read the latest Backtrack for full details! Screen and Stoney came along later.

I'll give you your Screen, Stoney and Wilson. You can also add in Paul Fry, Ray Morton and Andy Phillips who all went on to have decent careers.

This smacks of trying to keep the TV people enticed. We keep the attraction of the top stars (who still want to ride here), but cut costs at the bottom end of the team. Very much a fix for next season only, to keep the all important TV money. A lower points limit (as was rumoured) would have meant more of the top boys being forced out and would have made Terry Russell's salesman job all the more difficult. If Sky do sign up again, does anyone want to hazard how many times Pearson - prior to the reserves races - says "their points count just as much as the heat leaders"?

That'll be fun. Lambert gets allocated to Poole....

And as I recall the new agreement(the one that has just expired) was arranged well in advance of the old one running out. Which along with Sky dropping the GP coverage is why there is pessimism they will come back on board.

As a Virgin XL customer wish we had got this during the speedway season, but at least I'll be able to watch NHL for nowt which is cool. Hope they keep it for free in 2014.

Interesting points as ever, Arthur. Unfortunately, I think the key difference between greyhounds and speedway will be the influence of the bookmakers. They have a vested interest in keeping the dogs on sky as the live coverage boosts their turnover. They also have the funds to help shore up the production costs. Speedway has nothing like that level of support and it will be the BSPA on its own that will have to come up with a package to entice the broadcasters.

Interesting thread. Fair play to Steve for kicking it off. Having said that I can't see the BSPA grasping this particular nettle. Setting up their own subscription streaming service would be a bit too much like speculating to accumulate and I sense a conservative approach is more likely. I reckon there will be a fair few promoters believing that the lack of Sky coverage will encourage more people to go to the tracks. More workable in my view is the idea mentioned by Flagrag, whereby the BSPA self produce a televised product and Sky pay a reduced fee for the rights to show that. Greyhounds went with that approach when they lost the Sky contract last winter. They had the advantage of having the expertise of the Racing Post TV team to fall back on and also the support of the bookmakers who like to see the sport getting TV exposure so it was perhaps easier for Greyhounds to do this than it will be for Speedway. May be that promoters will see that thee knock on effects of TV exposure for their other sponsors will be worth investing in this approach. As a Speedway fan in exile I have reduced by live viewing to GP's for the past 3 or 4 years and personally I would find it unlikely I would bother paying for a subscription to a streaming service. The Elite League has been so poor the past couple of years with teams seemingly relying more and more on RR and guests that I would rather stick with the GP weekends. The domestic scene would need a major overhaul before I would be thinking about putting my hand in my pocket.

To be fair, Speedway Star this week said "It is unthinkable that the GP series would not be staged without a Swedish representative and, after finishing 11th in the standings, Freddie Lindgren has to be the man for the job" Suppose they took into account AJ missing a couple of rounds.

Congrats to the Heathens. Well deserved after last years heartache. Seems like it was a good sporting occasion last night, Young Stars deserve a lot of credit for the season they have had.

Had fogotten this was due so it was a lovely surprise to come home from a miserable day at work to find the new edition on the mat. Nice to see a big feature on Siggy - one of the few top riders of the era who haven't had a main feature as yet. I wonder if Siggy would have ever got to the pinnacle of the sport if it wasn't for his career ending injury? Also looking forward to reading about such as Sid Sheldrick, John Langfield and above all John Bostin (got to be one of the best surnames ever) This month's deliberate mistake - caption of the photo at West Ham on page 22. Couldn't have been riding Edinburgh - surely should be Coatbridge? Notice the obit on Tony Millard. There was also a nice one in the recent edition of The Cricketer.

Thought this was interesting from Monday's RP. The Football Club's missed planning deadline? http://www.racingpost.com/news/greyhounds/wimbledon-diane-mclean-mclean-queries-council-attitude-over-planning/1539075/top/

I was speaking to someone who was at Perry Barr last night and their main reaction about the meeting was not about the quality of the racing (which was deemed as OK), but the ridiculously long time it took the meeting to be run. They left before Heat 15. I know Sky like the double header nature of the play-off semi's but it always drags the meetings on for ever.

All down to the final (providng Nicki gets in it). Thank goodness the scores are close because the racing has been woeful.

Spot on call by the ref for me.

The crowd for the Kiddie match was a touch over 2,000. Comfortably more than the crowds at most Elite League venues, especially when the cameras are present.

Interesting input as ever from Arthur. I've watched a bit of the Conference Football coverage and have enjoyed their innovative approach and it is clear that the contract gives them a fairly free hand. With Greyhounds, Netball and Basketball now producing their own programmes in house for selling on as a package, it would seem that does not fit with the BT sport ethos of quality coming first. Edit: I hope ESPN/BTSport 3 does continue to show American sport - I would be lost without my Baseball!

I think there is an argument that newcomers to the series would benefit from a two year stint. I can recall this was mentioned when Tai had his first go in the series and the idea does have some merit. As for MJJ I hear on the grapevine that he doesn't want the commitment for 2014 as he is expecting a forthcoming court case to take up a lot of his time. Spook:I agree with a number of your points regarding the selection process, however, I think you are wrong concerning Bomber. Up to 3 or 4 years ago I would agree that BSI seemed determined to maintain the British representation at two, but since Tai dropped out after his initial year they have gone with one. I see no reason why they would be persuaded to return to two, especially for a rider who has had plenty of nominations in the past. Cardiff will still have two Brits (as in the past couple of years) where crowds don't seem to show a great decline. Far more likely that they will plump for two Swedes, can't see past Freddie and AJ myself. Would make a line up of... 3 Danes 3 Poles (assuming Tomasz) 2 Aussies (assuming Chris) 2 Swedes 1 Brit 1 American 1 Slovenian 1 Russian 1 German

Thanks for the feedback. Bit concerning that Vaculik feels that way, 5 years is a big chunk of a career. Maybe he didn't expect such a tough time of it this year? If they only go with one Swede I would be happy if Vaculik got another go for 2014.

If Mr G requires and wants a nomination then he should get one - no question. Holder a certainty. The other two are more difficult. Given how keen they were for years to keep 2 Brits in, is it not likely that 2 Swedes will get picks? Especially given the healthy looking crowd last night. Can't see past Lindgren and Jonsson to be honest. Antonio continues to struggle and has finished behind the other two and there is no other candidate from Sweden who has made a compelling case for inclusion (though the two kids at reserve last night looked distinctly promising). Is it possible that individual riders who are sponsored by Monster might get preferential treatment given the drinks company's relationship with the series? I guess we'll soon find out.

Ruts starting to play a part. Hope there are no more big off's. Amazing that Pearson can tell that Puk is "angry" whilst riding hard.