Daniel Smith

Still waiting for team 5 to be officially sorted. There's still just 4 teams in the Premiership

I'm heading towards my 50s and I'd love all that. Youth today are addicted to every day statistics. Gaming, sport, fashion, music etc are all statistic driven. Many under 30s are guided by statistics over 'the eye test'. Even falsified stats today are believed by a lot, governments knowingly issue false statistics on a regular basis. TV ads knowingly display false statistics. How many products do you see with "Voted No1 by the general public." It's another thing the Promoters Association are terrible at, hoodwinking the public. That old saying "Speculate to Accumulate" still rings true today, but in a different way. Just use Statistics. "British Speedway, Watch by 30 Million People Around the World." The public don't need to know that that's since 1932 🤫

At the end of the day, we all want what's best for British Speedway, we've all got workable idea's. The biggest problem we all have & see is that the Promoters Association ain't even trying anything at all.

Nothing wrong with the idea of in-meeting or 2nd half junior racing. I used to enjoy those too. It's not to dissimilar to what I'd already suggested. For me though, guests from outside the league only adds quality rather than having a wobbler coming in for a missing top rider. With most teams already having inexperienced at 6 & 7, adding more juniors as guests could make meetings an horrific experience for paying fans. The Premiership, were possible, desperately needs to keep it's product as strong as possible. Again though, as a whole, most don't lose interest due to missing &/or guest riders. These are just generally used by fans who bash the doubling up/down. Most fans get fed up and bored because everything surrounding the sport. If British Speedway wants a younger audience, they have to provide engagement outside of practice starts, wheelies, & racing. The "Speedway" isn't broken, the engagement of the sport is.

OK brains, what's the fix for missing rider's? This will be good...........

All of that, total nonsense. Let's go through it. "Starting with it causing the disconnect between fans and the riders who race for their team." That's just not true is it. Before, during and after the season, no fan complains about their riders, riding elsewhere overall. The only disappointment is when a rider gets injured racing for someone else. The only time "fan disconnect" ever gets mentioned is when people try to argue against the doubling up/down. _____________________ "A lot of top tier riders have ended up with second tier clubs due to a relaxation of rules (doubling up numbers allowed and average conversion rate) 15 odd years ago. They've then hogged the team spots and stopped other riders from racing at second tier level and thus reaching a competitive standard. That is directly to blame for the lack of good enough riders now." This one again. The sport has changed globally, not just here. The older guys are not 'blocking' anyone. The majority of the top rider's are 30+. Some near or nearing 40. Why shouldn't these guys be allowed to continue their trade when they lose that "Elite" edge?? When King's Lynn went Premier League, I really enjoyed (with the competitive moaning) watching the Topinka's, Screen's, Havelock's etc. I bet most still enjoy Harris & Nicholls in the 2nd tier. Nobody wants them gone. There only thing that stops youth coming through is the youth itself. We've had 100s come through the lowest tier of British Speedway & almost all of them get shots at Championship & Premiership Rising Star programmes. Life is what gets in the way of youth across the world in every single aspect. If you want the younger rider's to get more opportunities, they need to be better, as simple as that. __________________ "It makes the sport look amateurish in the extreme to Speedway fans, let alone someone who may be a newcomer to the sport. The sport has to look credible to keep teams active, to help new/returning teams get back on track, to try secure another television deal and ultimately to draw in new fans." Let's get things straight here, 4 rider's, 4 laps, x15 is never the embarrassment of the sport regardless of who & age. The embarrassment is everything that surrounds it. Standard of Stadia, 70s & 80s music, zero mid heat / mid meeting entertainment etc. = zero Value for Money. All the problems with Speedway, globally, is everything the promoters put on offer away from the racing. Newcomers never give a s#!t about the rules, I'd argue 50% initially, enjoy the thrill of the racing. Why do they disappear?? Quite simply, away from the racing, lack of comfort & boredom, again, = 0 Value for Money. Everyone today wants everything yesterday. Nobody can handle a void, the brain has to be constantly entertained. If British Speedway wants the under 30s trackside for 2+ hours, the brain needs entertaining for the 90 minutes of nothingness. Practice starts, the odd wheelie & 4 laps will never, ever be enough in 2026.

Exactly that. Guests are the 'necessary evil' of the sport. Immediate change for me is that a guest can only be from other league/s. Even if you lose the No1, the guest comes in on their own converted average and those with a higher average move up a position. For me, it's not a difficult fix. Also, that would hurry up teams to find replacements (temporary or permanent) rather than constantly using 'track specialists' guests.

Terrific, but still, what is the actual problem with doubling up/down?? What damage is caused by, lets say, rider Anaz Shtinks from riding for King's Lynn & Scunthorpe, compared to King's Lynn & Lublin?? What's the difference to British Speedway overall??

Right, I'm still not getting what the problem is with doubling up/down? Someone, actually explain please??? As long as they're not missing through fixture clashes, what's the problem? If averages fit, what's the problem? If a promotion wants them, what's the problem? I do not get the issue AT ALL.

Initial declaration will be 4.49 for Jenkins. 25% will not apply.

Updated

You've just nailed it with a way to save British Speedway & lower the British Crime population. Just make the teams up of ex-cons, lets them just go for it & all kill themselves, have more room in prisons for more serious crimes. Brilliant stuff 👍🏻

It's a rough situation, his official average is 6.74. Pretty much a heatleader figure for most teams next season. If you was the Sheffield management, you'd have to be bonkers not to take advantage, would you not??

This should be good. Tell us all why fans shouldn't be cynical about British Speedway?? Ya know, the British Speedway that has constant track closures, supporters not returning year on year, excessive admission increases for a weak product. A league that, as of right now, has 4 teams. I await the answer to what the whole of the British public is missing out on!?!

Will be interesting to see if he can handle the main birth of the team. Call me cynical, I'm thinking this will be a short term signing as I'm convinced Sheffield will take advantage of his 25% reduction. Come first set of greensheets, they'll look for a 6.00+ rider.

It wasn't just his Polish club, he said himself it was he himself that didn't want to return to UK tracks as they'd hamper his recovery from injury, only returning when he felt 100%. Us British fans need to understand, with the 💰💰 Poland pay, we're 2nd fiddle & we should just accept the situation as it is (for now). Things always goes in cycles, maybe in 10-20yrs one of the UK, Sweden, Denmark could be the place to be & makes the demands on Poland. While we are were we are, we just have to bow down to the necessary if we want to continue with riders of a higher standard.

We've had this, even in recent seasons. Sayfutdinov, Janowski, Woffinden (unfortunately breif). Clubs work hard to find new talent but most would rather remain on the continent. Number of teams is the biggest problem for the top flight rather than the whose who in the teams.

It's quite simple, opinions change. We can all be right one week, then an absolute gimp the next. It's being an imperfectly normal human 👍🏻

You're one of those untrustworthy people who removes everyone from your life that p!$$ you off ain't ya??

It's been explained a million times 🙄

Does everyone deserve a 3rd, 4th or more chance though??

I hope fans take this the right way & understand what I'm saying, but, I'M REALLY REALLY FECKED OFF by this team. In any season this could have been a successful, title challenging side. It's possibly title favourites for this season. Why now?? The league only has 4 teams in it, almost every British Speedway fan up and down the country is embarrassed by the state of the Premiership. I'm so so desperate for King's Lynn to win the "Top Flight" title but is this the season to be remembered for, for winning our first ever??? Please BSPL, find a way to make 2026 worth while & meaningful for everyone associated with King's Lynn's Stars 🙏🏻🙏🏻

With regards to Ben Cook: I was very critical of him but I'll happily say i was wrong. Ben said he didn't want to return until he was fit enough to deal with UK tracks. He came back & delivered, showing excellent form. For me, he showed the right attitude of a committed rider. Didn't want to turn up, score 2-3 points & collect a minimal pay cheque & damage the club as a whole further. His absence allowed King's Lynn the opportunity to select where possible, adequate guests that 'could' do better than him. If the lad didn't give a 💩 he wouldn't have returned at all. He was well aware of comments being made about him also, he could have said "fook the lot of them", but he came back & got his head down. Commitment is not just about turning up week in week out. Commitment is delivering the best possible outcome to the individual & team. Any rider with that type of attitude I'd rather have than one turning up injured not scoring points. Give me 7 Ben Cook's in my team & I'd be more than happy.

Has it happened before where a rider has a testimonial at a track they don't ride for?? That seems odd to me, I do think it will affect the attendance too unless he signs up some proper big names.

Tom Brennan has to be one of the oddest dislikes in Speedway. Doesn't seem to have that horrid, big headed type arrogance the 2 Holder's carry around & the Sheffield lot loved them. Very odd