mikebv

Partnering a rider in one night, and then riding against him on another night in another domestic league, and then with him in another country the next night, and against him in yet another country the night after that, must have a huge bearing on the level of racing... You simply won't be as aggressive to win against someone who you will be sat next to in the pits somewhere else tomorrow.. I would defy anyone to 'give everything' for their teams given such situations.. Just human nature.. Therefore the level of competitiveness has to suffer... Unless, of course, it's Poland where individual contracts worth several hundred thousands pounds are on the line, and tens and tens of thousands of rabid fanatical fans are critically judging you every race... That focuses your mind and motivates you to give 100% every race I would suggest..

Are Berwick changing counties too? Moving its town 200 miles or so south to become part of Lancashire or Yorkshire?

And often ran on nights to suit the riders' own individual aspirations on the global stage, rather than prioritising when clubs can deliver their best crowd (which should be the ultimate priority).. Looking at the last few seasons a few riders seem to have become almost "weekly guests" riding in both leagues, so no need to ride in individuals given they can get plenty of extra money over a season getting hired by all and sundry...

With the result the typical UK Speedway halfway house.. That is to say, they do neither correctly so devalue both...

The problem with running 'individuals' is that too many 'individuals' cry off and don't bother attending.. Or they get ran on days when other meetings take place so lines up get diluted from the original names.. All comes down to money I suppose.. If the prize money was large enough then all the riders would want an invitation, and the fans would attend in numbers as the event will become something worthwhile going to watch.. If say £50,000 was put up as a total prize fund for an individual event could you get a 3500 crowd paying £20 each? 16 riders on a guarantee of £2000 and then an £18k final. (£8k, £5k, £3k, £2k).. Could several tracks run such events once each per season, well marketed, well sponsored and promoted very aggressively locally? It does appear its "go big" or don't bother when it comes to individual events..

Spot on about teams wanting a lower level when it suits.. However, there has to be a starting point and with Swindon's stadium issues I suggest this should be it.. Every Sport needs a 'Manchester United', ie a team who pulls in crowds home and away and gets people talking for good or bad, but never indifferent.. When I was a regular away from home we used to taunt the home fans with a rendition of "You've only come to see United". Which was 100% true as crowds at several grounds would go up by 10,000 to play us, then drop again the week after.. Each season Speedway takes away the success of the winning team by diluting them, thus the year after you are not really watching "The Champions" but a pale imitation version of them.. So. Let Swindon be "The Benchmark" for everyone else to try and knock off their perch.. And get some rivalries going amongst the rest of the League as they try to put one over them.. Jason Doyle is an ultra loyal to the UK, GP rider so each club should market his appearance as such, and Swindon have some excellent riders with, what appears, a great attitude so no better time I would suggest to try 'something new'.. And let's face it, the facts are each season each team starts on paper 'level' but very quickly teams become 'miles apart' on track so does the system actually work anyway? Therefore, let Swindon build their business on the back of it (at a crucial time for them), and let the rest of the League benefit by having the 'Real Champions' visit and also give them something to aspire to be..

If ever a team should be allowed to keep the same septet its Swindon.. 1) To give the rest of the League something to aspire to conquer, as all proper Sport's should.. And 2) More importantly, as you say, keep that feel good factor around the place to deliver the strong crowds that may influence stadium developments.. These riders will have made emotional connections with Swindon's fans this year, so that invaluable connection should be used to full effect next year to support the clubs overall future.. The bigger picture of course is that the Sport as a whole benefits by keeping Swindon at the forefront of the sport.. (All of which means they will be narrow mindedly tasked to shed three or four riders obviously)!...

Jonsson won Geoff. ..

Uniquely. Speedway is possibly the least impacted Sport when it comes to 'blind partizanship' I would suggest.. Many of its die hard fan base are now Speedway fans first and club fans second in a lot of cases.. Not many (bar a rabid few), would have any sour grapes about their teams losing simply because the prizes don't warrant that level of emotional attachment or response.. You only have to look at the Aces fans Facebook pages when they failed to reach the play offs to see how many mentioned they would accept defeats given the great racing they get served up each meeting, with an overall general consensus that winning the 'top prize' doesn't mean that much anyway, and that long may the entertainment value on offer continue.. Obviously can't reply for SPD but I wouldn't think the Aces getting beat in the KO Cup or not reaching the play offs had any bearing in his post..

Several reasons why teams request to drop.. With financial being the obvious one. With the underlying reasons of there being absolutely no kudos by winning any Speedway title nor any attainment levels to aspire too from the lowest league to the top.. No disrespect but a Grand Final in Speedway (UK), is akin to two bald men fighting over a comb.. Therefore what difference does it make to the clubs what league they race in? Hardly anyone cares who wins. There is almost zero National coverage.. And there is no financial reward worth speaking of, in fact, as we see, successful clubs can actually lose money and go bust by winning!! Therefore you might as well decide amongst yourselves where you want to compete, and at the end of the day you can watch pretty much the same set of riders anyway so no loss there.. As you say, it sends out all the wrong messages, but that's where the sport is in the UK, and I suppose the overall thoughts are better to have clubs still in existence than not.. An ever decreasing circle though isn't it?

Think it's more the director... Spends too long on the wrong camera... The riders have gone passed and he (or she, it is 2019), hasn't moved on to the next camera...

Be ok if Eurosport get involved... Joining two thirds of a way through a Speedway meeting is what they do best...

Maybe Tai could ride over here for loads of teams as 'unattached' and then ride in the British and Premiership Championships? Of course, the Premiership should have to hold such an event for it to happen..

Not beyond the realms of fantasy that, I would suggest......

A one league regionally based could work Steve if you race twice against your own region home and away and once against the teams from the other region. This would mean your nearest teams in the other region will still get a visit from you and vice versa.. Top two in each region play off against each other to decide who represents the region in the Grand Final. Run a National KO Cup, a Best Pairs and a Fours.. Maybe also a regional individual Championship where top eight from both go into a National Riders Championship? More local (ish) derbies cannot be a bad thing and you could always run a season or two with six man teams until more riders become available.. Something has to change though without a doubt.. If Poole were seriously considering to drop down it would only take Belle Vue to consider doing the same and 100% the PL would collapse.. Long overdue the Aces dropping down for me given the northern base of the Championship and they could race Friday's and Saturdays.. The reality is that crowds are now so low at most clubs just 200-300 more a night would genuinely make a huge difference to most places, and let's face it, the sport isn't going to gain any credible operating model overnight allowing it to be taken seriously by thousands, so might as well all run on nights they can get their best crowds. Crowd increases which generally will made up of those who either used to go or attend sporadically now but would attend more often if ran on nights they can traditionally get there...

I remember one night a few years ago when Martin Vaculik and Vaclav Milik raced against each other in the SEC... In just four laps we had. . Millichich.. Millichik Vaculich And Vacilik... And of course we have the 'How many variations of Kasper Woryna's surname can we muster?' Competition.. !!! Love listening to Sam.. Priceless...

You can see why some may fans simply "give up" can't you? We now have Kyle Bickley possibly missing the NL KO Cup Final as it's been arranged on the same night as a GB International match.. And the Championship Final will no doubt have a guest farce written into its contract somewhere along the line.. Lets be honest, if the supposed prestigious, showpiece events are treated (by those who run them), with such a lack of respect, why then should the fan base bother with them and attend? Sometimes you do actually feel that some one is possibly conducting a top level governmental experiment in the background, trying at every corner to undermine it with the most ridiculous decision making imaginable to see how far it can be stretched before breaking.. Or maybe it's a bunch of rabid environmentalists involved who just want the sport closed down on noise pollution grounds or because of the global air miles pollution footprint so many riders infest on the world? Or powerful property investers who want all tracks becoming housing estates? My own personal belief (and only rational conclusion I can make given what constantly goes on), is that "Dr Evil" from Austin Powers is actually in overall charge, has brainwashed everyone within UK Speedway, and is sat in his lair making up the most far fetched scenarios his warped mind could conceive, laughing hysterically and manically to himself as they all get endorsed and used by everyone involved within the sport who are trapped under his mind spells.. "When should we run the Championship Grand Final Dr Evil" "On the same night as the NLRC"!... "But that will mean riders needing to be in two places at the same time, and some will have to miss the final, making the meeting completely devalued. Many people will simply decide not to go and watch it".... "I know"!!! "Bwa ha" "Bwa ha, ha ha" "Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha" etc etc etc.. It does shoot itself in the foot so many times, year in year out, with self created issues that it has to be more than just coincidence surely? With the biggest frustration being for the fans of course, just how good it all could be if it was just organised well...

And I bet several promoters will still scratch their heads wondering why large professionally ran companies don't fall over themselves to sponsor it...

They work in several places as you allude to... Therefore the 'skill' is there... All it needs now is the collective 'will' to make it happen... Even if just for TV meetings which provide the 'window' for the sport for so many to see in.. Far, far too often you read about meetings getting called off due to issues not actually on the day of racing but before. With the race day itself absolutely fine.. Covers would give TV a far more favourable impression of the sport as they wouldn't keep shelling out to pay for cameras, equipment etc for no reason, and also give fans confidence to attend on those 50/50 'on or not' nights whereby currently so many decide not to bother.. Getting information out to a pre positioned list of volunteers has never been so easy as it is today with this wonderful tool called the Internet... Therefore someone involved in the clubs, with even the most basic organisational skills, could I am sure deliver covers being put down and lifted... If the clubs really wanted to do it..

Good call... It would need to be a fair few quid though to go across a lot more teams.. One thing is for sure for me, Matt Ford is no mug and will make the right decision for his business..

The year my team had in 1975 in the 2nd Division was certainly an early eye opener for this wide eyed 8 yr old lad... Certainly learned a lot of life skills watching them when my Uncle took me to the away matches in particular.... I presumed the whole country were United fans as every town and city we went to was completely taken over by thousands of reds and many an away game became effectively a home one such was the imbalance of home fans to away.. ... I think a few still haven't recovered... As you allude to. Your team is your team regardless of where they ply their trade..

It's been mentioned that there is a new TV deal, with money on the table.. (?) If that is the case you could only presume it's not considerable if a Premiership promotion (a very successful one), is not ruling out dropping down and sharing in its 'bounty'?

It will be the same next year I would think... And the same the year after that. . And the one after that. . And the etc etc etc.. Incredible really isn't it?

Quite possibly but no other sport feels the need to do it do they? For me, maybe go the other way and massively market the hell out of the event locally and make the night an advert for your club and the sport.. If there is TV money then reduce the admission costs and deliver a full nights entertainment. . So many people "used to go" and are still very interested in the sport but now just watch on TV. Therefore do something that makes them sit up and think "Now that might be worth another visit".. I always think Speedway clubs would benefit massively by having a mindset of treating every match like its their last meeting ever. ie if it was, how they would market it, how they would promote it, etc etc Sadly, maybe one day it will be their last meeting ever if they don't start promoting themselves better when the TV cameras come to town..?

Not surprisng really.. Most riders earn their money from their home meetings, hence usually join tracks they have had success on... For the fans it is all about entertainment, for a good many riders it is all about earning money.. (Not a criticism by the way, the jobs a dangerous one so they should seek to get as much reward as they can). For Speedway as a whole now, I do believe it's a false economy having massive home track advantage as the Leagues are simply so devoid of kudos (and financial reward), that winning 'at all costs" is a complete waste of time and money.. Putting on a full night of off track entertainment, allied to a fantastic night of racing on a well prepared track, should be the No1 priority and aim for all tracks if they want to prosper... Not 'doctoring' tracks to win something that not too many followers of the sport actually care about...