mikebv

Riders race all over Europe and the World to maximise their income so having two or three teams in Britain wouldn't look 'strange'.. That is not to say it shouldn't be the overall long term aim to have one man/one team.. The lads who ride for BV can ride for any other team in Britain who are not in their league if they so wish for me.. 30 matches at £1500 a night simply won't be enough to justify the cost of racing for many so D/U will unfortunately be necessary (maybe until 30 matches pays £3000 a night?)... There can still be clear demarcation between Leagues though, eg a No1 in the 2nd tier shouldn't also be a No1 in the top tier. And team strengths can facilitate that.. Bottom line is that there isn't enough riders of the right calibre to run so many teams without DU at present, but that should be the overall aim... A short term fix to improve the long term situation is just something we may need to accept..

And the deal particularly for those who ride in Poland's second div and below.. Ride maybe 16 times in Poland earning around £5k a pop. Meaning you earn £80k.. (But you may get canned after two or even one poor meeting).. Or.. D/U (with no fixture clashes) and ride at least four times a week over here earning circa £1500 a night on average in both divisions.. Around 60 meetings will earn you £90k... (But you must be available for every match). Time to get radical and look after No1.. Cannot compete with Poland so why bother? Ride on any night that brings each individual business their best income.. Enough riders would make themselves 100% available I am sure.. Maybe not all British either as I am sure plenty of Swedes, Danes, Germans, Italians, French, Aussies, Czechs, and Americans of a decent standard would be interested..

The self fulfilling prophecy of what we have today is clearly not down to the fans... Any failing business simply cannot blame the general public for not purchasing it's products.. For the past 20 years or so promoters of Speedway (British Speedway), have been given some fantastic constructive feedback from fans (and more importantly possibly) ex fans who still care.. 24/7 Social media has replaced the way a few fans moaned to each other at trackside, getting more and more disillusioned. Or writing the odd letter to the various magazines that do/did cover the sport airing their frustrations at what they were being served up.. As an example, on this thread 'guests' were mentioned as being in the sport for 40 years plus.. Now domestic League Speedway is shown regularly on National TV and Social Media is rife, you simply cannot get away with such nonsense if you are truly serious in trying to attract a wider audience and to entice them to a 'proper sport'.. Many fans, and ex fans, have said this for many years yet (as is their right), British Speedway Promoters have ignored such comments and continued with this policy.. It is irrefutable that the operating and business models of the past 15 to 20 years or so are not fit for purpose as year on year operating costs rise and income dwindles... And let's be honest, it 100% isn't the fans decision to run with these models... Nor is it their fault when they highlight, via their opinions, 'the bleedin' obvious'...

Egos... Simply too many egos... Some promotions heat up the salary market for every team by paying daft money to riders to try and win competitions, which because of the lack of credibilty of the Leagues, hardly anyone actually cares about... The end game of course is that when there are no teams left to ride against then that team will be the Champions of their very own League... Hurrah! Yippee! A Nation Rejoices etc etc etc..

You run a business in the entertainment industry and are having some success by opening on a Saturday night... Therefore, to grow the business further, you choose to close your doors on a Saturday and instead open them on a Wednesday night....? Who would have thought that this could possibly fail? Wow!..

The lower leagues were never really 'fine', they just ran less 'Mickey Mouse' meetings than the top tier did.. Then their heat leaders started doubling up every week, and with some being assets of top tier clubs, they started to miss meetings.. And with several also being foreign they started to ride in SEC, Best Pairs and GP and SWC/SON qualifiers at weekends which meant even more 'guestfests'... I watch the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.... I have absolutely zero affinity to any of the riders, in fact I am familiar with no more than half a dozen of them, in short, I just go for 'the entertainment'... If floodlit tracks were available and it was ran on weekday evenings I, and tens of thousands of others, wouldn't be there... BSB, F1, Moto GP, Test Matches in Cricket, Football, Rugby, Tennis/Golf/Snooker finals etc etc etc. All focus on weekends.. Why? Its obvious, most people are available to attend... The reason why people don't attend weekend Speedway in numbers now is not because of the race night, it's because many have 'given up' paying hard earned for a product with very little credibility... Most people living within earshot of the Speedway track adjacent to them have even less knowledge of those who participate than I do about the BSB riders, so its a huge market to engage.. Swapping riders every week if you get these people to attend though will quickly lose their enthusiasm.. Maybe promoters should actually try (even just once) to run the sport with credibilty and integrity, on nights when most people can attend it? If that doesn't work then so be it..

Just about sums EVERY league up Jayne..... I find it incredible to think the Promoters try so desperately to out do each other to try and win competitions that due to their own very own Operating Model are seen by followers of the Sport as worthless... Maybe if all Promoters made trying to bring credibility and integrity to the Sport as their key objective, rather than trying to win competitions hardly anyone cares about, the Sport would be in a much more healthier position...? If there are to be three Leagues then there needs to be a clear difference between them... Entry level, semi pro and then professional... With the financial renumeration to match their standing... Speedway in this country may just have enough teams able to run ONE fully professional league, it certainly doesn't seem to have enough to run more than that.. Sometimes I truly do think it is the egos of some Promoters which stands in the way of reality ever hitting home....

Maybe they should just simply score the 'play off races' 4, 3, 2, 0 to make it crystal clear to the viewers and spectator's who wins?....

Championship crowds run to lesser crowds after years and years of often having to run 'select teams' when their heat leaders are needed in other countries... Even the most ardent fans are now giving such nonsense a miss.. When it's not 'your team' then why attend? So many have simply lost that 'emotional attachment' as it has been eroded away by a completely unfit for purpose Operating Model.. One thing for me though is clear.... If the Leagues actually possessed 100% credibility, and everything else was equal, ie the same 14 riders, the same weather conditions, the same start time and the same admission costs. The crowd levels attracted on a Friday or Saturday evenings, or a Sunday afternoon, would far out weigh the crowd you would generate (for exactly the same thing) on any given evening Monday to Thursday... The flip side to that is it doesn't really matter what night you run if fans are not going to attend because they don't feel any attachment to any randomly cobbled together teams put in front of them... That weekend clubs currently ride in front of 'lesser crowds' is more down to a disillusioned ex fan base, who gradually got more peed off with the nonsense being put in front of them I would suggest rather than the night they race on... Quite simply the current British Speedway Operating Model does absolutely no one any great favours... And that is not usually a successful way to run a business....

You would have thought they would have taken Monday and Thursday wouldn't you...? Then there wouldnt be these clashes... And the sport over here wouldn't then have nights like this that destroys it's credibilty.. Its even more soul destroying after such a great weekend for the Sport in Britain where it showcased itself so well in the SON and British Final.. Monday and Thursday (as they agreed with all the other major nations) would have been better and avoided clashes IMHO... Just a thought obviously... The Promoters though know best I am sure.....

The NL basically has now delivered pretty much every mistake that the leagues above them have already delivered.. Not big or good enough to compete at a higher level? No problem. Drop down... After years of struggle, by becoming a 'big fish in a small pond' you will no doubt start to win and your fans will not only stay with you but you could also entice more back.. More income and less costs? What's not to like? Except of course that paying even 50% less total points money than you used to in the bigger leagues, is still considerably more than gets paid out at some 'lesser/smaller' clubs.. The result? Expectations of income rise across all teams and supply and demand inflation kicks in.. Just like it has in the Premiership and Championship.. The NL should be 'entry level' Speedway. A balance between covering expenses and gaining vital riding time.. If you want a team of mainly semi pros then put your team in the Championship... If you want a team of full time pros then put your team in the Premiership.. Clear aspirational advancement for both riders and clubs... Not. "I'm sick of struggling in this League, I fancy the NL this year to see how it goes"...

Spot on.. I think sometimes what holds Garrity back is that 'all important' space between the ears.. He has bags of natural talent, not sure always of the application... Which is a shame, as so many will apply themselves 100%, but will simply never progress to a higher level as they don't possess the talent to go with their ambition.. Maybe the 'new look' GB with their vision can nurture his raw talent and improve all aspects from riding and mechanical through to clinical focus on what his capability could be.. An entertainer though that's for sure..

The thing is, he did..!!. He announced it before the start and still called Holder 'Przelpelski' about five times... And Holder about four....

Wow.. Jack Holder has changed names five times in that race....

If Woffinden had dropped back, what was stopping Laguta doing the same? In fact Laguta may have actually let Woffinden past to ensure he and Emil kept Lambert behind...? I would have been amazed if a rider of Emils level had let himself get mugged by Woffinden trying to clamp him down on the line or force him wide. . In fact, you could argue Lambert rode the wrong tactics as his only angle of attack was to try and 'burrow under' Emil... Emil was never going to move off the line or 'dissappear into thin air' therefore what was Lambert thinking? And why didn't Rosco bring Cook in for the last race? Obviously, I am being deliberately churlish to hopefully show you can disect every incident ever and find a 'better way'.. Ifs, buts, and maybes, wudder, cudder, shudder etc etc etc, hindsight is a wonderful thing.. Bottom line is it was a superb performance from the GB team, Cook included who kept up the support for Woffinden and Lambert. Collectively they did us proud... Woffinden showed what a genuine true World Class talent he is and Lambert showed great composure for one so young.. Add Cook, add Steve Worrall, add Dan Bewley and maybe one or two others and the future just may be quite bright...

100%... What a crap system.. (Unless we get a 3-3 in the Final behind whoever wins it from Poland or Russia..)

Poland in the Final, both on a warning... World Final in their own country.. Got to be,a bit twitchy.. Would take that...

Both Cricket and Rugby Union years ago realised that the way to improve their lot was to increase their media coverage and bring in more fans (which in turn would attract more corporate sponsors)... To do this therefore they went all out to deliver a successful National team with a system based on the Aussie blueprint from the late 80's and early 90's.. They did this by using central contracts and basically rested players from the domestic game and provided them with fitness training and nutrition plans centrally, as well as holding regular team get togethers... They knew that whatever Middlesex or Essex did in Cricket, or Leicester or Harlequins did in Rugby, no matter how successful these teams were, it wouldn't resonate around the Country.. The result? From 2000 onwards both Cricket and RU had some great successes and much more media coverage was delivered, more fans watched and became interested in their sports and more money came into the coffers through corporate business willing to get involved in 'successful sports'... It looks like, (eventually after far too many years) that the penny has finally dropped with those who run British Speedway that they need a successful National team to grow the sport collectively overall in Britain.. Let's hope this new era for GB delivers a successful National team that the domestic leagues can benefit from by riding on its coat tails.. Similar to the way it did 70's and early 80's through the likes of PC, Louis, Simmons, Jessup, Lee etc etc.. Good luck to the three lads tomorrow.. From little acorns and all that..

Is Tai still an Aussie on here to some??.. Just checking... Great to see a British genuine World Class rider that the rest of the World respects and fears.... Let's hope he, Lambert and Cook bring home the Gold Medal....

You mean LiverpoolFootballClub TM surely? "This is our year" "We are famous" etc etc etc...

It would certainly speed up the meeting times so many moan about...

Always wondered why they don't get a couple of non meeting riders completing 20 laps or so each half an hour before each meeting... It will turn the track over, a quick track grade and off you go...

Woffy! Woffy! Woffy! Great to have a true World Class rider.. Always got a chance with someone that good..

Might end up coming fourth in a three horse race...

On TV now....