mikebv

Great idea...😀😀

Wouldn't it have been simpler to just increase the number of allowed DU's to four per team..? If we took the top four from each PL team as being of a decent enough standard, then that would provide 52 riders.. The EL 8 teams would 'only' need 32 of them, thus leaving a further 20 to cover all the various absences.. Put in place that each EL team can have no more than one DU from any PL club, and that if one of the EL teams reserves are also PL then they cannot again have a DU from that team and surely it is workable? Even with any Aussie work permit restrictions their must be enough riders to provide easily 32 riders with plenty of 'spare' Having tried and tested riders rather than 'untried' riders surely has to be better? And it will also help re-assure suspicious fans who usually think (often with good reason) that many of the new rules brought in are done so with vested interest for an individual team at the forefront of it's integration, rather than the overall good of the sport..

Be interesting to see who the 'unheard of, untried, new to this country' No.8 and No9 are for Poole.. Two names I have heard being considered are Nicolai Pedersensson an up and coming young Dane, and Gregori Hancockski, an American buck of Polish descent so won't need a work permit... I am pretty sure neither have ridden over here before which means that the integrity of the new rule (should it officially actually exist obviously) will be as beyond reproach as so many other rules have been over the years..

Havent the 'top riders' ridden over here for most of the past 20 years and the crowd levels have been decimated in this time? I actually think that the way the league restricts teams in putting competitive sides together all season long has had far more impact on the ever dwindling attendances than possibly any other reason considered. (Apart from maybe an admission fee which reflects more the out of control operating cost levels rather than the sports standing in the consciousness of the wider sports watching public).. Look at these numbers.. 2011 58 - 22 2012 72 - 15 2013 56 - 30 2014 70 - 25 2015 65 - 27 These numbers are the points scored by the top and bottom teams at the end of the season (Brum has not been used for 2014 figures as they didnt complete their fixtures and BV who have been included in 2012's figures had two matches not raced) I can virtually guarantee that the teams bottom of the league each season, cut miles adrift, ended their home meetings with far less fans than they started the season with... I have mentioned elsewhere the year we brought Crump back, to do so we had to lose Risager as we would have been 'too strong'. He went to the team who were at that time 50 points in front of us!! Absolutely Crackers! The sport takes great lengths for everyone to start the season 'equal' yet every year there is a huge disparity between the top and bottom... The solution? Possibly with there being 28 matches, maybe after 10 and then 20, a 'transfer window' opens and all teams are then able to strengthen up to the team with the highest average? This may also help bring 'top riders' back as teams (like BV did with Crump) realise desperate measures are needed to appease discontented supporters who have voted with their feet, and the riders may see a shorter term contract as a possibility.. One thing is for sure, as we see year on year, teams getting hammered at home week in week out will be racing in front of an ever decreasing fan base.. Maybe working out how to lessen that all too familiar scenario would be more beneficial to the sport overall than a 'lets get Tai back and everything will be ok' plan? Competitive teams, all season through, may not attract any new fans, but I suggest it would help the clubs down the league in particular maintain most of its fan base which can only help the sports overall position. If it includes 'top riders' great, if it doesn't, so be it...

I think one thing overlooked is that most of 'the top boys' who have ridden in the pinnacle of the sport at GP level over the past few years, eg Holder, Zagar, AJ, Janowski, Doyle, NKI, Lindgren, Ward, Batchelor, Kildemand and Harris have all ridden regularly over here whilst the crowds have tumbled and, in the main, not missed many meetings even with the current schedule.. So much for the 'top riders' making a positive difference... And lets be honest, if what we are really talking about is getting Tai, Greg, Emil and NP back then surely they will all want to cover the meetings until Poland and the GP/Euros kick off and maybe some towards the end of the year if their Swedish and Polish teams dont make the play offs.. A fixed race night should help with the reduction of guests as the ever growing DU's should be more available.. As for bringing 'top riders' back? We'll see...

Maybe hold one in the conference suites at the new BV stadium the night before the opening meeting.. Bet they get 250 easy...

Could KL sign Iverson, he then say he won't ride and KL then get a guest facility for at least a month? Plenty of guests available with NKI's average..

Looking at the teams, I would suggest quite a few could be assisted by scheduling matches when their No1's are missing and try and use Holder, AJ, Zager and Doyle as guests...

And the wider picture is for the rest of the league.. We know injuries will happen so when it becomes reality who will replace the injured riders? Be interesting to see how the teams that don't race Saturday fair in filling their inevitable gaps, (or is it simply a Leicester problem).. And what money they all will be paying out for replacements.. Demand seems to be far outstripping supply even before a wheel is turned, and given the nature of the sport it will outstrip it much further as the season progresses.. I would imagine the riders know they hold most of the cards and will be negotiating accordingly.. Amazingly, a self inflicted issue by the promoters.

Would imagine it would be the same policy as always happens at every track since time immemorial... i.e. No refunds... Always worth a word with the promotion team though if already there or phone in to them if you didn't enter the track to see if you could get your money back.. Works very often to be fair as most promoters realise that you may not be able to make the journey again.. Presume it's the same at Poole or do they give full refunds for rain offs? Bet they also give everyone their accommodation and fuel cost too I would suspect...☺

Maybe wrong, but didn't Tai say that Monday was ideal as it meant he could do three days riding with Poland and Sweden either side and then have a good rest/prep time before a GP weekend or Poland on the following Sunday?? Be interesting to see what BV make of a race night during the week as they have definitely got a vision of Friday and Saturdays as their business plan given 'no school the next day' should help attract a younger fan base.. Is Poland's Friday TV match schedule the 'whole' seasons fixtures or will matches be added to as the season progresses similar to how Sky schedule their matches? Could be a bit messy for the EL if Fridays are now added to the 'off limits' list..

Stock cars staying at the old one.... Thank goodness....

Maybe as well as putting together the HL list they should also have had confirmation of riders intentions to ride too? If they want to use what is effectively 'semi rider control' by putting a restrictive list together which only allowed three per team from that list, then maybe they should have gone all the way and not allowed any further team building until all teams had their top three riders from the list in place? This could have also ensured that riders of heat leader quality not on the list, who suddenly 'appear' could have gone to teams needing riders, and not instead, making already strong teams even stronger Typical of the way the sport is run in this country that, for the best intentions, a rule is brought in but then badly administered.. What should have delivered a 'level playing field' once again hasn't..

Quotes from the Speedway Star interview with Jon Cook.. "you could have a foreign four point rider, they wouldn't be someone of huge stature at the moment".. In the past haven't we had several 'four point foreigners' who were not of 'huge stature' at the time, yet every fan looked at their overseas record and said "never a four point man, more like a six"... Yet they seemed to end up over here, often earning 'heat leader money' and delivering, at least, two points on their average... Off the top of my head, cannot think which team seemed to always have an 'expensive four point superstar of the future' in their team...! Answers on a postcard to etc etc etc

Incredible to think that in this 24/7 relentless media age that any company would close down a major communication channel to its customers...!? I suppose Lakeside must have more than enough fans every week to justify it...😵

A football website I go on charges 20 quid a year for members to gain access to certain restricted sections that are away from the public forums (which are still 'free' the same as BSF). Maybe speedway clubs' official websites could do something similar and charge per week/month to make a few quid? Very minimal costs to set up... Would mean clubs co-operating as home teams would need to give permission for the away team to 'film' the meeting and not complain about "keeping fans away" and any 'rights owners' would have to consider the greater future growth potential of getting your message out there rather than think short term... Who knows, maybe those who run the sport could think collectively and do something 'properly' via the official British Speedway website and then share all money generated together? (So pretty much no chance of it happening then)..

I believe one team has three members missing now due to prior commitments and they cannot get 'guest' replacements... Therefore the other teams competing have all agreed to call it off 'in the interest of quiz nights'....😃😵

You make a fair point however,.. Telling a couple of newbies that they will part with around £40 of their joint disposable income to attend is I would suggest the biggest obstacle to overcome.. There are already thousands of 'ex fans' who know perfectly well where the sport is run as they used to go, yet they decide not to attend anymore... Just getting the vast majority of them back would be a huge step forwards That the sport cannot do this tells us pretty much where it sits... As has been proved. Put on a '°freebie' and the place is packed. With the vast majority in attendance I would say, being people who know the sport having attended previously, maybe even used to regularly, yet wont pay circa £18 to attend it as they cant justify that kind of outlay anymore...

It is interesting all the ideas and solutions for speedways crowd issues on this website and others, many very valid.. However, maybe this is the ultimate determining factor as to why crowds are so low? I have been watching Speedway Portal tonight and one meeting was a Poole v Stoke match from 1987 Entrance fee to the stadium? £2.70.. Put this into an inflation tracker and £2.70 then is equivalent to £5.70 in 2015.. Not the circa £17.00 that many fans paid last year.. This equats to a 529% increase against a 28 year inflation rate of 111%... Which means speedway admission has risen around 418% more than the 'cost of living'... Basically we have had this as the business plan... Year on year inflation busting price increases to cover spiralling out of control costs with the increase paid by an ever dwindling customer base, which in turn means an inflation busting price increase the year later to make up the shortfall, which in turn drives down the ever dwindling customer base... Think it needs far more than Barry Hearn to 'rescue' a sport that for so long has operated in such an unbelievable way....

Wasnt one of the issues Mildenhall had/has, that "we were here first, you knew we were here when you bought your house!" cuts no ice legally when it comes to the EHO carrying out its 'noise pollution' duties? The more the residents are kept onside the better.. I have even seen new golf courses giving free membership to those with houses adjacent to keep them 'sweet'... Makes total sense...

You deserve your very own page in Viz's 'Top Tips'! Not that you would need to buy it though. Simply go into WHSmiths and read only that page out of the mag and then put it back... Hey. There's one tip I have given you.... Maybe others on here could give you more??😃

A 'Barry Hearn' would be great for the sport at a national level, however we all know why it wont happen.. However, nothing is stopping clubs getting their own marketing hype out there at a local level... It is somewhat of a strange business plan when clubs pay out circa 3k a night contracts to a No1 rider who lets face it puts hardly any extra 'bums on seats' by his attendance, nor reduces the average crowd significantly when he has 'other priorities', yet will spend very little, if anything at all on marketing their clubs... You can tangibly grow your customer base with a modern hi tec approach to selling your brand to the public yet speedway teams seem in the main to use 'bring a friend' as their mantra. If a No1 rider has three meetings in a week he can earn around 10k and put zero extra people on the gate Therefore, I would suggest that that weeks salary of 10k would be much better invested in a proper targeted marketing campaign which would deliver far more extra punters both in the short and long term if professionally managed..

So sadly this will never happen will it? Everyone can see that the sport is screaming out for a visionary akin to Hearn but the Promoters will never allow an 'outsider' to tell them how to run their business... Imagine explaining to any 'Barry Hearn' who is looking to break into the sport that last season my team (BV) got to the play off final aided and abetted by three points they gained last May with their defeat of Lakeside away... That night we had four guests. Therefore effectively the Aces had riders from (including their own) FIVE different teams representing them and assisting them to reach the final (of a supposed professional sporting competition)! What successful sports administrator would risk their own reputation taking over a sport that actively encourages such nonsense by its very own fixture planning? That situation, as we all know, isnt seen by the promoters as something in any way shape or form as being 'unusual' and again, as we all know, isnt an isolated incident when it comes to the sports lack of integrity when measured against other 'professional sports'... An ever decreasing circle is surely the only future for what could be a great sport if only it was administrated with integrity and promoted with 21st Century technology and innovation.. Would Barry Hearn be interested in running the sport? In its present situation I would suggest you would be lucky to get even Barry Chuckle involved..

Just like every past season for God knows how many years then?😣

Correct... Typically Speedway fails to embrace the opportunity to get itself out into the British publics awareness.. My team are almost directly in the centre of a 2.5 million conurbation. All within 40 mins travel time.. Yet they entice around just 1000 of that 2.5 million most weeks.. Given the state of the sport, I would suggest that those who attend regularly would still attend whether on streaming or not as the sport is now down to the 'die hards' following it so 'no risk' to the weekly crowd levels.. Over 60 million people in the uk. The vast, vast majority dont even know speedway exists never mind attend the sport.. There has never been so many 'cheap' ways of getting your message out to 60 million people.. Just needs someone from the sport to recognise and more importantly do something about it..