mikebv

It's a sorry state of affairs isnt it when a rider like Proctor is prevented from riding over here when he is desperate to do so, and a rider who can simply come and ride over here, as and when it pleases, decides not to bother.. And once again those that run the sport will bury their heads in the sand so there will be no action taken against the rider and the 'nonsense' will continue....... "There's nothing to see here, can everyone please move along to the next debacle".....

it is amazing (if it is the case) that both team and rider didnt clearly understand the position.... as someone who deals with border agencies, they are very pro active in providing advice and (when asked),make it crystal clear as to the current status re anyone who is on a 'right to work permit'... as individual circumstances often change you do need to review each case constantly (I sign off each individual once a month) just to ensure that I dont get fined for employing someone who isnt allowed here anymore and they clearly understand their current status and what any future impacts holds for them.. sadly "I didnt know, I wasnt informed correctly" doesnt cut any mustard with Border Agencies as the onus is clearly on the 'employer/sponsor and employee' to ensure all is correct... lets hope that all others now are clear as to where they currently sit in the process... it certainly looks like a learning curve for the promoters, and they look like they need to get up to speed a lot quicker than they are... maybe when you run a sport with the ongoing "ahhh, but this is speedway" as your usual mantra when you constantly make up rules as you go along, it then actually takes some getting used to when no room is allowed for such nonsense?? I have my own employment law expert for my company, does the BSPA not have the same as a collective?

Go on Rory!!!! " A true Brit with true grit"!!!!!

Those who wish for the 'halcyon days' of the 60's and 70's have today had their wish granted.... We are nicking Australasians again to ride for us!!!!!

I think EVERY meeting has Rory down to ride (just in case)... Whoever wins the title the BSPA must ensure that Rory gets a winners medal... (And maybe a runners up one too)!!!!!!

Think 'Guests' are top of the league this year so far? It happens every year with Lakeside.... It usually means that they are in the play off places 'early doors' so presumably helps 'sell the next meeting' as the season is looking like a success... It seems to be year on year that they eventually 'tail off' when the rest of the leagues catches up with them on meetings...

The way my team are riding this year that might not be a bad idea... "Bring your daughter to the Slaughter" by Iron Maiden would have been appropriate v Coventry on Monday...

His interview with Natalie was 'pure Partridge', it was just missing a "A-HAAAAAAAA!" at the end.. Still, at least he gave it go, sadly for him though it was the only bit of his night we heard due to the (as usual) crap radio Mic.... I think he did say that he spent many years on the other side of the fence, which did surprise me given he didnt seem to know much about the riders... Still, once again, we were royally entertained by our old favourite, and a 'must have' fayre at all good speedway tracks, the 'K-Tel Hits of the 70's'.. "Everybody now, A one, A two, A one, two, three, four, Friday nights and the lights are low. Looking out for the place to go"

Who is that fella??? Had to laugh as his Microphone was as crap as always... As for the racing? Bees were miles better, even when behind they were closing the gap, should p1ss the league this year with that team .. A couple of very good races from Bomber, and Garrity looks good for a fair few points this year (and good for team spirit too looking at how he was supporting his team mates tonight).. Scotty was. as always it seems, head and shoulders above the rest of his team and finally I must congratulate Matej, worth the admission fee alone.. (if it had been soddin' free to get in!!)

The Polish equivalent of Nigel Farage is already questioning "why are so many Brits allowed to work in Poland who simply cost this country money!"

The track won't be Ole's fault...... You can be rest assured... I couldn't get the vision out of my head of some 'minion' being sent to the nearest Polish B&Q for 'speedway tapes', running there and back at full pelt, sprinting back into the stadium with them in his hand, blowing like a whale, gasping for breath, and handing them over to 'whoever' was in charge only to be told "We can't use these as they are not the 'Official FIM Barry Briggs TM' starting tapes".... Speedway eh? Bloody Hell! (again)...

Very good racing again at Kirky Lane, (can we stay?) The last couple of seasons has seen some of the best speedway on offer in Britain at the home of the Aces.. Some great passes from Zagar and Nicholls in particular, and I was very impressed by Kyle Howarth, a young Brit who hasn't had any hype bollox written about him or gone on social media bulling himself up, he simply has gradually improved season on season, let's hope he can continue his improvements... All in all, a good night at the speedway, (which also included two Leicester riders trying to wipe each other out for a lap till one of them eventually succeeded)!! And we had the added bonus of 20 mins of what sounded like "K Tels Hits of the 70's" to whip the crowd into a frenzy as the 'pre meeting entertainment'.... Everybody now, "Oh, You to me are everything, the sweetest song that I could sing, oh baby..."

Phew... getting a bit worried Rory wouldn't be guesting for anyone this week....

Think you will find Speedway loans riders just like Football does.... The difference though is in football, unlike speedway, 'loanees' don't play against their 'owners'... And as you are using a football analogy.. As a Utd fan, I am pretty sure I haven't seen Wayne Rooney play for Liverpool against Arsenal because Raheem Stirling was injured (or playing for a team in Poland) By the way... The bus is arriving.... Goodnight...

Those words sums it up... This country chooses to run the sport this way it does, others, more successfully, choose not to... As for the sport always using Guests even when it had 'plenty of media coverage'? World of Sport didn't run 'domestic league' speedway but Individual Meetings and Test Matches only, hence 'Guests' didn't exist in the eyes of the 'layman' watching... The BBC, every now and again, would show the BLRC, again no Guests... Anyway, getting bored now, suffice to say, if the sport didn't exist and you or I invented it tomorrow, if either of us muted the idea that teams could 'share' competitors whenever they felt the need arise, we would be viewed as needing the 'big head bus' to take us home!!!

The main difference was... 'they didnt'.. I remember Martin Ashby or Larry Ross replacing PC 'once every Preston Guild' when he was racing 'overseas' on a Sunday... The use of a 'Guest' used to be 'the exception to the rule'... Nowadays 'the exception to the rule' is seeing two teams with seven riders who are actually contracted to the two teams contesting the meeting..... Agreed mate... It is either incompetence, ie the powers that be are incapable of organising the sport in a customer driven, professional, integrity focused way... Or, It is arrogance, ie the powers that be believe we the fans will turn up and pay our hard earned money to watch any nonsense they put in front of us... Or, it is ignorance, ie the powers that be simply cannot see the harm they do to the sport by sanctioning such a situation that occurred tonight... The sad thing is that, incredibly, it must be one of the above,..... Not good is it??

??? But don't Poland have the answer already?..... I.e. Don't have them... Do you really think that Gollob riding for seven different teams each year week in week out as Rory for example does, would deliver the credibility to the sport that the sponsors of speedway in Poland would want? Would it bollox.. Quite simply, if something can be done, then by definition it is achievable, so there, again by definition, can be no debate that the 'skill' is already there.... It then simply boils down to whether the 'will' is there too.. Invariably a No1 rider is replaced with a similar standard Guest in this country, but does it need to be? Tonight for example, BV who to be fair ran RR, could have had Nicholls (as the second heat leader) to take two of Zagar's rides and Stead as the teams third heat leader (allegedly?) could be allowed to take the other two. In fact, any BV riders should be allowed to take an extra two rides to cover him so the Manager can tactically place a rider 'on fire' whatever his level.. Another possibility could be, Michael Palm Toft and Richie Worrall rode for the Aces last year at second string level, so they could be 'stand by' for the Aces this year to replace the Aces second strings as and when required (or even better be included at the start of the season in a seven man 'one to five' squad which would also mean competition for places). Instead tonight Richie rode as a 'Guest'.... The above two scenarios would be far more acceptable to a watching wider sporting public than the 'to you, to me' chuckle brothers swapping of riders.. I actually thought that the fast track idea would see the Guests diminish as with two spaces in the teams being 'ring fenced' it would mean those riders (often foreign journeymen) who previously got these roles, would then be 'looking for work'. Thus they could form part of the seven man/five places squad system to be used as and when.. Still... Far better to carry one with the 'there is no alternative /head in the sand' option of Guests, Guests and more Guests, and let the sport continue onwards and downwards with it's proven level of 'success'.....

Agreed, its a big step up in class from being a heat leader PL to heat leader EL.. And to be fair to Stead in his whole career he has struggled big time with making that jump...

Yet Poland have 'discovered' a way round it?....... What next for Poland? A quest for fire? Never ever should any speedway fan in this country complain about lack of mainstream media coverage when they accept the way the sport in Britain allows this 'swapping' of riders week in week in out as and when it pleases....

Then change the way the teams are built then...... If you want any credibility and kudos in winning the elite or premier league then using guests left, right and centre renders both attainments as absolutely bollox.... The issue nowadays is that 'guests are a must' has become the mantra, and the easy, lazy 'get out of jail free card' to be played, rather than the bspa coming to their senses and realising that their very existence will never allow the sport in this country to be accepted as a 'major player' by the mainstream media and wider sporting public.. If you cannot build a credible team structure that allows seven riders to represent the team they are affiliated to week in week out, then don't try and do it.... Do something different...

Just heard from someone there that the crowd is a bit sparse... Hope many have stayed away deliberately given the disdain those who organised this meeting showed the supporters... However, that said, if they hadn't put together such a ridiculous situation I would have been there spending lots of cash rather than being at home in the warm as I am now, watching some good speedway racing from Germany whilst enjoying a couple of bottles of ice cold chardonnay... For considerably less cash than I would have spent at Leicester too.... Cheers....

beat me to it mate...! this very situation sums up British Speedway's self inflicted death of a thousand cuts perfectly... I presume the Slovenian championship was already on the FIM list pre the Elite Leagues fixtures so it was there for all to see so why did one promoter suggest the date and the other (even worse) agree to it!?. And even if it wasn't already scheduled pre the Elite fixtures, I am sure there are 'one or two' Elite League teams without a Slovenian No1 in their ranks that could have rode instead when the issue was eventually spotted, (and the Aces then race on another Saturday when Slovenia (and Edinburgh) don't need 'their men'..!! So instead of an attractive fixture between two full strength teams we get a 'watered down' pale imitation of what the meeting should have been.. Speedway is a dangerous sport so 'guests' and 'RR' impact far too many meetings already through injuries, so what a great idea it is to prevent a full team taking to the track by simply planning a meeting on a night that 100% means riders missing!! The most annoying thing is that I was going to go over to Leicester with my lad and his mate because this meeting ticked a lot of boxes.. Early season fans 'optimism' and rejuvenated interest following a winter of no speedway. Saturday meeting so no mad post work rush to get there. No school the next day so getting back late not an issue for the kids. Two (on paper) evenly matched teams both of whom touted for the Play Offs with GP riders on display (oops).... It should have been a potential 'must see' for many neutral fans in the midlands area, never mind Leicester and BV supporters. And the best of it is, any promoters reading this (if any do come on here) will think I am mad for now saying 'sod it' and giving it a miss and deciding not to part with the best part of £100 inc petrol!!!! What they will also fail to understand is that this kind of nonsense then defines your thinking for the rest of the season, and you quickly then lose that 'optimism' and start to say 'sod it' to many other meetings as you become more and more disaffected by the ludicrous decisions which seem to get made in ever increasing numbers as the season moves on.......... British Speedway eh? Bloody Hell.....! .

So many comment on here that Promoter's seem to forget that they are in the entertainment business... In truth, a great number of Promoters don't think they are in the entertainment business, to many, they are simply running a professional sporting organisation with the 100% priority of putting together a team that wins at home regardless of what the racing is like... The reason is a very simple one, and that is that all the entertaining racing in the world wont deliver the crowds needed to meet its costs if the team loses its home matches regularly. Speedway fans do always seem to want utopia when it comes to watching their sport in so much that they want a successful team but this seemingly must be allied at all times, to great racing each week... We don't ask for too much from a Promoter really do we??!!!

A great publication, portrays the sport in an ultra professional light, any potential sponsors cannot fail to be impressed by the picture the Star paints of the sport..... Well done to all... (And I have just started stocking it in my own shop so don't need to go anywhere else to buy it)!!!

A Guest in every meeting... It was a good effort from the bspa last year however a few meetings did 'slip through the net' and took place with both teams using their own riders.. A bit more focus and effort this season and I am sure the farce of having 'no guests' can be avoided....