mikebv

And yet we had two PL meetings on TV last week and Swindon v Cov this Monday coming.. Maybe any of those dates could have been used for what should have been a very attractive fixture show casing two of the top teams in the EL..? Crowd may have been reduced from a 'normal' week due to TV being there but the 'TV payment' would have softened the blow and I would suggest more would still have attended than the level of crowd many say went last night.. Meetings like last night at Lakeside and BV just simply do the sport no favours at all... Yet it appears to be by design and not due to circumstance that these kind of 'select sides' get put together far too frequently.. Which can never be right can it?

We went to Lakeside last year and won with FOUR guests..... Didnt make me as an Aces fan feel any joy to be honest as it wasnt really 'our team'... Still, part of me does get some joy from the vocal Lakeside's promoters getting turned over when (yet again) they put on this type of 'nonsense' Speedway meeting...

To be fair.... When you only have almost a year to organise an event to avoid any clashes, it must be really difficult to remember every little detail (like which riders can be there)...!!! However, just a thought... Maybe matches that clash with FIM meetings when the fixtures are announced at the start of the season should become the 'Sky meetings' on various Mondays..? Everyone seems to move heaven and earth to deliver these matches and many appear to have much less than a years notice to arrange with often 'a few weeks notice' being the norm... We seem to have matches moved from Wednesdays and Thursdays to a Monday from Poole and Swindon so why not avoid those tracks on 'FIM Weeks' and pick a track that races Friday or Saturday..... Maybe BV v KL or Lakeside v Poole could have been this week's Monday offering rather than a PL meeting less effected by 'overseas' clashes meaning these meetings could remain actually credible....? Two PL meetings being shown in an 'FIM impacted' week doesn't seem very well planned does it?

Wow.... Lakeside v Poole and BV v KL..... Two matches..... Four teams..... Six Guests.... Two RR positions.... And Heaven knows how many actual teams represented on the night with the Guests and DU's.. Take it Friday wont be a fixed night in the EL? Still, on the bright side I will save circa 50 quid by now giving this one a miss.... These two matches bring zero integrity in the context of their position within a 'Professional' sports framework.... When will the penny drop with the Sports' organisers that in this day and age people simply wont have the urine extracted...? Not going well Speedway is it?...

Or maybe British Speedway is a total farce with zero credibility? Setting off now from Manchester so I beat the queues......... Dont want to get there too early though as I might end up riding for Poole!!!

One of the fundamental issues with the sport that never gets sorted... ie. Sticking to the original start of season 'theoretical' team average when a 'real' team average has evolved due to 'actual' points being scored... Too many teams have their seasons 'over by July' and suffer poor crowd levels accordingly... A big opportunity for the sport if they sort this... Getting to the end of the season, every team in a league of just eight should have something to ride for to keep their fans, (and when they go away) the home teams' punters interested and therefore still attending... Having teams with 'no hope' does no one any favours...

Still shouldn't ride in the SWC.? Danny King would have been third (at least)... Err... Cookie.... Cookie would have been third (at least).. Err... Scotty.. Scotty would have come third (at least).... Err... Robert... Robert Lambert, he would come third (at least)... Stevie, Richie, Kyle, Eddie, Ben etc etc, they all would have come third in a GP at least... Errr. No they wouldn't..... Well done Chris Harris....

Or possibly the EL Riders Championship fiasco the year before last which he may have attended and he got his timeline wrong...? Let's be fair, it is so very easy to get confused with so many 'British Speedway fiascos' to remember...!

Definitely take a point now.... Wolves very strong at home.... Should be a good meeting....

Surely a Speedway rider without machinery isn't a Speedway rider anymore but a Speedway spectator? Can you have a guest for a spectator now? Or maybe they should!? Thousands of guests replacing the thousands of missing fans could solve a lot of issues!!

To be fair... Looking at todays league table it may be 'squeeky bum time' for the team in fifth... Matches in hand are one thing, scoring points in them are another... Maybe we need an EGM to be called where this year the 'Top 5' qualify for the playoffs??? Or maybe should sudden injuries occur, a few meetings get postponed.. (in the interests of Speedway obviously)....☺

Has it finished yet!?

Ultimately though, it's just a shame a sport organises itself in such a way that we have threads and threads weekly full of comments like this one quoted and many more, as we debate the advantage/disadvantage gained by missing riders and 'ringers' brought in to replace them.. The wider mainstream media don't seem to take Speedway seriously in this country... Cannot think why.....

Maybe in next year's 'brave new world' such bollox will not be allowed to happen?

RR has never really been an issue to me as at least its the same teams riders taking the rides rather than a guest... Maybe the rider above the missing one could take two rides and any of the ones below can take the other three (as it will be if each rider gets five rides) with a max of seven rides per rider.. Presume guests will be a thing of the past if promotion and relegation comes in, which is great news... Cannot have a rider helping another team send his own team down.... But as this is British Speedway, you never know... Presume also that there wont be any DU's as you cannot have a rider helping promote one of his teams whilst helping relegate his other. If a play off is used he would end up riding against himself! But again as this is British Speedway etc etc etc... For me, the Danish model of five per team could be the one to use, thus meaning more 'replacements' available as supply may actually exceed demand... It may be less heats (not sure) but if it is, then tag on a compulsory 'Junior team' match every meeting and it could be value for money and create lots of track time for inexperienced riders... Whatever the detail though, its good to see some innovation being brought to the sport...

A couple of people in the south stand had folding chairs at the Lakeside match... Although, if you don't pitch up at the front you will need to stand up to watch the racing as (unlike sadly at so many tracks) you will have a crowd in front of you...!

Got my tickets today... West terrace, great viewing (will take a brolly just in case)....! £45 quid IN TOTAL for two nights of World Class Speedway for me and the lad.. That's rather good value for money I would suggest...!!! Cannot wait!!!

With a fanzone in the city centre during the day... Anyone who doesn't follow Speedway in Manchester wouldn't have had a clue that the British Final was being played out virtually within their city centre.... THE most prestigious individual title for British riders being played out at THE National Stadium of Great Britain .. And hardly anyone in quite possibly the Number one sporting city in Britain knew about it... Got to be a better plan...?

So given the BSPA's many previous examples in devising and implementing plans, we know that this is exactly what will happen!!!

Correct.....! The irony is that Speedway will not allow any independent body or person to run the sport and adjudicate on decisions yet it has an MC that does exactly the same.... Except of course by their very own position within the sport they will (and can never be) seen as strictly impartial Simply any vested interest that they invariably have in the outcome will render their decision (no matter how honestly made) appear made for their own agenda... And on the circus goes.....

I would also imagine having the riders as 'assets' with some value added to them will also provide leverage to the 'parent company' when negotiating money from lenders...? Possibly why the asset system is still in place..? Not sure any bank manager would know a speedway riders market value so presume some 'licence' is there in any riders valuation..

I once presumed that the 'Tamil Tigers' must be a sub continent Speedway team.....!!!

Agree, but if it does end up appearing 'dodgy' then it means no one can then really complain when 'certain others' do things that bend rather than break those 'bendable' rules....!

Same could be said for so, so many others too Steve... For a sport that invariably has just one team, and no other allowed, within around 30 miles or so it really does under sell itself A virtual monopoly of the local conurbations in many areas around the country yet 0.1%, or even much less, of those people who dwell there attend... Still, on the positive side, it means clubs have a huge potential market on their doorsteps should they ever get the sport marketed right and their own teams brand in the consciousness of the locals.

Just tell them... "It's in the interests of Speedway"... That seems to fix everything...