old bob at herne bay

I feel sorry for PL CEO Phil Morris who seems to have inherited a poison chalice. With the progress being made this season, Phil might find he will be CEO of a league of 3 next season ?? The analogy with a football club valuation just doesn’t work because the riders have no real ££ value given the flaky contracts on which they are employed. They are only contracted from season to season, with no guarantee that they might just go to Poland ….. or retire …….

It’s clear to me that Alex Brady( the successful estate agent) made Buster an offer to buy the the club. Buster and Alex had a “different” view of the value of the club which led to Brady walking away mid season diplomatically citing personal reasons. Buster is left with a wooden spoon club with a huge wage bill , two tractors a starting gate, and a stadium to stage a sport that is in terminal decline. He says he wants out….. but no one it seems will pay his asking price?

Not sure cancelling one home meeting makes much difference tbh . Next meeting is an away meeting ….so more money to pay out to riders with no home crowd income . Along with neighbours Pboro the future looks very bleak indeed for PL speedway in 2024. Maybe KL shoul apply to run in the CL next season to reduce costs ?

What a load of tosh. So Tony Rickardsson is making a comeback and should start with a 10 point average :-)

Very sad to hear this ...... the only speedway club in the South East of England now .... and one which the BSPA seem keen to close down. They only run once a month ...and struggle to prepare a track which is rideable :-( :-(

IMO Boxhall should be given an assessed 3.00 average and be named at reserve in the Kent Royals team. Would help keep Kent get the crowds and keep them in business after the BSPA tried to suspend their track license.

Just not enough people attending UK speedway anymore. it’s been in decline for years. some bright spark will come on here and tell me “xxx” have increased their crowd this season, but we are talking maybe at most a couple of thousand spectators at a meeting. Not enough people, not enough money coming in. That’s it really.

Because most of the tractor drivers are arrogant people who dont give a flying fig about the paying public and jsut enjoy their own little bit of glory driving thier tractors round and round and round. In the days when there was dirt on the tracks , one lap after each was deemed sufficient. Nowadays lap after lap polishing the turd every 4 heats (sometimes less) ifs somehow required. Fits in withe DELAY culture now prevalent in 21st century speedway.

Begs the question why should fans bother to turn up if their team’s riders cannot be arsed?

So everyone will race on a Thursday …except Belle Vue?

Maybe Wolves could do the same - racing at Birmingham ??

That could save Buster some money. Just have 7 riders, change their race jackets. When KL raced P'boro they could just book guests and use R/R to make up a team.

Memories of Owlerton long lap 400 yards ? but narrow straights and narrow bends.

Thanks. Good to hear they are still alive and racing despite being threatened with loss of track licence.. Sadly not much "track time" for the youngsters in the NL ? One home meeting in 5 weeks.

"Serious question…….. how do you prepare gates so they are equal? It isn’t good the way things go at the moment so something needs to be done. Are equal gates achievable? Is it something that can be done in a short period of time ie on the day of the GP? Or is it a beginning of the season type of thing?" Easy .... you tarmac the starting grid . Brush it clean of shale every race and you have 4 even starting grids. Or you use concrete as was used in the 50's.

Are Kent Speedway still in business? Have they lost their track licence? Last home meeting I have found was on 17th May 3 weeks ago. All gone awfully quiet.

Funny lot the “promoters” in the PL. Seems they only want clubs to join when it suits them…… for as long as I can remember they have been riddled with self interest, and been pretty hostile to newly “promoted” clubs. I remember Wimbledon under the Lanning family wanting to run 1st div. at Plough Lane being refused, Hackney Kestrels moving up:and being shafted with only the late Simon Wigg being allocated to strengthen the team. Oxford being refused a PL place … Nope the PL “promoters” are like a secret society running a closed shop ……. Think it’s time for the PL clubs to eat humble pie and apply to join the Championship in 2024 .

Phew- down in Dorset on holiday and thought about going to speedway for the first time in maybe 4 years. Lucky escape . No doubt some wag will tell me the scoreline didn’t reflect the closeness of the racing .

Wembley Lion, Don't waste your time/bandwidth writing to Jim Lawrence. Have done in the past and not even received an acknowledgement of my email. I think all speedway fans will view the SCB/BSPL decision to suspend/ fine one of its own members with the contempt it deserves. The hogwash spouted about "insurance" seems a thinly veiled excuse to try and prevent more clubs migrating to the NORA speedway organisation. Brings back memories of1964/1965 and the Shawcross Report Key dates are in he attached file. 1965timeline.pdf

Just read this weeks SS . Delete Kent from next years National League. They may become a NORA club alongside IoW . ?? Maybe Mildenhall will join them too ?

Really don't see much future for British Speedway beyond 2 more years tbh. Losing stadia is not going away - and definite lack of interest in defunct tracks on restarting speedway. Looking at the prospects for even next season 2024 Premiership Shot to pieces withe loss of Peterborough and Wolverhampton racing venues. Down to 5 clubs in 2024. Possibly unviable with 5 clubs ?? racing each other 3 times a season home and away will give 12 home meetings. Playoffs between top two ? Difficulty seeing other CL sides moving up withe current entrenchment of double up riders in PL and CL , plus the fixed race nights making Wednesday a non race night in the PL. Championship The availability of their stadia must raise doubts about Birmingham, Edinburgh and even Poole. Poss Workington joining CL in 2024? Down to 8 clubs in 2024 - assuming Poole will line up. National League Mildenhall have annual issues over running as a standalone club. Edinburgh stadium issue. Newcomers Workington have hopes of a Championship slot. in 2024. Rider availability seems to be a growing issue.

Belated birthday greetings Ove ..... you provided me some great entertainment over the years - always a pleasure to see the visits of the Norwich Stars to the London Tracks. You certainly mastered "The Frying Pan" on your first visit ;-)

Looking at he current position of the competing clubs in UK speedway, when do we think the final organised UK speedway meeting will take place ? Will it make it to 2028 the 100th anniversary ? My guess is that we will see the last league meeting in 2026.

Nothing surprises me anymore when I read stories like this about the UK sport. Oh what a shambles it is. Infighting, selfishness, self interest , lack of vision. Memories of the days of the Provincial League in the 1960's when they tried to outlaw riders who rode in the Provincial League. Took a government enquiry to join them all up in one big league and told them to get on with it. Something radical like that is needed now - personally I don't see it happening with the present bunch - people just aren't interested anymore (including me). Still with so few landlords interested nowadays in hosting speedway in their stadiums it wont be long before the whole sorry sport in the UK comes tumbling down.

Mmm IainB you might say it again and again, but the fixed race night deal in the PL was done with a view on the top riders being able to compete in Sweden ( Tuesday ) and Poland (Sunday) and Denmark(Wednesday and of course avoiding Gp practice and the GP ( Friday and Saturday) so pl was given Monday and Thursday - and the CL got the rest - with I agreed double uppers and double downers able to ride in both leagues. Rye went bust having to give up Saturday. Poole ran a mile to the cl to keep Wednesdays and Lakeside disappeared trying to run in the top league with mixed Weds and Fridays to keep Gp sooper star in their side. it failed because Poland limited the number of leagues riders were allowed to compete in !