old bob at herne bay

"Easy Jet have been brilliant" You must be joking. You have been done up like a kipper IMHO. Well, you might have a worthless piece of paper (an IOU ) so if Easyjet decide to remain in business you might get a flight from them form some airport to where you want to go at an inflated price - which will make their "£10" gesture worthless. I have put my refund into the hands of my credit card company for a refund under section 75.

The blue boy is correct. Self employed. Riders are free to negotiate contracts to ride for whoever they wish .... their “businesses” own their assets ( bikes) .

Good points “sings4speedway” i would suggest a club could say to season ticket holders we will honour your tickets for 2021. riders advances race suits - yes they have been paid for but the rider would be told you keep the money but no advance for 2021... race suits used for 2021. they ain’t going to be riding anywhere in 2020. Vans booked ? Cancel the booking . BSPA fees - that’s up to the BSPA if they want the sport to survive ... refund them Tough times and tough decisions but if the sport is to survive action is needed ... personally I am not hopeful that anyone in the BSPA is capable .........

With sporting events across the UK now cancelled until further notice, and Speedway surely set to follow once the BSPA has met tomorrow, can British Speedway put 2020 league speedway “on ice” , and possibly just run some ad hoc open meetings later in the year ? Surely with no meetings, the costs for a club are nil . No rent, no riders wages? These are extraordinary times and covid 19 and the consequential are surely a “force majeure” event ?

Horses cannot catch Corona Virus I guess ... the vets can treat any injured jockeys ..... one rule for some and another for the toffs who run “horsey“ sports.

“Will the premiership start on time ?” is the title of this thread. Hawk127 and The Third Man ......on another planet?

Very much depends on how many people turn out to watch, whatever the government advice. Given the age profile of the majority of supporters I would guess a fair number will stay at home and watch the TV. Personally it is hard to see the situation improving before Easter given recent actions around the World. It will surely put into jeopardy the SGP series with so many travel restrictions now coming into force. Looks like the roarin’ 20’s has started with a real roar. stay safe folks.

Iron Scorpion, apart from the Bank Holiday Monday fixtures, away support at Central Park is a very small number of fans. This is probably true at most tracks ? With the distances involved , and time taken off work to get to midweek meetings, the cost of admission is a relatively minor expense for away support.

Seems each year UK speedway continues its downward spiral to the bottom..... less entertainment and lower quantity teams for more money. Kent’s pitch at CL speedway is just a reflection on how few people are bothered to go and watch. Sadly it’s reflected in the sports magazine offering, with increased costs and less detail on match reports. The sport is slowly failing. Reducing attendances will continue to reduce still further ..... initiatives to attract a new generation of fans will fail unless the accompanying adults turn up with their kids. As for the OAPs .... they are a significant % of fans attending the sport, not sure it’s good business to not offer any concessions. Price comparisons with other tracks don’t mean much in speedway.....people who don’t go rarely to save money don’t suddenly start supporting another team. They just find other things to sped money/time. Not sure Kent can support Championship speedway at these prices with the draconian curfew still in place. Let’s hope the track delivers entertaining racing without the all too regular incidents seen at NL level last season.

Historically Kent have used Bank Holiday Monday afternoons in the NL

Might be tempted to have a punt at seeing CL speedway at Central Park in 2020 ....with the more experienced and capable riders there is a chance that 15 heats will be completed within 2hours which now seems to be the accepted avarage time for a meeting. My concern is that with better riders the slick surface will produce FTG in every heat.( Just like Arlington) Scant details on admission prices ,race night , start time and whether any Kent NL team is allowed to run on alternate race nights?

Not sure Mr. Cook got his promoters "licence" returned - dating back from the closure of Lakeside.

Alf Bowtell has been giving 100% for a couple of seasons now, and really hasn’t improved . Never mastered the tight Arlington track, and don’t see him making any impression at Central Park at Championship level.

thought he rode for the Kent Kings ?

The answer to your question is simply not enough people go to watch speedway in the UK . However you dress it up that is the answer. All the various attempts at tinkering with the rules to cut costs, putting the sport on TV, developing young British riders, have failed to increase attendances. With current attendance levels I am surprised that professional speedway can be sustained in the UK.

Anyone care to estimate the sale price of Poole Speedway ? I struggle to understand what I would be getting for my money ?

Surely riders wages are the only variable cost between PL and CL - all the other costs are fixed whatever league you race in ? As for the costs of Kent moving from the NL to the PL, Len will need also 7 riders, or maybe 6 if Drew Kemp rides at number 7.

Red Flag ... the world ends for me once I cross the river ... the Thames that is

Si think the key point is REGULAR fixtures.

"I would say that the change of race night was a huge reason....... " Spot on Gavan. Same thing happened to Rye House. Think I said this about 30 posts earlier. Matt Ford lost interest before the end of last season (2018), club was up for sale , no one wanted in then , handed it over to his son to run. He just took fixed race nights on the chin.... probably knew his crowd would drop. MAybe all the Poole riders who dont fit in the CL will go to Kent "on loan" to Len

Kent running in the "Premier" ! Very surprised that Len has gone in that direction. With the reported additioanl costs of running a PL team stated by Matt Ford compared to even those in the Championship, the Kent Kings Promotion must have some gold plated sponsorship lined up. Mondays at 6.30pm start time will not see many ex Lakeside supporters make the trek from Essex though the "Dartford Crossing" and down the M" in the rush hour to make a 6.30pm start. How many working people from outside of the immediate Sittingbourne can get to the track by 6.30 ? They have good support in the National League and a fine stadium for the spectators ... but I just dont see the crowd growing with the current restrictions on start time. Nearest local derbies Ipswich or Peterborough (100 miles away) so few away supporters are going to make the trek other than on Bank Holidy Mondays , so reliant on "home " support. Berwick HO HO ... maybe they will be sponsored by an airline to fly all the riders and spectators to the track. Sheffield sounds sensible ... they have long aspired to join the PL and thier Thursday night racing fits with the curent fixed race nights.

Its been absolutely pouring down here in Herne Bay (20 miles from Sittingbourne) since 4 am this morning and its still pouring down at 9.20am. IF Sitingbourne has had half the amount of rain we have had here I will be amazed if tonights meeting goes ahead.

If MF is doing this as some sort of stunt as others have suggested, hardly likely to help him sell the club ! Surely it's CL or bust for Poole in 2020....no businessman is going to carry on taking the alleged losses without making major changes.

Speedway supporters are creatures of habit. Poole are a Wednesday speedway track. Ipswich Thursday, Wolves Monday, Swindon Thursday. Don't see the problem with supporters grumbling about moving into the CL .... most of the riders are in both leagues anyhow..... seem to remember Pool in the 2nd division with Steve Schofield being a pretty decent side back in the 80's with good support.

Steady on "screm" ... I am not sure that the Poole boys will be reaching as far north as Berwick unless you pay their bus fare