wandersome

I agree, attracting riders may be a problem but i don't think it would be an insurmountable one. I'm pretty sure our promotion will have done their homework.

I couldn't see them racing any other night bar Saturday. The promotion have made a point of nurturing the family atmosphere and trying to appeal to young families and Saturday raceday i think is paramount to that. I think they've even stated that. In Leicester's favour is the fact they have flexibility, unlike other clubs. If problems arise on a given weekend they can move away from Saturday to any other night if needs dictate. I also agree about the track, i'd go further though, I think the track will need to produce much better racing whichever league we are in else it will all go terribly wrong this year.

Fair comment TMW. With regards to my mention of the big fan base etc that was in relation to the Sky money more than any bond that may be required to join the EL. If it came across differently then my bad

I'm not sure what the terms are but surely in these times when tracks are struggling all over country the top brass should doing whatever it needs to in order to nurture teams such as Leicester that are actively trying to improve themselves and have the resources and backing, crowd wise at the very least, to make the move and be a veritable asset to the league long term. If no Sky money is on offer for a year then that's basically no go i would have thought. The disadvantage would be too great i'd have thought.

I suppose whether others will let them in is the thing. I have to say it will show the sad state of British Speedway if Leicester are effectively held back from being where they want to be and where they need to be for their long term future (i.e racing and developing rivalries at the highest level against the close city rivals such as Coventry, Birmingham & Wolverhampton) for the short term gain that splitting the SKY money only 10 ways will give the 10 tracks currently there. If it doesn't happen then my opinion is that it shows again, only too clearly, why Speedway needs someone or something in charge that is able to look at the greater good of the sport over the greater good of the individual promoters and the current crop of half-arsed companies sucking the last drops from a one great sport (such as GoSpeed). Mick.

Unfortunately for Liam Carr, according the Stoke website they have cancelled their end of season do until sometime next year!

So does anyone have an idea if we should be guessing PL or EL teams yet.. I have to say i'm still dreaming of spanking the Bees! Mick.

I totally agree with you that the track should have still been changed. However, they still got very good crowds and it held pretty steady throughout the year, in fact the Workington league match was the second biggest crowd of the year, about a month after the anti-hemsley brigade had been signing the death nell after the problems at the Workington cup match. This even surprises me but that may well be down to some of the things that neither you or your cronies have been able to accept as yet. That Leicester, under David Hemsleys promotion, do a lot lot of things very, very well and people can see that they are trying to make changes to the things they don't do so well. It clear to anyone who has been to BP that the venture is not the disaster you would like people to think it is. I have to say i'm a little peeved that we have to sit through you and your 3rd hand info on how bad Hemsley is. At least when Lionsden, Speedibee, Naylor, Robert72 have a go then at least we know they feel that they have got a genuine axe to grind with the promotion and aren't just trying to give the impression that they are more knowledgable than they really are. When you Pm'ed me with your inside knowledge about the Naylor's and Hemsley (something i should point out i neither asked for from you or for that matter was any of my business) i responded by asking you a genuine question that i felt at best deserved an answer and at worst an acknowlegment if you are as knowledgable as you make out. Yet all you could do was delete the PM.. maybe i should ask it on here and see if someone could give me a straight answer as it came close to involving a very large sum of my money. The fact that you did just delete such a genuine question confirms what a chancer you are. Mick.

edited post : on second thoughts i've deleted my response to hopefully save another Leicester thread being hijacked by the usual trolls whose sole intention is to attack the promotion. Mick.

Just shows how averages dont paint the whole picture. Jan's average may only have increased a little but you would not have to have watched him all season not to seen the improvement in his riding over the previous season. I don't recall him getting close to overtaking anyone at BP in his first year and yet this year he was the man most likely to outside of Lasse and Kauko. He's moved his game on. Also, can't help but point out that Linus didn't improve his average on the previous year. without checking It was actually down slightly i think. Linus is what he is. It would be a stretch of imagination to say he's improved for Leicester on what we know he could do or what was expected.

sad if a forward thinking, financially stable and ambitious club are kept out because of short sightedness at the top but speedway being speedway i guess it wouldnt be unexpected if short sighted short term gain wins out.

We have definately applied to join the EL. I'm reliably led to believe we find out on Wednesday. I think if we are pl then Nemo will ride for us and if we go Elite then its Lakesides decision.

I agree with what you said though i do like Lasse as much as Nemo. My point with Nemo was that he'd be probably be more fondly remembered by Lions fans as our No1 when we were a premier league team than he will if he carries on riding for us in the EL and becomes a 4.5-5.5 rider.

I agree it will be a shame not to have Nemo in the team but i'm not 100% sure he would have cut the mustard in the EL for us. Probably best remembered as a PL hero. Having applied for the EL that's surely where we will be next year.

I see Coventry have shown intention to go Elite and National league. Will Leicester do the same as we look to maximise usage of the stadium. It seems a logical step for us to take especially as we have the stadium availability to be able to develop our own youth talent.

Surely the elite would be better off with a team that has applied and wants elite racing though. With the issues one current elite team allegedly has then irrespective of whether they can limp to the starting gate next season will any prospective elite standard riders agree to ride for nothing as rumour has it has happened this season. Gemini, being too young for Wilson, boulger etc, Colin was my all time favourite lion as well, but as you well know, in this instance I'm actually talking about the legendary Mr socks.

Have you seen the entertainment these riders serve up? And you would like us to have them all! Cheers brummie kev.. an early Merry Xmas to you too!

At a loose end and missing my speedway already so here's a couple of efforts at a decent Lions 2013 team working to a 41.50 point elite league limit. Struggling to find a place for any Leicester 2012 riders with Crump in the team. 1. J.Crump 11.07 2. R.Schlien 7.18 3. R.Fisher 6.02 4. C. Cook 5.52 5. P.Hougard 4.89 6. T.Poole 3.59 7. J.Thorsell 3.00 1. K.Bjerre 8.18 2. R.Schlien 7.18 3. R.Fisher 6.02 4. C.Cook 5.52 5. P.Hougard 4.89 6. L.Bjerre 4.83 7. R.Bach 4.77

If i was making a list of riders least likely to be turning out for Leicester in the Elite league next year then Kasprzak would be right up there, I think just in front of Sam Ermolenko. Mick.

That radio Leicester is bit if a tinker isn't it. First with the EL thing now with fisher. Personally i'd love seeing him straightening up mid corner and demolishing our fence on a regular basis! Elite or Premier. I fear when we have a track that people can actually overtake on we may need some riders that aren't just blockers and Fisher fits the bill to me! Mick. Mick.

If the reserves are both out and we can use guests then my choice if available would be for Micky Dyer in place of Makinen. Looked like he did good at OTA last time and seems in good form. With Ipswich riding the same night i'm not sure if there is a decent option to replace Blackbird though. Knowing the way this thread is going for me i fully expect to find out Dyer is out injured for the season or has flown home for the winter!

no, you're right and i'm wrong. my bad. so a point away and a 10 point + home win it is! erm, here's hoping I did mean 7 point + home win starshooter. edited due to me having a mare (this is turning into a thread dedicated to pointing out my errors, cheers everyone!).

If we only pick up a point at Somerset (fairly unlikely i know) then by my calculations we would still need to turn over Somerset by 17 points on aggregate which would mean between a 19 and 23 point home win needed (if league is decided race points like normal table). This leaves me thinking we need more than a point at Somerset or i may have that all wrong! Mick.

Nice that everyone appears to be incorporating the west country pronunciation of Leicester into this thread My reckoning is after tonight we pretty much have to get a draw or win at Somerset. Most our riders have looked good at one time or another at the OTA but with our abysmal away form we probably need a miracle for more than 2 of them to click at any one time away. Are there any usuable NL stars out there to replace Lewis that go well at OTA.. can we use Stefan Nielsen? whatever, come on Liecester!

Also, i think it should be noted that it was nice to see the Lions promotion taking on board some of the complaints re delays and keeping the fans up to date on why delays were happening, At times it seemed they were trying to pass on too much info! and very big crowd again, certainly worthy of the Elite league should we go there Mick.