Byker Biker

This one's not a dig Paul the simple truth is that at least 2 of the 2019 team had concluded deals elsewhere only to be re-approached by Glasgow, that's how it is but the raising of the ante has made it very difficult for some other clubs to offer affordable terms. One of last seasons septet has been asking for the sort of eye watering deal he was on at Glasgow and the figures are just stunning but again that's how it is. Six figure losses are not sustainable but fortunately your club owners have the financial footing to withstand that. Take a look at your closest competitors; Edinburgh has been propped up every year by a consortium and has no security of tenure, Berwick hanging on by it's fingertips, Newcastle nothing but hope to hang on to, Redcar we'll do our best and give it one last shot and Workington looking for a miracle in reality. Don't get me wrong this isn't Glasgow's fault it is the state the sport is in but after all the meetings, talks and threats of change we are still in the same situation with wallets only a fraction of the size of egos, walking away from some of those rider deals may have just sent a message out that it can't go on. Regardless of the politics losing a club mid season is hugely damaging, the stigma spreads like a cancer; Rye House, Newport on the eve, Hull and Birmingham have all left a stain on the local business community which makes it nigh on impossible to draw sponsorship if there is a re-opening. Credit to Birmingham, they're fighting back but 2019 could see more clubs go to the wall mid season or just as sad fail to make the tapes in April.

Now Glasgow have burned the rest of British Speedway with inflated costs just concentrate on who you're gonna race when they're all closed down.

Don't build you're hopes up he struggles to find anywhere North of Scotch Corner

Interesting? I spent a day with the late Mark McCormack and we talked about tennis, the Sony rankings and other sports which he had "taken over" as a lawyer he was able to draw up player and media contracts, as an agent he could double, treble and multiply more players incomes as his representation was international. The rankings in particular allowed players all over the world to be benchmarked and of course maintain the ambition to move up. This of course created more matched international competition and in turn more international media interest, particularly television. For those who have never heard of Mark he was the founder and chairman of IMG - the International Media Group who coincidentally own BSI Speedway. Google him, his has a fascinating life story. Mark was a strategist who had medium and long term goals and whilst Barry Hearn is hugely successful the buck wouldn't turn fast enough or big enough for him to invest in British Speedway. If you look at the tv rolling credits at the end of many tv sports broadcasts you will see "An IMG Production" regardless of continent or country. The interesting element for me is the global company already has Speedway in it's portfolio and the riders certainly don't dictate yet everyone's perception is that Barry Hearn could save Speedway with his "take no truck, in your face" style (It's not unusual for Barry to Bollock household names big style) and I think we're past that to the point where nobody inside the sport gives a sh!t any more. The egos are bigger than the sport and until those egos exit we're stuffed, the money clubs are chucking it all over riders again and the skint clubs are doing the same ffs! Wait until the "we'll have to go national League" Bears announce their full team and what about; the fastest trapping, tape breaking second string nailed on with a great deal at a near local club but within 48 hours welches for a 500 mile round trip North of The Border and Mr Midlands based Maori nailed on for a 40 mile round trip at a local Midlands club only to swap that for a 500 mile round trip a couple of days later! I do believe that control and discipline set off on the slippery slope when the ACU/RAC removed the traditional Control Board replacing it with a Bureau and then changing the format of the committee to include BSPA members allowing club/personal interest into that forum too. In the past if you got a letter inviting you to the RAC Club in Pall Mall to discuss your behaviour you absolutely crapped yourself all the way there and carried embarrassment and shame all the way back, today even the FIM doesn't stir up those emotions it seems there's no mutual respect at all.

Wrong, it maintains continuity of media interest through the close season and then they don't abandon your club or relegate you to the village fete page when the season starts.

Not sure which team you're talking about but the description fits every meeting I have seen for years!

It's easy for me, the closest we had to sustainable and entertaining Speedway five to ten years ago was the then Premier League now this has changed today to the National League. It can survive without tinkering or surgery but the other leagues clearly can't and to plunder it with lower team building averages and whatever else is to come renders it far too vulnerable for my liking. If it was a true development league it would be sacrosanct .

If the Masons have a survival plan they'll stay put, all leagues are still funding 7 riders and 90+ points a home meeting and until that is addressed a reduction in points limit will only take the top two leagues back a year or two. The hemorrhaging will continue and next Winter will see more clubs wanting to be in the NL as the top two leagues will look at merging again forcing the weakest to look at the lower level to survive. I cannot for the life of me understand why they didn't take 1 rider out of each team and 12 points out of each meeting in the top two leagues. Less meetings still makes for losses and in my opinion is not as sustainable as 6 man teams and 13 heats, sporadic fixtures will lead to sporadic attendances unless the fixture lists are cast in stone with no opportunities to move or postpone apart from the referees decisions. So no sun offs, electrical faults on the morning of race day, no flooded tracks or "beyond our control" cancellations particularly as riders stuck in airport lounges tend to Tweet the world to declare their predicament.

If you look at the medium term plan to increase the conversion rates and the natural aspirations of riders to move up creating a situation where there is no safe haven (not a good choice of words) in the NL then the reliance on overseas riders will diminish. It's not my plan but it has been mooted before when the then PL was the well paid hiding place for many riders capable of doing a job in the then EL. The compromise then was to protect their PL averages for 2 years so that if they didn't make it at the higher level they could resume where they left off in the lower league. That didn't work either and it gave some riders a taste of big money which escalated their demands to come back in the lower league. What you have to remember with the BSPA is that the Architects are rarely the Labourers

So they can staff the top 2 leagues and fingers to the NL, the first serious attempt was to try and stop NL clubs having their own assets on the basis that these youngsters would like to progress and inevitably ride in the higher leagues, paying a fixed formula training fee to NL clubs was a compromise until some "development payments" were made to some NL clubs before some of these kids had turned a wheel. The senior clubs were investing in an "option" to secure the youngster in the fullness of time.

Plenty of Spawt in Basildon and Harlow town centres on a Friday or Saturday night, Sarfend on Sundays

I'm very sad to see Buxton leave the league every professional sport needs to provide grass roots access for newcomers and Buxton have consistently maintained this ethos by encouraging youth and sharing the facility for newbie track days. Some of that will no doubt continue but a league profile helps although at what cost? If the top two leagues had merged and CL clubs had "dropped" to the NL there is no doubt other clubs would have had to exit. The win at all costs mentality and some of the absolutely outrageous pay rates in all leagues being discussed right now tell me that after the leanest season in decades the operators and participants of the sport have learned very little, if anything from a horrendous 2018. Keith Chapman saving the top league has probably prevented Speedway's Armageddon but for how long? Good luck to everyone at Buxton

I've got Tippex all over my screen now!

They tried really hard but in the end local relationships held up. It's the military way, if you cant win the battle up front then de-stabilise the enemy until you can overcome them..

Whoever the signing is I think it's absolutely magnanimous of you to fluff up the club's press release, well done !

not according to the man who was paying, Reading had already advanced him money for equipment and wrote that off, your man was topping up the points money and paying the air fares on the occasions he flew up from Heathrow.

That Sponsor just happened to be one of the club's shareholders

You are, significant losses !

For the life of me I just can't understand why you're not the BSPA Chairman!

He has, astutely in my opinion, kept a top league in business thus avoiding an amalgamation that would have wiped out many clubs in both the Championship and NL. An amalgamation would have done irreversible damage to the middle and lower divisions

Don’t be fooled by the past PR the acquisition of these clubs will prop up the league and all of those clubs in the Premiership that are haemorrhaging, it will retain tv coverage and create an opportunity for new Promotional blood to come in to that league in due course. He isn’t gonna make out of this but it will keep his own club in business too. I couldn’t agree more with some of his critics but all the harping and carping will not help one iota. Keith has taken decisive action to protect the interests of the sport as a whole. Nicely and politely give him a break ffs!

Does that mean that Cookie is a done deal?

and I'm sure you're not sure which is why you aren't certain. The Speedway contract was paid up because Sky had committed themselves to significant expense with Football, by paying the contract up they saved the production costs for the outstanding term

Think you'll find you're mate Robin has his eyes on some of that

Which is why they don't take notice of what's on here, anything worth considering get's lost in all the pizz taking