Sings4Speedway

I can't think of any acceptable reason why you wouldn't be offered a refund if you contact the club and ask. Im getting the sneaky suspicion with Kent marking the next two meetings as OFF, Eastbourne to make an announcement tomorrow that Speedway might go on hold until July. Sad as it sounds theres no point continuing to run if everyone is making losses.

He did and im not sure Len would have been overly happy to receive that phone call but Kelsey was also rattling around at that meeting so the wheels have been in motion a while.

Strange replacement at Kent with Couzins out after just i meeting / 3 rides. Dugard may be carrying a little more form than any of the Kent bottom three performers but i would have expected Jamie's experience to have helped keep his team place and would have looked more of a threat at reserve than Warren.

You would be surprised how many riders would compete for just £10 a point if they knew that is what is on offer across the board. Expenses would be a must though given the current distances between tracks along with some sensible fixture planning so avoid as much midweek as possible. It may mean that some opt out but for the league to sensibly survive semi-amateur is the way forward as a pathway into the sport. Very few riders enter the NL expecting to make money, most are looking at some funds to help cover the losses for a season, if the pay is lower then riders will choose where else to edge out costs. Gate money can come down and just maybe crowds will start creeping up?

A couple of weeks from the first run through of PL fixtures being completed and no confirmation anywhere. That means if it were to run it would have to happen after every remaining home fixture with zero room for cancellations/curfews. Considering the teams haven't been completed as of yet and there would need to be notice given to riders etc its just highly unlikely to happen. Fortunately there will be a nice big brush to sweep it all under the carpet with the blame pointed at riders unwilling to take part or covid or both.

Major problem is that who pays the Newcastle riders. Its uncertain that the meeting would have held up as viable paying just one set of riders plus could have been carnage with desperate riders after team places. Any idea how many tickets had been sold prior to the cancellation?

Alarming for Leicester but suffering for multiple reasons including having a good higher tier team this year along with using a lesser utilised race night doesn't help and the other team racing at the weekend. Also performances have been patchy and historically Leicester fans tend to get behind winning teams in greater numbers. Eastbourne should be on a stronger footing with the regular race night, no CL action until next week to compete with and the local rivals being the visitors. Usually there is some second half action also which might not boost ticket sales it certainly adds to the production as a whole. Maybe the most telling of all is the pricing? Eastbourne £10 Leicester £14...............

Yep we checked with Buster and co and despite teams no longer participating in the NDL or Cl there is only space to join the Premier League. Apart from the usual fees there is a new joiners fee which has just gone up considerably, as you were not running last year you will have last pick of the rising star and indeed can only sign riders once you have all the paperwork (which we will be delaying until we have signed the riders we want first) welcome to the Prem Oxford and good luck

Exciting prospect but only a 10 year lease would cause a few concerns, namely if someone steps in gets it all up and running again there would be limited years left before the plug could be pulled (if of course Speedway still exists in 10 years time)

See where you are coming from now, probably should have re-read it before getting my back up. 1000% agree though. I think Barry, Martin & co would have proved that without shackles you can still run consistently good nights of Speedway in front of happy crowds. It could even pave the way forward for all clubs, offering the chances to run formats that suit the home track and the support rather than the one size fits all approach that is currently forced upon all and is seeing tracks close year on year.

Adam Ellis, BWD...somebody get Len Silver a chair because hits wallets just come over all hot.....with all the double upping and downing there are no real options other than perhaps Hans Andersen or whoever BWD is replacing becomes available but both are still not so cheap so Heeps will stay. Ryan Kinsley would definitely benefit from more Central park laps so i could see him involved but otherwise realistic ideas are thin on the ground.

Want to expand on that a little more? Newcastle are cost cutting because they have a non attractive CL team on display, sadly despite reduced costs via double headers there still isn't that much backing for the NL side either. Surely this justifies IOW's decision to step out because they weren't able to have a say on what makes a saleable product and brings into question those who had a say on things and whether they really know what they are talking about.

Shame this won't happen now with Newcastle's withdrawal from the NDL as it would have proved a decent indicator regarding stand alone meetings being viable for Berwick.

Long term to be competitive in the middle tier Kent definitely need to be much stronger but as the first season in and as a learning curve the team is probably built about right. Bit of local interest, legend spearhead and NDL graduate reserve. Will be enough to keep the fans coming to start with and gauge the levels of costs without completely destroying the bank and its better than the first season they broke back into NL. That said for the Kings to win anything in seasons beyond the team will need to be much stronger as clubs who have been turning out lack lustre teams at this level for a while now are starting to feel the pinch.

Congratulations to the Kings on their first CL victory. Likewise i didnt attend as i didn't rate the opposition much but as it happened it turned into a well balanced affair. Two heat leaders and two decent scoring reserves pushed Kent hard and there will be bigger tests to come. Both sides benefitted with good guests and carried riders throughout. Sadly Jake choked his lines but still feel like he is going to replace Hurry sooner rather than later.

Joe got a chance that many others would have loved due to his connections. Didn't work out for him but thats speedway. I can only think Archie is the replacement.

The only thing i have against this post is that i wish i could like it more than once.

Sadly i think you are very correct its just that some clubs will be able to struggle on for longer than others. Those that are/were operating much closer to the break point have been hit first but its coming for all. Until ALL of those who promote teams can get together and work out a genuine unified way forward (rather than the survival of the strongest) things will continue this way. One by one teams are falling by the wayside and even those that are sustainable for now will struggle when there are fewer teams left in each league.

600 sounds an iffy figure to be running at CL level without strong sponsorship to top up the difference. There are plenty of NL teams that run at those figures and do so successfully. Im not saying that it would be wide spread popular but surely the Gems side is more sustainable even in the short term? I know season tickets have been sold for a CL team (and that monies gone) but would a step down be well enough received? Yes there would be plenty who no longer go but those in the Gems team at least have some affinity with the club rather than the brought in mercenaries that populate the middle tier.

They certainly can be although booking Harris at gaters paradise Plymouth is bonkers. On the road they would do ok obviously but there are other riders in hotter form at the moment. For Crump you can pick any track specialist you like for the next couple although i really hope that Jason is fir again for the visit to Newcastle as they need all the crowd pullers they can get atm.

I have to admit that you may be onto something there. I think that the whole lockdown has partially reconditioned people to stay away from crowds, stay home etc. This along with a reassessment of what people genuinely enjoy doing verses what was done out of habit is affecting many clubs. I do feel that the majority of supporters who attend just once will get bitten by the bug and return on a regular basis but in order for that to happen it might take a little extra incentive rather than average teams on show and limited home success. I deeply admire Rob Grants efforts at Newcastle and feel for him greatly due to the situation he has been put in/left in/dumped in and i certainly don't want to see another track close but more drastic changes are needed than the use it or lose it calls, many have already made the decision to keep away, what are the things that would bring them back?

Why would Plymouth deliberately book bad guests? On a serious note all clubs need to look out for their own best interests atm. Sadly the idea of an amalgamation where all are in it together is long gone and instead has been given over to survival of the fittest.

Shame the Gems look first in line for the chop, if anything i was expecting Newcastle to step down to the NDL and see how that handled? There are plenty of claims that fans back the national league squad (although few want to pay the additional to view it). Obviously no idea how it stacks up with the steep rent and costs but rider deals are significantly lower. Mega offers to the likes of BWD wont have helped the situation but the current teams in both divisions are far from inspiring.

To stop the select group hogging all the places and opportunities. Flint was there to be signed as a Prem rising star at the start but nobody wanted to know and Wolves went for the old hand who didn't work out. For once it would be nice if the rules were adhered to rather than changed when it suits.

If IOW had called the shots, been allowed to call a shot or even have a say how things are run they would still be in the league (they also wouldn't have a tripe league record). I think it more that the new shot callers didn't fancy a long trip down south that wasn't part of a double header. To clarify this has nothing to do with the good folk at Redcar, they are under the same tyrannical rule as the rest.