Little Thumper

If a couple of years ago, someone had said to me that I would be getting excited watching speedway results come in on a text screen, then I would have suggested that they seek psychiatric help! For those of you of a certain vintage, you will remember after the wrestling with Kent Walton on Saturday afternoon's ITV, the teleprinter would burst into life and we could all marvel as the results from far and distant places would clack clack onto the screen. In those days, you would probably be sat there with your pools coupon grasped in your excited little hand waiting for those score draws which were always so obstinately difficult to predict. The Speedway Updates set-up takes me back to those rather simpler days when we were not overwhelmed by technological wizardry. I thank all involved with Speedway Updates for the time and effort that they devote to providing this service. I am not sure why you do it but I am hugely grateful that you do! As I am one of the minority that doesn't have a television set, the only thing more exciting for me than an evening with Speedway Updates is when BBC WM Radio is doing one of their excellent speedway commentaries. Mike Taylor and the team at WM - I salute you! So thanks to Speedway Updates, You bring pleasure to many thousands of speedway followers and if the people who run speedway in this country had two grains of imagination and vision, then you would receive funding to further promote a sport that they seem content to allow to drift off into the wilderness. Hooray for Speedway Updates! Just my opinion, obviously.

Trophies are always over-rated if your team doesn't win! Thought everybody knew that. Anyway, clearly Buxton are more focussed on their previous night's vital National Trophy against the Stoke Potters. Which neatly brings us back round to meaningless contests..... I have been out and bought a lovely tin of emulsion (magnolia) for my bathroom. I shall be spending Saturday night watching it dry as that will be far more entertaining than last Saturday's "entertainment". And at least there is a pretty good chance that my lights won't pack up. If I had to wager 50p on the outcome of the Pairs, I think I would venture it on the Cradley duo but it is a hard one to decide. Be careful out there, it's a dangerous world.

I'm sure we could have got a team together if we had been asked. That's the trouble with speedway........too many snobsters! Anyway, you can stick your crummy NL Pairs Trophy where the sun don't shine. Without a crack Buxton team, the competition is rather devalued. Perhaps next year?

This is absolutely and totally correct! If a venue cannot even provide decent toilets, floodlights that don't pack up after 30 minutes, facilities that aren't ramshackle and on the point of collapse and make an attempt to generate some kind of atmosphere of excitement and fun, then it might as well give it up as a bad job. I occasionally consider asking friends to come along to the speedway but then I think about the non-functioning toilets, the dreadful food and the loudspeakers that don't work, and decide that it would be far too embarrassing! And as for making provision for disabled customers, when I raised this with the governing bodies, they said it wasn't their problem and gave me the home addresses of the promoters and told me to write to them about it!

So, how come Buxton don't get a go?

You didn't think it was tongue in cheek at the time!

I already do. British and Commonwealth riders rule, OK.

I see. So a similar set up to Uber taxi drivers. Many thanks.

Thanks for your help with this, A ORLOV! So riders are self-employed but have a contract - what kind of contract would that be? Obviously, it wouldn't be an Employment Contract as they are not employees. So I assume it must be a "contract to provide goods and services". Think I'm getting a grasp of this now!

So, in British speedway terms which clubs are the best payers, either for points scored or attendance money and do the ones who pay the most money always get the best riders? Where a rider in a team doesn't score many points at a meeting, do they get some kind of fall-back payment so that at least their earnings might equate to that provided by the National Minimum Wage?

So, as I understand it, the basis on which many speedway riders are "employed" is at best ill-conceived and at worst in breach of employment regulations. If a court was to determine that speedway riders were effectively being employed on a Zero Hour Contract then they are free to look for work elsewhere and negotiate in a free market environment and considering someone to be an "asset" would have no standing in law. It might appear that speedway promoters are trying to have their bread buttered on both sides and this position may become untenable. Just my opinion, obviously.

I think not.

The FTSE100 is rather more a casino than a market!

More accurately, as a result of the politicians charged with the task of implementing the mechanism for this country to exit the EU having no coherent plan. Markets hate uncertainty and hopefully, when our political chums get their act together and lay down the timetable and terms of our exit, then the pound will rise in value against the dollar and petrol prices will fall again.

Wow! So the lady in the Sue Ryder shop was spreading malicious rumours and making false statements which could be prejudicial to the financial interests and reputation of Belle Vue Speedway Ltd? I've always found the staff very helpful in there but in future, I shall watch what i am saying - don't want people gossiping and spreading spurious rumours.

Sorry for my ineptitude, but which post answers my question?

Excuse me seeming a little dumb here but would I be right in assuming that all speedway riders are self-employed or are they on some kind of zero hours contracts? I would not think they were employees of speedway clubs as then all kinds of employment legislation would become applicable, such as minimum wage, sickness and holiday entitlements. So if they are self-employed, they can ride for whoever is offering a place and can negotiate their rates of pay accordingly. And clearly, promoters could not impose a uniform pay rate, as this would breech competition regulations. I'm sure somebody will be an expert in this field and can explain how it works. Thanks.

Well, they had better be quick because there aren't many left!

How do you know it's nonsense?

Thank you, Halifaxtiger, my learned friend. In the past 50 years of watching speedway, I have got about a bit, both in this country and overseas. Many of the venues that I have visited over the years have long since been demolished! In my latest bout of speedway enthusiasm, I must admit that I have confined myself to the Frozen North but after last night's disappointment, I think I shall have to be a little more selective on where I spend my pocket money and try and get to the venues where the supporter is a priority rather than an afterthought. Hopefully, I shall be adding a bigger bike to my stable over the winter so that will give me scope for longer trips. The people I spoke to last night were full of praise for the efforts being made by the Isle of Wight, so I shall do my utmost to get down there. You just keep giving speedway "one more chance" but if you had to witness last night's offering on a regular basis, it would drive you to do something desperate like heavy drinking or taking up fishing. Be careful out there, it's a dangerous world. I'd keep that quiet! They'll be bombarding you with emails asking if you want to buy a season ticket for next year.

Yes, I was there! Well, I stayed for 6 heats until the generator packed up and all the lights went out. I did notice the lights coming back on after 20 minutes or so, but by that time I had had enough of this shambles and was heading for the exit gate. Firstly, the positive bits from last night - Stoke got a much needed win and I had a chat with some very nice Isle of Wight supporters who were passionate about their speedway and had travelled up in reasonable numbers for their two fixtures up in the Frozen North. Secondly, the rather longer lists of negative bits - the "crowd" was extremely poor numbering no more than a couple of hundred. Even the hugely supportive dogs failed to turn up for this one. For some reason, there was absolutely no lighting in the spectator bits of the stadium and people were relying on the light coming out of the bar windows to fill in their programmes. People were coming into the stadium and navigating to their chosen vantage points in virtual darkness. The track lighting only flickered into life a couple of minutes before racing started. As far as I am aware, there was absolutely no music played before or during the 6 heats that I witnessed. There was no rider presentation and no build up to the event at all. I have been to funerals with better atmospheres than this. There was a total power failure after 6 heats when the Joseph Lucas (The Prince of Darkness) generator gave up the ghost. I believe power was restored after around 20 minutes. After the generator failed at a previous meeting, a promise was made that it would never happen again. The 6 heats of racing that I witnessed were virtually all FTG. Hopefully, the remaining 9 heats were a little more entertaining. Obviously, these are only my thoughts and I am sure other people will have gone who thought it was stunningly fantastic. If someone was to ask me whether I would again travel to Loomer Road and hand over the £13 admission fee, my answer would be - not in this lifetime. Just my opinion, obviously. P.S. Glad you made it, Mike.Butler! I see that a match report has appeared on Stoke's website which contains Malcolm Vasey's thoughts. it would have been nice if the report had contained some apology to the fans (particularly our friends from the Isle of Wight) for making them stand around in total darkness for ages. But no mention is made of this little mishap, so perhaps I imagined it. Be seeing you.

Well, thanks for that FAST GATER. Who on earth are Corbett Bookmakers? And why on earth would they have a good relationship with the promoters? Mind you, if the relationship is that good, perhaps they will buy them a new generator to replace the current one which was made by Joseph Lucas, The Prince of Darkness. Be seeing you.

In cycling, they operate Talent Teams. Scouts spot the talented youngsters very early on and they are taken under the British Cycling umbrella. They get the best coaching and guidance that it is possible to get. And it doesn't stop, riders are constantly entering and moving through the system. Hence, the last few years have been pretty successful on the cycling front! There is no reason why speedway shouldn't adopt a professional approach, nurture the talent that is right in front of our eyes and stop taking the easy option of shipping in Johnny Foreigner. Be careful out there.

Yes, so this is a bonus! Lets have more riders like Michael Lee, Terry Betts and all the other Great British Bulldogs. Let's give our young riders something to aim for and lets fund the sport so that we produce the best in the world. Make it so.

I think it would affect them. If foreign riders can no longer earn their money in this country, they will have to do more racing at home. If they are doing more racing at home, then the extra money that they earn will be paid by the clubs in their own country. The money that clubs in this country were paying to foreign riders would then be paid to British and Commonwealth Riders. Should you feel that this is a little draconian, then perhaps an exchange scheme could be set up whereby a British club takes on a foreign rider for a set number of meetings on the understanding that the British club's rider does the same number of meetings in the other country. At the end of the day, surely we must have some control rather than being dictated to by some third party? Be seeing you.