HGould

According to some Facebook posts it would seem that Paco is in the UK preparing for the season and has been here for a few days at least. Who knows what is going to happen by the start of the season, whenever that may be regarding rider movements .

That would explain why he couldn't sign for Brummies then as I believe Brummies current Promoters don't have a Work Permit in place to offer

Won't know until he rides if he is on a par with BW-D better or worse. Most tracks will be new to him and may take him time to bed in. He'll likely have all US linked Competitions to deal with plus Poland so key for Somerset will be how many Friday / Saturday / Sunday matches he will miss on FIM or Polish commitments. He will do well to average 8.5+. It's a more than adequate replacement for BW-D in my eyes but the weakness or strength in Somerset team will be Barker / Bates who if they stay fit and focused could make Somerset a top 4 team, but if they don't stay fit or focused could make Somerset a bottom 4 team. If Barker or Bates bomb out, and both have a tendency to self-destruct it looks like a long tail to me.

This is contrary to comments made by the Chief medical expert when interviewed on all major News yesterday who said that large gatherings of up to 70,000 in a stadium was lesser risk than 20 people in a Church Hall or School or Doctors Surgery, due to the spread in only very close personal contact and in an indoor environment and that there would be no benefit to cancelling big event outdoor gatherings. The Daily Tripe (Mail) say that sporting event crowds will be limited to 500 - that should suit Mr Godfrey perfectly to keep Scunthorpe running but not many other Tracks. The crunch point may be Easter and if any closedown comes it won't be a perfect April Fool and no joke for riders (who wont earn any money), Promoters (who will have to sit and wait with very little income coming in) and supporters with nothing to watch. Can't see how speedway can work "behind closed doors" can anyone??

They seem to think it could peak in May / June time and seem to be pushing towards delaying until then for the reasons that warmer weather reduces the spread and impact and that the NHS will be more able to cope. I guess it also builds in time for contagian to lessen possibly and for some kind of vaccine to be found. It would seem sports events in late may / June / July are currently more at risk so if Speedway fans decide it's safe to do so on a person by person basis at least the season should start and get to some point in late May on the current model. I would think what happens in Poland and Scandinavia will dictate a lot of travel plans for our sport in particular. Can see some bumper early crowds if people think Sport could be affected in mid summer!

I'm with Rob with this. It is a virus and so far has affected China (whether you believe the conspiracy theories about lab creation or from animals is irrelevant) Iran and Italy and in vast majority of cases has been passed and be traced to hot spots. Only a few cases in UK out of about 50 can't be linked to mainly Italy or China/Iran. No need for over-reaction, no need for panic and no need for abuse. Attendence at any sporting event in voluntary, let the individual decide.

That's why PL Promoters suddenly interested in Junior PL League - hoover up any 16 year old who looks half decent as an asset to hedge against any sudden Pritti induced culls on permits!

I think the more they build there for everyday use the better the opportunity that Speedway CAN not only go back there but survive. No stadium can lie empty and unused for 300+ days a year. That's how Speedway thrived and did best when sharing stadia with Dogs (especially as could be 4-5 meetings a week) Stocks and Football. Every day a Stadium is unused is like throwing money away.

logically TH-J then? You always wonder with Garrity but the Berwick thing doesn't tie up with that unless they are trying to sign Doolan on some sort of short term deal? Very few proper 2nd string / potential 3rd Heat Leaders about? Be a shame as we deserve some luck under Masons who work at it and deserve an injury free season and a fair crack of good luck.

Fair point Give Us a B The point I was trying to make though was that if the "unattached talent" is in certain areas it may be less likely to be picked up than others. I agree that I think that Brummies are looking to develop 3 and I widely applaud that and certainly get more of a buzz of of us developing shall we say Shanesy, Jack or Ashley rather than a Dane or even Paco, who I love as a rider and a real team man.

My interest has been piqued enough to look at the make up of PL + CL Teams. It can be complicated by doubling up so some riders double count once in each League and also the confused nationality of "Roo Boy Schlein" who I have counted as Australian and Connor Bailey who I have counted as GB. British Riders PL Belle Vue = 3 Ipswich = 2 Kings Lynn = 3 Peterborough = 1 Sheffield = 3 Swindon = 3 Wolves = 0 CL Berwick = 2 Birmingham = 5 Eastbourne = 7 Edinburgh = 4 Glasgow = 2 Kent = 5 Leicester = 4 Newcastle = 3 Poole = 4 Redcar = 3 Scunthorpe = 3 Somerset = 4 I've no point to make in terms of what's best. Results and winners/losers at end of season will dictate that. My own preference would probably be to have 2-3 foreign riders and 4-5 Brits but that's not something that would stop or make me attend or not. The one really interesting dynamic seems to be geography and the only team with 4 or more Brits north of the Midlands is Edinburgh - the 6 teams with most Brits are south of that line. So how big a factor is who is available rather than where from?

Credit to the oft and unfairly maligned Laurence for that. Just hope there are a few other non Premier Teams who will host a meaningful MSDL. IOW and Plymouth will hopefully continue in some form with MSDL but hard to see where other Teams may come from. It seems as if the Northern Clubs are unaffected and running their own version similar to last year.

Any rider coming in who didn't ride in CL last year would have a 1.6 x wouldn't they? based on PL average. Tungate would be on 10.54!!

What NDL needs is a pairing like Bishop and Dugard who would not only move it forward but breakaway and form a proper Development League for 15-21 year olds.

Not who I thought it was (Carl Wilkinson was my thought).

No more than creaming 16 year olds as assets to build asset banks for PL Teams so that when the cream rises to the top it will become an income stream for the length of the rider career. Some PL Team will do it properly because they care about young riders, Belle Vue certainly do.

would he be returning after a season or two out of the sport??

Be interesting to see what entry / level qualification is for Riders. Going to be interesting with no PL Club north of Sheffield or South of Swindon and a cluster in East Anglia. Monday and Thursday not exactly great for kids either with school and traveling! Seems the door may have been left open to CL/NDL to run but not with use of dormant Club names?

If it is done properly then fair enough. The cynic in me thinks it's all about building Club asset bases.

Way too soon to know I would think. Must be some allowance for anyone who has worked here before and highly unlikely not to include ex or current Commonwealth Countries. It may stop a few newcomers but that may be no bad thing anyway with so many british riders out of a job

Reading between the lines of various comment over past 12 months I think the NDL and lower Development leagues are the victim of a plan to have top 2 Leagues more clearly defined. That seems to be Godfreys mission! A PL of 10 Clubs with less doubling down and a CL of the rest with more of a CL second string / CL reserve / NDL heat leader / second string level ;and therefore lower costs in points pay. To have enough riders you have to remove a tier and that's the 3rd tier Thats a good concept but the better financed CL Clubs like Glasgow and Leicester and now Poole probably can't make PL pay on Monday and Thursday. They would probably jump up if they could use Friday; Saturday and Wednesday respectively. The Monday + Thursday fixation is the upper blocker and the lower blocker is the future of the 3 standalone Clubs (or imminent death as seems likely). I'd be happy to see Brummies in the 2nd CL tier on this basis but can't see 10 Clubs in PL as things currently stand.

Would love to see some of those names you mention involved in some sort of "nostalgic" Fixture too at some point. I guess lack of tracks in London now makes it difficult, hopefully something Rye House could look at?

That's not a reason though to spitefully stop Clubs who are trying to maintain a supporter base and an interest level and at the same time bring along a new generation of riders with some meaningful competitive racing and in an environment where they can learn from and be around more established riders. The other thing that will affect the established "landlord" clubs is that some of these nomad sides would bring in 10-20-30 supporters or more through the turnstiles, most to see their Clubs active and less to see riders develop. If they are lost you also impact on finances of the landlord club like Birmingham. No vision, no explanation from the BSPA Management Committee at all! (yet anyway)

I've read a detailed reply from Reading who it seems are worst affected as they were passionate supporters of MDL/SDL and also seems closer than any dormant Club to getting a track back. Facebook indicates Weymouth will make a statement after the meeting tomorrow. One rumour though which really would throw everything in to complete confusion is that Mr Godfrey wants to run a "Halifax" Team at Scunthorpe. I can only speak for what I see at Birmingham. We do get some old MK fans there to watch and some young talent that looks like it could make it. Will be a shame if its lost. If they want every / some PL / CL to run second half development racing in 2021 that's fine but what about the fans of dormant Clubs, where do they go to see their favourite team and won't they be forever lost to the Sport? Also what about IOW especially, Mildenhall and Plymouth - what happens to them? if no NDL (3rd tier)??. Can't afford to lose the likes of Barry Bishop and IOW.

Worrall looked very upwardly mobile at end of 2017 possibly even the next breakthrough rider. Terrible luck at start of 2018 stalled him. Think even he would admit he tried to come back too soon in middle of 2018 and may be now regrets not allowing more healing time. Never really got to grips with 2019 but I do agree that often a rider needs a full summer and winter to recover form after such injury. It's possible 2020 will define him as either being very upwardly mobile again or a rider who will be a solid 8 pointer but always look back at that crash and wonder "what if". I do think Ellis (other than Cook) will be best CL rider in 2020 and King will be very solid back up and one of top 10 in the League overall .