Fortythirtyeight

A fresh and different perspective has been put across by just about every new promoter for the last several years, the problem being they may get listened too but don’t get a vote on affairs and the old guard just plod on doing whatever suits them no matter what. Buster Chapman had a new perspective, didn’t change anything, Godfrey …same so far.

Your right about a lack of an apparent plan for the future but your point on fan representation on the ‘ board ‘ is one that will not be welcomed by the people in control. Why would individuals who own their own clubs and therefore fund it, with all its is current stress and financial loses, want a fans rep saying “ your doing it wrong “ ?. Your ( our ) voices are heard, every home match if you actually speak to the promoter before or after a meeting. Happens every week at Redcar , usually over a pint after the meeting, but you have to take into account that the promoters voice is one of many at AGM’s and the like so whatever point you put across has to be agreed by ‘ the board ‘ and even if your club promoter agrees with you, it might not get accepted higher up, which is possibly why there’s been a recent trend of new promoters not lasting long in the sport and giving up bashing their heads against the wall.

Yes.

but the promoters do….

Get with the times….it took place via ‘ Zoom Call ‘.

For Oxford to be allowed to enter the championship as it currently stands with a Friday night race night then one of the current Friday night tracks will have to move leagues or race nights. Clubs have previously been blocked from having Fridays as, since Glasgow and Scunthorpe moved to Fridays, there simply isn’t enough room to accommodate another Friday fixture, as eight teams will already be riding on the same night and that causes issues with rider availability when the dreaded guests are needed , which they inevitably are with injuries, riding abroad, required for Team GB , family birthday etc happens. But , we wait and see what the new ‘ cunning plan’ for the saving of British speedway is, Godfrey & Co. could surprise us all !

Been done before….Northern Riders Championship etc, even had a sponsors…Skol ( lager ) Yorkshire Bank etc. The top riders ? Palm Toft is no. 1 for Peterborough in the Premiership yet number 4 for Redcar in the championship. Could you even get 16 riders from 16 different clubs ?

Not going to happen. 90% of fans want regular meaningful ‘ league ‘ matches not made up consolation matches. Peter Craven shield being a prime example, lasted one year ! Your simply making up competitions to fill dates in and the fans won’t go for it in big enough numbers .

8 teams only ? At best with meeting each club twice , which was voted out by the majority of clubs in 2017 AGM, add cup fixture or two and a challenge match means only 16-18 home fixtures and a four month season ? That would not be sustainable for most clubs in the championship.

It’s ‘visible ‘ but not viable. The PJL was never ever going to happen and didn’t. The NDL is a much needed stepping stone and should be an essential discussion at the AGM , which it sounds like has almost been completed via zoom meetings , but you can’t force clubs into entering it as most clubs simply can’t afford to run two teams, some can’t afford to run one ! Doubt many riders in the CL and Premiership are worried as 85% will already have been approached, but NDL standard riders will be scratching their heads as to where there might be a viable team place available.

As good as he still is, You’ll need a big sponsor just to pay his wages.

He wasn’t management at all in 2018 and hadn’t been for some time , he was a NDL promoter, nothing more, having moved up from the NDL, of which he was less than complimentary at the time. Whilst he was a very experienced individual he also knew a few tricks hence him pulling a fast one with the fixtures , he was taken to task by Godfrey but basically got away with it .

So just a list of the top 10 in the averages then ?

Lakeside were never granted Friday as a primary race night , they were supposed to be Saturdays but Cook arranged as many fixtures as possible on his preferred Friday dates which caused the fixture congestion . This was when fixtures were arranged between individual promoters and not a central source so no one cottoned on to what he had done till the fixtures were published and it caused major issues.

You are wrong. Godfrey moved Scunthorpe to a Friday , from Sunday’s , at the same time Glasgow demanded to move to a Friday and Workington asked to move to Fridays. Redcar were moved to a Friday to accommodate the Thursday night Premiership only regulation, Fridays being their alternative race night anyway. As Workington weren’t at the AGM you can work out the result of who got what as there were too many applicants for Friday nights. Godfrey and Glasgow were on the top table so Workington were told ‘ no ‘.

‘Done fairly with no hidden agendas ‘…..that’s the BSPL buggered then. Only an independent body with no ties to any club can give speedway any credibility back as regards a rule book.

Interesting points but if your suggestion that every club should run ‘ second teams ‘ next year just where are the clubs to find these riders ? British Youth Championship field isn’t the size of pre 2019 levels especially youth 500 level ( less than 6 riders ) Amateur meeting entries are down at the few tracks that run them ( 3 or 4 tops?) especially in the youth and 125 categories on pre COVID years, half of the entrees aren’t upto safe ‘ racing ‘ standards ( not decrying them but some are old timers just having a ride , others are complete novices who can’t slide around a complete corner ). There simply isn’t enough competent new riders to make up such teams and there’s been no new flow of kids getting on speedway bikes in the last two years for obvious reasons. whilst a structured third tier is essential, let’s be realistic about how many new riders are taking up the sport….very, very few.

Absolutely nothing. Riders move clubs annually .

Totally wrong. The state of British speedway at this current time means they can’t afford to bring such riders in even if those riders wished to come. Those riders aren’t here because they chase the money and there’s none left in the UK. When Somerset signed Jason Doyle , world champion at the time, it added exactly zero to their gate receipts and created a massive hole in their wages budget. A recipe for disaster ? the club never recovered and where are they now !

It’s not your team.

Rider ‘ ownership ‘ is a controversial subject. All riders are self employed and therefore legally free to work for who they wish, speedway is running an outdated system which, if legally challenged , would be thrown out. Never seen the point in ‘ owning ‘ riders you don’t intend to use even if you class them as club ‘ assets ‘ , which is only in place so the BSPL can rake in some funds if you go bust. Whilst some senior clubs literally own dozens of riders contracts and therefore assets, most of them will have retired or never going to be used by the owning club just used to bring in loan fees.

Buying a riders contract means very little these days. Charles Wright is owned by Poole and has been for several years but has never ridden for them, just means Godfrey can collect loan fees if he doesn’t use him.

Your team was only 12 points down with 5 heats to go so still a chance of a win, but you left. You would have missed some incredible meetings if you did that at Redcar recently. Watching only two thirds of a meeting doesn’t seem right, wether you paid or not ( you have no choice in that ) when your team can still win and support can make a difference. Your choice, but not one I would make, see it through no matter what the result.

Totally pointless exercise till there’s anything to join, a structured league not just an idea.