YeOldPitGate

What about that young dane who entered the end of season meeting granted wasn't the strongest field and terrible conditions but he seemed useful ?

Jeez where has the time gone, I remember Henka's debut possibly it was against Cradley his first three rides he looked pretty average but by the fourth ride he had weighed the track up and came from the back to win in style pretty much from then on he was a force at Saddlebow Road. Loram was a great rider to watch but Henka in full flow was a cut above even Mark.

Doesn't read well does it no tv deal at the moment a possible 5 team premiership , that can't be feasible and even five sounds dubious, the championship should be okay if Mildenhall enter into it. Hopefully something will be pulled out of the bag but being realistic what can they do if no tv deal no money for top men they can't go three home and away that would be suicide but it seems its going to be more sticking plasters on the same old format.

Was it really only three seasons Bagpuss ? I thought he was there for a bit longer but I was getting more interested in night clubs at that time, I seem to remember Knight going to Berwick to make way another Mike Lee comback but that season the old Mike was long gone I remember him following Andy Meredith in one race when Andy was essentially a wobbler, Mike kept lining him up but just didn't have the bottle to make the pass.

Given Plymouth is a small track it could be worth trying to get the young yank Slater Lightcap over or Dillon Ruml whatever happened to him looked to be making great progress at Oxford then nothing I haven't even seen him racing in the USA be a shame if he has retired as I think with time he could have developed into a useful rider in the UK.

Agreed but Beau Bailey does look the real deal and one hell of a racer, Cooper another racer reminds me a bit of Kelly Moran and should have a massive future, don't know much about Cairns but again seems highly rated, if you ended up with them three and the Fords could tempt someone like Bastian Pederson over also and give them a track you could really race on you would get 2-3k in per week. When I was young and used to attend Speedway at Lynn we got stuffed most weeks but Loram and Henka were starting out and just witnessing those two pull off incredible moves was worth the defeats as they were so great and exciting. I always thought Henka was a more natural talent than T.Rick but ultimately Tony had that extra 5% grit that separated great riders from Speedway legends.

Seem to remember they did similar a few years back, it will help balance things a bit more, but trade off will be those third tier heat leaders on an attractive sub 8 point average will most likely want more money next year as they know their bargaining position is better. The bigger issue is though its a tiny effort against the wholesale restructuring that needs to happen obviously not helped by the fact there is currently by the sound of it no tv contract on offer, hopefully Flagrag's words of wisdom to the promoters will bear some form of fruit.

On a five year frame looking at natural talent its no contest Bailey all the way the flip side being the boy should be one day gracing the biggest stage so after 3-4 years UK he most likely will be off to Poland full time where Tobias may not improve much but he could be long term servant to UK speedway.

Robert Lambert, Carl Stonehewer, Sean Wilson possibly Ray Morten ?

Spot on the sport never comes over well on live tv a lot of the time as you say a highlights package could work, the issue being though the whole promotion of every meeting needs lifting somehow , newbies turning up to falling down stadiums, 80's music blasting out of half the speakers that are working, toilets that should be condemned and a van selling average burgers for twice the normal rate won't have them queuing to come back.

Jeez that's about 200k in sterling is it really that much now to pay for a couple of bikes and mechanics over the season ?

As a steer is it worth 6 figures to each team MD ?

How's the crowd looking tonight would imagine decent but is it anywhere near the 6k Ipsiwch rumoured to have got in last week ?

Throw in Sean Wilson and Matousek for fights in every other episode.

Would make sense I don't know what some of the prem heat leaders were on at Oxford but if your talking maybe 3-5k per meeting the numbers will never add up.

Kings Lynn 1985 was when it all started for me the Martin Rogers days, we were the whipping boys of the league without a recognized heat leader in the whole team but crowds as a whole were okay and the excitement of when we would nearly get a win but get clobbered in the final heat. We were that bad Colin Pratt wanted us chucked out of the league, then Bill Barker and Simmo took over, the first season we had a powerhouse team King, Peterson, Davis & Knight four Lynn specialists by the end of the season we were dreadful again. King picked up to many injuries, John Davis was more suited to longtrack than Speedway as he could only ride the boards, Knight did his job and Peterson went from unbeatable round Lynn when he used to visit to terrible when he signed for us. Bill then went with youth and got Loram and Henka Gustaffson in those were my fave days two of the most incredible racers I have ever seen , Bill and Simmo fell out and Bill carried on alone struggling more each season all ending when someone from memory stole all the gate takings at one meeting which was the end for him. I would have been late teens and went every week with one of my best friends, stopped going early 90's when I discovered nightclubs and women but hugely fond memories and have followed the sport from afar (like ten's of thousands of others) ever since.

Without putting you on the spot Dean what;s his beef you would have thought being an ex rider of the club he would be fully behind them ? No probs if you swerve the question if an answer puts you in a difficult position.

Imagine seven figure league sponsorship deal announced with Skybet, Eddie Hearn taking over as commander and chief, an eight strong top league once home and away with all the top men back over, 12 strong second division once home and away, racing on the best nights for the public not the riders, then we woke up

Good luck if someone is taking it on I wish them all the best but as most on here have said its a massive financial risk even more so if going directly into the Premiership I hope whoever it is either has massive sponsorship lined up and uber deep pockets as I fear they will need them both.

Don't disagree with any of that but the frustrating thing is if you look at the last world team cup when Poland pipped GB at the post the place was packed and the last four heats were out of the top drawer.

There are some very good youngsters around its a shame there's probably only a small chance of getting the young danes Bastian Pederson and Mikkial Anderson over here.

Looks one hell of a talent on a bike also reminds me of Kelly Moran's riding style.

Thanks for the steer Phil hopefully he will be continuing with season 3 fingers crossed.

Another valid point Bob when I used to go mid 80's to early 90's Sky was just starting out, multiplex cinema's , shopping malls were all in their infancy, you then got the internet , Amazon and things like Youtube competing for dollar that's why I think having a once home and away top league would help make Speedway more of a novelty rather than seeing same teams 2-4 times at home each season. Better supported top tier teams could also run a b team in the second division also if they wished.

They won't need him if they land Beau Bailey that lad genuinely looks like the next Leigh Adams ,hopefully he is well advised and doesn't try to jump to high to start with even allowing for his bags of natural talent.