BBUCK

One big league seems an unlikely possibility to me. It could only be achieved by the current Premiership clubs moving down to join the Championship and accepting a truly massive reduction in the strength of their teams, if the current doubling-up nonsense is finally scrapped, pay rates and travelling expenses are drastically reduced, which would in itself result in either the retirement of some riders and/or a huge migration of riders to Poland. Would Belle Vue followers for instance, continue to attend meeting if Kurtz, Bewley and Lidsey were not there and if (with no disrespect intended to him) Blodorn was their top rider and the remainder of their team was made up with lower grade riders mainly of National League level? Yes, a few clubs would dramatically cut their costs if their top men went missing, but for the majority, the cost cutting would be relatively minimal, and it would be unrealistic to reduce admission prices in the way that some people seem to imagine will be the case. The kind of new start which is being advocated would take several years to stabilise the sport, and no promoter will want to lose money whilst waiting for this to happen, so any reduction in the price of entry would be only minimal. Speedway has tied itself in knots with the introduction of doubling-up which has been in my opinion, the most damaging rule imaginable. Why would a club such as Poole who currently run at a profit, seriously consider promotion to the Premiership, a move which result in a big increase in their operating costs, whilst only nominally increase their crowd levels? In any amalgamation, it would be impossible to level-up the teams. Levelling down would be the only option, and to many supporters, who don't realise what a drastic levelling down that would have to be, this would be unacceptable. Only my opinion - and I'm quite ready to be shot down!