RobMcCaffery

I can confirm that we very rarely, if ever filmed at the Shay, but then KM were a London-based outfit and pretty much the only serious player in the initial speedway video market of the early eighties. It was a long way to Halifax ;-) By the time we moved into the Screen Sport days we were pretty well locked-into National League coverage so The Shay wasn't a priority. Of course we did feature the Dukes away quite a lot to compensate and I did get to interview Kenny Carter many times. It was always a challenge, usually preceded by the question "You got that tape ready with all my races on yet?" Oddly we did get to Belle Vue a fair bit and I remember the commentary position well. You may recall that alongside the old referee's box at Hyde Road there was a searchlight platform. Well the camera looked over the top of the searchlight while I had to lie on the floor, peering over the edge of the stadium roof to see the racing. As you can see there are sometimes good reasons why those commentaries may have seemed strained. Messrs Pearson and Millard have it easy I can tell you. When I got involved in the commentary business I had a terrible head for heights - and was extremely shy. I had to learn to lose both problems very fast. With Belle Vue it was very much kill or cure... The other classic was Milton Keynes' Groveway stadium where you had to balance on a chair on the staircase to the ref's box to get onto the roof of the box which of course had no safety rails whatsoever. It was always a relief to get to Wimbledon where you were about four feet off the ground ;-) Reasons that certain tracks were favoured in those early days though were quite simple - distance to travel and how keen the local promotion was to have us there, and that was far from universal. Rob McCaffery

Last I knew they were in Hoddesdon but that was a few years back. Rob McCaffery.

There's a scan of a tenner on its way to you Paul - very kind. I'm interested to hear that KM keep an archive but then it has been many years since I've been in touch with them. Paul Bonner indeed was the proprietor. The story might be of interest. For those not aware KM obtained the contract to supply the cable TV channel Screen Sport with speedway programming from the start of the 1984 season. I'd started with them on various sports apart from speedway in the winter of 1981/82 and went on to deal direct with Screen Sport as speedway and stock car presenter, plus various odd sports that came our way (backwards DAF racing, Dutch kick-boxing - I kid you not). When I left them in 1986 I lost touch with KM who I understand went on to supply football goal action to ITV stations. Once the Screen Sport deal started a firm called Video Anglia were soon brought in to bolster the operation and it was they who had the masters for the broadcast meetings with KM carrying-on doing usually one camera work for video purposes and with clips being used on my news programme. VA went under a few years back and I suspect most of the ScreenSport masters with it. Screen Sport hit financial problems when the UK cable networks, authorised in the mid-80s simply didn't get built. It wasn't for another ten years until these networks were built, usually by American companies. At the same time until the launch of the high-powered Astra satellite in 1989 you needed a very expensive 3m diameter dish system to get the station via satellite. The station had been funded by American TV networks and when they saw that the industry was stalling - quite simply too few people could watch the programmes to make the station viable then they pulled the plug and handed their interests over to WH Smiths who unsurprisingly went for cuts. One was my studio news programme and with little indication that there was any commitment to speedway or prospect of financial stability I left. KM and Video Anglia continued to supply programmes using Julie Richardson and Clive Fisher before the speedway coverage switched to Sweden's Tommy Rander. By then the Astra satellite was up and running with its multi Sky channels and Screensport was there with them. The birth of Sky Sports though left the station in limbo and it was eventually absorbed by Eurosport. I have precious few copies of my work. Indeed there's probably more on the Speedway On Disc website or You Tube than I've got. Last time I checked with Ken Burnett he seemed to have quite a list. Sadly I loaned a few out years back and never saw them again. Included was our review of the 1985 speedway season and if anyone has a copy of that one I'd love to see it in particular. I've messaged Phil K and will be sending him a copy of one of the few tapes I've got - Hackney Kestrels v Mildenhall from 1984 - the first NL-level meeting at Waterden Road and the first to be shown on Screen Sport. It's sad really - we were so busy making programmes that I simply didn't have the heart to ask them to do copies of meetings for me. It's all a long time ago and in fact it's now nearly 25 years since I last commentated on a race, as opposed to announcing. If anyone out there enjoyed the work I'm pleased - that's what it was all about at the end of the day although I wouldn't have minded some fame and fortune ;-) Regards, Rob McCaffery.

It's been well documented in the Speedway Star and on-line that Russell Paine had to abandon the Spanish project due to severe bureaucratic delays some time ago. The Benidorm bar indeed was also a business failure. There was a speedway track run on Majorca in the early 1970s at Son Pardo di Mallorca by a combination of Reg Luckhurst and Ian Hoskins if I remember correctly. The TV highlights package would be part of IMG's syndication of highlights of the GPs around the world. As Philip Rising has stated here this package is sold to many countries and it's encouraging to hear that someone has actually seen it . As for the UK the whole meeting could of course be seen live and in full on Sky. In the past the highlights programme was sold to Channel 4 and last seen a few years back at some ungodly hour between 1 and 6 am. Rob McCaffery.

Yes Sky are a very ruthless business, which is why they clearly relegated the speedway GP to fifth place in their priorities on those two recent occasions. This suggests that the viewing figures aren't holding up or do you accept the argument that suddenly after over a decade of coverage there hasn't been room to show it recently because suddenly Sky have so much more sport than usual? There are clear warning signs and only a fool would ignore them. Rob McCaffery.

With respect, they're hardly going to say "Well, we're contracted to show this rubbish so we have to find a space somewhere," are they? I do suspect that the failure of the British riders has seen them lose interest especially since they use that angle to sell the programme to the casual viewer (ref. Chris Harris' win at Cardiff). Add-in the poor quality of racing from too many GPs this year and I suspect we've been lucky to get even the 'red button' treatment. Put simply, I suspect Sky feel the GPs aren't worth their while showing. Rob McCaffery.

The GPs should be about the best sixteen riders in the world racing for the title, irrespective of age. There are plenty of competitions there to develop young talent. The GPs should be about talent, not age. Rob McCaffery

As I mentioned earlier I really suspect that Sky would pull the plug unless there was a Brit for them to focus on. The retreat behind the red button has come in a season where the British riders have clearly failed to achieve. In sporting terms it would be a wake-up call for no British rider to be selected but economic realities are unlikely to alllow it. Rob McCaffery

Much as I despise the wild card system I suspect that if there isn't a Brit in the GP that Sky viewers won't even have the option of watching ion the red button next year. Rob McCaffery.

A very powerful truth lies there. The more interesting speedway is to watch the less its ailments matter. Rob McCaffery.

IMG deal with the very top level corporate sponsors. IF they send them speedway's way then we will gain enormously. It's a very big IF. Rob McCaffery Another afterthought... Media buyer for a major blue chip sponsor sits down to watch Saturday's GP on Sky. "Jeez does the guy on the inside win every race? Is passing allowed?" "Sky can't think much of the sport to hire a guy like that to commentate" "Hey, it's 7 o'clock, where's the programme gone?" "Where's the golf being shown?"

That's a cop-out by Sky. They've always had plenty of sport to show on a Saturday night. It's obvious that speedway's just not important enough in their priorities now. Rob McCaffery

That's actually very reassuring and I hope we see the expected results. Of course I am writing purely on the British angle since others can and do stand their countries' corners. I obviously appreciate that IMG's focus is on the wider picture though. My concern is that an already-weakened British Speedway finds some sort of benefit from the sacrifices it has been forced to make. You do wonder if anyone is actually able or willing to stand up for British Speedway on the international stage since the SCB surrendered much of its responsibility to the BSPA who in turn seem incapable of dealing with their own internal problems currently. It would be good to think thart the pain that the sport has suffered in this country might not be in vain in the longer-term. If the sport's profile can be grown internationally and major sponsors attracted then no doubt it could reap part of the harvest. I'm sure we all want the growth that you speak of. Hopefully IMG can take matters further than BSI alone were able to achieve because it's hard to see where the growth has been so far which is why I was keen to hear of the effect in countries outside the UK. Rob McCaffery.

Again the matter of riders representing countries other than their country of birth is a side-issue, although I will say that nationality and holding a passport are two separate things. While we have you here PolskiZuzel how are the GPs seen in Poland and do you think they help Polish speedway? Rob McCaffery.

Fascinating though the discussion on seeding is it is just one aspect of the current GP system. A couple of things have come to mind after Philip Rising's welcome contributions and the challenges by the likes of 'Humphrey Appleby'. Just how high a priority for BSI is the SGP now that it's under IMG ownership? IMG are primarily involved with 'blue chip' sport, originally sports such as golf and tennis and I wonder how a relatively obscure motorsport fits in their priorities. Another thought was that the SGP series was intended to be a major tool for the FIM to improve speedway's international profile, to broaden interest in new territories and to lift the levels in established speedway countries. It's been quite a few years since that 'mission' started. Just how much has been achieved? I'd welcome some insight from supporters outside the UK to join in here and hopefully let us know how they view the GPs and whether they are doing what they were supposed to do - really take speedway forward? I'd say they've done nothing at all in the UK, Cardiff's a major event for us but only in the way the Wembley world finals were. It still is shunned by the media, apart from Sky, even in Cardiff. It's not so much a question of the bums on seats in the stadia themselves - if you put 16 riders together in a world championship event irt's a fair bet that you'll draw a crowd especially if those riders are rarely seen in one meeting. Does a Latvian GP stimulate speedway there or is it just a one-off party? Have the Grand Pixs taken the sport forward? Rob McCaffery.

This raises the question whether an event is worth staging if it can't stand in its own feet without having local interest artificially guaranteed. Rob McCaffery.

Fascinating information Jim and something I'd not picked-up on. I feel it was as wrong then as it is now though. Rob McCaffery.

Oh yes Derek, Wembley had its moments, but also its critics. I always enjoyed it there, not just for the atmosphere of the place albeit with outdated and inadequate facilities by the end. Rob McCaffery.

So there is no other choice. Yes that is defeatist and far more patronising than anything I posted. We mifght as well just let the sport fade away with that kind of attitude. I'm quite sincere about the smaller BEL. At present there is an attitude that everybody is out of step apart from the likes of Poole, Swindon Coventry & Wolverhampton and those who can't compete financially are simply not trying hard enough. There are times when I am sure that many people wish that you could all go off and play your own private little games, take your tedious on-line battles with you and let the rest of speedway get on with it. Rob McCaffery

They are probably old enough to be of interest now ;-) Now look young Superkin......er Bryn (must look up definition of 'young') I may have severed my links with Rye House many a season ago but my interest in Hackney was purely academic ;-) - and Mrs.McC would throw a fit - not for looking at young girls mainly because she was a Hawk and certainly not a 'budgie' ;-) . She still calls the Hackney Kestrels "The Leyton Buzzards". Hmm - on second thoughts that isn't the troupe of hairy/bearded cheer 'girls' mainly recruited from the Vic Harding Lounge by any chance? Veering rapidly back on-topic.... This has been a fascinating debate. If Sky are allowing presenters to criticise the product you can guarantee that it is in a very weak position. The mantra at Sky is always to talk the product up. I am sure that a very detailed review of product quality is needed by BSI - not in the presentation which is first class but in that core product, the racing. Certain tracks have abjectly failed to provide a worthwhile TV show. They must concentrate on those GPs that worked and produced great TV, not just atmosphere and either make sure that other venues are b`rought up to standard or deleted from the schedule. Quite simply if a track doesn't entertain it's future on the schedule has to be reviewed irrespective of how powerful the organising club or federation is. Equally if tracks are not being prepared to their best potential steps have to be taken now. The SWC round at Peterborough was excellent. If it takes a decent budget, quality materials and local expertise to make these events work then those elements MUST be used. We must not waste the opportunity that we have to sell the sport both nationally and world-wide. The sport deserves better than the 2009 GP series. Rob McCaffery.

I must echo the thanks to Phil (me old mucka?) for taking part in this debate. It does show what the forum is capable of if people treat it properly. I hate what the GPs have done to British Speedway but while we have them it's vital that they are a top quality product throughout. The point regarding the failure of the British riders in this year's series is a very vaild one in terms of the events' appeal in this country. The poverty of the racing at times, not just in Krsko surely doesn't help and has to be a concern. Yes Sky have many sports to show on a Saturday night but I doubt whether there's more than there have been over the past seasons. Most of Sky's top-level development lately has been in the field of European mid-week football so I would suspect they are very disllusioned with us. With the BEL having had a torrid season let's hope for some great play-off matches to give an encouraging finale to what has been a difficult year for televised speedway. Rob McCaffery. Another afterthought. I'd suggest BSI have a few words with the Slovenian start line girls to see if they have a few more Saturdays free next year...

Philip, many thanks for your as-usual informative posting on the subject of the SGP. I do wish that more people with knowledge of and influence in the sport such as yours would post openly here as you do. Perhaps we could raise the level of debate above that of "my team's bigger than your team" that so wastes the opportunity given by a forum like this. Now you raise several points that I'd like to offer some thoughts on which for convenience I've numbered. I hope that you could clarify on some if possible. 1 - I don't think people really think it's an easy problem to remedy but I'm sure many posters will be glad to know that the problem is recognised. 2 - I can appreciate that expectations of racing quality can vary from track to track let alone couintry. I saw a lot of my early speedway at Hackney which while it had significant safety problems was a track that in its heyday provided excellent racing. However it grieves me that the BEL has been brought to its knees in order to provide Slovenian fans with the dross that we saw on Saturday night. I've never been a big fan of World Championship or individual racing itself. At least under the previous format it could carry on without wrecking my main focus, team league speedway. A trip to Wembley every few years was a bit of light relief and it didn't wreck eleven weekends a year. 3 - Attendances. I'm glad to hear that they are holding-up. The hype is very effective. It's a moot point for how long of course. For many the meetings are the major event of a track or country's season so I suppose plenty will go for the sense of occasion even if the intrinsic product is deeply lacking. As you say perceptions of what makes a good speedway meeting do differ. 4 - It is clear that the staging of events is very professional and some may say it has to be in view of the underlying product. 5 - I agree with you totally about track surfaces. This is a fundamental problem that has to be resolved. As I have said many times you have to have racing to capture the passing fan and hold those you have. If the racing's great it's remarkable how the problems of the sport seem to be so less important. 6 - It's great to see that some research & development in speedway is looking at how to improve the product rather than just make it faster. I look forward to being informed of the tyre issue. 7 - Yes the racing wasn't always that great especially at Wembley. It wasn't so important when in effect the World Championship was a kind of 'side-show' to the real product in established speedway nations - league racing and while qualifying rounds were disruptive there were only a handful of meetings to disrupt this instead of eleven. 8 - Nobody expects perfection but it's not a bad thing to aim for... The SGP has been a boon to lesser speedway nations but Britain in particular has been battered by it. It would be easier to accept this if much of the time it wasn't so downright boring! I just wish the fundamental product was as good as its presentation. Rob McCaffery. Edited to add one extra point. It would be useful to know how BSI feel about the last two GPs' treatment by Sky. I'd be concerned, are they?

I'm lucky enough to have seen top-flight racing running with 18-19 tracks and a large proportion running to large crowds on Friday and Saturday nights. Now I see a BEL on his last legs, struggling to keep a nine team league going, running to pathetically low crowds and having to avoid Saturday and Friday nights like the plague except for the odd weekend where there are no GPs. Now it seems even Thursdays are becoming too inconvenient. I also see huge gaps in fixture lists with too many tracks lying idle through prime weeks of the season and several tracks running out of official fixtures before September has even got going, or worse August in Peterborough's case. All this so that the likes of Slovenia can have one big, pointless and tedious meeting like last night. Perhgaps it is best if the BEL retreats to Monday night racing with say four to six tracks running with all-star teams for about a dozen meetings each a season, and let the rest of speedway get on with it. You wouldn't tell a sick person that there was no point in treating them because "time has moved on" or "the past is the past". Why do we do that to an ailing Elite League? Rob McCaffery.

This GP series shows just how dull it can be. Great riders and often impressive stadia, all very flashy and hyped to the limit, albeit very professionally. Underneath it all, once you look past the shiny bits there's very little. The series is far too drawn out and the champion known far too long before the end. The racing is occasionally wonderful but far, far too infrequently so. It's a bore. What we have is a long series of build-up events building to...just what exactly? Perhaps a streamlining is needed with say a half-dozen meetings with a wider field of riders with places in each meeting determined by on-track results, not reputations decided in meeting rooms building up to a final where the championship is decided, thus bringing it to a suitable thrilling climax? Oh sorry, we had that but threw it away. Oh well, the sport must move on. If we keep telling people the current system's wonderful we'll still catch new mugs to replace the ones that see through it all and give it up as a bad job. Won't we? Well, with luck Sky will start up another half dozen sports channels so maybe the GPs can find a place somewhere occasionally. </irony> Rob McCaffery.

There were more than a few satellites in geostationary orbit last time I looked and the Sky system uses a fair number. It's come on a bit since 16 channel satellites. (Mind you even that was 'luxury' compared with the Intelsat 'bird' that I used to appear on). Bear in mind the Virgin fibre optic service carries considerable broadband internet and telephony streams before you even look at the bandwidth allocation for TV. A "switched star" fibre optic cable network has considerable bandwidth and interactivity but far from unlimited. Either way the Sky interactive service is very obscure compared to the BBC's and being relegated to it really shows how speedway could be falling in Sky's priorities. Why has this problem only just occurred I wonder? Rob McCaffery.