AndyM

If you gate, you stand a better chance of winning - or had that not occurred to you yet?

Either way, it looks like a cracker! We could do with a few more like that nowadays.

Inclined to agree with you, Green Man. But before any radical proposal, there must be a change in mindset - helping British youngsters = good, helping foreign youngsters = not so good!

What's he doing now? He must be well into his 60s.

True of any sport - you never know for sure, but you can have a pretty good guess, and unless there is some mechanism to prevent it, the best young riders will tend to gravitate towards the best teams. Mobility isn't always a factor, since speedway riders manage to turn out for teams far from their base - if they believe it's to the benefit of their career.

Absurd! No matter how bureaucratic the rules, some teams will always make better selections than other. Much better to keep it as simple as possible, allow the riders concerned to stay at reserve until they're 22, and to give first pick to the teams at the bottom end of the scale.

Looking at the title of this thread, I thought a doctor had run into difficulties with a patient in a local surgery!

Much too complicated and completely unnecessary - a simple rule which dedicates places to young Brits will do nicely. Why have tortuous grading systems for reserves?

Re. (5), what was wrong with the Subedei proposal to make all reserves British and under 22 - similar to the PL rule?

Some things never change!

Very true, Iris. For all that, I'd prefer some sort of pooling system with preference being given to weaker clubs to the chaotic and legally dubious system we currently have. Anything which nudges the careers of British riders in preference to the tide of low-end foreigners would also be desirable. We've had the American draft system proposed as one possible model - I wonder if there's any other way rider control could be modernised to correct its known failings?

I still remember rider control wistfully! While it had a number of advantages over the current system, there were two problems with rider control: Firstly, the clubs volunteered which riders they were prepared to release - so, for example, Belle Vue chose to release Ivan Mauger, but when they won the league Ipswich were only prepared to release Mick Hines (5 or 6 in their averages, I think.) Consequently, the system was never fair or equal to all parties. That's not entirely true - there were suggestions about who should be released (as when the Aces were forced to give up Chris Pusey and Soren Sjosten), but it was managed by the goodwill of the clubs involved - and therefore would never work now. Second, the riders weren't automatically allocated to the clubs most in need - they still had to bid for the riders. In Mauger's case, he only agreed a deal with Exeter when they agreed to keep a set of bikes and a mechanic down there for him, with the rider being flown down from his Bramhall base (about a mile from where I used to live in Cheadle!) to Exeter airport. Not too different from some of the deals negotiated by foreign riders these days, but it was quite revolutionary at the time. The clubs at the bottom of the league couldn't necessarily compete with the deals to bring in top riders like Mauger, regardless of who came on the market.

Hmmm... you've hit the nail on the head. Which will be the first to make a concession for the good of the sport...without the other clubs laughing at them and taking advantage?

Though if it were working from a rider-centric system, it's quite easy to work through. Riders come through the system without any transfers applying, though compensation could be paid for time, effort and cost involved in training and developing the riders concerned. That should incentivise PL teams to develop riders effectively and not stand in the way of their career development.

Always been my view too. EL clubs should be building for their own future, and some do, but they are seriously handicapped by the asset system - which should, following last season's debacle, have been on its way out by now. That it's still there now means the sport is still sitting on a ticking time bomb. We can't pretend the issue will go away any longer.

This sounds a better idea to me - something akin to the US draft system employed in American Football, Basketball etc. may be a better long-term alternative to average governance - if it can be made to work sensibly. It could also be used to prioritise British riders ahead of novice foreigners - if palatable to the self-interest of promoters.

Excellent for Swedish speedway! Who's negotiating a similar sort of deal for our clubs over here?

No, but I did see Belle Vue beat Eastbourne (I think) 64-14 in the 80s, with Kenny McKinna losing out to Colin Richardson for the odd point. My dad always reckoned Bristol were the first team to do the complete monopoly sometime in the 50s. In those days it was 14 heat fixtures, I think, so the result may have been 70-14.

Any tweaks from the injury, Garf, or is he good as new and fitter than ever?

Yes, I've looked up there from time to time to enjoy the memories of yesteryear. Absolutely right and proper that the proud Belle Vue heritage is preserved and celebrated in this way for everyone to enjoy.

No disrespect to the riders concerned, but I hope to goodness it's a much more open series with many more riders in with a shout of victory for a much longer period than in recent years, for the good of the sport. Whoever it might be, I hope we get a complete outsider up on the rostrum.

Rune has never ridden in the EL, and some people think he never will. Pekka Hautamaki, for Cradley and Belle Vue.

Sadly no reciprocal deal for marketing and publicising EL though? Might have been in BSI's interests, too.

Misread that as "Manilla" at first. Wouldn't mind going there for the experience, though it might seem a bit bizarre watching speedway. Which local riders would act as wild cards, I wonder? Where is Malilla?

Sounds horribly familiar to anyone who remembers the end of the Perrin era at Belle Vue. My sympathies to all innocent parties, notably the spectators.