AndyK86

And with the league's as they are you have injuries, stupid doubling up that nobody likes etc It is time make the sport more appealing, clearly the current system is not working so time to be more radical.

Fear of change taking over again and the status quo continues

Fans who want to see the top boys need to get a grip on reality and realise the more we keep chasing the dream of our league system been respected alongside Poland and Sweden the more trouble clubs over here will get into, we just don't have the fan base to pay these riders and riders over here need to realise the sport here at moment is at a semi professional level so don't expect much more. Speedway here needs to strip it back and pay what we can afford, improve the product in general and have less drama and bad press releases. Once the product improves and we can then maybe look at a proper tv deal if we are giving them something they want to pay for, right now they clearly don't value it so clearly something needs to change and not just for them but for us. I would go with the one league system or one i sent into BSPA was this North/South Split (with the clubs from top PL & CL currently running) 18 Teams as it stands North Division would be : Belle Vue, Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Workington. South Division would be : Kings Lynn, Leicester, Poole, Somerset, Swindon, Wolves, Ipswich, Lakeside, Peterborough. Teams in there respective divisions would face each other home and away twice so that would be 16 home meetings but also i would add in that north v south face each other once to create extra fixtures and would also add variety which would be awesome for fans and riders and how it would work is say next year in 2019 Sheffield travel down to Poole, the year after in 2020 Poole would travel to Sheffield. So that is 20/21 home league meetings which would be great value for season tickets, you would see how can fit in KO Cup in and then at end of season the top teams in north and south would be divisional champions and get a trophy and then face each other in a two leg tie for playoff champions, give it all advertising you can and a Super Bowl style finale. I believe this is more radical than a poxy name change they did other year and would help speedway in this country grow, riders would get enough meetings in and if we have to go 5 or 6 riders in a team, create a format that works to make team speedway exactly that again and have a product we can be proud of. This might not be perfect but surely would be better than staying as we are and struggling along.

Think we will just stick with Kennedy for now until league system is decided as from what I've been told is it is more than likely going down the one league route but who knows with BSPA. I'm just glad we have set our stall out already for next season with an early signing and hopefully making sure we put right what went badly wrong this season. Roll on March/April !

Not many clubs will be willing to trust him fully if he does decide to return at any point, he has a lot of potential just think it is going to be wasted through bad decisions ! You don't say all the right things through winter then quit on eve of new season. I know he is due to become a young dad which obviously increases pressure on him so maybe signing for Glasgow not greatest idea in first place with extra travelling and cost of that.

I get he wants to have a laugh with his mates don't we all but sometimes you just have to make that sacrifice and say maybe i best not with season just around corner in case of a freak accident which this is of course. Main point i would like to make is that if i was a sponsor of his i wouldn't be overly delighted, money available for sponsorship specially for speedway is not exactly big and Josh Bates who quit mid winter will maybe have already put off potential and current sponsors and now this happens where he potentially misses meetings which is not what sponsors sign up for, if injury happens riding speedway then fair enough the sponsors know risk of that as riders do. Hope his recovery goes well and is soon back on a bike for us !

BSPA need to just accept any deal that is offered right now even if BT don't want to pay anything for speedway coverage because right now British Speedway needs to sort itself out so accept the free advertising they will get from BT Sport and get our product in order from top to bottom then hopefully in that year and proven speedway has its house in order then go for a paid TV deal and by then other companies might be interested. Premier Sports sister channel Freesports would be perfect for Speedway, British Basketball League is now on their channel and no doubt this will boost the sport and help more people through doors over next couple of seasons.

Sign of the times when a few not the majority are offended by absolutely anything. I don't care if they are there or not but these girls are happy to do the job and get paid well for it which means they can pay their bills and some are no doubt well trained up in other careers and not only do modelling. It worked for Darts as it adds glamour to what is just a pub game on TV, In motorsport it is probably not as required as people who watch it love it anyway whether grid girls are there or not.

Dan Bewley is going to be one hell of a rider, when first saw him round Owlerton you could tell he would go far in the sport.

Not the sort of performance we were after when going up against a seriously good team, hopefully learn from it and next time go a lot better. Todd Kurtz & Rob Branford might be getting a bit nervous about their team spot if don't improve away from Owlerton soon.

I am same as you, only seen what people have been saying about it due to been blocked by the man in question.

I would have loved Rosco and Cookie to have tweeted him a photo of them all eating a Kebab in celebration haha

I think he has deleted his comments.

Always said and mentioned it to Rob Godfrey that doubling up is killing the sport, it was never needed before it was introduced and it isn't needed now. When you have riders like Joe Jacobs having to wait a long time to get a spot because of riders doubling up/down is ridiculous. I want to be proud of Sheffield team but you cant when close to entire team is doubling up for others.

Enjoyed BT Sport's coverage so far, doing the basics and nothing else is required. Great idea with competition to go New York as well !

Took me long enough but finally going to Cardiff this year, tickets arrived on friday so bring it on

I'm sure once new promotion are settled in and got this season out of way then improvements will be made. Track was a bit better last season so fingers crossed.

If i was building a side i would go with Howarth, Auty is the more exciting rider as in never gives up but like at Sheffield in recent years you build a side on entertaining and you end up with injury after injury to these never give up riders. Howarth knows when to just settle in behind if he knows he isn't going be quick enough to make a pass. Howarth had a very good 2016 for Wolves and Sheffield which will give him more confidence going into 2017 season, Auty has the ability to go far but do fear his progression has slowed to much, more so in the now Premiership.

Everything looking good at Leicester right now since Damien Bates took charge, side looks an entertaining one and with a new title sponsor on board then plenty for fans to be excited about. Put in a good season then i am sure next season with more time to build a side then Leicester will go from strength to strength.

This is a barmy decision, Craig Cook on tv other night was saying he is skint at moment and this was a great move for him and the premier league, Craig Cook v Steady at Owlerton always a big draw for fans and same elsewhere round country.

Well it be great now to order tickets online and print out because can check forecast first on day of meeting and decide to go or not, instead of having to order days in advance so well done Belle Vue on doing this !

That would be for Speedway promoters to work out but if they just do nothing like always then nothing will change and status quo will continue. It's time for promoters to thing big, not just make crappy changes hoping they will work.

Only same as England Rugby who refuse to pick players who naff off to play for bigger money in France.

Would be tempted to go Monday but do want to see how a few meetings go before venture across again ! Good luck and hope all the problems and issues are now put to bed and Belle Vue can enjoy their new stadium.

I love the Sport but as many others frustrated at how things are going and promoters are where I lay the blame at, they are scared of making major changes that could benefit the sport over here and also drag riders from riding in Poland/Sweden back over here instead because Polish/Swedish speedway will collapse eventually with amount of money they throw about. As others have said Racing will never change, maybe we could do 8 lap races to make create 30 minutes of action in one night instead but it could still be follow the leader stuff as that is Racing, maybe 8 laps would tempt riders not to go all or nothing into first bend and give each other a bit more elbow room as they would have more laps to race and find a way by rider in front so that could lessen injuries over season, who knows but it would be different and why not use KO Cup as a trial run if riders agree also. But most of all our League structure needs ripping up and putting in bin apart from National League which works perfectly well for the young ones now. I would pay a marketing team to drive a new league system to Sky Sports and other potential sponsors and I would : - North/South split of 10 teams in each - teams would be made of 6 man teams and a junior as back up for any injuries like the number 8. - no doubling up, no tactical rides ! We can't keep this riders riding for 2/3 different teams, we are already struggling to attract fans and newbies laugh at this. - if your team is in the North split you would race them teams twice home and away so would be 18 home meetings from that and then you race each of the south teams once 5 home 5 away (23 Home meetings overall) if say Belle Vue (North) faced Poole (South) at Belle Vue in say 2016 in 2017 Belle Vue would travel to Poole. After regular season is complete you have your North Champions & South Champions who face each other over 2 legs to find the British League champions, give it a fancy name and market it well and just maybe with a bit of risk for once we have a system that not only sells big to Sky Sports but to old and new fans who stay away. With a proper marketing team put in place and a exciting new league system it may just tempt some riders back over to be apart of it.