Ben91

The fixture list generally gets changed throughout the season anyway due to weather, rider unavailability etc. and now that we're in the top league Sky will play a part too, especially if we are doing well.

To that point most Speedway heats are slightly under the minute mark so it's also less than 15 minutes of Speedway, add in the fact that you can be in a Speedway stadium longer than you are in a Football ground and Football offers much better value for money. It is a nice analogy but it doesn't fit for me. Speedway is not something people are priced out of but want in the way an expensive Cognac may be too expensive for some. As for the quality over quantity, I'm not convinced there is more quality in a single Speedway meeting when compared to a Football match. As for intensity, again just because it is a motorsport it doesn't make Speedway more intense than Football, hell look at Darts, there's plenty of intensity there and it is two blokes throwing projectiles at a cork board. But there isn't just Premier League Football. There are Football teams in the fifth and even sixth tiers of the English Football Pyramid who offer Football in better facilities and for a more reasonable price than the top level of British Speedway. Of course comparisons can be drawn. Football is thriving, Speedway isn't. How do you improve a product? Look at the competition you have that is at the top of its game. This whole 'Footballers are paid too much' stuff is nonsense, it's supply and demand. There is a product and people will pay for it, sponsors will pay to have their names plastered over stadiums, kits and players. You wouldn't see that with Speedway. If more people were in the Speedway stadiums in the first place though sponsors may be more easy to come by because they have a bigger captive audience. Despite the money being pumped into the game from all angles Football would be nothing without the paying customer who goes to the stadium. Even if you paid £10-15 for a Football match in the Premier League you are still getting more minutes of entertainment for your money than for paying the same to go to a Speedway meeting. To compare a 0-0 draw to a meeting at Scunthorpe is a very one sided way of thinking of things. It could quite as easily be a 6-3 Everton vs Bournemouth thriller compared to a gate and go fest at Leicester. I'm a big fan of both sports, Speedway for me is a better raw product and always will be. But I go to see my Football team week in, week out and it costs me roughly the same as going to see my Speedway team who I will go to watch two-three times a season now if they're lucky. Why? Because I get better value for my money, in my opinion, attending the Football.

You get 90 minutes entertainment at a football match, you get 15 minutes at a speedway meeting. Football doesn't need to attract fans, it could do more to make itself cheaper for people wishing to attend though. Speedway is too expensive and in need of more fans to physically attend meetings but unsurprisingly the cost puts many off.

It's not great but it isn't awful either, especially looking at the kind of teams Leicester have fielded in their EL tenure. Lebedevs will be a key man and his performances will decide meetings either way for the Lions I'd imagine.

I'm a Rye fan, I fancy our chances in the league if our top four perform consistently throughout the season. Kasprzak will be more than competent at Rye though.

Before a wheel has turned I'd say Poole. I fancy our chances at Rye House too if the top four can all consistently perform.

When I hit 16 and Rye House started to charge me as an adult I stopped going to as many meetings. While they made roughly the same from my one adult attendance as they would for me to go to 2-3 meetings as a child they were losing out on a weekly programme sale plus any food or drink I purchased. Now I'm old enough and earning enough to go every week as an adult I don't still because in the years I was alienated because I couldn't afford to go I found better things to do with my Saturday evenings. Young fans are ultimately the future, they have to be treated well (as do all fans for that matter).

Sadly the nature of speedway over the last 10-15 plus years gives me the impression that this is just delaying the inevitable and the first season of Premiership racing will be remembered for Coventry not making it to the end of the season, let alone back into their home stadium. I hope I'm wrong and don't like to be pessimistic. Just part of being a speedway fan I guess! Hopefully we can take this at face value and that the Bees will continue to race on and be back at Brandon as soon as possible.

I'd suggest getting your eyes tested in that case.

Spoke to Dennis a couple of times on Rockets' trips north back in the mid-late 00s, came across as a very nice man, incredibly knowledgeable about the sport. A huge shame to hear of his passing. R.I.P.

Bowen's raced at Lakeside before and is a small track specialist. Took to Kent like a duck to water, can't see him struggling with Lakeside.

I'm not a Kent fan. Just funny how when a rider rides for Eastbourne he's god's gift but if someone else signs him then it's a completely different story. Hopwood is a good signing on his average but Kent have built their team wrong and realistically he's going to have to do the job of a second heat leader for them to do well.

He was the best thing since sliced bread when he was at Eastbourne on an eight point average.

If one of the top four are underperforming then Lee Dicken will be in the pits most weeks on a reasonably attractive average you'd imagine. Still think the Brummies will do well, play-offs should beckon at least.

Two heat leaders who are notorious for their lack of reliability. Doesn't bode well for the Devils as far as I'm concerned. As I've said previously though Plymouth may get the best out of Boxall if he is riding for fun and enjoying his racing, the same could go for Compton. Both look like big gambles though considering the amount of team building points they take up combined.

If he averages 3.5 then he's done very well in my book. If the Kings persist with him he could improve across the year though. If there aren't many options about then going for a youngster like Rowe seems to be a good way to fill the last spot to me rather than to give it to a plodder like Strudwick or Laurence etc.

They first step on the bike for the love of it. Many only ever do it for the love of the sport, thoss that are good enough to make a living out of it are the lucky ones in a way. Nobody takes up speedway to entertain the fans though, if you want to entertain you'd take up a safer form of entertainment. Entertainment, despite being what the fans go to meetings to see, is a by-product of the sport.

The top four will do the majority of the scoring, Hume and JPB have improvement in them too. Hay may take some time to get going, there's pressure on Cuppit to step up to the mark if the Brummies want to retain their title I think.

Stoneman's average makes him a gamble. The Kings need him to maintain his starting figure and Hopwood to return to his usual 7-8 point average to stand any chance of success.

Woods is a solid signing for Mildenhall. He may never make it to the top of the sport but he'll get stuck in and can average around 4 if he eradicates the silly falls from his game. Like the look of this side.

Poor, poor signings. Mason's only going one way and isn't an entertaining rider. I suspect there's nothing that Mason can offer in the pits experience wise that Morley couldn't offer to be perfectly honest. On top of that the team has Kelvin Tatum in the pits to give wisdom. Laurence has been around nearly 10 years and is still a three point reserve. Piles the pressure on Hunter and Bowtell who could have been trump cards but now it looks like they are going to have to perform.

Said most Rye House fans for the best part of the last 12-13 years. Looks like Steve is happy to ride for enjoyment now if he is just going to do NL for Plymouth. Funnily enough we may see the best Boxall we have for a long time with not too much pressure on his shoulders. Shame he never kicked on he could have been a decent EL rider without a doubt if not better.

Every penny's a prisoner and all that, especially when running a Speedway club I'd imagine. It's a shame that being able to get a programme or not would put you off attending at all.

You can't fit Lanham in now. However if you'd signed Lanham instead of Morley for example you'd have a better rider on a lower average, Lanham averaged 4.34 in the Premier League last season compared to Morley's 3.85 while Lanham's NL average would be 8.68 compared to Morley's 9.22. This would also leave more points to play with lower down the order meaning David Mason's name wouldn't even be in the frame. As a standalone NL club you have to look to win, not solely develop riders. With Wajtknecht, Bowtell and Hunter, plus whoever the two reserves may be there will be plenty of younger riders at Lakeside next year, one older rider leading from the front would only be a help to the younger team members.

I hope not, he's not ready to do just the top two divisions yet. As a Rye fan I'd like to see him have a NL berth so he can get some vital heat wins under his belt to keep confidence up, there are going to be times when points are going to be hard to come by in the Premiership and Championship for him.