Grachan

You don't have to buy a programme either. It's £17.

It's not £21. It's £17. Food has notihng to do with it. You're going to eat whether you go or not. Nothing to stop you having dinner before hand. I'm one of those people who has been going to speedway for many years. Originally as a die-hard fan. Nowadays as a more casual fan. Some times in between I had years where I never went at all. For me it's always been whether or not it is appealing at that time. I remember Swindon dropping down to the Premier League (or whatever it was then) in the early 1990s. We signed Jason Crump. I was interested. The following season Crump wasn't there. I lost interest. Even at a lower level you need exciting or interesting riders to keep you interested. For me this is especially true at the lower level. I went to a Swindon v Gasgow match a few years later and I was shocked at the low crowd and lack of atmosphere. I know a lot of Swindon fans liked the PL era, but it never interested me at all once Crump was gone. It's nonsense to say that the standard of rider has no effect on the crowd. It has been plain to see at Swindon. Once we came back up, crowds gradually increased with the strength of the side. Then decreased again as sides became weaker. When the sport was held to ransom by lower clubs demanding low points limits and tactical rides, crowds visibly dropped the following season. That was the one time for me when it was more than just a gradual decrease. It was quite an exodus. People DO care about who is riding and what is going on off the track. It is a pet hate of mine that people thing speedway should only exist at the lower levels in this country. How can making the sport appealling to less people be the answer. If EL sides are run well, they will get decent crowds. Poole are run well. They get good crowds. I think Swindon is run pretty well compared to other clubs, and their crowds remain reasonable in the current climate.

Personally I think Dudek should have been excluded. But... If you are in your car out on the road, the car ahead of you stops suddenly and you drive into the back of them, who is legally seen to be at fault? The car behind, that's who.

Every club must be as strong as the weakest club is part of speedway's problem in recent times, in my opinion. Constant dumbing down of team strengths year after result in constant desertions from supporters. The idea of making all the sides of Premier League strength just further drags speedway further down into the depths. Of course, Imm saying this from a supporter's perspective rather thn that of someone who has to run a club, but it seems to me that as crowds get smaller, so attending a meeting becomes less enjoyable due to less atmosphere and you get into the downward spiral which seems to have been here since around the time the Tactical Ride and 40.75 points limit were introduced a few years back. As EL teams get made weaker and weaker every year, so they get nearer to PL in standard and, as a result, crowds also get nearer to PL size crowds. A lot of the problem with Leicester not having riders available is, I reckon, due to the new race format. This has seen averages equalling out somewhat. Smart teams, such as Poole, have capitalised on this by signing riders of heatleader standard who have second string averages. Teams who are not so dynamic then have to sign up the riders on similar averages who are nowhere near the same standard. I don't know the answer, but having an entire country of teams of PL strength is not it. Die hard fans may well like having lower standard teams that provide good, close racing. But that doesn't bring casual fans in.

Phil and Jason Crump would surely be favourites for this.

As already said, Sky now want 48 hours reassurance that a meeting will go ahead. Is it possible King's Lynn failed to give them that reassurance?

He would have had to ride as British to get it. Had he just ridden as an Australian he would not have been assessed at 2.00 or 3.00 or whatever it was, regardless of where he was born.

Crump also had 2 years in the bottom tier. Peterborough in 1992 and Swindon in 1993. I remember Woffinden riding at Sheffield in his first season and he was like a little ball of dynamite! I'd never heard of him. He came in at reserve (I can't remember if it was for or against Sheffield) and looked very impressive for a 16 year old. When he first appeared he looked every inch a future World Champion to me. Then he rather dropped off the radar for a bit - possibly due to the problems in his family - and was very much a shock winner in 2014. And this too I guess.

I remember when Woffinden first came onto the scene. He was every bit as Jason Crump was at that age. I even made the effort to go to Scunthorpe once just to see him because I was so impressed. No. But he could have done what Crump did. Start as a British rider and then switch. Nick Morris may well have done the same, but I don't know.

Crump claimed to be British too when he started, coming in as a British junior. So those two both used their British roots to their advantage, before becoming Australian once it suited. Woffinden never. He remained British. So either he saw himsef as more British than Australian, or he wasn't eligible to be Australian. I agree with Orion that he almost certainly wouldn't have been World Champion in 2014 had he been Australian, but I don't really see that this would have had a bearing on any decisions he or his family made earlier in his career if such choices were there to be made. Woffinden is a double Wotld Champion. He's good enough by now to have got in the World Championship without the Wild Cards. Anyone who can win World titles would have enough faith in their own ability not to be too bothered about wild cards and the like, I'm sure.

It's strange how so many people get so stroppy about British sportsmen links to another coutry. I remember the same sort of comments about 'choosing Britain for his own advantage' being directed towards Lennox Lewis. If it's such an advantage, how come Jason Crump and Nick Morris never chose it?

King's Lynn's side is ok. It's as good as most. Everyone knows Belle Vue and Poole are streets ahead of the others and early results indicate that.

Enjoyed the match. Good win for Swindon, but Coventry were surprisingly poor. I think they will have better nights and Swindon will have tougher matches. The Coventry Pole looked quite an exciting rider. I think he will do well. Doyle was excellent for Swindon, but everyone rode well. Even Sedgy was unlucky after leading his last race for a while before getting Harrissed. Some good races tonight. Enjoyed it.

He was a 15 year old kid at the time. I'm sure any decisions were made by his parents. By coming back to the UK at that time he effectively would have waived his right to Australian citizenship. I'm sure all the decisions taken from his family would have been speedway rather than citizenship based.

Surely that, in itself, indicates that winning the British title isn't as significant as some people are trying to make us believe. The reason for the seeding would, presumably, have been to give a British rider a better chance of being World Champion. The thinking is not so different really.

I think he was being sarcastic. Hope so anyway!!

Absolute nonsense. Even if he was eligible for Aussie citizenship, riding Speedway for GB would have no effect on it. So, anyway, what you are saying is that he doesn't have Aussie citizenship. So how can he have ridden for Australia then if he wasn't a citizen?

Is that the same Chris Holder that decided not to ride in the Australian Championships?

He's already announced that he's not getting involved with arguments but will pick the best riders available for Team Gb as we are there to win, not just make up the numbers.

20 or 30 years ago the British Final meant a chance to ride in the World Final. Yes, everyone turned up for it. I wonder if, for example, Peter Collins would have ridden in 1978 if he had already been seeded to the World Final. Maybe he would, but you can never know for sure. My guess is he would not have. And didn't we used to get riders "buying" points in it. So just maybe actually winning it wasn't what it was all about. British Final was always a qualifying round of the World Championship and, I'm pretty sure, that for most riders in it that was the main priority. Likewise, if Grand Prix qualification depended on it, Tai would be there this year.

I think it will, for the very same reason.

I don't think Woffinden has the same level as patriotism as, say, Harris. I think that's there for all to see. His Twitter profle has him as coming from Europe and Australia. It is a shame that he is not in this, I agree, although I do think him and Harris shouldn't have to qualify. they are different animals though, and I'm sure Haris has no problem with qualifying. That's how he has got into the World championships on several occasions too. Unfortunately British Speedway has made a rod for its own back though. It has decided it doesn't need the World stars in the way it is run. Every year it constantly goes down the route of dumbing down,without the foresight to understand that the closer the Elite League gets to Premier League standard, the closer the crowd levels also get to Premier League levels. As long they do this then the lower Britain will be down the list of priorities for top riders. Yes, it's disappointing he's not here. But I bet British Speedway did its usual 'cost cutting' methods in trying to get him here.

Hancock? Another who opted out of British Speedway and had the famous 'Swedish doctor'. The thing is, Woffinden is of a similar mindset to other top riders, and sees British speedway as lower down in his priorities because that is how British speedway sees itself! That's why he is a World Champion. I'm sure most people here would prefer him if he was still riding number one for Scunthorpe, but he would never have achieved what he has with that mindset.

Scott Nicholls opted out of riding for Team GB. Surely that's more of a snub to British Speedway then pulling out of an individual meeting that is of little significance to riders already in the Grand Prix. I guess Scott's parents never emigrated when he was a kid, so he gets less flak.

The thing is, it's to the benefit of everyone to have as strong a field as possible for the British Final. What is the main motivation for the riders these days? Is it to win or to qualify for Cardiff? Woffinden and Harris are already riding at Cardiff. Their own positions in this meeting are already different from all the other riders in it. For me it makes sense to seed Grand Prix riders to the final. You'd get a lot more people watching if Woffinden, in particular, was there. One would hope they at least did everything in their power to try and get him there.