uk_martin

I wonder if the Birmingham management have ever thought about asking Tipp-Ex for sponsorship?

As they say in the world of football..."we at least we can now concentrate on the league"

The onus of responsibility, by having a clear rule on the matter lies with the team signing the rider. My understanding of the rule was out of date, and IronScorpion clarified what it is now in his post above. Other teams abide by it, so no excuses. LR knows it too, and considers it a price worth paying in order to have Ellis on board for (most of?) the rest of the season. With it being an away fixture, it probably made his decision-making process that much easier for him. And when did the paying spectator getting VFM ever come into consideration in the realm of British Speedway, anyway?

There used to be a rule, not sure if it still exists, that says that you can't have a "proper" guest (& have to use a NL guest) for a rider who's not ridden for the team yet. Birmingham came a cropper in 2007 under this rule when they couldn't have anything more than a NL guest for Emiliano Sanchez in the opening fixture, after he picked up an injury that prevented him from making his debut. If this is the rule being enforced, then Ellis riding for the Brummies in the NL doesn't count for the purposes of appearing in the CL.

I'll second that. Best of luck to the team. Let's hope they all keep healthy and that the fixture concerns don't materialise.

Good job that the server isn't hosting the Microsoft, or Facebook, or Amazon web sites isn't it? They'll be blaming the Birmingham web site for overloading the servers next, won't they? Just like they did in 2013.

Tell that to all the fantasists on the other threads talking about reopening Bradford, Eastbourne, Swindon, Reading, Coventry etc etc On the other hand, do we want to compound the shortage of riders with an influx of non-riders? Riders who appear on paper but not in the flesh? It may be hard on Birmingham, but if that stance taken by the BSPZzz is correct then it's the right thing for the sport.

The Brummies need 1,000 people through the door every week, or even more if most of them only pay concessionary admission, and digging up Barnyard Pedalo and putting him into the team is NOT going to achieve that goal. He is widely unpopular at Perry Barr, and would only disincentivise fans from wanting to go again.

Let's hope not...because after the announcement that "someone" was checking their fixtures and the amount of time that what must have been a thoroughly forensic check has taken, it would be a huge embarrassment if that were to happen now, wouldn't it?

If you ask me, it should be a condition of the BSPZzzz ratifying a signing that the rider in question should be available for all if not the vast majority of the fixtures, if the fixtures are published before the signing is made. Anything else just invites more ridicule.

That's what I'm not sure about. The fans would certainly like 7 on their own riders every meeting. But is that Rogers's way of getting into the play-off's? Vissing hasn't got many competitive miles on the clock these past 3 years, and he's not getting any younger. Given that a guest would be up to a 8.92 average, that would be so advantageous to have if Vissing only rides to the ability of a 6 or 7 point rider when he does make an appearance.

The team gets a guest because the rider is NOT withholding his services. And if a rider DOES withhold his services, what does the team get then?

Plymouth & Birmingham team listing need updating.

Great News Curtis Sport has been signed to become the Birmingham Brummies new #1...er, sponsor. So welcome to the new era of the Birmingham "Curtis Sport" Brummies, er or is that the Curtis Sport Birmingham Brummies...heck, whatever.

Whilst the Brummies only had 4 riders, some were still placing them above a 7-man Newcastle team. It fair boggles the mind sometimes.

I hate to mention this, but having the stadium resembling a Derby & Joan Club night out is one of the biggest disincentives to young people returning to the sport. People tend to stick to their own generation. This is why BSF folk stand up for the oldies, because most on here are of that generation, and can't look at themselves in the mirror and see one of the causes for young people not being attracted to the sport staring back at them. Go ask some kids, where they want to be on a Friday night...down the pubs and clubs with people of their own generation or clapping hands and singing songs with the pensioners down at the local old people's home. If you want to stand a chance of making a younger generation omelette, then you are going to have to crack some older generation eggs.

It took the 2022 Championship Predictions thread 11 pages to conclude that the race to win the Wooden Spoon would be a close-run thing between Birmingham and Newcastle. How many more pages will it take for everyone on there to change their minds and have the Brummies in the top 4?

Update - 6/7 of the way there. Just need a decent #1 now.

It seems that wasn't too evident at Glasgow, and it wasn't evident in his last spell at Birmingham either. So, what did it take to upset him so much then? It's not like he lives his life on a hair-trigger from what his times at Glasgow and Birmingham show. And in any case, who would you rather have riding for you, someone with some fire and passion or someone placid and laid-back?

Why is it "reasonable" when the costs of bread milk, groceries, clothes and other essentials isn't reduced? To say it's "reasonable" implies a logical thought process that presumably comes out of a sense of entitlement. That "entitlement" comes at the cost of the people whose incomes are reduced for the custom of such "entitled" people. I spoke to a promoter a few years ago, whose headline adult admission cost was £15 (shows how long ago it was lol) but whose "average revenue per person" was only £11 after all the concessions had been factored in. Assuming an attendance of 1,000, that's £4 per person, or £4,000 that's being lost to the business every week. I'm sure that those self-same people feel just as "entitled" to their speedway fix, well there'll come a time when it''ll be one thing or another, they won't be able to have both.

Not yet...still only 5/7 of the way there. The rest is pure speculation. No doubt I'll get hammered again for not getting carried away and for relying on facts rather than fantasy, but hey ho. Now that Santa's signed, let's wait and see what other presents we get.

We were told that they would be, but we were also told many other things, not least that the art of the possible has been a lot more complicated than first expected. All we can do is to stay flexible with our expectations, believe things only when we see them and hope for the best.

Well, let's see, shall we? He's not even signed yet, has he? And if he does, putting pressure on a kid at an early stage and to fill our minds full of expectations won't do anyone any good. I seem to recall us signing a young Danish kid that Erik Gundersen "mentioned", and how far did that get us? If he signs, let's see how he gets on of his own accord, and be nicely surprised if he does well. So, Santa's back...Thank goodness we've got a signing at last. And let's hope that he can achieve what he did at Glasgow in 2019...mind you, that was 3 years ago. He'll be 3 years older, let's hope he's not 3 years rustier and can still bang in some good performances. As for the rumours about Ellis...let's wait and see.

Being British Champion must have its perks.

Most fans will be happy to be treated like intelligent adult human beings, be told honestly what's going on, and have this state of suspense lifted. From today's news release, it's been admitted that team building hasn't gone to plan, that riders are still to be signed and that we are at the mercy of external authorities. Basically it doesn't give us any guarantees, just hopes and dreams of a better future. Still, this is speedway where a solid grasp on reality is never guaranteed.