uk_martin

So the Thompson Twins come in on a total assessed average of 4.00. That leaves the Leicester Moggies to sign up the remaining 5 with 32 points to play with. That averages out at over 6 points a rider, or 2 x 9 point riders, 2 x 6 point riders and another 2.00 newcomer. Might as well hand the league trophy over to them straight away. Any news on which track Cradley will be riding their home fixtures? Shall we start a sweepstakes on how many league fixtures Stoke will have outstanding when cut-off date arrives?

You never know your luck. Could even go Premiership lol No-one has said where Cradley will be riding in 2019. I'm assuming that Monmore Wood/Green still has it's restrictions on how often it can stage speedway? Could be that Birmingham won't be riding at all, and that Cradley will be riding at Perry Barr, with the expectation that Brummies fans will convert to the Heathens??? Or not...but definately one or the other.

Perhaps Birmingham are one of those "Possibility of further applicants" teams? Nothing else seems to be known about the fate of the Brummies

Is it a one day or a two day junket? When can we expect press releases, leaks or other informed word of what's gone on?

I have an old Hawkwind tour programme in the loft somewhere, in which their bass player, Harvey Bainbridge, confessed to going to "lotsa speedway meetings" in the time since the last tour, back in the early 1980's.

Catch up...Eastbourne published a press release to say that they accepted a few days ago. It's Birmingham (&/or A.N. Other, now) who are taking their time. And the more it closes in on the NL AGM, the more likely it is that the Brummies will be in the NL again next year. I wonder what the BSPA's contingency plans are if only one team elevates from the NL to the Championship? You're right about the BSPA (or rather the train-fare-dodger-in-chief chairman of the BSPA) totally mis-managing the announcement, but hey, it's the BSPA, what else do you expect from him / them?

I'm not sure on what basis you base your belief on. Lee Kilby shot down in flames on Twitter the speculation about the Brummies being in the Championship, although he then "clarified" that "at that point" the Brummies were still in the NL and that it may not be the last word, and things could change. BUT why do that "management of expectations" if the road to 2019 was heading the way of the Championship? Why not just let the euphria build and ride on the back of it? Negotiations to elevate 2 teams have resulted in Eastbourne making an announcement, so if it was all plain sailing into the Championship for the Brummies, how come they haven't made a similar announcement yet? It leads me to think that on the balance of probabilities, the Brummies will be in the National League again next year. I think that most fans think that the Brummies happiest times were in the 2nd tier, and would be disappointed to the point of departure, if the Brummies were not in the 2nd tier next year.

You took your time didn't you? I was banned 10 years ago

And you wonder why British Speedway is an international laughing stock? In Poland they knew 2 weeks ago which teams were in which league and which riders were in which team. They are only a matter of a couple of weeks away from announcing their fixtures, which typically are published mid-December. In Britain, we don't know if we're coming or going...literally. The Chapmanship has reduced down to 7 teams, Glasgow have given 12 months notice that they are folding, other teams are on the brink or have announced themselves to be up for sale, Cradley and Coventry are likely to be confined to the history books, and I've seen promoters up and down the country having "meet the fans evenings" to explain what's going on and to trawl around for new ideas because they don't have any of their own. I wish they would hurry up and announce what is happening at Birmingham, because I'm not hanging around for another year in the Post-Natal League. If we're not going Championship, then let me know soonest please, so that I can cut my emotional ties to this farce sport. After the mooting of a 30 point limit per team and the comical shenanigans in the NL last season, I'm not putting up with the NL again.

If BSPA Ltd gets into unmanagable debt, it can be declared bankrupt and a new company, (e.g. BSPA (2020) Ltd) can be formed to carry on where the old one left off, but free of debt. Just ask Terry Russell... who did exactly that with his GoSpeed incarnations. Wouldn't surprise me if Russell is the "brains" behind this venture too.

So much for the old maxim that the Chapmanship Premiership needed 8 teams to be viable.

I said many years ago that Speedway should adopt a MLB / NFL / NBA style franchising operating model, with shares in the holding company being divided amongst the promoters in proportion to the value that they bring to the party at the outset. That way with everyone having a stake in the prospects of every franchisee, maybe there will be some decision making for the common good rather than promoters not being able to see beyond their own stadium car park, as is the case now.

Just my opinion, but to set an example for the future, I don't think that a team that didn't complete their league fixtures in 2018 should be allowed to profit by being elevated into the Championship for 2019.

http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.35805

How about not letting a team who didn't complete their league fixtures in 2018, elevate to the Championship in 2019?

And who's bank-rolling Peterborough in 2019 then? Have new buyers been found?

My ideal 2019 NL season will NOT feature Birmingham. And to that end, I believe they are on the verge of applying for a Championship place next year. In reality, the whole thing is such a mish-mash though. Glasgow were rumoured to be going into the first division (whatever that gets called next year) but then they release a 12 months notice to cease trading if finances don't improve. There are half a dozen other teams up for sale or on the brink of extinction, so who knows what 2019 holds in store, or how many leagues there will be, or who is in which league, let alone which riders will be riding for whom... ...meanwhile in Poland where everyone knows which teams are in which division, and who is riding where, and where the fixtures are only a couple of weeks away from being published, life goes on as normal, the PR machines are working away, riders are spending the closed-season meeting people, pressing the flesh, kissing babies etc. Might as well all be on another planet, so stark are the differences in approach. Pesky Poles, eh? Who do they think thay are? We British know best. Nothing to learn from them, eh?

So everyone starts the season with a "losing" team (one wheree the total of the averages don't meet the total needed to win a meeting) What a great selling point to the public, isn't it? But that's just a short term problem. The long term problem is that if you pack the team with low-average riders who then go on to score the points that they will, over the course of the season, then they will all massively improve their averages, making them unemployable the following year. THEN where do you get the next crop of wobblers from? And how bad do they have to be to get under the average limit? And you are still expecting the public to pay to watch this?

We've got a world champion.

More to the point, which is more important? National Trophy or National League? Why was the 8th July fixture a National Trophy fixture when it could have been a National League fixture, with the NT meeting waiting until after the cut-off date? The NT isn't time constrained, so why not make it wait until after the League match (which surely is in the more important tournament) has been fitted into it's time constraints. #speedwayshambles

Come cut-off date, in the year of the blazing hot summer, whilst Belle Vue and Sheffield, tracks not too many miles away from Buxton had raced in the order of 20 meetings each, Buxton had completed only 10, Five of which were National Trophy. We are now in October and there is still unfinished business at Buxton and Stoke. Disgraceful. I'm sorry, but denying the other teams the ability to compete for league points (and probably get them) in good time, is a dishonour to the rest of the league, especially Coventry and Birmingham in this instance whose final league placings could have depended on their results at Buxton, and but for the grace of god, the situation could have applied to any other team as well. #speedwayshambles

Things would be better if Buxton had a track fit for racing. Then there would be no question of going home.

If you'd have asked me a few years ago, I could have given you an answer. Right now though, I can't give a hoot. The Shambles League has lost me. If Birmingham stay in it, I can't see myself being there to witness it next year. How on earth can a league be in a situation where the league standings are influenced by which teams the "no-hoper" teams like Stoke and Buxton decide to ride against and donate their league points to, and who they don't ride against before the cut-off date? I thought that Poole were a cynical team with their win at all costs attitude, but what we've seen this year by the "if we can't have the points, they you can't have the points either" attitude, just makes a complete dogs dinner of the league. And you can rest assured that these teams will go unpunished and will be free to do the same again next year. NO! Not for me, this league.

Birmingham won the Easter Egg Cup against Kent this year (you know, the Easter that continued into the final week of July)