SammyR

Very much like the Elite League, a few clubs in the top division in Sweden and Poland are finding it difficult to survive employing G.P. riders. I think all three countries would be better served by excluding these riders from their leagues, by doing so reducing costs and minimising disruption. I propose a European League consisting of two teams from Britain, Sweden, Poland, and one from each of Denmark and Czecho. Like the current EL, each team could have 14 home and 14 away league matches, with one or two extra competitions thrown in, if need be. Each team would use three GP riders each (let's put in the likes of Peter Karlsson to balance numbers), and the balance of the teams would be doubling-up riders, such as Howe, Stead, Harris, Screen, Barker, etc. in Britain. For the riders in the domestic leagues, it gives them extra bookings and a chance to compete still with the worlds' best. And it makes most clubs commercially viable, preserving the number of teams in the top division. The standard of racing would still be more than adequate. G.P. riders could still get extra meetings by visiting the tracks in the domestic leagues for the likes of the Olympique, etc., as suggested, the WTC, and national championships. I'm sure GP riders would prefer to reduce their workload if it didn't reduce their earning capacity too much. I'm sure the likes of Sky would fall over themselves to broadcast this league, so that sponsorship would pour in and costs could be covered. I suppose, in Britain, our two teams would have to be Poole and Coventry or Eastbourne. I'm convinced they would pull in excellent crowds for their fixtures. Alright, no local derbies, but wouldn't we all make the effort to attend one or two European League matches to boost attendances. Imagine our first league with enough teams for a varied and meaningful fixture list, no disruption through rider absences, and costs which were affordable to secure the future of all tracks. The same would be true for Sweden, Poland, Denmark, etc. It could even provide an incentive for Germany, Russia, Italy et al. to try to attain Euro League status, spreading the speedway gospel, and increasing the sports' popularity here and abroad. Sam.

Like the British Championship recently, I suspect this meeting loss some of its gloss with the absence of Lukas Dryml and Bo Brhel......and Jirout. Sam.

And you're a pompous ass. End of story. Sam.

Leg Trailer, Whilst I have no desire to get into a vacuous argument with you, the point I was making was that you gave the impression that Slovenia is comparable with Sudan. I hope that, as a pilot, you know the difference between the two, or you could end up anywhere. Of course, as a bar manager, I know sod-all about the world! Facts:- Slovenia has a substantially higher GDP per capita (approx.$18,000) than other transitioning economies of central Europe, with a high life expectancy and a low infant mortality rate. What I am saying is, don't give people the wrong idea about places with flippant comments. You've obviously given yourself the pseudonym Dick Dastardly for the right reasons. Sam.

Who else could he have chosen? Our reserves from Monday night, Neil Collins & Graham Jones, perhaps. Sam

Star Lady, Well done for bringing to everyone's attention the outstanding service at the Millenium stadium. Now that I think about it, all the staff were very courteous, which I took for granted at the time, but is a million miles from some of the rude and surly staff you encounter at some football matches and concerts. It helps make your day, doesn't it? Sam.

Channel 4 are showing highlights of Cardiff GP again at 4.50 a.m. Tuesday morning. As I haven't seen it yet, will be setting my video tonight to record it. Sam.

Last year's WTC was great, so I'm keen to spend a week in Denmark in August to take in this year's event. None of my friends want to go: they either don't like or understand speedway, or can't get the time off to go. So, I was wondering if anyone out there wants a travelling companion? I'm thinking of flying out of Manchester, and staying at a B & B or similar. If anyone's interested, feel free to e-mail me. Sam.

Great article in The Guardian to whet the appetites of the uninitiated. BSI seem to be doing a great job in selling speedway to TV and the newspapers, which can only benefit the sport in this country (in spite of some of our promoters in the EL dragging it down). Sam.