IainB

I think that's exactly the reason for this. Much as I dislike Chapman if he can get control of a 4th club he has majority control he can at least make and implement decisions as opposed to the current paralysis in the sport and I see this as being the first step. It could be a very shrewd investment as if he can then actually make the sport into something he'll have a very saleable asset. It's a big IF though!

Well... That was a waste of 48 pages!

Yes, that guy was me... I assume you were trying to make the point that it's dangerous having the pits on the centre green? If you were then fair enough... My general point is that they must be in the view of the spectator, there generally tucked away behind the arena in areas the fans can't access

And your point?

One thing I always think could be a quick cheap (ish) gain would be to move the pits to somewhere where the punters can see what's going on, something like home team on the home straight away, team on the back straight (not at Wolves obvs!) Instead of them disappearing off the track after 60 seconds not to be seen again until after 5 minutes of tractor racing. A lot of clubs have their pit areas tucked away out of visibility of the paying punter and for kids especially how are they going to identify their hero? There'll be a lot of people probably reply to this, you can't do it because of X, you can't do this because of y... Just make it happen. I read in the SS and Dave(?) Hoggart was talking about the in between race experience and that the music needs to be brought up to date, pa systems improved etc. I don't go to Speedway to listen to music I go to watch racing and immerse myself in the racing experience this includes seeing what's going on in the pits, what the riders are doing, what the team managers are up to... It should all be part of the show!

Isn't that what the SCB are supposed to do?

We do! £18 every match, sadly if I did have the money to buy a club I wouldn't be able to change anything anyway, the only way to do that would be to buy the majority of clubs

Don't really think it matters anymore what us fans think/want we are proven to be in a tiny minority compared to the people that don't or used to attend... It's those people who need to be attracted, we are the hardcore bunch that'll turn up regardless of anything that is decided/changed

Well... Yesterday evening I ploughed through most of last week's speedway star special edition and I now have to say I am in 100% agreement with you! I've read through most of the articles of those actually in a position to do something about the alarming decline in the sport and they're all banging on about tinkering about with points limits and simplifying the rules, 1 league, 2 leagues, 3 leagues having a 2 minute clock on the centre green, setting up committees etc. You're right nobody has the vision to do anything radical! From what I've seen so far only Kelvin Tatum (love him or hate him) is showing anything like the vision required to drag the sport kicking and screaming into 2018, he doesn't really understand it but he gets it that the sport must be more interactive technology wise to attract a new audience and the next generation of fan with mobile apps etc. They seem set on sticking to FRN's on the worst nights of the week to comply with the ISLB(???)... I think we need to leave that in the short to medium term and get our house in order and run settled league teams to build up an affinity with the local public again... Spexit After having read what I've read so far I really do despair thinking about the future of the sport in this country.

I agree with a lot of what you say generally and think you talk a lot of sense but I can't agree with this, things have got to change and radically, it's not going to be easy but it needs somebody with the backbone to do it, a lot of people are going to be upset, many riders may decide it's no longer worth it, the fans certainly have over the years but something has to happen, keep calm and carry on is not working

To be fair to the Harris's she did say on Twitter that as she works for JLR they got it on some kind of employee lease scheme, she mentioned it on there because ill informed people were trolling them for it. Having said that Chris does need to wake up and smell the coffee, like most riders he's not as good as he thinks he is and don't get me wrong as a Cov fan I love him to bits but I'm also honest in my appraisal of riders.

... And the trouble now is that we are adapting to solely accommodate distinctly average riders!

If Bomber had done better at school he would understand this... As he didn't, he doesn't

And don't forget he then doesn't work for 4 and a half months of the year... I remember a few years back when Jeremy Doncaster made his comeback and he said he was using an engine he found in his shed! He didn't do too badly on it either!

We'll have to agree to disagree then, as for your list neither of us really knows but I suspect Cook, Bewley would stay UK maybe Holder and Fricke as they live here and wouldn't be able to if they didn't also work here but I think NKI and Lambert would be off

Do you really think that if forced to make a decision the likes of Ricky Wells, and most of the others you mention, is going to choose to ride in a GP qualifier at the expense of a whole League season? If you're trying to attract a whole new fan base you've got to run at weekends any newbie coming along isn't going to know who the hell Krzysztof Kasprzak is they're not even going to be able to pronounce it... They will be able to identify who their home town club is though

So as usual we don't actually know any figures

I'd say we're pretty much there. Club's will have to run on an alternate night if they want to pander to their "star" rider otherwise the likes of Lambert/Bewley etc will have to do a Woffinden and ride exclusively abroad. Not what anybody wants to see be we can't run the whole sport for a handful of riders. The other solution is squads

Were they all on Saturday nights?

Flagrag hasn't said anything he/she's about as informative as Mystic Meg!

All I remember is attending Coventry, Cradley, Eastbourne, Swindon etc etc on Saturday nights and always in front of healthy crowds, the ONLY thing that should dictate what night a club runs on is the availability of the stadium for the night a club wants to run on. GP riders seem to be able to make it to a Polish League match on a Sunday afternoon from wherever the GP event has been held on the Saturday night so why any other riders couldn't I fail to understand, Poland is 3 hours away max, on an early morning redeye they could be at the stadium by 11 am. Some riders are going to have to make some tough decisions either 30 odd matches in the UK or a handful in Poland. British Speedway can't be running it's business to suit others, it's never been at a better place to lay down some of its own rules, all of the prima Donna riders have been weened out of the league and with the country brexited by the start of next season there'll be no restriction of trade laws to block British Speedway doing its own thing. I think we all agree something radical needs to happen, Poland really shouldn't be an issue anymore!

I've not read it but I hope to grab a copy at the weekend... Did David Howe or anybody for that matter also mention how much the riders are earning from the sport? Or is this still the world's best kept secret?

I think the top League should take Friday and Saturday nights, especially now with minimal impact from the GP's

The dog is probably having a better time than you! Especially at BP

Yes I do