frigbo

Can't watch anymore of this Hancock love-in.

Jeremy Barraud?? Christophe Cayre was proper special!! Although Aurellian Lemarque I saw in an u-21 round at Poole made Cayre look like Ivan Mauger!!

Way too many poor foreigners clogging up team places.

In an ideal world, set race nights, big hitting teams and squad systems are where top level British club speedway should be aiming. The key point is "ideal world." Obvious stumbling blocks are track availability and cost, both of which are debated here. Track availability may be surmountable as Monday and Wednesday nights look like they will fit. Although i'm still not convinced riders would arrive in droves to perform on those nights, or any nights for that matter! Cost is the show-stopper in my opinion. Many fans already see admission as too high and the additional overhead of top riders and/or squads would have to push prices to £20-25. Better value than now maybe, but I'm not convinced fans would part with that price, even every 2 weeks. The other debate is whether the lost fans would return simply because the better riders are back in the league. Speaking as a "lost fan", personally my answer is "no" as there are numerous other issues which have made me throw in the towel. In no particular order, the folowing being addressed would go futher to getting me back than the likes of Hancock or Jonsson rocking up every week/fortnight: Promoter and governing body integrity Rider commitment and attitude to clubs (most don't even know (or care) what the score is!) Settled teams Absolutely no guests one rider, one club better value for money weekend racing (getting in from work at 7 doesn't help) oh, and..... :drink:cheaper beer Personally i would love 2 bigger leagues with promotion and relegation to give the sport credibility to people outside. Unfortunately speedway will never make this work because of the self-interest inherent in every decision. The re-balancing required would end up like 1995 as richer clubs hog prized assets. It's all well and good debating race nights and if riders want to race here. But until the people running the sport get it's recovery as top priority, those debates are futile.

Squads are ideal in principal but a financial non-starter. I'm not convinced riders would accept a "pay as you play" deal and retainers would cripple clubs.

All well and good saying go one night and get top riders back. Admission would be 20 quid plus, meetings would still take too long, teams will still flaunt the rule book and people still won't go as a result. I really don't think it will benefit anyone but the riders, who already play a huge part in the root of the problems with their attitudes and salaries.

British speedway's relationship with international riders is all but done. They're becoming less and less reliable or interested and clubs can't afford them. I'm starting to convert my opinion and think low-budget settled teams at £10 a go might be the only hope to rebuild.

Typically selfish rider's point of view. Most clubs in the UK don't own their stadia and therefore are limited to when they can operate. If you're tired, don't cream off the dollar in both Poland and Sweden and have a kip on Sunday or Tuesday.

I got asked. I assume it's the same story for everyone.

Best article in there for a very long time.

Brafield isn't too far away. Speedway never took hold there.

Pretty sure it was to do with getting a reduced assessed average. Stefani used to race quite often in South Africa, so i guess that's where the idea came from. The general feeling at the time was he had done ok and it was a surprise he didn't get retained the following year. Maybe he got rumbled? I can't believe nobody questioned a 'South African' with an East European accent!!

if a ride was taken. well it's brought us exposure as a talking point. Thankfully most see the site for what it really is - that can only be a positive!!

Disgusting!!

No i haven't, Parsloe. I said i have no interest and won't be putting any time to collating info. You want to supply them? Crack on!!

I see the fun doesn't stop. It's classic!!

I do hope you've got that 3rd teir (sic) covered, 'Dave?'

The last post sums up the perspective of this thread far more eloquently than I ever could.

This is great fun. I dread to think what the reaction would be if something important happens!!

Looks like some people have way too much time on their hands. The site clearly states it's scope but some still seem surprised and alarmed. I've no interest in the third tier and do not count it as anything more than junior racing. That's my view and stance. It 's not going to change because a couple of people see fit to whinge about something they don't have to look at. Easy to whine about something that has cost them no effort or time. With regards to the database queries. Unfortunately my db skills would fit onto a postage stamp. More than happy for someone with the required knowledge to help exploit the usability of the data if they wish.

Doesn't purport anything of the sort. The extract below is the website Introduction: "The following section is posted with enormous gratitude to Frigbo who has allowed us to use his extensive rider database. It contains all riders from the top two British leagues from 1965 and lists details of every appearance (including guest appearances by 2nd division riders for 1st division teams. Guest rides undertaken in the same league as the rider's club are not included), as well as individual honours. In the case of GP appearances, a "wildcard" could mean a rider who has come in to replace another. As you can imagine, this has been a time consuming project for us, as well as those who should also be named and thanked for their considerable help - Subedei, kevh, hatcham and genghis. So for this reason, I would ask that our copyright is respected. We would also like to thank Doug MacFarlane for allowing us to use his photos. Again, please respect his copyright. We have also been working hard to archive full results for as many meetings as possible. Results for junior meetings have been indexed on the same thread as the senior meetings to avoid having too many threads on one board and for ease of viewing. Likewise for National Championships - British, Swedish, Polish, etc, finals are all on one thread. The indexes in this section should provide quick links to results and riders in the database. Please let us know of any errors or omissions so they can be corrected as soon as possible. Read more: http://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/2931/introduction#ixzz2lOqu6ecA" Need to pay more pre-rant attention next time Mr P. Maybe you missed it as you're so busy collating all of the third tier rider and meeting data?? Give us a shout in 4 years time when you've pulled together as much as we have.

I update the rider element of that site. I haven't included the third tier because in my view it is the equivalent of junior racing and is of no interest to me. Similar to Parsloes' insult in many ways.

The lads at work commented about it. Basically "that kid who won the speedway looks like a right mess and sounds foreign!!" was the general concensus.

They were right. The majority of speedway races are settled after the first turn.

Guests are undoubtedly my single biggest 'bugbear' with Speedway. R/R, although not ideal is a far better option as it means teams utilise their own side.