2026 Premiership is Go! - At least 5 teams

[TB1]

3 minutes ago, mikebv said:

They were, I think, Honda engines...

Mick Grant and Eric Boocock were behind it...

I remember seeing an interview a few years later where the engines themselves, according to those who were involved, were said to have had "potential" but needed more testing...

But the experiment was dropped...

Ebikes cannot be too far away from being "compulsory" you can imagine..

I tend to agree but without the smell of methonol the sport may die quicker.

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, TB1 said:

Unfortunately the malaise the sport finds itself is because riders like bomber have kept their cash register ringing twice over rather than once! 

He's just taken huge advantage of the promoters opening the doors to the double dip trough.

[Fortythirtyeight]

4 hours ago, 1 valve said:

Who do you actually mean by "they"? 
It surely cant' be the promoters of the five clubs who have committed to a top flight division. So are you referring to the "I'm all right jack" group of promoters in charge of championship clubs?
If its the directors of BSPL then they are representatives from the two leagues where the majority appear not wanting to take part, or not wishing to develop a league of elite riders. 

 

The top table is 3 premiership and 2 championship, so “ they “ includes both.

Which is an imbalance in favour of the minority league.

 

Edited Monday at 06:57 PM by Fortythirtyeight

[midlandred]

2 hours ago, Hawk127 said:

Almost every contributor on here can see the problems looming for the sport but those in charge of its destiny are not doing too much to keep the fan base onside and give some ideas as to how things might change.

An announcement following the AGM then radio silence. No provisional fixture list, no details of the new competition, no more news about the mystery 6th club and none of this can help riders, sponsors etc. plan for the coming season and it must have a negative impact on season ticket sales.

With the lack of clarity is any wonder some supporters are disillusioned with the sport and riders have opted to ply their trade elsewhere.

You would have thought that some press releases would have been forthcoming even it was only to update of progress or otherwise of changes which may at least placate some of the doubters.  The BSPL really have not got a clue when it comes to taking care of the fan base. If they are unsure as to what to do might I suggest they take a look at Poland, Sweden and Denmark all of whom are way ahead of the UK.

We haven’t even heard anything about what biscuits the promoters had at the AGM

[midlandred]

2 hours ago, Hawk127 said:

Almost every contributor on here can see the problems looming for the sport but those in charge of its destiny are not doing too much to keep the fan base onside and give some ideas as to how things might change.

An announcement following the AGM then radio silence. No provisional fixture list, no details of the new competition, no more news about the mystery 6th club and none of this can help riders, sponsors etc. plan for the coming season and it must have a negative impact on season ticket sales.

With the lack of clarity is any wonder some supporters are disillusioned with the sport and riders have opted to ply their trade elsewhere.

You would have thought that some press releases would have been forthcoming even it was only to update of progress or otherwise of changes which may at least placate some of the doubters.  The BSPL really have not got a clue when it comes to taking care of the fan base. If they are unsure as to what to do might I suggest they take a look at Poland, Sweden and Denmark all of whom are way ahead of the UK.

We haven’t even heard anything about what biscuits the promoters had at the AGM

[mikebv]

8 minutes ago, midlandred said:

We haven’t even heard anything about what biscuits the promoters had at the AGM

Whichever ones they had, they certainly didn't need many packets...

[Hawk127]

9 minutes ago, midlandred said:

We haven’t even heard anything about what biscuits the promoters had at the AGM

Jammy dodgers were what they were hoping for but when garibaldi came up as an option most round the table thought that was the new Italian track hosting a GP. Another promoter thought the Penguins were the Icelandic national team. Just shows what the British fans have to contend with. Roll on the end of the season and the contrived play offs. Home and away twice with an aggregate bonus point for finishing third out of two. Yep sums up speedway in the UK. Did someone mention Fred Carno

[Phannan]

3 hours ago, TB1 said:

Unfortunately the malaise the sport finds itself is because riders like bomber have kept their cash register ringing twice over rather than once! 

Milking it for all it’s worth is old bomber . Shale , grass , long track , snails in France . If there’s a race on and dough to be made he’s there unloading the van ..

[Neila]

1 hour ago, TB1 said:

I tend to agree but without the smell of methonol the sport may die quicker.

Not much of a smell these days, back in the day it was Castrol R oil that made the smell, but a lot of the oils are synthetic these days

[Phannan]

1 minute ago, Neila said:

Not much of a smell these days, back in the day it was Castrol R oil that made the smell, but a lot of the oils are synthetic these days

I remember going as a kid with my dad in the 70’s , it was that smell that made me want to go again and again. That and getting splattered in shale on the bends . And an hot dog 🌭. The racing was a bonus. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

7 minutes ago, Neila said:

Not much of a smell these days, back in the day it was Castrol R oil that made the smell, but a lot of the oils are synthetic these days

Serviced an engine this week, don’t know what oil they were using but it was a dreadful smelling oil, bit like hydraulic oil type of smell, made my finger smell touching it 

[Roger Jacobs]

1 hour ago, midlandred said:

We haven’t even heard anything about what biscuits the promoters had at the AGM

A load of mishapes, misfits, and crackers at the AGM - although, as you say, no-one knows what biscuits they had ...

[1 valve]

13 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

The top table is 3 premiership and 2 championship, so “ they “ includes both.

Which is an imbalance in favour of the minority league.

 

The Directors are unable to implement anything significant without the approval of the shareholders the majority of whom are the self serving championship promoters. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

47 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

The Directors are unable to implement anything significant without the approval of the shareholders the majority of whom are the self serving championship promoters. 

That’s not how speedway works, a promotion feels they are being victimised and spits their dummy out and the rest have to compromise to stop that promotion running off home with the ball thus that promotion gets their way and the bspl calls it in the interest of the sport,add to that there are those at the top of the pecking order and there is those at the bottom 

Edited Tuesday at 09:18 AM by THE DEAN MACHINE

[ouch]

18 hours ago, mikebv said:

Maybe...

However...

The Promoters didn't develop enough riders over the past two decades to fill their teams without the DU riders becoming essential...

What first started as "young lads" getting a chance to move up a league to develop their skills against a higher level of riders, whilst still having their "other job" to fall bsck on, instead, became the "main stay" of the UK version of the sport, and a "free for all"...

Take the DU's away and both leagues wouldn't fill the 14 teams left without using many NDL level riders...

The Championship in particular would struggle given these riders make up the majority of their HL's, and, the top tier effectively subsidise the riders salaries so the riders are "affordable"...

A typical short sighted unfit for purpose "fix" which each year got bigger and more essential, rather than it ever being reset, and used for what it was initially set up for...

The second division use to be made up of youngest working their way through the sport. Double upping has been around for decades but it’s the double downing that started our current rider shortage. Second division clubs won’t even participate in the RS system but are more than happy to have top league riders on the cheap as it enhances their product. Doesn’t help the sport as a whole but “I’m alright Jack”, the mantra of most if not all second tier clubs. 

[1 valve]

1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

That’s not how speedway works, a promotion feels they are being victimised and spits their dummy out and the rest have to compromise to stop that promotion running off home with the ball thus that promotion gets their way and the bspl calls it in the interest of the sport,add to that there are those at the top of the pecking order and there is those at the bottom 

Chris Louis would have been one of those at the top of the pecking order and he was most certainly not accommodated with  "the rest compromising".
Speedway works in the UK the way it does because the majority of promoters want it too be run the way it is. 
Can't beat a bit of democracy eh?

[foreverblue]

10 minutes ago, ouch said:

The second division use to be made up of youngest working their way through the sport. Double upping has been around for decades but it’s the double downing that started our current rider shortage. Second division clubs won’t even participate in the RS system but are more than happy to have top league riders on the cheap as it enhances their product. Doesn’t help the sport as a whole but “I’m alright Jack”, the mantra of most if not all second tier clubs. 

Doubling down is what the top league riders want as it enhances their wages. You could also argue riders like Zach Cook are doubling up as they rode at Championship level before they rode at Premiership level.

Edited Tuesday at 11:10 AM by foreverblue

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

8 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Doubling down is what the top league riders want as it enhances their wages. You could also argue riders like Zach Cook are doubling up as they rode at Championship level before they rode at Premiership level.

You can count the number of riders that have been good enough to be truly competitive at the top level from entry on your fingers so that argument is a little flawed

Once they are of the required standard if they had to pick one over the other the choice would be near unanimous for the higher level

[foreverblue]

7 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

You can count the number of riders that have been good enough to be truly competitive at the top level from entry on your fingers so that argument is a little flawed

Once they are of the required standard if they had to pick one over the other the choice would be near unanimous for the higher level

Yes but they do not have to pick and those that are good enough to ride at the top level would not want to lose the extra money of riding for both leagues. In my opinion it is the riders who hold all the aces.

[ouch]

If doubling down was allowed in the 70’s & 80’s then riders would have done it. It wasn’t allowed so they attached their bike to the back of a Citroen and worked part time when not riding. 

There is no benefit for top league clubs to have their riders doubling down but the lower division benefits greatly and they have more votes at the AGM and thus it came to pass. Short term gain for long term pain, well done guys.