1 valve Posted 21 hours ago Report Share Posted 21 hours ago 19 hours ago, DaveWayne said: But what about shift workers ? When I first went with my uncle in the 80s we only went every 2nd week as he alternated between days and afters. If you went to a rigid 'once a fortnight' people on shift patterns like that could potentially miss a full season if it fell wrong for them. Being brutal, maybe shift workers will miss meetings. The reality is that the majority of speedway fans are not shift workers and its impossible to facilitate any form of fixture list which can accommodate all eventualities. FYI, back in the day, when I worked shifts, where possible I arranged swaps or even had to have my fingers crossed that the meeting finished on time to enable me to get to work on time for the 22h start. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted 21 hours ago Report Share Posted 21 hours ago On 8/1/2026 at 2:58 PM, Aries said: They’d still have to do twice home and away IMO otherwise we’d have even less meetings than we do now. We currently have 10 home league meetings, a league of 8 teams once home and away would give you just 7 home league meetings. What else would you fill the season with to have the “home meetings at the minimum every other week” that you mention? Eight team league, twice home and away giving you 14 home league fixtures plus the KOC fixtures would help plug some of the annoying gaps in fixtures that we currently have. KOC could continue the same format as this year. Two groups of four instead of three in a north/south split, giving a guaranteed three home cup fixtures in the group stage, group winners meet in final. 17 guaranteed home fixtures in total. Sounds much better to me. Poland has eight teams in their top flight and seem to do rather well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin bass Posted 21 hours ago Report Share Posted 21 hours ago 5 minutes ago, 1 valve said: Being brutal, maybe shift workers will miss meetings. The reality is that the majority of speedway fans are not shift workers and its impossible to facilitate any form of fixture list which can accommodate all eventualities. FYI, back in the day, when I worked shifts, where possible I arranged swaps or even had to have my fingers crossed that the meeting finished on time to enable me to get to work on time for the 22h start. The reality is that most speedway fans are retired/pensioners. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago 24 minutes ago, 1 valve said: Why would a league of eight teams mean less fixtures during the season than the current league of six? Because the idea put forward that I was responding to was to do one home and away fixture with eight teams, instead of the two home and away we currently have with six teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago (edited) Dan T's excellent latest Vlog on YT covers off plenty of fan questions... Including money... In Poland, in his league, 700/800 quid per point is the going rate, with a grand a point for a No1.. Poland also give a very sizeable signing on fee, but over there you pay for tyres, and can use a new one each race... They also expect you to buy two new engines with your signing on fee, and they provide travel costs inc hotels... You can see why riders go over there and prioritise it, with some top league riders rumored to be on £3k a point... Over here, reserves in the Championship get £60 a point, going up to £100 for a No1.... In the Premiership, RS's get £85 a point, number six then gets £100, with the money moving up through the team, he didn't say what a No1 got.. All figures are "circa" as obviously riders get different deals with some having a guarantee and some choosing not to have one, but more per point... As Dan says, if riders didn't have to lay out so much to keep the bikes running then the need to earn so much wouldn't be there.. It will be interesting next season if Poland's contracted riders cannot DU over here, as I presume they won't give up their spot there.. Edited 20 hours ago by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin bass Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago 6 minutes ago, mikebv said: Dan T's excellent latest Vlog on YT covers off plenty of fan questions... Including money... In Poland, in his league, 700/800 quid per point is the going rate, with a grand a point for a No1.. Poland also give a very sizeable signing on fee, but over there you pay for tyres, and can use a new one each race... They also expect you to buy two new engines with your signing on fee, and they provide travel costs inc hotels... You can see why riders go over there and prioritise it, with some top league riders rumored to be on £3k a point... Over here, reserves in the Championship get £60 a point, going up to £100 for a No1.... In the Premiership, RS's get £85 a point, number six then gets £100, with the money moving up through the team, he didn't say what a No1 got.. All figures are "circa" as obviously riders get different deals with some having a guarantee and some choosing not to have one, but more per point... As Dan says, if riders didn't have to lay out so much to keep the bikes running then the need to earn so much wouldn't be there.. It will be interesting next season if Poland's contracted riders cannot DU over here, as I presume they won't give up their spot there.. They wont give up their rides in Poland unless they can get the same payment and perks with their Britsh clubs, which aint never going to happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago Just now, kevin bass said: They wont give up their rides in Poland unless they can get the same payment and perks with their Britsh clubs, which aint never going to happen. Just one race win in Poland can earn you more than double what you get for a 15 point max in the Championship... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTT Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago 12 minutes ago, mikebv said: Dan T's excellent latest Vlog on YT covers off plenty of fan questions... Including money... In Poland, in his league, 700/800 quid per point is the going rate, with a grand a point for a No1.. Poland also give a very sizeable signing on fee, but over there you pay for tyres, and can use a new one each race... They also expect you to buy two new engines with your signing on fee, and they provide travel costs inc hotels... You can see why riders go over there and prioritise it, with some top league riders rumored to be on £3k a point... Over here, reserves in the Championship get £60 a point, going up to £100 for a No1.... In the Premiership, RS's get £85 a point, number six then gets £100, with the money moving up through the team, he didn't say what a No1 got.. All figures are "circa" as obviously riders get different deals with some having a guarantee and some choosing not to have one, but more per point... As Dan says, if riders didn't have to lay out so much to keep the bikes running then the need to earn so much wouldn't be there.. It will be interesting next season if Poland's contracted riders cannot DU over here, as I presume they won't give up their spot there.. Problem in Dan's case though is that Lodz barely give him any rides to earn money, Kemp was in the same boat and eventually signed for Workington. I think the Championship may be watered down drastically next season to exclude anyone riding for a Polish Club. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin bass Posted 20 hours ago Report Share Posted 20 hours ago 2 minutes ago, mikebv said: Just one race win in Poland can earn you more than double what you get for a 15 point max in the Championship... We've just gotta except that speedway in the UK these days is a tinpot sport compared to how its ran in Poland and the money that can be earned riding over there, Poland its very professional, over here its Mickey Mouse. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 19 hours ago Report Share Posted 19 hours ago 11 minutes ago, kevin bass said: We've just gotta except that speedway in the UK these days is a tinpot sport compared to how its ran in Poland and the money that can be earned riding over there, Poland its very professional, over here its Mickey Mouse. But doesn't need to be.. They just choose to run it that way... Maybe next season will see, by necessity, a more affordable Championship and a clear difference in the Leagues... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries Posted 19 hours ago Report Share Posted 19 hours ago 36 minutes ago, TTT said: Problem in Dan's case though is that Lodz barely give him any rides to earn money, Kemp was in the same boat and eventually signed for Workington. I think the Championship may be watered down drastically next season to exclude anyone riding for a Polish Club. Which will then force the hand of a couple of clubs to make the move up, possibly. That’s the plan.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted 18 hours ago Report Share Posted 18 hours ago 1 hour ago, TTT said: Problem in Dan's case though is that Lodz barely give him any rides to earn money, Kemp was in the same boat and eventually signed for Workington. I think the Championship may be watered down drastically next season to exclude anyone riding for a Polish Club. I think you could well be right, and that's no bad thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveWayne Posted 18 hours ago Report Share Posted 18 hours ago 2 hours ago, 1 valve said: Being brutal, maybe shift workers will miss meetings. The reality is that the majority of speedway fans are not shift workers and its impossible to facilitate any form of fixture list which can accommodate all eventualities. FYI, back in the day, when I worked shifts, where possible I arranged swaps or even had to have my fingers crossed that the meeting finished on time to enable me to get to work on time for the 22h start. I wasn't suggesting that you have to accommodate every eventuality, just pointing out that the proposal of home meetings once a fortnight could completely exclude someone on a 2 shift system for a whole season. Can we afford for that to happen ? As some have already said, once people get out of the habit they often don't come back. Shift swaps are OK but I'm not sure you could do it every second Thursday for 5/6 months !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyd Posted 7 hours ago Report Share Posted 7 hours ago 12 hours ago, mikebv said: But doesn't need to be.. They just choose to run it that way... Maybe next season will see, by necessity, a more affordable Championship and a clear difference in the Leagues... "Maybe next season will see" is something that has been quoted by promoters and fans alike for god knows how many years but here we are on the brink of extinction in this country but still clutching at straws that the next year / season might be the one that see's a positive upturn for the sport but in the back of everyone's mind is the thought that the straw we are clutching at might be the one that breaks the camels back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 9 minutes ago, tonyd said: "Maybe next season will see" is something that has been quoted by promoters and fans alike for god knows how many years but here we are on the brink of extinction in this country but still clutching at straws that the next year / season might be the one that see's a positive upturn for the sport but in the back of everyone's mind is the thought that the straw we are clutching at might be the one that breaks the camels back. I think that there appears to, finally, be an acceptance that the sport in the UK is "Donald Ducked" and change has to take place... However. Do the same people, who have brought all the issues, have the required skill set to make the right decisions?.. The evidence of their past lack of capability would say no, but hope springs eternal... Those trying to bring back the sport into closed down venues must despair given the current issues.. It cannot be easy to convince judges and authorities to side with you when you see "distress flares" going up from various places, and even 15 clubs unable to fil their teams with their own seven riders of the required level... Developers can point to a sport in consistent decline, which has been so for far too long, without, it appears, anyone capable of changing its course to better things... And some landlords of current tracks must also, quite naturally, be wondering if their tenants are going to be around in five years or so, especially if they are sat on some land which could deliver some excellent money... So much to unpick in UK Speedway, and, it appears, not too much time in which to do it, even if the capability is there in the first place.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PersonalResponsibility Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 13 hours ago, kevin bass said: We've just gotta except that speedway in the UK these days is a tinpot sport compared to how its ran in Poland and the money that can be earned riding over there, Poland its very professional, over here its Mickey Mouse. If only the promoters had the power to do something about this dastardly problem... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitelinehugger Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 1 hour ago, tonyd said: "Maybe next season will see" is something that has been quoted by promoters and fans alike for god knows how many years but here we are on the brink of extinction in this country but still clutching at straws that the next year / season might be the one that see's a positive upturn for the sport but in the back of everyone's mind is the thought that the straw we are clutching at might be the one that breaks the camels back. Try clutching at these straws instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTT Posted 5 hours ago Report Share Posted 5 hours ago CHAMP has been far too strong for a couple of seasons now to a point where it's been exploited by certain Clubs. Merge the NDL and CHAMP together to lower the wage bill and then put a block on riders who ride in any Polish League or Top Flight Danish/Swedish League from competing in the CHAMP in 2027. No fixture Clashes, Lower wage bill and a clear gap in quality between PREM and CHAMP over here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poole keith Posted 4 hours ago Report Share Posted 4 hours ago Think uk speedway is now comparable to level 5,level 6 football, tho attendances and stadium facilities would be better at level 5, and a lot of level 6 would also be better than speedway, so need to be thinking at this level and realise speedway is now only ever going to be minority sport with limited public appeal,start with a majority of part time riders! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago 1 hour ago, TTT said: CHAMP has been far too strong for a couple of seasons now to a point where it's been exploited by certain Clubs. Merge the NDL and CHAMP together to lower the wage bill and then put a block on riders who ride in any Polish League or Top Flight Danish/Swedish League from competing in the CHAMP in 2027. No fixture Clashes, Lower wage bill and a clear gap in quality between PREM and CHAMP over here. 100%, however, at least, 10 years too late... When the Sky money went, and most of the worlds best with it, they should have pulled up the drawbridge and set out their own pathway... Instead, they decided to let Poland and the FIM dictate when they could and couldn't run.. And the 2nd tier got used to having tier one level riders getting subsidised by the upper level... With tier one happy, now the Sky money had gone, to use these riders also at a "reduced rate" compared to having to pay out for these riders by themselves... The result? Too many places being taken by too few riders, which then stifled development of UK riders, with a non stop stream of foreign journeymen entering and leaving using the UK Speedway revolving door... And, just to compound things, to ensure riders could DU, race nights were fixed, (not necessarily the best ones), but that was the only way clubs could actually put out a team of seven riders.. (Apologies, I mean it was done so GP riders could ride over here, because if they did the crowds all around the country would boom wouldn't they, and TV companies would fall over themselves to tender to cover it?!!!!) You have to hope that someone can see what not to do (ie the same old, same old), and build a clear strategy for growth... I like Richard Coleman's comments about just 300 extra at every track would be a game changer, as that puts into perspective where the sport actually is, and is surely a tangible realistic attainment given the conurbations so many tracks sit in... 300 x £20 is £6,000 x 15 matches per season = £90k... It must be worth paying someone a grand a week to try and get 300 extra punters through the door, (any random 300, they don't have to revisit), given the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on the doorsteps of UK Speedway tracks, less than 45 mins away... Whatever they do decide, this time they cannot afford to keep getting it wrong.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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