ITEM: Swindon Robins are the 2013 Elite League champions. Swindon aren't
a club I have particularly strong feelings about either way, but I
welcomed their victory as if it were my hometown club winning the title.
Why? Because another Poole championship win would have been terrible for the sport is so many ways. This opinion will come as no surprise to regular readers - I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to Poole and the dark lord that rules that corner of Dorset - but nonetheless I feel it's worth stating.
If Poole were to win again, and highlight a domination of the sport that the title history doesn't accurately represent, the semblance of competition that we currently cling to - that all teams are created equal at the start of each season - would continue to fall away. Elite League speedway is often reminiscent of Orwell's Animal Farm - all teams are created equal, but some are more equal than others.
Through fair means or foul - and more of that in a moment - Poole consistently make the top two which, despite what FA Premier League mandarin Peter Scudamore would have you believe, is terrible for competition. Swindon's win made it five different teams winning the title in the last seven years - a Poole win would have been their third in four years. An illusion of competition, perhaps, but an important one to sponsors and broadcasters.
From a horrible campaign in 2011, Gary Patchett and Alun Rossiter assembled a solid 1-7, with each rider capable of picking up the slack if (when!) their teammates went missing through poor form or injury. Poole, who successfully campaigned to change a rule which would have seen them forbidden to use both Chris Holder and Darcy Ward this season, were ultimately undone by their top heavy approach - a team-building tactic which led to so many processional, uneven races involving the Pirates, particularly at away tracks.
More importantly, there are no suspicions over the way Swindon went about their business this season. Poole started off the season by "stealing" Adrian Miedzinski, ironically from the Robins, compounded that misdeed by using the non-committal (and on a bargain average) Pole to improve their team when bottom of the table Wolves could not, and then were fined several times by the BSPA due to his, seemingly agreed by the Pirates, non-attendance. They also operated an illegal line-up against Lakeside, three days after the death of Lee Richardson, although this was, predictably, swept under the carpet by all concerned.
Poole were not alone in breaking rules this season. Several other teams - including my beloved Coventry Bees - made team changes that should not have been allowed, used rider replacement facilities that were illegal, or were fined for using no facility at all. But for the champions to have been guilty of such misdemeanors would have been a step too far.
So, yes, well done Swindon, enjoy your victory. But beware the Ides Of November - the last team to cross Poole Pirates didn't exactly come out of it very well...
ITEM: Neil Vatcher spoke in the Speedway Star this week of his hope that British clubs would give British riders a chance. He went further by suggesting legislation should make it compulsory, and you won't hear any arguments from this blog.
At last winter's AGM the 2.5% average reduction for British riders was removed, citing EU employment rules which forbid discrimination, positive or negative, by nationality. However, Sweden and Poland - both members of the EU - both have rules that stipulate a minimum number of home-grown riders in each team.
They do this because, until someone brings a challenge under EU law, an organisation is free to choose its own rules. If Vargarna or Tarnow, for example, were to challenge the rules, they would be ruled illegal, and a spotlight thrown on such practices to ensure it doesn't happen again. What this would do for the future of Vargarna or Tarnow is anyone's guess, but there it is: if everybody's happy, there's no problem.
Ignoring the question of whether teams not known for employing British riders may have raised the issue, or implied they may take it further, there is a simple way to get around the regulations.
Each British rider plying their trade in the UK is licensed by the ACU. Without such a license, a rider cannot compete in British speedway. You do not have to be British to apply for an ACU license, merely meet its criteria. Therefore, if they wished to circumvent EU legislation, the BSPA could insist on a minimum amount of ACU-license holders per team.
This could lead to a glut of foreign riders applying for ACU licenses, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, this may hamper the very thing the rule was designed to help - a lack of opportunities for British riders. On the other, these riders would, to all intents and purposes, become British, with all the advantages to both sides that carries.
Or, like the Swedes and Poles, we could just suck it up, go ahead and make the rules, and see what happens down the line. It's not as if speedway is going to be at the top of the EU problem pile right now.
Regardless of how it could be implemented, Vatcher's call for team places for young Brits won't improve our international chances overnight. The riders have to work hard, and those that can have to help them with financial backing. But, for young riders, guaranteed racing time, against quality opponents can't be underestimated. What are we prepared to do to ensure they get it?
ITEM: Put Dudley and Mildenhall together and controversy won't be far behind. I've already written about the events of a few weeks ago, where Mildenhall were allowed to use a rider not in their declared 1-7, a move backed up by a threat to pull the meeting.
That decision has subsequently been waved through by the SCB, despite precedent set for them amending the results of incorrectly declared National League sides earlier this season.
The two teams met again this week, with a relatively uneventful meeting at Monmore Wood marred only by Louis Carr, Josh Bates's "advisor", breaking the pits 'phone, and threatening to pull the lad from the meeting. That's a bit of a theme at Mildenhall, it seems.
Similarly, the final tussle between the pair, held at King's Lynn's Saddlebow Road due to fixture congestion, was straightforward, at least until the last heat - which just happened to be a decider for the NL title.
Whatever the correct decision about who to exclude when Adam Roynon and Stefan Nielsen came together on the back straight - and every different camera angle brings a different opinion - the referee appeared to have excluded Mildenhall's Nielsen. Though no announcement was made, Mildenhall team manager Robert Henry was heard in the pits to be shouting, "he's excluded blue!", Nielsen's helmet colour.
At this point, Fen Tigers' co-promoter Chris Louis left the pits, ran along the home straight terrace, and entered the referee's box - contrary to SCB regulations 4.1.2 and 14.9.2 - where he apparently talked the ref through a replay of the race. Louis can be heard in the background of BBC WM's radio commentary saying, "white's got to go," and, indeed, this is what referee Dave Robinson finally announced.
The issue isn't whether the decision was correct - as I've said, each viewing gives you a different position, and I'm led to believe the referee had already looked at video prior to his original decision - but whether Louis, intentionally or not, affected the referee's change of heart by his presence in the box, the very thing these regulations are designed to avoid.
It's been a banner year for wilful disregard of speedway's regulations, with illegal approaches, illegal line-ups, and frivolous protests aplenty. The National League has been riddled with issues this season, and faces a difficult winter - what a shame that it finished in such acrimonious and questionable circumstances.
ITEM: Adam Roynon is a great kid. He races hard but fair, and gives everything every time he takes to the track, whether for Coventry, Workington, or Dudley, and has been rewarded with a growing army of fans of his style and attitude, as well as increasing his average in both "senior" leagues.
He's also the unluckiest rider in speedway, with a catalogue of injuries that would look excessive in the career of a rider twice his age. Broken bones, torn ligaments, concussions and compressions, Roynon has suffered them all, multiple times, and still come back to a sport he obviously loves.
His latest crash, on Wednesday at King's Lynn, whilst riding for Dudley Heathens in the NL play-off final, left him with a broken leg and shoulderblade, and unsurprisingly questioning whether he wants to continue in the sport.
I don't know if he ever reads this blog - the odds are against it - but I'd like to say this: don't even think about quitting, Adam!
If he makes a successful recovery - and he's come back stronger from much worse - the path is there for Roynon to reach the top in the sport. He has the talent, his skill and attitude will bring in the backers, and teams up and down the country will be queueing up to give him the opportunities - that is if they can prise him away from Coventry!
Why? Because another Poole championship win would have been terrible for the sport is so many ways. This opinion will come as no surprise to regular readers - I wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to Poole and the dark lord that rules that corner of Dorset - but nonetheless I feel it's worth stating.
If Poole were to win again, and highlight a domination of the sport that the title history doesn't accurately represent, the semblance of competition that we currently cling to - that all teams are created equal at the start of each season - would continue to fall away. Elite League speedway is often reminiscent of Orwell's Animal Farm - all teams are created equal, but some are more equal than others.
Through fair means or foul - and more of that in a moment - Poole consistently make the top two which, despite what FA Premier League mandarin Peter Scudamore would have you believe, is terrible for competition. Swindon's win made it five different teams winning the title in the last seven years - a Poole win would have been their third in four years. An illusion of competition, perhaps, but an important one to sponsors and broadcasters.
From a horrible campaign in 2011, Gary Patchett and Alun Rossiter assembled a solid 1-7, with each rider capable of picking up the slack if (when!) their teammates went missing through poor form or injury. Poole, who successfully campaigned to change a rule which would have seen them forbidden to use both Chris Holder and Darcy Ward this season, were ultimately undone by their top heavy approach - a team-building tactic which led to so many processional, uneven races involving the Pirates, particularly at away tracks.
More importantly, there are no suspicions over the way Swindon went about their business this season. Poole started off the season by "stealing" Adrian Miedzinski, ironically from the Robins, compounded that misdeed by using the non-committal (and on a bargain average) Pole to improve their team when bottom of the table Wolves could not, and then were fined several times by the BSPA due to his, seemingly agreed by the Pirates, non-attendance. They also operated an illegal line-up against Lakeside, three days after the death of Lee Richardson, although this was, predictably, swept under the carpet by all concerned.
Poole were not alone in breaking rules this season. Several other teams - including my beloved Coventry Bees - made team changes that should not have been allowed, used rider replacement facilities that were illegal, or were fined for using no facility at all. But for the champions to have been guilty of such misdemeanors would have been a step too far.
So, yes, well done Swindon, enjoy your victory. But beware the Ides Of November - the last team to cross Poole Pirates didn't exactly come out of it very well...
ITEM: Neil Vatcher spoke in the Speedway Star this week of his hope that British clubs would give British riders a chance. He went further by suggesting legislation should make it compulsory, and you won't hear any arguments from this blog.
At last winter's AGM the 2.5% average reduction for British riders was removed, citing EU employment rules which forbid discrimination, positive or negative, by nationality. However, Sweden and Poland - both members of the EU - both have rules that stipulate a minimum number of home-grown riders in each team.
They do this because, until someone brings a challenge under EU law, an organisation is free to choose its own rules. If Vargarna or Tarnow, for example, were to challenge the rules, they would be ruled illegal, and a spotlight thrown on such practices to ensure it doesn't happen again. What this would do for the future of Vargarna or Tarnow is anyone's guess, but there it is: if everybody's happy, there's no problem.
Ignoring the question of whether teams not known for employing British riders may have raised the issue, or implied they may take it further, there is a simple way to get around the regulations.
Each British rider plying their trade in the UK is licensed by the ACU. Without such a license, a rider cannot compete in British speedway. You do not have to be British to apply for an ACU license, merely meet its criteria. Therefore, if they wished to circumvent EU legislation, the BSPA could insist on a minimum amount of ACU-license holders per team.
This could lead to a glut of foreign riders applying for ACU licenses, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, this may hamper the very thing the rule was designed to help - a lack of opportunities for British riders. On the other, these riders would, to all intents and purposes, become British, with all the advantages to both sides that carries.
Or, like the Swedes and Poles, we could just suck it up, go ahead and make the rules, and see what happens down the line. It's not as if speedway is going to be at the top of the EU problem pile right now.
Regardless of how it could be implemented, Vatcher's call for team places for young Brits won't improve our international chances overnight. The riders have to work hard, and those that can have to help them with financial backing. But, for young riders, guaranteed racing time, against quality opponents can't be underestimated. What are we prepared to do to ensure they get it?
ITEM: Put Dudley and Mildenhall together and controversy won't be far behind. I've already written about the events of a few weeks ago, where Mildenhall were allowed to use a rider not in their declared 1-7, a move backed up by a threat to pull the meeting.
That decision has subsequently been waved through by the SCB, despite precedent set for them amending the results of incorrectly declared National League sides earlier this season.
The two teams met again this week, with a relatively uneventful meeting at Monmore Wood marred only by Louis Carr, Josh Bates's "advisor", breaking the pits 'phone, and threatening to pull the lad from the meeting. That's a bit of a theme at Mildenhall, it seems.
Similarly, the final tussle between the pair, held at King's Lynn's Saddlebow Road due to fixture congestion, was straightforward, at least until the last heat - which just happened to be a decider for the NL title.
Whatever the correct decision about who to exclude when Adam Roynon and Stefan Nielsen came together on the back straight - and every different camera angle brings a different opinion - the referee appeared to have excluded Mildenhall's Nielsen. Though no announcement was made, Mildenhall team manager Robert Henry was heard in the pits to be shouting, "he's excluded blue!", Nielsen's helmet colour.
At this point, Fen Tigers' co-promoter Chris Louis left the pits, ran along the home straight terrace, and entered the referee's box - contrary to SCB regulations 4.1.2 and 14.9.2 - where he apparently talked the ref through a replay of the race. Louis can be heard in the background of BBC WM's radio commentary saying, "white's got to go," and, indeed, this is what referee Dave Robinson finally announced.
The issue isn't whether the decision was correct - as I've said, each viewing gives you a different position, and I'm led to believe the referee had already looked at video prior to his original decision - but whether Louis, intentionally or not, affected the referee's change of heart by his presence in the box, the very thing these regulations are designed to avoid.
It's been a banner year for wilful disregard of speedway's regulations, with illegal approaches, illegal line-ups, and frivolous protests aplenty. The National League has been riddled with issues this season, and faces a difficult winter - what a shame that it finished in such acrimonious and questionable circumstances.
ITEM: Adam Roynon is a great kid. He races hard but fair, and gives everything every time he takes to the track, whether for Coventry, Workington, or Dudley, and has been rewarded with a growing army of fans of his style and attitude, as well as increasing his average in both "senior" leagues.
He's also the unluckiest rider in speedway, with a catalogue of injuries that would look excessive in the career of a rider twice his age. Broken bones, torn ligaments, concussions and compressions, Roynon has suffered them all, multiple times, and still come back to a sport he obviously loves.
His latest crash, on Wednesday at King's Lynn, whilst riding for Dudley Heathens in the NL play-off final, left him with a broken leg and shoulderblade, and unsurprisingly questioning whether he wants to continue in the sport.
I don't know if he ever reads this blog - the odds are against it - but I'd like to say this: don't even think about quitting, Adam!
If he makes a successful recovery - and he's come back stronger from much worse - the path is there for Roynon to reach the top in the sport. He has the talent, his skill and attitude will bring in the backers, and teams up and down the country will be queueing up to give him the opportunities - that is if they can prise him away from Coventry!
No comments:
Post a Comment