ITEM: Well, we're halfway through the Elite League play-off semi-finals, and the favourites in each tie look like they're in pole position to progress to the final. Assuming nothing untoward happens in the second legs (and you can never be sure, certainly where one of the participants is concerned), we'll have a decider in which both finalists have had very public money problems. Is this what the sport has come to, the problems that have been plaguing us for the past decade finally come home to roost? Well, yes. And no.
I've been a very vocal critic of what Birmingham have done this year, how they've achieved their success, and at what cost. Put simply, it stinks. They over-reached themselves, paying over the odds to attract riders that other clubs would have found team spots for at lower rates, and left a trail of debts behind them as long as Sheffield's tail. People have suggested/mitigated/pretended to themselves that this is a case of speculate to accumulate, but it is nothing of the sport. It is blatant financial mismanagement, and is anything but fair.
Allowed to happen unchecked and uncensured, it sets a terrible precedent - why budget according to what you can afford now when the rules clearly allow you to pay later, if at all? Rival teams are powerless, having to accept IOUs (which accrue interest, as if that were any consolation), and hang them if they're foolish enough to have budgeted for any money they might be owed by such a cowboy operation (such as in the case of an SCB-mandated transfer fee going unpaid because you've decide can't afford it, after all).
If you or I were owed several months' wages, we may stop turning up to work but riders that are owed money have traditionally found themselves in hot water for refusing to ride without it. There's very much a "them and us" when it comes to that sort of thing, and since Shane Parker decamped back to Oz there's been nothing in the way of rider representation that might fix it, however badly needed.
I haven't been so hard on Swindon, however. There are a few reasons for that, not least because I've always found the management there easy to approach and genuine in their application, as opposed to the Birmingham promotion's spiky aggression and nice-but-dim sob stories. (Oh, this is where I mention Phil Morris, who has stayed professional despite the house of cards tumbling down around him. That do, Phil?) But aside from differences in PR, I honestly believe the two cannot be compared.
Birmingham have spent money they haven't got, and - unless they get bumper crowds over the next few weeks - may not get. Their unpaid bills have had a knock-on effect, stretching other clubs, Swindon amongst them. By contrast, the Robins appear to have a cashflow issue, one that has been stemmed by an input of cash from the club's two main sponsors, Excalibur and Pebley Beach. Selco, the Brummies' main sponsor, seem unwilling, or unable, to do the same thing.
Swindon had money problems in 2011 that left a good number of riders and other parties owed thousands of pounds. Although it was before I began writing this blog, I was openly criticial of their affairs, but even then understood there were reasons for it. It was on the back of two terrible seasons, propping up the league and with crowds that very much reflected that. Those fans are slowly coming back, and the success of the last two season will have been budgeted for with that in mind. At Perry Barr, however, they seem to have accounted for fans that were never there, and are never going to be there. If it weren't so sad, it would be funny.
Whatever the reasons, and however they can be explained away, the 2013 EL title will be fought over by two clubs who, if they were taking part in a competition with any balls, might have found themselves forced to cut costs (and therefore hire lower scoring riders) or subject to points deductions. As it is, one of them will most likely be champion. Pause for thought.
But! It's not all bad news. As far as I'm aware (and, as always, right of reply to anyone who knows differently), several clubs will end the season in good financial shape, and some of those that have over-reached have sugar-daddies or incredibly generous sponsors to fill that gap. However, the Elite League can't rest on its laurels. A competition is only as strong as its weakest team, and a proper structure has to be put in place to ensure that ten - or eleven, or twelve - clubs can afford to compete on a level playing field, and sanctions introduced for any that break that structure, either through ambition or negligence.
Only then can our champions actually be deserving of the name.
ITEM: Okay, something positive. If you've got a big heart, if not deep pockets, this weekend is an opportunity to give something back to speedway, and to those who entertain us, especially at the lower levels of the sport.
On Saturday night, at Berwick's Shielfield Park, the Bandits will take on Sheffield Tigers (with some special guests on both sides), with all the proceeds going to help Ricky Ashworth through what will no doubt be a petty sticky period in his life. For those of you who don't know, Ashworth crashed heavily whilst riding for Berwick at Scunthorpe on August 2nd and has been in a coma ever since, although there have been encouraging signs that he is on the road to recovery.
The Bandits' landlords, Berwick Rangers Supporters' Club, have given them the stadium rent-free, and all riders and officials are donating their time to the cause. If you are anywhere near that part of the country on Saturday night, you could do worse than drop in and be entertained for a couple of hours whilst giving money to a very deserving cause. The admission fee is a minimum donation of £13 - feel free to give more if you can afford it but don't feel guilty if you can't, just showing up says more than any grand gesture ever could.
On the same night, and in a more central location, there's another event that deserves your attention and support. The second Midland Development League Riders' Championship is taking place at Leicester's Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium, and features sixteen of the sport's unsung heroes and future stars racing for nothing but the love of the game.
The MDL is in its third year of operation, and has played its part in bringing through talent for the National League and, you would hope, beyond. Ten of last year's field have had team spots in the NL this season, last year's runner-up (Ollie Greenwood) has had over a dozen outings at Premier League level, and you wouldn't bet against the same being said of a good number of this year's finalists in a year's time.
There are still some opportunities for sponsorship open (at a very basic level of financial support) but if you'd rather just watch some of the most exciting and ambitious youngsters sliding their way onto the speedway ladder, then it's just £10 to get in. With the cream of the MDL crop racing for individual glory, you won't regret it.
Lastly, Sunday afternoon brings us to Buxton, and the Air Fence Challenge. I wrote a few weeks back about the sterling job done by Dean Felton in assembling a top, top field of the stars of yesteryear, and it's no less enticing now. A title-challenging Premier League side could be put together from the riders who've passed through the Derbyshire track, and the survival of the grassroots operation depends on them raising the cash to buy the SCB-mandated airfence for 2014.
Again, it's only £10 in, and you'll be guaranteed a full afternoon of fun (and probably more competitive than they intend it to be) racing from Gary O'Hare (Stoke, Ellesmere Port, Newcastle & Long Eaton), Jan O Pedersen (Cradley Heath & Sheffield), Kevin Little (Berwick, Edinburgh, Coventry, Newcastle, Workington & Redcar), Tony Atkin (Wolves, Bradford, Sheffield, Stoke, Newport, Berwick & Buxton), Dean Felton (Long Eaton, Stoke, Berwick & Carmarthen, Sittingbourne, Mildenhall, Isle of Wight & Buxton), Glyn Taylor (Crewe, Reading, Edinburgh, Long Eaton, Sheffield, Stoke, Berwick, Bradford & Newcastle), Alan Grahame (Birmingham, Swindon, Cradley Heath, Stoke, Oxford & Hull), Rob Grant Sr (Berwick & Edinburgh), Bernie Collier (Middlesbrough, Newcastle & Belle Vue), Sam Ermolenko (Poole, Wolves, Sheffield, Belle Vue, Hull & Peterborough), Dave Harvey (Cradley Heath & Long Eaton), Aidan Collins (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Workington & Birmingham), Andy Meredith (Coventry, Stoke & Oxford), Martin Dixon (Middlesbrough, Halifax, King's Lynn, Newcastle, Long Eaton, Berwick, Swindon & Glasgow), Ian Barney (Peterborough, King's Lynn, Exeter, Sheffield & Long Eaton), and Rob Hollingworth (Berwick, Boston, Wolves, Edinburgh, King's Lynn, Coventry, Scunthorpe & Mildenhall).
With riders who have spent time at nineteen current tracks and another thirteen defunct ones, there should be a decent turnout that should go some way towards paying for the fence. I'm gutted that I can't make it but I will be donating £10 to the fund via Go Fund Me. If you can't make it it would be super nice of you to do that, too.
And now back to people making a mess of speedway, rather than propping it up...
ITEM: There are times when you think that British speedway is in such a ridiculous state that no other country could possibly run their speedway any worse. And then, probably about once a season, something happens that makes you grateful for what we have, and glad you don't live in Poland.
Walkovers aren't unusual in the Polish leagues. The most common cause is because a club, usually in the lower leagues, can't raise a team of sufficient standard to travel away, and the home club is granted a 40-0 victory. Once upon a time, and because it was a sport and results need to be genuine, the home team would be made to take to the track, racing unopposed until enough points had been scored to secure the victory, but thankfully that doesn't happen much anymore.
Occasionally, though, walkovers are gifted for other reasons, and in the top division, often with tens of thousands in attendance, and many more watching at home, such as last year's play-off semi-final farce when Greg Hancock arrived too late to sign into a meeting, and his Tarnow team disqualified (although this was overturned on appeal and the referee banned for his actions).
This year's pantomime occured on Sunday, when Torun - travelling to Zielona Gora with a narrow three-point lead over the hosts in the play-off final - suffered the loss of Tomasz Gollob, injured the previous night in the Swedish Grand Prix. Unwilling to ride with a junior taking his place (with rider-replacement already being used for the injured Chris Holder), Torun sought a two-week delay - although there was no way that Gollob would have made even that extension, they may have been able to deploy one of their squad riders, such as Edward Kennett or Ryan Sullivan - which was rejected by the home team, well within their rights to do so.
Faced with certain defeat, Torun (or their chief sponsor, depending on which reports you believe), walked out of the stadium and Zielona Gora were gifted a walkover and announced as the 2013 EkstraLiga winners, a hollow victory, even if the history books won't record as such in a list of winners.
Although Torun's actions have been deplored by everyone, the EkstraLiga clubs are already in dispute with the Polish federation over what they see as restrictive regulations placed on their business. With league sponsors ENEA very unhappy about this latest turn of events, the future for top-level speedway in Poland is very much in flux . Remind you of anything?
ITEM: I spent the weekend at two championships featuring the lesser lights of our sport, but only nominally so. That the majority of the riders in Friday's British Under-19 Championship and Saturday's National League Riders' Championship are not households names (or even what passes for that in speedway circles these days) is predominantly down to their youth and inexperience, rather than a lack of talent and drive, and both meetings were none the poorer for that. Indeed, much of the best speedway I've seen this season has been at that level, where what the riders make up for in natural ability or honed track craft is more than made up for in terms of desire and pluck.
Friday's Under-19 Championship, held in front of an encouraging rather than blockbuster crowd at Brandon, could have benefitted from a few more accomplished competitors, even at that age, to go along with the half-dozen who progressed to the latter stages. That said, there was some good racing, especially in the second-half, and a turn of events in the final that everyone except Ashley Morris and Adam Ellis saw coming, as Stefan Nielsen repeaed his 2012 success by outgating them both from trap 4 to race into a lead he wouldn't surrender.
Nielsen was a deserved winner, although Morris, especially, can count himself unlucky not to have taken the title after five straight wins in the qualifying heats. All sixteen competitors will have learned from the experience, and several of them have further chances for success at that level. Although we've been a bit thin at youth level of late, discounting Tai Woffinden, the signs are encouraging that Phil Morris and Neil Vatcher (and an army of volunteers helping them out) will soon see results from their endeavours. Despite some grumblings from over-entitled fans expecting to see 16 finished articles, the majority of the crowd seemed to enjoy what they saw and I'd imagine that most of them will be back again next year, hopefully with others in tow.
A stronger field was assembled at Rye House the next night for the NLRC, although a few of the same names were very much in the mix. As it was, experience was the telling factor, as Steve Boxall, former Rye House Rocket and now Kent King, took the honours after an aborted run-off with King's Lynn Young Star Lewis Kerr. That Kerr would race - and score points - for Swindon in the Elite League play-offs two nights later tells its own story about the growing strength of the third tier, and Boxall himself certainly wouldn't look out of place at that level.
Dudley's Lewis Blackbird was third, although he was given a helping hand by his teammate Paul Starke, who waved him through to avoid a run-off with Robert Lambert. Lambert, although beaten into third place in two of his five rides, was a joy to behold, with a beautiful style that will captivate bigger audiences than the 2,000 or so that were there on Saurday night. To see his first steps - and those of riders like him - is one of the reasons hat watching speedway at National League level is a joy, when the Elite League can often seem a chore. If I were to be given a stark choice between the two, it would be no choice at all, and I think that Dudley and Mildenhall fans will miss it hugely when they make the inevitable step up into a higher league.
As it is, I'm lucky to be able to see speedway at all levels in this country, with tracks within easy reach offering a smorgasbord of racing action. You can keep your Grands Prix, your World Cups, and your Zlata Prilbas, I'm backing British. As Alan Partridge would say, "Join Me!"
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