The Josh Bates Problem (and other things)

ITEM: Before a wheel has even been turned in anger in the Elite League, the Fast Track Draft system is coming under attack. This is no surprise - there were always going to be people whose blinkers would not allow them to see the greater benefit of the move, but it's not the addition of two young British reserves to each EL side that's being attacked, it's the mechanics of the draft itself. Forgetting for a minute that this is year zero for the project, and that allowances always have to be made for bugs in new systems, what they are complaining about is what happens when a rider drops out of his drafted position, and whether he should be allowed back into the draft after that...

Josh Bates was drafted by Swindon. Ranked 15 on the list of 23, he was a surprise second pick for a Swindon team who could have chosen the riders ranked 9th, 11th, 13th and 14th ahead of him. With Steve Worrall as their first choice, the Robins seemed to go for potential over experience, and with Bates having no Premier League berth there were also no potential clashes that might rob them of his services. Everything was fine until Bates's uncle became part of the consortium that took over at Sheffield, and understandably wanted his nephew in the team. The major sticking point was that Sheffield and Swindon share a racenight, and thus doubling-up with both teams was out of the question. Not wishing to hinder a young lad's development, Swindon reluctantly released him, coincidentally around the time Sheffield ended their interest in Swindon's wantaway Aussie, Nick Morris. The Robins then picked up local boy Daryl Ritchings, 22 on the list ahead of Ben Hopwood in 19th, again presumably looking at potential to improve.

Quite away from all of this, there have been murmurs that Poole were unhappy with their second draft pick. They chose Lee Smart, at number 13 the "best of the rest" in the rankings, but were rumoured to have immediately begun finding a way to replace him with a better, less seasoned option. Of course, whenever Poole seem to get the sticky end of the wicket there are always rumours that they will soon find a way around it, and the recent past has proved most of this to be far from idle talk. From the Pirates' public perspective, however, Lee Smart is their confirmed number 7 and their PR has quietly talked him up as a worthy recipient of that racesuit.

With Bates available, and rated by many who regularly watch National League racing as a better long-term prospect than Smart, who has struggled with injury in the last few years, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive, not helped by someone who is obviously very close to the promotion posting on the British Speedway Forum that Bates had advised Poole of his availability. Having opted out of the draft after being chosen, Bates would be unable to replace Smart until May 1st, by which time the Pirates will have raced 6 of their league meetings. The naysayers are of the opinion that, having rejected his place in the draft, Bates should be frozen out of EL racing all season, a draconian response to a perceived threat that may never come to pass. It's a punishment imposed on an 18-year old beginning his speedway career because the presumed benefactor of any wrongdoing has been guilty as sin of such crimes in the past. It's the wrong tack to take, and for a number of reasons.

It was Bates's own decision to leave Swindon for Sheffield. The lad and his advisers obviously weighed things up before deciding that 28-plus Premier League meetings would be of greater value to his development than 36 Elite League outings, and the merits of that argument can be debated until the cows come home. Obviously, the Tigers are his local club (he's based in Barnsley) and the added attraction of riding for his uncle's promotion cannot be overlooked. Having made that decision for what do appear to be genuine reasons, is it fair to punish him for it? Speedway does have a habit of doing this - how many riders have been scared of standing up to promoters who have owed them money for fear of incurring a 28-day ban from the BSPA? - but there's no case for doing so on this occasion, surely? As stated above, he will be barred from the first six weeks of the EL season as it is, and surely that is hindrance enough?

Furthermore, and I can't believe I'm about to say this, Bates and Poole should not be punished for any misdemeanours the Pirates may have committed in the past. Yes, Matt Ford is never shy of bending, breaking or just plain ignoring the rules, but I can't see any foul play here, and believe me I'm pretty good at spotting it (and even imagining it, some would say!). If Poole decide, at some point in the next few weeks, to replace Smart with another rider from the draft longlist, then that is their right. It may not be fair on Smart, but it in no way undermines the spirit of the draft, and no rules are broken.

Lastly, and taking a "bigger picture" view of the Fast Track Draft, if Smart were replaced by Bates - or if any rider currently occupying one of the EL reserve slots is replaced by any other eligible rider - the principle still holds. At least 2,016 rides in this year's Elite League will be taken by young British riders thanks to the Fast Track Draft. That's the kind of invaluable experience that will benefit everyone who participates in it, whether they start the season in a team or end it there. There will be lads who complete all 36 fixtures for their EL team. There will be others who, for one reason or another, do not. But every time one of them misses a fixture, for whatever reason, another British youngster gets that spot. That's the beauty of the draft system as it currently stands, and why it should be expanded, not abandoned in 2015.

Everything is conjecture at this point. Other than Bates, no-one has left their drafted club, either by jumping or being pushed, and so there are no slots for Bates to fill. But when there are - because of injury, absence, or any other reason - I cannot see the logic of suspending Bates from the list of riders who can fill those slots, when the reason for the draft in the first instance is to bring on the development of riders like Bates! Tribalism and strict adherence to the rules are admirable in some cases, but this is one where anyone who would deny Josh Bates an EL outing is definitely barking up the wrong tree.

ITEM: And now a couple of words about promotions - not the management teams which we deign to run our speedways, but the special offers they sometimes come up with to get us through the turnstiles. The good and the bad of such things has been displayed this past week, with a fantastic offer for the Elite Riders' Championship - half-price entry through Sky Sports' advance ticket facility - going unheralded, and with a uncertain amount available (and an unclear time frame in which to buy them), and an even better offer - £10 entry to both Coventry and Peterborough for holders of season tickets at other senior tracks - getting all the plaudits it deserves.

The ERC, as I have written on a couple of occasions, is over-priced. That's about the only thing people can agree on about the event, supposed to be a showcase of the EL's finest against a sprinkling of international talent but actually just EL riders and a rider who'd ridden in the EL for 10 seasons until this year, and for a tiny moment it appeared that the powers-that-be had seen sense, and at least tried to swell the attendance with a clever bit of cross-promotional marketing. Only no-one I spoke to involved in any managerial capacity in the sport knew much about it after it appeared on Sky's website, and even those who were vaguely aware didn't know the finer details of the offer. Maybe I spoke to the wrong people, or maybe it's the usual story...

There is a danger in deep discounting what should be a marquee attraction - that it could bring into question the value for money offered by ordinary league meetings is one understandable fear - but as a one-off meeting, with the backing of Sky (who are showing the event live), a special case could be made to ensure a bumper crowd. As it is, I have no idea how many people bought tickets at £25 before the offer materialised, how many managed to get hold of one at £12.50 (I did, thankfully), and how many will still bother paying full price knowing they could have paid half that if they were more "in the know". What should have been a very special offer, advertised properly and creating a buzz for the event in its wake, has fallen flat. A massive shame.

In much more positive news, the announcement by the Coventry and Peterborough management teams this morning that they will offer £10 entry to season ticket holders from any other Elite or Premier League club (save for those occasions when your own club is the opponents) is a reward for those fans who have stayed loyal to the sport over the winter and once again backed their clubs by paying up front for a season ticket. Although not everyone can afford to shell out a season's worth of ticket money in one go (and Coventry at least offers £10 National League speedway for those people), those that can are a vital source of cashflow for clubs waking up after the winter break and in need of some handy cash.

In recent seasons the benefits of season tickets have been hotly debated, with some clubs (through inclement weather or just not being bothered) not staging enough fixtures to offer any kind of discount on the season ticket price when compared to buying on the gate on a meeting by meeting basis, but the savings are still genuinely there to be made if that is your prime reason for getting one. Speaking only for myself, I like that I help the club out a little, and also that I don't have to find the money for meetings through a busy summer of other distractions. Now there is another reason to get a season ticket, especially if you live in the old ATV or Anglia regions. This offer from Coventry and Peterborough will mean that I can visit Alwalton more often than I had planned to, and holders of season tickets for Wolves, Birmingham, Leicester (especially Leicester!), and King's Lynn will benefit considerably. ST holders from other clubs will also be able to make unscheduled visits, and the end result should be money flowing into the coffers at Coventry and Peterborough that they wouldn't normally see.

What's more remarkable is that the man behind the two teams leading the way with this promotion (and I'm aware its not the first of its kind, but it is the only one currently operating, I believe) is the much-maligned Mick Horton, who is proving to be quite the astute promoter at Brandon after a few hiccoughs his first year at the club. What we need now is for the rest of the BSPA to follow his lead, and see what happens. If the net result is a positive in financial as well as public relations terms, we might just have found the way to make speedway a bit more affordable for those who want more than their weekly/bi-weekly dose, and a way for cash-strapped clubs to bring a few more people through the turnstiles.

ITEM: Polish champions Zielona Gora pitch up at King's Lynn's Saddlebow Road stadium on Wednesday night for a one-off international challenge match. With the Stars augmented by World Champion Tai Woffinden, guesting in place of the still-too-young for senior action (and think about that) Robert Lambert, it's not strictly a mano a mano contest between the Elite league and the EkstraLiga, but it's as near as we'll get for the time being. It used to be, of course, that touring sides from far-flung places would often venture to these shores as a warm-up for their domestic season, and I have fond memories of the USSR team that visited several (old style) National League clubs in 1990.

The touring side seems to have become another relic of a bygone era, which only lessens speedway's uniquely anachronistic appeal. Such tours were commonplace in football in the 1950s, with the best club sides from behind the Iron Curtain venturing out to give our best teams a footballing lesson, but disappeared from the roundball game some time ago, to be replaced by pointless pre-season tournaments and expanded European competitions not worth the metal the trophies are smelted from. It would be sad to think that speedway, often so good at keeping some of those nostalgic touches that football fans miss from their modern game (like delapidated stadiums, no squad numbers (yet!), and being able to stand wherever you like to watch the action), had also consigned such things to its dustbin of history.

In recent years the only touring sides that have darkened our stadium doors are the Team Viking Academy sides (although not since 2011) and the USA Dream Team (or its equivalents), who came over last year but don't seem to have anything scheduled for this season. Both relied on the generosity of UK-based friends and supporters to make a tour of third-tier clubs viable, and even with that much-appreciated and much-valued aid it was often a struggle. The days of tours being sponsored by rich backers or national federations seem a long time ago...

You might hope, though, with Poland (for now, at least) the wealthiest speedway nation in Europe (and therefore the world), and with the Elite League deliberately taking a step back from competing, even nominally, with the strength of the Polish clubs, that such tours may once again become viable, off the back of Zielona Gora's foray into Norfolk this week. If the marketing men behind Polish speedway have any nous about them, they will not stop at their own borders in their ambitions to sell their league. While this obviously has consequences for our own leagues down the line, in the short term we may benefit - as fans, at least - in the way US supporters are able to see top European club sides visit their local Major League Soccer clubs.

If nothing else it would a little variety to the fixture list, which cannot be allowed to fall into a league-only affair. That way lies mundanity and the slow death of everything that makes our sport interesting.

The BenFund Bonanza (and other things)

ITEM: Aaaaaaand we’re back! Sunday’s BenFund Bonanza – which has established itself as the traditional curtain raiser to the British speedway season in the way that the Charity Shield once did for football – was a massive success, with a huge crowd enjoying good weather at Leicester’s Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium.

It’s tough to estimate crowds anywhere near accurately, but I’d say there were a good 3,500 packed into Beaumont Park – which should make it the biggest crowd for a domestic meeting since 2012’s Lee Richardson Memorial Meeting at Lakeside. With prices considerable but reasonable (take notice of that, BSPA!), programmes selling out, and collection buckets added in, it’s not inconceivable that a six-figure sum was raised for the BenFund. Well done to all who organised it, and thanks to everyone who attended.

Of course, being Leicester, the action wasn’t always top notch, and truly exciting races were at a premium. That isn’t the point at meetings like the Bonanza, where the riders are racing for free and warming up in every sense, but that doesn’t stop some of the usual moaners who still, bewilderingly, continue to go to Leicester having their say and dooming the promotion (for the five-hundredth time).

I’ve used this blog before to attack their guff, and it’s a shame that an event like the BenFund Bonanza brings them out of their dank, dark holes once more. I’ll repeat now what I said then (and really it applies to anyone dissatisfied with the way their club is run): unless you are in a position to buy out the owner, or know someone who is, you have to work with them as best you can, or else walk away. Even accepting that what the promoter is doing to your club is harmful, nothing will accelerate that harm (and risk eventual closure) more than negativity. Be constructive, not destructive.

Different race tracks provide different levels of excitement. If I’m honest, Leicester is amongst the worst for that, but by no means in a world of its own. But speedway is speedway and I felt the entertainment I got for my money on Sunday was, even without allowing for the charitable status of the event, value for the money I paid. You may disagree.

It’s a shame that a minority can sour what was a fantastic day out. Yes, there were issues – only two pay windows for such a big crowd chief amongst them – but it was a massive success for a very good cause. Everything else pales into insignificance. I’m sure if Alan Wilkinson or another fallen hero needs something from the BenFund he won’t first ask whether the racing was decent at the event where the money was raised!

So start the season as you mean to go on. I’ve not been more excited for a new season for many a year and I’m determined – despite the obvious issues hanging over a Coventry fan’s head – to continue that through to October. Join me.

ITEM: Emil Sayfutdinov will not be racing in the Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) series in 2014. That’s a sentence that many expected to be writing a few weeks ago, but not for the reasons it seems the Russian has for exiting the World Championship race.

When the FIM suspended its draconian punitive action against the European Championship (SEC) last month, the focus was rightly put back on the chase for the title, possibly the most open in years with half a dozen riders able to challenge for the championship. Amongst them was Sayfutdinov, who was unlucky not to win it last season, with only Adrian Miedzinski’s poor decision making (and not for the first time) coming between him and a serious tilt at the title eventually won by Tai Woffinden.

The announcement last week, then, that Sayfutdinov had sought to cancel his entry into the SGP, came as something of a shock. The organisers of the SGP series put out a press release stating that Sayfutdinov was struggling for fitness, and had financial issues related to a dispute with his former EkstraLiga club Czestochowa. While there is some truth in the latter – although a court has lessened the amount Sayfutdinov has to pay Czestochowa to a maximum of £20,000 – videos posted on Sportowefakty show the Russian taking part in training sessions for his new club Torun, and boasting of his fitness.

Indeed, Sayfutdinov was moved to issue his own statement denying he was injured, and he will line up, as expected, in the first round of the Eurosport Best Pairs tournament later this month, a week before the SGP begins in New Zealand.

The real story is that there are two reasons for Sayfutdinov’s decision, linked to each other and neither would probably be an issue on their own. Firstly, it costs a rider somewhere in the region of £70,000 to compete in all twelve rounds of the SGP. Tai Woffinden, as World Champion, took home around £75,000 in prize money – scant reward for lifting the trophy. It can be – and certainly is by the organisers and their apologists – that competing in the SGP enhances a rider’s reputation, which they can turn into monetary gain through open bookings and sponsorship. Still, it must be said that for a professional sport a net gain of £5,000 for becoming world champion is scant reward. Indeed, the total prize fund is just over £1 million – much less than the gate receipts for Cardiff alone.

The other thread is that, in signing for Torun, Sayfutdinov has come under the auspices of Slawek Kryjom, who also happens to be the sporting director of the SEC. There is still a political game being played behind the scenes between the FIM, BSI (who organise the SGP on their behalf), FIM-Europe, and OneSport (who do the BSI job for the SEC). One of the main contenders for the World Championship pulling out because the organisers do not make it pay is a huge public relations coup for OneSport, especially when that rider is happy to compete in their competitions (which, it must be said, pay far better for less effort). Sayfutdinov’s Torun colleague Tomasz Gollob has also ruled himself out of any participation in the SGP series, which adds fuel to the fire, but Chris Holder and Darcy Ward – also at Torun – have not. There is no direct evidence that Kryjom induced Sayfutdinov to make the decision but speedway is speedway and assumptions are already being formed.

Whatever the truth, there needs to be a coherent plan acceptable to all parties going forward. I doubt Sayfutdinov will be the last rider to decide the SGP doesn’t pay unless changes are made, and I also doubt that OneSport – and Poland – can be allowed to ride roughshod over the rest of the speedway world. Wars are ugly things, seldom with any useful outcome, so diplomacy is of essence here. And soon.

ITEM: Thanks to Sky Sports launching their ticket agency for televised meetings without informing the BSPA’s PR team last week, the prices for the Elite Riders’ Championship at Coventry on March 23^rd were revealed before the SpeedwayGB site had a chance to put a spin on them.

Although the BSPA should be applauded for allowing under-11s in for free, and charging 11-16yr olds only a fiver, the worst fears for the adult prices were realised and the usual £25 slapped on the tickets. Worse still, those who attended last season’s fiasco at Swindon (and who were promised a discount at this meeting as compensation) get only a free programme, whether they want one or not.

This is a massive own goal by the BSPA. The meeting is being staged at an uncomfortable time for travelling fans – 6pm on a Sunday – and is televised on Sky Sports. The riders featured will, because no exclusivity clause has obviously been invoked, be riding at other meetings in the days before and after this meeting which have lower ticket prices, and the hardcore support from the Coventry area will be choosing between a local derby at National League level on the Friday (the on-track return of Cradley Heath) and the ERC – and that’s if they aren’t regulars at the ice hockey which is entering the race for the play-offs!

Still, the pointy heads at the BSPA must know better than everyone else, because they’ve stuck to their guns. If I were more cynical (and I understand that some of you will find it hard to believe I could be more cynical) I’d wonder if there wasn’t an agenda to kill off the competition, as they did the KO Cup. And if I were less charitable, I’d hope that they reaped what they sowed – a small crowd and a loss-making exercise.

However, speedway cannot afford to make a mess of these things and so, although I won’t be attending myself (it’s above what I’ll pay for any sporting contest), I hope there is a decent crowd there, because otherwise it will look terrible on TV. Fingers crossed, eh?

Switching Nationalities (and other things)

ITEM: There was an interesting little news story that broke over the weekend which reported that Rory Schlein had turned down a place in the Australian squad and was intending to take out an ACU license this season. Schlein has tweeted that he didn't give an interview to the site that reported the story - Polsky Zuzel - and that no-one knows his plans for the coming season. To my cynical eyes it's less a denial than an "I can't believe it's gotten out", which lends an air of plausibility to the story.

There are a number of things at play here. First is the relationship between speedway and the media, particularly social media, in the modern age. Much of speedway would like to pretend that it's still the 1950s, where the only things reported in the press are sanctioned and often dictated by the governing bodies, clubs, and riders themselves. For most of its history, speedway has enjoyed a compliance from the press bordering on fawning - not other sport, save perhaps professional wrestling, has found journalists willing to report the stories given to them, and it's up to you how much good or harm you think that has done to the sport.

Last year the speedway correspondent for the Edinburgh Evening News reported that Craig Cook had signed for both Edinburgh and Belle Vue for the 2014 season. Cook had already tweeted some time before that he'd done deals with both Elite and Premier League clubs for 2014, but angrily denied the story was true. A few days later he announced that he'd signed for, you guessed it, Edinburgh and Belle Vue. What Cook should have done, rather than denying the story's veracity outright, is express disappointment that the journalist had reported it ahead of a scheduled announcement, and it is possibly with this in mind that Schlein hasn't expressly denied that he's becoming, to all intents and purposes, a Brit for 2014.

And that's the second thing. Schlein is the archetypal proud Australian. This writer has taken issue with some of the things he's said in the past, in my opinion (although not in the eyes of others) bordering on racist, in support of his country. When not racing in club kevlars, he chooses to wear the yellow and green of Australia, and he glories in the nickname, "Roo Boy". This is not a Nick Morris or Tai Woffinden, born in the UK or to a father fully intending him to ride for his mother country. For him to turn his back on his country for professional reasons would be a blow to his "Aussieness", and possibly disqualify him for life from drinking Fosters, watching Neighbours, or listening to Acka Dacka. It is not a move taken lightly.

The third thing, of course, is should we welcome Schlein as a Brit, and take advantage of his "Britishness" for international purposes? It's a tricky issue that has affected other sports over the years more than speedway. Both rugby codes and cricket are chock full of adopted Brits from the former colonies, and the thinking seems to be that, as long as they give their all for their nation of choice, it really isn't an issue. And if it remains that it's just one or two or a handful of riders, from whichever nation, taking that path then it shouldn't be a problem for speedway, either. Where it does raise potential issues is if the development of young British talent is held back by a rising tide of license-switchers, but with a watching brief I'd say it's not an issue we need to worry about at this juncture.

Two notable nationality changers of recent times are Rune Holta and Robert Branford. Holta considered his chances of success on the world stage to be greatly enhanced by becoming Polish rather than staying Norwegian, and who can say whether he'd had have so many years at the top, competing in the Speedway World Cup and Grand Prix series for his adopted nation, if he'd stayed loyal to the country of the first twenty-nine years of his life? Certainly, in speedway terms, Norway is a third world power, and although I wasn't around speedway at the time, I don't recall reading of too much controversy about the switch (although, as always, I invite any views to the contrary).

Robert Branford has a British mother, and used this fact to ride in the UK as a British rider, competing in the Brits-only National League, and then racing for - and winning - the British under-21 championship at Wolverhampton last year. To take part in the championship, Branford had to sign a memorandum agreeing to ride on an ACU license (and thus be "British") for at least five years. This is enough of a guarantee for me that both sides can gain from the arrangement, and it's certainly something I'd ask Schlein to do if he's considering going down the same route.

The reason given by Polsky Zuzel for Schlein's switch is to make it easier to get rides on the continent, specifically citing Germany as an example. If this is the reason, and with others having done the same in the past, I do wonder how long it will be before we see riders affiliating to non-speedway European nations like Luxemboug or Portugal, as has happened in boxing and other sports, enjoying the same advantages without the negative connotations of switching nationalities.

Regardless of the reasons, or even if it's true at all, it does create a useful discussion point for the possibility of this kind of thing happening more often. With Australians having increasing difficulty obtaining visas to race in the UK, and with opportunities opening up for ACU license holders through the Fast Track Draft, we may see more of this in the next few years. Perhaps time to decide, then, how we feel about accepting a Rory Schlein to race under the Union Jack. Me? I'm all for it, as long he understands it gives me carte blanche to rip it out of him at every turn. It's only fair (dinkum)...

ITEM: The Midland Development League announced that a record ten teams would take to the track in 2014, a far cry from the five teams (on just three tracks) that competed in 2011. Three years ago, the league was fought over by Long Eaton Invaders (based at Leicester), Scunthorpe Stags, Sheffield Tiger Cubs, Halifax Dukes (riding at Scunthorpe), and Team Viking Academy (racing at Sheffield), and won by Long Eaton. The following year saw an increase in both clubs and tracks taking part, with seven of each competing for the trophy. Long Eaton (once again at Leicester) were back, as were Scunthorpe and Sheffield, and Team Viking moved to Coventry to become the Coventry-Mercia Vikings. They were joined by Belle Vue Colts, Stoke Spitfires, and a Milton Keynes Knights team racing out of Rye House. It was the Knights, featuring current Peterborough reserve Olly Greenwood, who triumphed over Belle Vue in the play-off final at Coventry - the first success for a team from the new city since Troy Butler won the NLRC in 1988, ironically also at Brandon. The inaugural MDL Riders' Championship was also held, at Leicester, and won by Dan Greenwood, who was included in this season's Fast Track Draft, representing Coventry.

Seven teams took to the track once again in 2013, with Castleford Kings replacing Scunthorpe Stags (although riding at Scunthorpe), and King's Lynn Lightning jumping ship from the defunct Anglia Junior League to replace Sheffield Tiger Cubs. Belle Vue Colts, who made good use of 2014 Leicester reserve Max Clegg, won the title, while Stoke's Shaun Tedham sponsored by yours truly) was a surprise winner of the MDLRC. As well as Clegg and Dan Greenwood, Lewis Rose also came through the MDL and was included in the Fast Track Draft. As well as Rose and Olly Greenwood, there are PL places for Josh Bates, Liam Carr, Luke Crang, Adam Ellis, Joe Jacobs and Matt Williamson, all of whom came through the MDL, AJL or Northern Junior League.

Of the original five league members, only Long Eaton Invaders and Sheffield Tiger Cubs (returning after a year out) return in 2014, but they are joined by 2013 returnees Belle Vue, Castleford, Coventry, King's Lynn, Milton Keynes (based at Mildenhall this season), and Stoke, and by new entrants Buxton and Rye House. League rules allow for one rider currently in a National League 1-7 to ride (assuming he has an NL average of less than 5 and under 50 NL matches under his belt), but the other three slots are filled by riders keen to make it in the sport. The majority will rise no higher than development league level, but with two EL, eight PL, and at least twenty-six NL places occupied by riders who have come through the development leagues, the value of this level of racing is clear to see.

As well as the MDL, the Northern Junior League will operate once more - back again for its fifth season. This year five clubs will take part - Berwick Border Raiders, Castleford Castles (doubling up with their MDL counterparts, but racing at Redcar), Northside Stars (racing at the Northside training track in Workington), Redcar Bear Cubs, and Workington Meteors. The NJL has a new innovation, and will be including under-15 years old, 125cc riders alongside their (slightly) more senior counterparts in the scorecharts this season. Similar systems operate on the continent, and two British lads - Daniel and Ethan Spiller - have based themselves in Germany to take advantage of it. Hopefully if it is a success in the NJL it can be spread out, and the need for families like the Spillers to up sticks to the continent to bring on their prodigies will lessen and disappear in time.

Of the 27 tracks staging league speedway in the UK this season, you can see second-half, development league action at 13, as well as Northside. This, of course, means that there are 14 tracks not staging development league speedway: Birmingham, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ipswich, Kent, Lakeside, Newcastle, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Somerset, Swindon, and Wolverhampton. A handful of these have strict curfews (although Lakeside did used to run their Anglia Junior League meetings before the main meeting), but others have no good reason - or have at least never given any good reason - for not giving local youngsters competitive racing experience. Hopefully the positive benefits reaped by clubs like Coventry - who, thanks to a tie-up with Peterborough, can now offer a progression through racing at all four competitive levels in 2014 and beyond - will begin to echo around the rest of the leagues, and we'll be talking about one or two tracks not getting involved rather than a dozen.

If there are any fans reading this who haven't sampled any development league racing at their track, I'd ask them to give it a go. It's not always pretty, and there are times when - despite their best efforts - you have to stifle a laugh at some of the boys, but with support, encouragement, and opportunity they'll develop into the stars of tomorrow.

ITEM: The FIM must be breathing a sigh of relief that it has not scheduled any of this year's individual or team competitions for Russia or Ukraine, given the de facto state of war that exists between those two nations at the moment. Russia's speedway heartland is far away from the both the border with Ukraine and the Moscow base of power-mad loon Vladimir Putin, but there must still be concerns over the safety of foreigners entering Russia, particularly those from "the West" (ie, the US and UK). What's left of Ukraine's speedway scene is securely in the anti-Russian west of the country, although it remains to be seen what, if any, speedway meetings are scheduled for Ukraine this year.

There is a big meeting taking place in Russia this season, however, with the second round of the European Championships being held in Togliatti, and - of course - Russia's Emil Sayfutdinov is competing in both this series and the Grands Prix. The talking about what to do about Russia's naked aggression in the Crimea (and its possible spread to the rest of Ukraine) is still ongoing, with various veiled threats being made by the UN, the G8, the EU, and the other western powers, and it remains to see just how the Russians will be punished for their actions, if at all. Sporting sanctions have been applied before - most notably against apartheid-era South Africa - but boycotts have also taken place of Olympics games, and other events, for a variety of political reasons. It is unlikely, but not beyond the realms of possibility, that sanctions could be applied against Russia, and this would affect both Togliatti and Sayfutdinov.

Politics and sport don't mix very well. The vast majority of participants are apolitical, or at least do not let their politics interfere with their competition. I have no idea which side Sayfutdinov - or the Lagutas, or Ukraine's Loktaev and Karpov - support in this conflict, and I hope that remains the case. However, the nations hosting and participating in sporting events often use them for political gain, despite the denials by the (well-compensated) governing bodies that dispense such rights. Would I like to see a boycott of the SEC in Togliatti or Sayfutdinov prevented from taking his place in the SGP? Ideally, no, and the impact of a boycott/sanctions in speedway would be extremely limited. But if it's as a part of something bigger, and a solid chance to send a message to the Russians? No hesitation at all.

What a world!

Moving (and, well, just that)

ITEM: Well, this is a tough one to write. It’s been six days since the news broke and I’m just about ready to pull it together into some kind of coherent story (although, as with the best stories, there really isn’t much to it), and explain how I see us going from here to there.

It’s the Brandon Stadium story, of course, and the shock news last Friday that a sale had been agreed and that the future for sport at the multi-use stadium looked so bleak that the greyhounds announced they would cease operating after that night’s meeting.

The truth beyond that initial bombast was that the stadium was safe for the next three years, but nothing could be guaranteed after that – subject to planning permission my favoured spot under the scoreboard would become somebody’s utility room by 2017.

The greyhounds jumped because they see their business as a slow build, taking at least that three years to grow to where they wanted it, and they were unwilling to do that with no guarantee that their hard work wouldn’t be destroyed by a great big housing estate plonked down on top of the stadium.

Since then – and things move so quickly and so, so slowly in stories like this - greyhounds at Brandon have been resurrected by another promoter, and the stadium is back to a three-sport facility.

So what do we know? We know that the stadium has been long sought after by developers, keen to bridge the gap between Binley Woods and Brandon village, although the villagers have always seemed very keen to keep that buffer in place, even if it meant the odd bit of noise wafting over their back gardens from time to time. Although no-one has tested the water with an application for housing, various other applications – alterations to the stadium, a funeral parlour on the empty land opposite, and other developments – have been rejected out of hand, with the local council (Rugby, by a quirk of boundaries) seemingly keen to maintain the status quo.

Whether housing would get planning permission or not is a moot point at this time – whoever has bought the stadium (and we don’t know exactly who they are, just that developers are involved) can presumably afford to play the long game, and an empty stadium left to fall apart, and perhaps the victim of vandalism and arson, becomes a different prospect to the council planning department than a going concern.

Did Sandhu have to sell? There’s been paper talk of a relative who may or may not have owned part of the stadium getting into legal trouble which may have forced his hand, but the simple truth is that he bought the stadium with an eye to developing it himself in 2003. He promised back then, with an eye on keeping the locals sweet perhaps, that he’d find a new home for the Bees elsewhere in the city before turfing them out of the only home they’d ever known, and that’s the promise he seems keen to keep today.

That he fell in love with speedway was fortuitous, and it has kept the Bees at Brandon until now (and, he assures us, until the end of the 2016 season), and also brought some good times – and three league titles – to Coventry. His gradual, and then sudden, disgust with the sport has nothing to do with the Bees’ fans, and everything to do with the rulebenders at the BSPA – specifically those petty, jealous, win-at-all-costs types who seem to dislike outsiders, like a speedway UKIP – and their actions will have consequences beyond the loss of the country’s premier speedway stadium. It would be simple to wish the same upon the clubs run by these slimeballs, but that would hurt people like us. They cannot help being innocent victims (although sometimes willing tools) of their promoters’ immoral behaviour.

After the way he was treated, Sandhu owes speedway nothing. Although we see every club owner and promoter as a custodian of our sport and would like to pretend they are in it for us alone, he also owes nothing to the Coventry Bees. But he maintains he will make good on the promise he made eleven years ago, and has instructed Jeremy Heaver – stock car head honcho and Sandhu’s right-hand man – to begin the search for a new site and are inviting fans to make suggestions to widen the search (even if the press release sounded like they had no idea where to start, and were asking fans to do the legwork, I’m assured this isn’t the case).

There are sites out there, seemingly ideal for speedway, and developing them for 2017 would not be complicated. However, things are never so simple and the Bees face a tumultuous few years finding the right spot, negotiating a purchase, and – probably the most difficult – securing planning permission. Ideally they’d be in for the start of the 2015 season, but these things can take time and patience will be word of the day. I still maintain it can be done, and I refuse to fall into negativity – we, as fans, need to believe, and support, because without it the Bees will cease to exist.

The Bees, of course, are not owned by Sandhu, and are currently under the stewardship of Mick Horton. Last Friday’s news must have come as a bit of a shock to Horton, because without a stadium to ride in he owns nothing but the intellectual property and a few riders. With his interest as part of the community-led consortium at Peterborough, people could be forgiven for thinking he might walk away and use the Bees’ assets at Alwalton, but he remains committed to the Bees and is reportedly – but quietly - talking of his excitement at the chance to begin a new era for Coventry speedway in a new stadium fit for the 21^st century.

And that’s the thing – as much as the fans love Brandon it’s a crumbling relic of a previous era. That it’s as good a stadium as any in British speedway is both a tribute to how perfect it was when it was built in 1948 and a telling indictment of the rest of speedway’s facilities. A new stadium - from a modest start as seen at Somerset, Leicester, Scunthorpe, and others, and built up – will give Coventry the opportunity to once again lead the way in facilities, comfort, and accessibility, for fans, riders, and the media alike. At the moment, it’s a pipe dream, but Dave Hemsley has shown what can be done at Beaumont Park, and that should be taken as the very minimum a new “Hive” should be.

Sandhu wants the new stadium to replicate Brandon and be a home to all three sports currently taking place at Rugby Road. I realise that beggars can’t be choosers but I’d prefer a speedway-specific stadium (or at least part of it) for the Bees. If the Bees’ track were separate from the greyhound/stock car track, it would be available seven days a week, throughout the year, and that freedom of use is vital to developing new talent. Although the facilities are basic (to say the least) Buxton has separate tracks for stock cars and speedway on the same site, which works well, and if the land were available it would certainly be something I’d investigate. However, the Bees are very much the beggars at this point and will settle for whatever they can get, if speedway is to continue in Coventry in 2017.

So what now? Well, the Bees have got three years. At least. They need to approach each of those years as if they were just another year, another chapter in the 67 season history of speedway in Coventry. There’s racing to watch, riders to support, and trophies to be won, the same as every other year. If the Bees are to thrive in 2017 – wherever that may be – they need to be a going concern, with the same solid support they enjoy today. Even if the unthinkable happens, and 2016 is the last year for the Bees, they should go out with a bang, as befits (arguably) the greatest living club in British speedway history.

It’s not a good time to be a Bees’ fan. Uncertainty is often worse than finality, but optimism has to be the keyword. The doomsayers will have – and are already having – their say, and there are countless examples of permanent closures of long-established tracks, but there are also success stories. Coventry will be a success story. They will start 2017 in a new stadium. And they will continue to be a force in British – and world – speedway. Anything else would be a tragedy for the sport.

ITEM: Because they can’t bear to see Coventry do anything ahead of them, Poole may also be looking for a new stadium in the near future, with the backing of the stadium operators Gaming International. Wimborne Road was also once a three-sport venue, with football joining greyhounds and speedway, but Poole Town were ejected from the stadium in 1994, and now play on a school pitch. With a longview on promotion to the football league (Poole currently play three divisions below League Two), the football club want back in, and Gaming International agree, pledging to look into redeveloping Wimborne Road or finding a new site elsewhere.

Wimborne Road is not owned by Gaming International, it is leased from the local council. As a city centre site, close to housing and commercial properties, its value to a cash-strapped local authority run by the Conservatives far outweighs its function as a local amenity. Hemmed in by its neighbours, room for redevelopment at Wimborne Road is minimal, and so the best option would seem to be relocation. This would allow the council to sell the land for commercial or residential developments, and all three sports to continue at a new venue.

I don’t know Poole as well as I know Coventry. There are copious brownfield sites around Coventry, on land overseen by four local councils. Within hours of the news breaking about the loss of Brandon in 2017, I’d seen a dozen suggestions of potential sites for a new stadium. From the little I do know of Poole, and the part of Dorset in which it resides, it’s a very different story. You would hope, though, that a suitable piece of land could be found to accommodate a new stadium for the town’s sporting endeavours.

The danger – for me, at least – is in tying themselves to the football club. Currently, the Pirates have attendances that – even when they drop below 800, as they did last season on occasion – dwarf those of the football club, who average a shade under 300. Success brings people out of the woodwork, however, as shown by small clubs like Birmingham City taking 40,000 to Wembley, and if the aim is to propel the Dolphins into the football league it won’t be long before the speedway is very much the lowest priority at the stadium. Throw in that Eddie Mitchell, a man not universally loved for his football endeavours over in Bournemouth, is keen to be involved, and there is potential for heartbreak.

There is also the thorny issue that Gaming International promised a new stadium for speedway and greyhounds in Reading, even before the closure of Smallmead in 2008, and that has yet to be delivered, even at the planning stages.

But it’s as important for the Pirates’ fans to stay positive as it is for the Bees’. As it stands, speedway is under no threat at Wimborne Road, and this kind of redevelopment story happens from time to time at every stadium in the land. To do the shady things he does to ensure Poole thrive, Matt Ford must love the club, and I can’t imagine he’d see them in trouble, even if a quick buck were to be made - the consequences of disposing of a speedway club are very different to selling on a chip shop or hairdressers.

Business as usual, then, for the Pirates and the Bees, who meet at least four times this season. Let’s hope it’s a fixture that continues well into the next decade and beyond.

Make Your Minds Up! (and other things)

ITEM: The fragile truce between the Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) series and the European Championships (SEC) has been shattered, as - out of the blue - the FIM sent a letter to the organisers informing them that no permanent SGP competitors could also occupy a permanent place in the SEC. SGP riders are able, as a one-off, to take a wild card bookings for SEC events, and vice versa, but no rider can appear in all events of both competitions. As it stands, that affects Emil Sayfutdinov, Andreas Jonsson, Nicki Pedersen, but others already secure in an SGP berth may become embroiled in the situation.

This had seemed likely a few months ago, but then appeared to have been resolved, a tentative understanding on behalf of the FIM that they could not enforce such a ban in the face of European competition regulations resulting in the status quo being maintained. Whether or not the FIM have since received legal advice that backs up their tough stance, or just decided to chance their arm, isn't clear. OneSport, who organise the SEC on behalf of FIM-Europe (who, to complicate matters, aren't really a part of the FIM at all), have said that they will take legal action to prevent the decision being implemented, but in the face of a complicated, and possibly lengthy, legal battle, riders will possibly be forced to choose sides.

Emil Sayfutdinov, who had already sided with the SEC when the first clash occurred, reiterated that stance, claiming that the contract he signed to ride in the SGP series was null and void because at the time he signed it it didn't prohibit his entry into the SEC. With SGP penetration into Russia very shallow, and the majority of the Polish fans and sponsors also backing the European series, it made sense for Sayfutdinov to err on the side of locality. While this may prevent him becoming world champion in the short-term (therefore joining a list that includes Adrian Miedzinski's poor decision-making), he has time on his side for a resolution between the two competitions.

Tomasz Gollob, on the other hand, has already been world champion, and so his decision to drop out of the SGP series, despite being offered a series wild card, was more straightforward. He made the decision at the time of the first conflict, but seemed content enough with that decision to not reverse it when the times two sides (temporarily) made up. Now, however, he has also said he will not take up the offer of a wild card for the Bydgoszcz GP in protest, much to the chagrin of the local promoter. Andreas Jonsson, grateful recipient of what some consider an undeserved wild card for 2014, decided to dance with the one what brung him and stay loyal to the SGP. No-one cared.

Entering the SGP series is the only way a rider will become world champion, and that should be the ultimate aim of anyone who ever pulls on a steel shoe, even if they are quickly disavowed of it by reality and gravity, not usually in that order. Two things, however, have made the SGP a less-than-desirable prospect. Firstly, although it should, as a season-long campaign, ensure that the best rider becomes champion each year, it's as much at the whim of the fates as the old one-off finals ever were. Yes, we'll never get an Egon Muller or Jerzy Szczackiel lifting the trophy again, but neither can we truly, hand-on-heart, say that the best rider in any year will necessarily become world champion.

Secondly, the money that riders earn for winning the world title, in prize money at least (you'd expect a knock-on with sponsorship and increased earning power in domestic leagues), is shocking. In figures detailed in the latest issue of the Friends Of Speedway's quarterly publication, The Voice, Charles McKay revealed that Tai Woffinden took home just $75,000 for his efforts, less than third-placed Jarek Hampel and much less per GP than Emil Sayfutdinov. Worse still, riders are not paid expenses, and so that $75,000 also had to cover travel and accommodation for rider, crew, and equipment, as well as lost income from any Elite League meetings he may have missed due to SGP commitments. It's not inconceivable that Woffinden would have paid money to become world champion - a sorry state fr a professional sport.

The SEC, on the other hand, pays well compared to the SGP, and that's without also factoring in OneSport's other big money earner, the Best Pairs. Without the lure of the world title, and with a schedule further freed up for other lucrative open bookings, it wouldn't be too surprising to see others follow Sayfutdinov and Gollob and choose the SEC over the SGP before this fight is settled. Already Polish sponsors Nice and Fogo have withdrawn their backing from the SGP, and Nice have put that money into further backing the SEC, increasing the money for winning an individual round to $10,000 (as opposed to around $7000 for the SGP). There are also the usual noises from within Poland of staging league meetings opposite SGP rounds and really forcing the riders to choose where their money comes from...

Britain, as always, remains an impassioned and amused onlooker, wary of any further encroaching onto the domestic calendar (thus not backing the Best Pairs), but also not overtly throwing their load in with BSI - though, of course, if asked I'm sure they would reaffirm their commitment to the FIM as a loyal member of that organisation. Personally, as an outsider with a keen interest in troublemaking, this is all pretty hilarious stuff. I'm sure there are others more concerned than I, but for the moment it's fun to sit back and watch two wealthy companies fight a proxy war using two organisations reaching above their status in a series of poorly-translated press releases. Ding ding! Let's a good, dirty fight!

ITEM: In other international news, Freddie Lindgren became the latest rider to decide he no longer wanted to ride for his country, whilst also enjoying the benefits of an international license granted by that country. Lindgren is being all secretive about the reason for his falling out with SVEMO, saying, SVEMO knows "what they have to do to" to get him to reverse his decision, like a Swedish version of Kevin the teenager. Meanwhile, he'll still take the position offered to him, for no other reason than he was a Swede (and therefore, by the good graces of SVEMO), in the SGP series.

New Sweden team manager Stefan Andersson, who took over from Bo Wirebrand in the winter, at least has enough backbone to declare that if Lindgren doesn't want to represent Sweden in the Speedway World Cup then he won't be welcome in the Best Pairs competition organised by OneSport. And neither will he, should the situation be resolved between the SGP and the SEC, be able to take part in the latter series. Furthermore, and most damaging, Lindgren will not be able to take part in Grand Prix qualifying, meaning that if he once again fails to make the top eight in the SGP series he will once again have to rely on a handout from BSI.

I don't know what SVEMO have done to upset Lindgren, because he won't tell us, but even though I'm usually the first to point fingers at the BSPA, the FIM, and the like, I give short shrift to those who don't represent their country. Nothing grates on me more than a footballer announcing an international retirement - you play until you're no longer asked to - and the same is true of speedway. I was incredibly disappointed with Scott Nicholls's hissy fit last season, especially when we're not exactly blessed with international-level talent at the moment. The same can be said for the Swedes, and although Lindgren's (temporary?) retirement from international speedway strengthens us as rivals, I can't help but feel for the Swedish me.

And the fact that he'll quite willingly trade on his Swedish nationality to take part in the SGP makes it worse, like Darcy Ward skipping the Australian championships for a jolly to the USA but still expecting Motorcycling Australia to back his SP campaign (to rub salt into the wounds, he did find the time to return to Australia and injure himself in a muckabout...). If a rider no longer wants to be considered for his national side, that should be the end of their international career, period. No SGP, no SWC, no SEC, or anything else where the qualifying factor is their nationality.

Or Lindgren could go public with the reason for his woes - as Nicholls did - and we can judge him on that. You never know, there might be some sympathy ad it might just help others who could find themselves in his position.

ITEM: Last Sunday saw a rare break in the rain that's been persisting down these past few weeks, and it coincided with the annual Celebration of Speedway, held for the last few years at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. The park, owned and operated by former speedway rider Pete Sampson, is also home to the National Speedway Museum, and the sunny weather brought a great opportunity to visit the museum, take in the celebration, and stare at a few caged animals (incidentally, there have been Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs, Panthers, Pumas, and Cougars in speedway but a distinct lack of Leopards... why is that?).

The crowd at the Celebration could be politely said to be of the older generation, with a fair few London-based fans with no local track anymore. Their passion for the sport - or at least as it's presented through a nostalgic sheen - seems as strong as ever, and it was interesting to eavesdrop on a few conversations and find out that the BSPA/SCB/ACU/promoters (delete where applicable) have always been useless! Both Peterborough and Rye House, of the current sides, had stands (of varying quality) and there was a massive feeling of enjoyment permeating the air. With all proceeds going to the World Speedway Riders' Association (previously the Veteran Speedway Riders' Association), a fair sum must have been raised to fund their various activities, including grants to former riders in need of assistance, and I'm pleased to have played a small part in it.

The National Speedway Museum is a curious thing. Full of wonder for the long-time fan, and with enough curiosities for any of the newer breed with a keen eye on the history of the sport, but I do wonder if it's not entirely incomprehensible to those who know little or nothing of speedway. Still, it's a grand thing, compact and bijou in its current premises, but growing all the time. It did set me thinking, however, about how speedway ignores its history for the large part. None of the clubs I've visited have very much in the way of their own "museums", despite the glory years for many of them - and therefore something to celebrate - being a long way back. I've visited football clubs with average attendances in single figures that have more historical information and memorabilia than any speedway club, and it's a missed opportunity to remind people how great this sport once was - and can still be.

Each club should, if room can be found at their stadia, have a display of old team photographs, old stadium pictures, trophies and other ephemera, celebrating the fact that - for a good many of them - they've been here for over 80 years. In an ideal world we'd have statues outside of each stadium, featuring a key figure in that club's history (Charles Ochiltree at Coventry, Peter Craven at Belle Vue, Elizabeth Taylor - not that one - at Berwick, and so on), but with money tight for most of our clubs a single room would suffice. While we're a long way off Premier League football, and its stadium tours packed with curious locals and photo-snapping visitors from the Far East, we could do more to make people feel part of their club - proud of it even.

See what you can do. I'll talk to a few people at my club and see what we can work out. If you do the same we might be in a different position in a year's time, and the history of our sport might open up to all who walk through the gates, and not just a pleasant few hundred attending the Celebration each year.

No Class? No Way!

ITEM: The Polish news site, Sportowefakty, last week ran a feature entitled, "British Speedway In Crisis!", the crux of which was that our speedway is a mess. They came up with several reasons for our "crisis", chief amongst them being a lack of stars in the league. They also highlighted a restrictive points limit, problems with stadium availability, too many fixtures, and low salaries. They also asked their readers what they thought the biggest problem with British speedway was, helpfully including a "British Speedway has no class" option - their readers, incidentally, thought that low wages were the big issue.

Most, if not all, are explained away with the simple answer that British speedway operates under clearly different conditions to speedway in Poland, and in Sweden. British clubs do not operate in the same way as clubs in Poland, nor can they, and from that starting point the rest is pointless. Polish clubs are fortunate to be in receipt of sponsorship and philanthropy from companies and individuals working under (how shall I put this politely?) more lax conditions than their British counterparts, race in stadiums built by or with the support of their local councils, and are largely situated in areas where speedway is by far the number one sport - Britain is unique in the world in the extent to which football pervades society, and even Poole - the club held up to be most in control of their sporting location - will be coming under competition for sponsorship and fans from Bournemouth, Southampton, and the traditional big clubs.

And that's before you consider how much money is owed by how many Polish clubs to how many riders! The same is true in Sweden, with the financial stability of many of their clubs far more parlous than any of ours. You also might want to consider how the Polish season ended last year, with their play-off final abandoned because one side refused to ride, before you allow that particular speedway nation to begin throwing stones from their glass stadiums...

In the spirit of proving that article to be misguided, if not completely inaccurate, it's perhaps time to look at some of the positives about British speedway - things we can be proud of, building blocks for us to stabilise and progress the sport beyond any thoughts of a crisis. There are so many good news stories, even if the salacious tidbits are more fun to rake over, and they sometimes slip through the net, and certainly go without fanfare. So here, in a rare moment of not moaning or pointing out the obvious faults, are the things that make me optimistic about the future of British speedway:

*** We have a thriving amateur scene. In previous years this allowed weekend hobbyists the chance to live out their dreams, with sliding experiences provided by the likes of Olle Nygren, or retired riders to carry on doing something they were probably not going to be paid to do anymore. Recently, however, it has become the first step on the ladder for prospective talents, with training schools and practice days at Buxton, Scunthorpe, Northside, Rye House, Leicester, Coventry, and Iwade feeding talent into the Midland Development and Northern Junior Leagues, and beyond into the National League. Scunthorpe even promote a well-subscribed and well-attended Winter Series, and will fill their 2014 National League side from the best of the unsigned competitors from the series, and on recent evidence it would be no surprise to see some of those riders become Elite League regulars by the end of the decade.

*** We have 32 clubs competing across three leagues, more than any other speedway nation. Despite the (hopefully temporary) loss of the Isle of Wight over the winter, we actually have one more team coming to the tapes in 2014 than in 2013. With Plymouth and Scunthorpe re-entering the National League, and Leicester and Peterborough switching places, it's a solid foundation to once again be proud of. The overall number of clubs has held up well in recent seasons - we've lost 9 (Exeter, Hull, Isle of Wight, Newport, Oxford, Reading, Sittingbourne/Iwade, Weymouth & Wimbledon) but gained 7 (Berwick, Birmingham, Cradley [sharing at Wolves], Kent, Leicester, Plymouth & Redcar), but increased the number of "non-league" tracks from 1 (Lydd) to 3 (Northside & Iwade). Poland had 22 tracks in 2005, and still has 22 today, although it has been has high as 24 teams (albeit with the help of clubs from Latvia, Ukraine, Hungary, and the Czech Republic). Sweden had a high of 23 tracks operating in 2008, but will go into 2014 with just 18 (and one of those is in Finland!)

*** Whatever you think of him and whether, as Leigh Adams spitefully suggests, he owes his success to the Australian junior system, we have the World Champion! Plenty of young Australians go through their junior programmes and don't make it to our shores. Fewer still break into club sides, and you can count those that make it to the very top level on one hand. I would argue that Woffinden's success owes more to the opportunities afforded by racing at all three levels in this country than the start he got in Western Australia - how many come over fully-formed? None, and that's because a racing career in Britain is paramount to succeeding at the highest level for the majority of the world's stars, whether they be Australian, Swedish, Danish, Polish, or - whisper it - British. And now, just like once in a blue moon, that's paid off and its British speedway that can boast the world champion.

*** We're going into a brave new world this season, giving youth a chance at the top level for the first time in a generation. This builds on the good work that the National League has done over the past dozen years to turn itself into both a nursery for emerging talent and a competitive, commercially-viable league in its own regard. The twenty riders taking to the track next month for their Elite League teams will not all make the grade. Most likely, 75-80% of them will find their level is more Premier or National League but for the sake of progressing four or five decent talents a season, the fast track draft is an exciting development in British speedway. Sweden, too, is embarking on the same path, and Poland has been doing it for years. Are we late to the party? Yes. Is that a bad thing? Not if we do it right from now on. It's a massive positive and the majority of fans have treated it as such.

Now I hope you're feeling as positive as I am about British speedway in 2014, maybe we can address Sportowefakty's specific concerns?

*** Restrictive points limit: by this they mean any points limit, because the Polish EkstraLiga has just abandoned theirs for the 2014 season, leading to the ludicrous prospect of a Torun team (the very same club that walked out on the play-off final last year, incidentally) with Holder, Ward, Gollob, Sayfutdinov, and Miedzinski as their top 5. A points limit of any kind is essential when there is a league of unequals, financially-speaking, and while Poole have dominated in recent years (through fair means and foul) but 8 clubs have made the play-offs in the last 4 seasons (only Belle Vue, absent since 2005, have been truly cut adrift but hope springs eternal). Furthermore, despite some close calls, only one top flight club has closed down for financial reasons in the history of the Elite League - it remains to be seen what effect abandoning the points limit has in Poland at season's end...

*** Problems with stadium availability: I presume they mean we can't get together and agree on a single raceday for our league, ignoring two very good reasons why we probably wouldn't even if we could. Firstly, when would we have that raceday? Speedway was traditionally a weekend sport, with the top flight when I first started watching racing on Friday and Saturday (and two Monday tracks), but Sundays are the Polish raceday and the majority of Fridays and Saturdays taken up with FIM competitions. League speedway on any other night would be a non-starter, at least in my opinion. Secondly, Polish (and Swedish) clubs also seem content to promote only a handful of home meetings a season - a minimum of seven but scarcely many more - and that's because they are sporting clubs, and always have been/ By contrast, British speedway grew out of promoters (retaining the title) staging speedway for commercial gain, and to restrict them to a handful of meetings across a viable season of 7-8 months is folly (well, for anyone other than Bob Dugard). If clubs do have a problem with stadiums, it's that they are tenants, not owners, and this is something that needs to be addressed by all promoters (even those happy with their current arrangements, because things can change in a heartbeat) but I don't see it as a stick to beat us with. As I said, Poland is fortunate in that its culture is of providing municipal arenas for its sporting clubs - we no longer have that, if we ever had it at all...

*** Too many fixtures: the simple answer to this is, "for whom?" Because I don't know about you, but I want weekly speedway at my local track, and I'm fortunate enough - with the addition of National League speedway last season - to get it. Sportowefakty estimated a top racer would get 30 meetings in the UK (a very conservative estimate - upwards of 40, more like) and thus struggle to fit them in with the SGP, Poland, and Sweden. As I explained above, there's a good reason why we have so many fixtures - they expand to fill the calendar. There is the possibility that an Elite Elite League could be formed, with a handful of fixtures by a handful of teams, who run regular Elite League fixtures the rest of the time, but that plays into the hands of those looking to pick their meetings and all kinds of other associated issues.

*** Low salaries: clubs (should) pay what they can afford. If a rider wants more than they can afford, the club says no, or finds a sponsor willing to make up the difference. To inflate salaries to the level riders are getting in Poland, where there's no guarantee they'll actually receive it, is stupid. No, it's worse than stupid, it's suicidal. While their should be some wiggle room within a budget, to completely abandon it because riders can get more in another country is not the act of any competent promoter. Despite claiming their budget for 2013 was comparatively low, it was clearly more than Birmingham could afford, and the future of the club was at risk for nothing more than runners-up - best loser, as I call it. Far better to keep British speedway sensibly budgeted, and if that means paying far less than the fantasy speedway of the Polish leagues, so be it. Riders can still make a very good living from riding in Britain, and those that can't should perhaps consider whether "full-time speedway rider" is a title they can afford to give themselves. After all, when British speedway was at the top of the tree, in the 1960s and 1970s, only a handful of top flight riders in each team were full-time professionals...

*** A lack of stars: All but one of the 15 regular Grand Prix riders will ride in the EkstraLiga this season, with just 6 riding in the Elite League. However, all but two of those SGP riders have ridden in the EL in the past three years, and there are nine EL riders who have ridden as SGP regulars in that same time period. It's undoubted that certain SGP stars put bums on seats - witness the reaction to Emil Sayfutdinov's appearances for Coventry in 2011 - but equally the visits of Peter Karlsson, Przemyslaw Pawlicki, and Craig Cook will be just as keenly anticipated by EL fans this season. The concept of "stars", when you are dealing with a minority sport such as speedway, is entirely subjective - it shouldn't be beyond the ken of the collective brain of the BSPA to create new stars from the putty they have to work with, and the first step towards that is to stop fetishising those who, for whatever reason, we don't see every week.

There you have it. This year's reasons to be cheerful. British speedway isn't perfect but I'll take Birmingham versus Swindon over Torun versus Czestochowa any day (although Lakeside versus Eastbourne might be a different prospect...). If we had an equivalent of Sportowefakty (and how I wish we did!) I would like to think that we would be above taking potshots at our rival leagues. British speedway, despite what 18% of Sportowefakty's readers think, definitely does have class!

The Long Goodbye (and other things)

ITEM: If I felt anything towards Gary Havelock as a rider it was probably slightly negative. In my first full year following the sport, he was persona non grata, serving a ban for failing a drug test. I have no definite position on drugs in sport, and certainly not "social" drugs, although the effects of marijuana on the reactions of a speedway rider may be more serious than a footballer taking the same drug. When he returned, it was to a Bradford team I despised - mainly because their Odsal home was the last place a Bees team of that era would win away, and also because they employed Paul Thorp, the el-Hadj Diouf of speedway, and thus Havelock was tainted by association.

I didn't much care when he won the world title - that Bradford thing again, although a win for a Brit was as welcome as it was wasted - and as I drifted away from the sport in the mid-90s I didn't give him so much as a second thought. When I drifted back again, he was riding in the second division and not really forefront in my attentions and his career-ending crash, although serious, did not garner the headlines subsequent and similar events have. He has spent the last year stinking up the Brandon pits as the worst team manager in living history, and will get another chance to do that again this season. I've adopted an "ignoring the fact he's even there" approach to that, which is probably the only sane thing to do.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that I don't really care much for Gary Havelock one way or another, although I'm aware that there are those that do, on both sides of the moral spectrum. So the extreme reaction to the clash of his farewell meeting with a rearranged Elite Riders' Championship, mostly on the pro-Havelock side it must be said, is puzzling to me, especially given the bigger picture, and perhaps its worth looking at the whole situation point by point.

After a twenty-odd year career which was ended prematurely by injury, no-one could argue that Havelock doesn't deserve some kind of farewell meeting. What is odd is that he chose to have it at Poole, a club he hasn't ridden for (other than a handful of double-up appearances) in 12 years, and not at Redcar, where he spent the last 7 seasons of his career and a club connected to Middlesbrough, for whom he made his debut in 1985. You can only assume that, besides Coventry (where he is unlikely to find many sympathetic wallets), he picked the club with the biggest fanbase that he had some connection to, eager to maximise his revenues. Or maybe Poole are his favourite and best (which is a kick in the teeth for Redcar and Coventry fans!)?

Having accepted the validity of the meeting - if not the choice of venue - the date he picked was a good one, as shown by similar meetings being staged the next night (testimonials for Kylmakopi, Risager, and - initially - Korneliussen), and by the initial date chosen for the new curtain raiser to the Elite League season, the Elite Riders' Championship. A week before the Grand Prix riders leave for New Zealand, and with them eager for competitive action as a warm-up (I treat suggestions that they test engines in these meetings with the disdain they deserve), all the meetings staged that weekend should attract a smattering of top-line talent, and Havelock's was no different, with Holder and Ward accepting invitations to ride.

However, picking such an attractive date has worked against the riders staging meetings that weekend, with Mads Korneliussen moving his to the week before to avoid clashing with the ERC, and both Risager and Kylmakorpi's bound to be hit by the announcement of the International Cup at Kings Lynn (more on that later!). Havelock seemed to have escaped such trouble until Sky entered the fray, looking to launch their season of speedway with the ERC, showcasing the best of the EL and the best of the rest. You may have thought that the original Sunday afternoon staging would be a good time to show the ERC, but Sky - who, it has to be said, know more about these things than you or I - decided Friday night would be a better slot. This is the slot they wanted to move the Grands Prix to last season, and chose not to renew their deal when that proved impossible, so it's obviously something they've had their eye on for some time. There is also talk that they may be showing the International Cup (that again!) on the Sunday, but this is yet to be confirmed.

The choice between honouring Havelock's date and placating Sky TV should be simple, and in a perfect it would be - people over corporations every time. But the world we live in is far from black and white, far from simple, and there are so many things to be considered ahead of a straight, moral choice. Chief amongst them is money, and keeping Sky happy. If - and it's a massive if - Sky get the promotion and presentation of the ERC broadcast right, it should attract both TV viewers and fans through the turnstiles for the regular season, at all three levels. Even if they make a half-arsed job of it - and I'll leave it to you to decide how likely that is - there's still the not inconsiderable benefit of pleasing sponsors and keeping your key (only!) broadcast partner happy.

This puts the BSPA in an impossible situation - they're either going to disrupt the year-long planning of Havelock's farewell meeting or risk losing the positive benefits of staging the ERC in a prime-time Friday slot, with Sky (who picked the slot) keen to showcase what they've got to offer. If you think long-term (which they don't usually do), and with the benefit of the whole of the sport in mind (again, an unusual occurrence), it's upsetting Havelock and his fans every time - the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, despite the gutwrench I'm sure many at BSPA Towers felt when they realised the consequences for Havelock.

BSPA vice-chairman Jon Cook has gone on record - after initially blaming Terry Russell and Go Speed International for the clash - as saying they didn't realise just how much planning had gone into the meeting already and presumed that, with two months' notice, Havelock could move his meeting with little difficulty. There was also some chatter over the weekend that Russell assumed the date was free because Havelock's meeting, despite the advertising in the Speedway Star, had not been lodged in the draft fixture list he had possession of (it appears on the BSPA site but wasn't in the list published in the Star).

Whatever the reasons, the date for the ERC is now set, and the disruptive energy wielded by Havelock and his supporters would be better used trying to ensure that the transition to a new date, whenever that may be, is as smooth and as painless as possible. The power lies with the BSPA and if they decide to go in heavy-handed they can ensure that no meeting takes place on the same day as the ERC. For the moment at least, the BSPA have promised to aid the switch of Havelocks meeting, and I can imagine that, behind the scenes at least, there'll be some financial compensation agreed where necessary. What needs to happen now is for both meetings to go ahead with all the fanfare they deserve and for the schisms to be healed as best as possible. Speedway must come first and anything else is a distraction - its vital that this new Backing British era of the EL gets off to a good start and if Havelock can play a part in that I can think of no better legacy.

ITEM: So, as expected (and as blabbed by Matt Ford before Christmas) the Sky deal was renewed for another five years, which will see at least 25 live meetings beamed into your houses from Elite League (and the odd token Premier League) tracks from March to October. Added to Eurosport's 23 live presentations (SGP, SWC, SEC, and Best Pairs), this will see a record number of live speedway meetings available on satellite and cable TV (with the prospect of more should British Eurosport carry the Swedish Elitserien, as their European counterparts are).

There's also a little something else planned, which hasn't been trumpeted with quite the same gusto as the 5-year deal, which will see even more live speedway available for those who know where to find it. Go Speed International, representing the BSPA, have signed an agreement with At The Races (Sky's horse and dog racing arm) to present live and recorded speedway meetings from the Elite and Premier Leagues for the purposes of online and shop-based betting. The initial plan was for a live PL meeting every Saturday night, although that may have changed in the evolution of the deal.

One possible reason for the low key announcement of the deal - the BSPA's own site are still not carrying details and I don't expect the Speedway Star to this week, either - is that I believe they haven't as yet secured a partner for the deal that is willing to carry the pictures, although Bet365 are thought to be interested. Certainly, enquiries to insiders at William Hill and Ladbrokes turned up nothing, although commercial confidentiality could always account for that.

On the surface of it, it's not a bad idea. It can only enhance awareness of the sport amongst a new demographic (and the image of the traditional gambler is far from the truth these days, despite how alluring the idea of smoke-filled shops attended by the half-drunk dregs of society may be), and bring a new revenue stream into the coffers. Privately, there have been concerns expressed by some at the BSPA about getting into bed with bookmakers and what - real or imagined - effect that may have on race-fixing (the old adage of "you never see a poor bookmaker" has never been more true) but these have either been ignored or allayed.

The biggest positive is that it may prove that streaming is not only extremely do-able but also desirable for a sport which hasn't found the jump into the 21st century the easiest thing to do. According to those who handle such things, the revenue brought in by subscription streaming to British ice hockey clubs is not inconsiderable and would go some way to eating into the losses or - perish the thought - earning a profit for many a promoter, with those fans who do attend regularly unlikely to swap their fix of the sights, sounds, and smells of live speedway for sitting behind a computer screen.

This is a brave new world (at least for speedway, the rest of the sporting world have been wading in for some time) and any new approach to getting the unique appeal of our sport out to a wider audience has to be applauded. It's a brave move, that has accompanying risks and drawbacks, but we should encourage the enterprise at least. The betting industry is everywhere these days and if we can hitch a ride without selling too much of our soul we have everything to gain.

ITEM: That International Cup thingy, then! This is the mini-tournament that was proposed for Peterborough before the panthers withdrew from the Elite League, and was originally envisioned as having two Polish sides (Zielona Gora and one other) and two British sides (Peterborough and one other) facing off over a weekend at Alwalton. With Peterborough no longer in (nominally) the same league as the Polish champions, an alternative had to be found and so the idea has washed up at King's Lynn, on the weekend of March 22nd-23rd.

As well as Zielona Gora and the host club, also taking part are German side Wolfslake Berlin - the capital side have a talent-sharing agreement with the Polish champions, and both use the name Falubaz - and a select side, the make-up of which has yet to be announced. Details are scarce and contradictory at the moment, with the Saturday meeting either being two semi-finals (with the winners meeting on Sunday) or a four-team tournament (the top two sides of which will face off for the trophy the next day). With Zielona Gora having a squad much bigger than even a seven man team, you'd have to err on the side of the former, perhaps with Wolfslake absorbing the extra Polish teamsters.

As someone much quicker than I suggested on Twitter, the select side would seem to provide a perfect opportunity for an early-season get-together for TeamGB, with a seven-man team made up of established team members and promising youngsters selected to match an Elite League quality side. This would give Alun Rossiter an early look at his charges, given the lack of them at Swindon this year (and at Elite Shield opponents Poole), and a good run out for potential team members ahead of the SWC at Saddlebow Road in July.

There is also talk that the tournament - or at least the "final" on Sunday - will be shown on Sky, possibly in conjunction with a Polish broadcaster. Some have suggested this is why the ERC was moved to a Friday night, although Sky's schedules on Sunday afternoons are full of mainstream sport, and it's unlikely that even if room were to be found for speedway it would get much of a fanfare, certainly not that befitting a banner meeting. Still, as a curiosity, it might find its audience, and can only add to the rich tapestry of speedway on TV this year.

We're certainly not going to be short of curiosities this season, with a dozen testimonials and farewells taking place, as well as the usual assortment of challenges, individual meetings, pairs meetings, and four-team tournaments, which belies the usual wisdom that we're beholden to league speedway, I guess. Long may it continue, because if variety is the spice of life, speedway needs its seasoning!