ITEM: I have a friend who is into conspiracy theories. I mean really into them. Not quite to the level
of Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory or
David Icke, but he still believes that nothing is quite as it seems, and who am
I to disagree with that? I spent some time with him last week, and around the
same time something happened in speedway that I thought might be fun to
approach from his world view. So here it is, speedway’s X-Files…
Until the middle of
last week, Nick Morris wasn’t a Swindon rider.
Due to the colossal clusterfunk over Brady Kurtz’s starting average, he had
found himself out of a Premier League job at Somerset, and with the only PL club able to accommodate
him racing on the same night as the Robins, he’d served notice that he wanted
to leave the Abbey Stadium.
At that time it
looked very much like he would be going to Sheffield – the aforementioned
Thursday PL club – and doubling-up with Leicester, the only Elite League club
with space for him, an arrangement which suited everyone except Swindon, who seemed to have been outmanoeuvred by the
rider and his advisors.
Now here’s where
serendipity comes into play. Swindon had
chosen, as part of the fast track draft of young British reserve riders in the EL,
Steve Worrall and Josh Bates. Many had criticised the choices, believing that
it had left them weaker than some of their rivals. It would turn out, however,
to be an accidental stroke of genius…
Josh Bates is from Barnsley,
in south Yorkshire. He expressed doubts over
the distance he’d have to travel to Swindon (180
miles – although he seemed entirely comfortable with the 150 miles to
Mildenhall), and asked to move to a club closer to home. Swindon, in an
entirely altruistic move, released Bates from his obligation, and from the fast
track draft, allowing him to join Sheffield. The
Robins will now have to pick a replacement from those left over from the draft
(Daryl Ritchings, Ben Hopwood or Dan Greenwood) or from those with an NL
average below Bates’s 7.49 (Liam Carr or Tom Young, most likely).
On the surface of
it, it looks like Swindon have done a young British lad a solid, hurting their
own chances of success in the process, and perhaps co-promoter Alun Rossiter’s
new role as TeamGB manager played a part in that. But let’s enter the shadowy
world of conspiracies for a moment, shall we, and see what we come up with…
Josh Bates is not
just local to Sheffield, his grandfather is a member of the (still unannounced
publicly) consortium that have taken over at the south Yorkshire
club, and in a perfect world they’d have named Bates as a team member for their
predominantly British side. One problem – that shared race night with Swindon, and the contract that Bates signed with the BSPA
promising to honour whichever EL club he was drafted by. Without Swindon’s
agreement, there was no way Bates could have ridden for the Tigers, but do we
honestly think – with our Fox Mulder heads on – that the Robins would do that
with nothing in return?
Coincidentally, at
the same time Sheffield signed Bates, they ended their interest in Nick Morris,
leaving him with no reason to leave Swindon,
who have insisted that he is going nowhere and remains a fundamental part of
their team and, as an asset, future plans.
So far, so simple,
and really not much of a conspiracy, more a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch
yours” arrangement, the like of which I’m sure are carried out up and down the
country in this great (under-investigated) sport of ours. But what if you look
a little deeper, and look at what else might have happened, installing
Sheffield promoter David Hoggart as a shadowy figure, akin to the X-Files’ Cigarette Smoking Man.
Hoggart, as well as
part of the consortium that runs the Tigers, is a member of the BSPA management
committee, the go-to cabal that officiates over the finer details of the sport.
One decision they’ve had to make in recent days – and it’s still not been
announced just how they’re going to go on this one – is whether to allow Jason
Doyle to ride in the UK this year on a different type of visa to those usually
used by Australian speedway riders. Doyle, as has been documented, is unable to
secure the usual visa, and the tier 5 visa is his last chance to take his place
in the EL with Leicester.
Doyle has also got
a contract with Somerset
in the PL, and without the BSPA accepting his tier 5, he will also be unable to
ride there. Having released Nick Morris earlier in the winter (as explained
above), you’d imagine that – should Doyle fail in his application – Morris would
be top of their list to replace him. It certainly wouldn’t be beyond my pal’s
conspiracy-riddled imagination to make a leap there. Could Doyle be sacrificed
to enable Morris to double-up with Swindon and Somerset? Would Hoggart abuse his power on
the MC to help out the Robins, as payback for allowing them to take Bates?
Of course not! That
would be ridiculous, and I only mention it out of a sense of fun, and as an
example that, while they remain a shadowy cabal, their decisions obfuscated by
a cloud of (cigarette?) smoke, the BSPA MC (and the SCB, with whom they share
members) will always be open to such madness, along with other, more believable
accusations. We’ve cried out for openness for so many years, and it doesn’t
look like coming any time soon, despite an increased level of communication
with the fans over the winter. Maybe one day, maybe one day…
Afterword: When I
told my friend of my application of his usual nonsense to this situation, he
thought of something further (and even more steeped in paranoia), that could
also have gone down in the secret bunker miles beneath ACU House… The BSPA MC was
given the responsibility of deciding between Alun Rossiter and Phil Morris for
the TeamGB job. The early indications were that the two EL promoters on the
committee favoured Rossiter, while the three
PL promoters had plumped for Morris. In the process of the vote, one of the PL
promoters seemingly switched his vote to Rossiter, and he was duly named
national manager. What if, suggested my friend, that PL promoter was Dave
Hoggart? Don’t mind my friend, though, he’s crazy…
ITEM: OneSport, the Polish marketing company behind speedway’s
European Championship, also dipped their toe into the Pairs arena last season,
with a one-off Eurosport Best Pairs meeting, held at Torun. The meeting was beset by problems,
notably the mixed Slovakia-Slovenia pairing and the broadcast delay while some
meaningless tennis match finished up, but was enough of a winner for all
parties to do it all over again this year.
Buoyed by the success
of the four-round European Championship, OneSport have expanded the pairs into
a three-round affair, held early in the season to ensure maximum availability,
and staged in Sweden and Germany, as well as Poland. Although it is not an
official FIM competition (or even an FIM-Europe backed championship – they run
their own pairs competition), the line-up is expected to be strong, with all
the major speedway nations represented. Except one.
The BSPA have declined
to send a pairing, and forbidden (although I’m sure that’s too strong a term)
British riders from taking part unofficially. This robs the series of having the
World Champion lining up, and also prevents our boys from earning some quick
cash and the experience of further international competition.
I’m sure the BSPA
have very good reasons for opting out. The three dates are held on two Fridays
and a Saturday while the EL is in full swing, and clubs would have no facility
to replace riders taking part. There is also a reluctance to countenance
further intrusions into the British speedway calendar, with the SGP series,
SWC, and other assorted official FIM competitions already causing terrible
disruption to our season – being seen to approve of the FIM-Europe, and further
unofficial competitions, would be a stretch too far. There is also the thorny
issue of recompense – the BSPA and its member club wouldn’t receive a penny
from the series and, if they aren’t obligated to do so by the FIM, can be
forgiven for thinking with their wallets.
However, if you
look a little deeper, there really aren’t all that many reasons why they shouldn’t
have approached it with a little more enthusiasm, and sent a pairing out to
each meeting, without too much disruption to the calendar.
The first event, on
March 28th, clashes with just one EL fixture – Poole’s visit to Lakeside – and so only Richard Lawson and Lewis Bridger
would be unavailable. Even if you allow for the two EL fixtures on Saturday 29th,
in case of flight problems, a pairing of Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls would
be available, and I’d dare say acceptable to the organisers.
The next date, May
10th, is held at the same time as Poole’s visit to Eastbourne, and Leicester a round of the World Under-21 Championship. With
Poland
in full swing by that point, there are no clashes the next day, and so a
full-strength British pairing would be available, including world champion Tai
Woffinden, perhaps with Chris Harris. For the final event, held on May 23rd,
only Coventry and Eastbourne are in action,
although the next day also sees Swindon, Lakeside, Poole, Leicester, and Birmingham in EL
competition. Still, a pairing of Woffinden and Nicholls could still take part
with no issues.
Availability still
leaves the thorny issue of supporting a competitor, with the televised rounds
on Eurosport eating into attendance figures, and approving their position in
the international calendar eating away at available weekend fixture slots. Like
Canute ably demonstrated to his subjects, you can’t fight the impossible, and
with European competition law firmly on the side of self-employed speedway
riders, there is only going to be one winner when it comes to clashes like this
down the line. The individual federations could come down heavy on their
license holders, but they are as likely to find European law on restraint of
trade standing in their way (and an exodus of speedway riders to ride on a Luxembourgish
license to boot). Thinking creatively, rather than hiding one’s head in the
sand, is always the way to approach these problems.
Although the Best
Pairs – and the European Championship, and SGP, and SWC – eat into the
finances, attendances, and rider availability of British speedway, they are all
also shown on (practically) free-to-air television in the UK. Just as
other forms of entertainment rely on other people’s TV as free advertising, so
too should the BSPA. They should take a, “like those riders you see on
Eurosport? You can see them LIVE at your local track!” approach, and other such
tactics. Working with OneSport and
Eurosport, and their dedicated English-language commentary team, could pay off
down the line, with choice fixtures trailed as part of an agreement for British
riders taking part, for instance.
I wrote recently
that the new TeamGB manager needed to ape what other, successful nations are
doing, and having their top riders ride in a competitive international series
of meetings like the Best Pairs is certainly one of those things. There needs
to be a longview
taken, with the benefits of having Danny King, Richie Worrall, and others on
the cusp of the SWC side, taking part in these meetings, if we are going to
succeed at international level once more. I’m not sure if it’s too late to
change their minds, but I’d urge the BSPA to rethink on this one, and when I
tune into Eurosport on March 28th (although more likely watch it the
next day, having recorded it while I’m out at speedway) I’d like to see two
riders wearing the Union Jack. Make it so.
ITEM: It’s curtains, then, for the Isle of
Wight, at least for the 2014 season. At a meeting last week,
attended by just 53 of the 200 shareholders, they voted 45 to 8 not to enter
the National League this season, and so eighteen seasons of speedway have come
to an end on the island.
There are appears
to be some conflict between the shareholders, with the chairman of a speedway
club seemingly not keen to run speedway, but the truth seems to be that passion
for the Islanders is more keenly felt by those who visited as away fans than
those on the island. Although the task of raising £20,000 for an air-fence was
a daunting one, it wasn’t impossible, and it seems to be the dwindling
attendance figures that have put the club into (hopefully temporary) dry-dock.
Whatever the ins
and outs of the decision, it can’t be left to stand, at least not completely.
Entering a team into the National League at this late stage, and with an
already shallow pool at the top end of that level of rider, would have been
difficult, and Scunthorpe’s late entry has been undertaken on the understanding
that they will field an initially weak side to bring through talent from their
training school. As a second team, with the support of an Elite League team
(ironically the Isle of Wight’s closest EL
team…), they can afford to do that. To attempt that on the island would risk
further diluting their already low gates, and so it’s a non-starter.
But it needn’t be
the end of speedway on the island. We’ve seen on so many occasions that one
year out of the sport turns into two, and then three, and then forever. Speedway has never
enjoyed the best of relationships with its neighbours, and a discontinuation of
the sport at Smallbrook would be fuel for the fires of those annoyed by a
minimum amount of noise on a dozen evenings a year, the big twats.
Last year the
Southern Track Riders held a successful amateur event on the island, and I’m
sure that all concerned would be keen to do it again. Amateur events, and
training days, do not require an airfence under the current SCB regulations,
and so the initial outlay for that piece of equipment can be discounted from
the cost of continuing speedway. Currently, there are only a handful of tracks
that allow amateur racing to take place, and that number dwindles during the
speedway season. The addition of the Isle of Wight to their number, on five or
six occasions during the season, would enhance those opportunities, especially
for southern-based amateurs, and the cost of the ferry to the island would be
offset by the difference in fuel to Ryde and Scunthorpe
or Northside.
It also might be
desirable for training schools to be held at the track, to try and entice some
of the locals into trying the sport, making it cheaper to enter a team in
league competition in future years. If those training schools were overseen –
or even visited – by ex-Islanders, such as former World Champion Chris Holder,
the opportunities for positive news stories and
raising some much-needed cash for the club open up.
Furthermore, it is
not impossible to consider that the club might loan an airfence for a handful
of professional meetings, held during the summer season, whether it be team
challenges or open meetings. The BSPA might even like to support such an
endeavour to test whether there is an appetite for non-league speedway at
venues that cannot support a full season, to strengthen the sport beyond its
league-centric current outlook.
I hope that something
happens. The opportunities for speedway to continue is some form, while not endless are certainly considerable. It takes
some forethought and, yes, a little bit of cash to make it happen but we can’t
afford to lose another track, let alone one as unique as Smallbrook. Besides,
it keeps Bryn Williams out of trouble, and that’s invaluable!
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