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!