BRITISH SPEEDWAY AGM

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- BRITISH SPEEDWAY AGM UPDATE
- BERWICK RACE ON
BRITISH SPEEDWAY AGM - FULL STATEMENT
MONDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2008
BRITISH Speedway enters its 80th anniversary of league racing with a clear and concise message:
"Our wonderful and exciting sport has built 80 years of heritage in the hearts of our nation, and we are pleased to be at the pinnacle poi nt of re-building its foundations to make for another 80 years and beyond of action where o ur aim is to capture the hearts of a new generation."
The British Speedway Promoters' Association, which as a group controls and runs league Speedway racing in the UK, has just returned from their annual AGM with firm plans in place which emphasise that the sport, once having a public image of being short-sighted, is now in actual fact in the middle of building and completing numerous long-term plans that will make it's 80th season the strongest in decades.
Elite League Speedway spearheads British racing for the TWELFTH consecutive season with nine clubs, featuring some of the world's best riders, competing on a weekly basis with matches being screened live across the world through an exclusive rights deal with Sky Sports.
The Elite League goes into the second year of a plan to re-build its strength from the ground up by increasing the average from last season at which they can build their team to.
Elite League spokesman Chris Van Straaten commented: "Our decision and faith to start the three year plan last season was endorsed by all the Promoters during a conference where one of our main concerns was to protect our fans and the sport from the effects of the current economic climate.
"We have also listened to the fans about the home advantage that previously existed i n the play-off semi finals, and we have some exciting news coming about a change to that, which will see home and away matches for everyone involved. One other improvement is that we may assign one of our team places to be shared by any two Premier League riders that have an average of 8 points or less."
For a TWELFTH consecutive season Premier League Speedway also returns. The second tier of British Speedway brings together all the nations of Great Britain with clubs such as Glasgow, Birmingham and Newport all competing.
The Premier League will have at least 14 teams competing with the successful takeovers of Berwick, Redcar and Newport all confirmed just before the conference, and the door has
also been left open until January 1st for a new club from the south of England to join subject to planning approval.
Premier League spokesman Alex Harkess is keener than ever for the season to get underway. He said: "Last year, the Premier League adopted the principle of the league play-off system to qualify for the promotion and relegation race-off, this provided the British public with one of the best and most climactic ends to the season the Premier League has ever seen. We are pleased to be keeping this for a second season and the foreseeable future.
"We have also taken a long-term view on building our teams, just as the Elite League did last season, and have therefore adopted a 3-year plan where the league is limited to a maximum of 16 teams and a team building average of 42.50 points is applied. This is a n
increase on last season's team building average and should please fans all over the country as it will give their team a chance of being stronger than ever before.
"We have also introduced a revolutionary new `Tactical Gates' system for trial in thi s years KO Cup competition. This gives the losing team the chance to select their gate positions on two separate occasions if they are behind by six points or more. It will be run in addition to the Tactical Ride rule but cannot be used at the same time."
One of the most exciting and positive moves for British Speedway this decade is the formation of the new National League. This will form the third tier of British Speedway and is aimed at producing young and talented riders that want to pledge their future to British Speedway.
The National League will be recognised by the association in a professional light with rules and regulations falling in line with the Premier and Elite Leagues, including the use of rider averages. The league boasts the inclusion of at least ten teams including former Premier League KOC champions, the Isle of Wight, plus Conference League champions, the Weymouth Wildcats and Conference League KO Champions, the Plymouth Devils. Former Management Committee member Dave Pavitt has been given the job of overseeing and managing the formation of the new league
He said: "This is great news for British Speedway, I have been chasing this dream for the last few seasons and it has finally been delivered. Fans will see a good value league that
will produce some of the world's top Speedway Stars.
"It will be run in a more professional manner then has ever been seen in the third ti er of British Speedway before, and I look forward to being able to confirm the teams that will be
competing in 2009 and publishing more detailed rules and regulations in January."
For a THIRD consecutive season, British Speedway's Super7even series, which groups together all of British Speedway's major events, has been given a big thumbs-up by all the promoters with events, dates and venues set to be announced in January.
One of the other big changes for British league Speedway is the introduction of a groundbreaking league points scoring system that will create the most exciting speedway meetings and league tables the sport has seen in its' 80 year history.
Last year, in an attempt to encourage teams to be built with more strength away from home and create more exciting matches, the aggregate bonus point was dropped in favour of rewarding teams with three league points instead of two for winning an away match. This worked well to an extent but was not perfect - some matches were still dead and buried by heat seven or eight, and teams simply gave up because there was no aggregate point to
worry about or race for.
This has been addressed with a league scoring system now in place that will reward a team for even getting within six points of the home team. In theory, this now means that even a
team that is losing a meeting by 18 points with only three races left can still turn the meeting around and salvage a league point. They could do this, for example, by using a tactical ride in Heat 13 and gaining a maximum seven-point heat advantage followed by two four-point heat advantages in Heats 14 and 15.
To counteract this, the home team's fans will also be watching on tenterhooks as thei r team will gain an extra league point if they can win the meeting by more than six points. A draw
will simply give the home team a single point - but the away team will get two.
NEW LEAGUE SCORING SYSTEM
Home loss by any amount of points 0
Home draw 1
Home win by between 1 and 6 points 2
Home win by 7 points or more 3
Away loss by 7 points or more 0
Away loss by 6 points or less 1
Away draw 2
Away win by between 1 and 6 points 3
Away win by 7 points or more 4
The promoters have also decided to give team managers more scope to pit their wits against each other and give the fans more to talk about. They have achieved this by requesting that the home team declares their team and riding order in writing to the away team manager, so he can decide how to structure his team to give him the best chance of securing points.
This may have sounded simple in the past as a team's two top riders were always placed at numbers 1 and 3, but this has now been changed with the only rider who is restricted to any place in the team being the top rider, who WILL ride at No.1. The other four main team members can be placed in any order, with the reserves still at numbers 6 and 7.
The British team manager and British Under-21 team manager positions have also been shortlisted, and all final nominations will be considered at greater depth before a final choice is made and announced in January. These will complement the already enhanced coaching and training system which was established last season.
Some other rule changes include the disposal of the `Tactical Substitute' rule which allowed a rider to come into a race from a 15-metre handicap and score double points. This has been replaced in favour of the more simple `Tactical Ride' rule which can now be used for a second time, but only when a team is 12 points or more behind their opponents.
The chairman of the British Speedway Promoters' Association, Peter Toogood, has a message for the fans of British Speedway.
He said: "I am delighted to have the privilege of being at the helm of British Speedway in its 80th anniversary season, and I plan to make it a special occasion for every fan.
"One of the plans we have, for example, is to send our special 80th Anniversary stand to a track each week throughout the season. This will be manned by some of the greatest riders
from over the eras and will give fans of young and old the chance to re-live some nostalgia.

"It actually feels like years of hard work and lessons for everybody have finally paid off, and we now have a sport which will make big strides in a year where most other sports will struggle. I can say this with confidence because Speedway is a good value entertainme nt package for the whole family. In times where the economy is struggling, people look to be entertained for a reasonable price and that is where we score so highly. Our sport is great value with most clubs even offering free entry for children.
"We are able to do things like this because we started to take control of our costs last year where most other professional sports went the other way and actually allowed them to spiral out of control. I do hope that even if the big Grand Prix stars choose not to ride he re in the UK then the fans will appreciate the reason why, and in actual fact I do believe this could be a good thing as it we will create a new breed of superstars as a consequence.
"So the 2009 season opens on Sunday 15th March and I hope to see you all turn out in force to support your favourite team in what promises to be the most dynamic and exciting season we have ever seen..."
2009 ELITE LEAGUE TEAMS
Belle Vue, Coventry, Eastbourne, Ipswich, Lakeside, Peterborough, Poole, Swindon,
Wolverhampton
2009 PREMIER LEAGUE TEAMS
Berwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, King's Lynn, Newcastle, Newport, Redcar, Rye
House, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Somerset, Stoke, Workington + 1 more
Summary of major changes in British Speedway for 2009
* Groundbreaking new league points scoring system.
* Formation of new 3rd tier of speedway which will be known as the National League.
* 39.90 points limit for Elite League and 42.50 for Premier League.
* Tactical Gate rule for Knock Out competitions in all leagues.
* Disposal of 15 metre Tactical Replacement rule. One Tactical Ride remains for a team
losing by ten points or more and a second has now been added which can be used if a
team losing by twelve points or more.
* Elite League teams may utilise one team place to be shared by any two riders contracted
to a Premier League team with an average of 8 points or less.
* A team's highest-averaged rider must always ride at No.1 in the team, while riders averaged from second to fifth can be placed in any order in the remaining positions of the
team. The two lowest averaged riders will remain at numbers 6 and 7.
* A home team must declare their team formation to the visiting team first.
* The Premier Trophy will be split into a North and South group with seven teams in each.
* Promotion and Relegation race-off will remain.
* Premier League's play-off system will remain the same while the Elite League have
adopted a new play-off system (more details to follow soon).
* New National Senior and Junior team managers to be announced in January.
* Super7even to continue for a third year, events and venues to be confirmed in January.

HALLOWEEN HANDICAP at Weymouth
1. Matthew Wright
2. Lee Smart
3. Terry Day
? British Speedway Promoters' Association | Site Design and Production AP Media
3 of 3 17/11/2008 11:43

rayjay2

at first some of it might seem complicated , but some solid sensible thinking has gone into this . great to see the riding up / riding down aspect back , notably as in the elite the opening is in the top 5 presumably though this is not mandatory.there were some in the premier , as well as woffinden , last season that did very well . suppose if both candidates were not available then there will be common sense alternatives . first time for many seasons i am impressed , will make the 6 and 7 positions even more vital .

speedy dan boy

it will be interesting to say the least!!! my maths was never very good ,so hope the man on the mic keeps us informed!! refs will have to be on the ball as well!! As for attracting new fans what will they think,at least they will be in the same boat as us!!!regarding the new rules!!!

MrB

On the face of it some good ideas but the only thing I will say is new people to the sport always say the rules are hard to understand and now they just got more so! Confused

parker

So when is the "exciting news" being released...

With 6 teams now in the playoffs 67% of the league can still be crowned champions regardless of how far they from top they finish their league fixtures
A points system which we need an A level in maths to understand
Why you have to ask yourself were there no teams from the PL busting a gut to join the Elite League... sinking ship maybe
Looks to me that the promoteres went on a bender in Spain and made up this nonsensical claptrap on the plane back. Do they really think that these changes are going to turn around speedway.
Maybe instead of looking forward to "new and exciting times" they should have looked back several years and see what was successful then before they started tinkering with the sport.

MrB

parker

Kevin54

2 good posts there Parker, all I can see is yet more tinkering with a flawed system, just think, we could have been league champions if this had been in place this season Shocked

And can someone explain the statement following the Elite League Promoters meeting regarding "drastic changes" that were to be implemented due to the dire financial situation the sport in this country is in?

Not to dire to stop them clattering off to Spain Exclamation

Now, when is Bob going to make his delayed announcement?

parker

Posted on the British Speedway Forum

" So I go to work Monday morning after the Eagles 45pts-Poole 45pts"

"How did you get on Saturday?"

" Well we drew but lost "

"What do you mean was there two matches?"

"No it was the same meeting meeting but we drew it and lost 2-1"

Someone then replied

"Surely you could explain the missing point by saying the night before you rode an away meeting and lost but still got 1pt for losing" Laughing

Magic!!!

speedy dan boy

can the meetingstill be declared a result at heat 12 if the track is unfit for racing?!!The way i see it a lot of meetings might have to be re run as sides will still be in with of chance of winning!!!

GazzaH

What price next year guys that they scrap all this and revert back to the bonus point being implemented. That was always the thing about speedway in days gone by, it was simple enough to understand. Why oh why these fools feel it necessary to tinker with ...what was a very simple points scoring system I will never know.

Eagle1971

The BSPA just don't care about old crumblies like myself. It used to be a 50pts team limit and just 2pts for a win. Now you have to go to university before you can follow speedway. Confused

Kevin54

Well. this is a recipe for dumbing down, with 6 teams now all in with a chance to attain the mantle of "Champion", why bother to strive to be the best?

You can finish 6th, 20 points behind the top team, you may not have won any matches away from home, lost 4 or 5 at home.

Then, somehow, get the luck in the play-offs', scraped through to the final and hit a purple patch and won.

Welcome to the warped mind of "Elite" league promoters!!

rayjay2

no wonder we are all critical of the extended run-offs . only sky will want that , it is nothing but an embarassing farce , and makes a mockery of the sport . they don't have play-offs at all in the top division of british football, we never needed it in our elite league , especially with so few teams . could never tell an outsider about this --- embarassing --- again !!!! as for the points , i actually thought initially it seemed reasonable then the more i thought about it and other posts i read i think all that was needed was the bonus point back . it is far to complicated . but then " they" did away with it . they have lost the plot again , have they never heard of moderation and common sense , now this goes beyond " tinkering " . when first reading the start of their report i was actually impressed , then it turned into " alice in wonderland " .

MrB

I must admit some of the ideas I think are OK. ie bringing back doubling up, the tactical gates and maybe the riding order freedom in the 2-5 posistions but the points system is just too complex ok they are trying to make for closer meetings but why not just bring back the bonus point. Then we have the playoffs, if you thought it was a farce before its now just become a money making exercise AND a farce with 2/3 of the teams now involved! And they have yet to explain the handicap system Shocked

GazzaH

Additionally, there was a massive elephant in the hotel room at this years conference, Cookie touched on it earlier on in the season. This was in relation to the impact the circus currently known as the GP's was having on all of the British Leagues.....oooh do you remember that...the ol BL days...ace. This was somehow overlooked and what we have been presented with essentially is all froth and no substance.

I think very strong decisions were required to be made but never addressed. Sky's money may have been a factor, but that is a very short term view. Can the leagues survive without any GP riders involved should have been considered. Okay its not the Elite League as we know it, and currently the BSPA would struggle to market it as such, but mark my words, if you get tracks riding most nights of the week like they were in the 60's -70's it wont be long before the riders in this country would once again be the sharpest in the world and the UK will once again be the place to cut your teeth. If you look long term and see what clubs are trying to get back in ...the Exeters - Cradley - Leciester etc support these clubs and very soon that would once again become a reality.... rant over....for the mo.

parker

Eagle1971

[quote="parker"][ When you think that the team we started and finished last season with its average would be to high for the new increased average of 39.90 so again the standard is being diluted still at "Elite" admission prices. Its that sort of things they should have attempted to addressed. How to get the punters back./quote]

I completely agree with you on that point Parker.We carried James all last season to make the averages fit. Who's going to have to do it at seven this year?
I also think that by making both semi-finals over two legs will keep it interesting in the second half of the season for more teams. However, teams can be redeclared and the team finishing fourth, maybe well off top place in the end, could win it and I'm not sure that that is creditable in a league of nine? But hey it's good for Sky TV coverage Laughing

Lastly, the switching of gate postions if you get behind. Are we going to end up with someone like Lee Adams finishing up with lots of 18 pts maximums because he has four or five rides off gate 1 and a struggling number seven taking four or five rides off gate 4?
These new rules always seems to go wrong because no one really thinks them out.

The winners are those who watch the the Grand Prixs and Monday night Sky matches.
The losers are those who pay at the turnstiles to watch live Elite League racing once more.

ashfordeagle

With 4 points available for an away win, it will keep the league running up to the last week of the season.
One team could have 3 away fixtures in the last week and pick up 12 points. Again all done with Sky sports in mind.

The league play-off should be for the top two only (home and away), not a team who is finishing 4th, 5th or 6th.

We have a great sport but with complicated rules for the majority to follow, let alone new-comers.

nug

Eagle 1971, the switching of gates if behind is only to be used in the ko cup if your team is 6 or more behind and can only be done twice.

parker

Eagle1971

emjay

Can you believe the drivel in the opening paragraph. " 80 years of heritage in the hearts of the nation. " We aim to capture the hearts of a new generation" The sangria must have been flowing pretty well by the time that was penned.
Recession, more and more unemployed, prices rising, less disposable income for those in work, lots of clubs losing money. None of this received even a passing mention. It beggars belief. I could go on, but I see there is football on the telly. Better to watch that than discuss the rubbish that came out of the AGM.

MrB

You never know maybe admission prices will fall Exclamation