Current Issues Part 2

Looking at Medical Cover, Rain Off's, Rider's Doubling Up and Guesting for other clubs. This is Part 2 of 4 looking at Current Issues.

Medical Cover 

Let's get one thing clear; Speedway is extremely dangerous. In the '40s and '50s, there was a death nearly every year. Norwich's Fir Stadium saw four riders killed in 4 years from track related incidents in the late '40s to early '50s. Speedway has become far safer in the modern age, mainly due to the invention and mandatory implementation of air fences, but it would be prudent for us not to get complacent. The Bikes are much faster, and Rider safety must be Priority one at every speedway match. The medical cover forms a big part of safety criteria. 

Crashes at Speedway are an inevitability. All it takes is a rider to clip a wheel at the wrong moment, and carnage ensues even on the safest and most well-prepared track. Now and again, we see a crash that reminds us just how much riders put on the line every time they go out on the circuit. When these crashes do happen, the question is, what happens then. Thankfully, the ambulance does come onto the track most of the time, and the rider can walk back, but occasionally, it's a bit more severe, and the ambulance needs to take the fallen rider to the hospital. The incident is rarely bad enough to abandon the meeting, so how do we keep the crowd engaged when these delays occur? Even better, how do we reduce the delay time without compromising on priority one, rider safety? Delays due to injuries aren't exclusive to Speedway. It happens at British Superbikes, and it happens at MotoGP; it also happens at Motocross.

I went to 20 matches this season, and I encountered lengthy delays at 4 of them out of those. King's Lynn when Rory Schlien was injured, delays at Poole because of a hole on bend 3, delays at Birmingham when Stefan Nelson hit the deck and Isle of Wight when Ruth Holder Smith was injured in a nasty tumble on the straight. None of the crashes I saw was due to conditions, and they were racing incidents. Going on the matches, I attended this season, there's a 20 per cent chance we could have a delay. We know this, but we haven't taken meaningful steps to address the issue to this day. 

Rain Offs 

I'm talking about Speedway in England, and in England, it rains, it rains a lot! Speedway isn't the only sport that's vulnerable to the elements. Lower league football often suffers rain offs and frozen pitches in the winter months. In 2018, the British Moto Grand Prix was rained out, but the best comparison is cricket, as the sport is severely vulnerable to wet weather like Speedway. 

Sadly, like to medical cover, this has been a glaring, ever-present issue with no consistent solution across the league. In 2021, 2 of the playoff matches scheduled for tv got postponed due to rain. Consequently, both legs of Belle Vue and Sheffield's playoff matches didn't get screened on TV. The entire season builds up to the playoffs that are designed with TV in mind, and one semi-final didn't get shown! People often complain that Speedway running in October is the issue, and analysis of rain-fall date shows October is by far the wettest month. 

The other problem is the considerable toll rain-offs take on the fans, especially travelling supporters. I'm sure every supporter reading this can relate, I made the trip to Leicester v Edinburgh in May only to watch the heavens open, and the track became suitable for jet skiing within 15 minutes. 240-mile round trip to watch the riders walk around the track! That's tame, in comparison to some. The Edinburgh fans also made the trip to Leicester that day. That's a long journey for nothing!

People want an element of certainty when they do things. Especially now, the free time people have and the hobbies they get to follow come at a premium. Providers of modern entertainment must find what brings punters to them. They have to identify what is considered good value by the masses and deliver that, but if they're going to choose Speedway, it has to come with some certainties, certainties it presently can't provide.

Doubling Up

Rider's Doubling up in the Professional Leagues is possibly the issue fans are most vocal about, and It's understandable. I didn't have an issue with doubling up when it was first introduced, but it's no longer doubling up as time's gone on. It's doubling down, sideways, up, all over the place! The original concept was to give riders more time on the bike to earn a living and fast track their experience path. In the end, we had (and still have) riders representing two professional clubs and a national league side simultaneously. 

Speedway has always been a different sport to most. Riders can ride in other leagues across Europe whilst competing in the British League. People generally don't have an issue with riders doubling up with foreign clubs but riding for 2 British clubs is observed differently. Doubling isn't inherently a new issue. In the 1970s, doubling up existed amongst reserves in the top fight, but we didn't have stiff European competition to consider at the time. 

Doubling up doesn't have much relevance when marketing the sport to new people trying it out. Still, it's tough to attract new 'fans' when their riders represent two professional teams in Britain. The reality is, doubling up devalues the topflight. The entire premiership-winning team in 2021 represent other sides in the championship. Bjarne Pedersen – Plymouth, Hans Andersen – Leicester, Chris Harris – Birmingham, Scott Nicholls – Kent, Ulrich Ostergaard – Glasgow, Jordan Palin – Scunthorpe & Michael Palm Toft – Redcar. It removes all perceived value from the second division, and it dissolves actual value from the premiership. 

The skills gap between Premiership and Championship is no longer present. Added to this, the skill gap between National League and Championship is too high! National Development League heat leaders often struggle in the championship, but they are dominant in the development league because the bar for entry is lower than in the last decade. 

I don't for a minute blame the riders. They are making a living from Speedway, most of the riders who double up are still competent riders but either doesn't have the resources or are not at the calibre required for an International league. Doubling with European clubs is seen as an accepted practice and is the best way for the riders to earn the big money they deserve. Be that as it may, If Speedway is to be taken seriously in Britain, we must resolve the issue of doubling up.

Guest Riders 

Guesting is a weird one, and I often feel conflicted about it. On the one hand, I understand the concept as it keeps matches competitive when top riders are missing, whilst giving the guest a chance to earn a few extra quid whilst saving promotors money on squad systems. I probably don't pay as much attention as I should because I've grown up with guests being the norm, so it doesn't stick out as a significant issue. The truth is guests massively undermine the competitiveness of speedway teams. It makes a mockery of fan loyalty towards their riders, making Speedway very hard for people outside its circles to take seriously.

In 2017, I took a friend to the Knockout Cup final at Peterborough who faced Ipswich. Jack Holder was injured for the Panthers so we watched Scott Nicholls guest, and score 12 paid 13 for Peterborough against the Witches in the first leg. The Panther won by 4 points, so we decided to go to Ipswich for the second leg. We then watched Scott Nicholls score 13 for Ipswich against the Panthers in the same final! It completely devalued the final, the Witches drew the home leg, so Peterborough won the Knockout Cup. Scott Nicholls ended up on the losing side even though he was on the other side four days earlier!

If the British League is to be taken seriously amongst general sports aficionados, the 'guest facility' will need looking at, and eventually, phasing out.