Why 10 teams?

Kimbo wrote:

FHLH wrote:

Speedway has English & Scottish teams - albeit Premiership is all English

Great night out

First meeting I ever went to (and still have the prog for) was a double header: Bees vs Exeter and Bees vs Glasgow, but that was way back in the mid sixties.

Brandon Stadium is sadly missed.

Yeah I was a regular at Coventry, sad to see the stadium like it is now. I do go when I can to other tracks nearby. Be great to see some of the old teams comeback but costs and popularity will stop that for most nowadays Unhappy

Kimbo wrote:

Can't bring myself to go anywhere else Rich.

I see Oxford have risen phoenix like from the ashes. Mid you, it probably helped that their stadium was just sitting there derelict waiting for someone to do something with it.

keep the faith

Camquin wrote:

Lucky some developer had not turned it into a distribution centre or offices.

From memory it was a rare case where the speedway and dog track closed down but the council held their nerve.

The owners came back with proposal after proposal for the site, all of which were rejected. In the end, and well over a decade after the site had closed, it came into the possession of someone who has brought back speedway and is bringing back the dogs imminently. But how often does a council stonewall a developer for 10+ years?

keep the faith

And Reading shut quite locally (dogs and speedway) meaning fans/riders from there available as well

JohnLowe wrote:

As someone who has little or no interest in any form of motor sport, can we get back on topic please!

I’m surprised that nobody has commented on Judge Jeff Blackett’s thoughts on the future of rugby union. I was particularly interested in his thoughts about giving extra funding to the Championship by saving on executive salaries at Twickenham!!!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2023/06/19/jeff-blackett-rfu-independence-diversity-cost-english-rugby/

Are you able to paste the whole article?

As the article is behind a pay wall, we cannot see the body of the article

Onward and Upwards C'mon Donny!

I get a 404 error.

"What I need is a strong drink and a peer group"

"Blackett’s blueprint includes efficiency savings at Twickenham – including reducing executive staff by around 20 per cent – in order to “properly fund” the second-tier Championship as well as re-employ rugby development officers lost to previous cuts to help support and promote the grass-roots game. “There is money, it is about allocating it differently,” he added. “Money needs to be ring fenced for the community game.

“The aim should be to allocate 70 per cent (of expenditure) to elite rugby and 30 per cent to community rugby.”

Our City,
Our Club

Camquin wrote:

it used to be 50/50.

I think 70/30 is a good split. The community could do an awful lot with 70% of the funds.

When reading the BBC Sport page about Jersey Reds.

Discussions with investors didn’t work.

Who will invest in a Championship Club, when potentially it might not get a franchise for the second tier.

RFU board if you have a shred of decency. Resign.

How the hell is game going to develop when you change the goalposts every few years. Who is going to invest money in September, then despite success find you are tier 3 next season?

Looking forward to new beginnings.