Speedway for the layman + Aces to Crumple?

Here's a long overdue first on my United City blog, a post about one of the most exciting but most under-rated spectator sports in the UK, namely Speedway. As a sport I've fairly recently got into (thanks to Sky Sports it must be said), I think it's about time I write something to illustrate what I find so interesting about it.

To the uninitiated few this may at first seem like a strange 4 lap procession around a tiny and shabby looking track (often dog racing tracks!) on a motorbike that can't seem to go in a straight line. In reality the subtle skills of the riders, and their downright craziness in some cases, makes for some thrilling racing.

4 riders (2 from each team) line up on the starting line, the tapes go up and they jam their throttles open in a drag race to the first left hand corner. The leader through the first corner often wins so it's down to who keeps the bike on the deck and holds their nerve, whilst making a sliding turn and avoiding the barriers around the outside. With 3 points for a win, 2 for second and a single point for third, and 15 races in all, you can get some incredibly close matches, or absolute mismatches.

The way in which the British Elite league and the world championship work in parallel also makes for interesting sub plots throughout the season. The weekly rounds of the Elite league are usually weeknights, often Monday for Belle Vue, and then the world title rounds are Grand Prixes held across Europe at weekends - in the same way as Formula One.

A big issue for British Speedway is that we've not had a World Champion since Mark Loram in 2000. There are a few promising riders coming through, but the fact that not one Brit has qualified to automatically get a ride in the GP series next year doesn't bode well. There are a couple (Harris and Nicholls) who should get picked (much like the Ryder cup wildcards), but the situation needs to improve - it reflects badly on the UK as a Speedway competition.

This decline in British Speedway is highlighted in a recent piece of news affecting my local team. Manchester's Belle Vue Aces, the most famous name in the UK's Speedway competition. They've had some of the world's great riders in their side across the years, winning British titles and seeing their riders become World Champions.

The latest in the line of supremely talented riders to grace Belle Vue's stadium is the Australian Jason Crump. Twice world champion in his first spell with the Aces, Crump returned this year in time to prop up an ailing side which couldn't seem to put the same squad of riders out for 2 races on the bounce.

It's been announced that we won't be seeing Crump race in the UK Elite League next year, he feels he's racing too much (competing for teams in Poland and Sweden as well), and needs to cut down if he's to reclaim his World title. The fact that the UK ride is the one to jettison is a major blow for the Aces and British Speedway as a whole.

The Aces will have to build a stronger team now they don't have Crump to rely on for 12 points a meeting, and UK Speedway will have to work out how to claw back ground on the Scandinavian nations, (Denmark's Nicki Pedersen dominated the last 2 world championship GP series), and ensure that our stars have the opportunity to flourish on the world stage.

For what it's worth, from a personal perspective, I have no issue with Crump, he's a fantastic rider and seems a down to earth character, so will (hopefully) deservedly reclaim the title next year.

Cream floats to the top

It's still early in the autumn, but perhaps we've already seen one of the most important events of the season so far.

For the first time in a long time, Liverpool have started to do what Manchester United have managed for 15 years - to leave with something after a game they should lose.  Wigan today pushed Benitez's outfit probably as far as anyone they had faced thus far this season, and yet somehow the Reds left with the 3 points that everyone (myself included) had expected at start of play, despite twice trailing at home.

Is this the sign of a new mentally toughened Liverpool, and more importantly, realistic challengers for Big Phil's Chelsea to confront?  It does appear that the Blues have gone back to being the Mourinho style unstoppable juggernaut.  With Ronaldo out of the picture for a short time (thankfully) it does seem that United haven't quite clicked into gear yet, and the two title pretenders have taken a flying start.  Even if United win their game in hand following the inevitable crushing of WBA tonight (Rooney to bag a hatful anyone?), they'll still be trailing by 3 points at this early stage.

This should make for a fascinating autumn and winter, as the weather closes in and the pitches get heavy, we'll see if the likes of Deco and Bosingwa still look settled and whether Fergie's outfit do their usual winter charge.  I'm sure Scolari's approach won't change, he's far too canny a manager to start second guessing the conditions.  He's has taken Chelsea onwards without much of an overhaul, most managers would have given their right arm for the squad at Stamford Bridge, and he has quietly got on with things, taking the Blues to the top of the table with very little even making the news.  And Liverpool are finally (perhaps) living up to their star studded squad.  Another season of 3rd or 4th in the Premisership and Champions League qualification surely won't be tolerated by Anfield fans or board.

Anyway , it's all good news for the premiership - vive la difference!

The long road from Old Trafford to Townsville

As anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis will know, last Saturday saw my current favourite sporting event take place - The Superleague Grand Final at Old Trafford.

A terrific game in appalling conditions saw the Leeds Rhinos overturn the thrashing they'd received 2 weeks previously to record their first back-to-back championship in the Superleague era at the expense of a St Helens side who looked they'd played one game too many.

The significance of this game, and the reason for the title of this post, is that 15 of the 24 man England squad for the upcoming World Cup will be made up from players from these two sides. The remainder are a collection from Warrington, Hull, Wigan and one from Harlequins.

England's first World Cup game kicks off on 25th October, against Papua New Guinea in Townsville, home of the North Queensland Cowboys.  The RFL have arranged a warm up game against Wales on Friday night which coach Tony Smith agrees is a good sharpener for those members of the squad who've not played for a few weeks - actually only 9 players. 

The NRL Grand Final was also at the weekend, and the surprise winners, Manly, and finalists and former champions the Melbourne Storm, have only supplied 10 players to the Australian squad.   The first choice 17 will surely not include many of these players, as the Sea Eagles came from pretty much nowhere and the Aussie squad is fairly settled already.

Which raises the interesting question - will the best prepared team be the one who's had the most recent and arduous Grand Final, or the team that had the most players eliminated in the early rounds.  I'd suggest that a rest before the World Cup would be a good thing - but 6 or 7 weeks may be too much.  The battle hardened Englishmen have some gamebreakers, and some real in form players to rival the ageing Aussie stars, and a core of hungry new faces keen to prove their worth.

In that respect, I think England have never had a better chance to turn the Australians over on their own turf, and coupled with a weaker New Zealand, I might risk a few pence on Jamie Peacock's men to do something special.  Whatever happens, I can't wait.