This winter, the major talking point in British speedway has been the withdrawal of Coventry and Peterborough from the Elite League. The speedway public know very little about what actually went on at the BSPA conference in mid-November. What we do know is that Coventry and Peterborough left the conference without declaring their interest in running in 2011. Why they left is not clear. In the aftermath, there have been a couple of official statements from both, the latest indicating that Coventry are taking legal advice, but are seeking to negotiate with the BSPA.
There has been much speculation on the British Speedway Forum about the background, but it's hard to see the wood for the trees with the quantity of posts. It sometimes feels like some posters are trying to distract readers from the real issues.
So, what are the real issues? In 2010, Coventry introduced Przemyslaw Pawlicki on an assessed 4.00 average. Based on his performances, his average would have increased when it was recalculated after 12 matches. However, he didn't make 12 matches, not in the league anyway. After 11 matches, his average was 6.19, but he stayed on 4.00, which put him at reserve for the play-offs. In the second leg, he top-scored with 16, which played a major part in Coventry's victory over Poole. At the start of 2011, under the existing rules, Pawlicki would have remained on 4.00. It is rumoured that, at the BSPA conference, it was proposed to re-evaluate Pawlicki's average based on the 11 matches. Obviously, Coventry had based their teambuilding on Pawlicki's average remaining at 4.00.
Elite League teams have always snapped-up the rising stars from the Premier League. It has always been something of a gamble, as it can never be certain that a rider will make the leap. Timing is important, as it is of benefit to sign a rising star before his Premier League average gets too high. The conversion rate has always been 50%. However, it was rumoured that the rate was going to be increased to as much as 70% for 2011. In fact, for 2011 it appears it will be 60%. Nothing official has been announced, but I'm basing this on the published averages for Rene Bach (9.03 to 5.42) and Tomas Topinka (7.64 to 4.58) who have both moved up. It is believed that the increased conversion rate was another contentious issue at the BSPA conference, as Peterborough and Coventry were set to benefit from the 50% rate as other clubs had done in previous years, but felt aggrieved that the rate was increased.
The BSPA conference apparently decided to restrict each EL club to one rider with an average of 8.01 or more. The initial reaction was that this benefited Poole, as Bjarne Pedersen was the only rider in the league on exactly 8.00, so they could keep Pedersen and Chris Holder. Since then, Pedersen has moved to Eastbourne, so the issue isn't as controversial as it first appeared. But this limitation does prevent other clubs from building a team around two star riders. The only club affected was Coventry, who could not keep both Chris Harris and Krysztof Kasprzak. Kasprzak has joined Birmingham, but this reveals another problem. Only Belle Vue and Eastbourne do not have a rider over 8.01, but three of last year's 8.01+ riders are still available - Harris, Hans Andersen and Matej Zagar. All of these are EU nationals. Under EU law, an EU national has the freedom to work anywhere in the EU. In other words, if an employer wants to employ a particular EU national, there can be nothing to prevent it. It seems to me the 8.01 rule may actually be illegal, or at the very least, unenforceable.
If the 8.01 rule is illegal, does this also mean the points limit itself is illegal? There is no denying it sometimes (often) prevents an EU national from riding for a team that wants him. If a rider and/or club could show this is the case, it would be British speedway's equivalent of the Bosman rule in football.
It is understood there was a meeting between Coventry, Peterborough and the BSPA a few days ago. Whether this was constructive is not known. An Extraordinary General Meeting of the BSPA has been called for the first week in January. Presumably more will emerge after that.
