PIRATES team manager Neil Middleditch delivered a brutally honest assessment of the state of British speedway and admitted: "There are no big names any more."

The former Great Britain boss believes Poole asset Chris Holder – a winter signing for King's Lynn – is the top flight's only noteworthy name ahead of next month's season launch.

At a landmark meeting of speedway bosses in November, new rules were agreed which effectively reduced team-building averages, making it tougher for clubs to squeeze top stars into their line-ups.

And Middleditch, who turned 60 last month, believes bringing back crowd-pleasers should be the target if the shale sport is to experience a revival in this country.

He told the Daily Echo: "Historically, it was always the battle of the big guns and it was good to see the likes of Ivan Mauger and Tony Rickardsson – people would come to watch them ride.

"No disrespect but there's nobody who you look at and think, 'I'm really looking forward to them coming down'. There are no big names in the league any more, they are all staying abroad.

"Chris is probably the big name of the league at the moment but apart from that... I don't want to be disrespectful to anybody but we need to get the big names to get bums on seats if we are going to make the sport attractive to new people and fans who used to come.

"What we're doing is we're diluting the league a bit. I'm a great advocate of the squad system to give riders who are based abroad extra meetings, instead of them having to do a whole season.

"That would give the public the chance to see the likes of Emil Sayfutdinov and Nicki Pedersen. Most of those kind of riders have said they would do a few meetings but could not commit to a whole campaign."

The British Speedway Promoters' Association cited a "financially-challenging climate" as the reason behind the revamp of rules.

And while Middleditch admitted his viewpoint was somewhat coloured by his position, he stated that a change of tack should be considered.

He added: "I don't do the finances, I manage. The promoters have the financial burden to look at whereas I don't. Maybe it's me looking through rose-tinted glasses.

"Top riders would cost money and I don't know whether it would be economically viable, so that's probably the biggest problem. I just feel maybe they could look at things.

"I have to work with the rules that are made. I don't have to agree with them all the time but I have to work with them.

"We're not the top league when you've got the likes of Poland and Sweden. Over the past few years, I think we've shot ourselves in the foot.

"I'm sure people will turn out for the racing but for me it is a bit diluted."