7:00am Tuesday 3rd June 2008
By Phil Chard
PIRATES boss Matt Ford is one of four men charged with formulating speedway's future in this country, the Echo can reveal.
Speculation has been rife among fans about who comprised the select think-tank' after its formation was leaked out late last year.
But none of the panel, or members of the British Speedway Promoters' Association, has ever acknowledged publicly there was such a group.
However, Lakeside co-promoter Jon Cook has told the Echo the four men are himself, Ford, King's Lynn promoter Jonathan Chapman and Ipswich co-owner-rider Chris Louis.
Cook said: "I was proud I was part of the team along with Matt, Jonathan and Chris, who was coerced onboard later, who were charged with looking at a way forward for British speedway.
"I think what we have done is absolutely fantastic. We just need to be taking the right steps.
"It's a hard time financially, and promoters feel the pinch as well as the fans.
"We know how difficult it is out there.
"But if we had the Elite League running the same as last year, clubs would not have made it through this year."
Dramatic changes were made to top-flight speedway at the BSPA annual meeting in November, with the team building points limit slashed from 42.50 to 38.85 in a desperate bid to level the playing field.
Last year, three clubs, Coventry, Swindon and Pirates, were head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
Their dominance threatened to tear the Elite League apart, as Oxford went bust in mid-season.
The likes of Ipswich, Belle Vue, Reading and Peterborough also reported a worrying drop in crowds caused partly because of the miss-match in team strengths.
As a result, last year's original 11-strong top flight has been cut to nine with the Racers dropping down to the Premier League.
Ipswich, Reading and Peterborough threatened to withdraw from the Elite League as well, but all elected to stay up at the 11th hour.
The changes, including axing of the aggregate bonus point, were met with disbelief among some fans, many who felt the Elite League was devaluing itself by dropping its level to the lowest denominator.
Supporters were also critical of the loss of world champion Nicki Pedersen because, on a high average, he could not be fitted into a British team.
They were also sceptical about the introduction of promotion and relegation this season.
The switches, however, appear to have done the trick.
Matches and racing have, in the main, been closer, there have been more away wins, and the race for the title and play-off places is probably going to be the closest for many years.
The biggest cloud hanging over speedway, which it seems to share with most other sports, is a drop in attendances from last term.
That's why Cook, one of the most respected power brokers in British speedway, is a firm believer of trying to retain Britain's traditional race days in the face of the continued threat of Grand Prix domination to league racing.
Cook, with about 20 years promoting-team managing experience, said: "The beauty of British speedway is you can go to a meeting every day of the week. That's a strength not a weakness.
"The only people who say it's a weakness are the riders who want something different.
"If we were to lose our race days we would have some major closures in tracks across the country, and we wouldn't be able to keep an Elite League together."
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