RADICAL change to British speedway cannot be made overnight and must instead be delivered in the British Speedway Promoters’ Association’s four-year plan, insists Swindon Robins team manager Alun Rossiter.

A hard-hitting issue of the Speedway Star last week opened several key debates on social media among fans - including topics such as attendance figures, broadcast reach and how fans can be attracted back to the terraces

Following the closure of Rye House and Lakeside this season, fans rightly have concern regarding the sport’s future in the UK.

But Rossiter believes lowering ‘overnight’ expectation levels and instead looking optimistically at speedway’s four-year plan and the product being offered can help breathe some positive air into Premiership and Championship racing.

He said: “The biggest problem is that everyone is expecting.

“The product we had last year was fine, there was good racing and six teams were gunning for the play-offs.

“We can’t just make radical change, which is what people are expecting.

“We’ve put things in place that will work in time. For example, we can’t just phase out doubling up.

“But the conversion rate for this upcoming season will be 1.5, and 1.6 the following year and 1.7 the year after that.

“That will eventually phase out the doubling up situation, because the conversion rate will be too much.”

Rossiter’s comments following this week’s Annual General Meeting, which confirmed both Somerset and Leicester would drop down to the Championship with Ipswich and Peterborough returning to the top flight.

Somerset’s drop to the Championship has left 2017 World Champion, and former Swindon Robins heat leader, Jason Doyle without a ride in the UK next season.

Not ruling out a return for Doyle, Rossiter said he needs to understand his financial boundaries before making any movement.

He said: “We’ve got plenty of riders on our books at the moment.

“I’ll have a sit down, so I can understand where we can go from here financially-wise.”