P h i l M o r r i s biggest crowds, the biggest audiences, but that doesn’t necessarily mean club owners having to dip into very deep pockets.

“I don’t want to get into what, where, when,” he says, before adding: “I want to make it a bit more professional. It could be small things, a splash of paint here and there, it doesn’t hurt. I’m not going to lie and say this is going to be an easy task but there are certain things we can do to make it a bit more professional without, necessarily, a lot of hard work.

“Some things will have to be kept internally, I don’t need to be giving out my reports on one of the tracks to the public, that’s not what it’s for.

“I use a watch as a perfect example. It has so many moving parts but it only needs one small cog to stop working and the watch stops working. That’s an analogy I like to use, it doesn’t matter if the watch face is all shiny but if a small cog at the back isn’t working, the watch won’t work.

• Phil knows what it’s like to race at the top level in this country. He was a British Finalist in 2002

But he is conscious that there is room for improvement and sees that as his priority: “I do believe speedway fans are very smart people. We need to attract a younger audience, there’s no getting away from that fact. We have to do something that’s a bit more dynamic. A bit more attractive. We need to make it a bit cooler.

“I want to visit all the Premiership tracks, I want to visit them as soon as I can, for the first few meetings of the year so I can tick boxes, make a report and give it to the clubs and expect things in the report to be carried out.”

Pictures: JAREK PABIJAN and JOHN SOMERVILLE COLLECTION

“I’ve watched matches on television and I’ve seen a dozen people that maybe shouldn’t have been in the pits, looking as if they are walking around a boot sale. You don’t see that in football, F1, MotoGP, tennis, cricket. Why don’t we make things look a bit more professional?

“There are going to be people I’m going to upset along the way but I just hope they realise what I’m doing is trying to make it better and I

hope everyone comes on board. I want to make it better for the fans on the terraces, the fans who have paid to come in, the fans who subscribe to watch it on TV.

“I’m genuinely very honoured and privileged to be in this position. I want to make a difference, I don’t want to be a name that in a year’s time people can say, ‘that didn’t work’. I want to be a positive person, but there will be things along the way, not through lack of trying or effort, but sometimes things don’t work, not everything is going to be perfect, but I want to make a difference in the sport, in the

Premiership.

“I have got a chance to

Morris has clear, defined views of the improvements he wants to see and wants supporters to notice from almost the moment they park their cars and walk through the entrance to the stadium.

He will model many of his demands on those professional sports that pull in the

PHIL OF HOPE

March 11, 2023 speedway star 3