mikebv

Jason Crump has also retired... A double blow for the Aces...

500 to 600 fans a week are not suddenly going to grow to 1200 a week, which you would think is a minimum to compete in Div 1.. No1 riders certainly dont come cheap, even with TV money to subsidise it.. A huge challenge for the Birmingham leadership team, let's hope they can deliver a competitive and affordable team on their support levels.. It certainly wont be easy, so best of luck to them.. Will go when the Aces are there if not on TV..

One million percent.. The racing is still great to watch at most places. And being able to watch some of the best in the world do it also makes it worth going along to watch..

No stranger than having Bomber riding for everyone week after week..

Could also see sWINDon back...

There is a track already, which is currently having a brand new stadium being built, actually n Swindon itself.. Maybe someone could run Speedway there? It has been ran in Swindon, quite successfully, for a good many decades... Has anyone told Terry about this site as it sounds perfect... Or, if he does know about it, and doesnt want to use it, maybe someone else would like to open up Speedway there? The Swindon Robins could be a name to consider for the team...

730 tapes up... By 8pm, "junior match" and "lap of honour" for the winning team completed and track reset done for fifteen mins... 815 "Main Event".. 15 heats all done and dusted by 75 mins later.. Two hours of 21 heats of speedway entertainment all completed by 930pm... Interview the juniors during gaps in the early heats of the main event around their meeting and performance which gets them some wider notice, and have a 30 min post meeting fan conference/selfie opportunity with the home teams' riders of both meetings.. 10pm. Time to go home...

Simon Wigg always suggested putting the "junior match" on before the "main event".. Two reasons.. One, being the younger lads got to ride the track at its best, and in front of a " big" crowd, which can only help those who progress to the higher levels.. And two, as he described, when you go to a restaurant you don't have your starter after the main course.. Six heats of junior racing done in 25 mins or so with fifteen mins of track grading/visit the bars before the "main event" would tick a lot of boxes for young rider development and value for money for the fans.. And, before we get the usual "what if they crash and delay the main meeting"?.. Spoiler alert. Speedway is a dangerous sport where even the best can, and sadly have, been left disabled for life, or even more sadly, lost their lives.. Crashes are not exclusive to young inexperienced riders.. It would be good to see "something different"...

And riders didnt have contracts in several other leagues at the same time, ie Poland, Denmark, and Sweden which many UK riders race in two out of the three, restricting their availabilty.. You have to admire the confidence they have in their product, however, getting both leagues completed to timeline has been found a "tad difficult" historically, so competing in both can only double a challenge that has seldom been met by those just competing in one.. At least they shouldnt go weeks (or a month as some have in the past), between meetings, however, the down side to that is if they do, due to weather, then the fans will be coughing up plenty in the last few weeks of the season if they want to watch every meeting, and that can mean they pick and choose which to attend.. At least they dont have the Jubilee Cup to arrange... Hope it goes well for them, as they seem a progressive team of people..

That was what a promoter mentioned in the SS a couple of months ago.. If you have other numbers, possibly he was adding in the value of the "complete package" including "free" advertising on Eurosport maybe?

Should try and get Peter Adams or Sam Ermolenko... With Fast Freddie at No1.. 300 to 500 Wolves fans each week, added to £100k TV money could be the game changer...

How very dare you... Maybe they could stream it in action and let us watch it on our smart phones during the meeting? We could also maybe have a competition called "Guess the start time" measured from the Green light to tapes up... And also publish the mean start time averages of the 15 heats in the Speedway Star each week... I also presume the refs now get paid less as they no longer risk their lives pressing a start button for our entertainment a minimum 15 times a night..?

What? Not even the electronic random starting system? You are hard to please Bobcat...

You won't get weekly Speedway though, and that will be the challenge.. Rain offs will inevitably impact it, as will the SON.. If both teams reach the play offs it will be carnage trying to fit all the meetings in.. Look how hard it is now for both Leagues to finish "on time".. Next season, Oxford will have double the challenge.. If they reach the play offs in both leagues it will be like Workington in their treble season, racing god knows how many tines in that last month.. A disaster for the club sadly, in what was the pinnacle of their history...

What difference would that make? It would be the same people running it who are happy to run the sport the way they do now...

And if both teams reach the play offs the league wont finish till after the Jubilee cup has been ran!!

It is a huge challenge taken on... Maybe they have some big sponsorship to cover any hit at the turnstiles? Of maybe they feel the £100k plus they will get off the TV deal means it will be viable? 8 home meetings a month for the two top division teams would mean around a £200 outlay for anyone wishing to attend all of them.. Some ask given the current pressures on disposable income.. Hope it all goes well, never been to Oxford so will make it hopefully next year...

He will put it in the back of his van...

I have said for many years that what the UK version of team speedway needs is more guests.... If anything is gong to get the sport taken seriously by the fans, mainstream media, and major companies to sponsor it, it is more guests... The more short sighted may see it as a bad thing, but look at the huge success of the sport with the restricted guest system that has been used.. Therefore. Just think of the postivie impact to the credibility of what is on offer that even more guests will have... Bomber has just ordered a new three piece suite... Edit. Great to see Phil Morris with his finger on the pulse too. I know loads of people who dont attend anymore due to the way referees started races... It will be great to see the electronic random starting system implemented, hopefully that brings back some of those who have stayed away...

City will be getting a 1000 point deduction... I wonder why it has taken so long yet so quick for Everton? Hmmmmm. One of life's imponderable's I suppose...

Great post(s)... Wow! 88 seasons of racing for Belle Vue, and all incredibly within a stones throw of each other at three different tracks... And WW2 didn't stop the racing there either...

How much did it cost? Could they have held it in a "Legion" somewhere for free? Some looked like they spent a few quid on clobber too... No wonder the sport is struggling when ex riders would prefer to spend money on dressing up, going for a meal and drinking in a hotel etc etc..

Somebody has to water the plants in the hotel... And keep the meeting on time...

Same weekend as the Jubilee Trophy maybe?

"They don't need to"..... Sadly, that will be their thoughts all through the meetings held during the season to discuss next year.. And. Even if they did think that they needed to "revolutionise" the sport, it is clear, from past history, that the required skill set doesnt exist with the current incumbents that are in place to make it happen..