Hawk127

The custodians of our sport are taking it to the brink of extinction. No other nation gives a fig about British Speedway, most promoters don’t give a fig about the supporters and if you read through the various threads a lot of the diehards (those in their 50’s and 60’s) are giving up. The armchair follower is now voting by not turning up to live meetings. TV cannot be blamed, if it is why do the Poles still have large contingents of very vocal support when a meeting is televised. It is primarily down to lack of weekly racing, early call offs and fans short changed with a mediocre product. The powers that be have in one swoop brought speedway to its knees with the last BSPA conference and it is baffling how these so called business people can be so blind as to not see what they are doing. Have they got more money than sense. Get back to basics and start again putting British racing first and if they want to compete again on the international front have test matches in this country but give the sport back to its fans.

I think the decline/rot has already set in and the weather is just what it has always been, dire. I am sure they are justified, but call offs are all too frequent when even there is a hint that the weather looks dodgy. Go back a few years and they would do anything to try and get a meeting on and go back many years they used sawdust. The lack of speedway on nights (mainly thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) when fans want to watch and with weekends when you have the best chance of good crowds, is something I find ludicrous. The decline is evident on this forum. The lack of feedback to those meetings that are on and in some cases nothing at all or perhaps one comment says it all. I agree with Rob re the state of things and I think it could well be the end of the road for a number of clubs come September. All very sad and no doubt many more will get out of the habit of going. One big league with home and away, ko cup and British invidual championship and you probably would get back to regularly weekly meetings. This country can no longer compete with Poland, Sweden or Denmark and the other nations such as Germany will soon overtake the U.K. Back to basics might just save speedway in this country.

On the international thread it talks about the forthcoming test matches between Poland and Russia, Australia and Sweden and entry costs around £6.30 based on current exchange rates. Not bad for an International meeting. Not sure what it costs for league meetings but perhaps they have the price point right and interestingly TV does not seem to affect the crowd level. Add to the fact that you have the top riders, perhaps they also have the right sponsors etc. It all takes effort and hard work to get to this level and perhaps the BSPA simply don’t have the right people, resources or appetite to go out on a limb and be bold doing something different. Who knows but we are lucky to be able to watch first class entertainment from Poland and often live, long may it continue.

I think you can blame the entire team. They have not won and those incidents are irrelevant. Joking aside few if any group of seven riders compete or ride as a team any longer. Seven individuals who each have an agenda. Change the name for the purist who want league racing with all clubs being known as ‘team select’ that way you get what you have now. I still wonder why individual meetings are so poorly supported when team racing does not really exist any longer. I would rather see individual meetings or some form of meaningful national championship,which keeps tracks open then see a track close. Rye House survived on open meetings for many years so why not turn the clock back and get back to competitive racing. Just a thought but something needs changing as the winters decisions are not working.

Agree but they probably don’t get paid for that and god forbid that they do something for nothing in order to improve their performance. It just seems that they don’t give a damn about the fans nor do they realise what a poor state the sport is in. They turn up do the four or five rides and leave. It is what it is, but they don’t realise that fans of the sport have options including more speedway on TV. If the riders cannot be bothered why should the supporters part with cash. Let’s hope the riders take a good look at what they have, because when it’s gone that will be it and they will only have themselves to blame.

Perhaps they should create track time by using some of the blank Thursdays marked as Reserved. How about an East of England Championship with riders invited from Kings Lynn, Peterborough, Rye House, Mildenhall, Ipswich and Lakeside. Hold several rounds and a grand final in September. Just a thought but the season as it stands could be over very early for Ipswich if they don’t start winning league and cup matches which does not look likely based on the performances to date. Let’s hope they turn things around soon.

Is it lack of track time for the witches. Can they make it in the league. I suspect the jury is out on both but with a short programme of home matches and not just for Ipswich this is a make or break season for clubs with little oppprtunity to catch up or turn the season around. You really cannot see the current team succeeding away from home. I really hope I am wrong. Well done Lakeside but for all the hullabaloo Ipswich are no where near odds on to make the play offs. I hope they make it and while it is early doors one cannot get overly optimistic. Where has it all gone wrong for speedway and Ipswich.

I might be mistaken but I thought Nico had ridden in France so should not be race rusty but perhaps a little unsure about the track changes. It would be great to see them get a good result but I cannot help thinking that a lack of track time as a team is going to hamper progress and with so few fixtures it must be difficult for them get some momentum. Fingers crossed that they can overcome the obstacles that this seasons set up presents. Maybe time for one league and back to regular weekly meetings. Maybe start in Mid to late April rather than March and run through to September with October exclusive for play offs whatever the status at the end of September. Teams that have not completed fixtures is just tough. Thems should be the rules. Let’s hope for a good win on Saturday and no injuries.

I guess many Ipswich fans feel the same. Thursday and no speedway. It is the same next week with a blank Thursday albeit they do have a meeting on the Saturday. Looking at fixture lists from years gone by and barring poor weather you may have seen four/five fixtures by now. A shame that it has gone down hill and I suspect that many supporters will find alternative things to do plus you now have live speedway on Sunday on Freesport and with many meetings on You Tube, it will be easy to get out of the habit of going to a local track and instead stick to the comfort of home. I am not saying this is right but with the cost of travel, possibly food and a drink, a few pounds for a programme etc fans are far more selective when it comes to the spend. I think the current policy will not work out as the powers that be expect and some tracks may not survive. Those who rent the stadiums to the clubs cannot be happy unless the clubs are paying the same rent but for fewer race nights in which case the numbers through the gate need to go up. I know the weather has not helped but if things have got so financially precarious that it is better to call off a meeting when there is a slim chance of poor weather in two or three days time then things really are in a bad state. Not sure where those in charge are taking the sport but you cannot help thinking that they may have got it slightly wrong. Time will tell.

What a comeback. Freddie really is flying

Barbara Horley the ref?

Should the rider in Red have been excluded?

Wouldn’t be good to see crowds like this in British speedway. I know the commentary is not as you might be used to but I suspect he is working off a feed and perhaps on Polish t v they have commentary in between races. I just think that is great that you have live Speedway from Poland and on a Sunday afternoon when the weather is miserable. It will get better as the season goes on I am sure.

Agree given the opposition. In the return fixture tomorrow it might be a different result. I would bet on a white wash tonight and a defeat tomorrow particularly as Ipswich have Scott guesting for Rory who is on international duty on the Isle of Wight.

Good report on Anglia news this evening on KL and mentioned the other fixtures this weekend but did show Ipswich at 1.15. I suspect that is an error but just in case, has the time of the meeting been changed?

It is to be expected given the time of year but the way the sport is at present this will only fuel all sorts of conspiracy theories. With the speedway of nations (or World Cup as it used to be called) being a block on most fixtures, why not hold it the same week and possibly a pre-cursor to the Belle Vue meeting which may attract even more spectators and fill the coffers of the Ben Fund a bit better than a March meeting on a Sunday evening when the travelling supporters will think twice about attending. Make it a Saturday or early Sunday afternoon then you will more than likely get a better turn out. The down side is the supporters don’t count so is it any wonder these type of individual meetings do not get the support they deserve.

In the case of the U.K., why not go to the small claims court and possibly apply for a winding up order against the company that owes the money. I would suspect that the contracts are not ‘employment’ contracts but more akin to a service contract. One future option might be for the rider to ask for a bank guarantee from the club for an amount equal to the maximum potential earnings from two meetings. The guarantee remains in force for the season. If they don’t get paid they make a simple claim. This would go some way to ensuring clubs which are afterall a business, are properly funded and have sufficient cash to meet the debts as and when due. If they cannot comply with the debt service they may be trading insolvently and the Directors are then liable.

Some great pictures and the Saturday night under flood lights is brilliant. Looked like good crowds on both days. Thank you for sharing these. Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Berlin on this occasion and really missed the action. For those who have never been it is worth giving it a go and if you can get to one on the European meetings you will not be disappointed. I would also like to thank Conkers and Iris for always providing updates, reports photo and video etc. and other valuable information, it is greatly appreciated and the best reporting you can get.

I have some old programmes from Rayleigh, Crayford and Rye House covering home and away matches which includes 1969 through to 1974 plus other memorabilia such as ‘Stop Press’ in 1972 as well as Ipswich progs 1995 to 2008 and Arena Essex and a few Mildenhall progs plus books from the 80’s and GP prog for 2007. Also press cuttings from Rayleigh 1970 to 1973 and an old programme board etc. Any idea who may be interested in this collection.

Maybe this could serve as a wake up call. Simplify what seems to be a overly complicated product. Basic rules. After all you have four riders in a race, four laps fixed helmet colours, simple points system. Add no gardening at the tapes, restarts, straight back to tapes, no mechanics on tracks, tactical substitute as and when, thirteen heats and riders contracted for the season only. No assets and no loan fees. One possible change, grade riders. That is it. Any issue over which riders are in what league is scrapped. North and South leagues only with the second tier being the NL. What more do you need.? One down side though. Thirty odd club owners who cannot agree what day of the week it is let alone deliver a simple product that they have managed to take to a level of complication that baffles rocket scientists and professors. That is why it is such disarray.

The lack of good close competitive racing is partly to blame for even those regulars no longer going as often as they used to let alone newbies. This is could be partly down to the bikes being far too powerful for the tracks but the lack of skilful riders who often seem to be hanging on for dear life is a contributory factor. The art of team riding is virtually dead. Get back to basics and make the sport entertaining rather than processional to the point where you might just well be at a drag race meet rather than a team match. As has been said if the product is good enough then price is not an issue but given that most supporters seem to want no more than a league meeting is it any wonder the racing is what it is with infrequent fixtures, lack of talent coming through and what is perceived as poor value for money with no more than circa fifteen minutes of racing over two hours. In this fast paced instant action society and the lack of patience amongst many, something needs to be done to make it a slicker presentation with more races and perhaps different types of racing alongside the league match. Have a contest for the fastest lap or two laps and allow betting. Each team can nominate four riders if it is two laps then one rider goes first and pulls off the track and the opposing rider comes on immediately to do their two laps. This could be after every three races and the four fastest compete in a grand final after heat fifteen of the league match. Just an idea but someone somewhere needs to think outside the box. At the moment presentation is as dull as dish water. Television does help in some ways but live meetings are not the answer. If you sit at home for two hours to watch a live meeting on TV, why on earth would you want to travel to the track. Put more racing into those two hours and people may think it is worth while but not as it stands with delayed starts, gardening, etc. Which makes it boring and an unnecessary waste of time.

At Rayleigh Peter Moore, what a wily old character who could really gate and was the only rider I can recall with slightly raised left hand side of the handle bars. The other was Bob Young. Another cracking rider who in style rode a bit like Batchelor does now. Those were the days.

I do not understand why Scott is excluded as in theory he did double up albeit as guest for Sheffield and Ipswich. It might be down to the exact definition of double up. Is it permanent signing for a club for a full season or riding in both leagues possibly as a floater. Who knows the mysterious ways in which the rules are made and then interpreted. No wonder most supporters think the powers that Be have lost the plot. Bit like the number of meetings this season. Less means more. I doubt it. Simply putting ‘reserve dates’ in the list of meetings is a joke. Take a look at the number in the Ipswich schedule.

I think the days of regular weekly speedway throughout the season are long gone. Many of the current crop of followers are for league racing only and anything else no longer hits the mark unless it is a GP. Sad really that this is what is on offer now but thankful that I watched the sport for many years when you looked forward to the weekly fix. It was the thrill of racing be it league, knock out cup 4TT or individual meetings. It was the riders and the machines you followed not just the team racing. Too late to change now and less may not mean more in terms of supporters coming through the gate but time will tell. Also not sure how less can be good for those riders trying to make a living from riding unless they are lucky enough to double up or down. It may be similar to last years fixture list in terms of frequency of meetings but it cannot be good to have one home meeting every three weeks. If the stadium is available then could they not have put out an NL team. The other point is that with fewer meetings do the stadium landlords earn less or have they put the rent up. If it carries on with fewer and fewer meetings how long before landlords say it is not worth it any longer as they may make more from banger and stock car racing. So many issues both at national and possibly local level it begs the question, do the custodians really know where they are taking the sport.

It nearly did for Mildenhall and if you look at how close the houses are getting to Foxhall and it would/will only be a matter of time before someone moves in and whinges. It only takes one if the story about Romford was correct.