Hawk127
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Posts posted by Hawk127
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Unfortunately Tai is the last person you would want to front the sport where a professional and polished approach is required . An individual whose command of English does seem limited and apart from his skills of riding a speedway machine, he does nothing to raise profile of the sport and when it comes to U K speedway wanting a professional sports person to represent the sport he falls well short of acceptable standards and behaviour. He has let so many people down with his cavalier attitude. Can you imagine him on Sports Personality of the Year? God help speedway. He single handedly could do more harm to the sport in this country with his public image and that is saying something. Unfortunately no one will stand up to him and tell it as it is.
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In the good old days when most clubs ran weekly meetings an early season start with challenge matches etc. to get race fit seem to be the norm. Now with a much smaller league and some clubs running once every two/three weeks, I really do not understand why racing starts in March and then you have the lack of meetings in the height of summer. I accept that riders have more European meetings etc and demands on the track time in each country but surely it is time that the idiots in charge of the sport in this country worked out a formula that catered for the UK market/punter.
Who wants to stand on a cold wet terrace in March or October. Yes it had to happen years ago because of the number of teams but the sport today is a shadow of its former self and many of today’s promoters would not have coped in the 70’s, 80’s and even the 90’s. Today a meeting gets called off on a forecast, not actually what the weather is like and they wonder why punters, think the sport is a joke with riders who cannot be bothered and promoters who not only fail to promote but can’t even get a meeting on when you have a bit of drizzle. It is not as if many tracks attract the opposing teams supporters, not many travel to away meetings so call offs could be left to the last minute as it is mainly only local support trundling along to see the match and very few turn up hours before the start so ample time to inform all of a call off.Is it any wonder no one outside the diehards credit speedway as being professional. Exhilarating it maybe but that in itself does not make up for the rest of it failings.
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Two leagues with the NDL being one and allow the NDL to run along the lines of NORA so you get at grass roots level, two wheeled entertainment across the various disciplines. Then you have one league made up of five or six man teams from the current championship /premiership clubs with a knock out cup competition, a regional four team tournament and U K individual championship open only to those riders who are UK based. Clubs allowed to race on nights that suit their business and if those riding in Poland or elsewhere want to participate, they do it on UK terms. If Poland wants to monopolise the European sport, allow them to get on with it and leave the rest to plough their own furrow. If you want to see the top riders you have the GP’s but don’t ask UK fans to pay top dollar to see riders in our leagues who really are not committed to the UK speedway scene and view it as a cash cow. Time the sport in this country got a grip but then you have the BSPL and that is the root cause of why speedway in the UK is on its knees. We can all live in hope but not in this lifetime.
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22 hours ago, chunky said:I was a Dons fan - crazy Dons fan. However, I always loved the sport as a whole, and often missed our meetings on Bank Holidays so I could take in three meetings! I would travel all over the country just to watch speedway.
I was the same. A Rayleigh fan since 1969 but in those days and particular after I passed my driving test I would go to Crayford, Hackney, Wimbledon, Eastbourne and the odd visit to Canterbury because forest and foremost it was great to see other top riders in the divisions ride their own tracks and great to watch the reserves improve. I guess a speedway fan first and a club supporter second. One of the reasons it is sad to see the decline in individual meetings and local cup derbies (e.g. Essex gold cup involving the rockets against the Romford bombers) with few wanting to attend these meetings. In today’s racing little if any team riding and just seven individuals riding firstly for themselves and secondly for the team, so why won’t supporters follow individual riders like in other two wheeled sports. Speedway has so much more to offer than just league racing.
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Good read in this week’s Star that Kent are coming to the tapes this year under the Nora association. Good luck to all involved. It deserves to succeed after the grief dished out by the BSPL in 2023.
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58 minutes ago, mikebv said:I seem to remember £110k per club (10 teams), and £5k (maybe £10k?) a match that got televised, to cover any drop in crowd/reduction in admission fee to attract a crowd in..
One promoter, post Sky money, said the up front cash basically paid for the No1 riders..
Who all effed off when the money dried up...
Without being privy to the contracts it is reasonable to assume that a few made a lot and those on the periphery suffered and hence a few clubs fell by the wayside. The sport is where it is because those in control at the time made hay while the sun shined and no one had the balls to say no to those who bled the sport dry namely the riders who screwed everyone. Sharing the spoils was beyond the comprehension of the governing body. It really does not matter now because speedway is on its knees and those in charge are delusional if they think what is on offer today is a viable proposition. Tinkering with the rules at league level and also having the GP’s think that by introducing some farcical race format for extra points brings added value really have not reached out to the supporters for an opinion. The promoters have contrived to bring a simple formula into something it was never meant to be and the fact that nothing other than league racing in this country is what the current followers want is a self inflicted failure. Give the public top talent racing competitively and you have a decent formula with the chance of decent sponsors. If it does not work at domestic level and those in charge thinks it is not viable then explain why the GPs work.
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How about Jarek Hampel and Hans Anderson?
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Looking at the fixture list, Witches seem to have just one home meeting in June and one in July. Sad really when it was once regular weekly racing. I guess that it is progress. Are they likely to use some of the free Thursdays for NDL meetings?
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On 11/27/2023 at 8:47 AM, Ray Stadia said:Very often, when a speedway promotion say 'we are taking a year out', it's the end. I can't see how speedway in the next 12 months, as a whole, is going to turn things around, for a promoter to say 'now is the time to run a team'. All very sad. Unfortunately, I said many years ago that speedway had to change and the costs were too high for those involved, but time after time (on here), I was told I was being negative. No, I was being realistic. The riders and the tuners have killed a sport, which at best, should have been, for many years, a semi-professional sport or even better, an amateur sport. Speedway will survive, but team/league racing will disappear in Britain, in my opinion.
I agree with most of your comments except that some blame must rest with the BSPL who have effectively said no to Mildenhall running a few open meetings. Why anyone would want to work with a regime that tries to prevent you operating a business at any stadium and earning some income from the assets that they hold. It is largely the attitude that caused Kent so much grief and it was the last sort of pressure that Si Kellow needed given his poor state of health. You would hope that the governing body would have worked with Kent, but no not this bunch. You have to wonder who is really behind all this and then wonder whether they are proud of their actions. Two more tracks probably lost to the sport who join a long list and no one on the top table really cares as in each case they are sitting thinking i’m alright, why bother about anyone else. No wonder the IOW got out, it will not get any better. Still one positive for the BSPL, four less tracks to have to administer in 2024.
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7 hours ago, 2ndbendbeerhut said:We had Hume for that.... no thanks
Oh so another rider in Ellis that WANTS to ride for Ipswich.... wonder of he doing it for his or the fans benefit?
You can only hope that he learns some humility and does not treat his fellow team members in the same way as he has done in Poland in the season just gone. I doubt he has learnt any lessons but only time will tell if he is a team player and fits in with the ethics of Ipswich riders or he treads his own path which has historically been one of arrogance. No doubt the family will come on here to defend him but that is nothing new. Proof will be in next year’s showing on the track riding for a quality team.
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48 minutes ago, spin king junior said:I'm sure they'll get over it. Ipswich fans are well known on this forum for not holding grudges.
They are well versed in getting over most things and are a very tolerant friendly bunch of followers of the sport but the even they may be dismayed by this cowboy who simply shows no respect, has ideas above his station and proves what a despicable individual he is. Let’s see what reception he gets next time he turns up at Foxhall. I know a few who would like words with him but I doubt he would face up to them. If he has any balls come on the forum and explain yourself and explain why you felt it was necessary to spout the rubbish that you did. You Tai are not man enough.
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28 minutes ago, Fromafar said:What a plonker he is ,good riddance if he goes ahead with his threat.
Absolutely.
Is the sport in that poor a state that it needs the Worrall’s of this world to grace its tracks?
It will be a better place without the likes of him who has no respect for other riders and the damage he could do if he got away riding under the influence. He needs to learn to take responsibility for his actions. I wonder if he drove home from the track the night he was tested? The boys in blue might be interested if he did.
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If they need to make up the numbers for TV, How about allowing ghost teams to track share? Norwich could rise from the ashes and hold home meetings at KingsLynn and Ipswich. Peterborough could track share with Mildenhall and Kings Lynn, Eastbourne could ride at Iwade and Southampton ride at the Isle of Wight. Swindon could ride electric bikes at home an conventional machines at away meetings. Few more teams to solve the problem and create even more fixture chaos but what’s new, it cannot be any worse than the current model.
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Any club that employs him runs the risk that they are tarnished. He is astute enough to know the risks and that night or leading up to that nights racing took risks and whether by design or otherwise hoped to get away with it. He should be punished accordingly but the cowboys who make decisions in this sport are as crooked and bent as any rider who thinks taking drugs and jeopardising colleagues lives on the track is OK. No excuse is acceptable given that they are riding 500cc machines and few who do, can claim to have full control of their machines these days. No hope for the sport when those in charge come up with these conclusions and leaves you finding so many chancers on both sides thinking it is OK to do what they like. Societies scumbags sums it up.
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Just read the BSPL decision / statement. As a group in charge collectively you are the biggest bunch of no hopers to ever grace the sport. No wonder it is in the state it is in but the BSPL don’t give fig and the riders / fans can go screw themselves. If any of you in charge had any balls you would be honest and admit you cocked up but you will not. Where is that waster Vatcher and why is he not standing up for the riders and coming on here to admit it is a shambles. Roll on IOW in 2024 because the rest could not organise a p..s up in a brewery.
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14 minutes ago, Normski said:8 teams in NDL so 7 home meetings to organise, only 4 teams entered KO cup so maximum 2 home meetings plus 1 more home meeting for playoffs. 10 home meetings to complete in 7 months ffs
Yep and if you use the argument that it is a summer sport, you could stretch the point by starting in May and finishing in August, circa sixteen weeks ignoring the fact that you have three bank holidays to stage meetings and those in charge still cannot get the clubs to stick to a rigid schedule so that finals are in August and at the very least run into the first two weeks in September at the latest. It just goes to show the lack of respect everyone in charge of the sport has for those trying to climb the speedway ladder and then those further up the chain moan about the lack of talent. Every club outside the NDL is to blame for that and if they stopped propping up leagues with foreign riders and worked on local talent, then the sport rider wise might be in a better position. You have to feel for the NDL riders who have such an uphill struggle when it is not necessary, just those in charge seem to want to make it an endurance test.
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7 minutes ago, Toady said:Unfortunately the bspa have no clout regarding other people’s property and therefore its not their call what does or does not happen at these venues sad to say.
Agree. What is the point of this body of people. No clout, ineffective and within the cesspit of controllers overseeing the sport a bunch of bullies who do not like it when you do not play by their restrictive rules and can stoop so low as they did with Kent. It really is time that those clubs who believe in the sport break away from the fat controllers and run a business that entertains the punter and does the right thing for speedway. At the moment it is endemic amongst those who jokingly run the sport insist that it is our way or no way. Look where that has got the sport over the last few years. Well done BSPA/BSPL.
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Listening to BBC Wm, thanks to you guys and to all at Wolves, you leave a huge gap in speedway U.K. and hopefully a new home can be found. Having relished your visits to Ipswich, thanks to the promoters, managers, riders and all involved, you will be missed. A sad day but long live the Wolves. I look forward to seeing Wolves at Foxhall in2025. Until then, keep the faith all you supporters and followers of the mighty Wolves.
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1 hour ago, bloom89 said:Could Kent, mildehall and say Oxford not join iow and create a mini nora league for example and effectively stick two fingers up at the bspl? Could the bspl actually do anything to stop this? We’ve seen in the past I think Scott Nicholls threaten to sue the bspa when they wouldn’t allow him to double down. The bspl don’t really do anything to help the current ndl clubs survive so why shouldn’t they run against the bspl.
I fail to see how any promising rider or any rider for that matter would be able to climb the speedway ladder without some sort of ndl or a training league.Could say for example Glasgow, Edinburgh and Berwick form a Scottish side to also join the Nora league and hold a few home matches at each track during the season? Surely that would spread the cost.
The independent tracks could probably run under Nora but the vindictive BSPL would never let any team racing in one or the other leagues have another team compete in Nora even though most of the teams only rent the track and if the owners of the track want to stage an event for extra income, the BSPL would pull the plug on the tenant racing under their term who shares the circuit. It really needs someone with balls to take on the cowboys in the BSPL/BSPA. On another note, could the Panthers track share at Mildenhall for one season or would the cowboys in charge object?
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Well done to Scunthorpe the better team won over the two legs. What I do not get is the the responses from both sets of fans and the aggression. Poole always put out a competitive team and when they are doing well they like any team they put bums on seats when they travel away. The current state of the sport needs clubs like Poole and every other team to come to tapes in 2024 but if for any reason Poole lost out because of circumstances beyond their control such as the closure of the stadium, the sport overall would be poorer for it.
Swindon have gone and now Wolves and Panthers are lost, Kent and Mildenhall may be kicked into touch, surely it is time to appreciate what teams are left because without those speedway in the U.K. is dead. Continually knocking clubs is counter productive and whilst a lot of what goes on is good natured banter, you cannot help but feel some of the vitriolic comments are counter productive.
The Scorpions did what they needed to do and Poole came up short. So what. Just look forward to next season.
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1 hour ago, 25yearfan said:And this goes back to what I was saying before, the NDL has to remain one of the reasons being is that its the easiest way for new tracks to enter the league system.
Or allow tracks to run on an open licence basis so that tracks can run individual meetings or for that matter any type of meeting except league matches. For many years Rye House ran on an open licence and I think this was before the Rockets took up residence in 1974.
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A third level of the sport needs to exist to ensure a pipeline of new talent but the format of a meeting does not have to mirror the standard thirteen or fifteen heats.
Make race days a festival with teams made up of say, 500 cc, 250 cc, and 125 cc with perhaps 80 c c or even electric powered bikes. Each category would race as a team with say four man teams and include both male and female riders. Set an upper age limit for each category.
Set a fixed price for points and that is it. If the talent exists and it wants to compete then they have to understand that at the 3rd level it is equivalent to an apprenticeship.
Clubs could band together to offer a season ticket to punters which gives them access to all tracks or a flat £7.50 entry on the day with kids under 16 free.
Just thoughts and I am sure others on here can come up with more and better ideas, but most of all you have to create the demand and start somewhere. The sport cannot afford to lose the Kent’s and Mildenhall’s of this world.
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1 minute ago, mikebv said:I remember the old SJL..
I think all had four heats each in 3 man teans, with six heats in all...
That could work maybe?
Six lads per night getting more racing...
That would work but how many clubs would run out of time and be up against a curfew so you get riders turning up but not getting an outing. If the powers that be really cared they would not allow the NDL to fall apart but do something constructive. Alternatively they could stop being total a..holes and allow any rider not attached to a club to ride in Nora arranged meetings without the threats that they have dished out in the past. As someone has already mentioned you have so many blank weeks during the summer months at many tracks when it is allegedly a summer sport so why not get clubs to fill those blanks with some form of meaningful competition for NDL riders.
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29 minutes ago, FishersGate said:All I can is after the complete pisstake of the NL KO final I can see why younger fans don't turn up again..
Agree. Not totally sure how bad the track is but this is becoming a habit as far as Leicester are concerned and it is about time that the BSPL and management of clubs got together and stopped the farcical situation of finals taking place in October. Most clubs have enough blank dates in the summer months and it is about time that a crack down took place not least on the cancellation on a whim which seems to be catching. Years back riders raced notwithstanding and got on with it, now you have whimps and those in charge need to get real about the sport that they are involved in and do whatever it takes to get a meeting on.
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2024 Ice Speedway
in International World of Speedway
Posted
Seems genuine. I just registered on the FIM website and you can do one meeting for Euro 7.90 which in itself is not bad value and includes replays.