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foamfence

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Posts posted by foamfence

  1. Posted

    7 minutes ago, ch958 said:

    many of us, perhaps reluctantly, pay 15 - 18 pds to go to a meeting. Casual fans won't and don't. 10/12 quid is where the market would dictate the level for a speedway match. The knock on effect is that there would be less cash for paying riders. The knock on effects of that would be the need for cheaper kit and semi pro riders. Has anyone got the authority/ cojones to implement such a plan with the associated massive gamble of having fewer big name riders? I will now don my hard hat.

    I have thought that was the way forward for a long time, I'd even consider withdrawing from FIM events in time and just run our own competitions.

    • Like 5

  2. Posted

    3 minutes ago, Piotr Pyszny said:

    That's the exact opposite of what a couple of Park Avenue supporters told me six months ago! Means Horsfall will always be a 'meh' venue for watching football.

    Well it's all sorted, whether those two like it or don't.

  3. Posted

    3 minutes ago, Piotr Pyszny said:

    I went several times, mostly from West Yorkshire. Lovely scenic drive over Holme Moss and through Longdendale and Glossop. Much easier to get to than St Austell, Sittingbourne and any of Glasgow's tracks were!

    When I was younger I could go to Belle Vue, Bradford, Doncaster, Sheffield and Halifax, all on public transport.

    • Like 1

  4. Posted

    9 minutes ago, Piotr Pyszny said:

    This has always been speedway's Achilles heel. Too many clubs have been/are subject to the whim of the landlord, for whom speedway often hasn't been/isn't a priority.

    Seems a shame one of the very few purpose built speedway venues, owned and run by speedway enthusiasts - Buxton - is now used only for practice and experience days.

    It wasn't exactly easy to get to.

  6. Posted

    Just now, 25yearfan said:

    2nd Division speedway on a Saturday night would undoubtedly be the best way forward for a reopened Bradford speedway, I'm convinced midweek speedway would get lower crowds.

     

    Why do you say it will never happen?

    Premiership teams don't run on a Saturday, if they could, Belle Vue and probably some others would already be doing it.

  7. Posted

    6 minutes ago, 25yearfan said:

    Whilst like all speedway fans especially those who went to the venue in the last era when the track was wider than it was in the previous speedway eras there, I hope that speedway can return to the iconic Odsal stadium, I have reservations considering the all conquering first ever EL champions of 1997, the Bradford Dukes more often than not rode in front of crowds under 1000.

     

    That 1997 team featured Loram, Havelock, Screen, as well as Josh Larsen, David Walsh and Garry Stead a team that should have attracted viable crowds. A lot of meetings at Odsal that year were staged on Tuesdays which undoubtedly had an adverse effect on crowd levels.

     

    Its a shame that the Shay previous home to the Halifax Dukes has been rebuilt cause I've no doubt that speedway would be viably supported in the town.

     

    That said combined with stock car racing, then speedway might just be able to hold its head above the water.

     

    To ensure the viability of speedway and stock cars at Odsal, racenights have got to be Saturdays and the speedway team should be called the Bradford & Halifax Dukes (with old red, white and blue Halifax colours with the iconic elephant which I believe was something to do with a local regiment) to represent the wider area. I believe Steve Rees has stated he has had interest from existing speedway promotors which is a must cause Rees is a stock car racing man with only a short abortive spell in speedway at Stoke in the 1990's. 

     

    Like I said I hope it happens cause speedway is stronger with more tracks but those who invest money in to make it happen will be brave persons indeed! 

    Rees claims he wants to run Premiership Speedway on a Saturday, that will never happen.

  8. Posted

    38 minutes ago, teaboy279 said:

    Steve Rees runs Startrax, thier tracks 3 years ago were Belle Vue,Coventry (for national bangers, the stocks were run in house by Coventry stox ltd),Sheffield,Stoke.

    By the time the racing starts up again he will only have Sheffield. 

    Think he is quite open his time at promoting speedway wasnt the greatest sucsess story it could of been, but for those anti Steve, I believe all the drainage and track works at Stoke in 17 or 18 came out of his pocket. 

    I did post back in the winter when people where being negative, that Steve Rees could well re open the track if he found someone to take on speedway thier, and I was mocked. But looks like it may well come to fruition...

    'Mocked' by whom? I haven't seen a single reply to your January post.

  11. Posted

    39 minutes ago, tyke said:

    It's a stadium I can literally walk to.

    It is not in a good state currently and if you think a GP could be held anytime soon there, I would think again.

    Still think it will be while before we see bikes around the track competatively , never mind the thoughts of holding a GP there. 

    I live quite near as well, I agree with you. You have also to consider how it died before, despite having the best team in the country, lots of British international riders and lots of space. I suppose if it's run on similar lines to Scunthorpe, where the Stockcars subsidise the bikes, it might be viable but I imagine we can forget Bradford Council pouring shedloads of money into the place (which is what used to happen).

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    29 minutes ago, f-s-p said:

    Think the level was quite high. It’s all in writing on the FIM website for everyone to see.

    And for the record I wasnt  suggesting that either. Just wanted to point out to the one poster that IMO the failed the test first (as in problems ”started”) and his crash came later on.

    You said he was "drunk" but he wasn't tested because there was any suggestion of that, he was tested by random selection, as were others. I'm not standing up for him (he and I haven't got on for quite a while), I'm just trying to correct an impression that you gave. We all know that different people have different tolerances to alcohol anyway.

  13. Posted

    57 minutes ago, f-s-p said:

    Shouldnt that read more like Where would Ward be now if it wasnt for his getting drunk before a GP and not being allowed to ride intoxicated... 

    Drugs or alcohol, whatever if you ask me. Alltough alcohol is no longer doping under FIM.

    He wasn't drunk, he failed a test that shows a level of alcohol in the blood, there has never been any suggestion that his crash was a result of any form of intoxication.

  14. Posted

    50 minutes ago, craigACE said:

    NOBODY should sign him EVER.

    Then again, look at all those exposed for cheating, or using illegally modified parts, who kept on riding, others who have been guilty of criminal acts including supplying drugs to other riders (I'm not talking about Lee) and our Aussie friends who found further uses for empty Coke bottles (one of whom still rides). I'm not standing up for Jason but Speedway doesn't have a particularly good record in not signing bad people.

    • Like 2

  15. Posted

    21 minutes ago, FAST GATER said:

    IMO powerful laydowns should be for the GPS ,I am saying we should have less powerful unified engines in the league ,easier to change the engines than try to build new tracks .I have watch some old racing  have seen some good /excellent and boring bit like the racing today really ,the olny difference is a few seconds faster and a shed load of cost today  .

    Plus there's no one watching! I certainly agree with you though.

  16. Posted

    9 minutes ago, FAST GATER said:

    I still think we can work with the tracks we have ,one of the great things about the UK  is  the smaller tracks in the past riders come  here to "hone" their skills, I loved the big open spaces of Crewe but  riders  then had to negociate the likes of Crayford .The sport needs to address costs and it will be easier to adapt what we have than start from scratch ,we don't have the goodwill other counties seem to enjoy for the creation of new tracks .In fact we are often battling to save what we have how long and how much did the NSS cost ,IMO it will probably be that last new stand alone track ever built  in this country .

     

    Crewe and Crayford where in the days of uprights, these days you have laydowns struggling to negotiate tracks that were OK for uprights but are too narrow and the wrong shape for laydowns (with a very small number of exceptions). We've had loads of Speedway meetings on YouTube etc over the last few days, some of them were advertised as 'great meetings' and as someone who started his Speedway involvement in the early 50s, I quite looked forward to them but in the main it's been a borefest. I hope it has a future but I see it more as a part-time or amateur sport here, as it is it's unsustainable. 

    • Like 4

  18. Posted

    On 4/14/2020 at 10:41 AM, secsy1 said:

    It does not make good viewing as it is not presented well.

    Take last nights great play off between Somerset and Scunthorpe, brilliant racing, intriguing and commentator naming wrong riders.

    A fantastic set of meetings from the past. Both meetings could have had the commentary dubbed over and presented better.

    Goodness knows there is time to do it and present the product to a TV company for national airing, not just to the converted.

    As you mention it needs a revamp and there is plenty of time on peoples hands to look and do now.

    Forget about footage in BBC or ITV archives, their is as I mentioned previously loads of existing footage from 

    Tapes Up, Speedway Portal that can be forwarded to respective TV companies for airing.

    No one is looking outside the box and continually blinkered going down a one way alley with negativity beyond redemption.

    Lets wake the world outside Speedway to our great sport and forget about banging on to the converted.  

    Personally I thought it was more mathematically interesting than particularly exciting and with so many guests and RRs it wasn't very credible. Why would TV want to show it when the crowds are so low?

  19. Posted

    10 minutes ago, ch958 said:

    i noticed someone on the Diamonds page listing an all time best team, so here goes one for us Bears/Teessiders/Tigers

    1. S Wilcock

    2. Simon Cross

    3. M Dixon

    4. Allan Brown

    5. M Courtney

    6. B Forrester

    7 S Parker

     

    mind you, it'll be a different 7 next week

    No Havvy?

  21. Posted

    I've thought for years that UK Speedway needed to be a part-time sport, clustered around weekends and Bank Holidays. The majority of fans have been attending for many years and it's as much a habit as anything, if that 'habit' is lost, it might not return. I think the sport will always survive but it could look quite different if the tracks are closed for too long.

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