Bradford Hawk

Thank you Noodles, appreciated.

Thanks Giveus - we'll take your tip and find a chippy after the meeting before going for the train to Newport!

Thanks Stephen, much appreciated - I'd wondered about trains from nearby but potential finish time (eg perhaps too late for last train) and ignorance of local geog / best neighbouring station / would Newport be as clogged Cardiff etc made web-research of limited use, whereas your experience is spot-on. Thanks again. #speedwayfamily

First time attendee - any useful tips, please, especially where to park (ease and availability more important than cost) and when's the scheduled finish time? Many thanks.

I'm behind the times and know no other speedway fans to ask so would somebody be so kind as to update me on the current position regarding Coventry's future, please?

BWitcher If you've time to burn you might ask yourself what anyone could hope to achieve by having dual posting identities or by misrepresenting the absence / presence of sports scores in any medium. If you do ask yourself then experience suggests you should expect unnecessarily argumentative responses given in a manner inappropriately confident in view of their mediocre content. Something tells me you'll want the last word but then try to let it go, eh? All the best Bradford Hawk

I have to say, I entirely agree with Bradford Hawk's response to BWitcher. Regards Bradford Hawk... d'oh! OK, it's a fair cop!

BWitcher: - Perhaps the forum moderators will confirm that Screen Machine and my IP addresses differ (if you know somebody with high levels of patience they might be able to explain to you why this would indicate we're not the same person). - I've not named the tracks because experience suggests other insecure or angry respondents who regularly attend those tracks might needlessly defend their otherwise good reputation, unhelpfully detracting from the primary points, not unlike your post. - As to the area of your explicit confusion: 1) I'm sorry, yes it was a PL play-off so the mini-league status was wholly pertinent; 2) Irrespective, the first leg score was not mentioned at the meeting (the clue is in my post where I say "...there were no announcements of the first leg score") and it was available on no website of which I'm aware, similarly no up-to-date-mini-league; 3) Again, if you speak with someone less hard of intelligence they might confirm that upper- and secondary-tier football scores are typically more widely publicised than nearly all speedway results; 4) Despite which I must disagree - it is not uncommon for football stadium announcers to give a first leg score before a second leg, particularly where away goals are significant (doubtless Suffolk-based soccer teams have not recently been troubled by such details - perhaps a Norwich fan might assist you?). - I agree, none of the few instances I cite are particularly relevant to speedway's main problems (again, the clues to my agreement may be found in my post). However, I don't pretend to have the answers to those problems (again, see my post) but if you do then I beg you, please share them with the BSPA. Rather, I was merely attempting to identify some examples of quick, inexpensive wins that might help in prolonging the life of the sport sufficient for solutions to be found. Regards Bradford Hawk

New member, first (probably only) post. I'm not in the habit of writing unnecessarily (to newspapers and so on) but I've recently written an open email to the BSPA - transcript below. I'm certain others will have similar experiences and more useful observations - why not drop 'em a line too? office@speedwaygb.co "Dear Sirs You might have noticed that there are plenty of cranks associated with speedway? In some ways that’s a good thing but nevertheless I’d preface my letter by saying I’m reasonably well balanced, run a modestly profitable small business and am blessed with great friends and family so although I do have a few slates loose I’m writing despite those not because of them. To assist with context I’d also summarise my credentials as a sporadic but keen speedway fan: - 1970's (teenager) missed only 3 home meetings during 8 years at Hackney - 1980's largely cold turkey (family and career) - 1990's took my sons to Odsal, addicted again, similar obsessive attendance (plus very many away meetings following the Dukes) until closure; - late 1990's to date, living on infrequent scraps across the north of England. So I'm no expert, but I do "get" speedway - it's something inexplicable, an intangible air (those who also get it, as opposed to simply enjoy the racing, will know what I mean). My most recent exile has perhaps enabled me to see with clarity on my return changes that might have crept up unnoticed (less noticed?) on others. I’ve been shocked above all that Britain no longer attracts the majority of speedway’s international superstars yet has fewer rising stars of its own - Tai Woffinden (or, at least his performance this year) is an exception. I wish I could suggest why this might be because those factors alone will affect crowd numbers and falling gate receipts seem likely to fuel a spiral of decline. However I’ve no explanation and merely observe that the GP-format world championship, the introduction of the Elite League and Sky Sports’ involvement have variously coincided with those changes – there may be no links, I don’t know. Notwithstanding I can see that speedway is, in time-honoured tradition doing itself no good. Yes it’s over-complicated, it’s low-margin, weather-dependent and we live in testing times with huge competition for the leisure-pound. But although promoters invariably sacrifice so much of their business and personal lives and incur considerable expense to put on the spectacle, many appear to lack an understanding of basic customer care which might otherwise (at no cost) polish speedway’s image and increase rattling of the turnstiles. Clearly my recent experience is limited but here are a few examples (nothing to be gained by naming tracks): - Rain-offs can’t be helped but could be better managed; twice I’ve stood at stadiums this year where there have been no PA announcements whatsoever (not even music dedications) until after tapes-up time when the abandonment of the meeting was given. Poor business behaviour at best and would cost nothing to speak into the microphone – even train operating companies manage that courtesy. - At the tracks concerned there was no announcement of re-admission arrangements, no mention in the programme or on tickets and fans were left to speculate or queue in the rain to enquire. Can you imagine that at, say, White Hart Lane? Or at Plough Lane for that matter? - (Incidentally, why not allow rain-off tickets to be used at other tracks? Many casual visitors to speedway are holiday makers from outside the area who would not otherwise visit their nearest venue but might be tempted (and perhaps become regulars) if there were reciprocal arrangements across teams). - At a play-off second leg there were no announcements of the first leg score, of what each team required in order to progress and enquiries of regular fans met with similarly ill-informed (but apologetic) comments concerning typical over-complication of scoring and so on. - Separately, prior to that meeting I could find at no British Speedway website any description of how the play-offs are populated, how match / aggregate scoring works or whether standard league and match scoring applies. It might be there but it’s impenetrable in an age when the web makes such things universally available. I’m speedway-friendly, what chance would a newcomer have? One of speedway’s charms is that it’s accessible, unlike football and most other motor sport. But it doesn’t have to be so haphazard, so home-spun (I won’t say amateurish because of course amateurism often has the highest standards). A little thought could go a long way without additional expense – indeed might see better value from costs already incurred. I’m no expert at customer care but I do understand it, employ it in my profession and value it as a punter too. I don’t think I’m alone in those respects. That’s it really. Just airing a few thoughts – they're tinkering round the edges but I can’t just stand by and watch something I love erode to nothing without at least offering two pennies worth. My very best to you and to all involved with the sport."