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AndyM

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Everything posted by AndyM

  1. AndyM

    Greatest Come Back Of All Time

    I remember the Aces coming back from about 14 points down to win at the Shay, many moons ago, but not the one you mention. Pretty sure the score was 15-3 after 3 heats then about 22-8 after 5. As I recall we ended up winning quite comfortably!
  2. AndyM

    What Me Miss About 70s Speedway

    What I miss most about speedway in the 70s: Hyde Road, best track ever! Big home crowds, week in week out The wealth of different teams - more variety Riders were characters in those days The amazing skills of the likes of PC and Mort The sheer passion and excitement of speedway
  3. AndyM

    Apologies

    Well said! Would that everyone acknowledged their mistakes in such an open way. Credit to CMV06
  4. AndyM

    Has Speedway A Future

    We do have young talent but we don't develop or market that talent to maximum effect and don't honestly seem very bothered that we can't get riders into the top 3-4 in GP circles. Given a young lad who can deliver genuine results through the world rankings AND be a pin-up for the papers, you may have a case... so where does all the top motorcyling talent go?
  5. AndyM

    Has Speedway A Future

    I've long been saying that unless radical action were taken, British league speedway is destined to be uneconomic, unattractive to crowds and unviable, though sadly we lack the visionary strategist to take us forward. You would have thought the GP circus had at least some of those skills, but it too appears to be heading for the doldrums. It comes down to a simple question of whether the sport believes sustainable recovery is possible and whether anyone actually gives a toss to try turning the sport around. If not, it could quite easily be dead within 20 years if costs continue to rise, long-term attendance trends continue on a downward spiral, and media/commercial interest is not aroused. Brutal but true.
  6. AndyM

    Dave Robinson

    Not having seen this match I can't comment on those decisions, but while an individual decision can be appealed, is there any option for clubs or riders or fans to feed back to the SCB to have a ref put on observation in the light of consistently bad decisions?
  7. AndyM

    Track Lengths

    Although i never went to Wimbledon, I do recall the start and finish lines being in different places, though why that would make it the only legal speedway track i can't imagine. Getting back to the question, we now have far too many tiny tracks and not enough of the big, wide open spaces. A couple of tracks the length and width of Hyde Road with multiple riding lines would improve speedway dramatically IMO!
  8. AndyM

    Dagenham

    You could still have lots of youngsters from Dagenham wanting to enter the sport, even if there was no Dagenham speedway for them to learn at!!
  9. AndyM

    Dagenham

    Why does it not still act as a hotbed of talent, though?
  10. Firstly on the standard of racing, this mythology seems to have grown up without foundation. I take it you you've been to the House on an occasional basis and maybe seen the odd bad meeting? Personally, I'd say the matches I've seen at Lakeside have been far worse in terms of racing quality - in fact, RH is no worse than any other track for quality. What basis do you have to say otherwise? As for the cost of admission, in relation to the costs of running a meeting I'd say it's perfectly reasonable. Maybe it's your expectations that are out of kilter?
  11. I will be there if anyone fancies meeting. Looking forward to some banter with my old mate Norbold and one or two more friends!
  12. AndyM

    Liverpool Chads

    So not "Council Housed And Violent" then?
  13. Don't disagree with what you say - just think that the core product will not attract and sustain a mass audience any more, whatever facilities you provide. There needs to be better value in the speedway itself - more thrills, easier to watch anywhere.
  14. Surely the ability to attract and sustain a regular and viable crowd is most important in any location? We still haven't solved the long-term structural decline and found ways to bring through generations of new followers. As I said before, speedway in its current guise and presentation is maybe not going to achieve this, hence my suggestion of "reinventing" a version of the sport to fund the development of traditional speedway, much as cricket has done. It's about bringing the sport closer to spectators.
  15. AndyM

    Cheap Tom Farndon Books Available On Ebay

    What exactly does this mean? Surely if you're retailing a product you set a price based on what people are willing to pay. Why would anyone set a price at that level, unless it was a rare first edition signed by Tom himself!!
  16. Sorry Bubble, can't answer your question but it did get me thinking. If testamonials were still given to riders with 10 years service at one club rather than 10 years total, would it inspire riders to stay loyal? Good incentive to change the way we build teams, for sure.
  17. AndyM

    Grand Prix Series

    Indeed. The alternative of choosing 16 from a wider pool of, say, 32 riders, so riders appear in different GPs in different combinations, is probably even more disruptive to league racing. The rethink has to put investment and effort into the grass roots above all else.
  18. AndyM

    Grand Prix Series

    Quite right, Starman. The GP circus is already cutting the throat of bread and butter league speedway, the training ground from where its riders emerged. At this rate it will ultimately cut its own throat...
  19. AndyM

    Eddie Ingels& Kym Mauger

    True, he was a disappointment. Think much of the issue was in his own head rather than anything else. Remember a match at an away track somewhere with Eddie riding with Mort. As the race progressed, Mort was second and Ingels last. Mort slowed right down, waited for the other opposition rider to try to pass him on the outside then fenced him hard so Eddie could come through on the inside. Would probably earn Mort an exclusion at many tracks!!
  20. Good post, Tomcat. I agree totally, very necessary part of controlling costs but alone that will not revive speedway. In fact, I agree with most of the thoughtful and well-written comments on this thread - but they are peripheral to the core issue. The reason speedway had good years was because people had fewer options and were worse off. Speedway at the time was a relatively cheap form of entertainment and entrance prices were subsidised by the fact that volumes were relatively high. The sport could sustain many clubs then. Conversely, most people are much better off in real terms but still feel poor, so revenues are squeezed at one end while costs have been expanding well beyond inflation at the other. The potential for big crowds has diminished because have many options for their leisure time, not least a vast array of TV channels and lots of alternatives for a night out, and speedway is simply not the attraction it once was - there is no hook to keep potential new fans loyal and coming week in, week out. At the same time, the core audience has died away and clearly the sport has not attracted a new generation to replace them. If that in a nutshell is the problem, what's the solution? I've gone on for years about having the right skills to plan ahead and develop an approach, but in essence it's what we've already known - the promoters tinker with the sport but they're afraid to do anything radical for fear of alienating riders and fans alike. There has been no research to find what people genuinely DO want, so the sport has declined and not ventured into anything dramatic to reverse its fortunes. Taking cricket as an example, 20/20 is not universally popular with traditional but by gum, it sure created a massive new audience for a brand of cricket. Furthermore, cricket clubs charge more to attend 20/20 matches than other forms of the game, even though there's less of it - and they did a brilliant job of cross-selling to ensure more people attend other fixtures too. It helps generate funds within the game to sustain and build real cricket, and generates momentum, something severely lacking in British speedway. I'd say speedway needs to reinvent itself by creating a variant that will sell tickets big time. That requires a lot of thought and development but is possible in my view - after all, indoor and ice speedway certainly proved popular when they've been staged, so why not find something that might help win people over to real speedway? To work, we would need it to be: Profitable: cheap to run & relatively cheap to attend High value-add for customers - lots of good entertainment, plenty of passing and excitement Potential to be staged at many locations, not just existing tracks Low noise to avoid planning battles etc. The ability for many people to participate, having watched top riders do it Not subject to weather, and preferably year-round Fun! Also addictive - make it easy for people to support teams and build up atmosphere Thoughts?
  21. I fail to see how could it be against the interests of the Polish authorities to have a Polish World Champ, even if that wasn't Plech. Surely better for them than Mauger winning again?
  22. AndyM

    Belle Vue

    I remember my dad saying Belle Vue fairground was expensive relative to other entertainments in those days, though I can't remember the figures. Would be interesting to find out how much the rides cost in relation to other attractions.
  23. OK, not brain dead. But having heard Kelvin talk and commentate at various times over many years, I certainly don't think he'll be winning Mastermind any time soon. Erudite and learned his comments most certainly are not.
  24. Why get in a flap - what does it matter? Frankly, the opinions of a brain-dead commentating ex-rider are irrelevant. If you allow yourself to get wound up by it, you're pandering to his prejudice.
  25. AndyM

    Two Maximums In One Night

    Pretty sure Peter Collins did too, though I can't remember the year or the meetings. Will check my programmes when I get a chance.
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