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Winter League ?

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Well they'd be amateur racing meetings where riders actually pay to ride so I'd say there's a fundamental difference there..

 

 

I see, thanks. I hadn't picked that up. Will the intended riders want to pay to ride in this way?

 

I hadn't seen this matter previously mentioned. But I think that is the obvious scenario for a competition of this sort.

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In the late seventies/early eighties quite a few meetings were held at Mildenhall during the winter months, They were mainly team matches and I recall that on more than one occasion Mildenhall had 2 matches Each time with 7 different riders) against opposition from teams that included Wimbledon, Swindon, Iwade etc. Very few of the riders had a regular summer time team place but went on to do this. One name that springs to mind is Kelvin Tatum riding for Wimbledon.

there was no charge for entry - just a small fee if you wanted a basic race card.

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I feel that this would fall victim to the weather too often, nice idea in practice but I could not see a whole league take place due to the sheer amount of postponements that will be inevitable in the winter.

Also would a NL rider take this risk of riding in the winter and getting injured putting a NL team place in jeopardy ?

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You'll find some NL riders racing in the excellent Scunthorpe Winter Championship, and they suffer few rain-offs really.

 

Apart from Mildenhall that was mentioned by ivanhoward, King's Lynn and Boston have been known to run meetings during December and Januarymany moons ago.

 

I know of people who travel up from Kent to see the Scunthorpe Amateur Meetings, and also an Edinburgh fan that goes to them too, so I think there would be a certain level of support for such a venture. I think it's a great idea, and would get my support on the terraces.

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Been thinking about this a little more. If riders that are paid to race during the summer are willing to ride for free during the winter, are there other running costs that could equally be reduced to support making a winter league feasible?

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If you have the free run of the stadium like we do at Rye then the major costs must be staff - ref, admin, track and catering - track preparation and insurance and ambulance cover. Len said he used to not lose money on NL racing at Rye when he charged no admission fee due to catering sales etc. I suspect the costs of a winter meeting will easily be offset by a small admission charge catering takings or even a modest team sponsorship. Maybe someone with promotional experience who reads this could assist?

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