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snooker and darts were totally diffwrent to speedway in the fact that they had much bigger fan bases and tv audiences in the past. so in a way they were sleeping giants just waiting to be reawakened . speedway is different the fan base has gone it will need to be started from the beginning basically and built up frm scratch compared to snooker/darts

 

Not true, speedway is exactly the same...huge crowds and followings in the 70's and early 80's so can be reawakened just like those sports were. I was born in the early 70's and watched speedway on Saturday's with my father on World of Sport (or was it Grandstand?) when growing up. A lot of my classmates did the same, but a very high percentage of todays children have never heard of speedway. In those days a lot of folk knew a lot more about speedway than folk do today but that can change.

 

I have been going to Poole speedway for as long as I can remember and have always stood in exactly the same spot with my father as it's the same spot he used to stand with his father - and that's something I'm immensely proud of. Crowds at Poole have significantly fluctuated all the years I have been attending and there doesn't appear to be a stand out reason why.

 

There is absolutely no reason why speedway cannot return to being what it once was as (in my opinion) it's the most exciting motor spot in the world. It just needs the right person or persons with the right vision who are prepared to play the long game. It won't happen overnight or even in a few years, but it certainly can! Why can't Barry Hearn (with his proven track record) be that person?

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you proved me right...the reason why speedway is not the same as snooker and darts is cuz a lot of kids have never heard of speedway so therefore it needs a brand new type of structure put in pkace to start from scratch... to get these youngsters aware of whst there missin...also before anything is even thought about or discussed the track prep for quality racing needs to be addressed.you aint gonna get any new fans with crap tracks infact you will always lose fans cuz those new ones will not return. i have so many matches where the track should of been so much better.

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I think a big problem speedway has that other sports dont, is the lack of people participating. People are interested in watching something that they do themselves... If you go down to a football stadium on a saturday afternoon, a large percentage of the crowd either plays for their own football team or has done at some point. If you go down to a speedway stadium, only a small percentage (of an already small number) will have even sat on a speedway bike, let alone raced one competitively.

 

I wonder if a grass roots scheme made more accessible to the public, especially the younger population, might make people have a go and appreciate just how good our sport is

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Could cycle speedway be the grass roots for youngsters to get involved? And do you think Barry Hearn (or anybody similar) would touch speedway with a bargepole considering some of the stadiums teams currently race in? And what about track facilities? You think he would put up with meeting being highly promoted then rained off because of a lack of covering of the tracks? The sport needs to sort out a hell of a lot before any top flight promoter would be attracted to it.

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Teams are still racing in tired old 1960's dog tracks, people will not bother turning up to watch speeday in stadiums that should have been brought up to the 21 st century instead of being stuck in a time walp. There is not one stadium that can even come close to the ones that the Poles have built and never will. The promoters are just scrappin by. And until someone comes along and builds 8 new stadiums around the country and give the sport a good sponser, plus loads of advertising. Then it will carry on the way it is going, until the race with no one watching. The sport is now dead on it's legs and going no where very fast. I saw the glory years of the sport all we have now is nothing but a second rate sport, in a country that lies at the bottom of the pile, that riders from overseas, want to come to race. The promoters have niether will will or the money to get the worlds top riders back over here.

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Poor stadiums,that should be condemned, don't stop thousands turning up at Kenilworth Road (Luton Town FC) and Roots Hall (Southend United FC) every other Saturday though.

 

In the case of Luton, the away supporters bogs actually have green slime running down the walls at the urinals. It's the only time I've ever been for a p!!s and wanted a tetanus jab afterwards.

 

Whilst I don't disagree that many speedway stadium facilities need improving, it isn't going to happen. Take Lakeside - we haven't even got any seating; yet attendances are relatively healthy compared to some others in the league.

 

I truly believe that cost of admission is still the major factor that turns newcomers off - at all levels of our sport.

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