Rye House 2018

[iris123 20,979]

7 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said:

That's a novelty thing when teams move up leagues. When you realise the aesthetics haven't changed people disappear again.

Same with teams going down. 

King's Lynn had better crowds than now in the old Premier League. Every fan felt part of the club and included.

Soon as the people that included the fans left the club, the place just feels so subdued and people have walked away.

Ultimately, value for money is the most important. 

Some say the change of race night has been Belle Vue's problem. It may well just be the novelty of a shiny new stadium has worn off and people are not seeing any value in the sport.

I don’t disagree and that was my thought about Belle Vue as well.Was it the honeymoon period over?

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

As someone came up with the brilliant opinion that it doesn’t matter where your team finishes why bother with a pints limit and let teams have carte blanche to field the team they can afford?If Rye can only afford rubbish,then let them put a poor team out.But then nobody should complain or block another team having a couple of star riders.The trouble we have is because some can’t field a decent team everyone has to get dragged down to that level

That was me and I stick with that scenario. Get rid of the points limit completely. Teams build to whatever level they can afford. Clubs on a sound financial footing have been dragged down to the level of clubs living on a wing and a prayer. Some will say typical selfish Poole fan but they miss the point. If for example, Rye cannot afford the team they put together, then put out a team with Championship strength. When a big club comes to town it could be a bit of beat the big boys. Crowds will turn up to see it happen.

The removal of a points limit will mean self policing. If a team discovers it can’t afford the team, out goes the 9 pointer and in comes a 4.5 rider. Promotions want to make a profit and it might take a season or two to get it right but it would stop the pandering to the weakest.

Also bring back two British youngsters in the reserve berths. Worked well and totally wrong to be scrapped.

[stevebrum 6,821]

3 hours ago, cityrebel said:

I think the sport has deteriorated rapidly since Emil rode for Coventry. Without lucrative sponsorship and a big TV deal, I don't see how the top league can afford the better riders.

You could equally argue how can we survive with the top riders as with every dumbing down fans have walked away.

sadly the TV money has just gone on the riders with no thought to progression or development. Another big reason why the promoters haven’t seen this coming or if they have they haven’t had the answers in a long time.

[Vince 9,458]

I'm sure I've posted this before but as far as getting new people into Speedway the big names don't really matter much. When Weymouth first re-opened David mason was top man there and I was asked by a new fan how come he wasn't racing in the World Championship he'd seen on the TV.

Of course if you move up a league then drop back down people will understand the difference in quality of riders and probably be disappointed. When it comes to getting them through the gate in the first place it really doesn't count for much.

In my opinion what counts far more is fans feeling connected with riders in the long term. I have long advocated average allowances for retaining riders year on year, I would add to that another allowance for tracks which provide training that brings riders through and doing away with the asset system. I'd be willing to bet that a good local rider brings in as many fans as regular outings from a GP star. Also individual meetings featuring the GP stars would be a much bigger draw if you only get to see them a couple of times a year.

Guests are a necessary evil in a sport which has such a high injury count, given that they should make the most of it by telling everybody repeatedly just how dangerous it is.

Fans are definitely fickle, seems like there are a good few on here who were all in favour of fixed race nights who now condemn it.

As for Rye House I really hope something can be worked out that keeps the track open for the sake of Speedway and for the selfish reason that it's the nearest place I get to ride my bike whether practicing or racing.

[Big Al 708]

1 hour ago, Vince said:

I'm sure I've posted this before but as far as getting new people into Speedway the big names don't really matter much. When Weymouth first re-opened David mason was top man there and I was asked by a new fan how come he wasn't racing in the World Championship he'd seen on the TV.

Of course if you move up a league then drop back down people will understand the difference in quality of riders and probably be disappointed. When it comes to getting them through the gate in the first place it really doesn't count for much.

In my opinion what counts far more is fans feeling connected with riders in the long term. I have long advocated average allowances for retaining riders year on year, I would add to that another allowance for tracks which provide training that brings riders through and doing away with the asset system. I'd be willing to bet that a good local rider brings in as many fans as regular outings from a GP star. Also individual meetings featuring the GP stars would be a much bigger draw if you only get to see them a couple of times a year.

Guests are a necessary evil in a sport which has such a high injury count, given that they should make the most of it by telling everybody repeatedly just how dangerous it is.

Fans are definitely fickle, seems like there are a good few on here who were all in favour of fixed race nights who now condemn it.

As for Rye House I really hope something can be worked out that keeps the track open for the sake of Speedway and for the selfish reason that it's the nearest place I get to ride my bike whether practicing or racing.

First match I went to, age about 10, I went because I'd heard that Speedway was dangerous, including for spectators! There was Ray Wilson and Ivan Mauger but didn't really know much about them. Who was the match-winner for Leicester? Young local lad Graham Plant. So I went a few more times, and it was Graham Plant who I went to see ride. Pity he went off to Halifax, really peed me off.

[orion 7,615]

1 hour ago, Vince said:

I'm sure I've posted this before but as far as getting new people into Speedway the big names don't really matter much. 

Of course  it does .its common sense that the better the standard the more fans who have stopped going would go again and the more people that come back the more likely that they  will bring new fans with them ..

I got no answers how we do it but if the only plan to keep droping the standard and have a mind set that we don't need top riders in the uk then the sport will carry on losing fans intill it's dead..

[Najjer 2,890]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

That was me and I stick with that scenario. Get rid of the points limit completely. Teams build to whatever level they can afford. Clubs on a sound financial footing have been dragged down to the level of clubs living on a wing and a prayer. Some will say typical selfish Poole fan but they miss the point. If for example, Rye cannot afford the team they put together, then put out a team with Championship strength. When a big club comes to town it could be a bit of beat the big boys. Crowds will turn up to see it happen.

The removal of a points limit will mean self policing. If a team discovers it can’t afford the team, out goes the 9 pointer and in comes a 4.5 rider. Promotions want to make a profit and it might take a season or two to get it right but it would stop the pandering to the weakest.

Also bring back two British youngsters in the reserve berths. Worked well and totally wrong to be scrapped.

It's not a bad theory and a bad idea. It works in Poland and also for football and just about any other sport quite frankly. With every winner there has to be loser(s). 

However, you would have to argue back against it that promotions should of been working within their budgets and means already regardless of a points limit. It never ceases to amaze me how bad some promotion are at handling their business. At Rye House this season there has been a serious misjudgement and they can't lay the blame solely at the door of the BSPA for fixed racenights. Kasprzak should never of been near the team if they were worried about costs.

[ReadingRacer2017 159]

Chris Harris replaces David Bellego at Swindon. 

Source LK 

[SilverLens 2]

A lightweight’s tale - some random thoughts, sorry if I ramble

About 10-12 years ago, casting around for a bit of sport to entertain myself and the lad (c12-14 years old) on a weekend in the summer, I ended up looking up speedway and, lo and behold, up popped Rye House about 30 minutes from where we live. As a former Wembley Lions and White City Rebels fan from my youth, I thought great! Lacks the glamour but lets give it a go….

It was a great evening’s entertainment… affordable, good fish and chips, nice bar, lovely bank overlooking bends 1 and 2. So we became ‘regular occasional’ spectators, a few meetings every summer plus a regular trip to Cardiff etc.  Premier and National League made for a good show, even if the wait for the County ambulance did become an all too regular occurrence. Seeing the brilliantly talented Woffinden come through made for brilliant entertainment at times, seeing the team of British or nearly all British diners was a plus.

Even then though, I used to wonder how the sport kept going. No attendance figures were/are ever published anywhere it seemed to me, and the numbers I saw rarely seemed to tally with the figures banded around. So how they can afford to run ‘Elite’ riders I can’t imagine - I always assumed TV/sponsorship was propping it up.

Rye’s social media presence is rubbish, twitter’s an absolute joke. The website used to be pathetic, marginally better now but even so it’s poor and no real attempt to engage supporters.  In over 10 years, I never saw one advert for them in the local press over my way - should have been hammering the local press, stations on their line into London etc, but it always felt like they never bothered.  Did they ever think to get a rider kitted out with a bike to local schools for a bit of PR, engage the kids etc?

And now: the bar’s gone… introduction of air fences ruined many sight lines… toilets almost as bad as Leyton Orient in the late 70s… Giant moles sorry Moto X course in the middle actually ruin the low level sight lines. Actually the car park could have been utilised for Moto X and saved a lot of development costs?

And they move to Wednesday nights… not their fault but for a London-centric track, really bad news. Perhaps OK if you’re a local but if you’re commuting on a different train line and you’ve got to get home before driving round, hard work. Or travel out to RH, back into London afterwards and out again on a different line. Nah. I would do ridiculous trips for the sport that is my life long obsession, as Shadders knows, but to do it for a sport that I just enjoy, for maybe 15 minutes of racing…

Sounds like a massive moan, sorry, but I’m gutted if this is the end for Rye House. IMO one huge problem speedway faces is getting in volumes of ‘floating voters’ like myself. There are a wealth of options available for people to spend their time and money on these days, I’m not convinced (at least from my RH experience) that enough is done to publicise the sport or to get the youngsters in. Bear in mind many cash-strapped parents will find it easier to take the kids to speedway a few times than say 1 Premier League match. FWIW I agree with the idea that an affordable second tier team is better than unaffordable ‘elite’ speedway - you grow to love your regular riders as long as they put in the effort, as with any sport.

Don’t get me wrong, the last meeting I attended was a great battle with Kings Lynn, Lambert looked really classy and it was a pleasure to watch. Speedway needs to find a way of hooking a new generation of supporters, otherwise the tracks will just continue to disappear. I came back after 30 years basically because it was fun in my teens, just think how few youngsters have been nowadays. On a positive note, rugby union at club level was an unheralded sport played by amateurs 30 years ago, now it has become professional and teams are thriving around the country so perhaps it can be done; of course it may require investment that is impossible to find to make the leap but I will be keeping my fingers crossed.

[Wolfsbane 12,944]

2 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

That was me and I stick with that scenario. Get rid of the points limit completely. Teams build to whatever level they can afford. Clubs on a sound financial footing have been dragged down to the level of clubs living on a wing and a prayer. Some will say typical selfish Poole fan but they miss the point. If for example, Rye cannot afford the team they put together, then put out a team with Championship strength. When a big club comes to town it could be a bit of beat the big boys. Crowds will turn up to see it happen.

The removal of a points limit will mean self policing. If a team discovers it can’t afford the team, out goes the 9 pointer and in comes a 4.5 rider. Promotions want to make a profit and it might take a season or two to get it right but it would stop the pandering to the weakest.

Also bring back two British youngsters in the reserve berths. Worked well and totally wrong to be scrapped.

Only problem is it's 10-15 years too late. Once the dumbing down had started, it was like a runaway train. At a talk in with CVS & Adams many years ago they asked exactly that question, should we get rid of the points limit? My mate was the only one in a room of 150-200 to put his hand up. Needless to say he's long since finished with speedway.

[Steve0 5,517]

14 minutes ago, ReadingRacer2017 said:

Chris Harris replaces David Bellego at Swindon. 

Source LK 

No thanks - maybe a few years ago but he’s on his way down 

[New Science 1,059]

2 hours ago, Thornaby48 said:

I returned to speed way 3 years ago after an absence of 14 years. I didn't know any of the riders names or wether they were top riders or not , I just enjoyed the racing. What did shock me was the number of guest riders, even at reserve and I hesitate to attend now if there is more than 1 guest riding. I want to watch my team  not a random collection of riders. To my mind there are several reasons for speed ways decline,

 

1) the lack of publicity locally and nationally

2) the excessive use of guest riders. How can you associate yourself with a team that is not yours

3) I like r/r but in its current form is not fit for purpose.

That's what the fixed race nights were bought in for, to eliminate guests which on the whole has worked

[New Science 1,059]

2 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

That was me and I stick with that scenario. Get rid of the points limit completely. Teams build to whatever level they can afford. Clubs on a sound financial footing have been dragged down to the level of clubs living on a wing and a prayer. Some will say typical selfish Poole fan but they miss the point. If for example, Rye cannot afford the team they put together, then put out a team with Championship strength. When a big club comes to town it could be a bit of beat the big boys. Crowds will turn up to see it happen.

The removal of a points limit will mean self policing. If a team discovers it can’t afford the team, out goes the 9 pointer and in comes a 4.5 rider. Promotions want to make a profit and it might take a season or two to get it right but it would stop the pandering to the weakest.

Also bring back two British youngsters in the reserve berths. Worked well and totally wrong to be scrapped.

Not sure about unlimited points limit when Poole can't even afford race suits

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

1 minute ago, New Science said:

Not sure about unlimited points limit when Poole can't even afford race suits

There may well be other teams who can put together more impressive teams under a no limit system. At least this way we are not pandering to the weakest link.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Steve Shovlar

[A ORLOV 8,628]

14 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

There may well be other teams who can put together more impressive teams under a no limit system. At least this way we are not pandering to the weakest link.

Have wanted that for a long time, mainly to enable the clubs to keep the same riders rather than having to lose one or two every year because the bspa weaken the league most years, but there has always been one or two that have voted against it.