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mickthemuppet

Fixed night farce-how much longer

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5 minutes ago, Aces51 said:

That's isn't true. One combined league brought about the success of the 70's and 80's but failed in the 90's. Society and the popularity of the sport have changed dramatically since then so neither example may now be relevant. However, what we do know know it's that current structure certainly doesn't work. I would love the see the big stars back in the UK but I would love much more to see the sport grow and become, at the very least, sustainable. The fact is that it is more important to give fans settled teams where, injury apart, absences are a rarity, regular weekly meetings on the nights that best suit that team and preferably a number of local riders in each team that fans will better identify with as their own.

The present structure is broken beyond repair and we have to go back to basics and rebuild. We also must have the leadership that has the vision and ability to carry through the changes needed. Whether that comes from an independent body or the BSPA perhaps doesn't matter, what is vital is that they have the necessary authority and are capable of doing the job.

Settled teams are the key and why I think the fixed night is a good thing. There is no getting away from the fact that there aren't enough riders to fill one big league unless it's a radical re think on the way forward. Which is more than overdue. 

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2 minutes ago, iris123 said:

I think the success of the 70’s and 80’s was more down to having two leagues where the likes of Peter Collins,Michael Lee and later Gary Havelock,Martin Dugard etc all started in the lower league.It brought us no end of talent,before foreign riders started taking places away.Local riders are very important in bonding people.

Crowd numbers increased from the amalgamation of the league in 1965 and it was because of that success that the second division started in 1967. There were many factors which added to that success, the emergence of top class British riders, which resulted in the dominance of the national team, local riders progressing through the second division to become international stars and the Belle Vue and Eastbourne training schools, which produced many good riders. However, it was the amalgamation of the leagues and that rebirth which made possible most of the other things that then happened.

Without that rebirth things would have continued as they were no doubt with the two warring factions of the National and Provincial League escalating their problems. Speedway would have stagnated with very likely no opportunities for riders from the Provincial League to move up and progress. They would have probably been blocked from doing so because without the eventual agreement in 1965 those Provincial League tracks would have been unlicenced and the riders banned from SCB licenced tracks. Thankfully, the National League realised that they could not survive alone and the results of the inquiry were accepted by both sides.

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14 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

Seven man teams for me too. In one big league. Assuming the BSPA can come up with a well thought out plan.

 

I don’t think the promoters would agree to it as a whole, I don’t think there are enough riders to have equal teams either, we’ll see ....

 

This isn’t what the riders want either, most want to race for 2 teams ...... they wouldn’t have this with one big league, 19 teams, no home/away twice, less meetings, less earnings .....

Edited by Trees

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38 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

Settled teams are the key and why I think the fixed night is a good thing. There is no getting away from the fact that there aren't enough riders to fill one big league unless it's a radical re think on the way forward. Which is more than overdue. 

I don't disagree with fixed nights in principle. What I do disagree with is the fixed nights we have ended up with. It is an agreement that could be the cause of teams facing serious financial difficulties and that is not acceptable and outweighs any perceived benefits. What if any or all of those teams close or apply to join the CL? If 2 or more teams went there will be no PL or FNR.

Edited by Aces51

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1 hour ago, Trees said:

I don’t think the promoters would agree to it as a whole, I don’t think there are enough riders to have equal teams either, we’ll see ....

 

This isn’t what the riders want either, most want to race for 2 teams ...... they wouldn’t have this with one big league, 19 teams, no home/away twice, less meetings, less earnings .....

 

Good point about the riders and their earnings. I guess double uppers currently have more than 50 meetings here and some more abroad.

 

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3 hours ago, Fred Flange said:

Fixed race nights will always fail when one of the nights is Monday. I'd better not mention wolves as their obtuse fans will get upset

Just because they ride Monday's doesn't mean it's great for them either, I've watched their crowds drop over the years attending as an away fan since the late '80's watching section after section of the stadium being closed off due to lack of numbers... makes you wonder what crowds they could get if they didn't race Monday's

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23 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Poole v Redcar. That’ll pull them in! :rolleyes:

You're so insulting I'm embarrassed for you. It wasn't that long ago the mighty Poole was in the second tier, can remember going to Enfield park to watch them lose.

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16 minutes ago, iainb said:

Just because they ride Monday's doesn't mean it's great for them either, I've watched their crowds drop over the years attending as an away fan since the late '80's watching section after section of the stadium being closed off due to lack of numbers... makes you wonder what crowds they could get if they didn't race Monday's

You are incorrect, Ladbrokes who own the stadium, decided to close the home straight, nothing to do with lack of speedway numbers. In 1996 when Wolves reached the KO Cup final we had to race the 'home' leg of the final at Long Eaton while alterations to the greyhound track were going on. Not exactly ideal eh ? But renting a track, you are totally in the hands of the landlord.

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1 hour ago, Beowulf said:

 

You are incorrect, Ladbrokes who own the stadium, decided to close the home straight, nothing to do with lack of speedway numbers. In 1996 when Wolves reached the KO Cup final we had to race the 'home' leg of the final at Long Eaton while alterations to the greyhound track were going on. Not exactly ideal eh ? But renting a track, you are totally in the hands of the landlord.

Ok, but surely you take my point that even the crowds have dropped off alarmingly at wolves over the years. Agree that they're in the hands of the landlords, as are many others, I was just suggesting that if anybody said Mondays work at wolves nobody knows because we don't know how many they'd get on any other day of the week because they've always run on Mondays (due to the landlords)

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9 minutes ago, iainb said:

Ok, but surely you take my point that even the crowds have dropped off alarmingly at wolves over the years. Agree that they're in the hands of the landlords, as are many others, I was just suggesting that if anybody said Mondays work at wolves nobody knows because we don't know how many they'd get on any other day of the week because they've always run on Mondays (due to the landlords)

When I started taking an interest in speedway Wolves ran on Fridays. When did they change to Mondays?

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1 or 2 NL riders in each team - maybe more, maybe 6 man teams. There wasn't going to be enough riders for BL2 back in the day - within 3 years they were breeding world class talent

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Really odd this ..Wolves have done really well over years while running on a Monday  other clubs has gone bust or lost loads of money like Eastie who ran on a weekend . But now because Belle Vue don't like running  on Mondays somehow running on a Monday is now  a massive problem for Wolves ? 

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Speedway has a sense of anticipation and occasion when it's staged at the weekend.

Mondays and Tuesdays are the most anti-climatic days of the week coming straight after the weekend and are the worst possible days to run speedway.

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36 minutes ago, keepturningleft said:

Speedway has a sense of anticipation and occasion when it's staged at the weekend.

Mondays and Tuesdays are the most anti-climatic days of the week coming straight after the weekend and are the worst possible days to run speedway.

Disagree. For those that work for someone, Sundays can be a day of dread knowing they have to bow to their boss in the morning. Monday speedway gives something to look forward to.

Tuesdays in Sweden seems to work ok. Poole on a Wednesday is fine. Promotions just need to promote.

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On 5/19/2018 at 5:52 PM, Steve Shovlar said:

Poole v Redcar. That’ll pull them in! :rolleyes:

 

On 5/19/2018 at 6:30 PM, Steve Shovlar said:

One big league is nonesense. Fans will not come for Poole v Redcar or Berwick. How is that going to pack out stadiums? 

Clubs like Sheffield and Ipswich should be in the top flight and they way they acted when the premership wanted Mondays and Thursdays was frankly disgraceful.

 

On 5/19/2018 at 6:41 PM, Steve Shovlar said:

Good god no. Don’t want anything other than 7 man teams. 5 man teams to repetitive.

 

29 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Disagree. For those that work for someone, Sundays can be a day of dread knowing they have to bow to their boss in the morning. Monday speedway gives something to look forward to.

Tuesdays in Sweden seems to work ok. Poole on a Wednesday is fine. Promotions just need to promote.

Cant really believe what you write most of the time...................no wait yes i can!

I hope your happy in your world of 4 teams in a league, 7 riders and Poole winning it.

Maybe one day you may look at the bigger picture but i doubt it

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