Jump to content
British Speedway Forum
wealdstone

The continuing decline of Speedway

Recommended Posts

The future blueprint must be Lawn mower racing.

Two classes ride on and towing with strict engine regulations -cutting blades are removed!

No payment to competitors and no sponsorship.

EU competitors start with 10 metre handicap (they don’t do lawnmowers apparently)

Growing sport looking for a Bernie Ecclestone to take them further.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 minutes ago, New Science said:

I can't be having this idea that's fans can't identify with their team because they ride for other clubs. Its 2018 riders ride all over Europe for various clubs. Bartosz Zmarzlik is hero worshiped in Gorzow. Do anybody have a problem that he rides for Elit Vetlanda ? No , its just part of modern speedway. The days of top British riders like Michael Lee just riding in Britain for 1 team are gone, we need to get used to it, its not going to change.

To me the days of top riders pulling their weight consistently in UK no longer seemed the case and has been a trend for several years.

Watch the same guys in Poland and Sweden and you see a totally different approach and rider.

Mind if you are earning 10 times more in Poland then that would encourage you to put in the effort.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, moxey63 said:

You can't commit full effort to everything you do, so why should speedway riders be able to do it. They often have numerous clubs, so which one isn't getting their full whack. Is it Britain, Sweden - where I've heard they can earn 10 times more? Surely let's look at the crowds. I know this isn't the main cause, but Sweden and Poland seem to be enjoying their speedway judging by their attendances. Have we in this country been left as third choice, riders perhaps using their tired mood to race in this league and not trying as hard. It all adds up. Deep inside their minds, British fans wonder if their rider loves their club as much as their Swedish or Polish one. Then the fan begins to think... "why should I support my club?" They aren't my team, just agency boys on another paypacket. I told someone the other day about some of speedway's problems - and they laughed about the rules they allow. Never mind about fans being disillusioned - do the riders feel less energised to actually put in a full effort when a stadium is almost empty? It says a bit about where we are. You need a crowd, a bit of banter. You need tribalism, otherwise, you have no need to cheer. Riders need to marry into a one-team ethic, otherwise they can wander off and ply their trades in foreign climbs. British speedway needs to save itself. One big league, proper rules, one-club men, a sense that fans are supporting a set of lads and this set of lads wants to repay that set of fans. Simple. 

Another barrel of bilge from the chip on the shoulder meaner who can’t come to terms w it’s the idea of actually having to pay to go in.

Are you genuinely unaware that some Polish clubs have major financial problems , almost to the point of bankruptcy in some cases ?

Are you genuinely unaware that certain Swedish riders are owed a lot of money by clubs with cash flow problems ?

Are you genuinely unaware that there are  mere handful of British riders riding for Polish or Swedish teams on a regular basis, but the vast majority don’t ?

The fact is that Polish and Swedish Speedway is being affected by pretty much the same problems that affect British Speedway . They are perhaps 15 years behind us in terms of the size of the problem but they are undoubtedly on the same slope, in the sense of income falling behind e xpediture.

The is no doubt that British Speedway is facing an existential crisis with a complex variety of problems, but for you to keep pretending that there are 1980’s answers to 2018 problems is nonsense. Still if you enjoy your echo chamber, so be it.

 

 

Edited by Daytripper
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, New Science said:

I can't be having this idea that's fans can't identify with their team because they ride for other clubs. Its 2018 riders ride all over Europe for various clubs. Bartosz Zmarzlik is hero worshiped in Gorzow. Do anybody have a problem that he rides for Elit Vetlanda ? No , its just part of modern speedway. The days of top British riders like Michael Lee just riding in Britain for 1 team are gone, we need to get used to it, its not going to change.

If you are happy with that, and I suspect you still attend, then that's fine. But this, I feel, is one of the reasons the belonging to one team has gone. It put me off. How many others? But we'll never know if they just disappear, or they're being encouraged not to post anything negative that will hurt the few that still attend and are told to go and do something else. We want a serious sport, to keep what we have on the terraces and perhaps make it credible to potential new fans. When Nigel Pearson says "He's riding here tonight, for someone in Sweden tomorrow, Denmark on Wednesday..." I got a bit cold and feel nauseous If they were doing it in foreign individual meetings, that would be fine, but I'd have felt betrayed if Peter Collins was allowed to do this. In fact, he couldn't even enter the World Championship when he quit Britain in 1981... and he was the Champion five years before. How standards have dropped.   

Edited by moxey63

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
32 minutes ago, Daytripper said:

Another barrel of bilge from the chip on the shoulder meaner who can’t come to terms w it’s the idea of actually having to pay to go in.

Are you genuinely unaware that some Polish clubs have major financial problems , almost to the point of bankruptcy in some cases ?

Are you genuinely unaware that certain Swedish riders are owed a lot of money by clubs with cash flow problems ?

Are you genuinely unaware that there are  mere handful of British riders riding for Polish or Swedish teams on a regular basis, but the vast majority don’t ?

The fact is that Polish and Swedish Speedway is being affected by pretty much the same problems that affect British Speedway . They are perhaps 15 years behind us in terms of the size of the problem but they are undoubtedly on the same slope, in the sense of income falling behind e xpediture.

The is no doubt that British Speedway is facing an existential crisis with a complex variety of problems, but for you to keep pretending that there are 1980’s answers to 2018 problems is nonsense. Still if you enjoy your echo chamber, so be it.

 

 

I thought we were chatting about the continuing decline of British speedway? I am aware of the above, but let's try to save British speedway first of all. I'll get back to Poland and Sweden if I manage that. Only got one pair of hands.

Edited by moxey63

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If a rider rides in Britain he needs a second base/set up with bikes. it isn't possible to transport bikes from Poland to Britain in time for a meeting on Monday evening. One example is Częstochowa to Manchester which is a 21 hour journey + eat/sleep/bathroom breaks and etc.

Hallstavik -Esbjerg is about half of that. 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Daytripper said:

Another barrel of bilge from the chip on the shoulder meaner who can’t come to terms w it’s the idea of actually having to pay to go in.

Are you genuinely unaware that some Polish clubs have major financial problems , almost to the point of bankruptcy in some cases ?

Are you genuinely unaware that certain Swedish riders are owed a lot of money by clubs with cash flow problems ?

Are you genuinely unaware that there are  mere handful of British riders riding for Polish or Swedish teams on a regular basis, but the vast majority don’t ?

The fact is that Polish and Swedish Speedway is being affected by pretty much the same problems that affect British Speedway . They are perhaps 15 years behind us in terms of the size of the problem but they are undoubtedly on the same slope, in the sense of income falling behind e xpediture.

The is no doubt that British Speedway is facing an existential crisis with a complex variety of problems, but for you to keep pretending that there are 1980’s answers to 2018 problems is nonsense. Still if you enjoy your echo chamber, so be it.

 

 

DON'T think Polish tracks are suffering from dwindling crowds and a lack of youngsters attending meetings. Spoke to Andreas Jonsson on Saturday and says Lublin, a second division team, sell-out every meeting and have over 1,000 fans travelling to away fixtures. 

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

DON'T think Polish tracks are suffering from dwindling crowds and a lack of youngsters attending meetings. Spoke to Andreas Jonsson on Saturday and says Lublin, a second division team, sell-out every meeting and have over 1,000 fans travelling to away fixtures. 

Think Donald Trump's supplying him with his news, Phil!

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Daytripper said:

Another barrel of bilge from the chip on the shoulder meaner who can’t come to terms w it’s the idea of actually having to pay to go in.

Are you genuinely unaware that some Polish clubs have major financial problems , almost to the point of bankruptcy in some cases ?

Are you genuinely unaware that certain Swedish riders are owed a lot of money by clubs with cash flow problems ?

Are you genuinely unaware that there are  mere handful of British riders riding for Polish or Swedish teams on a regular basis, but the vast majority don’t ?

The fact is that Polish and Swedish Speedway is being affected by pretty much the same problems that affect British Speedway . They are perhaps 15 years behind us in terms of the size of the problem but they are undoubtedly on the same slope, in the sense of income falling behind e xpediture.

The is no doubt that British Speedway is facing an existential crisis with a complex variety of problems, but for you to keep pretending that there are 1980’s answers to 2018 problems is nonsense. Still if you enjoy your echo chamber, so be it.

 

 

I'll bet they sort the problems out in the next 15 years if your assessment is correct.I doubt your  assessment of the situation though.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, moxey63 said:

If you are happy with that, and I suspect you still attend, then that's fine. But this, I feel, is one of the reasons the belonging to one team has gone. It put me off. How many others? But we'll never know if they just disappear, or they're being encouraged not to post anything negative that will hurt the few that still attend and are told to go and do something else. We want a serious sport, to keep what we have on the terraces and perhaps make it credible to potential new fans. When Nigel Pearson says "He's riding here tonight, for someone in Sweden tomorrow, Denmark on Wednesday..." I got a bit cold and feel nauseous If they were doing it in foreign individual meetings, that would be fine, but I'd have felt betrayed if Peter Collins was allowed to do this. In fact, he couldn't even enter the World Championship when he quit Britain in 1981... and he was the Champion five years before. How standards have dropped.   

The idea of a rider sticking to one team is a thing of the past. You only have to look at the threads on this forum to see that as soon as a rider has a few below par meetings and people want him replaced . The growing change over the years is that an increasing number of fans are only interested in supporting a winning team. As soon as a team stars losing so called fans stop coming. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting comments from Doyle in the interview prior to the GP.  When asked about getting a warning from/moving jumping at the start, he basically said it was something that had originated in the UK because "it's practically impossible to pass on most British tracks".

There you have it, straight from the World Champ, Britsh tracks are crap.  Fix 'em!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
50 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

The idea of a rider sticking to one team is a thing of the past. You only have to look at the threads on this forum to see that as soon as a rider has a few below par meetings and people want him replaced . The growing change over the years is that an increasing number of fans are only interested in supporting a winning team. As soon as a team stars losing so called fans stop coming. 

I honestly don't think it SHOULD be a problem for a rider to ride for multiple teams across Europe. The important thing is that, whoever he rides for, he should be there, injuries not withstanding.

If there is a clash of fixtures due to a rescheduling, the fixture that was originally scheduled for that date should take priority.

Steve

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 7/8/2018 at 1:30 PM, Ray Stadia said:

Surely, the way it is run now, is a franchise? 

That's exactly what i thought.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On ‎7‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 7:49 PM, Hot Shoe said:

I think the racing is excellent at the moment and at many meetings now good racing is more consistent than it was in the 60s, 70, 80s & 90s.

I probably see more overtakes in an evening at Scunny now than i did in a month at Wimbledon in the 'good old days'.

 

I keep reading from posters on here how racing in Britain is as good as it has ever been. I am struggling to find where this is ? As a sport we need up to 20 venues around the country that can showcase our great sport and make it viable. I watch Premiership speedway and the only tracks I would put in that category are Belle Vue and maybe Somerset, less said about the rest, Leicester tonight being a typical example. In the 2nd tear Scunthorpe yes, Peterborough maybe, maybe people can inform me. National League, think we can discount Stoke. Where are these 20 standout venues that we can Sheppard people into to get them to see great speedway racing and become hooked on our sport in this country and turn around its fortunes 

Edited by New Science

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, New Science said:

I keep reading from posters on here how racing in Britain is as good as it has ever been. I am struggling to find where this is ? As a sport we need up to 20 venues around the country that can showcase our great sport and make it viable. I watch Premiership speedway and the only tracks I would put in that category are Belle Vue and maybe Somerset, less said about the rest, Leicester tonight being a typical example. In the 2nd tear Scunthorpe yes, Peterborough maybe, maybe people can inform me. National League, think we can discount Stoke. Where are these 20 standout venues that we can Sheppard people into to get them to see great speedway racing and become hooked on our sport in this country and turn around its fortunes 

I don't think its any worse or better in general than it always has been.  Its certainly a myth that the standard was higher 30 or 40 years ago.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy