Jump to content
British Speedway Forum
wealdstone

The continuing decline of Speedway

Recommended Posts

7 minutes ago, Skid Sprocket said:

Except we are the paying supporters. 

It is a nice piece of " out the box thinking"  getting Promoters to listen.I wish you luck though.There  will be a few journeymen riders starting to get a bit twitchy of the present situation IMO .there are a lot of Promotions starting to suffer with lower attendances these days.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, waytogo28 said:

You and me and any number of other eager volunteers. I will pay for 1,000 surveys to be printed after we get the permission of the King's Lynn promotion to distribute them at an upcoming match.

A skilled letter writer to draft a letter to every promoter to put them in the picture written so as not to get their backs up?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hope i can get my point across with this post.

Not that i am against it i watch every speedway meeting that is on TV as well as every meeting live at Belle vue. But has live league meetings being shown on tv changed our perception of what is a good speedway meeting.

We are all now obsessed with passing if there is not lots of passing then it is a poor speedway meeting.But has speedway racing changed that much from when we had massive crowds and us fans on the BSF loved it i dont think that it has.Lots of other points have contributed to how things are today and a lot of them have nothing to do with British speedway promoters..

Remember the old comment from non speedway fans that first from the gate wins its boring it was being said when i first started watching the sport and still is today.

So my point is that speedway is far more exciting if you are watching your own team because every race means something.(Its a team sport and with any team sport you want your team to win thats what it is all about for most fans.)We all love to see great racing more so if its a rider from your team  doing the passing but a boring 5/1when i am watching Belle vue is not boring its more points towards a win or pulling back a meeting when you are behind so you get a buzz from it and enjoy the race,in a race like this the last thing(as an aces fan) i would want to see is a pass and my team lose points.If your team needs a 5/1 in the last race to win the meeting and gates 1st and 2nd you would be out of your seat willing them to stay there.But if i am watching a meeting on tv as a neutral i see it through the eyes of a non speedway fan the teams or the result mean nothing to me at all i am watching the meeting just to watch the speedway racing so a Boring 5/1 would have no meaning to me and would just be that and would be a bobins speedway race as would any race from the tapes.

So before league racing was on tv every meeting we watched in most cases included our own team and was seen through the eyes of a fan who wanted his team to win and the above points made for a great speedway meeting, and is possibly why we remember speedway being better back in the day.But the other points watching more and more meeting as a neutral the meeting has to have lots and lots or passing and close racing for it to entertain us or its a poor meeting.Its the racing and not the result that matters to us i think the TV has given us lots of meetings to watch as a neutral and made us view speedway through different eyes.

Hope i got my point across and not just wrote a load of twaddle.

.

Edited by B.V 72
  • Like 4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Hawk127 said:

Perhaps start with the three leagues and price fix the admission charge so clubs have to build a team to a budget. If they get additional sponsorship that is up to them.

Premiership £15 - Concessions - £10 - Under 16 free. Race sheet included

Championship £12 Concessions and under 16 as above

National £8 Flat rate except for under 16 who will be free.

Revert to 13 heat formula and a second half split between the top five riders and the 6,7 and nominated number 8

Allow teams to race on the night that best suits them and if they sign riders who have commitments abroad, they will not be given any facility if the overseas team has priority.

Scrap the restriction on over 8 pointers for the Premiership.

Revert to home and away twice, k o cup and Craven Shield.

introduce a British championship that runs throughout the season with every track holding one round

Unless  you get all tracks operating under a fixed set of rules when it comes to costs etc it will never work. Fans generally want a weekly fix or at the very least once a fortnight and sorting out the schedule of meetings should not be difficult if the league season runs from mid April until mid September. Clubs given two alternative dates when a meeting is postponed. If neither work they forfeit the league points. This would at least attempt to deal with the shenanigans that go on with rearranging fixtures and rider availability

Keep the rule book simple. For example If riders break the tapes or cause a stoppage which requires a race to be rerun (and depending on the cause) it should be all four back with the culprit off 20 meters. The punter pays to watch four riders in every race. Unsatisfactory start, straight back, no pit gate being opened. Mechanics restricted to the pits once a rider leaves to race.

it would not be difficult to simplify the running of the sport and introduce some scratch races  as part of the meeting like for example the fastest lap or two laps or even bring back the golden and silver helmet match races. The odd tweak might make all the difference but getting all the clubs to cut their cloth accordingly is going to be the stumbling block.

This makes a lot of sense but with Rye now gone the PL is broken and the rider sharing between the leagues is dreadful.

If you revert to tracks riding on their chosen night then it will be hopeless regarding rider availability.

It really needs a much bigger shake up top to bottom with 2 leagues based on a clubs financial position and a riders ability.

The standard will inevitably drop initially but is there really any alternative?

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Hawk127 said:

Perhaps start with the three leagues and price fix the admission charge so clubs have to build a team to a budget. If they get additional sponsorship that is up to them.

Premiership £15 - Concessions - £10 - Under 16 free. Race sheet included

Championship £12 Concessions and under 16 as above

National £8 Flat rate except for under 16 who will be free.

Revert to 13 heat formula and a second half split between the top five riders and the 6,7 and nominated number 8

Allow teams to race on the night that best suits them and if they sign riders who have commitments abroad, they will not be given any facility if the overseas team has priority.

Scrap the restriction on over 8 pointers for the Premiership.

Revert to home and away twice, k o cup and Craven Shield.

introduce a British championship that runs throughout the season with every track holding one round

Unless  you get all tracks operating under a fixed set of rules when it comes to costs etc it will never work. Fans generally want a weekly fix or at the very least once a fortnight and sorting out the schedule of meetings should not be difficult if the league season runs from mid April until mid September. Clubs given two alternative dates when a meeting is postponed. If neither work they forfeit the league points. This would at least attempt to deal with the shenanigans that go on with rearranging fixtures and rider availability

Keep the rule book simple. For example If riders break the tapes or cause a stoppage which requires a race to be rerun (and depending on the cause) it should be all four back with the culprit off 20 meters. The punter pays to watch four riders in every race. Unsatisfactory start, straight back, no pit gate being opened. Mechanics restricted to the pits once a rider leaves to race.

it would not be difficult to simplify the running of the sport and introduce some scratch races  as part of the meeting like for example the fastest lap or two laps or even bring back the golden and silver helmet match races. The odd tweak might make all the difference but getting all the clubs to cut their cloth accordingly is going to be the stumbling block.

Some good ideas here but who would agree to fixtures on nights where half of the team are missing - and who would want to run a fixture where the opposition are decimated?  I agree that promoters need to be able to maximise their income and minimise their outgoings and the rules framework should allow that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
23 minutes ago, B.V 72 said:

 

 

We are all now obsessed with passing if there is not lots of passing then it is a poor speedway meeting.But has speedway racing changed that much from when we had massive crowds and us fans on the BSF loved it i dont think that it has.Lots of other points have contributed to how things are today and a lot of them have nothing to do with British speedway promoters..

Remember the old comment from non speedway fans that first from the gate wins its boring it was being said when i first started watching the sport and still is today.

 

.

Before just about giving up on British speedway I attended a match at Alwalton and took a friend with me for his first taste of speedway. The match itself was non-descript really but had one noteworthy moment - Panthers reserve Ricky Ashcroft up against World Champion elect Jason Crump. Ricky jumped out of the gate first, got in front and stayed there, using everything he knew to keep Jason behind. Ricky took the flag first to tremendous applause, everybody on their feet cheering at the finish and on his well-deserved lap of honour. My mate Rob didn't see the point of the applause, to him, it was just a case of first away won!!! Reserve beating World Champ, ex home #1, ex track-record holder meant nothing to him. Ricky started first and won.

I found that, to most newbies, it doesn't matter how good the speedway is, how good the team riding is, you need passing. Without it they're less likely to come back.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 minutes ago, Barney Rabbit said:

Before just about giving up on British speedway I attended a match at Alwalton and took a friend with me for his first taste of speedway. The match itself was non-descript really but had one noteworthy moment - Panthers reserve Ricky Ashcroft up against World Champion elect Jason Crump. Ricky jumped out of the gate first, got in front and stayed there, using everything he knew to keep Jason behind. Ricky took the flag first to tremendous applause, everybody on their feet cheering at the finish and on his well-deserved lap of honour. My mate Rob didn't see the point of the applause, to him, it was just a case of first away won!!! Reserve beating World Champ, ex home #1, ex track-record holder meant nothing to him. Ricky started first and won.

I found that, to most newbies, it doesn't matter how good the speedway is, how good the team riding is, you need passing. Without it they're less likely to come back.

i have often thought similar myself.  It is often said that to attract new supporters rules and a lot more need changing but to initially attract newcomers you need action, rules and politics only come into it when you become a seasoned supporter.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 minutes ago, Barney Rabbit said:

Before just about giving up on British speedway I attended a match at Alwalton and took a friend with me for his first taste of speedway. The match itself was non-descript really but had one noteworthy moment - Panthers reserve Ricky Ashcroft up against World Champion elect Jason Crump. Ricky jumped out of the gate first, got in front and stayed there, using everything he knew to keep Jason behind. Ricky took the flag first to tremendous applause, everybody on their feet cheering at the finish and on his well-deserved lap of honour. My mate Rob didn't see the point of the applause, to him, it was just a case of first away won!!! Reserve beating World Champ, ex home #1, ex track-record holder meant nothing to him. Ricky started first and won.

I found that, to most newbies, it doesn't matter how good the speedway is, how good the team riding is, you need passing. Without it they're less likely to come back.

Good post. That highlights to me though that there is more to speedway than passing and if the attendee hasn't got that appreciation in them to nurture then passing isn't going to make much difference IMO. Their starting point is first out of the gate wins and any evidence of that (and we know that there will be at some point) just reinforces their already set opinion of the sport.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There never has been much passing in Speedway even going back to fourties and fifties. Now and again a rider comes on the scene who had that ability but they were/are few and far between. Peter Collins and Chris Harris come to mind

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Me being a mear female when our sport was really popular 60s / 70s from what i can remember bigger leagues more variety of visiting teams and riders maybe an idea to put premiership and Championship clubs together once and for all and return to 13 heats leave national league as is hopefully capture the imagination again of the sport, when riders have bike problems they go back to basics maybe thats what speedway should do.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This may sum it all up. I live and work in Ipswich my place of work has 66 employees. Out of that 66 one goes to Foxhall every week and one goes to more than half the meetings. Another 15 or so used to go in the time frame of early 80s to early 90s. Alot of what they remember about the riders from that era seems to have as much about their off track personality and antics than it does rider and club results. One story they all remember is cook riding his speedway bike on the public highway to his local pub. One thing they all come out with is the guys who ride these days are not committed club men they don't live locally ride for others teams and so have zero chance of building a relationship with the town. As for the so called big name riders they all know woffinden and Hancock other than that the other GP riders are met with who? 

In short the big names in speedway mean very little to those who don't attend so would not put bums on seats. There is a massive disconnect between your team and the local area mainly down to the fact they are not your team but riders on hire. 

 

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
17 hours ago, Skid Sprocket said:

A skilled letter writer to draft a letter to every promoter to put them in the picture written so as not to get their backs up?

That is one of my few skills and I am willing to draft something for that purpose SS but it seems that it is you and I at the coal face. I had hoped to pick up one or two from a wide variety of tracks who could take the survey to tracks this season ( ASAP ). If we cannot attract others to the cause ( perhaps they feel it is a lost cause? ) is there any point in continuing? A letter from two supporters is unlikely to be even read by Promoters, however well written.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, Spl77 said:

 

In short the big names in speedway mean very little to those who don't attend so would not put bums on seats. There is a massive disconnect between your team and the local area mainly down to the fact they are not your team but riders on hire. 

 

 

 

Absolutely spot on.

That’s why I’ve started a thread in the PL section, “Are Poole’s team changes fair?”, to suggest only two tactical changes be allowed each season, and why in the past I’ve said that a start of year team building average should be tempered with a right for clubs to retain riders in certain circumstances regardless of the team’s average.

Promoting fan loyalty in speedway should be the priority it is for consumer brand loyalty and supermarket loyalty.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

That is one of my few skills and I am willing to draft something for that purpose SS but it seems that it is you and I at the coal face. I had hoped to pick up one or two from a wide variety of tracks who could take the survey to tracks this season ( ASAP ). If we cannot attract others to the cause ( perhaps they feel it is a lost cause? ) is there any point in continuing? A letter from two supporters is unlikely to be even read by Promoters, however well written.

The greatest strength of a supporters group is numbers and as you say two means nothing. The greatest weakness is apathy. There are many willing take time to discuss whats wrong with the sport but no time to help find a cure.  How do you motivate supporters? or maybe you just accept that there are no problems to be fixed.

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