The continuing decline of Speedway

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

3 minutes ago, mikebv said:

The year before when the Aces were top virtually all season, they had to cram in (I think), 6 matches in just over two weeks...

Some of those crowds were the lowest gates of the years, with several of them massively down on the regular crowd that year....

Getting 2000 and 3200 for the two play offs didn't cover the loss of revenue of those meetings I would suggest, or at best it broke even...

If no play offs had existed then I would say that all six meetings would have run in front of healthy crowds as 'The Title' was up for grabs and every meeting meant something towards the ultimate prize..

(With the night the Champions getting the Trophy being the biggest crowd of the Season by far!)

There are clear Pros and Cons to the play offs, but poor fixture planning certainly does the Sport zero favours, as many a Season decends into farce with riders missing left, right and centre as clubs share them in Guestfests to fit in lots of meetings before cut off time...

Sadly that nonsense doesn't help bring any great kudos to winning any League, Play offs or not..

That's not the play offs so much as stupid fixture planning as people pick and choose meetings on the basis of being able to afford so many. That being the case, even with the title up for grabs its entirely possible that gates would have been down (you're absolutely right about the frequency of meetings, Workington having to cram meetings in in the next few weeks in precisely the same way).

Mildenhall are in a similar situation, in that they are way clear. I doubt very much that that will affect attendances until the play offs. Indeed, I suspect that they will increase as numbers jump on the band wagon of their success. 

[orion 7,612]

19 minutes ago, mikebv said:

The year before when the Aces were top virtually all season, they had to cram in (I think), 6 matches in just over two weeks...

Some of those crowds were the lowest gates of the year, with several of them massively down on the regular crowd that year....

Getting 2000 and 3200 for the two play offs didn't cover the loss of revenue of those meetings I would suggest, or at best it broke even...

If no play offs had existed then I would say that all six meetings would have run in front of healthy crowds as 'The Title' was up for grabs and every meeting meant something towards the ultimate prize..

(With the night the Champions getting the Trophy being the biggest crowd of the Season by far!)

There are clear Pros and Cons to the play offs, but poor fixture planning certainly does the Sport zero favours, as instead of the Season reaching a much anticipated crescendo, it decends into farce with riders missing left, right and centre as clubs share them in Guestfests, to fit in lots of meetings before cut off time...

Sadly that nonsense doesn't help bring any great kudos to winning any League, Play offs or not....

And, for me, that has a far higher negative impact to crowds than the system used to produce the 'Champions'...

That nothing to with play offs that is down to bad fixture planning and leaving things to the last moment  ..look at this year one of the  best summers since 1976 and only 7 teams in the league but they  still can't the matches ridden . it's just another example of how poorly speedway has been run in the uk .

 

 

 

 

 

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

Having had my preference for Isle of Wight speedway raised, I can give a few reasons why that is. The other teams named are merely examples, as others do exactly the same thing.

1 Edinburgh charge full price for a rain off programme with an insert. That's a rip off. At Isle of Wight, they are free with a request that the cost is replaced by a go on the raffle or a contribution to the tyre fund.

2 A child's entry at Poole is either £4 or £7, depending on their age. At Isle of Wight, they are free.

3 Sheffield charge £15 (I think that amount is correct) for a go on the centre green. At Isle of Wight its (you guessed it) free, and that applies to home and away supporters. On Thursday, a group of Mildenhall fans watched heat 1 from the middle.

4 I once criticised the state of Stoke's track and got 15 minutes of aggressive abuse in response. I did the same about Isle of Wight, got an apology, a reasoned explanation and a hope that I would come back. 

5 Belle Vue charge £7 for a burger and chips. By all accounts, they are 'horrible' (or words to that effect, I have never had one myself). At Isle of Wight on Thursday, I had a plate of home made sausage casserole and a lump of bread for £3.50. It was that good I over-indulged in second helpings.

6 King's Lynn refuse to allow food in and indeed threaten to search people to prevent it. On Thursday, a large family brought in an equally large hamper, sat on the grass on the first bend and watched the racing having a picnic including wine.

7 I stand to be corrected here, but I have never seen Eastbourne undertake any promotional activities. Isle of Wight attend about a dozen shows a year during the season with their tent, bikes and other speedway paraphernalia.

8 At most meetings, promoter Barry Bishop works the crowd, talking, explaining but above all listening. Belle Vue's Adrian Smith does this but aside from one instance years ago by Peter Toogood I have never seen anyone else do the same.

9 At Birmingham, a lengthy interval is just that so you stand around getting cold and bored. Isle of Wight have running and bike races for the youngsters, interviews and rider autograph and picture sessions. 

10 We have all stood around when a rider has been injured and there has been a delay. Isle of Wight, last season, organised activities for the youngsters until the racing recommenced. Never seen that anywhere else.

11 At the Mildenhall - Isle of Wight meeting last season, the start was delayed on a red hot day. Riders then took out bottles of cold water to those stuck outside. Fantastic idea, but it didn't come from Mildenhall. 

12 Finally, there's the amazing story of Ann Barrett- the speedway fan who couldn't get to the track because of her disability but went into her garden to listen to the bikes. The promotion heard about it, and now she gets a taxi to the stadium reach week and a sponsor has supplied a season ticket. That's just fantastic.

All of that added up - and I am sure I can think of more given time - is impressive and accounts for the opinions that people have of what has been achieved on the Island.

Edited August 19, 2018 by Halifaxtiger

[barrybishop 896]

It's very interesting for me to read lots of these post about the "the decline of speedway" and to be honest I learn from them - so thank you.

Martin and I are quite an open book where our speedway is concerned and I have to say that whether you agree with me or not, speedway on the Isle of Wight is in anything but decline, its thriving. Our crowds, while yes relatively small, are 6 - 8 fold the last promotions when it ran, and our meeting on meeting, like for like up with the exception of a couple of meetings when we had to run on a Tuesday increasing. Our crowd integration is increasing, our profile growing (the fact we are even discussed on here says something about that), Sponsorship continues to grow - but as any club we always welcome more, we do lots of shows and the feedback is tremendous, we monitor feedback from the fans all the time and we are proud to share it. Why talk down something which is clearly working. The demographic of our fan base has totally changed in the 3 years we have been at the helm.. we have more families at the stadium now, we have lots of youngsters and our senior fans love it. They know that speedway is changing, and it has to become a show and every promoter should continually try to improve their show week on week.

We have an SDL team and the majority of fans stay to watch both meetings when we cannot integrate them into the main event. Our speedway school consistently sells out and we need to do more of them both on the mainland and on the Island.

Would we like another 1000 on the gate, you bet... but how do I make them come to our stadium to watch speedway or for more sponsors to get involved?? It's by positive word of mouth, by positive reflection of the events we put on, its by staging weekly speedway without fail, it's by providing fan interaction, a clean stadium, value, being welcomed, being seen, promoting, self belief, trust in your product, thinking outside the box, looking to tomorrow not just today, allowing people to be part of it... but most of all it's by providing a fun packed family night out that people are proud and pleased to invite their friends to as opposed to feel odd because they watch a sport called speedway which no one knows of.

The choice of speedway's future isn't only down to promoters, the BSPA, the SCB or ACU... it's down to us all, and while I welcome lively debate and feedback is always welcome we must look at the bigger picture of "passive aggression" - it's a phrase I came across in my working life where the strength of talking something down or negatively destroying something good becomes to strong to change - so it never changes. Speedway is very close to this now.

All I can honestly tell you is that we are so proud of what we deliver, we are not afraid to hear something which is not how it should be, we are mindful of the spiralling costs which comes from many different angles, we are mindful of our investment of money, time, our families, but most of all, we absolutely love our show, we believe totally in our product, our team, our approach, we want to develop riders but also have to put on a professional show. It is the only way clubs like us can attract sponsors, fans, tourists, riders and for our families to allow us to continue what we do.

3 referees this year have grabbed me after to say “that’s the best speedway meeting I have been to all year…..” in my view not because the racing is any different of course because of the energy of the night, the feel good factor, the positivity, the well….its a bloody great show, that’s why.

I will apologise in advance for the typo's and spelling errors, if you come to the Island do come and say hello to me, I am always in yellow and blue.

Finally, your club needs positive and constructive feedback…..saying its crap or not like it used to be – may get it off your chest but will not help deliver change or progress in my view.

Keep it wound on and see you trackside and if you want to try speedway book in with My First Skid.

Edited August 23, 2018 by barrybishop
typo

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

1 minute ago, barrybishop said:

It's very interesting for me to read lots of these post about the "the decline of speedway" and to be honest I learn from them - so thank you.

 

Martin and I are quite an open book where our speedway is concerned and I have to say that whether you agree with me or not, speedway on the Isle of Wight is in anything but decline, its thriving. Our crowds, while yes relatively small, are 6 - 8 fold the last promotions when it ran, and are meeting on meeting, like for like up with the exception of a couple of meetings when we had to run on a Tuesday increasing. Our crowd integration is increasing, our profile growing (the fact we are even discussed on here says something about that), Sponsorship continues to grow - but as any club we always welcome more, we do lots of shows and the feedback is tremendous, we monitor feedback from the fans all the time and we are proud to share it. Why talk down something which is clearly working. The demographic of our fan base has totally changed in the 3 years we have been at the helm.. we have more families at the stadium now, we have lots of youngsters and our senior fans love it. They know that speedway is changing, and it has to become a show and every promoter should continually try to improve their show week on week.

 

We have an SDL team and the majority of fans stay to watch both meetings when we cannot integrate them into the main event. Our speedway school consistently sells out and we need to do more of them both on the mainland and on the Island.

 

Would we like another 1000 on the gate, you bet... but how do I make them come to our stadium to watch speedway or for more sponsors to get involved?? It's by positive word of mouth, by positive reflection of the events we put on, its by staging weekly speedway without fail, it's by providing fan interaction, a clean stadium, value, being welcomed, being seen, promoting, self belief, trust in your product, thinking outside the box, looking to tomorrow not just today, allowing people to be part of it... but most of all it's by providing a fun packed family night out that people are proud and pleased to invite their friends to as opposed to feel odd because they watch a sport called speedway which no one knows of.

 

The choice of speedway's future isn't only down to promoters, the BSPA, the SCB or ACU... it's down to us all, and while I welcome lively debate and feedback is always welcome we must look at the bigger picture of "passive aggression" - it's a phrase I came across in my working life where the strength of talking something down or negatively destroying something good becomes to strong to change - so it never changes. Speedway is very close to this now.

 

All I can honestly tell you is that we are so proud of what we deliver, we are not afraid to hear something which is not how it should be, we are mindful of the spiralling costs which comes from many different angles, we are mindful of our investment of money, time, our families, but most of all, we absolutely love our show, we believe totally in our product, our team, our approach, we want to develop riders but also have to put on a professional show. It is the only way clubs like us can attract sponsors, fans, tourists, riders and for our families to allow us to continue what we do.

 

3 referees this year have grabbed me after to say “that’s the best speedway meeting I have been to all year…..” in my view not because the racing is any different of course because of the energy of the night, the feel good factor, the positivity, the well….its a bloody great show, that’s why.

 

I will apologise in advance for the typo's and spelling errors, if you come to the Island do come and say hello to me, I am always in yellow and blue.

 

Finally, your club needs positive and constructive feedback…..saying its crap or not like it used to be – may get it off your chest but will not help deliver change or progress in my view.

 

Keep it wound on and see you trackside and if you want to try speedway book in with My First Skid.

 

I forgot one. Barry Bishop engages with us on here  and treats us as potential paying customers and speedway fans.

Aside from Jayne Moss, he's the only one.

[moxey63 1,785]

I always thought the last month or so of the season after the Play-Offs was sort of left in the air regarding fixture and there seemed nothing left to grab the fans. Also the story a few posts back of Belle Vue having to race six meetings in a two week period to meet the cut-offs was bad business as crowds dropped for those meetings as people couldn't afford it. But, eh, we had a bumper crowd in the Play-Off. 

[Whisperer 276]

2 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

I forgot one. Barry Bishop engages with us on here  and treats us as potential paying customers and speedway fans.

Aside from Jayne Moss, he's the only one.

 

2 hours ago, barrybishop said:

It's very interesting for me to read lots of these post about the "the decline of speedway" and to be honest I learn from them - so thank you.

 

Martin and I are quite an open book where our speedway is concerned and I have to say that whether you agree with me or not, speedway on the Isle of Wight is in anything but decline, its thriving. Our crowds, while yes relatively small, are 6 - 8 fold the last promotions when it ran, and are meeting on meeting, like for like up with the exception of a couple of meetings when we had to run on a Tuesday increasing. Our crowd integration is increasing, our profile growing (the fact we are even discussed on here says something about that), Sponsorship continues to grow - but as any club we always welcome more, we do lots of shows and the feedback is tremendous, we monitor feedback from the fans all the time and we are proud to share it. Why talk down something which is clearly working. The demographic of our fan base has totally changed in the 3 years we have been at the helm.. we have more families at the stadium now, we have lots of youngsters and our senior fans love it. They know that speedway is changing, and it has to become a show and every promoter should continually try to improve their show week on week.

 

We have an SDL team and the majority of fans stay to watch both meetings when we cannot integrate them into the main event. Our speedway school consistently sells out and we need to do more of them both on the mainland and on the Island.

 

Would we like another 1000 on the gate, you bet... but how do I make them come to our stadium to watch speedway or for more sponsors to get involved?? It's by positive word of mouth, by positive reflection of the events we put on, its by staging weekly speedway without fail, it's by providing fan interaction, a clean stadium, value, being welcomed, being seen, promoting, self belief, trust in your product, thinking outside the box, looking to tomorrow not just today, allowing people to be part of it... but most of all it's by providing a fun packed family night out that people are proud and pleased to invite their friends to as opposed to feel odd because they watch a sport called speedway which no one knows of.

 

The choice of speedway's future isn't only down to promoters, the BSPA, the SCB or ACU... it's down to us all, and while I welcome lively debate and feedback is always welcome we must look at the bigger picture of "passive aggression" - it's a phrase I came across in my working life where the strength of talking something down or negatively destroying something good becomes to strong to change - so it never changes. Speedway is very close to this now.

 

All I can honestly tell you is that we are so proud of what we deliver, we are not afraid to hear something which is not how it should be, we are mindful of the spiralling costs which comes from many different angles, we are mindful of our investment of money, time, our families, but most of all, we absolutely love our show, we believe totally in our product, our team, our approach, we want to develop riders but also have to put on a professional show. It is the only way clubs like us can attract sponsors, fans, tourists, riders and for our families to allow us to continue what we do.

 

3 referees this year have grabbed me after to say “that’s the best speedway meeting I have been to all year…..” in my view not because the racing is any different of course because of the energy of the night, the feel good factor, the positivity, the well….its a bloody great show, that’s why.

 

I will apologise in advance for the typo's and spelling errors, if you come to the Island do come and say hello to me, I am always in yellow and blue.

 

Finally, your club needs positive and constructive feedback…..saying its crap or not like it used to be – may get it off your chest but will not help deliver change or progress in my view.

 

Keep it wound on and see you trackside and if you want to try speedway book in with My First Skid.

 

A brilliant ethos and I sincerely hope it continues forever.

If I look back there are many Promotors who started their careers with such admirable qualities but allowed the red mist of win at all costs to cloud their judgement over the years.  Poole were great at it, so were Peterborough under Rick and Julie, Len Silver always valued his customers until they consistently battered him on social media, Scunthorpe was a fabulous day out when it was in the lower tier (racing is still good) but aspirations of success and elevation bring cost challenges just to keep up with the Jones's and soon enough the viability is threatened and the focus moves from your type of ethos to win, win, win or I've got to stop bleeding out of the rse and cut costs.

Please don't get drawn into that swamp, the newts will all turn into alligators come the AGM and you'll need more than your old survival suit!

[Trees 2,814]

3 hours ago, barrybishop said:

It's very interesting for me to read lots of these post about the "the decline of speedway" and to be honest I learn from them - so thank you.

 

Martin and I are quite an open book where our speedway is concerned and I have to say that whether you agree with me or not, speedway on the Isle of Wight is in anything but decline, its thriving. Our crowds, while yes relatively small, are 6 - 8 fold the last promotions when it ran, and are meeting on meeting, like for like up with the exception of a couple of meetings when we had to run on a Tuesday increasing. Our crowd integration is increasing, our profile growing (the fact we are even discussed on here says something about that), Sponsorship continues to grow - but as any club we always welcome more, we do lots of shows and the feedback is tremendous, we monitor feedback from the fans all the time and we are proud to share it. Why talk down something which is clearly working. The demographic of our fan base has totally changed in the 3 years we have been at the helm.. we have more families at the stadium now, we have lots of youngsters and our senior fans love it. They know that speedway is changing, and it has to become a show and every promoter should continually try to improve their show week on week.

 

We have an SDL team and the majority of fans stay to watch both meetings when we cannot integrate them into the main event. Our speedway school consistently sells out and we need to do more of them both on the mainland and on the Island.

 

Would we like another 1000 on the gate, you bet... but how do I make them come to our stadium to watch speedway or for more sponsors to get involved?? It's by positive word of mouth, by positive reflection of the events we put on, its by staging weekly speedway without fail, it's by providing fan interaction, a clean stadium, value, being welcomed, being seen, promoting, self belief, trust in your product, thinking outside the box, looking to tomorrow not just today, allowing people to be part of it... but most of all it's by providing a fun packed family night out that people are proud and pleased to invite their friends to as opposed to feel odd because they watch a sport called speedway which no one knows of.

 

The choice of speedway's future isn't only down to promoters, the BSPA, the SCB or ACU... it's down to us all, and while I welcome lively debate and feedback is always welcome we must look at the bigger picture of "passive aggression" - it's a phrase I came across in my working life where the strength of talking something down or negatively destroying something good becomes to strong to change - so it never changes. Speedway is very close to this now.

 

All I can honestly tell you is that we are so proud of what we deliver, we are not afraid to hear something which is not how it should be, we are mindful of the spiralling costs which comes from many different angles, we are mindful of our investment of money, time, our families, but most of all, we absolutely love our show, we believe totally in our product, our team, our approach, we want to develop riders but also have to put on a professional show. It is the only way clubs like us can attract sponsors, fans, tourists, riders and for our families to allow us to continue what we do.

 

3 referees this year have grabbed me after to say “that’s the best speedway meeting I have been to all year…..” in my view not because the racing is any different of course because of the energy of the night, the feel good factor, the positivity, the well….its a bloody great show, that’s why.

 

I will apologise in advance for the typo's and spelling errors, if you come to the Island do come and say hello to me, I am always in yellow and blue.

 

Finally, your club needs positive and constructive feedback…..saying its crap or not like it used to be – may get it off your chest but will not help deliver change or progress in my view.

 

Keep it wound on and see you trackside and if you want to try speedway book in with My First Skid.

 

If you were part of the Premiership what night would you run on? 

[steve roberts 9,242]

7 hours ago, moxey63 said:

I always thought the last month or so of the season after the Play-Offs was sort of left in the air regarding fixture and there seemed nothing left to grab the fans. Also the story a few posts back of Belle Vue having to race six meetings in a two week period to meet the cut-offs was bad business as crowds dropped for those meetings as people couldn't afford it. But, eh, we had a bumper crowd in the Play-Off. 

Remember Oxford's successful glory years (1985, 86 & 89) when they were involved not only in the championship but Knock -Out Cup, League Cup, Gold Cup & Midland Cup Finals during the last month/six weeks of the season. Only the weather beat 'The Cheetahs' to a clean sweep in 1986 but what halcyon days with all to play for as the season reached a climax...no damp squib but meaningful matches which attracted great, enthusiastic, crowds with plenty of atmosphere at all venues they rode at.

Ironic that three teams involved in those cup finals three no longer exist...Oxford, Coventry and Cradley Heath (only Ipswich survive)

Edited August 19, 2018 by steve roberts

[Hawk127 1,357]

44 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Remember Oxford's successful glory years (1985, 86 & 89) when they were involved not only in the championship but Knock -Out Cup, League Cup, Gold Cup & Midland Cup Finals during the last month/six weeks of the season. Only the weather beat 'The Cheetahs' to a clean sweep in 1986 but what halcyon days with all to play for as the season reached a climax...no damp squib but meaningful matches which attracted great, enthusiastic, crowds with plenty of atmosphere at all venues they rode at.

Ironic that three teams involved in those cup finals three no longer exist...Oxford, Coventry and Cradley Heath (only Ipswich survive)

Local derbies and cup competitions are sadly missing from today’s racing calendar as the average fickle supporter cannot see beyond a league meeting. If you have more competitions, it means more track time for riders more trophies and not just a league or KO cup. I remember many competitions at Rayleigh, Essex Gold Cup against Romford, 3TT involving Canterbury and Eastbourne, local derbies involving the two aforementioned teams plus Ipswich, Romford and Crayford and the resultant bragging rights plus some real humdingers against Boston, Sunderland, Berwick, Workington and many more. Most clubs would be overjoyed to see the numbers that attended Rayleigh on Saturday or bank holiday. Nothing today comes near the package those of us who were lucky enough to experience or the enthusiasm of those on the terraces.

[moxey63 1,785]

56 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Remember Oxford's successful glory years (1985, 86 & 89) when they were involved not only in the championship but Knock -Out Cup, League Cup, Gold Cup & Midland Cup Finals during the last month/six weeks of the season. Only the weather beat 'The Cheetahs' to a clean sweep in 1986 but what halcyon days with all to play for as the season reached a climax...no damp squib but meaningful matches which attracted great, enthusiastic, crowds with plenty of atmosphere at all venues they rode at.

Ironic that three teams involved in those cup finals three no longer exist...Oxford, Coventry and Cradley Heath (only Ipswich survive)

Seems even being one of speedway's prestigious clubs doesn't keep the bulldozers at bay. 

[steve roberts 9,242]

2 hours ago, Hawk127 said:

Local derbies and cup competitions are sadly missing from today’s racing calendar as the average fickle supporter cannot see beyond a league meeting. If you have more competitions, it means more track time for riders more trophies and not just a league or KO cup. I remember many competitions at Rayleigh, Essex Gold Cup against Romford, 3TT involving Canterbury and Eastbourne, local derbies involving the two aforementioned teams plus Ipswich, Romford and Crayford and the resultant bragging rights plus some real humdingers against Boston, Sunderland, Berwick, Workington and many more. Most clubs would be overjoyed to see the numbers that attended Rayleigh on Saturday or bank holiday. Nothing today comes near the package those of us who were lucky enough to experience or the enthusiasm of those on the terraces.

Local derbies were always hotly contested and sorely missed. Remember Oxford's tussles with "The Budgies' of Swindon and the Reading 'Berks' in particular and I'm sure Wolves and Cradley fans would say the same.

 No good people claiming that Britain is no longer the hot bed of League/Domestic Speedway because riders no longer apparently commit themselves into riding in the UK. They only have themselves to blame if that is indeed the case thru' not supporting the various regional competitions and/or individual meetings which gave riders the means to earn a decent living without having to look abroad for opportunities. Malcolm Simmons was quoted saying that he didn't need to race abroad during his career as there were sufficient meetings held in Britain to sustain him although he did admit that he should have made more of an effort riding on the continent on Sundays when big money was made available.

The promoters are also not exempt from criticism by discontinuing second halves which again deprived riders of extra income as both Phil Crump and Keith Bloxhame (different agendas) have been quoted thereby, again, restricting a rider's earning potential and, of course, the introduction of the GPs has compounded the issue regarding some riders making themselves unavailable, or to commit, riding in Britain.

Edited August 19, 2018 by steve roberts

[steve roberts 9,242]

2 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Seems even being one of speedway's prestigious clubs doesn't keep the bulldozers at bay. 

...you can add Reading to that list!

[orion 7,612]

This what i mean about these topics .it always ends up with normal suspects talking about  the old days .and then then yet going on about second halfs war chants and not liking the gps and plays offs .in the end they just can't help themselfs .

[Vincent Blachshadow 2,925]

12 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

That's not the play offs so much as stupid fixture planning as people pick and choose meetings on the basis of being able to afford so many. That being the case, even with the title up for grabs its entirely possible that gates would have been down (you're absolutely right about the frequency of meetings, Workington having to cram meetings in in the next few weeks in precisely the same way).

Mildenhall are in a similar situation, in that they are way clear. I doubt very much that that will affect attendances until the play offs. Indeed, I suspect that they will increase as numbers jump on the band wagon of their success. 

And the fact that the speedway season was curtailed by several weeks to fit these play-offs into the abbreviated Sky speedway schedule.