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The continuing decline of Speedway

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3 hours ago, orion said:

Your going a bit ott in what your saying .Who was missing in  last  nights matches in the premier league .Who had guests ? as I said before swindon have only made one change this year and kept  5 of the same riders they had from last year .Belle Vue and Wolves have hardly made any changes this year and have a lot of the same riders from last year as well .I think these teams made more changes 30 years ago . Speedway made a effort this year after fans  kept moaning about guests, riders missing etc and in a way it's been lot better in terms of teams being the same  week in week out .the trouble is all we  had then was people wanting  go back to riding on Friday night's etc when half the teams would be missing .the bottom line is  you really can't win with speedway fans .

Not really the bottom line is that a large group who used to attend as I have said week in week out come rain or shine have stopped going due to doubling up and guests because it is no longer your team but riders on hire. 

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21 hours ago, orion said:

Your going a bit ott in what your saying .Who was missing in  last  nights matches in the premier league .Who had guests ? as I said before swindon have only made one change this year and kept  5 of the same riders they had from last year .Belle Vue and Wolves have hardly made any changes this year and have a lot of the same riders from last year as well .I think these teams made more changes 30 years ago . Speedway made a effort this year after fans  kept moaning about guests, riders missing etc and in a way it's been lot better in terms of teams being the same  week in week out .the trouble is all we  had then was people wanting  go back to riding on Friday night's etc when half the teams would be missing .the bottom line is  you really can't win with speedway fans .

"Belle Vue have made hardly any changes this year"......

They have had around 20 Guests..!!:D

I take it you must be using the same 'logic'' that Trigger used in Only Fools and Horses, when he proudly told everyone that in his job he had used exactly the same road sweeping broom for the past 20 years....

And then told all present that in that time it had had just 17 new heads and 14 new handles...:D

"Awright Dave?"....:D

Edited by mikebv
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On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 1:26 PM, Spl77 said:

Not really the bottom line is that a large group who used to attend as I have said week in week out come rain or shine have stopped going due to doubling up and guests because it is no longer your team but riders on hire. 

Nonsense.

Speedway has had guests and doubling up for decades. In 1977 White City won the British League with a rider replacement facility for a rider who did not appear in their colours once that season. In their 1979 Championship winning season, Coventry used 29 guests in 55 matches. In 1980 Belle Vue named Taffy Owen in the line up simply so that they could use the likes of Rob Maxfield, Steve Wilcock, Derek Richardson & Louis Carr (all riding for NL clubs) instead. 

I doubt very much if there is a single Belle Vue fan who would want to ditch Dan Bewley, Craig Cook or Steve Worrall simply because they double up and the same would apply ay every other club.

 

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On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 10:07 AM, orion said:

Your going a bit ott in what your saying .Who was missing in  last  nights matches in the premier league .Who had guests ? as I said before swindon have only made one change this year and kept  5 of the same riders they had from last year .Belle Vue and Wolves have hardly made any changes this year and have a lot of the same riders from last year as well .I think these teams made more changes 30 years ago . Speedway made a effort this year after fans  kept moaning about guests, riders missing etc and in a way it's been lot better in terms of teams being the same  week in week out .the trouble is all we  had then was people wanting  go back to riding on Friday night's etc when half the teams would be missing .the bottom line is  you really can't win with speedway fans .

You do have one major advantage over those who you are debating with.

You actually attend speedway meetings.

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30 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Nonsense.

Speedway has had guests and doubling up for decades. In 1977 White City won the British League with a rider replacement facility for a rider who did not appear in their colours once that season. In their 1979 Championship winning season, Coventry used 29 guests in 55 matches. In 1980 Belle Vue named Taffy Owen in the line up simply so that they could use the likes of Rob Maxfield, Steve Wilcock, Derek Richardson & Louis Carr (all riding for NL clubs) instead. 

I doubt very much if there is a single Belle Vue fan who would want to ditch Dan Bewley, Craig Cook or Steve Worrall simply because they double up and the same would apply ay every other club.

 

All true. Your post really resolves why the sport is where it is now? I think each story offers more than enough reasons why crowds have plummeted. 

It all sounds quirky for a time, but forty years is a long time ago and I guess people just want a genuine sport with genuine rules in 2018. We should learn from the fascinating facts you've provided and ban such things ever occurring again. It is not ok to say daft things happened 40 years ago... and so it's ok they happen now. It really shows we have learned nothing from past mistakes and will still accept anything.

The modern age will not accept such shoddiness for the cash they're handing over to watch what would enable you a more professional show elsewhere in the sporting world. 

Bewley, Cook and Worrall, in my ideal world, would have to choose what league to race in and not have the best of both world's. Something that has to be done to save speedway and reignite it as a sport that once lay at death's door. 

Edited by moxey63

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30 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

You do have one major advantage over those who you are debating with.

You actually attend speedway meetings.

He does not see the same meeting's as most of us he is Stevie Wonder in disguise.!!!!

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32 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Nonsense.

Speedway has had guests and doubling up for decades. In 1977 White City won the British League with a rider replacement facility for a rider who did not appear in their colours once that season. In their 1979 Championship winning season, Coventry used 29 guests in 55 matches. In 1980 Belle Vue named Taffy Owen in the line up simply so that they could use the likes of Rob Maxfield, Steve Wilcock, Derek Richardson & Louis Carr (all riding for NL clubs) instead. 

I doubt very much if there is a single Belle Vue fan who would want to ditch Dan Bewley, Craig Cook or Steve Worrall simply because they double up and the same would apply ay every other club.

 

Doubling up was only on a small scale, and usually the riders concerned, belonged to the top division club, and were loaned out to the second division team.   Nowadays the Premier League teams are more or less a "Championship Select" team, plus 1 or 2 full time Premier riders.

 

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1 hour ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Nonsense.

Speedway has had guests and doubling up for decades. In 1977 White City won the British League with a rider replacement facility for a rider who did not appear in their colours once that season. In their 1979 Championship winning season, Coventry used 29 guests in 55 matches. In 1980 Belle Vue named Taffy Owen in the line up simply so that they could use the likes of Rob Maxfield, Steve Wilcock, Derek Richardson & Louis Carr (all riding for NL clubs) instead. 

I doubt very much if there is a single Belle Vue fan who would want to ditch Dan Bewley, Craig Cook or Steve Worrall simply because they double up and the same would apply ay every other club.

 

So you're telling me I don't know why myself and my group of friends no longer go? Unbelievable another head stuck in the sand its always been that way chap! 

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Guests are a problem. Doubling up is a problem. But if both those rules were wiped out overnight, does anyone honestly think the crowds would flood to speedway? The sport needs fundamental change, not fiddling around at the edges.

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2 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

He does not see the same meeting's as most of us he is Stevie Wonder in disguise.!!!!

I didn't know Stevie Wonder is a speedway fan! :o

I should have realised....'Ebony and Ivory'....is all about the speedway chequed flag! 

Edited by Ray Stadia

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9 minutes ago, falcace said:

Guests are a problem. Doubling up is a problem. But if both those rules were wiped out overnight, does anyone honestly think the crowds would flood to speedway? The sport needs fundamental change, not fiddling around at the edges.

No they wouldn't. But that's the starting point of making the sport a credible team sport. You then have to get the message out that  the sport is changing. After which you have got to undo 25 to 30 years of appalling mismanagement and build from the ground up. 

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The majority of people I know who watch speedway on tv and never attend say they watch it purely for the spectacle and sadly have no interest in teams or their riders.

Magnify that across the country and team speedway doesn’t have the draw it once had.

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1 hour ago, GWC said:

The majority of people I know who watch speedway on tv and never attend say they watch it purely for the spectacle and sadly have no interest in teams or their riders.

Magnify that across the country and team speedway doesn’t have the draw it once had.

That, unfortunately, was always the danger when Sky started their regular transmissions that the ones you mention would be joined by speedway attendees staying away from the tracks and getting their fix on tv. It made the break for me and Mrs R easier when we decided enough was enough after the events of a few winters back. That only lasted a few matches though before we gave the whole thing up - in this country, at least.

Edited by Barney Rabbit

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19 hours ago, Spl77 said:

No they wouldn't. But that's the starting point of making the sport a credible team sport. You then have to get the message out that  the sport is changing. After which you have got to undo 25 to 30 years of appalling mismanagement and build from the ground up. 

I wish that were true. 

But if the message going out is that speedway no longer has guests, speedway no longer doubles up, speedway no longer has rider replacement, speedway no longer has the joker, then I am sorry to say that will sway very few people to spend their precious time and money on the sport.

I hear you, credibility is an issue. But there are plenty of credible sports out there struggling to make that the sport's main priority. People do not go to speedway because the whole entertainment package does not offer good enough value. I've given my pitch on a previous page how it might go about this.

Edited by falcace

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5 hours ago, Sidney the robin said:

He does not see the same meeting's as most of us he is Stevie Wonder in disguise.!!!!

Says a man who thinks josh auty should get a wildcard at Cardiff lol

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