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The continuing decline of Speedway

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8 minutes ago, lucifer sam said:

I think the race at the end of the 1981 Overseas Final was also fairly obvious.  Did you wipe it from your mind because Michael Lee and Dave Jessup were involved in it?

No... I didn't really notice or can even remember the incident. It wasn't that I had affection for the King's Lynn pair either, as Lee, at the time, I didn't really like...was World Champion and I was a P.C. fan. Even now, I can see Penhall performing wheelies and making it obvious. I feel that stained his character somewhat... and the way he left British speedway, of course. Still a major Star though.... yes, and he rode in Britain.

Edited by moxey63

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10 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

Speedway's problem is that it has rules that encourage cheating, and the cheats often win. I don't know if getting rid of the points limit would be a better way of handling team building and revert to some kind of rider control, although that wasn't universally popular with those impacted. 

Bruce Penhall in 1982 (Overseas Final) was the first I recall someone actually not trying to win a race (he made it quite obvious). That was six years into my supporting speedway. Then came the Sunday People revelations of race-fixing. But neither put me off speedway.

But the sport seems to open itself up for abuse from the rule-benders. Even the old tac-sub, which I adored, I've heard stories of riders finishing a certain position so that his side could use a tac in the next heat. Is that cheating - or just taking one for the team? Perhaps get away with all form of tactical substitutes and just allow the programmed heats.

In football, when a bottom table side beats one of the top teams, Crystal Palace vs. Man City, you don't think City lost on purpose because they want to bring in a new signing next month or they went a goal behind in the first place because they intended to play the nominated goal rule which allowed it to count double. A win for Palace wouldn't have made me, a cynic, question it. A win for a bottom of the table speedway team again a top one... I think, "what's going on here."

Maybe I'm just a died in the wool pessimist. As a 15-year-old, in 1978, when the world was pure, as a relatively new speedway fan, I recall seasoned cellar-position side Leicester (who were not even good at home) actually winning at King's Lynn (with Michael Lee, Terry Betts...), quite good at home. When I got home from school, picked up one of the newspapers and saw this result, I was shocked. I didn't think "what's going on here." It was an honest result. When I see a good side lose to a weaker one now, I think "what's going on here." Perhaps seeing too many suspicious things along my time watching the sport has made me like this.

Seeing Crump vs. Pedersen in one of the slowest heats on World Cup record, both trying NOT to beat the other so that their country could utilise the Joker... that can't be washed from your mind.

 

Speedway allows rules that allow these things to happen. And it wonders why we are where we are, and thinks new fans will stay as patient as I did.  

Existing fans (shrinking fans) can argue all day long about the rules etc of speedway, but at the end of the day, speedway has to somehow attract and be attractive to a new audience. My next door neighbour doesn't say to me 'I don't go to Ipswich speedway because of speedway's match fixing', he says to me 'I don't go to speedway because it's dead on it's backside and is not advertised around the town'. And probably thinks it is too expensive, for what you get.  

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21 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

 

Sorry, got posted twice...sausage fingers! 

Edited by Ray Stadia
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8 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said:

Existing fans (shrinking fans) can argue all day long about the rules etc of speedway, but at the end of the day, speedway has to somehow attract and be attractive to a new audience. My next door neighbour doesn't say to me 'I don't go to Ipswich speedway because of speedway's match fixing', he says to me 'I don't go to speedway because it's dead on it's backside and is not advertised around the town'. And probably thinks it is too expensive, for what you get.  

My next door neighbour asks, "What's speedway?"

As for advertising... that could be true, should be done, budgets allowing of course. But I remember speedway fans saying, words like "once we have an English world champion, the media would take notice." Havelock won it, Loram and Woffinden... and we've had wall-to-wall live speedway for the past 20 years. That's advertising, isn't it? But I agree, there should be more localised advertising. As it is, speedway seems to advertise to the people who are aware it's happening.. like the adverts during speedway on TV telling us about Cardiff.  

Edited by moxey63
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12 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

No... I didn't really notice or can even remember the incident. It wasn't that I had affection for the King's Lynn pair either, as Lee, at the time, I didn't really like...was World Champion and I was a P.C. fan. Even now, I can see Penhall performing wheelies and making it obvious. I feel that stained his character somewhat... and the way he left British speedway, of course. Still a major Star though.... yes, and he rode in Britain.

Fair enough.

I was at the meetings in 1981 and 1982.  As an inquisitive 8-year-old in 1981, I asked my dad what was happening when Jessup suddenly dropped a couple of points in his final race, and was told he and Larry Ross didn't need the points to qualify, but Lee and Mauger did.

It's why I got fairly angry the following year when everyone started booing Penhall (my big hero at the time) for doing exactly the same thing.  Although I admit he made it slightly more obvious.

Edited by lucifer sam

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4 minutes ago, lucifer sam said:

Fair enough.

It was I was at the meetings in 1981 and 1982.  As an inquisitive 8-year-old in 1981, I asked my dad what was happening when Jessup suddenly dropped a couple of points in his final race, and was told he and Larry Ross didn't need the points to qualify, but Lee and Mauger did.

It's why I got fairly angry the following year when everyone started booing Penhall (my big hero at the time) for doing exactly the same thing.  Although I admit he made it slightly more obvious.

Penhall was a Star. I wouldn't criticise the man. It was probably because I watched the 1982 Overseas at the time over and over again on my newly rented VCR that it sticks out. I only had the one tape... It also perhaps shows the power World of Sport and Dave Lanning hyping it up had.

Edited by moxey63
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The BSPA needs disbanding. That is the immediate requirement. What happens after depends on whether or not an investor can be found to independently move the sport forwards. Whatever happens, a huge cash injection is going to be needed in the short term to stabilise the current situation. 

We then rebuild from there. 

It's a huge undertaking. Imo unlikely.

What is certain is that whilst the BSPA remain as a govering body with all the self interest, the sport will die in less than 2 years here. 

A crying shame, but you reap what you sew

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13 hours ago, New Science said:

The 1980's may have gone but I feel blessed and thankful I watched my speedway in the 80's 90's and up to 2010. This year after 30 years of going every week I'm done with league speedway Don't forget to email the BSPA with all your ideas of how to attract todays modern youth so the sport can flourish again to a level it was in the 80's

I too was fortunate to watch speedway in the same period (and long before) as you and still go every week. The problem is that many supporters and promoters still think we are in the 1980s so the best advice i could ever email to the BSPA is that we are now in 2018. Unfortunately they would probably bin it and carry on with their 1980s view of how sport should be run.

 

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17 minutes ago, Hot Shoe said:

I too was fortunate to watch speedway in the same period (and long before) as you and still go every week. The problem is that many supporters and promoters still think we are in the 1980s so the best advice i could ever email to the BSPA is that we are now in 2018. Unfortunately they would probably bin it and carry on with their 1980s view of how sport should be run.

 

What would say are the fundamental differences between how the sport was operated then, versus now? 

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3x or 4x the number of fans through the gates, who didn't much care how the sport was run IF the racing was decent.

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But the racing imo, is better than its ever been. I believe too much empashsis is put into the quality of racing when, really, it wasn't much cop back then either. 

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The new Belle Vue, from what I've seen of it on TV, is really brilliant and allows some of the best racing I've witnessed. But the crowds are still poor.

 

Racing in the seventies and eighties was unpredictable. Tracks were bumpy and riders had to really manhandle their machines. Often those in front would make a mistake and allow the other to draw closer. To me, though, it was the style of the riders, who really had to work hard for whatever points they scored.

Edited by moxey63
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21 minutes ago, acef said:

But the racing imo, is better than its ever been. I believe too much empashsis is put into the quality of racing when, really, it wasn't much cop back then either. 

From my experience since 1968 ,the standard of racing is pretty much the same but it is a lot faster now and I think is resulting in a lot more crashes.

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Do some promoters ever offer gimmicks to try to introduce new fans, such as:

*Bring a friend and the friend can have a first time free entry

*Give out badges to kids in the town centre, ideally by a rider with his bike

*Free prize draws offering family tickets as prizes

*Interval rides on the back of a riders bike, slow of course, but H&S might say no and perhaps no time, due to curfews

*Corporate discounts, police, NHS, Local Authority staff etc, get a discount

*Do fan clubs still exist? I know they used to   

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29 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said:

Do some promoters ever offer gimmicks to try to introduce new fans, such as:

*Bring a friend and the friend can have a first time free entry

*Give out badges to kids in the town centre, ideally by a rider with his bike

*Free prize draws offering family tickets as prizes

*Interval rides on the back of a riders bike, slow of course, but H&S might say no and perhaps no time, due to curfews

*Corporate discounts, police, NHS, Local Authority staff etc, get a discount

*Do fan clubs still exist? I know they used to   

All those things sound familiar and I remember Bradford used to bring a class load of kids by bus to home meetings. After the first four laps one turned to me and said "is that it"? After about three races they would just be rambling around the stadium looking for something to do. It needs the product itself to tempt people but most clubs are beaten before they start, with teams made up of foreigners and guests and terrible tracks. 

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