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Booey boy

2010/11 the beginning of the end

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4 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

Was 38.85 for that season! 2009 = 39.90, 2010 = 40.95 (a 3 year plan)

Thanks. So it's even worse than I renember. The sport has never recovered from those atrocities. Fans disappeared and never came back.

Then, in recent years, we have had repeated attempts to force the likes of Jason Doyle out of the league. So far they've been unsuccesful, but I'm sure they will manage it in the end.

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 2010 / 2011 was the beginning of the end of speedway in this country. The F.I.M  changes in silencer regulations changed speedway bikes forever in noise and performance and rendered many British tracks unsuitable in shape, size and material to produce good speedway racing.  While  the throaty raw of a speedway bike  was lost, also the smell of Castrol R disappeared and the atmosphere on the terraces was never the same again.  The sport in Britain has plummeted rapidly ever since.

Edited by New Science
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On 7/6/2018 at 1:43 PM, Andy Downes said:

Speedway reminds me of a fish out of water - flapping and contorting its body in a desperate attempt to find  credibility. Its fan-base is shrinking and it seems to have major problems recruiting younger fans

That is a perfect analogy. And we all know what eventually happens to fish out of water. They can go on living or appearing to live for quite a long time. Someone else on here said we are unlikely to see speedway as it is in the UK beyond 2020. That is probably right.

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Looking at the decline from a technical perspective it was the introduction of laydowns for me, not because we saw poor racing but costs increased significantly overnight and it put the riders under immense pressure to invest more in equipment/facilities than was ever needed before.

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2010 was indeed the downward spiral at Swindon. Big bad Ron took over from Rosco, Leigh Adams retired, and in 2011 the Robins finished stone bottom. Swindon boy Rosco returned from Coventry in 2012 to take the Robins to their first title since 1967.

The crowds haven't been the same since 2010.

 

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People I have spoken to also feel that one of the factors in the decline was when average admissions went above £15 or £1 a minute. It made a lot people think about the Value For Money they were getting. Or not.

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Just in my time following Speedway you can pin point so many beginning of the ends...

Thatcherism and the rise of the economy and the value/price of building land

The loss of Wembley

Wiggy race fixing sting

Amalgamation of BL & NL

World of Sport ending and the loss of pretty regular free to air TV coverage

Sky getting TV rights and BSPA falling over themselves to attend to their every whim... and usually ballsing it up

Double Points

Cov/Peterborough BSPA stand off

Poor tracks

Faster and faster bikes

The rise of Poland

The list goes on and on the truth is it's a gradual chipping away of the integrity and excitement of the sport, lack of decent facilities, a refusal to move with the times... etc. etc.

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4 hours ago, iainb said:

The list goes on and on the truth is it's a gradual chipping away of the integrity and excitement of the sport, lack of decent facilities, a refusal to move with the times... etc. etc.

If Philip Rising is not posting tongue in cheek re UK regularly attending supporters, totalling less than 25,000, we might as well as give up now. with all thoughts of a revival.

Edited by waytogo28

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10 minutes ago, waytogo28 said:

If Philip Rising is not posting tongue in cheek re UK regularly attending supporters, totalling less than 25,000, we might as well as give up now. with all thoughts of a revival.

It has to be a minimum of 20000 attending regularly and more likely i would say nearer your figure of 25000

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