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Rob Godfrey interview in Speedway Star

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16 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

WHAT did you think of the racing?

 

Being honest I have seen some good racing at the venue a number of times but i wouldn’t say it’s always brilliant.

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5 hours ago, Vince said:

I think it should be one of the major promotional points along with the danger.

Each to their own but in 50 ish years of going to Speedway I've never bothered with filling in a programme, then again I like individual meeting more than most team racing so I'm aware that I'm very much in the minority. If you want to keep the fans coming back following free entry I would suggest some good racing, a couple of spectacular crashes and a punch up between a couple of riders would be most effective.

I'm with Rob Godfrey (for the first and very likely only time) on this one. I believe that although there were some great riders and racing in the past overall the quality of racing is higher now.

Vince you are a guy who i respect big time, but you are way off the mark here  speedway today generally is nowhere near yesteryear,I go some weeks and by 9 o'clock i want to go home be tucked up in bed  in the last five years i have not seen a lot of great racing..

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57 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

WHAT did you think of the racing?

 

That is not the point he is making ..Thou racing is good it's not  made the crowds come in ...it one of biggest myths about crowds and good racing . People need to feel  like the match matters ..the problem is to most that feeling has gone ..

Another myth is about racing being better in the old days ..it never was, most of the time is was poor just like today . When you have crowds and big names it always felt like the racing was better but really most the time it was gate and go .

 

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In the late 60s and early 70s I cut my speedway teeth watching at Hyde Road. There were some great meetings, some good ones, but a lot of poor ones , too, particularly when the Aces were at their strongest and some teams turned up beaten before they started. As has been pointed out, attendances were so much higher so that contributed to a sense of occasion that may have made up for poor racing. When I came to London, I started watching White City and then, on moving house, started going to Wimbledon. The racing at Plough Lane always seemed better because of bigger crowds and a much better atmosphere.

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Just now, Chadster said:

In the late 60s and early 70s I cut my speedway teeth watching at Hyde Road. There were some great meetings, some good ones, but a lot of poor ones , too, particularly when the Aces were at their strongest and some teams turned up beaten before they started. As has been pointed out, attendances were so much higher so that contributed to a sense of occasion that may have made up for poor racing. When I came to London, I started watching White City and then, on moving house, started going to Wimbledon. The racing at Plough Lane always seemed better because of bigger crowds and a much better atmosphere.

Spot on post 

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51 minutes ago, bigcatdiary said:

Being honest I have seen some good racing at the venue a number of times but i wouldn’t say it’s always brilliant.

OF course, a good track alone doesn't guarantee great racing. Ultimately that is down to the riders once they have been given a stage on which to perform.

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10 minutes ago, orion said:

That is not the point he is making ..Thou racing is good it's not  made the crowds come in ...it one of biggest myths about crowds and good racing . People need to feel  like the match matters ..the problem is to most that feeling has gone ..

Another myth is about racing being better in the old days ..it never was, most of the time is was poor just like today . When you have crowds and big names it always felt like the racing was better but really most the time it was gate and go .

 

Where did you watch speedway?

Fans, at Belle Vue in particular, would no doubt disagree. To see PC and Mort in full flow, using all the mutliple lines Hyde Road offered to a genuine thinking racer, was a sight to behold.

Ditto Hackney (my track), where Bengt Jansson, Barry Thomas, Bo Petersen, Dave Morton and Zenon Plech, routinely scored points from the back by using the throttle AND their brains to pass opponents.

Ditto Sheffield, where the Morans would miss the gate and pick their way through the field, almost at will, when the Owlerton track was well prepared.

Ditto at King's Lynn, where 'Mike the Bike' in his prime would usually outwit and pass any opponent quick enough to beat him from the start.

Ditto.... at most tracks and fans of the old (Div 2) National League will bear me out here. Examples are endless.

Yes, of course, there were a lot of predictable heats won from-the-gate back in the day. As there always will be. It's the nature of speedway.

But, by and large, there were many more opportunities taken, especially in the pre-1975 four-valve era, for lesser lights to shine at the occasional expense of superstars. Not so now.

Edited by tmc
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3 minutes ago, tmc said:

Where did you watch speedway?

Fans, at Belle Vue in particular, would no doubt disagree. To see PC and Mort in full flow, using all the mutliple lines Hyde Road oftrfered to a genuien thi9nking racer, was a sight to behold.

Ditto Hackney (my track), where  Barry Thomas, Bo Petersen, Dave Morton and Zenon Plech, routinely scored points from the back by using the throttle AND their brains to pass opponents.

Ditto Sheffield, where the Morans would miss the gate and pick their way through the field, almost at will when the Owlerton track was well prepared.

Ditto at King's Lynn, where Mike the Bike in his prime would usually outwit and pass any opponent quick enough to beat him from the start.

Ditto.... at most tracks and fans of the old (Div 2) National League will bear me out here.

Yes, of course, there were a lot of predictable heats won from-the-gate back in the day. As there always will be. It's the nature of British speedway.

But, by and large, there were many more opportunities taken, especially in the pre-1975 four-valve era, for lesser lights to shine at the occasional expense of superstars. Not so now.

You see great racing at Belle Vue now you see great racing at Somerset you see great racing at scunny ….so as said good and bad racing then and now .As I said old fans always fall into same trap ..it was better because the crowds were bigger and it  made seem better.

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2 minutes ago, orion said:

You see great racing at Belle Vue now you see great racing at Somerset you see great racing at scunny ….so as said good and bad racing then and now .As I said old fans always fall into same trap ..it was better because the crowds were bigger and it  made seem better.

No, the standard of racing in British Speedway (BL & NL) generally WAS better! It really isn't a myth. Nothing to do with atmosphere.

Please tell us where you watched speedway in the 70s & 80s?

Edited by tmc

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12 minutes ago, tmc said:

No, the standard of racing in British Speedway (BL & NL) generally WAS better! It really isn't a myth. Nothing to do with atmosphere.

Please tell us where you watched speedway in the 70s & 80s?

The standard of riders was the racing was not ...Speedway was much better in the 70's and 80's no doubt about it but it was because of the whole event .No good going  on about where you watched speedway the bottom line is no matter what  era most of the  races are  won from the gate ..

Edited by orion

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1 hour ago, orion said:

That is not the point he is making ..Thou racing is good it's not  made the crowds come in ...it one of biggest myths about crowds and good racing . People need to feel  like the match matters ..the problem is to most that feeling has gone ..

Another myth is about racing being better in the old days ..it never was, most of the time is was poor just like today . When you have crowds and big names it always felt like the racing was better but really most the time it was gate and go .

 

It was not gate and go with Briggs,Ashby,,Crump (snr) not in my experience anyway all of them could pass and had to the tracks then you could pass consistently.

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17 minutes ago, orion said:

The standard of riders was the racing was not ...Speedway was much better in the 70's and 80's no doubt about it but it was because of the whole event .No good going  on about where you watched speedway the bottom line is no matter what  era most of the  races are  won from the gate ..

So if we say, in general terms, the quality of the racing is roughly the same as it's always been, some good meetings, some not so good, then as long as there are not too many bad meetings, we can say it's not the quality of the racing that  turns people away. Obviously there are a lot more ways to spend your leisure time today than there were 30 or 40 years ago, and less and less people want to stand around in stadiums all evening because it's not just Speedwáy that has suffered. Dog racing has suffered heavily and stick cars are not doing as well as they used to.

So if we say that is not the on track action that had turned fans away, at least not in great numbers, it has to be the off track issues like presentation and the cheating which to my mind is a major factor , even though it was probably always there to a point. If it is the off track issues that are the problem then that falls back in the lap of the BSPA. Unless and until the likes of Godfrey and Chapman take a long look at themselves and take their share of responsibility, nothing will change.

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34 minutes ago, orion said:

The standard of riders was the racing was not ...Speedway was much better in the 70's and 80's no doubt about it but it was because of the whole event .No good going  on about where you watched speedway the bottom line is no matter what  era most of the  races are  won from the gate ..

Then let's agree to disagree.

Forget atmosphere, crowd levels, publicity, sponsors, national media coverage, relative lack of counter-attractions, and all the other things that the 70s and 80s had going for them, I will never accept that the GENERAL standard of racing in British speedway today is superior, or even close to being on a par with, what it was in the 70s and 80s. They really are planets apart. It's not even an argument.

You could argue that the wider availability of good quality shale very much helped contribute to the entertainment value back in the day. But whatever it was, BL and NL racing, the actual excitement factor, was far superior - IN GENERAL - than what the Elite & Championship leagues produce today. End of.

Edited by tmc
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3 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

So if we say, in general terms, the quality of the racing is roughly the same as it's always been, some good meetings, some not so good, then as long as there are not too many bad meetings, we can say it's not the quality of the racing that  turns people away. Obviously there are a lot more ways to spend your leisure time today than there were 30 or 40 years ago, and less and less people want to stand around in stadiums all evening because it's not just Speedwáy that has suffered. Dog racing has suffered heavily and stick cars are not doing as well as they used to.

So if we say that is not the on track action that had turned fans away, at least not in great numbers, it has to be the off track issues like presentation and the cheating which to my mind is a major factor , even though it was probably always there to a point. If it is the off track issues that are the problem then that falls back in the lap of the BSPA. Unless and until the likes of Godfrey and Chapman take a long look at themselves and take their share of responsibility, nothing will change.

Yea there  is a million factors ..for me it's the lack caring about the match / result when I go ..it used to matter so much to so many people ..I think like you and a lot people I think it's a sport in the uk that is dead in the water  and can't be saved now . we are  losing 3 to 4 clubs a year . If speedway was a animal it would be a endangered species

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14 minutes ago, tmc said:

Then let's agree to disagree.

Forget atmosphere, crowd levels, publicity, sponsors, national media coverage and all the other things that the 70s and 80s had going for them, I will never accept that the GENERAL standard of racing in British speefway today is superior, or even close to being on a par with. what it was in the 70s and 80s. They really are planets apart. It's not even an argument.

The racing then was different most sides had a In/out no1 some often had three good heat  leaders and then the BL was the best.Also the tracks were  more varied and they were all a different kind of test. You could do Wimbledon, on a Thursday,  Hackney on a Friday and then the pacy Hyde Rd Belle Vue on a Saturday all different tests for a rider.Dont get me wrong i still love my speedway but not to the degree i used to.

 

Edited by Sidney the robin
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