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HGould

Eastbourne v Birmingham Brummies - KOC Rd 1 Leg 1 - Friday 19th April 3.00pm

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2 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Nonsense.

Belle Vue started at 1pm yesterday and Scunthorpe at 5.30. At both (especially Belle Vue) it was very hot and breezy. 

There was no dust at Belle Vue and very little at Scunthorpe. Neither track had a blue line and the racing at the NSS was decent, at EWR very good. I am not aware that Andy Meredith or Rob Godfrey have a magic wand, so if they can produce good racing strips for riders and customers alike so can anyone else.

I should point out that the crowd at Belle Vue was the biggest I have ever seen for a Colts meeting and at Scunthorpe it was at least double that of last Sunday (word was they ran out of programmes). Bank Holiday afternoon meetings work extremely well if you can be bothered to put the time and trouble in to make sure that the track is up to scratch. 

 

Some people make their mind up before the event. I can only speak as i find, see and hear with my eyes and ears.

Eastbourne v Birmingham

Some dust but not excessive in hot sun. Track graded and watered every 3 heats. Had a walk on track after meeting, actually a lot of dirt on it as some stunning outside passes late in meeting indicated. Massive free car park, well marshalled and full to overflowing

Crowd excellent, no complaints from anyone I heard about dust. Real buzz about the place and lots of children and families.Nice touch to have community team people outside turnstiles helping whittle queues down and point out which ones cash and card. 

Meeting Parade started no more than 10 past 3, first race went off at 3.15

Presentation excellent from the Cardiff GP guy, lots of crowd interaction and rider/management interviews etc, liked  proper Parade, minutes silence for Colin Goody; home riders ride round stock car track after every race up close to fans.Excellent programme, good read and lots of quality articles and pictures.

To say Officials and Riders not bothered is just a joke, some good competitive racing, Heat 14 re-run 3-4 times as neither Ashley or Wood would give an inch, some excellent from the back rides by Wood and Lawson for them and Shanes for us, Paco and Ulrich started well and passes almost every race. All Eastie pit crews in snazzy t-shirts and all Officials and track staff kitted out in team gear, hardly suggests "not bothered" attitude. Great viewing access in Pits after meeting.Good food and loads of outlets.

Not seen Laurence so animated in a long time by Heat 14 and some Refs decisions debatable.

Still a lot of folks in Pits and mingling round 30 mins after end of meeting.

Complaints (if you can call them that) - young start marshall seemed to make a few mistakes, I  missed my easter egg for grandchildren and late due to traffic (my fault), toilets a bit tired but clean.PA a bit loud but no excuse for not hearing results and times.

Staying down in South for meeting at Kent on Monday - hope woofers not going may be a few specs of dust.

We have to enjoy our speedway while with can with some many tracks closing or reporting difficulties, great to hear big crowds at Scunny and BV Colts too....

 

  

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Agree, we saw some great overtakes. How did Richard Lawson do that in heat 13?

And, one can understand why the Birmingham team manager was so animated (I use that as a polite term) -- Castagna into air fence when well clear in heat two and the Morris business in heat 14.

Also, we had Morris waving madly after coming off in heat 3.

This all adds to the entertainment.

Eastbourne have not had a crowd like that for many a long day and they handled it well--both in terms of car park and getting into the stadium.

Good afternoon's entertainment in my book because there was plenty of drama and plenty to talk about.

Ref got it dead right HGould, every time:)from my position in Eastbourne.

Good luck at Kent and a safe journey back. 

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Three things are needed to keep the dust down and the track good on a warm afternoon; the correct equipment, the know how and the desire to achieve that goal. If any of those things are missing it won’t happen and you end up with the unacceptable situation which arose at Poole yesterday. As HT says it can be done. 

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When i worked at Wimbledon in the 1980's, if the weather forecast was favourable we used to flood the track for three days leading up to the meeting. This ensured the water got right into the base and made it a lot easier to manage on a race day.

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Track work was poor with a couple of blokes walking around with hoses through the meeting.

Water was only sprinkled on just before meeting started as well. Track needs to be soaked overnight & continually worked on up to start time to keep some moisture in it. That didn't happen.

Very decent crowd covered in dust.

Eastbourne will be hard to beat at home as the two reserves are dialled in & will provide good support for the top 3.

Good to see a proper presenter in Kevin Coombes.

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I didn't have a spec of dust on me, then again, I don't stand in the obvious areas where dust is going to be.

I guess dust is the new reason the doom mongers have to knock our great sport....

No doubt in a few weeks it'll be "why no covers".

some folk can only moan. shame is they'll be moaning when tracks are closing because  too many have moaned about things like "dust"... 

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4 hours ago, HGould said:

Some people make their mind up before the event. I can only speak as i find, see and hear with my eyes and ears.

Eastbourne v Birmingham

Some dust but not excessive in hot sun. Track graded and watered every 3 heats. Had a walk on track after meeting, actually a lot of dirt on it as some stunning outside passes late in meeting indicated. Massive free car park, well marshalled and full to overflowing

Crowd excellent, no complaints from anyone I heard about dust. Real buzz about the place and lots of children and families.Nice touch to have community team people outside turnstiles helping whittle queues down and point out which ones cash and card. 

Meeting Parade started no more than 10 past 3, first race went off at 3.15

Presentation excellent from the Cardiff GP guy, lots of crowd interaction and rider/management interviews etc, liked  proper Parade, minutes silence for Colin Goody; home riders ride round stock car track after every race up close to fans.Excellent programme, good read and lots of quality articles and pictures.

To say Officials and Riders not bothered is just a joke, some good competitive racing, Heat 14 re-run 3-4 times as neither Ashley or Wood would give an inch, some excellent from the back rides by Wood and Lawson for them and Shanes for us, Paco and Ulrich started well and passes almost every race. All Eastie pit crews in snazzy t-shirts and all Officials and track staff kitted out in team gear, hardly suggests "not bothered" attitude. Great viewing access in Pits after meeting.Good food and loads of outlets.

Not seen Laurence so animated in a long time by Heat 14 and some Refs decisions debatable.

Still a lot of folks in Pits and mingling round 30 mins after end of meeting.

Complaints (if you can call them that) - young start marshall seemed to make a few mistakes, I  missed my easter egg for grandchildren and late due to traffic (my fault), toilets a bit tired but clean.PA a bit loud but no excuse for not hearing results and times.

Staying down in South for meeting at Kent on Monday - hope woofers not going may be a few specs of dust.

We have to enjoy our speedway while with can with some many tracks closing or reporting difficulties, great to hear big crowds at Scunny and BV Colts too....

 

  

I call it as I see it too. Its not always popular, but there's no hidden agenda either. If people don't like it or believe that I do so for malice, I couldn't care less. 

Many on here are biased for the club they support. That's not just natural, its inevitable and I don't usually have a problem with them.

The ones that get me are those that never go (usually they did at one time but don't now) and rarely do anything but slag the sport off. Their opinions are clearly motivated by prejudice and can often be disregarded - its most difficult to comment on speedway (other than by hearsay) if you don't actually attend and see for yourself.

There is a lot that could be improved and those who do go have every right to be critical when its called for. We are all concerned about the low attendances and reported financial losses. 

But speedway can be very good, too. I have commented on the Belle Vue/Stoke thread just how impressive yesterday's meeting was, because Belle Vue did pretty much everything bang on.

Have a great weekend. Kent v Belle Vue should be a cracker.

PS If you get the chance, take in Isle of Wight. They have nothing short of a model approach to making a success of a track. 

PPS I once saw Mr Rogers smash the pits phone at Glasgow in a (justified) fit of temper :o:D

 

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Eastbourne clearly doing lots of things right.

Increasing attendances is the important metric.

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OK, let me put my comments into perspective.

I have been supporting Eastbourne speedway through thick and thin for 15 years. I have helped the National League team financially and have always believed some speedway is better than no speedway. Most of those 15 years I have spent viewing on the start / finish straight and as most spectators, we have our ‘usual pitch’. So thanks for the advice, I’ll move down to bends 3 and 4 in future when it’s so dusty. I am well aware of all the other positives mentioned and agree, otherwise I wouldn’t part with my cash.

Now, at the start of this year we were told that things were going to be different, more professional. The parade would be 15 mins before tapes up, and tapes up would be at the advertised time. No excuses. 

Now, the first meeting of the year against Birmingham was indeed delayed, however we were informed of the delay which was due to the number of spectators still queuing to get in. Fair enough. 

Last week against Somerset everything went to plan, very slickly run.

Yesterday there was a delay but no announcement or reason given. I can assure you that Kevin Coombes usually has welcomes, updates and things to say before the parade time and tapes up time, but yesterday, nothing..

Mr Gould says it was again due to spectator queuing , it may have been, I don’t know as I was inside the stadium by 2.30pm, and no one from the management (Ian Jordan) mentioned the delay as they did 2 weeks ago. And it may just have been a coincidence that neither Richard Lawson or his bike were on parade at 3.10, so the delay with no reason was indeed fortiunate as he was able to partake in his first race. 

There are elements of the new promotion that are working really well but they need to deliver consistently, not slip back into the “that’ll do” or “be grateful” mindset.  There is a saying that “you cannot gain a reputation by what you are going to do” - speedway in general needs to bear this in mind. It is judged by what it does, and that is why it has problems.

To insinuate that I should be grateful for the speedway I have, or get, is the mindset of some promoters and will not generate new attendees.

 

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Woofer

 

Thank you and understand  your comments but this is my perspective as an away fan who felt really valued (again as at the first match between our sides). I'll always give credit when due and say when not.

Those of us outside were very politely told by a Member of your community Team that they were sorry for delays and that the start time has been put back 10 minutes and when we got in through the gate we were told by a very welcoming lady - also from the community team (well that's what it said on their shirts) not to worry as the referee had agreed to delay the start by 10 minutes due to traffic hold up's. At which as we walking in to the Stadium, Paul Carrington, The Referee, who I know well by sight, came down from the Refs Box presumably to go to the Toilet; looking like he had all the time in the world.  That was almost 3pm

At 3.10 the Parade Started, just 10 mins late and elongated only by a perfectly observed 1 minute silence for Colin Goody who used to race for Eastbourne I believe?

I don't think that's standard slipping at all, more bloody good customer care I'd say; especially for a number of away fans like me, stuck on the car park, sorry M25 for 2 hours. Your Car Park was full to overflowing, I had to park literally in the trees right at the far end.

BTW - Richard Lawson sped in at almost precisely 2.55pm in his van, past the queue. Highly likely they wanted to keep that quiet for as long as possible, has happened before at most tracks. 

You are clearly getting new attendees which I am sure your Club are very grateful for as your new brummie sounding Promoter said very eloquently when interviewed by Kevin Coombes.

 

Edited by HGould
added "Thank You" beginning

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12 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

Three things are needed to keep the dust down and the track good on a warm afternoon; the correct equipment, the know how and the desire to achieve that goal. If any of those things are missing it won’t happen and you end up with the unacceptable situation which arose at Poole yesterday. As HT says it can be done. 

Any  track is dependant on how much water has got into the base. It needs to be put in early as possible and left to soak in then worked. The colour of the track during a meeting is a usually a telltale of what stage they are at with water. Tracks start dark due to the water content but if it goes pink on the racing lines after few races more water at that stage is a give away. Mark Thorpe when he was at Newcastle in the 90's told me that in NZ, they went to the track early, soaked the track and then had a barbie. Seems like a very social way of doing work.

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13 hours ago, woofers said:

OK, let me put my comments into perspective.

I have been supporting Eastbourne speedway through thick and thin for 15 years. I have helped the National League team financially and have always believed some speedway is better than no speedway. Most of those 15 years I have spent viewing on the start / finish straight and as most spectators, we have our ‘usual pitch’. So thanks for the advice, I’ll move down to bends 3 and 4 in future when it’s so dusty. I am well aware of all the other positives mentioned and agree, otherwise I wouldn’t part with my cash.

Now, at the start of this year we were told that things were going to be different, more professional. The parade would be 15 mins before tapes up, and tapes up would be at the advertised time. No excuses. 

Now, the first meeting of the year against Birmingham was indeed delayed, however we were informed of the delay which was due to the number of spectators still queuing to get in. Fair enough. 

Last week against Somerset everything went to plan, very slickly run.

Yesterday there was a delay but no announcement or reason given. I can assure you that Kevin Coombes usually has welcomes, updates and things to say before the parade time and tapes up time, but yesterday, nothing..

Mr Gould says it was again due to spectator queuing , it may have been, I don’t know as I was inside the stadium by 2.30pm, and no one from the management (Ian Jordan) mentioned the delay as they did 2 weeks ago. And it may just have been a coincidence that neither Richard Lawson or his bike were on parade at 3.10, so the delay with no reason was indeed fortiunate as he was able to partake in his first race. 

There are elements of the new promotion that are working really well but they need to deliver consistently, not slip back into the “that’ll do” or “be grateful” mindset.  There is a saying that “you cannot gain a reputation by what you are going to do” - speedway in general needs to bear this in mind. It is judged by what it does, and that is why it has problems.

To insinuate that I should be grateful for the speedway I have, or get, is the mindset of some promoters and will not generate new attendees.

 

I think you have a point here. If a meeting is delayed for whatever reason everyone should be told. Poor show if they are not and while it isn't a big issue, little ones add up. 

I should add people were queueing outside at start time at Scunthorpe on Friday but Rob Godfrey announced the meeting was starting on time anyway (it actually started a few minutes early). I think that was a mistake. Few mind waiting for a short period in such circumstances - especially as it was blazing hot - but some who miss races might be put off.

Belle Vue always delay the start if people are outside. 

As to the bits I have put in bold, absolutely bang on. There are, however, some very encouraging signs that the pervasive 'get what you are given and be grateful' attitude is changing.

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2 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

I think you have a point here. If a meeting is delayed for whatever reason everyone should be told. Poor show if they are not and while it isn't a big issue, little ones add up. 

I should add people were queueing outside at start time at Scunthorpe on Friday but Rob Godfrey announced the meeting was starting on time anyway (it actually started a few minutes early). I think that was a mistake. Few mind waiting for a short period in such circumstances - especially as it was blazing hot - but some who miss races might be put off.

Belle Vue always delay the start if people are outside. 

As to the bits I have put in bold, absolutely bang on. There are, however, some very encouraging signs that the pervasive 'get what you are given and be grateful' attitude is changing.

To put this to bed I think there were 2 diverging issues here in hindsight.

(1) there was a queue, all turnstiles from what I could see were open and Eastbourne decided to assure us in the queue that we would be getting in b4 the meeting started but didn't announce that to the fans inside as (2) possibly (and i have no proof) it suited them that there was a queue as they were waiting for Lawson to arrive....which he did at 5 to 3. He was not on Parade but rode unbeaten all day by an opponent.

Probably preferable to starting with people outside and knowing that and doing nothing, but probably should have told people inside although it was warm and sunny and most probably didn't notice.

Queues to get in though at 3 Speedway Fixtures on Friday at least, is I think something we can all celebrate.

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With regards to holding the meeting up if there's a queue I don't think they should unless maybe there's been an incident of some kind. I tend to get to the Wolves about 7.25 and if there was a queue and I missed a race then tough on me I should have got there earlier

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The late Chick Woodroffe, owner and builder of Arena Essex always said that you never delay the start of a meeting (stox or speedway) due to a queue outside BUT you make sure the introductions take long enough that all who were at the turnstyles three minutes before start time get to see the first race in full. You need a good presenter on the PA to make it work but with care it is a tight rope that promotions can balance on.

That way those who arrive early do not feel they have been left waiting for people who arrive at the last minute. The nearly late comers still see all the racing and hopefully arrive a bit earlier for the next meeting. By doing things like that all the customers are kept happy and hopefully come back again as well as telling their friends what a good afternoon/evening they had at whichever track they have been to. 

If you get the reputation of starting late for a queue then you get more late comers as they feel they will not miss anything but if they only just make it and get to know that meetings start on time then they start to get to the stadium a bit earlier.

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