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Stoke closing down

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18 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Stox get circa 4000 at the old track, around 10 times a season, so get at least as many, and probably more fans over a season than the Speedway at the NSS..

Losing both Stoke and BV will be a huge blow to the sport..

And may have an impact on Sheffield looking at the press release.. (?)

Will 11 Stock Car meetings mean the Speedway gets restricted time on a Sunday?

Again, more fans will attend the Stox each meeting than attend each Speedway match so more money to be gained from food and drink etc for the owners....

What are average spectator attendance companions for speedway and short circuit cars at Sheffield? Is there a big difference?

Edited by Guest
spell

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Sad news another track lost, I was there a couple of weeks ago for the Colts meeting and the track was far better than it had been on previous visits. I used to go to Stoke on a regular basis if the Aces wer,nt riding on a Saturday, there was some great racing with the likes of Crabtree, Owen, Monaghan, etc, feel for the Stoke fans.

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4 minutes ago, bellevueace said:

Sad news another track lost, I was there a couple of weeks ago for the Colts meeting and the track was far better than it had been on previous visits. I used to go to Stoke on a regular basis if the Aces wer,nt riding on a Saturday, there was some great racing with the likes of Crabtree, Owen, Monaghan, etc, feel for the Stoke fans.

When the Aces rode Friday at the old place, myself and a couple of mates went to Stoke most Saturday's making a Speedway weekend of it...

Great entertainment...

Bootsy and Crabtree in particular led the entertainment package both on the bikes and off..

Characters...

Sadly now missing from the sport...

Hence we are where we are as a sport collectively..

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4 hours ago, ch958 said:

yes but the shouters will have to face facts sooner or later

To the shouters, facts aren't as important as opinions...

Steve

Edited by chunky
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3 hours ago, mikebv said:

The one positive of all these tracks closing over the past three years is that eventually we will get one league and a supply of riders that exceeds demand as places will be scarce.

Meaning salaries will start to reflect the sports' actual level not the fantasy level it seems to try and pretend it is at..

No need for guests either when so many subs are sat waiting for their chance..

Trouble is, who's going to take up and compete in a dying sport?

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4 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Belle Vue's Hyde Road was bulldozed for car auctions. Sometimes outside forces influence things. 

A lot of speedway fans don't think about things like that, but I have said repeatedly that a lot of speedway's major issues aren't actually speedway related.

It's been 27 years since I moved across the Atlantic. In the overall scheme of things, it doesn't seem like that long a period, but looking back, it isn't the Britain I left. People have changed, and the culture has changed.

Yes, a lot of speedway tracks have disappeared in that time, but is it just because of speedway? Sadly, there are other factors; things like health and safety, the "need" for more housing, the desire for industrial and other business parks, and of course, the great British NIMBY...

Look at the great football stadia that have gone, impressive and atmospheric places that have been destroyed, simply because they were outdated and "uncool". Of course, most have been been replaced, because of the greater finances in footy.

Even the great old pubs I frequented have fallen at an alarming rate. Why? Because they are "uncool", and modern society wants something newer and more fashionable.

Trouble is, it is not just the venues that have become "uncool", but speedway itself, and the developers are the ones with the pull and the money - and these days, money doesn't just talk, it provides the entire script...

Steve

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No major surprise to see the doors finally closing at Stoke - it has been in a state of (mis)managed decline for some years now.  Tracks that are well promoted have been finding life tough, so one such as Stoke, where the "promoters" have left an awful lot to be desired was a closure waiting to happen.

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3 hours ago, chunky said:

A lot of speedway fans don't think about things like that, but I have said repeatedly that a lot of speedway's major issues aren't actually speedway related.

It's been 27 years since I moved across the Atlantic. In the overall scheme of things, it doesn't seem like that long a period, but looking back, it isn't the Britain I left. People have changed, and the culture has changed.

Yes, a lot of speedway tracks have disappeared in that time, but is it just because of speedway? Sadly, there are other factors; things like health and safety, the "need" for more housing, the desire for industrial and other business parks, and of course, the great British NIMBY...

Look at the great football stadia that have gone, impressive and atmospheric places that have been destroyed, simply because they were outdated and "uncool". Of course, most have been been replaced, because of the greater finances in footy.

Even the great old pubs I frequented have fallen at an alarming rate. Why? Because they are "uncool", and modern society wants something newer and more fashionable.

Trouble is, it is not just the venues that have become "uncool", but speedway itself, and the developers are the ones with the pull and the money - and these days, money doesn't just talk, it provides the entire script...

Steve

Sadly failing to adapt and move with the times has pretty much delivered its own demise..

If tracks could generate great crowds and thus deliver lots of rent money then maybe they would have had a chance..

Or better still, used these great crowd levels to lever a 'place of their own', somewhere in the locale , which reflected the local counciil's environmental plans but also provided the club with no rent to pay but all the income to use..

However. It must be hard to convince a local council that you are a much needed leisure pursuit, and an integral part of the community, when the crowd levels suggest very much the opposite...

Woolworths, BHS, House Of Frazer, Debenhams, etc etc have all been established businesses that have failed to follow trend and move with the times, hence they are either no more, or hanging on by a thread..

Speedway, Stock Cars and Greyhounds are very much of the same ilk..

If no one uses your services then sadly there really is no need for your existence..

And if some landowner can earn so much more by selling up now than they can ever hope to receive over say the next ten years or so, then why would they not do so..?

Speedway (in the UK), sadly isn't relevant anymore, with much of this irrelevance directly down to the lack of leadership, vision and capability of its custodians, many of whom have simply fiddled for years whilst Rome has burned around them...

Who will be next to get engulfed by the flames?

 

Edited by mikebv

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Guest

The loss of speedway in Stoke is devastating news. But one thing in regard to its closure puzzles me. As soon as the end of speedway there was announced the promotion advised that this Saturday (September 14) would be the last meeting.

On the other hand, the stadium's other tenants stock car racing come up with a series of 'farewell meetings' that will take them through to the first week of November.

Why this difference in attitude in regard to Stoke's demise?

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1 hour ago, gustix said:

The loss of speedway in Stoke is devastating news. But one thing in regard to its closure puzzles me. As soon as the end of speedway there was announced the promotion advised that this Saturday (September 14) would be the last meeting.

On the other hand, the stadium's other tenants stock car racing come up with a series of 'farewell meetings' that will take them through to the first week of November.

Why this difference in attitude in regard to Stoke's demise?

There is nothing on the stock car schedule for 28 Sept, and this date still in the Potters fixture list as a reserved date.

Could this be a date for a speedway farewell?

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It would appear that I have been rather harsh in regard to the end of speedway in Stoke re the attitude of the promotion in regard to the sport's demise. I now understand that this Saturday's (September 14) meeting was the last one scheduled for this season.

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Ive been harsh on Stoke in the past mostly at times rightly because it has been a dump at times over the years with a terrible track and horrible people however.....it has been staging a revival of late and the whole product had started to smarten up its act, sadly too late perhaps although it sounds much like the sale was when rather than if. Stoke was my mega lottery win track and i ca safely say i will miss the old girl with all her rustic (rough and ready) charms.

Edited by Sings4Speedway

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It certainly would be fitting to squeeze in a Championship level individual after the play offs to give it a fitting send off meeting. Many top names have graced the track. Surely a last potential payday in it, if other tracks farewell meetings are anything to go by.

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Listening to a programme on Talksport after the Loss of Bury FC and the on going problems with Bolton Wanderers it was stated the combined total of money owed by all EFL clubs, thats every club outside the Premier league comes to a total of around one billion, Macclesfield are widely regarded as the next club that could fold through financial problems, so its not just a Speedway problem, and the clubs mentioned get crowds that Speedway promoters would give their right arm for. In Bury,s case they went bust after a promotion season, obviously the money is in football it just doesn't filter down to the lower leagues, in the case of Speedway there is no money at all in the sport.

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6 minutes ago, bellevueace said:

Listening to a programme on Talksport after the Loss of Bury FC and the on going problems with Bolton Wanderers it was stated the combined total of money owed by all EFL clubs, thats every club outside the Premier league comes to a total of around one billion, Macclesfield are widely regarded as the next club that could fold through financial problems, so its not just a Speedway problem, and the clubs mentioned get crowds that Speedway promoters would give their right arm for. In Bury,s case they went bust after a promotion season, obviously the money is in football it just doesn't filter down to the lower leagues, in the case of Speedway there is no money at all in the sport.

Very true. If the public don't want it, you can't force them to go.

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