Poole 2020

[mikebv 10,243]

1 hour ago, The Weasel said:

I like your posts Mike but I'm with Shovvy on this, I have missed 1 home match at Swindon in 10 seasons (and that includes NL matches/Ben Fund/Bob Kilby Memorials the works) but if this was the regular line up I'd seriously have to think about attending, with any sport most people pay to see the best, as a sports fan you can appreciate the effort put in by competitors at all levels whether it's watching your children play on a Saturday/Sunday morning in the U10s or it's the top echelons of the competition at a professional level but expecting people to part with their hard earned to watch what would be largely amateurs is a big ask, I'll support a NL match once or twice a season to see the development of potential future stars and to show support to the promotion at Swindon but I don't want a full season of it.

Understand your points 100%...

Given the number of riders needed, my own personal choice would be (temporarily), five man teams to deliver the highest standard attainable and also mean the talent pool is then stretched across as many tracks as possible. .

I just think the time has come to be radical and almost 'start again'..

With three main reasons for this. .

1. The crowd level Speedway gets now is pretty much down to die hards only, and most of them have proved, particularly over the past five to ten years, that they will attend the sport whatever is put out in front of them...

2. There are literally tens of thousands of ex fans on the tracks' doorsteps around the country, who no longer attend regularly because they either became disillusioned with what was being presented to them, or the cost to attend frequently became prohibitive, or not seen as Value For Money. An admission cost that was wishfully based on paying rider salaries far in excess of what the crowd level could sustain, rather than reflecting what was on offer. Therefore a lesser standard should be reflected in lower admission costs..

And 3. There are literally millions of people who live within say an hour of tracks around the country who have zero idea of who any of the riders are, GP down to NL standard, so won't have any pre conceived ideas of the actual standard disparity, so would attend (if you could get them engaged), with a completely open mind..

Therefore surely it's about time to be radical and try something very different? 

Put out a heat structure that doesn't mean top riders race against NL riders, but instead delivers every heat where four riders of commensurate ability race against each other.. 

Heroes can be delivered at any level, meaning fans can develop an affinity towards them regardless of their standing in the 'world order' and more 'local derbies' against teams several clubs haven't raced against for several years (or maybe even ever?) can only stimulate interest surely? Interest that may lay dormant in many of the thousands who live in close proximity to the tracks and possibly spur them on to attend again? 

Speedway seems to try all sorts to generate 'new fans', when just getting half those who used to attend regularly, who have either left the sport completely,  or now just visit infrequently, would make a huge difference to its success..

Maybe doing 'something different' whilst reducing costs, would see some of them return and kick start some momentum?

One thing is for sure, doing the 'same old, same old' as has happened for so long, (and all crowd level evidence shows), definitely wont..

Edited October 11, 2019 by mikebv

[orion 7,612]

7 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Understand your points 100%...

Given the number of riders needed, my own personal choice would be (temporarily), five man teams to deliver the highest standard attainable and also mean the talent pool is then stretched across as many tracks as possible. .

I just think the time has come to be radical and almost 'start again'..

With three main reasons for this. .

1. The crowd level Speedway gets now is pretty much down to die hards only, and most of them have proved, particularly over the past five to ten years, that they will attend the sport whatever is put out in front of them...

2. There are literally tens of thousands of ex fans on the tracks' doorsteps around the country, who no longer attend regularly because they either became disillusioned with what was being presented to them, or the cost to attend frequently became prohibitive, or not seen as Value For Money. An admission cost that was wishfully based on paying rider salaries far in excess of what the crowd level could sustain, rather than reflecting what was on offer. Therefore a lesser standard should be reflected in lower admission costs..

And 3. There are literally millions of people who live within say an hour of tracks around the country who have zero idea of who any of the riders are, GP down to NL standard, so won't have any pre conceived ideas of the actual standard disparity, so would attend (if you could get them engaged), with a completely open mind..

Therefore surely it's about time to be radical and try something very different? 

Put out a heat structure that doesn't mean top riders race against NL riders, but instead delivers every heat where four riders of commensurate ability race against each other.. 

Heroes can be delivered at any level, meaning fans can develop an affinity towards them regardless of their standing in the 'world order' and more 'local derbies' against teams several clubs haven't raced against for several years (or maybe even ever?) can only stimulate interest surely? Interest that may lay dormant in many of the thousands who live in close proximity to the tracks and possibly spur them on to attend again? 

Speedway seems to try all sorts to generate 'new fans', when just getting half those who used to attend regularly, who have either left the sport completely,  or now just visit infrequently, would make a huge difference to its success..

Maybe doing 'something different' whilst reducing costs, would see some of them return and kick start some momentum?

One thing is for sure, doing the 'same old, same old' as has happened for so long, (and all crowd level evidence shows), definitely wont..

So wrong on so many levels I don't where you start .. you go wrong on the first point you want fans to come back . the simple is that as the level  of rider has dropped and so have the fans .  dropping the standard again is not radical and is not very different its the plan that has not worked .

[mikebv 10,243]

4 minutes ago, orion said:

So wrong on so many levels I don't where you start .. you go wrong on the first point you want fans to come back . the simple is that as the level  of rider has dropped and so have the fans .  dropping the standard again is not radical and is not very different its the plan that has not worked .

Well if you disagree, it's a good start. ..

[lisa-colette 6,018]

1 hour ago, KrisB said:

Don't see how Poole could field a decent team in the CL. Apart from Grajczonek at No 1 and assuming Kurtz and Holder don't drop, the rest of the 2019 team already have CL team places and likely to commit to those for 2020 at the earliest.....

Josh rides in Poland so prob wouldn't be in the team if we dropped down. Hasn't done Champ for a couple of seasons. 

[Badge 5,122]

3 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

Josh rides in Poland so prob wouldn't be in the team if we dropped down. Hasn't done Champ for a couple of seasons. 

As a Pole he's not allowed to.

[orion 7,612]

9 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Well if you disagree, it's a good start. ..

Well its only the 20th time you put the same post up ….it's comedy if nothing else  

[Bagpuss 10,764]

If Poole ever dropped down they’d be the biggest fish in that pond and would have no trouble attracting whatever riders they wanted and would start the season as one of the favourites I’m sure. 

[ray c 2,299]

21 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

If Poole ever dropped down they’d be the biggest fish in that pond and would have no trouble attracting whatever riders they wanted and would start the season as one of the favourites I’m sure. 

Im sure if we dropped down there would not be that much money to splash about

[foreverblue 6,081]

Don't know where this dropping down a league nonsense came from, there is absolutely zero chance of it happening.

[ray c 2,299]

49 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Don't know where this dropping down a league nonsense came from, there is absolutely zero chance of it happening.

if you read the article in the echo earlier in the week I think you will find that's where it came from 

[dorset delight 209]

6 hours ago, ray c said:

Why would anyone who goes home and away would walk away because they have dropped down a league 

I did and so did quite few others at the end of 84,Pl just wasn't for me and it was another 15 years before I went back

It's a personal choice and if we did drop down(not that is going to happen) I would stop going again not that I go much now

[Starman2006 2,354]

1 hour ago, dorset delight said:

I did and so did quite few others at the end of 84,Pl just wasn't for me and it was another 15 years before I went back

It's a personal choice and if we did drop down(not that is going to happen) I would stop going again not that I go much now

But why mate, you have the same riders riding in that league. You would get more meetings same standard of racing But for Doyley. ok you wouldnt get a televised meeting, but is that a hardship ?,
For most its a no brainer, but im sure the powers that be cough cough, will try and stop us, if thats what the fans want. The top league is finished you will never get the top boys back here permanantly.  And you know Matt, he would put together a side that will still take some beating.. But again, its down to the fans to vote..Eventually.
And i would be suprised if it went one league, but thats an option.

[stevehone 3,425]

if i still lived in Surrey Poole would probably be my 'go to' track, even if to chear the opposition.

no way they will drop down a league, and if Ford has suggested that then it will just be a different way of putting 'support us or else'.

to me, the difference between the leagues this year has been the RACE tracks in the CH. Ok in the PL there is Belle Vue and Peterborough, but in the PL they have excellent RACE tracks in Scunthorpe, Redcar, Somerset, Glasgow and Sheffield.

years ago when it was BL & NL, i prefered going to NL because of the British/Commonwealth rules, but as soon as Ronnie Russell did what he did at Rye House with Peter Schroek (top bloke by the way) and Jens Rasmussen, then that was the start of the downfall for speedway in the UK

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

18 hours ago, orion said:

So wrong on so many levels I don't where you start .. you go wrong on the first point you want fans to come back . the simple is that as the level  of rider has dropped and so have the fans .  dropping the standard again is not radical and is not very different its the plan that has not worked .

You are so wrong the points Mike make to me are sound exciting even.The crowds have dropped because people have become disillusioned  nothing to do with the standard of rider they have found other thing's to do in there life to replace speedway.There is one great guy on this forum who is a great example last year i recon he went to about 50/70 meeting's at various tracks in the uk He loves speedway he was an ex rider  but he has only been to 7/8 uk meeting's this year he has replaced the uk with European meeting's.He says the variation is poor poor facilities and generally speedway in the uk is poor value for money entertainment wise nothing to do with the level of rider.

[Steve Shovlar 10,439]

It’s all to do with the rider level.