RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted January 28, 2020 11 minutes ago, Ben91 said: Friday is a traditional working day. People need to get home from work, eat and change potentially and then get to the track. If you live any further than half an hour away you’ll be pushed for time if you finish 5-6pm. Saturday is better and has worked at Rye when we were in the Premier League. Some of our potential fan base now could be former Lakeside/Arena Essex fans, it was a nightmare getting there when they ran on a weeknight (including Friday as it is a weeknight). Doing the journey in the opposite direction would be just as much of an issue. Thank you for your responses. I worked enough Fridays over the past forty years to know it's a working day ;-) Yes there are consequences for getting there but for most the evening is the start of the weekend with a day of rest to follow. The reason I mentioned the possibility was that it might, just might be necessary to use Fridays due to possible lack of track preparation time at weekends, assuming the practices and flat track continue. Friday would not be ideal but much better than a Monday or Thursday. Of course it's all ifs and buts for now. The key thing is to get the place back - when it's ready. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, marko said: Well I did hear some time ago a rumour that Pete Sampson and Martin Hagon wanted to run Rye House in the NL, but alas the AGM came and went and nothing was said, I hope either those two or someone else who is passionate about getting a club back will take on the challenge, for me living in Chelmsford a weekend (Saturday night) would be much better than a week night, especially Friday, traffic is just crazy and I am not even talking about the M25, the M11 and A414 is more than capable of causing enough mayhem on their own. I would certainly support Second division racing at Rye even though Arena Essex is technically my team. I think you'll hear of several plans, and that can only give hope that so many are interested. It's vital after BMR that it goes to the right people. Right now, I don't think the stadium is fit or safe for public meetings. Wait until Rye House Group have finished the rebuild. Edited January 28, 2020 by RobMcCaffery Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teaboy279 1,038 Posted January 28, 2020 2 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said: Thank you for your responses. I worked enough Fridays over the past forty years to know it's a working day ;-) Yes there are consequences for getting there but for most the evening is the start of the weekend with a day of rest to follow. The reason I mentioned the possibility was that it might, just might be necessary to use Fridays due to possible lack of track preparation time at weekends, assuming the practices and flat track continue. Friday would not be ideal but much better than a Monday or Thursday. Of course it's all ifs and buts for now. The key thing is to get the place back - when it's ready. I d disagree with parts of that. Friday traffic is far worse then the rest of the week. For fans south of the tunnel just getting to lakeside was a ballache most weeks. Although for Rye House I suspect it's the best night too run. For me Saturdays have so many alternative choices of entertainment (including all the big international speedway dates) that speedway crowds will always suffer. Let's be frank here though, as long as it reopens who cares what day it runs, as long as it running. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,062 Posted January 28, 2020 6 minutes ago, teaboy279 said: I d disagree with parts of that. Friday traffic is far worse then the rest of the week. For fans south of the tunnel just getting to lakeside was a ballache most weeks. Although for Rye House I suspect it's the best night too run. For me Saturdays have so many alternative choices of entertainment (including all the big international speedway dates) that speedway crowds will always suffer. Let's be frank here though, as long as it reopens who cares what day it runs, as long as it running. Didn't they used to run on Sunday afternoons? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marko 952 Posted January 28, 2020 Back in the original NL days they were a Sunday afternoon track, I think it might have been something to do with lack of lighting at the time? But I certainly recall visiting Rye many years later for evening meetings on a Sunday ie 6pm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruckerroo 790 Posted January 28, 2020 Friday nights would paralyse any potential crowds imo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hawk127 1,357 Posted January 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Ray Stadia said: Didn't they used to run on Sunday afternoons? When the Rockets moved from Rayleigh to Rye House they ran on Sunday afternoons with I think a 4.30 start albeit it might have been earlier. I travelled regular on the coach from the weir to Rye House and latterly by car when I was learning to drive. Those were the days with some real characters as riders. Fingers crossed that they can re-establish the sport at Rye and introduce what I think was the Hearts Trophy. Memory not as good as it used to be but I certainly enjoyed the early transitional days with the transfer from Rayleigh to Rye House. Not quite as good as Saturday at 8 but better then losing the name altogether. A shame they never got permission for the track at Rawreth Lane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,062 Posted January 28, 2020 45 minutes ago, Hawk127 said: When the Rockets moved from Rayleigh to Rye House they ran on Sunday afternoons with I think a 4.30 start albeit it might have been earlier. I travelled regular on the coach from the weir to Rye House and latterly by car when I was learning to drive. Those were the days with some real characters as riders. Fingers crossed that they can re-establish the sport at Rye and introduce what I think was the Hearts Trophy. Memory not as good as it used to be but I certainly enjoyed the early transitional days with the transfer from Rayleigh to Rye House. Not quite as good as Saturday at 8 but better then losing the name altogether. A shame they never got permission for the track at Rawreth Lane. Trouble is, if they had moved to Rawreth Lane, they would probably have been kicked out by now, as a massive new housing estate is being built there, as we speak! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted January 29, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Hawk127 said: When the Rockets moved from Rayleigh to Rye House they ran on Sunday afternoons with I think a 4.30 start albeit it might have been earlier. I travelled regular on the coach from the weir to Rye House and latterly by car when I was learning to drive. Those were the days with some real characters as riders. Fingers crossed that they can re-establish the sport at Rye and introduce what I think was the Hearts Trophy. Memory not as good as it used to be but I certainly enjoyed the early transitional days with the transfer from Rayleigh to Rye House. Not quite as good as Saturday at 8 but better then losing the name altogether. A shame they never got permission for the track at Rawreth Lane. Yes it was a 4.30 start on Sundays, half an hour later than in open licence days. Ron Russell started with 4.30 then tried later times in a desperate attempt to build the crowds. There was no lighting , although Ron had bought a set towards the end but hadn't had the chance to install them before the closure. Rockets did run evening meetings occasionally during Len Silver's original period running the place, using Mondays as off-nights against fellow Sunday tracks that couldn't be accommodated on bank holidays. This worked fine in June with light lasting well past 9.30 but late July was used disastrously one year. One Rocket came out for a race with a bike lamp fitted to his forks. He was quite justified to make his protest. Having asked about Fridays I am actually fully in favour of Saturday nights. Perhaps if our presence is sufficiently valued there won't be any flat tracks or speedway practices on speedway race days, otherwise it could be a problem? Anyway, there are bigger matters to deal with first. I can't agree with Hawk's comments about transition from Rayleigh to Rye House, I absolutely hated losing the Weir and it took me a very long time to adjust to Rye House. I too travelled on the coach from Rayleigh during 1974 and most of 1975. It wasn't easy. Edited January 29, 2020 by RobMcCaffery Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
00000 1,279 Posted January 29, 2020 12 hours ago, Ray Stadia said: Trouble is, if they had moved to Rawreth Lane, they would probably have been kicked out by now, as a massive new housing estate is being built there, as we speak! Development in Rawreth Lane has been amazing in the last 35 years -- used to be countryside by and large and now quite built up and busy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted January 29, 2020 6 hours ago, Richard Weston said: Development in Rawreth Lane has been amazing in the last 35 years -- used to be countryside by and large and now quite built up and busy. No different to the Weir really. The stadium was situated in quite a rural location. It's a concrete jungle now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
00000 1,279 Posted January 29, 2020 58 minutes ago, cityrebel said: No different to the Weir really. The stadium was situated in quite a rural location. It's a concrete jungle now. Certainly is, got to the Weir last year when I wanted Rawreth Lane. Magical mystery tour of Rayleigh followed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben91 1,743 Posted January 29, 2020 Surely Speedway would bring more revenue than flat track or speedway practice on a Saturday afternoon do. I think it’s very important to do what will bring the most fans into the stadium and therefore the most revenue. By all means look to see what has happened in the past and use it as a barometer but the 70s and 80s are far too long ago to be of any significance as to what would be a successful business model in 2020. The sport is nowhere near as popular as it was then for one. The lesson to be learned, and heeded, is the one that killed the club most recently. Saturday is the best night to draw a crowd and don’t race any higher than the second tier. Weeknights are a turn off for many prospective fans, as is afternoon racing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adz_mft 230 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, Ben91 said: Surely Speedway would bring more revenue than flat track or speedway practice on a Saturday afternoon do. I think it’s very important to do what will bring the most fans into the stadium and therefore the most revenue. By all means look to see what has happened in the past and use it as a barometer but the 70s and 80s are far too long ago to be of any significance as to what would be a successful business model in 2020. The sport is nowhere near as popular as it was then for one. The lesson to be learned, and heeded, is the one that killed the club most recently. Saturday is the best night to draw a crowd and don’t race any higher than the second tier. Weeknights are a turn off for many prospective fans, as is afternoon racing. Rye has always been a Saturday track to me. Certain days work best for certain clubs and this is 1 of those situations. Countless times we've been wondering what to do on a Saturday, then checked the fixtures and drove an hour to catch a meeting. Would imagine I'm not the only 1 who's done this. I didn't catch 1 Rye meeting once they changed race nights!! Clubs rely on a hardcore fan base and "floating" fans to survive. Mildenhall for example are in a similar situation with people wanting something to do on a Sunday afternoon and we get fans from other local tracks visiting. Edited January 30, 2020 by adz_mft 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waco 1,026 Posted January 30, 2020 Mildenhall have brilliant crowds considering they are stuck way out in the countryside and the track can be a bit rough sometimes 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites