Killing the sport

[Midland Red 2,383]

Brandonapolis and Midland Riders Championship Final were two of the highlights of a Coventry season

[iainb 5,015]

5 hours ago, marko said:

Individuals stopped being attended when the promoters decided to dilute the product by only using 12 riders and often that was 7 home riders and a few second strings/reserves from other clubs.

The super national marathon at Arena Essex was once a highlight of the season, seven hammers plus nine others often made up of NL heat leaders from teams like Rye House, Hackney, Ipswich, Wimbledon, Eastbourne etc, only half the field would qualify for the 8 man final and only the top four would get to start off the front in said final.

it was very competitive, it meant something and so the fans brought into it and this was second division.

Oh and those 16 riders, you could bet everyone of them had jobs outside of speedway and they worked those around their racing commitments.

 

 

2 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

The same as the 16 lapper at Ipswich. Once a great event with strong fields which was well supported. If I remember rightly I can remember it being ran on a Sunday afternoon mid season and also featuring on TV.

The last few years it was run was on cold dark October evenings with the 7 Ipswich riders plus some second strings and reserves from other tracks.

As with everything else serve up diluted rubbish people won't attend.

This coming Saturday... mid summer's night, plum night in the Speedway calendar, weather likely to be fine, 2 matches on in Britain both at NDL level, Leicester & Berwick. Absolutely pathetic from all British Speedway so called promoters!

Edited June 12, 2022 by iainb

[marko 956]

Yep and what’s worse is in its latter days Lakeside would often only have two or three fixtures in the school summer holidays, I am sure other tracks saw a similar story.

[steve roberts 9,246]

1 hour ago, Midland Red said:

Brandonapolis and Midland Riders Championship Final were two of the highlights of a Coventry season

I used to travel to watch the likes of the "Golden Gauntlets", "Midland & Southern Riders Champs", "Silver Plume", "Geoff Curtis Memorial Meeting", 'Itex !00" etc but apathy shown by supporters over the years can not be dismissed. Yes the promoters have a lot to answer for but when these "filler" meetings were removed from the calender supporters must also share the blame.

[iainb 5,015]

2 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

I used to travel to watch the likes of the "Golden Gauntlets", "Midland & Southern Riders Champs", "Silver Plume", "Geoff Curtis Memorial Meeting", 'Itex !00" etc but apathy shown by supporters over the years can not be dismissed. Yes the promoters have a lot to answer for but when these "filler" meetings were removed from the calender supporters must also share the blame.

Peter Craven Memorial at BV at the start of the year on a Monday night in March was a near sell out... So it can be done 

[chunky 6,092]

1 minute ago, steve roberts said:

I used to travel to watch the likes of the "Golden Gauntlets", "Midland & Southern Riders Champs", "Silver Plume", "Geoff Curtis Memorial Meeting", 'Itex !00" etc but apathy shown by supporters over the years can not be dismissed. Yes the promoters have a lot to answer for but when these "filler" meetings were removed from the calender supporters must also share the blame.

Thing is, with the quality of riders competing, the regional championships (Southern Riders, Midland Riders etc) actually MEANT something - even the qualifying rounds. Hell, with three teams, the London Riders Championship even meant something!

As I keep saying, the variety of meetings kept everything "fresh". We started the season with the Metropolitan Gold Cup before we got into league action. Then we had the KOC. At Plough Lane, we had the Daily Express Sping Classic, the Internationale, and the Laurels - plus odd ones like the "Levi's for Feet". We had a couple of 4TT, including the Inter-League which was run over four legs. Often there was a best pairs during the season, and the crowning glory was being awarded a Test Match! There as ALWAYS something different, and ALWAYS something to look forward to.

[steve roberts 9,246]

1 hour ago, chunky said:

Thing is, with the quality of riders competing, the regional championships (Southern Riders, Midland Riders etc) actually MEANT something - even the qualifying rounds. Hell, with three teams, the London Riders Championship even meant something!

As I keep saying, the variety of meetings kept everything "fresh". We started the season with the Metropolitan Gold Cup before we got into league action. Then we had the KOC. At Plough Lane, we had the Daily Express Sping Classic, the Internationale, and the Laurels - plus odd ones like the "Levi's for Feet". We had a couple of 4TT, including the Inter-League which was run over four legs. Often there was a best pairs during the season, and the crowning glory was being awarded a Test Match! There as ALWAYS something different, and ALWAYS something to look forward to.

I used to enjoy the variety of meetings whether 4TT (disliked the 3TT format however!), Pairs, Test Matches and individuals but due to a combination of factors they became less popular and supporters voted with their feet hence why riders looked elsewhere to fill their racing diaries. Recall Simmo saying that he would have a full racing diary by just riding in this country with the odd meeting abroad thrown in.

[chunky 6,092]

7 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

due to a combination of factors they became less popular and supporters voted with their feet hence why riders looked elsewhere to fill their racing diaries.

See? The supporters are NEVER happy. They always find a reason to complain, and a reason not to go. I just enjoy watching racing, and it's a pity others can't...

[iris123 20,983]

28 minutes ago, chunky said:

See? The supporters are NEVER happy. They always find a reason to complain, and a reason not to go. I just enjoy watching racing, and it's a pity others can't...

There is a difference between 'enjoying watching racing' from the living room on tv and internet and actually setting off and travelling to attend a meeting in person. Tbh i have had numerous disappointments in travelling and getting to a track only to find the meeting is cancelled or the meeting is called off during the meeting or the meeting is held but racing is non existent or team chnges have been made without announcements etc. These aren't excuses, but real situations that happen and on such numerous ocassions that i do now think twice, three times and more before i decide to spend time and money on attending in person now

 

Last weekend was such a case. A double header at Vojens. A 500cc meeting in the morning and an 80cc a few hours later. Such meetings which i used to love a few years ago. Trouble was two fold for me. Problems at the border and the high price of fuel, plus the added problem in the media that the fuel price was going to drop and they expected supply problems. In the end i decided not to go. Listening to the radio and there was a 30 minute delay at the border and later i heard that the petrol stations around the border ran out of petrol because of the Danes coming to Germany for the reduced price.... The thing was, i had been stuck in traffic jams 3 times that week on the way home from work, and the thought of yet another one or two at the border was a deciding factor. i decided not to go and am happy with that, although i hope at some stage things are positive for me to attend

Edited June 12, 2022 by iris123

[Gemini 4,894]

On 6/11/2022 at 6:10 PM, TINYS said:

Regarding the tractor comment we get the same at Kings Lynn, Buster just loves to show off his collection of tractors and other bits of equipment he does more laps than the riders.

One of my hates whenever we went to Kings Lynn. I'm sure all the track grading isn't necessary but is just done to make the meetings last longer, otherwise we would all be home within an hour. 

[iainb 5,015]

40 minutes ago, Gemini said:

One of my hates whenever we went to Kings Lynn. I'm sure all the track grading isn't necessary but is just done to make the meetings last longer, otherwise we would all be home within an hour. 

You would have loved it at Leicester last night then... 40mins of tractor racing between the meetings and the usual amount of tractor racing during the meeting... 30 minutes racing packed into 240 minutes

[chunky 6,092]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

There is a difference between 'enjoying watching racing' from the living room on tv and internet and actually setting off and travelling to attend a meeting in person. Tbh i have had numerous disappointments in travelling and getting to a track only to find the meeting is cancelled or the meeting is called off during the meeting or the meeting is held but racing is non existent or team chnges have been made without announcements etc. These aren't excuses, but real situations that happen and on such numerous ocassions that i do now think twice, three times and more before i decide to spend time and money on attending in person now

.Remember, when I was still in the UK, I wasn't watching it from the living room or internet. I would drive all over the country, even missing out on Wimbledon meetings so I could take in multiple meetings on Bank Holidays! Yes, I too have have had numerous disappointments like rain-offs and crap meetings, but it never stopped me from heading out somewhere a few days later. I will admit that in the current climate, I would probably think twice about going to certain meetings, particularly if the weather is dodgy.

[iris123 20,983]

25 minutes ago, chunky said:

.Remember, when I was still in the UK, I wasn't watching it from the living room or internet. I would drive all over the country, even missing out on Wimbledon meetings so I could take in multiple meetings on Bank Holidays! Yes, I too have have had numerous disappointments like rain-offs and crap meetings, but it never stopped me from heading out somewhere a few days later. I will admit that in the current climate, I would probably think twice about going to certain meetings, particularly if the weather is dodgy.

But remembering back to the day, is about as relevant to today as saying Individual or test meetings were great in the 80s. It was different back then and we had about 18 teams in the top league. Today there are just 6 and you see the same riders week in weeks out. You can't remember back and say it is all the same now or you would do the same thing now and wonder why others don't

[chunky 6,092]

23 minutes ago, iris123 said:

But remembering back to the day, is about as relevant to today as saying Individual or test meetings were great in the 80s. It was different back then and we had about 18 teams in the top league. Today there are just 6 and you see the same riders week in weeks out. You can't remember back and say it is all the same now or you would do the same thing now and wonder why others don't

The fact that there aren't many teams isn't the problem; the problem is that there is no loyalty and you have no idea who is riding for your team on a certain night!

[iris123 20,983]

1 minute ago, chunky said:

The fact that there aren't many teams isn't the problem; the problem is that there is no loyalty and you have no idea who is riding for your team on a certain night!

But you said earlier you just enjoy watching the racing and others find a reason to complain and not go. Now you are telling us there is a valid reason