All Activity

You can even play footy with the Scunny riders if you want...the above post sounds to me like someone years ago wanted to get involved but got told to F.....Off. i like the idea of a track walk, especially if someone explained what riders are looking for..its about understanding, how tracks change,which lines riders like, how much prep has gone into it, By talking to the riders you get to know whos approachable or who to avoid,anyway the riders arent working on their bikes its the mechanics..after 7pm they go and get changed then the bikes warm up

No you aren't. Yep, I even read this site and take feedback during events.

TBH the first 4 races were much better than the Swedish league.

Not as bad as Ermolenko doing the punditry! He is as baffling as ever.

It was still night and day compared to what we all get now!

Exactly. They just want to do their job and get out of there. And lets look at it from their point of view, If you were doing some work to your car would you want a bunch of wulfsport jacket wearing mongs standing around you staring at something most know f*** all about? I remember some promotions brought in the interactive track walk where they could follow the riders around. Why? I'd say most don't really care or know about what the riders are looking for but hey ho! Nigel and Janet get to feel important because they walked the track with the riders.

Totally agree. From an Ipswich perspective, Ipswich is a sporting Town, and it’s always been a Speedway Town. The people of Ipswich know their speedway and are knowledgeable about the sport in good numbers. They know who the world class riders are and who isn’t. Of course there’ll be plenty of others who have no idea about Speedway there’s no denying that, but they won’t attend anyway so they’re not the target audience. There are so many who know everything about the sport, have been for years, but are now 50/50 on whether they can be bothered to go anymore or not (I’d put myself in that category). They're the ones they have to first and foremost entice back on a regular basis. That’s the start. Give them the incentive and a reason to go from 50/50, to “I’m 💯 going to be there Thursday/Monday”. That begins with having a team worth paying to watch, a world class rider or two that undoubtedly gets more through the turnstiles. More top class riders will increase the chances of TV companies becoming interested again as Richard Coleman points out. Getting a couple more clubs involved to increase variety and fixtures will also help. With all due respect to the Championship, there’s a reason that hasn’t been shown other than streams. Get those people back regularly and then they can work on a strategy to get newcomers to start attending also. I’ve been to a couple of Poole meetings the last couple of season’s and although they still get good crowds (again by Championship standards), they get nowhere near the level they did when they were in the top flight and had peak Holder and Ward amongst others. Any Poole fan that comes on here and say they do, are lying pure and simple.

Harris wins heat 1. 🤣

They certainly are a crowd puller, but only within the context of the meeting meaning something... And only within those who already know who they are... If BZ suddenly turned up for Northampton then their crowds would double and every away meeting would have their best crowd by miles... As it would be a huge noveoty so "lapsed fans" would attend, (the very large amount that exist).. The challenge would be maintaining that level of crowd over the next few years... The Aces had two of the top three riders last season, but crowds were not good compared to even five years ago with no World Class top three riders. As I said previously, when this country had all the best riders over here, crowds dropped, which suggests it is either that their presence is over emphasised, or it is the events themselves that don't engage enough fans to regularly attend..

I don’t know where you’re really going with this Mike. Fans just won’t watch any old speedway simply because it’s still “The Witches” and I think you know that full well. The more attractive the line up, the bigger support you will get. That’s just common sense and backed up by general crowd levels you see the lower you go down the pyramid. Ipswich had decent crowds when they dropped a tier, but that’s by really poor Championship standards. They increased when they moved back up, and they increased again handsomely when the world class top two arrived and stayed consistently healthy during the duration that they were here. Thats completely natural and understandable. You’ve been beating this drum about the top riders not making a huge difference for years now on here, but I think you’re severely underplaying the difference they actually make.

OMG is Dave Goddard commentating? Every race we're gonna have a last bend lunge!!!!! FFS

But crowds were dropping annually when Sky showed the sport and pretty much every World Class rider rode over here... There were plenty of inflation busting price increases though at this time, so maybe that was the reason for the drop off, rather than the riders who were there?.... (Or not there as the case often increasingly became, due to "other commitments elsewhere"....)

Doubt it, Workington have one heat leader, three second strings and three reserves.

Can I have a try.

Never a truer word spoken. We can only hope things may finally be about to change but it’s definitely a “don’t hold your breath” scenario.

So, it wasn't the Witches that the fans who have dropped off went to see?... Instead, for them, It was their two top riders?... Presumably, if what you say is correct about the crowds, (and I don't doubt it), then it means that there musn't be enough emotional attachment to the team, but there is to the two top riders?.. If correct, and given the lack of any real prize for wnning it does make sense, you might as well drop the leagues and run individual meetings with big prize purses, with the best riders there... Like the Manchester GP's showed, make it relevant and you can still get very good attendances..

isnt that due to him having 6 or 7 rides?

It’s my opinion that crowd levels are hit when the top stars disappear and sponsors too like the idea of being involved with a team sporting a world class rider or two. As has been shown with Belle Vue, Sheffield, Ipswich & Leicester recently is that top stars result in a competitive team. All those teams bar The Aces have dropped a division or closed due to crowds dwindling when success wasn’t on the cards. I’m not having it that people don’t know speedway exists in town. I’ve detailed all the many avenues used to enlighten people but the fact is they don’t want to come and that is what needs addressing. I live a few hundred yards from Stockport County and I couldn’t tell you when the next fixture is, what league they are in or who is in the team. The reason is I’m not interested so will not take in any amount of public attention they seek. I don’t like football so have no idea about it and that goes for two of the biggest clubs in the world who are also on my doorstep. This is true of any event in Manchester I’m not interested in and it’s just the way people behave.

Steve Irving quoted in a nutshell. So I supplied one

What's a nude tan bra got to do with it??

VK link here: https://vksport.vkvideo.ru/video-53550004_456242766

The mantra of the past twenty years on here.... And yet, here we are, still doing the same thing!!.

A 28 day contract is a minimum of 28 days. Hence Redcar signing Nicolai Klint on a 28 day contract and he stayed 15 weeks.,

Richard Coleman ”The sport can’t continue to do the same thing with a little bit less money each year and expect a different result” In a nutshell.