All Activity
- Past hour
-
Is this part of British Speedway's youth development policy?
-
Edinburgh Monarchs Vs Poole Pirates 29th May 2026
Fromafar replied to Bitza's topic in SGB Championship League Speedway
Agree if Poole reserves donāt go overboard and throw points away they should out score Monarchs reserves.Not sure how many times they have been round Armadale.!? -
In the "halcyon days" of the sport I was fortunate to attend Hyde Rd every week, and they had massive crowds, with several coaches full of away fans.. The racing was very much on a par with today, with most races strung out, with a few "good races" thrown in per meeting... PC would often win a race by half a straight when he gated... The Aces though were serial winners in those days meaning crowds stayed big, and whenever they went away they often drew the biggest crowds of that tracks' season.. When the sport started to lose its fan base, there started to be too many gaps on the terracing, and hardly any away fans in attendance, which resulted in nowhere near the same atmosphere being generated, which led to even less people then attending, making the atmosphere worse, and on, and on the vicious cycle went, with it never being even slowed down, let alone stopped... The racing was the same, the crowd size wasnt, therefore as the atmosphere declined, with it also went the stature of the league titles being raced for, which then also adversely impacted crowds further.. Poole know they need a winning team to keep a good crowd level, so provide one, with their crowd numbers ensuring that there will be sufficient atmosphere each week to (hopefully), engage enough people to keep coming due to the feel good factors of success.. Off track atmosphere, through winning, can add plenty of entertainment to a Speedway meeting, and obviously keeps people attending at Poole, even if the on track action doesn't always excite as much... Cardiff's first ten years or so also proved that... Great racing in a one third full stadium doesnt generate much atmosphere, and, thus, crowd growth... The NSS proves that...
-
Whilst I agree with some of the comments highlighting the financial implications of screening these meetings and the fact that clearly Mayfield Sports can't afford, or don't want to spend the necessary sums to show them, there are in my opinion some anomalies in all of this, and indeed in the way the whole series has been promoted over the past few years. Firstly let's examine WBD, who proclaimed endlessly we were entering a "new era" of speedway. This crowd then gave control of the whole thing to a bunch of people who had very little, if any, knowledge of the sport. Incredibly they created a rolling package whereby considerably more than 100 people (honestly!) were transported around Europe for each SGP. The costs of this must have been enormous! Not only that, but they then tried to "Formula 1ise" the world championship by creating the most ridiculous system of running in front of empty stadiums for what was essentially practice, and made it even more ridiculous by then dishing out world championship points to the riders who got to the final 4 man race of the practice, again in front of empty stadiums. You couldn't make this utter nonsense up!! As if that wasn't enough they introduced drones and steadfastly refused to change this introduction when many fans complained bitterly that it interfered with their TV viewing. TV viewing that was proving to be costly and expensive. Their 10 year master plan quickly fell apart and they panicked and pressed the eject button to escape at the half way stage through their get-out clause. But before we leave them, let's not forget that they also made the whole series harder than ever to access, with difficult to find channels and live events hidden away in expensive pay per view places. It was an unknown-to-speedway fans company that out of the blue stepped in. Mayfield Sports. Most of us had no idea who they actually were. Now, we are only two SGPs in, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt as to what we are going to experience as we go forward. But the early signs as we have seen are slightly alarming. I was pleased to see the drones had gone. Firstly I imagined that was a decision based on customer feedback but now I suspect it's financially based and is a cost cutter. The fact that many SGP events are now 2 day events with meetings the day before suggests another attempt to close down the costs . Nothing actually wrong with that and actually it's sensible when you think about it. But, here's where it begins to unravel. This ditching of the screening of SoN2, SGP2 and SGP3 came out of nowhere and has, understandably, left lots of people unhappy. And it seems clear that Mayfield had no intention of telling folk beforehand. Until they were forced to. That's not good business sense. There's also been the reduction in prize money for the riders, which did come out pre season. So it seems we are now looking at a shoestring production, at least compared to previously. Richard Coleman claims he needs to get the SGP series itself right first, which is commendable, but let's put our hands on our hearts and ask ourselves seriously if you believe he will later extend things to what they were previously? And here's where I want to ask the question. Why didn't the FIM think about giving the whole series to Poland to promote? I'm pretty sure OneSport, organisers of the SEC series, have previously wanted to take it on, but were rejected. I have to ask the question, why? Poland leads everything in speedway. It's professional in every way at a level that no other country can match. Its weekly televised productions from Canal Sport and previously Eleven Sports are beautifully put together events that run to time, are superbly slick and professional and clearly there is a large pot of money to do things the way they should be done. Now, I completely understand that perhaps no Polish company came forward to promote, but I have to ask, were they actually asked? And if not, why not? To hell with FIM prejudices against the Poles, which clearly exist as Poland has long complained bitterly that they have to fork out more than other nations to stage SGP rounds. The FIM should, in my opinion, be begging OneSport or any other Polish TV company that will, to take this series by the scruff of the neck and promote it PROPERLY. Speedway is in a mess. Everyone knows that. Even Polish promoters and owners of clubs I've spoken with over the past couple of years are worried that their product is attracting less young people than previously. But, if we want to see our beloved sport, the sport where racing can be utterly spectacular and beautiful, be able to succeed, we have to market and promote it properly. And that includes promoting and televising the youngest and younger racers at world level too. If Mayfield Sports don't have the will, or the money to do that properly they should either change their business plan, or get out quick and be replaced by a company from Poland that can do it properly. It's the only way I see our world championship events remaining a serious TV proposition.
-
Yeah it was a nasty injury i think he eventually needed an operation to sort it out
-
-
Delete
- Today
-
Edinburgh Monarchs Vs Poole Pirates 29th May 2026
Dickie Head replied to Bitza's topic in SGB Championship League Speedway
What he said. The Turbo Teens will have to rein in the gung-ho stuff to get round successfully and not throw away potential points. -
I think the article in the Star this week sums up where Mayfield Sports are and anyone looking at the sport through rose tinted glasses is not going to survive. Five years seems to be the time frame, change or that is it. I have some sympathy regarding the comments on the lower tier of the major events despite the many protests over the lack of streaming but if the previous sponsors were allegedly loosing money on the GPs then something has to give to get the sport out of survival mode and on to a sound financial footing. Otherwise it is back to amateur status. Adopt that view and then the Kennet scenario makes sense in the short term. For now Ipswich continue.
-
The only thing I can see is new riders coming through or cloning of existing ones! Failing one or both of the above, I'm afraid the ship goes down with only brave hardy souls on board!
-
Rather watch the tractors go round than watch Simon lambert don the bears Kevlars tbh
-
Manchester is contracted to run a double header GP next year and then thatās it. So donāt fear that youāll be carrying Britainās GP on your back for much longer! Mayfieldās ideal scenario is one at Manchester and one elsewhere, although nothing confirmed as to where that may be!
-
Workington v Scunthorpe 30/05/26 Championship 6pm.
Neila replied to topaz325's topic in SGB Championship League Speedway
Forecast I've seen shows a little rain arriving late evening, was supposed to rain last night in worky but only got a few spots, leaving a dusty mess on me car -
Last time Kennet rode in a professional league was for Plymouth a few years ago, but only completed 3 laps then was " injured " for the rest of the year, Plymouth got to use RR or guest riders all year, maybe this is the plan for the witches š¤š. Maybe @lewy has something to say about this š¤£
-
History shows how fickle the Ipswich support can be and the last thing we need is them dropping out of our league again due to insufficient support. We really need Mayfield to come to the party and help us push on. What we have done with Northampton in this short space of time and our program of producing number ones for teams to use plus the whole Brits thing is not an easy burden to take on alone. I had high hopes for Mayfield at Ipswich and was looking forward to a GP or two there instead of us carrying the can. Iām still hopeful they will join the party.
-
The 2004 World cup final was incredible just a shame we lost! Sport is about winning though and while many would have gone home saying we lost but a cracking meeting, a large section would have been gutted we didn't win. Unfortunately some of the most entertaining venues in this country have been lost.
-
Lions vs Tigers 28/05/2026 19:30 PL R1
IainB replied to IainB's topic in SGB Premiership Speedway League
You can be sure BSN will miss it if he does in their eagerness to show everybody the result of the heat that they've all just watched š -
Wasn't he at the starting gate?
-
stewmac started following SGP 2 FINALS and SGP 3 FINAL NOT ON TV in 2026
-
Ipswich Witches 2026
cowboy cookie returns? replied to TTT's topic in SGB Premiership Speedway League
Mayfield being a successful business probably saw lack of return on Bangs. We have all followed this sport long enough to know that a 28 day replacement for āillnessā means he aināt coming back. Kennett is cheaper no flight costs. Allows mayfield to see the year out with lower costs & with crowds still holding up. The real issue is if in a year or two nothing has changed in British Speedway then mayfield will probably walk away. They wonāt allow the rest to ruin their chance of making the sport in general & Ipswich especially more attractive. Kennett for bangs maybe the first sign things arenāt what they expected, the real test will be this winter & the team they put together for 27 -
I donāt usually ignore but Iām afraid Iām going to this time once and for all.