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Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that disaster. I actually went on the Saturday but missed the Sunday because we were heading off on holiday the next day. You're spot on though, that was an absolute shambles. Even so, in my opinion the crowds were visibly dropping well in the lead-up to that 2022 meeting, you could see the empty seats growing year on year before that weekend happened. The poor track presentation definitely didn't help endear people to the place towards the end, but the decline was already well underway.

All good points... One GP at the NSS wouldn't be viable though.... Capacity would be around 4,500 as the East Stand would be cost prohibitive... You would be looking at every standing ticket over £100, and over £150 to sit down... I do think that the city centre in Manchester is untapped potential for the GP's to do a "proper" fanzone as all it does at the stadium is preach to the already converted.. The Aces would also benefit by doing something in the city centre alongside it...

Woryna 68 less Fricke 68 more Brennan 67 more

NO worries - given the comments were the next meeting after the BV postponement he was in a way having a bite at his own sides situation as everyone was there and ready to go!

In 2022, those who went back on Sunday had to endure sitting there for FOUR hours with a track grade every TWO races. The big pay-off of the semi-finals and final were called off, because the track had supposedly suddenly deteriorated, when in truth it had been awful since around Heat 12 of the previous day. So the most three important races weren't ON that day, whatever you may choose to claim. Rose-tinted specs, perhaps? I did go to the subsequent two Cardiffs, but many didn't bother. The racing at Cardiff varied between poor and awful - I think that's why the majority stopping going.

10 mins away from track and it's hammering down

Do I miss Cardiff? Absolutely. I miss the whole experience of the day. Cardiff felt like a genuine event. The atmosphere in the city, the build-up, and the sheer scale of it made it a massive occasion on the calendar. We all know the track itself wasn't always brilliant, and if we are talking purely about the racing, Belle Vue is leagues ahead. NSS is a phenomenal racetrack, probably the best in the world right now, but the location is the big letdown. There is very little to do around the stadium compared to a city centre venue. If Cardiff was an 'event' day, Belle Vue relies purely on the track action, which I suppose for Speedway is really what you want. For a GP to really work there long-term, the Fan Zone is going to have to be incredibly special. We need proper entertainment and engagement, not just a rider doing a back-wheel burnout on a stage. Being realistic about why Cardiff ended, you could actively see the crowds falling away year on year. It perfectly mirrored the decline of British Speedway and the closure of so many of traditional tracks over the last couple of decades. The fan base shrunk, and the event sadly lost its momentum. I don't see the need for a double-header weekend at BV. Just keep it to a single GP on the Saturday night. I'd like to see Glasgow get one as well. Looking at the current meeting thread, almost all the talk is about the weather forecast. That just highlights one of the biggest perks of the Principality Stadium, we never had that worry at Cardiff. Rain or shine, you knew the meeting was ON. We just had to wait and see what sort of track they served up.

Yes they got it sorted correctly 6.17

im not really sure what the makeup of there team has to do with a totally seperate individual meeting? looking at the lineup there are only 12 riders, not sure if that was always the plan or they were aiming for 16 but the rest are at redcar perhaps?

Best call the whole thing off today.... In the great tradition of UK Speedway....

None of the 6 riders in the Buxton team (still no 7th rider) are under 21 (many not even close to 21) so if that's the standard they're aiming at, then it shouldn't have any conflict with a British Under-21 meeting containing all the youngsters.

Wait till Saturday on the rarely affected by the weather 😜

Part of the enjoyment was the whole city seemed to embrace it and people were talking about it everywhere you went. Also you could guarantee it would be on although the drainage and facilities at the NSS seem to be so good the meetings there are rarely affected.

It will be what it is... I stopped taking too much notice of forecasts when they started putting "weather permitting" in the small print.

I quite like the suggestion of awarding one point each and not re-arrange, this would focus minds a bit. It would also mean fixture lists could stay as they are for the season. There would need to be exceptions for playoff meetings and cup meetings where that wouldn't deliver a victor and then if clubs have commitments for x number of meetings they could fill them with other events, like clubs used to hold. I'm not in Ipswich today so can't give the weather picture but it's currently sunny here in Stratford.

If it ain't broken... Etc. Etc. Etc.. Edit. And Cricket also ring fence their elite players and direct them as to where and when they can play through central contracts.. How much longer will it be before Poland do the same?..

Weather now not looking good for either day, I think Friday will be OK but Saturday looks bad.

Now showing 6.17

Quick bounce...Still got 2 sets of 2 days tickets in the south terrace to sell as unwell... Our friend above is in no doubt both days go ahead no worries.... They are on Twickets but don't pay their buying fees, giveus a DM if interested

The only other league sport, that I can think of, that is so badly effected by weather is Cricket, they don't faff about trying to rearrange matches etc. Points are divided up and everybody moves on... Cricket seems to be doing quite well these days with their £880,000,000 4 year TV deal 🤔. ... still, we know best 👌

Nope not missed at all from me

I have to say Wembley, in its later years wasn’t the greatest track for racing ! To be fair with the modern style of speedway , the Manchester raceway is the best track for racing that has been used in the UK. As a “stadium” honestly Wembley has to be the best - with its huge capacity and atmosphere, and ability to handle the huge crowds. manchester is only half a stadium and has little atmosphere in comparison with industrial units surrounding half the site, and poor crowd capacity leading to high ticket prices. Glasgow is mooted - good track but again poor crowd capacity leading- high ticket prices . with a 6 team premier league lucky to have 2 GPs in the UK tbh.

stupid was probably worded badly by me, but he must understand that with speedway, a sport where weather plays a massive part that promotors have to go go with what the weather apps are telling them, any rain that falls, can be as little as 0.1 mil can affect the attendance 10 fold. im sure he wants to change the way the sport is run and i hope he is successful in doing so, hes got good vision it seems but having a little bite at teams early postpoments was not necessary for me

Here you go probably when the sport was near its peak how it missed Bruce

Now your talking General the old british finals at Coventry what a great day out 10k plus would turn up, you had Silver, Havelock, Wigg, Tatum, Morton and loads more in with a shout of winning brilliant days. I was 16-19 when I used too go with my best friend and his dad, my mates old man was an utter loon behind the wheel and I always remember the carnage of getting out of the car park after the meeting when he would be doing his biscuit and battling for every inch of space spare heading to the gap out of the field with 5,000 other cars.