mikebv

Ipswich are the team who can generate the largest crowds I would say... Good Friday seems to always bring probably the largest domestic crowd of the season anywhere outside of the play offs.. I seem to remember over 4000 being quoted, and that wasnt actually too many years ago... With circa 3000 more recently...

I have always thought Tai's idea of only needing to do home matches had some mileage.. RR then away from home for your "global superstar"... That way the track can give them the "big money" knowing that they won't be paying for the away leg from that meeting. "If" Dudek wanted £5k a night then a track could give him that without having to pay another £5k for the away leg out of their gate money.. If every track had a global star, then you could then advertise the whole of the sport off the back of having "The World's Best" riding over here, without threatening the clubs' sustainability...

Most plan, I would think, to run at an "affordable loss/tax reduction on a wider business", therefore running "below break even" is almost "par for the course" for many.. Workington's issue was four fold... The actual size of the home wins... Too many "unexpected" away wins, and, again, some by wide margins... A change of race nights so "guests" were available for everyone else who ran Friday's... And too many consecutive meetings, too close together, at the end of the season, meaning, even though they were often semi finals and finals, fans picked and chose which ones to attend due to cost.. I do hope Ipswich can get Emil over, and I am sure all will have been costed and funded as Chris Louis seems quite a switched on promoter... Emil will definitely put a fair few extra hundred bums on seats at the away tracks, (first visit anyway), and, hopefully, will put Ipswich high up the table all season , thus keeping their punters interested enough to keep turning up at their own track after the initial "novelty value" has subsided...

The downward spiral of the sport certainly began with the demise of WoS.. By the end of the show though, the USA and Danes had taken over the British sport which didnt attract the same "floating" number of viewers who had become enthralled by watching the likes of PC, Mike Lee etc beating the worlds best, and in often exhilarating style. And they often got to see 'England" rule the roost over the rest over the previous 20 years or so at a time when England as a nation didnt exactly win very much other than the odd Eurovision song contest... RIP Dickie Davis, one of those presenters who made everything look effortless and natural whilst live on air..

Not true... Lambert already on stand by for the Aces which will rule him out for the rest... "He's one of our own".... #aceslegend To be honest, I thought they would have retired the No5 Kevlar in his honour...

Post... Well done.... No one will know what impact such things will have...

Should be worth watching though at home... Never a bad thing for the Colts to get pushed close at home, as it keeps interest in the meeting... The racing is always good so a close score too is real value for money.. Not familiar with quite a few of the lads mentioned so it will be worth a trip to see what they are like..

Didn't Sheffield use up THREE of their allowed TWO changes last season?

Fandabidoubledozi...

Surely they should just treat all riders the same and use the 10 match rolling average rule? ie you dont get an official average until you have completed ten matches meaning your "assessed average" is dropped as soon as you start your 11th meeting... And if clubs want to replace a "new rider" before those ten matches, then his actual average (not including his assessed figure), up until that point is used.. It would mean that riders who maybe dont start too well, and drop their assesed average will be less likely to get replaced before they have had a fair chance to show what they can do.. And riders who do start well and score above their assesed figure, but get injured, provide the team with a higher figure to get replacements in with.. It seems daft to reward failure but dissuade those who could do well, from riding, which currently happens.. If I was any good and came in towards the end of season, I would be crap for the first 4 matches, get my average down, and then open up the table for my offers for the following year.. A "wunderkind" going from a 3pt to a 1pt average would name his price.. But a club wouldnt allow ten matches with him not scoring well.. Unless, of course, they already had given up on that season and were looking towards the next..

Geoff wanted everyone who had "shot putted" for Great Britain in for free to watch... But David Vine wouldn't allow it....

The Poles want to nurture his talent by giving him an opportunity to show what he can do.. The UK on the other hand, doesn't... A strange way to develop your sport by allowing "young talent" to sit on the sidelines... And. No doubt. If he develops into a genuine top level rider in Poland, many within British Speedway will then be moaning that the Poles are out of order dictating when and where he can ride...

Similar thoughts...

I thought that "nomadic clubs" from "defunct tracks" had been banned from competing...?

Ironically... "Made up Speedway Teams" are not allowed, even though "Made up Speedway Teams" are an integral part of the operating model...

Slough Sliders.... One for the teenagers there....

Nice wide, more circle than oval, track Dan B should enjoy himself around there. Jensen too...

And some contracts (maybe all?), contain a clause that any injuries sustained in other leagues will result in no payments and/or return of monies paid up front... Was it Nicki P that published his with that clause in it a couple of years ago?

Fnaaaar, Fnaaaar.. Gwop! Gwop!... I will have to take you in hand Mr Gimlet etc etc etc..

And to just be clear, that's in sterling pounds Michael, not PLN...

Well Done Tony... RIP Steve, Belle Vue will be a much poorer place for his passing... Condolences to his family and friends...

Every bit as exciting as F1? I hope not... Good to see money coming into the sport regardless of where it is from.. At least it is not a middle eastern, misogynistic, homophobic, racist state that is doing it, riding roughshod over any FFP rules....... Ohhh. A little bit of politics there, yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen.. Now give it up for Stavros... Let's hope the top league can get a sponsor too... It's been long enough without one..

Belle Vue 1, 2 and 3 Rochdale, Ellesmere Port, Crewe, Long Eaton, Newcastle, Workington, Bradford, Stoke, Exeter, Buxton, Swindon, Reading, Rye House, Milton Keynes, Cradley, Weymouth, Coventry, Leicester, Kings Lynn, Peterborough, Ipswich, Mildenhall, Sheffield, Wolves, Scunthorpe, Poole, Birmingham...

70 million live in GB... Many millions of which live 45 mins or less away from a track... That many dont even know about the "local track",and even the professional sport that takes place there, is simply down to the custodians of the sports' lack of capability in getting their message out there... Maybe ensuring every track has to put £20k into a joined up national marketing scheme would be a better idea than just paying out literally hundreds of thousands per track to riders who few of the local populace would ever have heard of.. Similar to the way they ran meetings to pay for air fences, why not do the same to raise some marketing budget...?

I would suggest it is the biggest issue with regards to getting big sponsorship on board from major companies... Betard would drop Wroclaw like a stone if Majic went guesting for another team, and top scored for them in a win, with that team then subsequently beating Wroclaw by a point to the last play off place.. Something that easily can and does happen over here... The league too will never get major sponsorship given its "Mickey Mouse" reputation... There is a very good reason Poland hasnt followed the UK operating model and its because they have seen the results of it...