Hawk127

For anyone wanting to start out, it seems ideal without the huge ongoing costs. If you had enough people using the bikes, it could be a good addition to a meeting and perhaps that is what speedway needs, the main event with other disciplines alongside. Fortnightly meetings that are more a festival rather than just fifteen heats and then get on your way. As it stands speedway in the U.K. needs to try something new and innovative or simply die a slow death as is the case for the top tier of the sport. A meeting should be an event not an endurance test for the punters.

Yes back in the day of Mark Loram etc. Downhill for a long time. More racing lines in a banger meeting

Glad I did not pay to watch this. What a bore and lack lustre performance from Witches except Doyle who is a credit to the sport and a class act in the top tier in the U.K.. One last request, can Hawkins stop looking so gormless, he should never be in charge but I guess beggars cannot be choosers.

Tungate his usual crap self. Danny King overrated. It is more than likely all over for Ipswich, too many riders need carrying.

Agree. Doubt they can find a way back. Aces want it the Witches are sitting on their laurels. Not an exciting meeting compared to some of the Polish matches but Ipswich does not lend itself to exciting races these days.

Same old lines from the witches. You cannot see them making the final but miracles do occasionally happen.

Probably a smoke screen. £4 share capital and two of the four have 33 other directorships between them. Interesting that it was set up today and probably cost no more than £100 to establish the company. So sell out to Gaming International, make a few bob on the side and pretend to be interested in building a new arena elsewhere when in reality they could/should have looked at this year’s back. Another historic venue and club sold down the line by a few spivs. Would you trust any of those four to do the right thing? It will be interesting to read what the local MP’s take is on this news. You can hear it now how he did everything he could etc. Some dodgy dealings gone on here and no one will ever find out who got what. How many more clubs will the sport lose? Where was the top table of this prominent sport of speedway while all this was going on? They are another bunch who you cannot trust, they cannot even get fixtures completed in summer months let alone oversee the sport in the U.K. for the benefit of all, Too much self interest. Today this is a loss for the whole of speedway.

Those who own the stadium have played the long game yet again and supporters get weary but nevertheless it is a sad day to see another team bite the dust. I think that supporters just have to accept the fact that very few like speedway, it is a minority sport and will never galvanise support at any level of government and local authorities have zero interest despite what many a local MP’s will spout on the odd occasion that they want some publicity to get votes come election time. Those in charge of Swindon Speedway have little say in the matter as mere tenants and at best you could say that they are very naive to believe anything other than the inevitable. I would like to think that the Robins will make a comeback but like so many before, without a lot of luck, it could be a long haul. Here’s hoping.

If this is the case why did Terry Russell not go public on it in the local press and be honest with the supporters and tell the truth for a change. Swindon fans have had enough lies and false statements.

Those in charge really ought to think before playing about with fixtures and various tournaments and scheduling a list of meetings. League meetings should take priority and the league positions decided by the end of August with play offs and final in first two weeks in September. Cup and pairs take place in September and October so that clubs who did not make the play offs still have something to race for and retain fans interest. Too much to ask that those in charge have a brain between them and act in the best interest of the fans and the sport. Farcical situation that the top tier finds itself in towards the end of September in a seven month season with a league of just six teams. Yes British speedway is a shambles and we can all guess who is to blame.

Enjoyed that meeting, it had a bit of everything. Thanks to both sets of riders for putting on a good show and how every club in the U.K. would like a crowd that attended its final meeting. Thanks to all involved including the fans who gave it such a great atmosphere.

The powers that be will sight many reasons why they could not run ten home meetings in six months but will miss the obvious one, utter incompetence by each and every track to work collectively to make it happen. It is a further endorsement that can added to another thread headed British speedway is a joke . When you take into account how it’s affairs are managed and the lack of respect each and every track has for its punters it is a miracle anyone bothers to turn out in September and October after all the fine weather had this year in the U.K. It is a mystery and the only way those in charge will learn is if the punters vote with their feet but that will not happen because for some reason many think they owe the club some debt of loyalty but I doubt each and every team owner thinks that way. So it is a Christmas festival to resolve the who will be champions. The weather should be fine, ask the club promoters, they are good at using a crystal ball.

All the debates regarding the state of British speedway (not to be confused with other similar products held outside England and Scotland) is irrelevant when the sport has a number of fronts to fight to save its existence. You have track owners with a few being on the top table who make the rules up as they go along, riders who have an inflated valuation on their services and then the local authorities who are as crooked as they come (see Swindon, Coventry and no doubt many on here can name others who simply do not want a speedway track in their back yard). The joke is on the punter who continues to pay to cross the threshold of the surviving tracks where many serve up little in the form of entertainment and yet pretend that everything is fine. It is a sport which has not changed with the times and regardless of the age of supporters, it neither meets the idea of a slick presentation that can get the terraces excited nor is credible given the rules etc. and as a prospective business opportunity has zero appeal in terms of making a return in its own right without the addition of 3rd party contributions from sponsors etc. Start again get back to basics and become a part time occupation for the riders and a streaming service that punters can tap into for live speedway if they wish.

Added to which the T V coverage is far superior to that broadcast by Eurosport. U.K. speedway should not be mentioned in the same breath as Polish speedway as the U.K. falls so far short in all that you mention. The sport in this country either needs ‘surgery’ of some sort or put it and the fans out of their misery by closing out the failed product and start all over with someone who has the vision to take it forward assuming you could find anyone not tarnished by the current set up.

Unfortunately despite all the good ideas and suggestions put forward on this topic, no one in authority is listening nor will those in charge take a inward look at what they are dong to the sport. None so blind as those who do not want to see comes to mind. Riders want to earn an annual salary in a six months season while the rest of the population has to work twelve months. (If they have winter jobs are the pay rates demanded by the riders over ambitious) They have expensive equipment that is not robust enough to cater with the work that it is required of it hence the regular expensive overhaul after a few races that adds to the cost. Most of the tracks in operation today were not built for today’s machines and on the subject of tracks, the entry point in terms of costs for new tracks, in order to cater for the bikes and safety aspect etc., is now so high and even if you could find the land who in their right mind would invest in a project where the business model is dictated by third parties who have put nothing into the new track and will basically tell you when you can open and run meetings unless you operate outside the current set up and follow the IOW. The sport is not a joke, it is some of the parties involved from riders to track owners and as has been said before, as long as the punters turn up no one is going to take on board the possibility that trying something new might just be better option rather then sticking with the current format with dwindling support on the terraces. Today people are rarely prepared to wait yet it can take two plus hours to run 15 minutes of racing. Younger people lose the will to live whilst waiting for the next heat to be run and if they do get hooked, how often is the team made up of guests and Mr R/R. Nothing will change just fewer and fewer people bothering to go to a track and the way the cost of living is going speedway however good it can be will be way down the list of spending and many will consider that it is not value for money if attending a live meeting.

You really are an FCW. Try and read what is said first before engaging your fingers to type some utter crap. Just go crawl back under from wherever you come from.

Firstly everyone in entitled to an opinion. Secondly I do not give a toss about play offs in the U K or Europe. The sport is not that important and cannot be taken seriously and In the U K it is laughable to talk about teams when you have doubling up and down and riders pulling on race jackets to earn a living, not ride with purpose for a team. You carry on with your views and remain the avid follower that you seem to be, the sport needs people like you.

Watch the bore fest that is currently on Eurosport. By comparison, no crowd atmosphere just geriatric hangers on with so few in the stadium (it looks good but only one part is full of diehards) and the racing in this meeting like so many in the U.K. is processional. At least the Polish meetings have atmosphere notwithstanding the racing may not always be out of the top drawer and that is what it use to be like in the U.K. back in the 60’s 70’s and lesser extent the 80’s with rides giving it everything to entertain. The riders want to entertain the punter unlike most who ride today. It may have its faults but ask yourself why Speedway is so successful in Poland whereas in the U.K. it is dead in the water. It is promoted professionally in Poland hence it attracts funding at various levels whereas in the U.K. few operators can spell promote let alone do it. Why else sell out to Eurosport for easy money yet Eurosport clearly failed to research the sport properly but will soon hand back the contract if they had any sense.

Could another issue be that the cost of entry to the sport is now so prohibitive that you really need rich relatives to help fund all the equipment needed to get you started. Lots watch a sport and some may think I will give that a go but the old traditional route in via grass track seems to have long gone and not many teams have local lads racing for them who have come good and the local punter can relate to them. You do not need a fortune to buy cricket gear etc. Today speedway teams are in name only as you have seven individuals racing to try and make a living. The individual riders championships are being bemoaned by many because ‘my team’s rider’ is not in it. Stick the top 16 or 20 riders with the top averages in and if one team have four or five riders so be it as in reality they are only wearing a race jacket of the paymaster And at simply self employed individuals plying their trade at any track that will have them. Not a criticism but an observation.

Agree but you also have those sites who show it for free. Several were streaming the SGP2 today and yesterday’s event so the income is not what it should/could be. It would all come down to the income versus cost and I am sure someone on the forum may have an idea of what the outlay is for a GP. Perhaps the expectation of what the event ought to be like rarely fulfils what most want and a poor racing spectacle such as this weekend really brings it home.

I would suspect that may be the reason why it is probably not financially viable and if no one is prepared to bridge the gap of the cost of putting meeting on versus income from all angles including spectator revenues then it is unlikely to happen in Manchester.

Luckily many lost the will to live in terms of finding the viewing platform. Whoever thought Eurosport/ Discovery was the best option for promoting the televised side worldwide was on ‘the sauce’ the day/night they agreed the contract. Alas the track failed all, riders, fans who paid good money to watch it live in Cardiff and the t v spectators. You really hope that someone could get it right in terms of promoting what can be a spectacular sport but sadly no one on planet earth has a clue any longer. Only the Poles seem to know how to make it work, the rest are just hangers on. Well done to all the riders who came through the meeting, the tenacity is a credit to each one.

A real diamond of a rider and perhaps all the more reason why he should be in the Cardiff GP this year. A loyal servant to British speedway and the last of the all out entertainers who more often than not gives the supporters the thrills they look for in a speedway meeting. Some of the up and coming throttle merchants could learn a thing or two about tenacity and craftsmanship of a good speedway rider.

Await Ritchie’s analysis of the teams performance with interest. The Aces seem to have exposed the weaknesses in the Witches but it might just be a minor hiccup. Sad that a team of quality rides can only muster 30 points.

Rewarding failure sums it up. Last year they knew what the outcome would be. It is all about doing the right thing and clearly you are one of those who goes along with the thoughts that some parents have who feel deprived on school sports day when despite the offspring coming last they deserve the same as the winner If you want to make the rules up on the hoof, at least have the decency to tell those who may score points what the rules are before they go chasing an impossible win. I wonder how many would have rode as hard and chased points if they had known this was a possible outcome. Have the decency to state that in the event of the meeting not be completed it does not matter what you score last year’s winner will go through to the GP in the event of riders having equal number of points on the board. Still that does not justify giving it to a rider who failed to make any impact on the night the wild card.Even if you take the rider averages he does not deserve it and if he was any sort of genuine sports competitor he would have declined. But no he did the dishonourable thing and as a result Chris, Dan Scott and others have been screwed. Why would any of the scorers bother competing now. Who knows what result would be if it was rained off again. No wonder speedway is not considered a credible sport in the U.K. I suspect if this had been in Poland, all riders would have been called back to complete or restart the meeting this evening. Those who could not make it would be replaced.