AndyM
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Posts posted by AndyM
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What I miss most about speedway in the 70s:
Hyde Road, best track ever!
Big home crowds, week in week out
The wealth of different teams - more variety
Riders were characters in those days
The amazing skills of the likes of PC and Mort
The sheer passion and excitement of speedway
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Takes a big man to do what you've done CMV06 .... respect to you!
Well said! Would that everyone acknowledged their mistakes in such an open way. Credit to CMV06
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We do have young talent but we don't develop or market that talent to maximum effect and don't honestly seem very bothered that we can't get riders into the top 3-4 in GP circles. Given a young lad who can deliver genuine results through the world rankings AND be a pin-up for the papers, you may have a case... so where does all the top motorcyling talent go?
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I've long been saying that unless radical action were taken, British league speedway is destined to be uneconomic, unattractive to crowds and unviable, though sadly we lack the visionary strategist to take us forward. You would have thought the GP circus had at least some of those skills, but it too appears to be heading for the doldrums. It comes down to a simple question of whether the sport believes sustainable recovery is possible and whether anyone actually gives a toss to try turning the sport around. If not, it could quite easily be dead within 20 years if costs continue to rise, long-term attendance trends continue on a downward spiral, and media/commercial interest is not aroused. Brutal but true.
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Not having seen this match I can't comment on those decisions, but while an individual decision can be appealed, is there any option for clubs or riders or fans to feed back to the SCB to have a ref put on observation in the light of consistently bad decisions?
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Am I correct in thinking though that Wimbledon was the only track to have the start and finish lines in different places......................and that at one time it was defined as the only legal speedway track because of this? Or was it my imagination....................Although i never went to Wimbledon, I do recall the start and finish lines being in different places, though why that would make it the only legal speedway track i can't imagine.
Getting back to the question, we now have far too many tiny tracks and not enough of the big, wide open spaces. A couple of tracks the length and width of Hyde Road with multiple riding lines would improve speedway dramatically IMO!
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Er...maybe because it closed in 1947...
You could still have lots of youngsters from Dagenham wanting to enter the sport, even if there was no Dagenham speedway for them to learn at!!
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Why does it not still act as a hotbed of talent, though?
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I still cant believe Len thinks he can charge EL standard prices when he doesnt even show EL standard racing and not expect it to effect his overall crowds. Still its his business afterall and if he wants to lose the punters by over pricing meetings, then he'll suffer in the long term for it. Im now happy to know that it'll cost me and my Dad £30 for the two of us for the Ben meeting. I cant wait to see the likes of Crump, Pedersen and Lindgren riding round the tight lines of Rye and on a Sitera note, I think he'll be right a home round Rye being a gating tart and all. If he can road block round Arena, he'll have no problem doing it round Rye. I expect him to be in the top 10.Firstly on the standard of racing, this mythology seems to have grown up without foundation. I take it you you've been to the House on an occasional basis and maybe seen the odd bad meeting? Personally, I'd say the matches I've seen at Lakeside have been far worse in terms of racing quality - in fact, RH is no worse than any other track for quality. What basis do you have to say otherwise?
As for the cost of admission, in relation to the costs of running a meeting I'd say it's perfectly reasonable. Maybe it's your expectations that are out of kilter?
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I will be there if anyone fancies meeting. Looking forward to some banter with my old mate Norbold and one or two more friends!
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Chav or chavvy was used as a greeting by some at my school in Mitcham in the early 70s.There were quite a few gypsies and/or romanies at my school.It was normally a friendly greeting of "alright chavvy?".Seems to have taken on an altogether different meaning these past few yearsEdit:wouldn't believe everything you read on Wikepedia
So not "Council Housed And Violent" then?
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Don't disagree with what you say - just think that the core product will not attract and sustain a mass audience any more, whatever facilities you provide. There needs to be better value in the speedway itself - more thrills, easier to watch anywhere.
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I've commented on this in various articles in Speedway Star and on my personal blog, but I remain convinced that the way for Speedway to survive, build, and once more thrive, is not necessarily to re-invent itself, but to look at what is fundamentally wrong and thus holding back Clubs all over the land...this always points back to the ownership of facilities, and the subsequent inability to control their own desitny.Through much more careful consideration of planning applications (a la Beaumont Leys, Leicester), new, much improved Speedway 'mixed-use' facilities can be built and possibly owned by their promotions, and only by doing this, can they make the necessary revenue to improve the way the Club performs on and off the track.
I cannot underestimate the importance of Leicester formalising their planning permission at BL, as this will pave the way for other promotions to be brave enough to follow suit and make the move.
Sherif
Surely the ability to attract and sustain a regular and viable crowd is most important in any location? We still haven't solved the long-term structural decline and found ways to bring through generations of new followers. As I said before, speedway in its current guise and presentation is maybe not going to achieve this, hence my suggestion of "reinventing" a version of the sport to fund the development of traditional speedway, much as cricket has done. It's about bringing the sport closer to spectators.
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Me: "Why is the price £99.99?"selinasbooks: "This is temporary while prices are adjusted and new stock gets entered into our system. The item is available to buy but this means that the price is about to be greatly reduced. We suggest that you 'Watch' the item, as we update our prices everyday."
So my advice would be not to rush out and buy it from this bookseller just yet!
What exactly does this mean? Surely if you're retailing a product you set a price based on what people are willing to pay. Why would anyone set a price at that level, unless it was a rare first edition signed by Tom himself!!
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As the 2010 speedway season approaches certain riders will qualify for a testimonial this year.many thanks, Bubble.
Sorry Bubble, can't answer your question but it did get me thinking. If testamonials were still given to riders with 10 years service at one club rather than 10 years total, would it inspire riders to stay loyal? Good incentive to change the way we build teams, for sure.
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Indeed. The alternative of choosing 16 from a wider pool of, say, 32 riders, so riders appear in different GPs in different combinations, is probably even more disruptive to league racing. The rethink has to put investment and effort into the grass roots above all else.
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Quite right, Starman. The GP circus is already cutting the throat of bread and butter league speedway, the training ground from where its riders emerged. At this rate it will ultimately cut its own throat...
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Eddie moved on to Belle Vue, but never developed as he should have done - given his potential at Newcastle - and returned to the US.Steve
True, he was a disappointment. Think much of the issue was in his own head rather than anything else. Remember a match at an away track somewhere with Eddie riding with Mort. As the race progressed, Mort was second and Ingels last. Mort slowed right down, waited for the other opposition rider to try to pass him on the outside then fenced him hard so Eddie could come through on the inside. Would probably earn Mort an exclusion at many tracks!!
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Good post, Tomcat. I agree totally, very necessary part of controlling costs but alone that will not revive speedway. In fact, I agree with most of the thoughtful and well-written comments on this thread - but they are peripheral to the core issue.
The reason speedway had good years was because people had fewer options and were worse off. Speedway at the time was a relatively cheap form of entertainment and entrance prices were subsidised by the fact that volumes were relatively high. The sport could sustain many clubs then.
Conversely, most people are much better off in real terms but still feel poor, so revenues are squeezed at one end while costs have been expanding well beyond inflation at the other. The potential for big crowds has diminished because have many options for their leisure time, not least a vast array of TV channels and lots of alternatives for a night out, and speedway is simply not the attraction it once was - there is no hook to keep potential new fans loyal and coming week in, week out. At the same time, the core audience has died away and clearly the sport has not attracted a new generation to replace them.
If that in a nutshell is the problem, what's the solution? I've gone on for years about having the right skills to plan ahead and develop an approach, but in essence it's what we've already known - the promoters tinker with the sport but they're afraid to do anything radical for fear of alienating riders and fans alike. There has been no research to find what people genuinely DO want, so the sport has declined and not ventured into anything dramatic to reverse its fortunes.
Taking cricket as an example, 20/20 is not universally popular with traditional but by gum, it sure created a massive new audience for a brand of cricket. Furthermore, cricket clubs charge more to attend 20/20 matches than other forms of the game, even though there's less of it - and they did a brilliant job of cross-selling to ensure more people attend other fixtures too. It helps generate funds within the game to sustain and build real cricket, and generates momentum, something severely lacking in British speedway.
I'd say speedway needs to reinvent itself by creating a variant that will sell tickets big time. That requires a lot of thought and development but is possible in my view - after all, indoor and ice speedway certainly proved popular when they've been staged, so why not find something that might help win people over to real speedway? To work, we would need it to be:
- Profitable: cheap to run & relatively cheap to attend
- High value-add for customers - lots of good entertainment, plenty of passing and excitement
- Potential to be staged at many locations, not just existing tracks
- Low noise to avoid planning battles etc.
- The ability for many people to participate, having watched top riders do it
- Not subject to weather, and preferably year-round
- Fun! Also addictive - make it easy for people to support teams and build up atmosphere
Thoughts?
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The 1973 Final was indeed the one when Poland were determined to get themselves a World Champ but the man earmarked for this was most certainly NOT Szczakiel but Zenon Plech. It's been documented the way Szczakiel was treated by the Polish authorities - not at the time the most open-minded...! - for upsetting the apple-cart and winning the title for himself instead. Have you not ever wondered why he looks less than delighted on top of the rostrum..?!! Not a smile passes his lips coz, I'd assume, he fears that trouble's coming his way. 
I agree with Lucifer that Szczakiel's place in history has been much overlooked. What a shame that the 'abuse' in his homeland which destroyed a great rider (I'd not heard that about his face-to-face record against Mauger but that does tell a story...) is still being repeated today by some failing to recognise his very significant achievements..
I fail to see how could it be against the interests of the Polish authorities to have a Polish World Champ, even if that wasn't Plech. Surely better for them than Mauger winning again?
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The tragedy of Belle Vue is that Mancunians now travel in their hordes to Blackpool's Pleasure Beach when they used to have it all right on their doorstep.Early start at the speedway, early finish then set them loose in the fairground, and what bliss it was too, even in the declining years of the seventies as I saw it.
Rob McCaffery.
I remember my dad saying Belle Vue fairground was expensive relative to other entertainments in those days, though I can't remember the figures. Would be interesting to find out how much the rides cost in relation to other attractions.
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OK, not brain dead. But having heard Kelvin talk and commentate at various times over many years, I certainly don't think he'll be winning Mastermind any time soon. Erudite and learned his comments most certainly are not.
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Why get in a flap - what does it matter? Frankly, the opinions of a brain-dead commentating ex-rider are irrelevant. If you allow yourself to get wound up by it, you're pandering to his prejudice.
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Pretty sure Peter Collins did too, though I can't remember the year or the meetings. Will check my programmes when I get a chance.
Greatest Come Back Of All Time
in Years Gone By
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I remember the Aces coming back from about 14 points down to win at the Shay, many moons ago, but not the one you mention. Pretty sure the score was 15-3 after 3 heats then about 22-8 after 5. As I recall we ended up winning quite comfortably!